Chapter Text
“If you ever try to run away again at least let me buy you a suitcase.” Blitzø tore open the garbage bag Stolas had wrapped his belongings in and began taking them back out. “No boyfriend of mine is gonna be walking around with a f*cking hobo bag. That sh*t’s embarrassing.”
“Blitzy, calling it a hobo bag is offensive.” Stolas tutted, gathering up the loose objects from the bag and separating them from the clothes. Blitzø stuck a tongue out at him and began gathering up the articles of clothing in his arms.
The two had gone back inside and helped one another release any pent up… tension… they had from the previous weeks. Now they sat on the floor of the living room in their pajamas unpacking Stolas’ things and putting them back where they belonged. Both of them were tired, but it felt weird not to unpack it, plus Blitzø had said he wanted to destroy the bag and throw it off the balcony ASAP.
Blitzø tossed the clothes into a dresser drawer and shoved it closed, rolling his eyes at the owl who was giving him an irritated look. “Oh shut the f*ck up, you said you didn’t wanna fold it and neither do I. It’s put away, we can fix it tomorrow.” He plopped himself back down as Stolas got up to return his other items to their proper spots. The imp yawned and sat there staring blankly into space. When Stolas had returned and sat next to him, he sat up straight and turned quickly, pointing a finger at him. “Wait a f*cking minute! I told you I wanted to be your boyfriend and you didn’t f*cking say anything about that!”
Stolas rolled his eyes but couldn’t help the smile tugging at his face as pulled one last item that had been forgotten in the bag. It was a sweater that he had wrapped around another object. “I apologize, darling. Again, I thought it was obvious. Of course I want to be your boyfriend. Truthfully, I want to be with you forever, so you’re stuck with me I’m afraid.”
Blitzø stared at him silently for a few seconds, eyes wide, before a grin spread across his face. “Ew, clingy,” he joked, which earned him a playful shove from the owl. He snatched the bundled up sweater out of the owl’s hands in retaliation and stuck his tongue out, unwrapping it carefully. As he did so he gasped, grabbing the item that was wrapped inside and holding it up in front of the owl with a look of betrayal on his face.
“STAR CAPTAIN? You were going to take STAR CAPTAIN?” Blitzø was holding up the stuffed horse he had carefully made to resemble the owl. Stolas chuckled and went to grab it but he quickly pulled it back and clung to it. “Oh that’s f*cked up Stolas. You would have f*cking left me AND taken the only thing I’d have to remember you by.” He got up and walked over to the couch, setting the horse down purposefully and giving a little glare to the owl who shot him a look before getting up himself.
“Well it was the only thing I had to remember you by,” he reached down and pinched Blitzø’s cheek playfully, who made a gagging noise.
“Figures you’d f*cking leave me and take something that looks like you to remember me by. Coulda taken one of my shirts or a bracelet or something, dipsh*t…” He rolled his eyes and grabbed the ‘bindle’ Stolas had made off the ground. “Can I throw this stupid sh*t off the balcony now?”
Stolas sighed and nodded, grinning as the imp excitedly bolted back to the fire escape to throw the offending object away. He felt his eyes droop and wondered if it was too early to go to sleep and almost let himself lay down on the couch when he remembered something he had been working on for Blitzø. He walked over to the kitchen and peered on top of the fridge, reaching for the item.
“Hey Stols, if anyone comes to the door do NOT answer, you hear me?” Blitzø was hurrying back through the window, apparently throwing the tree branch and garbage bag off the balcony had (shockingly) gone awry. He quickly shut the window before giving the owl a questioning glance. “...What the f*ck are you doing?”
“I remembered something I had for you!” Stolas smiled, pulling a cup shaped item off the top of the fridge and carefully walking over to the imp with it. “I did have something for you to remember me by, but I had, well… I forgot it.” He laughed nervously and sat himself down on the couch, placing a glass mason jar into Blitzø’s hands.
He peered at the jar in his hands, which was half full with water. Stuck in the jar was a vine that had a mass of roots growing out the bottom into the water below. The vine had a few dark green heart shaped leaves, and a new lighter green one was unfurling on the end. “Oh, it’s a plant.” He said flatly, trying to hide his nerves at being given this gift. “But Stols, I did so bad with the last one, I don’t wanna.. It’s really nice but…” he was attempting to hand it back, not wanting to disappoint the owl again.
