Blitzo awoke sweating and panting, he'd had a nightmare. Stolas was still gripping him closely. Blitzo looked up drowsily to see if his sleep had been fitful enough to awake his newfound pillow.
Stolas' gaze met the imp's. "Are you alright? You were shaking and clenching." Stolas said, staring dead-on in genuine concern.
Blitzo rolled off and sat up on the edge of the bed. "It's just the usual night terrors." he said, feigning laughter.
"If you ever want to talk about it." Stolas said, maintaining his stoic concern.
"I just want to shower and call Moxxie right now." Blitzo said, wondering if the van was even still there by now.
"Very well." Stolas said gently caressing Blitzo's horns. "I'll try and fix something to eat once you're done."
Blitzo smiled as Stolas left the room and wondered if bacon and eggs would be too taboo to ask for directly.
The warm water felt nice on Blitzo's back, he hummed the piano tune from the night prior as he thought of nothing in particular.
Drying himself off and looking at his reflection in the mirror, Blitzo couldn't help but half-smiling. "What a mess, you miserable bitch." said Blitzo in his usual morning ritual.
Blitzo found his way to the kitchen, a room obviously designed with form in a war with function, the form clearly won; this was not a kitchen designed for servants but a feigned attempt at high-society's failing to blend in with normalcy.
Stolas was digging around in a cupboard above the counter, the room was much more garish than the others, perhaps as a way to distract from the ergonomics from those not unusually tall.
"Oh, I never..." Stolas said, fumbling with a stack of bowls.
"You always." Blitzo said gently tapping Stolas on the butt, causing him to jump.
His feathers were wet, he'd showered in the meantime and he looked goofy with his feathers slicked back.
"You should call them." Stolas said, turning back and blushing.
"What are you making?" Blitzo asked, trying to distract Stolas from the hard question he had to answer.
"Pancakes. Unless you want cereal d'desperation?" Stolas said with a sarcastic flair.
"It doesn't sound half awful." Blitzo said.
"If you wanted me to call on your behalf..." Stolas said, kicking over a stool for Blitzo to stand on so he could fix breakfast.
Stolas left, knowing the satisfied look on Blitzo's face; even from behind those eyes still beamed about him so vividly.
Blitzo moved around gathering what he thought he needed, the ingredients in the kitchen were only those basic non-perishables. The room was designed to have in the rare event of the host of some event cooking to impress a private affair, a show of the more ostentatious items as they were brought out. This was more a theater than a kitcken.
Blitzo slowly prepared something from what he remembered, it had been a long time since he'd had anyone to cook for, even if Stolas was apparently cooking for him, it was not evident at the time. It was nice to be lost in something with out so many emotions for a change.
Stolas arrived back some time later, his feathers were slightly damp and poofy from the shower. "If you don't mind, I called your little business partner." He said, looking the extensive spread Blitzo had prepared.
"I knew it." Blitzo said, bringing everything to the breakfast table. "I'll... make some more..." Blitzo said ducking into his shoulder, having already prepared more than enough food for everyone and not fooling anyone at present.
Stolas shadowed Blitzo as he prepared more pancakes and eggs. Giggling Blitzo, as Blitzo often did, took things too far.
There was a knock at the door and Stolas went to usher the guests in, it had been so long that although he didn't ever want to admit it, he was just as on edge as Blitzo had been with his obsessive breakfasting.
"We found the van, Loona almost pushed it into another ditch getting to a shop." Moxxie said smuggly poking at Loona.
"I was aiming for you, dick..." Loona snapped, bending Moxxie's finger back.
"Something smells mighty good." Millie added, not noticing Moxxie's defeated whinging.
"Breakfast is served. Bone apple tea, bitches!" Blitzo said, poking out into the hall with a ridiculous pink apron he'd found somewhere before rushing back into the kitchen with the clattering of plates following soon after.
Everyone paused for a second in the hallway.
"He's..." Stolas said, scratching the back of his neck.
"We know." Everyone else said in unison.
Arriving in the kitchen, Stolas was impressed by Blitzo's ability to set a table. He could have sworn there wasn't nearly this much left in the house.
Everyone sat down around the table and started to prepare their plates. There was a palpable tension around the table. Blitzo sat at one head of the table, fiddling with half of a grapefruit.
Millie sat back darting her eyes between Moxxie and Blitzo, cutting up a pancake to provide some relief to the silence. "So... Did you..." Millie said, defensively raising a fork in a neutral position, so that at a moment's notice she wouldn't have to talk.
"No, no, no." Blitzo and Stolas said, almost in a perfect counterpoint.
Loona laughed and said leaning forward "What didn't they?" she added.
Moxxie smirked slightly, knowing Blitzo would at least pretend to be mad at someone else for a change.
"No!" Blitzo said loudly, jamming a spoon into the grapefruit and squirting some of the juice in his eye. "Something funny, loverboy?" Bitzo said, gesturing at Moxxie with a spoon, one eye already bulging and bloodshot from the grapefruit juice.
Stolas giggled just audibly enough to be heard, taking the cue Millie joined in. Loona was already laughing and sticking her tongue out. Moxxie canted his head slightly as if asking for permission. Blitzo just rolled his bulging eye back in affirmation as Blitzo couldn't help but joining in his misfortune.
"We took care of everything, boss." Millie said, always more of a morning person than Loona and Moxxie, owing to her more sunny disposition.
"I'm sorry for ruining your evening." Blitzo said sinking back in his chair as he grabbed some sausages with his hands.
"You have some nerve! Saying..." Moxxie added before Millie shoved the other half of the grapefruit into his mouth. "It's all good!" Mille added, feigning a smile to save face.
