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“Stolas, please! I just need to get it back! I’ll be five fucking minutes!”
Stolas gave the Imp following him around his room a long-suffering look, having known immediately that the matter - though trivial-sounding when relayed - must be of the utmost importance to the shorter male he harboured affection for.
He’d known from the way Blitzø had come scrambling over the balustrade half an hour after dropping the Grimoire back for the night- Stolas having needed it for the annual event held by the Goetia Family every 31st of October - that something was wrong.
Still, even with the strings to his heart falling prey to Blitzø’s plea, he was hesitant to acquiesce.
“It’s too short notice, Blitzø,” he ventured with genuine exasperation. “I really can’t afford to be late for-”
“So open a fucking portal right now! I’ll fucking find it and hunker down until you’re done. I’ll wait all fucking night if I have to!”
Stolas blinked widely at the suggestion, already shaking his head as he leant down to adjust his ruffled collar. “I can’t possibly leave you on Earth all night! Halloween may be fun and games to the everyday citizen, but it means that there are far more humans out and you have no human disguise!”
“I know that, okay? I-” Blitzø cut himself off, pinching the flesh between his eyes as he sucked in air through his teeth. “It’s really fucking important to me. It’s all I have left of-” He seemed to deflate on the spot, and Stolas’ heart began to ache at the clear display of distress.
“Blitzø-”
Said Imp shook his head, eyes shut tight. “I really need it back. Stolas. I’ll do whatever it takes- whatever you want in return, but I really fucking need it back. Please. I’ll never ask for anything ever again, I swear.”
Stolas sighed quietly, watching Blitzø who was forever grasping at the empty space around his neck where the red skull in question usually sat proudly. The Prince looked down at the Grimoire perched on the corner of his table, knowing that he was supposed to arrive at the event in just over an hour.
He had never failed to attend, even though no-one so much as greeted him past his usually lacklustre entrance. He looked over at the clock, anxiety eating away at him before he shook himself free of it.
“Stolas, I promise I’ll be safe. Please, let me go.”
It wasn’t every day that he heard Blitzø beg- and certainly not so sincerely.
Confound it.
“We will have to make this quick,” Stolas stated, throwing caution to the wind alongside his cape and overly formal attire. He hurried over to his wardrobe, tearing his jacket off and reaching for a substitute.
“What- what are you doing?” Blitzø asked, scrunching his face up in confusion as Stolas hurriedly tugged the blue suede from his shoulders before hastily pulling on a black shirt with a ruffled collar and cuffs.
“I can’t very well walk out there looking like this, can I,” Stolas muttered, deftly removing his accessories and placing them down upon the vanity. His slacks were already black, so they would do fine.
“Wait,” Blitzø held up his hands, instantly adverse to what Stolas’ words implied. “You’re coming with me?”
“Obviously,” the owl scoffed, swiping a familiar pair of red-tinted glasses before transforming into his human disguise. “Come here,” he beckoned, setting his Grimoire upon its designated shelf where it would be safe. “Where was the address?”
The relief that Stolas was even allowing him to go back clearly overruled the trepidation in letting the Prince tag along, for Blitzø held out his phone, showing the location of his previous target earlier that day.
“Very well. Let us make short work of this,” Stolas declared, opening a portal and stepping out into the rather eerie outskirts of a sparse farm, the dilapidated barn creating a necessary cover.
Blitzø had no choice but to follow, instantly looking about as the light of the portal receded.
He gave Stolas’ human form a wary glance before peeking outside the doors at the festivities going on and Stolas did the same over the Imp’s horns.
The field outside was cut low, stacks of hay bales had been set up to create a rudimentary maze decked with various ghoulish decorations and other supposedly-spooky bits and bobs.
Children dressed in equally ridiculous outfits charged about with Halloween-themed paraphernalia, small candy buckets in hand as they screeched and screamed in unbridled joy.
The festivities were in full swing.
“Fuck. Why are there so many fucking brats?” Blitzø complained, clearly worrying that his skull brooch would be picked up by a mortal child or worse- trampled over.
