AN: Someone review this already.
Arm in arm, Stolas and Blitzo led the way back to the parlor, they both made a beeline for the mantle of the fireplace. Stolas gently brushed the ashes aside as Blitzo piled up logs and kindling. Lighting a match and shielding it with his hands in an attempt to catch the firewood, he felt Stolas' breath on his hands as they nurtured the fire to life.
Loona raided the liquor cabinet and made the gesture of setting out snifters of brandy for everyone on an etched tray. Walking around the room she offered one to Octavia as she sat on the couch. "Ladies first." Loona said, eeking out a smile with some awkwardness that was more prickled than pained.
Blitzo sat in front of the fire as Stolas drew his fingers over Blitzo's face, remembering the previous time they'd been in this situation.
"Hey, loverboys." Loona said, kneeling down and offering the tray to them. The light beaming off the surface giving the impression as if some great treasure had been unveiled.
Stolas and Blitzo rose, grabbing their drinks and thanking Loona for being as gracious a host as she was ever capable of. Stolas rested his elbow on the mantle, looked around at the room and gave a sighing hoot.
"How about some music, my dear Blitzy?" Stolas said, walking towards a phonograph on a table nearby and playing something with an upbeat swing and long plodding orchestral interludes.
"May I have this dance?" Blitzo said, looking up at Stolas' outstretched hands that begged the question. Hand in hand they danced in front of the fire. Stolas' height made it difficult to select dance moves that worked for the pair.
"You look ridiculous..." Loona said, as Blitzo's head seemed to be stuck to Stolas' crotch in any position conventional dance steps put him in.
"Why don't you two show us how it's done?" Blitzo said, pointing at Loona and Octavia on the couch.
Loona looked into Octavia's eyes and watches as her expression turned into a confident smile. They rose together hand in hand and stood in a closed position.
"You're so on, old man." Octavia said, much to Loona's surprise at this newfound confidence.
Loona was out of her element, but did her best to mirror Octavia's footwork. Octavia made spinning moves slightly slower so that Loona could take the hint. As the song played out, Loona on her own initiative bent down at the knee and held Octavia inches from the floor, waving her free hand in a gallant finish. Then, perfectly on cue they both looked at Stolas and Blitzo and flipped them off with their free hands.
"Bravo!" Stolas said, clapping and making his goofy face of adoration. "That was lovely, girls!"
"Damn, Loony..." Blitzo said, dumbfounded, before clapping in respect.
Blitzo thought to himself how he could make a routine that would work with Stolas' exponentially different proportions. The idea hit him like a flash of lightning, more subtle moves were impossible with Stolas, but his acrobatics could prove very useful here.
"How hard can you throw me?" Blitzo said, looking up at Stolas with a smirk.
"Throw you? I'm not quite sure what you're getting at here..." Stolas said before the image popped into his head. "Oh, like the circus! Devilish brilliance..." Stolas added as he stroked Blitzo's horns.
As the next song on the record came around, Blitzo stretched and mimed his actions with hand motions so that Stolas could find the right position.
Loona and Octavia sat down, Loona crossing her legs and smirking as Blitzo and Stolas stood in the middle of the room.
Stolas held Blitzo by his wrists, spinning him around in the air and sliding him through his legs, Stolas rolled forward and laid supine on the floor, raising his legs back over his head. Blitzo dashed forward and kicked himself out of a roll, raising himself into a handstand on Stolas' talons.
Stolas kicked both his legs upward, causing Blitzo to flip over himself in the air. Stolas stood up and raised his palms upward for Blitzo to land on.
Landing back down, Blitzo shifted his weight forward to place his legs around Stolas' neck. Stolas lifted Blitzo back up, allowing him to tumble over Stolas' back like a Slinky.
Stolas fell backwards into Blitzo's arms as he hit the ground.
"I can really tell you came from the circus, Blitz..." Loona said as Octavia sat dumbfounded by the spectacle and clapping.
"That was, amazing..." Stolas said, breathing heavily from Blitzo's forceful acrobatics and leaning in for a kiss, Blitzo smiled at him lovingly and brushed Stolas' hair back before kissing him.
"Well... You ain't too bad yourself... Hooty..." Blitzo said, with an awkward grin.
"Hooty?" Stolas said, tilting his head as he laid in Blitzo's arms.