Loona was laughing hard at this point. "I thought it was funny." She said, snapping back to looking at her phone and ignoring her plate.
Stolas looked at Blitzo for some clue on what to do, he'd never been good in these situations and these motions he usually followed with flowing grace were useless in this situation. Blitzo looked back to Stolas with a similar if greater desperate motion.
"It's how I am! It's who I am!" Blitzo said with an air of command over the room and yet no hostility to anyone in particular. This was a confession ment for only those who were listening deeply enough.
"More juice anyone?" Stolas said, darting his eyes back and forth for some clue of what to do next.
"This was a mistake." Blitzo said leaving the room quickly, holding his arms in a defensive position above his eyes.
Stolas calmly assumed his role as host, cleaning the pans and bowls used in making what turned out to be an unusually awkward meal, despite his previous experience.
Stolas continued washing the dishes when Millie approached him with her plate. "Need a hand?" She said, in far too neutral a tone for the matter. "No, no, I'm fine..." Stolas said, partially out of worry and partially out of never having had to wash his own dishes before.
"You're not worried? I can handle this if you want." Millie said, barely able to reach much beyond the countertop to put her plate beside the sink. "Are you?" Stolas said, looking up from his work. "Blitzo's tough, but he's just..." Millie sighed, sitting back down at the table unsure what to do next.
"Buck up." Loona said as she gave Stolas her plate. "I don't do dishes." She added defiantly. Stolas stood up a bit as the gravity of the situation had seemed to increase with the hellhound's apathy. "You remind me of someone." Stolas said, in an emotion of vain nostalgia.
Millie and Loona left to wait at the repair shop for the van to be ready as Stolas attempted to remove the burned bits from a pan.
"It's not that hard, sir." Moxxie said looking up at Stolas.
The owl was taken aback as Moxxie shoved the stool beside Stolas, he hadn't noticed that Blitzo had placed it out of view before setting the table.
"Paranoia, sir." Moxxie said looking up as he took over Stolas' role at the sink.
"He's vicarious, it's why he likes to watch." Moxxie added, clawing the pan to remove the stuck on bits.
"What are you still doing? I get it. I don't forgive him what happened, maybe you shouldn't either. But you're clearly both people who need to be wanted and don't want to be needed. If you want to." Moxxie said, ushering Stolas to go out and find Blitzo.
Stolas rushed out back to his bedroom where he thought Blitzo might be, kicking up dust the whole time he moved throughout the corridors.
Blitzo sat back on the railing of the balcony overlooking the estate, itself looking more tired even in the clear morning, or whatever passed as morning here. "I don't want to talk to you, Stolas." he said, gripping his knees atop the balustraded edge.
"What do you want then?" Stolas said, in the soft voice he only reserved for concern. "I don't want to leave you alone."
"Don't they? Every single one of them." Blitzo said speaking through his legs. "Do me a favor." He said extending an upright hand.
"For you?" Stolas said, touching palms with Blizo before interlocking their fingers in a waltz position and pulling him towards him.
"That bad?" Blitzo said, placing his other hand in turn around Stolas.
"Not at all. It's just family." Stolas said, before sinking his head a bit. "Family..."
Blitzo held Stolas with his free hand, attempting to meet a gaze that only hit the ground.
"I'm the wrong person to ask, but it seems it's worth a try." Stolas said loosening his grip and patting Blitzo on the head.
"It-" Blitzo said, before considering what any of the thoughts he had ment when put to words.
"Why did they leave?" Blitzo said. "Stella, Octavia, your whole life up and fucked off." He added with a caustic air.
"Well, I..." Stolas said, backing up slightly to the balcony.
"Well, what? Don't they all do that? Rope you in with something that just rips your heart out." Blitzo said picking up a decorative ceramic piece. "Then they do!" He screamed, slamming it on the floor. "Then they leave! You're spent! Donezo!"
"Because I failed them." Stolas said, stepping back forward and sitting on the bed.
"I guess that's my fault..." Blitzo said, gently sweeping the shards to the side of the room with his foot. "Why haven't you abandoned me yet?" He said, hunching over as he sat down with his back to Stolas.
"The same reason you test your family." Stolas said, placing his hands over Blitzo's and kissing him on the forehead from above. "They care and they know you do." Stolas said, nuzzing against Blitzo's horns.
"What if I let you run?" Blitzo said looking up at Stolas and grinning.
"I'd only get..." Stolas leaned back in the bed. "This far?" He said, fluffing his feathers and stretching.
"And if I found you?" Blitzo said, leaning back and laying his head on Stolas' shoulder.
"I'd be happy." Stolas said, gripping Blitzo tightly. "And I'd say: Don't let me go." Stolas said, gently stoking his fingers on Blitzo's face.
"Would you still love me in the morning?" Blitzo said looking Stolas right in the eyes.
"Why wouldn't I? I still love you after yesterday." Stolas said, draping himself over Blitzo. "If there's anything you want to say, here." Stolas said as he removed the strip of tied fabric from his robe and tied his wrist loosely to Blitzo's.
The act was a bit haphazard, Stolas giggled a bit when Blitzo looking him up and down, perhaps waiting for the robe to fall off when Stolas made one of his grand gestures.
"You know, they won't leave you either. They care about you." Stolas said resting his head between Blitzo's horns as he looked out the window at the sunrise. "Even your ill-tempered daughter, she'll probably kill me if I hurt you." He added, in a somber note.
"Oh, she gets that a lot!" Blitzo said laughing as he gripped Stolas' hand and tilted his head back, poking Stolas with the curve of his horns as he leaned him in for a kiss. Stolas leaned over as they enjoyed a long moment together.