Stolas smiled and shook his head, gently pressing the jar back into the imp’s hands. “This is the old one, Blitzø! The one you thought you had killed wasn’t dead at all, even though it seemed that way at first glance. After I took it from you I pulled all the dead leaves off and there was a small part that was still alive… so I propagated it in water for you, and now it’s good as new.” He gently prodded a leaf on the vine.
“So.. this is the same one as before? The one that I f*cked up?” He looked at it incredulously. Blitzø knew nothing about plants, but he was still shocked to hear that the plant he had thought he killed somehow sprang back to life.
“Yes, and well… I may have helped f*ck it up as it turns out…” Stolas glanced away nervously as Blitzø co*cked his head to the side in confusion. “I… well, I had given it to you as a gift, but I noticed that you never watered it. So then I started watering it for you…”
“Well I wasn’t watering it at first because I forgot, but then Moxxie told me I better start watering it because if it died it would make you sad.” He shrugged. “So we both watered it and that’s why it.. Died?” He eyed the little vine questioningly.
“Yes, some plants do not like to be overwatered. It’s easy to kill a plant by doing too little or by doing too much, I’m afraid.” He smiled and took the plant back from Blitzø, moving to set it on the table near the window, yawning.
Blitzø followed behind him and continued looking at the little plant. “Stolas, shouldn’t we put it in.. dirt or something? So I can take it back to the office?” The owl blinked down at him tiredly, but nodded with a small smile.
“I… well yes, darling, I was hoping to do it tomorrow…” he watched the imp stare at the plant with interest, tail waving behind him, and couldn’t help but smile even wider. “But if you’re so determined we can do it now.”
Blitzø nodded silently, and Stolas got up to fetch the small bag of dirt he had under the kitchen sink he had used for some other plants. He grabbed a spare flower pot out from under the sink as well, but the imp had shook his head and put the pot back, holding up a coffee mug instead and placing it on the floor next to the bag of dirt.
Stolas smiled at the mug that Blitzø had chosen, it was a black coffee mug with a galaxy print horse on it. Stolas had found that mug at a thrift store a while back and had excitedly given it to Blitzø who had refused to use it because he was so afraid of it breaking. It seemed the perfect thing to put their new-old plant in. They carefully packed the vine’s roots into the dirt and gave it a little water.
“Thanks Stols. I’m gonna make sure I don’t kill it this time,” Blitzø said as he nodded to himself for confirmation. He then carefully set the plant back down on the table by the window and both men went and sat on the couch together, staring at the plant with tired eyes.
Blitzø wasn’t really a “plant person”, they were cool and all but felt like a lot of work to him and he wasn’t very good at keeping them, and knowing someone like Stolas who was amazing with plants had deterred him even further. Despite this, he was surprised by how happy this new-old plant was making him feel. When the plant had been originally gifted to him he was already resigned to the fact he’d end up killing it and upsetting the owl, but this time he felt excited that he had another chance at keeping it alive and it was kind of amazing that despite how badly he had treated it it was able to bounce back.
“It’s kinda cool now, right?” Blitzø asked, turning to look at the owl who at this point looked half asleep.
“What’s cool, dear…?” Stolas had lowered himself so his head was resting on the arm rest of the couch and slowly stretched his legs out.
“Like, the plant is cooler now.” Blitzø waited for Stolas to get comfortable and then laid down next to him, wrapping his arms around him and snuggling into his chest. “Like, it was our plant, and we both kind of killed it and almost gave up on it but it wasn’t actually dead, and then we worked together to make it all nice and new again. I like it even better now than before, I think. I bet it’s stronger too, because it’s been through some sh*t.” He yawned lightly, closing his eyes slowly. “You know, I almost feel like this plant is like, a metaphor for something.”
Stolas breathing had slowed down and he was finding himself drifting in and out of consciousness. “A metaphor for…?”
Blitzø thought for a while, feeling sure there was some obvious connection he wasn’t realizing.. But he was too tired and it didn’t come to him, so he shrugged. “My dick.” The owl snorted and pinched him lightly, before tucking his head up against the imp’s horns. The imp just clung back against him harder and laughed lightly before yawning and feeling his own breath slowing. “Nah, it means something, but.. I’m sure I’ll think of it in the morning. Goodnight Stols.”
There was a long beat of silence before the owl answered in a near whisper. “Goodnight, Blitzø.”
—
It had been four weeks since Stolas and Blitzø had confessed their feelings for one another and officially began dating. It had been one week since the two and Loona had agreed they would start looking for another apartment that had two bedrooms. It had only been one day since they got approved for a new apartment.
