Vox Stood, His Grin Sharper And More Dangerous Now As He Adjusted His Jacket, Making Sure It Hung Perfectly.

Vox stood, his grin sharper and more dangerous now as he adjusted his jacket, making sure it hung perfectly. "You can want to ask," he said cheerfully, "but it's better that you don't. Until I know that you and your company can be trusted? If you were to end up with any of my secrets, I would have to take care of that." If I tell you the truth, I will kill you. It was as simple and heartless as that. Just because Vox didn't make a habit of killing didn't mean he was reluctant to do so when necessary. He liked this little imp. Beautiful, charming, ferocious, and adaptable, she was everything one could wish for in a contractor--

But she would be meat on the floor the moment she crossed him.

That was the ugly truth about interacting with Overlords. Even the kindest of them--of which Vox was arguably not--could never really be trusted. Her instincts had been right, to slam the door in his face, and now it was too late. Millie was on Vox's radar. IMP was on his list. There was only one way for them to get out of this, and that was through success.

Smile brighter than ever, he zapped himself away, leaving nothing but the acrid tang of burned air behind.

-

Blitz was in ridiculously good spirits when he, Moxxie, and Loona returned through the portal. With a cheerful whoop, he did a completely unnecessary somersault before going to hang his jacket up.

"Fuck, killing is the best. It's good to be good at shit!" He practically hopped over to Millie, scooped her up, and nuzzled her face. "Hey there, Millie-Billie! We missed you! How was shit here? I got you something." Blitz put her down, went back over to his coat, and dug out the paper sack with cheeseburgers in it. "Earth burgers, if you haven't had lunch yet." He tossed the bag her way. "We miss anything?"

There's a smirk rested on her face as he said that. Her being able to flatter someone was easy. It was in her genes. Learned it from her mother. Something her mother did say was 'If you can flatter someone, you'll be certain to win them over.' Her mom was right most of the time. It doesn't always work though. But she definitely didn't want to get on an overlord's bad side. That wouldn't be good, or helpful to I.M.P. Although, Blitz might enjoy it if someone like her were to get on an overlord's bad side. "I know my way around people."

Honestly, it wasn't all that much of a surprise that killing may be boring to him. It made her wonder if he just hadn't found the unique ways of killing someone. Oh well, to each their own. She listens as he began to describe someone that he wanted her to find. The second that he managed to spit out just a bit of the description she couldn't help but grin. Perfect. Her boss and coworkers already had a bone to pick with that jerk. So, it would be nice to have a reason to rough him up a bit. Take him right off that high horse that he was always on. This was definitely going to be a fun job that was certain.

Although she was already thrilled to take on this job, she was curious to know who this overlord was. Killing an overlord? That was something that they'd never done before. "You can't just tell me it's an overlord and not expect me to want to ask who you're referring too."

There it was, she was smirking again at the mention of Strikers name.

"I already have a bet to settle with him. So, count us in."

He's immortal. You are not. He'll probably grieve for you till the end of time, you know. But that's immortality of a sort, eh?~

Blitz shook his head, expression hardening--because if he didn't steel himself now, his heart was going to break and he'd probably break right along with it. Frowning, he looked down at his drink, idly running his claws through the condensation on the outside of the glass.

"Yeah. Of a sort. If there ends up being any way to become immortal. To change. To stay with him. I'll do it. Cause that's--that's the ultimate way to hurt someone, isn't it? To let them love you so fucking much that they remember you forever, when there's nothing left of you but a couple pictures and maybe some unpaid taxes.

"I'm gonna try to be worth remembering. But what about you? Huh? Asking this shit, you--must have some experience with this kind of pain."

"Oh yeah? Well, maybe we should tell our boss to suck it," Blitz shouted over his shoulder, before cackling. Realizing Moxxie was absolutely going to catch him, he jumped up onto a passing car, letting it carry him about half a block, before hopping right back off, and making a mad scramble towards Moxxie. Delighted that the play was happening, Blitz did his best to tag him, and not to be tagged. Playing with Moxxie might be rare, but fuck, it was life. The tagging, the racing at top speeds, the climbing, the jumping...