“As I said, it is a busy night,” Stolas reminded, gliding out of the barn doors and swiping a witches hat from one of the rather ugly displays. He twirled it over in his hands before roughly shoving it onto the Imp’s head, the force of it splitting the coarse fabric as Blitzø’s horns popped through the brim.
“The fuck?”
“There,” Stolas declared, giving Blitzø a nod of approval. “Now you look the part.”
Blitzø huffed, adjusting the slightly too-big adornment before tipping it back a little and returning his focus to the task at hand.
Stolas hummed thoughtfully before creeping up to another stationary mannequin and plucking the pair of pointed black ears off of it, proudly setting them upon his head. He caught Blitzø’s impatient glare and rolled his eyes.
“I’m blending in, obviously.”
“Whatever, come on.”
Stolas followed the agitated demon with a soft exhalation, weaving through the maze and dodging excited human children as they careened from one side to the other.
“Where exactly was it that you lost it?” he asked, adjusting the collar to his shirt as the autumn wind picked up. This human body felt the cold rather easily…
“We were taking out a fucking creepy-ass motherfucker from the next farm over,” Blitzø replied irritably, his stride a near-march as he hopped over the hay bales with ease.
Stolas was not so graceful, and the Imp huffed impatiently as the owl-in-disguise clambered across them only to drop to the ground with a thud and soft note.
“I’m fine.”
“Hurry up!”
“I am being as quick as I can, I assure you,” Stolas replied with a small frown, dusting himself off. He adjusted his headband before hurriedly walking after Blitzø, who was muttering obscenities under his breath.
They rounded another large farmhouse and finally down a grit driveway before the streetlights opened up the way towards a one-sided street.
“Was this where you dropped it?” Stolas asked, looking around at the lit up houses. The gardens were chock-a-block with all kinds of ghastly-looking decor and the Prince poked at a plastic corpse before huffing out an amused laugh. “How do you know you lost it here?”
“I heard something clink when I was hopping over these fucking walls,” Blitzø was saying, perching on one of said walls that served as a partition between the terraced houses lining the street, looking into the dark grass with the light of his phone.
Stolas nodded wordlessly before tactfully leaning over the red bricks, not needing the aid of an artificial bulb to help him.
He scanned the lawn on his side with an air of hope, though the amount of fake spiders, polystyrene gravestones and artificial pumpkins made it extremely difficult.
“Were these decorations up when you were here?” he asked in a whisper, trying to crouch down low enough that he sort of blended in with the dressed-up mannequins.
“It was only a couple of hours ago, Stolas, what the fuck do you think?” Blitzø practically snapped, vanishing from sight as the male in question flinched a little.
It was clear that Blitzø was far too anxious to contend with any questions, let alone conversation, and so Stolas decided to focus on searching.
“Trick or treat!”
Stolas smiled fondly as a string of children passed by, and he couldn’t help but recall when he used to dress up along with Octavia. She had lost interest in doing so- growing out of such things, as children were prone to do.
Stolas never had, finding genuine joy in dressing up and having fun no matter how fleeting it may be.
After half an hour of fruitless searching, he quietly resigned himself to getting in trouble for skipping out on the event that he had no joy in attending, already used to being scolded on the daily.
This was more important, at the end of the day.
“Fuck- ow, fucking pumpkins,” Blitzø was grumbling, having stumbled over several miniatures of the fall vegetable.
Stolas paused, noticed a group of children staring at them and he promptly brought his finger to his lips with a smile before slipping off the wall and accidentally knocking into the Imp who was on all-fours.
“Can you quit it?!” Blitzø hissed, anxiety high as he worried over the fate of his cherished belonging. “You look ridiculous.”
“Don’t resort to petty insults, Blitzø, I’m trying to help.”
“You aren’t fucking helping by barrelling me over, are you?! You don‘t even look like a fucking cat!”