Blitzø couldn’t help but feel excited. He was so excited, in fact, he hadn’t told anyone yet because he was afraid it might fall through. He had gotten an email the night before from the rental company saying they were approved, but until he saw the lease he wouldn’t believe it. Still, the thought of getting to live with his boyfriend and his daughter in their own apartment with their own bedrooms had him feeling giddy.
It had surprised Blitzø that once he and Stolas had decided they were “officially” dating it really was barely any different than when they were friends… aside from the fact they f*cked literally all the time now, they didn’t do that when they were just friends… but the non sexual things they did together, the conversations, all the everyday stuff, was pretty much the same.
It was really, really f*cking nice.
Stolas had mentioned it one day as well, expressing how if he had known that the road to dating someone was much easier if you simply became friends with a person first instead of trapping them in a sex contract he would have done that much sooner. Blitzø had laughed pretty hard at that one.
For how much Blitzø always feared being in a committed relationship, it turned out with Stolas it was pretty easy. The fact they had already dealt with some really rough sh*t together and worked it out made any other issues and disagreements they had feel like nothing. They could easily maneuver around those things with no harm done. It made the decision to “officially” move into a place together feel like a no-brainer to him, and he couldn’t believe how quickly they were successful in being approved for a new apartment.
He sat at his desk staring at a new email he had gotten early this morning with the lease that had all three of their names on it, and, well, it was official. He kept the information locked inside all morning and afternoon, trying not to let it distract him on the job and ignoring how many times Moxxie asked him why he wasn’t paying any attention during their meeting. As it was getting to be time for everyone to go home, he felt too excited to hold it in any longer. He got up and walked over to the plant Stolas had re-given him – which in four weeks had already grown 3 more vines and was looking much happier – and gave it a little water with a horse shaped watering can that the owl had also given him. He grinned at the plant and gave it a little wave before heading over to his office door.
As he exited his office, he saw both Moxxie and Millie in conversation with Stolas who was still sitting behind his desk. The owl had a tendency to never want to stop working, getting so caught up in whatever task he was doing you had to basically pry it out of his hands to get him to go home. When his two friends noticed him stepping out they finished their conversation with the owl and gave Blitzø a thumbs up, which was his cue to open a portal for them using his crystal. They stepped through and the portal snapped shut behind them. As expected, Stolas ducked his head down and was back to going over some paperwork the moment they had left.
“Can I borrow the van? Bee and Tex invited me to a party.” Loona asked almost immediately when it was just the three of them.
“Sure Loonie, but before you do that I have something reaaaaally exciting to tell you both.” He couldn’t help the smile that had spread across his face as he looked at his boyfriend and his daughter. Stolas was smiling back tiredly – Blitzø noticed that lately the owl seemed a little more tired than usual, he’d have to ask about that – and Loona was looking up at him with a deadpan expression.
He stood there for another moment, relishing in the moment of suspense before Loona let out an exasperated sigh, which he took as his hint to go on. “We got accepted for that f*cking apartment!” He held up a paper copy of the lease that he had decided to print out because it just felt f*cking cooler, walking up to both Stolas and Loona and pointing at the part of it that listed all three of their names.
Loona smiled and looked it over for a moment before nodding. “Hell yeah, Dad.” She rolled her eyes and looked away when Blitzø gave her a practically teary eyed smile.
“Oh, Blitzy, that is really exciting,” Stolas said with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. He quickly turned his attention back to the work he was doing and the smile fell.
Loona either didn’t notice or pretended not to. “As long as you two promise to buy a new couch for our new living room, because I am not sitting on that couch ever again after what you two have been doing on there.” She made a loud gagging noise as Blitzø gaped at her.
“LOONIE! That couch has special memories!”
“Oh I’m sure that couch is holding onto a lot of “special memories”..” She rolled her eyes and held her hand out for the car keys which Blitzø handed to her with a grumble. “Thanks, Blitzø. See you.” She smiled at him and turned her attention down to Stolas, concern registering on her face for a moment before she put on a more neutral expression. “...Bye Stolas.” She turned and headed out the door to the office, Stolas quickly muttering a goodbye as he continued to work.
Blitzø eyed Stolas and considered asking what was wrong, but decided against it. “Hey Stols, I have to go get my stuff but then I want to leave, alright? No staying late today!” He pointed an accusatory finger at the owl before stepping back into his office.
