Octavia didn't fall asleep until nearly five a.m. She was a literal night owl, always feeling more energetic and productive when the hour was turning from late to early. The night of her and Loona's plan to get their oblivious dads to reconcile and admit their feelings was no exception to her typical bedtime.

After forgetting her phone existed for several hours while she painted in the dead of night, Octavia had come back to see a text from Loona saying Stolas had shown up at the warehouse.

Not long after, the princess fell asleep still fully clothed on top of her covers.

Around three pm was when Octavia finally woke up for the day. She blearily pushed herself from bed and made her way to the en-suite bathroom. After cleaning up, she checked her phone again.

Loona: No sign of Blitz. He and Stolas must've made up

Octavia: I'll scope it out.

Loona: you just woke up.

Octavia: , , , no

Loona: XD bitch me too!1!

Loona: But seriously, tell me what's up because even though I'm pretty sure they fucked and made up, I still wanna make sure Blitz ain't dead in an alley somewhere

Octavia: I'm all over it

She slipped her phone back into her pocket and peeked her head outside her door. The hallway was empty. Hoping she wouldn't run into her mother, Octavia scurried across the palace to her father's chambers. From down the hall, she could see the magical warding was no longer present on the doors. That was a very good sign.

Octavia stopped outside the doors and listened closely. She couldn't hear any scandalous activity, so hopefully she wasn't about to interrupt anything.

"Dad?" she called, knocking on the door. There was not even a sliver of movement from the other side. If he was in there, he'd surely say something. Unless he was out on the balcony crying again, but she sincerely doubted that since Blitzo was very likely on the palace grounds.

Octavia continued. She headed toward the dining area; she hadn't eaten yet. She was also hoping to run into one of their servants.

Luck struck as Tamor passed in front of her. Quickly, she stopped him.

"Seen my dad?" Octavia asked.

"Good afternoon, Your Highness. Yes, I have seen His Majesty today. He and Mr. Blitzo had lunch, and I'm sure they've not left the garden yet," the imp responded.

"Thanks. Could you have my usual lunch order sent to the kitchen?"

"Absolutely. Shall I have it brought to you?"

"Yeah, that'd be cool. Thanks again."

"You're welcome, Your Highness."

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

Having decided she wouldn't bother them, Octavia put in her earbuds and grabbed her sketchbook and pencils from her room. She went out to the hallway balcony on the southern side of the palace; the one above the garden. There, she glanced out over the sprawling number of plants.

She could see Stolas and Blitzo from her position. Her father was petting a giant carnivorous plant tenderly while Blitzo seemed to be looking at the scene skeptically. Octavia didn't blame him; those plants had been known to take a bite out of their household imps if not fed on time.

The princess allowed herself a small smile. Even from the balcony, she could see Stolas was smiling and laughing. It was such a change from the previous week, one she was glad for, even if her heart squeezed painfully at the truth that her, Stella, and Stolas would never truly be a 'family' again.

Blitzo startled as a drop of something fell on his forehead. He glanced up at the sky; he hadn't been aware of how cloudy it'd been, but clearly it was about to start raining. He and Stolas had been out in the garden for a few hours now, caring for the latter's plants. Well, mostly it'd been Stolas spouting about each species and their attributes, watering and trimming where needed while Blitzo sat by and watched.

But that was okay. Blitzo truly didn't mind (though he was somewhat hesitant around the larger carnivorous plants as he always was); not that he'd admit it, but he kinda liked when Stolas got all nerdy about something he enjoyed. The prince often waxed poetic about the stars and space and gardening (and Blitzo's cock), obviously delighting in info-dumping onto someone who at least seemed to care. Blitzo used to feign apathy towards this behavior of Stolas', but after everything he didn't mind giving a small smile or two when the owl was shooting off at the mouth.

Another rain drop landed in his eye. Blitzo scowled, squinting and shaking his head. The sky was rapidly darkening, wind picking up, and Stolas, the oblivious ditz that he could be, had returned to humming gently as he leaned in to tidy up some tangled roots. His feathers moved in waves as the zephyr ruffled past.

"Hey, a storm is coming," Blitzo said, nudging the prince in the haunch with his good foot. Stolas perked up with a hoot of surprise. His ruby gaze flicked first toward the roiling sky and then to Blitzo.

"Oh, I hadn't even noticed! I was . . . distracted," Stolas admitted as though it hadn't been obvious.

