Work Text:
Millie has never claimed to be the smartest - she never went to college or even public school. Most imps don’t have set schooling, especially in wrath. Millie was lucky, however, that he Ma was a smart woman who was willing to teach Millie and her siblings everything she knew. And her Ma would even learn more to help her children succeed.
It wasn’t a great education, but it was enough to help Millie understand the ins and outs of Hell: how money works, the history of Hell, and basic math. It’s not a lot, but it’s enough.
It’s certainly not Moxxie’s education, where he knows how to do taxes and complex mathematics, but Millie’s Ma did enough. More than enough, actually. Many of the imps surrounding Millie’s family were in awe that the girl could even read, let alone write and do addition. It was unheard of in the Wrath ring for those less fortunate to get a decent education.
Still, being around Moxxie constantly, watching him with his complex equations and multi-syllabic words, makes Millie feel stupid. She hates to admit it, but sometimes she prefers being around Blitzø. Not because she likes him more than her husband, but because he makes Millie feel smart. Blitzø doesn’t know how to spell or count. The number of times Millie has had to read Stolas’ texts to her boss is astounding-- gross, but astounding. She likes that, for once in her life, surrounded by imps that can run a business or do intense equations, she’s smart and can help.
It’s one of the reasons Millie went into the assassination business, actually. Because she realized she was good at it, better than most others. And she could show off and be seen as useful rather than simply… there.
Millie may still have her problems; she may still have moments of insecurity, especially around Moxxie, but she has reason to be proud of who she is as well.
She got an education enough to read and write and do some mathematics. She was smart enough as a young imp in Wrath to get by, smart enough to advertise her talents and not get caught. She’s smart enough now to be one of IMP’s biggest assets and an important part of the team.
But most of all, Millie is smart enough to stay with this ragtag group she’s made her family. She stays even through the drama and risk of losing her life. She stays through the hardships of a lack of money and the noise of fucking coming from her boss’s office.
She’s smart enough to know that she cannot leave this found family, not only for herself, but for the people around her. Millie is sometimes scared shitless that all she has will come to a horrendous, bloody end-- who wouldn’t be?-- but she loves what she has too much to let it go.
And that, Millie thinks, is one of the best lessons her Ma ever taught her, even better than the typical education she was expecting would get her far in life.