In the past, Blitzø would have freaked out over Stolas seeming less than thrilled, suddenly. Whatever the reason, he wouldn’t let it get to him right now. Something he had learned about in therapy (Stolas had finally gotten him to start going to a therapist as well about two weeks ago) was that Blitzø had a “reasonable” mind and an “emotional” mind, and while both were good in moderation it wasn’t usually good if his emotional mind was the first to react to things. So, reasonable mind told him that while Stolas had seemed excited at the idea originally, maybe it happened so quickly he didn’t have enough time to process and was a little overwhelmed, so it wasn’t a big deal.
After gathering his things and putting his jacket on, he stepped back out into the main area and turned to Stolas, about to nag him to hurry up when he noticed the owl had his head down on the desk, arms over his head, and he was crying.
Well sh*t, his reasonable mind was suddenly real f*cking quiet and his emotional mind was ready to freak the f*ck out.
Why was Stolas crying?? This should be something good. Maybe he was embarrassed at how small the new apartment was despite it being an upgrade, or maybe he was regretting agreeing to live with Blitzø and Loona more permanently, or maybe he was regretting everything to do with Blitzø right now…
Okay, no, let’s just chill the f*ck out… there’s no sense in both of us freaking out at once.
He slowly stepped up to the desk Stolas sat at and peeked his head over the edge. It was a really tall desk so Stolas could fit comfortably, but it meant that Blitzø could barely see the top of it when he stood next to it. He reached a hand out and gently brushed the owl’s arms that were still cradling his head.
Stolas stiffened and sat up, clasping his hands over his eyes for a moment. He wiped at them before withdrawing his arms completely and looked down at Blitzø, a deep frown stretched across his face. “I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to… don’t worry about it,” he had seemed ready to share whatever was bothering him and then a moment later decided against it, starting to gather his things. He stopped when Blitzø’s hand grabbed at his wrist and held it still on the desk.
“Stolas, what’s wrong? Do you not want to… move to the new place anymore?” He had other questions he really wanted an answer to, but this one was the easiest for him to get himself to ask.
The owl quickly shook his head, pulling his wrist out of Blitzø’s grasp and quickly holding his hand instead. “No, no, Blitzø, that’s not it at all, it’s just…”
There was a long pause that made Blitzø uncomfortable. He wanted to let the owl take the time he needed to get whatever it was out but his mind was also racing a million miles a minute thinking of every devastating thing that Stolas might say right now.
“It’s just… Via…” the owl croaked out before a fresh wave of tears started rolling down his cheeks, releasing his grip on Blitzø’s hand and covering his face again.
Blitzø stiffened, not expecting that one at all. In the over two months Stolas had been with Blitzø, he had not once mentioned Octavia, which was something imp definitely noticed but he definitely knew not to bring it up. He wasn’t really sure what had happened there… he knew how much Stolas loved his daughter and he had assumed that whatever reason the owl seemed determined to never bring her up had been painful for him. He had hoped that Stolas still had contact with her and was just choosing not to talk about her, but deep down he knew this probably wasn’t the case.
“Oh, Stols, it’s okay…” he hoisted himself up on the desk and sat in front of Stolas, running his hand over his shoulders.
The owl sniffed loudly, keeping his hands firmly pressed over his eyes. “It just feels so… final.” Stolas’ voice was shaky as he tried to hold it together enough to get the words out.
“What do you mean? What feels final?”
“She hates me, Blitzø. She hates me and told me she never wanted to speak to me again. She thinks I never loved her and that I chose you over her.” He shuddered as the imp instinctively leaned forward and wrapped his arms around him. Stolas lowered his own hands and returned the embrace, pressing his face into the imp’s shoulder.
Blitzø didn’t know what to say to comfort the owl and doubted there was anything he could say. He continued to rub his hands on the owl’s back and let him cry into his shoulder.
“I guess… when I was just… staying at your place it felt like… I hadn’t completely given up my old life yet… and that maybe some of those changes… were just temporary.”
Though he didn’t let it show, Blitzø felt extremely tense at this statement. He was wrestling, hard, with his emotional mind right now and pinched his mouth shut. He did his best to remain calm and chose to just listen, not trusting himself to use the right words if he opened his mouth.
“It just hit me that now that I’m choosing, really choosing to be in a relationship with you, working here, living with you in a place we chose together… it’s not just something out of necessity anymore… it’s…” he took a shaky breath in and out, unable to finish the thought.
Blitzø tried to finish the sentence for him. “It’s like she was right when she said you chose me over her.”
Stolas shuddered against him and slowly nodded his head which was still pressed into Blitzø’s shoulder. “...Yes.”
