Demon who is having way too much fun launching the damned into the lake of fire. With a cannon.
"Xurbith," Ruul says hesitantly, lurking in front of Xurbith's desk at five minutes to clocking-off, twirling the end of her tail between her hands.
"What do you want," Xurbith says, not looking up from her paperwork.
"Can I ask you a favour?"
Xurbith ticks a couple of boxes, neatly prints a few words into a box, and puts her pen down. She takes the wire-rimmed spectacles off her face, and rubs her eye with the heel of her hand. "You can ask," she says.
"Someone from Lakes of Fire asked if I wanted to go and tour the platform they launch the new arrivals from," Ruul says. "And I'm not sure if they think it's a date, so—"
"When you ask someone to go and hang out at the lake view after work, that's a date," Xurbith says. "Good talk."
"They didn't say it's a date."
"It's a date."
"I don't think I want it to be," Ruul says. "Will you come, too? Make it a friend group hangout?"
Xurbith puts her reading glasses down and rubs both eyes. "I can make it a group," she says gruffly.
"Yay!" Ruul says brightly.
"What day?"
"Now!" Ruul says, equally brightly.
"When's your friend getting here?" Xurbith says, leaning on the railing over the drop, basking in the updraft, and Ruul checks her phone.
"I'm sure they'll get here," she says vaguely. "Or text? Anyway. What are the cannons for?"
"Back in the day there was just the ledge, and we poked the service users off with pitchforks," Xurbith says. "But we're engineering-minded, down in Maintenance, so eventually we put in trebuchets. Still got some, round on the east overlook, but then we heard about cannons. Fire, explosives, projectiles — all our wheelhouse, you know? You should see this during working hours." She gives the nearest cannon a slightly wistful look. "Of course, it's not so fun when we're out in the lake doing maintenance." She points. "See the dark speck out there?"
Ruul leans on the railing next to her, shouldrs brushing, and squints along her arm to where she's pointing. "Think so!" she chirps.
"During platform working hours, the team up here would be competing to see who could drop a soul directly on his head."
"He must be glad to be working this late, then," Ruul says.
"Eh, looks like Ruquat," Xurbith says, and shrugs. "Fuck him, I'd drop a soul on him."
Ruul giggles, and they look out at the lake for a while, until Xurbith clears her throat and says, "No word from your date?"
Ruul checks her phone and shakes her head.
"Think you've been stood up, Ruul," Xurbith says, and then, gruffly, "so fuck whoever that was, too," and gives the succubus a brisk one-armed hug.
"Mhm," Ruul says solemnly, leaning against her. "...Fuck whoever that was."