Blitzo smirked, raising an eyebrow, and merely looked at the bird. Stolas flushed under the imp's gaze before he got to his feet. A second later, a roll of thunder broke through the air. Lightning followed not a moment after, eerily crimson in Hell's sky. Before either of them could say anything else, the wind lashed, sending leaves and other debris hurling past them, and then the rain began pouring. It was a sudden switch, no build up as the downpour came in sheets.

"Oh!" Stolas jumped into action, scooping Blitzo into his arms and dashing toward the palace. They were inside within a few moments but were already soaked to the bone. Hell had a very funny way of fucking you over, and the weather was no exception.

Blitzo groaned; he'd just gotten into a fresh change of clothes thanks to Stolas sending his typical suit to be dry cleaned. Now he was once again drenched thoroughly despite their quick return to the indoors.

"Now I wish we'd just gone to the greenhouse instead," Stolas joked sheepishly. "My apologies, Blitzy."

"It's fine, bird brain," Blitzo replied. He wriggled in Stolas' grip (he was sick of being carried! He would walk, fuck his injured leg!) and was deposited back onto his feet. He glanced up at the prince. "Dammit. Just fucking preened you, and you're looking like a wet rat again."

Stolas laughed lightly as he wrung out a handful of his sodden crest feathers. "Unfortunately, yes. But it's fine! It just means you can worship my body all over again~" With the last sentence, the prince leaned down and puckered his beak towards Blitzo in search of a cheeky kiss. However, the imp groaned, rolled his eyes, and pushed Stolas' face away, earning an affronted pout.

"Let's just go dry off," Blitzo grumbled. He took Stolas' hand instead and began the walk back upstairs. The owl eagerly fell in step beside his little lover, adjusting his footfalls as not to run the imp ragged.

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

Blitzo was sitting crisscrossed on the bed in just his underwear, annoyance radiating off his person. He'd wanted to just go naked, or even toss Stolas' extra robe on again, but the bird had rejected the idea for some unknown reason. Psh, Stolas loved the image of Blitzo being buck ass nude—why was he making him stay in his still damp boxer briefs?

"Aw, Blitzy, don't look so down," Stolas said from the other side of the room. He'd been talking on the phone; the imp hadn't paid any attention to the call, however, merely pouting in his own head about his swamp ass adjacent.

"Why shouldn't I? You're making me sit here in moistness," Blitzo replied, lifting his chin from his hands. "While you're touting yourself about in your velvet robes. Bitch."

Stolas laughed as he made his way over to the bed, clearly not offended. He sat down beside the imp. "I simply figured you wouldn't want anyone seeing you so swallowed up by my clothing, darling. I know how you treasure your image."

Blitzo frowned in confusion. "What? Why would someone else see me like this?"

Before Stolas could answer, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in!" the prince called, standing and tugging his robe back up his shoulders from where it'd started drooping.

One of the grand doors opened, and a middle-aged female imp walked in. She wore a pair of round glasses and spiffy purple waistcoat. A tape measure was draped over her shoulders.

"You summoned me, Your Majesty?" she asked politely.

"Yes. Here's your assignment, Jerra," Stolas said, gesturing to Blitzo with a smile.

Jerra, as Stolas had called her, nodded once and quickly hurried over to the closet. She glanced over her shoulder briefly.

"Come here, Sir," Jerra instructed. Startled, Blitzo looked to Stolas for confirmation; the prince nodded and gave him an assuring smile. Blitzo stood and followed the female imp as she threw open the closet doors to reveal the extravagant insides of the large walk-in. Because of its size, over half the closet was empty now that Stella had left the room to her husband. Still, Blitzo thought it was ridiculous that Stolas had so many clothes and other items.

Jerra pulled out a series of what looked like white matte boxes from the back of the closet and scooted them to the center. She arranged all seven of them in a circle, putting a medium sized one in the middle and then swirling the rest around that.

"Stand here," Jerra said. She pointed to the middle box with her tail as she fished a notepad and pencil from the inner pocket of her vest. Blitzo hesitantly stood on the platform, still unsure of what was happening. Stolas stood by the entrance to the closet, watching with an amused look on his face.

"Arms out," Jerra said. Blitzo shot his arms out to his sides faster than what was necessary. Jerra didn't seem to care at all as she whipped the tape measure from around her neck and, stepping onto the tallest platform in order to get to the right height, began wrapping it around Blitzo's chest.