Blitzø sighed, moving one of his hands up and started gently rubbing the back of the owl’s head, tangling his fingers in his feathers. “Stols.. You know that’s not true, though. You didn’t choose me over her, you didn’t have a f*cking choice. You got called into that f*cking trial with no notice, kicked out on your ass with nothing, and you didn’t get any time to really talk to her. You didn’t choose for any of that to happen, and yes you chose to come to me for help, but if there had been some magical option where you could have stayed with Octavia and lost everything else, would you have taken that?”
Stolas sniffed, finally pulling his head up from Blitzø’s shoulder and leaning back a little so he could look him in the eyes. “I mean… yes.”
“See? So she’s wrong Stolas. She’s a teenager, teenagers have sh*tty takes on stuff. Even if she thinks she’s right right now, that doesn’t mean she’ll think that forever.” He cupped the owl’s cheeks in his hand, rubbing the tears away with his thumbs.
“Truthfully I… I didn’t really care when they took away my title, or the palace, or any of those things, really. I mean, it’s a shame about all of my books, my plants… and I miss some material things but, it really didn’t bother me as much as you’d think.”
Blitzø nodded, understanding. If it had been Blitzø a few months ago he would have called bullsh*t on this and figured the owl was just f*cking with him, but the little bits and pieces Stolas would let slip about his previous life had made him realize that despite everything the owl had, he might have actually been more f*cked up than Blitzø was growing up. Not that it was a competition or anything.
“She was also wrong to say you never loved her. Everyone knows that you love her. I’m sure even she knows that, she was just… pissed off.” He smiled lightly at the owl who had managed a small smile of his own in return, finally.
“What she had really said was ‘You never loved mother and you never loved me, you loved him’... she was talking about you, obviously,” he said as he gestured at the imp.
“Well good job Stols, your kid isn’t a total idiot, she got the first and the last part right, just not the middle part.” He grinned at the owl who hooted out a laugh before pinching Blitzø’s cheek.
“Blitzø, don’t call my daughter an idiot!” He yanked his hand away before Blitzø could bite him, letting out another laugh.
“I said she WASN’T a total idiot!” he let go of the owl’s face and crossed his arms, sticking his tongue out at him.
“Oh, so you’re calling her a partial idiot, that’s soooo much better,” Stolas said with an eyeroll, playfully shoving the imp away. He took a deep breath and picked up his bag off the desk, placing some items into it. “Thank you, Blitzy. I really am excited. I’m sorry for crying and being dramatic over it.”
Blitzø smiled at him and ruffled some of the feathers on his head. “Stolas, at this point I’d be f*cking freaked out if you weren’t dramatic and crying over something. It’s kinda your thing.”
Stolas pretended to look offended by this as he finished packing his bag and slung it over his shoulder. He picked up his phone, checking it. He had an email from his therapist office about an appointment change and silently worked on responding to it while Blitzø continued sitting on the desk by him.
After a few moments, Blitzø’s voice cut through the silence. “Have you ever thought of just.. Texting her?”
Stolas froze while typing, his expression darkening a bit but he quickly replaced it with a forced smile. “Via doesn’t have a cell phone. I used to try calling the phone at the palace but I was always told she was… busy.”
The word hung there for a moment, and Blitzø felt like Stolas didn’t actually believe that. Something the owl said had confused him, however. He considered a moment if he should say anything about it, opening and closing his mouth, before deciding to instead pull his own phone out and shoot off a quick text message. The owl went back to his typing and they both sat there quietly until Blitzø felt his phone vibrate in his hand and looked down at it, sending back a message and waiting to see if he would get a response. When the response came only a few moments later, he felt his nerves working against him but shook his head and looked back up at Stolas who had placed his phone back down.
Before he could get any more nervous, Blitzø blurted it out. “She does have a cell phone.”
Stolas blinked at him, saying nothing, an unreadable expression on his face. Blitzø slowly held his phone out to him. The owl’s attention snapped to the screen and he took the phone and blinked down at the message in silence.
Blitzø: Loonie wuts 👧🦉 #?
Loona: Who the f*ck?
Blitzø: omg octovea or wtvr stols kid.
Cn i giv her # 2 stols tho
Loona: Octavia.
Yeah, it’s prob fine? 🤷♀️
Stolas stared at the phone number that Loona had sent just after the text exchange, feeling his heart pounding in his chest and a lump forming in his throat. He slowly turned his gaze back to Blitzø, a questioning look on his face.
