Fuck. From The First Word Stolas Spoke, Everything Was Better. It Didn't Matter That He Came Out Ready

Fuck. From the first word Stolas spoke, everything was better. It didn't matter that he came out ready to fight. It didn't matter that the two of them weren't even really, well, the two of them anymore. Stolas's voice made the world right again. Nothing could ever be wrong, not really, as long as Blitz could hear his voice. The imp had barely even reacted when Stolas came out ready to fight. Part of him was worried, because he understood the things that made a person react that way, but the rest of him?

Just seeing Stolas, in any form, felt wonderful. Blitz was growing weary, more and more so the closer dawn drew, and he felt strangely detached from himself, but Stolas's mere existence filled him with a familiar, nostalgic, bittersweet warmth. When Stolas went back in, huffy and adorable, Blitz followed him...

And stopped in his tracks when he realized Stolas saw the blood. The wounds.

Fuck. Blitz swallowed hard as his former lover started touching him, undressing him. His entire body was battered -- deep bruises paired with deeper lacerations from long, sharp talons -- but right now? Injuries didn't matter half as much as they should. Stolas was touching him, and that felt like home. Stolas's caring put a lump in the imp's throat. He smiled, blinking away tears, and reached out to carefully slip his claws through the feathers on Stolas's head, gently preening, gently caressing.

Fuck, he had missed him. Touching him again, smelling his feathers, the scent of a bed only half slept in, even the alcohol on Stolas's breath...

"Don't help me, Stols," Blitz cautioned him. He touched Stolas's chin, hoping to meet his gaze. "Something bad happened. I don't remember all of it, but I'm... pretty fucking sure I murdered a Goetia tonight. A Duke. Vepar. I don't... know... how the bird brigade handles this kind of thing, but don't imagine it'll take them long to find me. If you help me... let's just. Fuck. Let's not get you in trouble, too. I just... shit. Time to get real gay here." Blitz stepped closer, desperately wanting to hold him, hands moving to Stolas's arms. "I wanted to see you. You know. One last time."

Because it would be a last time, wouldn't it? The thought left a quiet, oddly numb feeling lump in his stomach, but right now, it didn't matter.

Right now, he had Stolas.

In the time since Verosika’s Halloween party, Stolas had been living in a constant state of depression. That night, he had used alcohol once again to mask the pain he felt, having seen Blitzø there who didn’t seem to care enough to fight for him. Stolas was so tired of the constant games from the imp. He had thought that maybe spending the night with the incubus who asked him to dance would have eased his anxiety. It was fun in the moment-he couldn’t deny that but he was also deeply inebriated. His drunken mind pretending that he was living out a scene from one his romance novels where he was the princess who was swept off her feet by the adoring knight. It was silly, it was childish, and entirely unrealistic. 

The incubus had wanted to go home with him after, Stolas had been tempted if just to stick it to Blitzø that he was wanted by another but the incubus was so kind, he didn’t want to use him like that. He thanked the other as the night came to a close, the incubus asking to see him again, handed over his number on a napkin. Stolas took it and thanked him but he hadn’t touched it since. 

***

The palace was a lonely place without Octavia in it. She had been staying with her mother at Andrealphus’ home for some time, they hadn’t exactly been on speaking terms for reasons Stolas couldn’t understand. Part of him wanted so badly to tell Octavia about the abuse that her mother inflicted on him but he knew that would only cause her distress. His daughter would never understand why he had wanted a divorce so desperately but he would have to make peace with that somehow. However difficult that was going to be in his loneliness and isolation. 

Stolas had never done well alone, Octavia had his one source of comfort for the past 17 years but now…he had no one. The drinking was arguably becoming a problem. Every night he would pour a few until he was tired enough to sleep, hoping it would abate the nightmares that seemed to come to him every night now. He felt like he was slowly losing his grip on reality, all alone in the endless rooms of the palace. The staff would often come across him just walking and walking around the property with no destination in mind. 