Blitzo glanced up, raising an eyebrow at Stolas. The prince smiled and wiggled his fingers in greeting. Blitzo returned the gesture with a scowl, prompting a sigh from his lover.

"You're getting your measurements taken, darling," Stolas explained as if it were obvious.

"W-well, yeah," Blitzo replied, flushing as he accidentally caught Jerra's eyes as she measured his waist, "I get that now. But why?"

"'Why'? Because you have no clothes!"

"Yeah, cuz I didn't bring any? What does that have to—hey, stop fucking feeling me up!" Blitzo curled his lip and bared his fangs at the tailor.

Jerra, nonplussed, raised an eyebrow at him from where she was crouched at his feet.

"I'm measuring your inseam, Sir," Jerra said plainly.

"I don't even know what that fucking means! But I didn't say you could cop a feel!"

Jerra glanced over her shoulder at Stolas, who had a hand to the bridge of his beak, pinching there as if he had a headache. He caught the questioning look from the female imp and said, "Blitzy, she's just doing her job. She is not 'copping a feel.'"

"Well, it certainly felt like it," Blitzo grumbled even as he crossed his arms, a sign for her to continue. He could swear he saw an almost imperceptible roll of eyes as she got back to work. He still reddened in the face when she returned to finally measuring his inseam, her small hand nearly touching his groin but not quite. Jerra scurried about the platforms as she toiled away, stopping and scribbling down numbers as she took them.

"I'll get right to sewing, Your Majesty," Jerra announced as she flipped her notepad closed and began once again stowing away the boxes.

"Thank you, Jerra!" Stolas called after her as she whisked out the door. He let out a small huff of amusement, putting his hands on his hips. "Always in a hurry, that one."

Blitzo came up behind Stolas and yanked his tail.

"Ow!"

"Thanks for the heads up, asshat," Blitzo snapped.

Stolas, rubbing at the spot his tail feathers met his back, huffed and replied, "I didn't know it would be that big of deal."

"I don't exactly like sudden physical interactions anywhere but the bedroom. And sometimes at work." Blitzo crossed his arms.

Stolas laughed. "'Sudden physical interactions'? Blitzy, she took your measurements. She's the royal tailor, not a drill sergeant."

"Still. Coulda warned me. I'm not like you, remember? I don't get my clothes tailored or handmade or any of that hoity-toity shit." Blitzo shouldn't have been this angry and he knew it, but Stolas just did whatever he wanted.

The prince picked up on the anger.

"Blitzy. I've upset you, clearly," Stolas said slowly. He reached down and gently took ahold of one of Blitzo's hands, then led him to back to the bed. Stolas sat the imp next to him but left a space between them. A brief fear of Stolas distancing himself lanced through Blitzo's head, and he scooted an inch closer.

"What's the matter?" the prince asked.

"You . . ." Blitzo trailed off, unnerved at himself after his knee jerk reaction. Stolas tilted his head. "You can't expect me to just know all the fancy shit you like."

"I'm aware of that, but—"

"Then why force it on me? As if I can't dress myself."

Stolas recoiled, eyes widening. "What? Blitzo, that's not what I meant at all!"

Blitzo snarled. The feathered fuck was always 'not meaning' something. He let his temper boil over as he continued his tirade.

"I get it, I'm just an imp! Maybe you think I shouldn't be seen by your staff—who are imps, by the fucking way—in your clothing, that I should be half nude to fucking appease you, that you have things 'tailored' for me because maybe you want me in some sort of slave outfit—"

Stolas set a hand on top of Blitzo's head. Between his horns, fingers threaded around his spike, cool palm on the heart shaped mark on his forehead. The touch shut the imp up immediately, his words catching in his throat. His eyes darted up to Stolas' face and saw the genuine concern there.

Fuck.

Blitzo's vision blurred.

"Blitzy, I think this is really about something else," Stolas said softly. He shifted closer, his hand running down to cup Blitzo's cheek.

"It's fine," the imp sniffled. Dammit, his emotions were all over the place.

"It's okay. Just talk to me?" Stolas tilted Blitzo's chin upwards.

The imp exhaled roughly to dispel his unwanted feelings.