“Yeah, um… Loona still talks to her, sometimes,” he shrugged, feeling a pang of guilt. He had no idea that Octavia was not speaking with Stolas or that the owl truly thought he had no way of contacting her. He might have tried to get some information from Loona had he known that was the case. He was worried Stolas was going to be upset with him, but that fear was quickly washed away.
“Thank you,” the owl said quietly, placing the phone down on the desk and turning his own phone back on. He carefully added the contact info into his phone and stared at the screen for a while. Blitzø reached out and took his phone back.
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t feel comfortable with, but… maybe you should just… text her?” He shrugged lightly.
Stolas thought it over a moment before shaking his head. “No, I.. I really shouldn’t, she was so mad at me and she said she never wanted to speak to me again…”
Blitzø sighed and thought it over for a moment as well. Stolas might be right, and texting her could be a bad idea and upset her even more. He had no idea what Octavia and Loona talked about, just that once or twice in passing she had mentioned she was talking to her. Now that he thought about it, both of those times had been during some of the few moments Stolas wasn’t around, and there had been a few times Blitzø noticed Loona quickly hiding her phone screen from the owl when he walked by her. That doesn’t necessarily mean something bad, though, right?
However… he thought about Fizz, and how his stubborn refusal to reach out had lost him so many years with his friend. That had all been a misunderstanding as well, and wasn’t it possible some of what was going on between Octavia and Stolas was a misunderstanding too?
He decided to make the suggestion anyway, whether or not Stolas decided to do it was up to the owl and not him. “Just send her a message, Stols. Just tell her you miss her, or you’re sorry, or you love her, or send her a bunch of emojis or a meme or whatever you think is the right thing. The worst that can happen is she tells you to f*ck off and blocks you.” He gave him a reassuring smile. “Plus, Loona wouldn’t have given me her number if she thought it might really piss her off.”
Stolas sighed and nodded, opening a text message with the new contact. He sat there staring at the screen for a minute before typing out a simple message.
Stolas: Hi Octavia, it’s Dad. I love you and I miss you and I’m sorry.
He stared at it for a long time, not hitting the send button. “I don’t think I can,” he said sadly, setting the phone down on the desk and just staring at it.
Blitzø leaned forward slowly, hovering his finger over the send button. “Do you want me to do it?” He waited for a reply, but Stolas said nothing. He stared at him for a while, lowering his finger so it was just a tiny bit above button. “Okay, I’m going to do it, then…” he waited another 15 seconds and when no objection came he hit send.
Stolas quickly grabbed the phone and shut the screen off, jamming it into his bag, and stood up suddenly. “Can we go home, Blitzy?”
Blitzø nodded, hopping off the desk and quickly opening a portal to their apartment.
After they had stepped through, they went through their usual evening routine together, neither mentioning the heavy conversation from earlier or the text message sent to Octavia. They had gone for a walk, made dinner, and sat down to watch Hell-a-Novella in their pajamas with each other as they always did. Stolas’ mood had improved quite a bit and he finally seemed to be excited about the new apartment.
“You know, Blitzy, I could make bindles for all three of us to move our belongings to the new apartment,” Stolas said with a smile, for once barely paying attention to his favorite show.
Blitzø was laying across the couch with his feet resting on Stolas’ lap as the owl bounced excitedly at the other end. He raised his foot up and kicked at the owl weakly, not intending to actually make contact as he scoffed. “Stolas, no f*cking way are you making your sh*tty hobo bags for you, me, or especially my Loonie. We’re getting boxes like normal f*cking people.”
Stolas snorted as he grabbed onto Blitzø’s ankle, tugging his leg and receiving a yelp of protest from the imp. “Don’t the homeless live in boxes? I don’t see how it’s much better than a bindle.”
Blitzø fake gasped as he yanked his leg out of the owl’s grasp, readjusting himself to be comfortable again. “Wow, Stolas, that’s f*cking insensitive coming from you.” He sighed, shooting a grin back at the owl. “Guess that’s just what I’d expect from a privileged assho–OW” His voice was cut off as Stolas dove on top of him and put him in some kind of headlock and bit his arm with his beak… which part of Blitzø found really hot… but the other part of him was a petty bitch that wanted revenge. “Get the f*ck off me, I’m gonna kick your f*cking ass, Stolas!”
The two wrestled around on the couch, digging claws and talons into each other. At some point the two ended up rolling on to the floor, laughing, and at some point they started making out… go figure. Stolas was pulling Blitzø on top of him, running his hands along his body, and Blitzø was slowly sliding his hand into the waistband of the owl’s pajama pants when turned his head for the briefest of moments and saw something that made him freeze.