"Yeah, that's corny... Just forget I said anything..." Blitzo said, struggling to avoid eye contact and allowing Stolas to rise back to his feet.
"No, I like it." Stolas said as he grabbed Blitzo in a bridal carry, giving him a deep kiss.
Stolas sat down in his chair in the corner and watched Octavia and Loona as they challenged each other with drinks of brandy. He laughed and engrossed himself in a book on animals.
"Hey, room for one more?" Blitzo came up with two snifters of brandy, obviously overfilled.
"For you? Always." Stolas said as he invited Blitzo up and sipped from his glass.
Blitzo hadn't had the money for brandy before and it was far beyond the strength of his usual numbing imbibements.
Stolas giggled as Blitzo drank beyond his usual limits, reading to him from the book and sometimes tilting up the glass when he drew slack on his drinking.
"You're sloshed, aren't you?" Stolas said as Blitzo cuddled up against him in the chair.
"I ain't fuggin'... You're drunk..." Blitzo replied back gripping Stolas all around, trying to find a place where his head stopped spinning. "Eh... You're gonna... like, fuggin'..." Blitzo slurred out before closing his eyes and crashing in Stolas' floofy chest.
"Blitzy, I would never." Stolas said, stroking Blitzo's horns just the way that always drew him out to an intimate moment.
"Good... cuz' I wouldn't mind... But..." Blitzo said, seeing Stolas' expression as a welcoming mix of concern and schadenfreude. "That's not your invitation, Hooty..." Blitzo added as he poked Stolas weakly in the chest and snuggled his cheeks against his chest.
"It's a good song, isn't it?" Octavia said, steering herself up to Loona and pouring some of her drink in her direction as the record ran out.
"Yeah, I guess..." Loona said as she drank from Octavia's glass, her clearly being beyond her limit.
"They look pretty, don't they..." Octavia said, slowly pulling the glass back to her beak and clinking it to signal Loona to refill it. "Fuck, they are the cute couple..." She added with a faux air of sadness as she swilled the contents of the glass and leaned forward on Loona.
"Wow, you shouldn't ever share your feelings... Like, ever..." Loona said as she brushed Octavia's hair out of her face.
Octavia began to nip at Loona's fur out of a bonding instinct. "Like, like, ever?" Octavia said as she nipped up towards Loona's neck and fell back in her arms.
"Heh, I don't mind, Birdy..." Loona said, hugging Octavia from behind as she watched Stolas and Blitzo cuddle on the chair together. Loona knocked back the contents of Octavia's glass, feeling her grow weak in her grasp.
Loona let Octavia down gently on the sofa as she walked back to the liquor cabinet, fixing herself another drink.
"Don't mind if I do." Stolas said, approaching Loona from out of sight.
Loona stood in a state of half shock. "Thought you'd be down for the count by now..." Loona said, as she laughed and braced a hand against Stolas' shoulder, feeling the results of so many of Octavia's missed drinks.
"So, what do you really think of it all?" Stolas said, playfully sipping at his brandy as Loona poured herself some vodka, trying to stand straight for the time being.
"Stolas, I like her..." Loona said, attempting to stand up in defiance. "And I don't care what you have to say about it!" she said, gripping the glass tightly and using it to sell her grand, if sloppy gesturing.
"Good, because you really are a sweet pair..." Stolas said, standing above Loona but meeting her eyes in respect. "As long as she's happy..." he said, smiling and poking Loona on the nose.
"Ugh, you're tough to keep pace with..." Loona said gripping Stolas on the shoulder.
"You're no slouch yourself... Thanks for the brandy, I won't take it as an insult..." Stolas said, uncovering Loona's attempt to gain some advantage.
"Let's just sit by the fire for a while..." Stolas said, half falling back as he secured his drink with both hands.
"So, Blitzy..." Stolas said as he layed somewhat splayed back in front of the fire. "Anything you want me to know?" Stolas said, giggling in a convivial manner.
"I think you know more than enough already." Loona said, rubbing Stolas' shin and gesturing with her glass back to Blitzo cuddling up against a pillow on the chair.
"But, anything deeper?" Stolas said laying back on his side and poking up his eyes on Blitzo.
"He likes surprises, and he likes surprising people..." Loona said, sipping back on her drink. "Anything..." Loona added as she huddled up as she sat. "Octavia?" Loona said as she wagged her tail uncontrollably and blushed.