***

It was just another night like the many others that came before it. Stolas had a few shots of whiskey until he was tired enough to try and get some sleep. He wasn’t sure what woke him when he sat up suddenly, his breathing labored as he looked around frantically. Ever since Striker had shown up at the tea shop, Stolas was always on high alert. He threw off the blankets and stood on shaky legs, grabbing on to the bed frame for support, his free hand glowing with magic. He wasn’t going to let Striker best him this time, even if he sometimes thought about what it would have been like to die that night…

Using his magic, Stolas blew open the balcony doors, his eyes glowing, the red and black form of his eldritch starting to creep along his limbs. He was about to attack whatever the shadowed figure was before him when he noticed the familiar shape. Stolas pulled back with a screech of surprise, his eldritch form hiding once again. “B-Blitzø? Is that you?” He stepped closer, the imp being illuminated by the moonlight. “What are you doing here? I could have hurt you!” He nearly growled in annoyance, the magic dying out.

Stolas huffed in annoyance, leaving the balcony doors open in invitation but going back to his room and pulling on his robe before sitting on his bed and crossing his arms, waiting for an explanation from the imp. 

He was about to scold Blitzø for sneaking on to his property when he noticed the blood that stained his skin and clothes, the lacerations that adorned his body. Stolas gasped, getting up quickly and kneeling before the imp, all anger having dissipated. “Are you hurt? Who did this to you?” He was frantically pulling off the torn clothes, his talons running gently over the smaller cuts to seal them with magic. The larger ones he could heal but it wasn’t going to be easy. 

Blowjobs and beaks don't usually mix well. Just a little warning for the imp

"Depends on who's got the beak," Blitz shot back with a filthy little grin, and a highly suggestive twitch of his tail. At least, that particular tail gesture was crude in imp culture, akin to putting one's fingers to their lips and tonguing between them, but Blitz didn't expect the stranger to know that.

"If you're worrying about Stolas, don't. That babe is talented. Course, if you're talking about someone like Eclipse or Parak..." Another tail twitch, this one at least slightly less salacious, and Blitz let out a dark little chuckle. "I'll take my chances."

[ for @infxnatum - Eclipse did offer writing lessons, so.... ]

It had been a few weeks since Blitz last passed by that pretty blue bird, but the guy's offer was still playing in his head. That comment about writing lessons had probably been a jab, and most of Blitz wanted to resent it... but what if it wasn't? What if it was a genuine offer? What if this fucking bird was willing to sit down with him and help him get better at spelling, at writing?

The thought appealed. Not because he wanted to spend time with the guy, Blitz hardly knew him--even if Eclipse was intriguing and had some kind of delightfully spooky vibes--but because the thought of someone wanting to just help? It was so alien that it was fascinating, a thought the imp couldn't put down. He didn't know where to find the man, or even how to get back in contact--chucking that note at him in a diner had been a one-off opportunity--but this was Hell. It was, for all intents and purposes, a small town. Eventually, people always ran back in to each other.

Cheerful after a full day of killing--and very good killing, well done killing, especially an execution that had involved fire--Blitz was walking home, whistling. He felt good in his body, his mind was relatively clear--for him--and all of the grief and turmoil of recent days... well, it wasn't fixed, not really, and it never really would be, his heart was going to stay broken as long as Stolas was gone, but things felt better. Bearable.

So, in a relatively good mood, he immediately perked up when he caught a flash of ocean-y feathers up ahead.

"Hey! Fluffball!" Blitz darted up to the--yes! Fuck yeah, definitely Eclipse. "You heading off somewhere important, or can a guy waylay you for a few fuckin' minutes?"

Does the admin have any squicks?

Me? Out of character me, me me?

Yes. No. Kind of? I have squicks but not like to the point that it's a deal-breaker for me if someone does it. For example, I am highkey not into mpreg or omegaverse stuff, but have mutuals who enjoy them. Good for them! Their plot preferences are not my plot preferences, and that's okay.

I'm not big on pregnancy or breeding plots in general tbh. Which is, admittedly, part of why my version of Blitz has a very, very hard limit of absolutely not getting anyone pregnant. He won't do it. I'm just also really not interested in plots that revolve around child muses, especially if the child's existence (or baby's existence), is the entire plot.

So apparently my squick is anything related to children 😂 There we go.

It's not just the fact that Blitz and Stolas were having two completely different conversations at the end of The Full Moon. It's the fact that Blitz was the only one who realised this. At the very last second, he realised he wasn't having the conversation he thought he was, and he now has to sit with the knowledge of what Stolas was actually saying to him, and the weight of how Stolas must have interpreted his reaction.

Meanwhile, Stolas is still fully under the impression that Blitz understood what he was saying from the get go, and his reaction was completely genuine every step of the way.

They were both facing away from one another... And only Blitz looked Stolas' way.

cant believe this is the note we’re starting pride month with