"I don't want you to think I'm not good enough because I'm not like you," Blitzo admitted begrudgingly. His voice was quiet. "You've got all these servants and shit, and they're like me, a-and you don't fawn over them even when they know what you do all day."

Stolas tutted softly and stroked over the heart on Blitzo's head again, hands framing his face.

"I don't care that you're an imp, Blitzy. If I ever did, we wouldn't be here. I don't care about any of our societal differences. I love you for you, and it's going to take a lot more than not knowing what a tailor is to change that," Stolas said.

". . . I know what a tailor is," Blitzo grumbled even as he fell forward, planting his forehead against Stolas' feathery chest. There was only a hum in response as hands trailed lightly down his back and along his spines. "'M sorry for yelling."

"It's alright. I should have told you. I'm just . . . I suppose I'm used to doing whatever I want. I forget that's not typical for most others."

"I didn't think you'd really just make me parade around naked, by the way. Or make me wear something slutty just because. I just . . . freaked out."

"Of course. That's okay."

Blitzo couldn't keep himself from rambling. "I just want to be what you want. I'm sick of not being enough."

"You are enough. Plenty. More than. Remarkably. Extraordinarily. Exceptional—"

"Okay, I get it." Blitzo gave a tired, amused huff. Stolas trilled above him in response, clearly glad to have provoked something worth laughing at. "You're so dramatic." Blitzo pushed at Stolas' arms and fell back onto the bed with a muffled whump.

Stolas slid down, propping his head up on a hand, his other coming up to rest on Blitzo's chest.

"It adds color, though, doesn't it?" the prince asked with a smile.

"Mm. That's what you think?" Blitzo responded cheekily, tossing Stolas a crooked grin. They shared a laugh at that, and Blitzo enjoyed the feeling of Stolas' talons digging lightly at his bare skin and the face he made when he was happy. He hated how his heart hammered in his chest because of this stupid horny bird.

My stupid horny bird, Blitzo realized abruptly. He must have turned red at that; thankfully Stolas wasn't looking right at him.

"But honestly, Blitzo . . . you mustn't worry about not being royalty. It's really not all it's cracked up to be," Stolas continued wearily. He sighed softly before ruffling his feathers with a small shiver. "What do you say I put on a romantic movie, and we can snuggle while we watch?" He batted his eyelashes at Blitzo. The imp brought his hand to his chin and pretended to think.

"Ooooor," Blitzo replied with a wide grin on his face, "we put on Spirit again and build a sick blanket fort with all your fancy people furniture?" He looked at Stolas excitedly.

The owl blinked once, seemingly stunned by the proposition, but he quickly let that smile return to his face, beaming at his lover.

"Sounds wonderful, darling. I've never built a 'blanket fort,' but I'm sure you're the expert on the subject, yes?" Stolas asked sweetly.

Blitzo shoved himself into a sitting position, tail twitching in newfound excitement. "You bet your ass! I made so many awesome forts when I was a kid; it was one of my siblings and mine's favorite things to do. Can't believe you've never built one! Rich folk are so fucking boring. Come on, Stol', I'll show you how it's done!" He scrambled off the bed.

"Whoa, slow down, Blitzy; you're still injured, remember?" Stolas' voice was filled with amusement even as he followed.

"I'm getting better, forget about it. But you can do all the heavy lifting."

"Gladly. Now, tell me what to do?"

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

Fifteen minutes later, the bedroom was transformed into what would surely be any child's paradise. Blankets and sheets were draped over chairs, shelves, the chaise, and even off the top of the curtain posts on the bed. There were three entrances for easy access to other areas: one by the door, one by the bathroom, and another by the balcony. Stolas had taken the tv from its stand and put it in the 'main' area of their fort so they could watch it inside. Blitzo had decorated this space as Stolas finished the outside, making a nest for them to lay in. He had just finished fluffing the pillows when the owl demon poked his head in from the exit closest to Blitzo.

"Looks comfortable! And cute," Stolas cooed as he saw his lover sitting in the midst of the makeshift nest.

"It's not cute!" Blitzo argued, flushing. "It's just for space!"

"Of course." Stolas gave him a wink as he crawled in. "I put in the DVD; do you have the remote?" He looked rather awkward slinking into the depths of their fort, his lanky body making it difficult. His tail nearly knocked a sheet off a nearby chair.

"Yeah, I've got it. And watch your little bird ass, huh? Don't wanna ruin our fort before the fun begins." Blitzo scooted over to make room for Stolas in the nest, simultaneously pulling the remote out from its hiding spot.