"Much the same, but different?" Stolas said, looking over at Octavia on the couch as she cuddled a pillow and hummed music to herself. "No, really... She's always been kind of, you know..." Stolas added, attempting to make some sort of airy gesture.
"I get why dad was so set on this..." Loona said, whispering as she called Blitzo 'dad'. "You ain't half bad, Stolas..." she added in a stronger tone, to denote some kind of similar kinship she felt.
"If you don't mind me saying..." Stolas said, clasping a hand around the back of his neck. "You're family now, far as I'm concerned. I know he's concerned..." Stolas said, gesturing back to Blitzo, muttering some kind of secret and crying dry tears into the pillow he thought was Stolas.
"I think she'd think the same, honestly they're both the same breed of, well, that..." Loona said, gesturing to a quiet Octavia who was nestled against a pillow on the floor. "Maybe we should call it a night, I think we both know what to do." she added, eyeing Octavia on the couch as Stolas nodded back in response.
"Blitzy... I'm for bed..." Stolas said, tapping at the shoulder of a drunk Blitzo.
"Don't you... Don't you ever say good night..." Blitzo replied as he wrapped his tail around Stolas' caring hand and drawing himself into a bridal carry.
"I'll always let you say it..." Stolas said, gripping Blitzo tightly in his arms as they left the room on the way to his bedroom.
"Uh, Via? It's bedtime..." Loona said, tapping at Octavia's legs with her empty glass.
"Oh, it's... What..." Octavia slurred her way though some kind of pretense. "Oh, you... Let me just say..." Octavia drunkenly attempted to correct her posture and swayed harshly. "Just you try it..." she added, drunkenly plopping herself over Loona's shoulder.
"Hush..." Loona said, picking up Octavia as she gripped her body tightly.
Stolas walked back to his room and gently put Blitzo in bed, he wasn't sure exactly how conscious he was for the time being.
"Huh, where's Loony?" Blitzo said, trying to raise himself up in bed.
"She's with Via... Don't you worry..." Stolas said, pinning Blitzo to the bed by laying his head on Blitzo's chest. "Would- Would you worry?" Stolas added, stroking at Blitzo's chest with a single talon.
"No... I-, Naw..." Blitzo said, sitting back down in bed and patting Stolas' smiling face, causing him to hoot back in joy. "Just a fatherly thing..." he added, smiling back at Stolas as he always did when he made that face.
"Her dad's a real hopeless fool is all..." Stolas said, planting his beak in the middle of Blitzo's chest.
"I'll let you in on a little secret..." Blitzo said, leaning towards Stolas in a way he couldn't be sure was a joke or not. "He's kinda cute... Like a good kinda family man..."
"Maybe he'd like to invite you to breakfast tomorrow then..." Stolas said, running his hands up Blitzo and removing his robe.
"Maybe he'd just let me sleep in..." Blitzo said, snuggling Stolas back and loosening the ties of his robe.
"Only if he didn't keep you up too late..." Stolas said, laying back in his boxers with a drunken Blitzo passed out in his chest fluff, gently rubbing his raised hand.
Loona tucked Octavia into her bed and sat alongside her, gently brushing her hair.
"Loona? Do you think this is a good idea?" Octavia said lucidly.
"How am I supposed to know?" Loona replied, unsure if to make an advance or not. She saw how far away the couch in the corner looked and wrapped herself up in bed with Octavia.
"They work well together, don't they?" Octavia said, her tone loosening as she felt the comfort of Loona's warmth.
"Were you faking? All this?" Loona said, impressed by Octavia's ability to be so succinct.
"Was I?" Octavia said, drawing Loona closer and kissing her cheek.
Loona started laughing, she had to respect Octavia's ability to play the role.
"No, I guess you weren't..." Loona licked between Octavia's eyes as a sign of commitment. "Just you promise, if Blitzo ever screws with dad, you'll help me kick his ass..." she added, smiling back at a still drunk Octavia.
"You'll have to pull me off of him..." Octavia said as she drew her body onto Loona's and snuggled up on her chest. "But I don't think it'll ever come to that, Blitz is a good man..."
"Yeah, I'm starting to come around..." Loona said, holding Octavia close as she focused on her breath. "I never had to ask..." she added, blushing up something fierce.
"No, you never have to ask me... I love you, Loona..." Octavia said, glaring a single eye up at the quivering hellhound as she drifted off to sleep.