-ˋˏ[•Familial Bonds•]ˎˊ

:Arc 1:
✧*̥˚Chapter Two*̥˚✧
•The start of new beginnings•

x

Now that Stolas was happily divorced and his ex-wife moved out, Blitzø was allowed to roam freely in the prince's mansion. Which made their 'exchanges'—sexual or otherwise—simpler and easier to manage.

Fortunately for Blitzø, ever since he made amends with the royal bird regarding the events at Ozzie's; they had a talk about their complicated relationship and now didn't have to engage in their 'passionate fornications' just to get the book. Which was also why Stolas finally had the courage to cut ties with his former wife. Sure, they occasionally would sleep together still, now usually by Blitzø's request, but those times were few and far in between, so that didn't mean anything, right? It was just something that they were so use to doing that Blitzø didn't feel like stopping it for good.

He and Stolas were now...'friends', in a way. Not fuckbuddies with no strings attached like they use to be. They hang out now. Blitzø didn't feel like a plaything anymore, A mere toy for Stolas to do with whatever he pleased. And he was happy for that. Blitzø felt free.

He still thought conversing with the owl was still a little awkward, yet slowly but surely;they were making progress.

Blitzø knocked on the door to the manor, shuffling on his hooves as he waited to be let inside. Despite Stolas's insistence about giving him a key so Blitzø would be able to just waltz in, he still never got one.

Yet when the door opened, it wasn't Stolas or any of his imp servants to welcome his visit, surprisingly. It was Octavia.

Blitzø gave her a look of her surprise as he regarded the young owl's appearance; her feathers were ruffled more than they usually were, like she hasn't preened herself in days, and she certainly didn't look to be all that enthusiastic about Blitzø being here.

Octavia glanced up and down as she took in the sight of the imp, and then the look of unease on her face lightened up into one of relative indifference. She didn't care all that much about her father's 'boyfriend', but at least he wasn't her mother.

Letting out a sigh of relief, she took a step away from the doorway. "Come on in."

Blitzø obeyed the owl and walked right in, noting that her pink eyes were dimmer than usual and that they appeared almost red. Which meant she was more than likely crying as of late...

Over what; Blitzø wasn't sure. As much as he wanted to help Octavia with whatever issue she was dealing with, he had to give the grimoire back to Stolas first and foremost.

Blitzø made sure to mentally note to himself to check in on Octavia later as the young owl walked away from him without even bothering to say goodbye, more than likely going off to her room.

Blitzø hesitantly went in the other direction of the goetia princess, glancing around for any sign of Stolas nearby.

"Oh Blitzø~! Over here!" He heard a voice call from the kitchen, Blitzø immediately made his way over; and halted in his steps as he took in what Stolas was doing.

"Um...don't you have servants to do all of that for you?" Blitzø questioned as he watched Stolas appear to cook. Watching Stolas do anything that wasn't astronomy related or royalty related or anything 'simple', really, was an unfamiliar sight for Blitzø.

"I do." Stolas chirped, turning around from what he was doing and staring down at Blitzø with a small smile. "But I thought that it would be a good idea to try it out myself, Blitzy~"

Blitzø couldn't help but smile back at the prince. On top of becoming 'friends' with one another, Stolas also stopped his unwarranted advances on Blitzø. It made him feel comfortable in the prince's presence, enough to the point that he was fine with being called 'Blitzy' occasionally.

Yet the feel-good air around them diminished as Stolas decided to elaborate further; the smile upon his beak quickly turning into a frown. "I'm mainly doing this for Via...she's been very stressed lately."

"Stressed? About what?"

"Her mother has shared custody of her and has insisted that she'll be coming over to her place by next week." Stolas let out a sigh. "Octavia doesn't want to leave...she usually spends most of her time with Stella nowadays anyhow."

Blitzø found that hard to believe. "She does? Isn't she closer to you than she is with the bitch she calls 'mom'? That doesn't make any sense."

Stolas gave a small hoot in response. "Stella was always distant from her, even on the day she hatched, so she never connected with Via like I did."

"She also told me that her mother has been very angry as of late." Stolas added, a quizzical tone to his voice. "I would've thought that being divorced would've made her happy, since she wouldn't have to deal with me anymore...but it seems like she really does want me dead..."

"But enough about Stella—My dear owlette has been so torn up over this that she hasn't left her room all day except to open the door on occasion; barely even taking care of herself...I think she expects her mother to come here early, like she always does."

"Oh..." Blitzø mused. So that was why Stolas was cooking; he wanted to try to make his daughter happy before her departure and also wanted her to not neglect herself any further.

Blitzø found that awfully admirable, strangely enough. Stolas was a really good dad, caring about his daughter like that. It made him feel like a lesser father figure in comparison. As much as he loved Loona, the hellhound never took comfort in him when she had an issue, and even when Blitzø tried, she always shut him out.

But even if he couldn't help his own daughter when she needed it, Blitzø felt that he could, at the very least, help Stolas's own.

"Need any help~? I can't cook for shit, but maybe I could try...?"