“I’m a bat. These are far too large to be cat ears-”
“I don’t fucking care!” Blitzø growled, dragging his hands down his face. “I just want to get my fucking pin so I can fucking go home!”
Stolas’ rare temper flared, ready to snap himself at the Imp’s rudeness but the glassy sheen over Blitzø’s scarlet hues extinguished the inner scorn.
The Prince exhaled at length, realising that the loss of the pendant had Blitzø on the verge of tears.
Blitzø had never been so upset- not over something like this. Stolas had only seen him tear up once before, and he hadn’t done anything to help then, either.
It was a shame, really, that things were so strained between them.
Blitzø scurried over the to the next garden and Stolas ignored his phone as it went off, knowing it would be his Father or someone equally as pissed that he was not where he should be.
It would be better to answer, if he wouldn’t have to lie- and he would get caught in any lie he told. He couldn’t be traced here and therefore the only solution was to leave it be and hope they’d chase him up the next day.
He would have been miserable at the bloody function, anyway.
A small gasp had him turning to the street and he found three human children looking up at him with wide stares.
“Are you a real vampire?”
Stolas chuckled, shaking his head as he leant on the wall. “If I was, it would be against the rules to tell. Go on, you don’t want to miss out on the treats being given out along the street.”
The trio ran off with delighted giggles and Stolas sighed as he checked under an inflatable scarecrow, careful not to damage any of the decorations whilst he looked through them. He didn’t know how far ahead Blitzø had exactly gotten, but he supposed it was better they search separately given how dialled up the other’s anxiety was.
The brooch must be of great sentimental value for Blitzø to be so desperate. Stolas couldn’t recall a single time the Imp had reached out to him for aid, it was usually the other way around.
Stolas lifted up the tatty shawl of a stick-witch only to jerk back when a startled cat flew at him for revealing its hiding place. He gasped, staggering out of the way and tripping over a display of pumpkins that went rolling down the path.
Stolas huffed as he collected himself, long human limbs fragile and rather stiff. He was not as flexible nor resilient in this form- which was apparent in the fact he had taken a tumble at all. Stolas gingerly stood, dusting himself before brushing against his upper arm only to flinch, the wetness of his top telling him that he’d cut himself.
“Well, that is unfortunately fortunate,” he mused, prying the very pin that they’d been looking for away from his flesh. He checked that the needle had not been broken or bent before gently clipping it safely behind its metal hook. He turned it over and gave the pretty little accessory a gentle clean, feeling relieved because now Blitzø’s mind could be put to rest.
“What’s that? Can I have it?!”
Oh dear.
Stolas ignored the child completely as he stepped out of the garden, not wanting to be part of some petty skirmish with a human parent. He was well aware of how entitled many were and he had zero wish to get wrapped up in any disputes.
He walked up the street, glancing into the gardens he passed until he finally found Blitzø rummaging through several stacks of firewood.
“Blitzø-”
“Not now, Stolas.”
“It’s okay, I’ve already-”
“I said not now!” Blitzø yelled, whirling round. “I’m trying to find my Mother’s fucking brooch and you aren’t fucking helping! You’re just in the way- like always! I wanted to come out here alone, so I could just find it without any fucking distractions! Why do you have to be involved in every fucking thing I do, huh?! Just fuck off, you’re the most annoying fucking prick I fucking know, for fuck’s sake!”
Stolas blinked rapidly, feeling emotionally slapped.
He opened his mouth then closed it, realising there was nothing to say to such an outburst. He reached out, grasping Blitzø’s wrist and placing the cherry-red Skull within a scarred palm.
He didn’t say anything, just flashed the Imp a wobbly smile and walked away, heading back towards the maze that they’d originally came from.
His phone was going off again and he snatched it up, answering the call without really thinking.
“I am not attending tonight, I am not in the mood. Please stop harassing me. It is not as though my attendance is even necessary or wanted. Goodbye.”
He hung up and balled his fists, angry and hurt because he’d just-
It didn’t matter.
“Stolas, wait! Fucking- wait!”