Sure, maybe there were reasons that imp culture didn't exactly encourage public zoomies, at least in places as busy as Imp City, but it wasn't like it was completely taboo. How could it be, when there was nothing more fun? At one point, Blitz slid under a dumpster, panting, eyes bright with laughter. He knew Moxxie was going to find him, knew there was no hiding from or escaping from that small but fucking fierce assassin--and that knowledge was the best thing in the world. Laughing, trying to catch his breath, his attempt to hide was half-hearted at best...

And the second he saw Moxxie, he kicked off from the wall, scooting out towards those tiny little feet, fully intending to grab him by the ankles and play-chomp. Blitz made a ridiculous little growly-screech as he made his move--what even was stealth?

Moxxie had relaxed, tail swishing behind him. Though it was hard to miss the stray tears that Blitz had swept away. He went to touch his boss’ shoulder reassuringly. Then without warning– though he should have sensed it by the telltale pre-zoomie signs– Blitzo had hopped over Loona’s desk and out the front door. Remaining in the office as a stick in the mud seemed out of the question. Not only was Moxxie hardwired now to nag Blitzo about their shift not being one-hundred percent over, but one imp turning the other imp down for zoomies was just cruel. And it had infectiously jumped to him as well. Like an electric current, his tail flicking swiftly and his pupils widening as well. “BLITZ! WAIT!”

He shot out the door just as fast. Maybe faster. Having digitigrade legs had their advantages in some situations.Outside, he caught sight of Blitz right away and tailed after him.

“Our shift isn't over yet!” There was a playful tone to it, like he didn't take the shift as seriously as he did catching up with Blitzo.

Blitz had already holstered the gun, immediately after taking the shot; he couldn't let himself be tempted to fire again. Because fuck, under all of the rage, under the desperation, he still loved this bastard. To look at Lucifer was to love him, the imp was learning, and he didn't regret it. No, he didn't regret it at all. Lucifer was glorious, resplendent even in his pain, even in his fury.

Besides. Blitz was too tired to keep fighting.

When the bodyguards slammed into him, he almost welcomed it. Blitz made no effort to fight them. He watched as Lucifer stalked towards him, watched the way the flames danced around him; the fire served him, yes, but it loved him too, didn't it? To be loved by destruction... there was a tragedy there. But then, this was Lucifer. There were many tragedies wrapped up in that beauty.

Blitz watched him until Lucifer was close, studying his eyes. Then, finally, he looked at the fire in the king's hand.

Yeah.

This was going to fucking hurt.

But it's worth it, he thought. For all of the imps. For all of the Hellhounds. For the sharks. Even the fucking Goetia. It's worth it. And Lucifer was a beautiful last sight to see.

All of the fight going out of him, Blitz bowed his head. Even when the bodyguards let go of him and moved away, out of range of those flames, he stayed on his knees, his head bowed. In his mind, he could see Moxxie smiling. He could smell Loona's shampoo, hear her singing some song he didn't know but she and her friends loved, just belting it out in the shower. He could feel his claws running through Visage's fur. He could remember the first time he saw Eclipse smile. He could feel Stolas there beside him, imagine Stolas's hand on his shoulder. He could hear Fizz singing, defiance and strength personified. If there was any one imp who could maybe give Lucifer a run for his money when it came to strength of heart, Blitz thought, his own heart aching with love, it was Fizz.

And Lucifer is going to make things better for you all. Somehow. And for all the little fuckers to follow.

"Thank you," he said softly. "Your Majesty. I'm--" Blitz imagined's Stolas's hand tightening on his shoulder. Imagined Vizzy whispering something encouraging.

"I'm ready."

Lucifer eyed the gun when he saw the holister , oh well now this is interesting … where did he get that ? He’d have to talk to his overlords about that .

Ah he sees now what his hierarchy has done .. it was ment to Protect but it backfired it seemed , he would need to rework it— crack.. the shot of the gun startled him out of his thoughts .