"Of course Blitzy~I would love if you'd assist me~!"

Blitzø grinned, setting the grimoire down on the nearest counter as he made his way to Stolas's side. Content on distracting himself from the thoughts plaguing his mind. Now wasn't the time to think of his sister when he was busy thinking of daughters instead.

.

-o0o-

.

"If we have a girl, what do you want to name her?" Barbie questioned.

"I think it's a bit too early to think about baby names just yet, doll..." Striker retorted, his tail rattling behind him.

"Aw, c'mon, Just humor me for a second!" The female imp purred, staring at her boyfriend with a playful look.

"Pfft, fine." The snake-imp gave in to her wishes. "How about we name 'her' after good ol' bombproof here~" He joked, rubbing the horse's flank with one of his claws, the other holding onto the stallion's reins as the hellhorse ran.

Barbie let out a laugh, wrapping her arms around the cowboy's waist as they rode on. "Hahaha! No way in hell am I letting you name our future baby after your dumb horse." Her eyes were sparkling with mirth as she spoke, "What would we even call her? Bomb for short?"

Striker snickered. "Are you really calling our 'daughter's' namesake dumb? You're gonna regret that, Bombproof here sure ain't stupid. Smartest horse I've ever had."

Barbie Wire rolled her eyes. "He's the only horse you've ever had, Babe."

Striker clicked his tongue jokingly. "You don't know that for certain~I could just be lying to you about Bombproof being my only horse."

Barbie chuckled. "And why would you do that? That's a pretty pointless thing to lie about if it's true."

"Well~I could be lying because if I told you the truth; then you'd want to know about all my other very real horses, and I already know how crazy you can get about horses."

"What?" Barbie stated, puzzled, now the joke was getting lost on her. "I don't even like horses all that much..." She grumbled. "Bombproof is cute, sure, but I don't think he's like, the greatest thing ever."

Bombproof almost grinded to a halt as Striker practically tugged at his reins. "You don't?" He stated in disbelief. "I thought you would've; considering your Bossman's sister and all...are you sure that you're not just in denial about being a horse lover~?"

Barbie felt herself stiffen at the mention of Blitzø. "I—no...just because I'm his twin doesn't mean we like the same things." She frowned. Now she wasn't in the mood for joking.
"Are we at that ranch yet?" She inquired, desperate to change the topic.

If Striker noticed the way she was pleading, he didn't mention it. "Hmm, we should be there in about a few minutes. Bombproof's pretty fast."

Upon quickly discussing what they would do from now on, the two of them decided to ditch the motel they were at and go somewhere else. Raising a baby while traveling around didn't sound all that appealing, which was why Striker suggested they went to one of the towns in particular; the one where some ranch he use to work at was located, aptly named Rough n' Tumbleweed Ranch.

"My former employers won't be all that happy to see me, but they'll understand once I do some explainin', Barbz."

"You sure?" Barbie quirked an eyebrow at him.

"I'm positive. It's not like we're staying there forever. It's just temporary."

There was a small beat of silence after that, the only sound being of Bombproof galloping.

"So, what are your old employers like?"

Striker sharply grinned, a glint to his ringed eyes. "You'll see when we get there."

.

-o0o-

.

After numerous failed attempts at cooking something and almost burning the kitchen down, Blitzø and Stolas decided to settle on simply putting cereal in a bowl and leaving it at Octavia's door. Hoping that she'd bother once she knew it was from her dad.

"Sorry about this...I bet you would've actually accomplished something if I didn't decide to help." Blitzø groaned.

"Nonsense. I don't know what I'm doing either, Blitzy." Stolas smiled. "But I'm sure Via would be grateful that we tried."

"...I guess." Blitzø muttered, tail drooping. Now that he wasn't pleasantly distracted, those thoughts about his sister kept popping up.

"Blitzø, you seem very...out of sorts today. Is there something you want to tell me?" Stolas asked, peering downwards at the imp in concern.

Fuck it. Blitzø needed to get this off his conscience, what better way to admit things then by telling Stolas?

"...Stolas, do you have any siblings?"

.

-o0o-

.

"Ugh, this is taking forever." Loona groaned. "Usually Blitzø doesn't hang around the prince for this long..."

"Do you think we should call him?" Moxxie frowned. "He's been gone for 8 hours straight."

"I tried and he won't answer." Loona growled, piercing eyes glaring at Moxxie. "What do you think we should do, fatty? You're the smart dweeb here."

"Hey, I'm not fat!" Moxxie scowled at her. "Why do you always keep saying that!?"

"That's what they all say! 'I'm not fat' when they are!" Loona replied. "You're lucky Millie isn't here, because otherwise you'd lose all your backbone right now."

Moxxie didn't bother arguing with her. He'd knew it'd be pointless and just cause unnecessary drama between them. Millie went out to go get lunch for the three of them since Loona, as usual, didn't have anything, and Moxxie forget his, so the hellhound couldn't steal from him.

The weapons expert let out a weary sigh.

He had a feeling this was going to be a long day...