The owl only did so because he would have to wait in the barn for Blitzø anyway and hearing the Imp taking tumbles behind him trying to catch up wasn’t pleasant, and Stolas wouldn’t handle it if the Imp he loved actually hurt himself.
He slowed, arms lightly folded as the smaller demon fell in line beside him.
“Stolas, wait, I’m fucking sorry-”
“Don’t,” Stolas cut in, removing his headband and sticking it back on the decoration it had come from as they passed it. “I thank you for being honest in your feelings with me, for once.”
“I wasn’t being fucking honest! I was being an ass because I was fucking frustrated and I’m an asshole that takes my frustrations out on others. Can you just stop-”
Stolas halted when he was physically forced to do so, Blitzø having decided to climb atop a stack of hay-bales and physically turn him around by the shoulders.
“I’m sorry,” Blitzø repeated, and Stolas knew it was meant.
He knew the apology was genuine, it just didn’t take the hurt away and he dipped his chin when blinking caused the first droplets of grief to escape.
“Fuck… Stolas, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean the shit I said.”
“I’m glad you have your brooch back, and I don’t regret finding it but-” The tears blurred his vision and Stolas ducked his head. “It hurts to know you can say things about me that everyone else does. I know I am annoying, and in the way. I know. I am sorry.”
The hands on his shoulders moved to his cheeks and Stolas fought the attempt Blitzø made to lift his face up.
“I wish to go home, Blitzø,” he whispered, closing his eyes as he let the tears fall freely. “I am in great trouble with my family and I wish to get the consequences over with.”
“Fuck… I didn’t-”
“It is alright,” Stolas voiced quietly, hugging himself with a small sniffle. “I know this was extremely important to you. Let us go back, Blitzø. It is alright.”
He made to walk away but was latched onto and tugged into an embrace that caught him completely off-guard.
“I’m sorry,” Blitzø repeated, coiling his tail around Stolas’ waist so the owl couldn’t leave. “I’m sorry, I am. I don’t fucking think that way, I don’t. I lashed out. I’m sorry I lashed out at you.”
Stolas puffed out a reluctant breath before he let his arms drop, finally returning the hug because he was a hopeless old bird who drank up any form of affection. “I just wanted to help.”
At that Blitzø pulled back, and Stolas couldn’t help the blush that graced his cheeks when they were caressed, liquid grief gently brushed away.
“Thank you for finding my pin.” Blitzø uttered softly, sounding a little choked up. “I’m an asshole, I know. I really fucking am. I freaked out and I really thought I’d never find it. I can’t lose this, it’s… it’s really fucking important to me. I’m not trying to make excuses, just- I’m saying I was fucking panicking and I wasn’t fucking thinking.”
“You are very welcome, Blitzø,” Stolas relented, managing a small smile. “I know how it feels to get overwhelmed with panic. I’m sorry I couldn’t ease your distress whilst looking.”
“You were helping,” Blitzø disagreed, looking down at the pendant in question. “You uh… you gonna be in major trouble? When you get back?” he asked, visibly concerned as Stolas averted his gaze.
The owl shrugged with a heavy sigh, pulling out his phone. “I’m always in trouble with them, one way or another. It is okay. I’d rather have helped you, anyway.”
“Ugh… don’t fucking say that when I’ve been a dick to you,” Blitzø complained, sitting upon the bale and fussing Stolas’ hair. “Where’s your bat band?”
“Back where it belongs,” Stolas told him airily, blinking as the Imp jumped back up and retrieved it, eagerly setting the ears upon Stolas’ head.
“You make a cute bat.”
Stolas scoffed tearily, wishing he wasn’t so easily won over. He was though, because the Prince was in love with a man who wore his emotions on his sleeves regardless of how secretive he was.
“So… seeing as going home means you getting shit you don’t need and I should make shit up to you… wanna steal some candy with me?”
Stolas faltered, quirking an eyebrow. “I’m sorry?”
“You know, trick or treating?” Blitzø grinned, a mischievous smirk gracing his lips. “Wanna fuck some humans up with tricks and nick their treats?”