He pulled himself away from Stolas, gaping wide eyed at the tv, pulling his hand out of Stolas’ pants and pointing at the screen shock.
“Blitzø, what–” Stolas whined, turning his head to the screen. When he saw what was being pointed at, he shot up, eyes wide, and practically threw Blitzø across the room as he scooted all the way up to the tv with rapt attention.
Blitzø yelped as he was catapulted away from the owl but recovered quickly, scurrying over to sit next to Stolas and watch with him.
Both sat there in silence with their eyes glued to the screen as Alejandro and Gabriella, after 300 episodes, were kissing.
“f*cking FINALLY!” Blitzø exclaimed once the credits began to roll. He turned to Stolas to say something right as the owl dove on him, clinging to him tightly with tears in his eyes.
“OH BLITZY!!! I’M SO HAPPY!!” He was hugging Blitzø so tightly he couldn’t breathe. Blitzø choked on a breath and desperately tried to claw his way out of the owl’s grip but it only served to make the owl cling together. “If Gabriella and Alejandro can make it, so can we!! Oh, this is SO EXCITING!!!” He squealed, finally letting go of the imp who gasped loudly on the ground, hand on his chest.
“f*cking CHRIST Stolas, you have to stop doing that! You’re still really f*cking strong even without your powers, you know…” he found himself smiling at the owl despite his slight annoyance. “Also what have I told you about getting ideas on the real world from this soap opera crap? You can’t seriously be basing our relationship on whether those two idiots work out.”
Stolas ignored his statement and stood up, prancing around the apartment excitedly. Blitzø couldn’t help but find it adorable how excited the owl got over stupid sh*t like this and rolled his eyes. When he had caught his breath again, he stalked over to the couch, hiding behind it out of view until Stolas went prancing by and he leapt out at him and yanked him back down onto the couch. The owl landed with a squawk, startled, but not upset.
Blitzø repositioned himself so he was sitting up and Stolas was resting his head on his lap. He pointed a finger down at the owl. “Chill out,” he said in a stern but unserious tone, and Stolas giggled.
“Alright, Blitzy.” he sighed contently. “I’m just feeling really happy.” He was staring up at Blitzø with a smile that made the imp blush. He gently picked the owl’s head up and gave him a quick kiss before setting him back down.
“I’m happy too. I’m glad you’re feeling better.” He fussed with some of the feather’s on Stolas’ crest, swirling his finger around one right in the center.
Stolas inhaled deeply, gazing lovingly up at him before he sat himself up and swung his legs over the imp’s, reaching out to gently cup his cheeks. He leaned forward and began placing kisses all over his face. At one point, Blitzø tilted his head and intercepted what was meant to be a forehead kiss with his mouth instead, but Stolas didn’t mind. When Stolas finally pulled his head back he ran a hand over the imp’s cheek. “Thank you, Blitzø. Thank you for talking to me today about Via. Thank you for encouraging me to reach out to her. I don’t think I would have been brave enough to do it on my own.” Stolas’ voice hitched suddenly and he pressed his forehead against Blitzø’s. “I love you so much, Blitzø. You mean everything to me.”
“It’s what boyfriends are for, Stolas.” Blitzø felt himself blushing and wanted badly to shrug off the compliments, but he had promised Stolas he was going to stop doing that sort of thing so he instead put on a grin and tried to let himself take it in.
Stolas smiled and shook his head, knowing the imp was trying to dodge his affection, so he doubled down. “You’re more than just my boyfriend. You’re my light, you’re my heart, you’re my rock, you’re my best friend,” he lowered his head and placed a few kisses on the imp’s neck before stopping to murmuring into his ear, “and I mean that.”
Blitzø felt a shiver run through his body as his heart beat hard in his chest. He didn’t know why, but hearing the phrase “best friend” again filled him with a rush of mushy feelings and he couldn’t help but nuzzle his face into the owl’s cheek. It wasn’t too long ago the phrase had been actually driving him insane and he felt incredibly bitter at being referred to and having to call Stolas as such, but now he felt proud to say to himself that he got to be in love with someone he also considered his best friend.
“You’re my best friend too, Stols, I love you–f*ck” Blitzø felt tears starting to roll down his cheek and flushed with embarrassment, attempting to hide them by grabbing the owl’s face and pulling him into a deep kiss which was reciprocated at first, until Stolas felt Blitzø’s tears on his own face and broke away suddenly.