And he suddenly felt a sharp sting in his upper left wing .. oh wow .. he had been shot … right through his wing .. the blood pouring down .

He tucked in his wings and landed on the ground hard enough to shake it, inspecting the damaged done to the middle of his wing.. a burning bullet sized hole was seen, “.. hmm.. well well you did it~”

He stalked towards Blitzø eyes bright red Horns glowing , as fire scorched the ground around his feet.

“You managed to what none but my brothers could… “ his voice was everywhere and no where at once .

His guards were rushing in to tackle Blitzø pissed at him for daring to shoot their king .

“I will honor the terms of our agreement , I can’t do everything at once to fix it but ..I can do something that should even the playing field for now..”

He raised his hand a ball of unholy fire building within it, “Now as for you…. “

Just look my way ♥️🌙

Based on a conversation I had with @oversensitiveandoffputting I think that ironically, “Apology Tour” was the episode that fully convinced me that Stolitz was a relationship that could work in the long run.

Hear me out, because I know this is the episode where the state of Stolitz is the worst it’s ever been.

In every romantic relationship, you two will inevitably piss each other off and you might end up in an argument that ends badly. But after you two have said your piece how will you proceed? How will you treat them before you make up? Well “Apology Tour” gave me that answer.

Yes Blitz and Stolas opened the episode having a really brutal argument where the two of them, mainly Blitz, said a lot of hurtful and insensitive shit. But later in the episode at the Anti-Blitzo party, Blitz goes to talk to Stolas still trying to apologize even after Stolas publicly sang a song about how much Blitz hurt him and that he was “a motherfucker” (which honestly, good for Stolas, the bird needed a healthier outlet for his pain).

And when Stolas sees him, despite him being mad at Blitz, despite the fact that he is still clearly hurt by Blitz’s actions and words, and despite the fact that he is surrounded by people that would 100% be on his side if he were to expose Blitz, Stolas still tries to hide Blitz and warns him against exposing himself. Even when he’s mad at him, Stolas tries to protect Blitz.

And on Blitz’s end of things, Stolas is drunk off his ass and extremely vulnerable. Despite the fact that Blitz in that moment has the power to try to make Stolas feel worse about himself, despite the fact that Blitz is also extremely hurt by Stolas’s actions, despite the fact that Blitz could easily have chosen to leave Stolas to drink himself to the point of danger, he still chose to take care of Stolas in his drunken state and bothered to listen to what Stolas had to say and only left when Stolas asked him to.

Even when the two of them are mad at each other, confused as hell about how badly things ended, when they no longer have any obligation to each other, and are too wrapped in their own feelings to understand how the other is hurt, they are still looking after and caring about each other, even if only to the extent of ensuring things don’t go worse for the other person.

I don't know how to articulate how much this means to me because after seeing a lot of couples both fictional and in real life go through a rough patch, maybe even break up, and they proceed to treat each other just awfully because of their hurt, what Stolitz did is almost unheard of to me. They have no more obligation to each other, but they still chose to take care of each other when both of them were at their most vulnerable.

They didn't have to but they still chose to.

Now this in and of itself doesn't mean the two of them are ready to get back together. Blitz needs to unlearn his self-destructive habits born out of debilitating self-hatred, and he needs to learn that his -self-loathing will hurt the people around him because let me tell you, it hurts like hell when someone you love is determined to not accept that you care about them. And Stolas still needs to do a lot self-reflection on why his actions lead Blitz to believe that Stolas could not possibly care about him, because it also doesn't feel good when it feels like someone doesn't respect you enough to treat you like an adult.

However, the fact that the two of them still chose to be kind and attentive to each other in spite of their anger and the messiness of the situation, this tells me that when the time comes for them to have another conflict that frustrates them both, they will work to overcome it together.

They know how to have a good time together, but now they're figuring out how to have a bad time together, and honestly if this is how they treat each other when they are at their worst, I have a lot of hope for how they will handle conflict moving forward.