Stolas glanced at the barn, knowing he should probably get back-
“Hey.”
The Prince held his breath as his face was turned back to that of Blitzø’s, who was gazing at him shyly. “Let me make up for being an asshole to you. You really did help me, and I know I’m not great at putting shit right but… this pin, it means… a fucking lot to me. Losing it was like having my heart ripped out all over again and just…”
He trailed off with a huff and Stolas bit his lip, feeling shy in turn.
“Well, I suppose it would be shame to leave without causing some form of trouble,” he replied with mock-exasperation, looking over at the decorations. “Will need to add to my bat costume.”
He emitted a soft note when his cheek was abruptly kissed, Blitzø’s gaze elsewhere whilst he slid to the flattened grass, immediately taking hold of Stolas’ hand.
Stolas tittered bashfully, willingly being dragged towards a mannequin that was promptly stripped of its vampire cape. It was placed around Stolas’ shoulders and the owl adjusted his black shirt, the frilled collar and sleeves going nicely with everything else he wore.
He caught Blitzø staring at him and leant down, fussing Blitzø’s hat before giving him a sweet kiss on the lips.
“You’re still charming, even when you’re an asshole.”
He got a grumble in reply, Blitzø rolling his eyes and lacing their hands together tightly as he scrambled back atop a hay-bale.
“Yeah, I got shit to work out- but not tonight. Tonight, we stealing candy from bitches and babies.”
Stolas snorted, amused enough to join the Imp who was determined to stalk humans who would inevitably pass them by.
“Wait here,” Blitzø suddenly told him before vanishing off without a word, which had Stolas marginally disappointed. He thought they were going to be doing this together-
A shriek within the maze tore through the air and Stolas froze, holding his breath until his smaller companion appeared once again, grinning widely and holding out a bat-themed candy bucket.
Stolas hooted with laughter, taking it with a flittering heartbeat full of appreciation- for he knew fully what was meant with the gesture.
“Thank you, darling, it’s perfect.”
He fiddled with the handle, genuinely touched. The light plink of several candies being dropped into it only had him giggling further, Blitzø having nicked several sweets already.
“You’re rather apt at purloining things, aren’t you, Blitzy.”
Said male only cast him a knowing grin, already getting ready to sneak off again. “What’s your favourite? I’ll get anything you like.”
Stolas inhaled steadily, hooking his candy bucket on a slim wrist before finally entering the maze himself. “I propose a challenge.”
Blitzø’s eyes lit up and his tail swept from side to side in excitement that lifted all of Stolas’ wayward spirits.
“Yeah? Gimme, what challenge, I’ll fucking win!”
Stolas smiled coyly, tilting Blitzø’s chin up which had the Imp flushing ever so lightly.
“For every bat-themed treat you find me, I shall bestow a kiss wherever you like.”
The response was predictable, for Blitzø immediately pointed to the candy bucket then his lips, which had Stolas bubbling with mirth even as he granted Blitzø’s wish. He didn’t let it grow past a chaste press of their mouths, however, and he straightened up as Blitzø pouted.
“Fine,” Blitzø decided, tilting his overly-large hat back. “For every fucking eyeball candy you find me, I’ll…” he paused, apparently not knowing what to offer. “What uh… would you like? From me?”
There was a timidness there that said he didn’t know what Stolas would want from him and the Prince smiled warmly, endeared all over again.
“For every eyeball-themed treat I find you, you shall give me a snuggle session.”
The blush on Blitzø’s face was worth every negative feeling of the night and Stolas tittered when Blitzø nodded, once again adjusting the hat that the owl had stuck on him.
“Deal. Let’s fuck this Halloween up!”
He wasn’t expecting Blitzø to take his hand, apparently intent on them doing this challenge together anyway, and Stolas shoved the trepidation of what was to come in the morrow to the back of his mind.
He’d face his other demons in the morning.
He had a Halloween to enjoy with the demon he loved, first.