“Oh my goodness, Blitzy!!! Look at you, you’re so emotional!!” Stolas hooted in excitement as he rubbed the imp’s cheeks.
Blitzø flailed to wipe the tears off his face. “Ugh, it’s your f*cking fault Stolas, you’re so f*cking gay all the time it’s like you infected me with it or some sh*t,” he groaned and crossed his arms, mentally noting that he had literally cried and made out with Stolas during and after watching Hell-a-Novella, which was probably the most Hell-a-Gay thing anyone could ever do.
Stolas snorted and smirked down at him. “Well you did specifically say you wanted to be ‘extremely gay’ boyfriends when you confessed your undying love for me four weeks ago.” He clasped his hands together dramatically and fluttered his eyelashes. “Plus, weren’t you the one who outed me as being straight at the movie theater? So it sounds like the really f*cking gay one in this relationship…” he swirled his finger around in the air before gently poking Blitzø on the forehead. “...is you.”
Blitzø bristled at this and jabbed a finger at the owl. “Oh yeah? Want me to show you how f*cking gay I can be???”
A wide smile spread across Stolas’ face and he answered without hesitation. “Yes.”
Stolas hadn’t even finished saying the three letter word before Blitzø had launched himself onto him.
—
“I take it back, Stols, being f*cking gay with you is awesome,” Blitzø panted after the two had finally broken apart from one another, picking his t-shirt up off the ground and pulling it over his head.
Stolas lazily trudged out of the bathroom after having cleaned up a few of his feathers. He had opted to put on his robe instead of putting his pajamas back on. “I’m glad you’ve finally seen the light, darling.”
Stolas plopped himself back down on the couch lazily and Blitzø hopped up next to him. “So do you think the show’s gonna be over now since they kissed?”
Stolas opened his mouth to say something but quickly snapped it shut as the sound of his phone vibrating tore his attention away.
They both blinked at the phone sitting on the end table, neither making a move for it. Hardly anyone texted Stolas, except Blitzø, and if Moxxie, Millie, or Loona texted Stolas it was usually in their group chat, but since Blitzø’s phone hadn’t gone off…
“It’s probably not…” Stolas’ voice trailed off as he slowly sat up but kept his distance from the phone as if it were going to lurch forward and bite him.
Blitzø blinked, looking back and forth between the phone and Stolas, before grabbing it himself and clicking the screen on. Stolas leaned forward and looked at the phone screen with him.
‘1 new message from 💜Octavia💜’
Stolas took a deep breath, reached his hand out, thumb hovering over the screen as he tried to decide whether he wanted to open it or not.
Blitzø yet again asked him. “Do you want me to do it?” He waited a bit and when no reply came, turned his body slightly so Stolas couldn’t see the screen anymore and clicked the message open. He read the message and then reread it several times over to be sure he had seen it correctly, all the while hiding it from view of the owl.
Finally, a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he handed it back to Stolas. The owl took the phone and very slowly shifted his gaze downwards. He also read and reread the message several times before a tiny smile had broken out on his face as well, tears pricking the corner of his eyes.
Octavia: miss u too. still mad tho.
Blitzø leaned into him, purring lightly as the owl wrapped his arms around him and continued looking at the message for a few moments more before clicking the screen off and setting the phone on the side table. “See, Stols? Everything is going to be okay.” He reached a clawed hand up and ran it through the feathers that framed the owl’s face. “And whatever happens I’ll be here with you and we’ll get through it… okay?”
Stolas simply nodded in response, feeling the massive weight he hadn’t been aware of beginning to lift off of him. Of course this didn’t mean he was forgiven and it didn’t mean she wanted to see him now, but knowing that she was at least receptive to it had filled him with hope.
He also felt a relief wash through him as he realized that choosing to live his life how he wanted had been the right decision after all, though he was still able to admit to himself he could have done it more gracefully. Although it had cost him nearly everything, it seemed it might not cost him the one thing he cared about most in this world.
Stolas reflected on the ways in which his life had changed, wondering how he could have been crying about the same thought hours earlier. In the two months since he’d lost (almost) everything, he had also gained an entire life that finally felt worth living to him. He had made good friends with Moxxie and Millie, he and Loona had a pretty good relationship as well (he wasn’t sure if he was supposed to call her his friend or… what, exactly), he had a job he loved, and of course he got to spend every day with Blitzø. Knowing that there was a chance Octavia would one day get to be a part of this life as well elated him.
Stolas was the happiest he had ever felt in his entire life, and it was all thanks to his best friend.