"I'm trying, but I am a bit bigger than you, if you haven't noticed."

Stolas slipped into the nest and let out a small hoot at seeing Blitzo's lower half.

"You were so quarrelsome about staying in your underwear earlier, and yet you still haven't taken them off," Stolas commented, his body pressed flush against Blitzo's. The imp glanced down at his crotch, already growing red in the face.

The Spirit menu song played loudly in the background.

"W-well, uh, I forgot about them in my blanket fort excitement," Blitzo admitted. Stolas was so close to him, mouth next to his ear. He was also naked; that wasn't a shock, considering how often he paraded around the palace with his bird coochie hanging out. It was just, the last time Blitzo had seen Stolas, he'd been robed. And Blitzo had been thinking about horses.

"You can definitely take them off now, hmm? It's just us." Stolas' words were low and suggestive as he slipped his hand under Blitzo's waistband. The thin black underwear did nothing to hide the imp's growing arousal.

"S-Stolas, we're supposed to be watching Spirit—"

"Mmhmm~?"

"Um-?"

Stolas peeled off Blitzo's underwear, dragging it down his thighs and leaving it clinging to one of his ankles.

"Ah, Stolas," Blitzo breathed, voice teetering on the edge of a moan as a hand caressed his shaft, "n-not everything has to be horny—"

A sudden and very loud, "Dad? I could hear the tv—whoa."

"Fucking fuck shit fuck-!" Blitzo cursed under his breath as both he and Stolas jumped in surprise at the appearance of Octavia at the door. The imp slammed into a sitting position, scrambling for his underwear. Stolas' hand flew off his cock, face turning red despite there being no way anyone would know what they were doing under the protection of their blanket canopy.

"Octavia!" Stolas yelped as he shoved his head from the entrance of the fort. He made eye contact with his daughter as he summoned his robe before exiting and standing.

"Uh. I knocked, but," Octavia said slowly, obviously perturbed. "What is this?" Her eyes flitted over the room.

"It's a blanket fort!" came Blitzo's muffled voice from inside. He popped out a second later to stand beside Stolas. He was barely visible above the curve of the blankets.

"Hey, Blitzo. I've never heard of that."

"It's this!" Blitzo gestured to their masterpiece.

"Um, okay."

Blitzo scoffed and put his hands on his hips. "Your dad didn't even know what one was; I'm not surprised you don't." He rolled his eyes. "Rich people."

"I didn't . . . interrupt anything, did I? I was just checking in on you, Dad," Octavia continued.

"Oh, no, you didn't interrupt anything!" Stolas quickly assured even as his face flared again. "Blitzy and I were just about to watch a movie."

Blitzo had to refrain from smirking at the owl's embarrassment. "Yeah. Spirit—it's about horses. Ever seen it?"

Octavia shook her head. "I don't watch many human movies."

"Lame. Hey, wanna join us?"

Stolas perked up, looking down at his lover in surprise. Octavia glanced between her dad and Blitzo.

"Uh . . ." she trailed off. She looked uncomfortable.

"Oh, yes, Via, join us! It's more than roomy in our fort. I think it'd be a good time," Stolas said. "We never did anything like this when you were young."

"You really missed out. Come hang, it's totally sick inside," Blitzo added.

With both the adults smiling at her, Octavia glanced at the blanket fort. It was intriguing. She'd thought her sense of childhood wonderment was dead and gone, but maybe not all was lost.

"Yeah, sure, I'll watch a movie with you guys," Octavia finally said. "As long as Blitzo puts on pants." She couldn't see his legs, or even most of his torso.

But she knew.

Blitzo nodded firmly, looking sheepish. Stolas avoided eye contact in the same manner.

"My pants should be dry by now, heh. Got caught in the rain earlier," the imp tittered as he crept away to the bathroom.

"Right," Octavia deadpanned. She raised an eyebrow at her dad, who gave her a bashful smile. "You doing okay?"

Stolas' smile faded. "I'm fine, Via. Truly," he started, "Blitzo and I decided to, ahem, decided to—"

"Yeah, I kinda figured." Octavia smiled wearily at her dad. "That was the plan, anyway."

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing."

That was the moment Blitzo re-emerged from the bathroom.

"What are you guys doing out here, huh? Get in, we gotta movie to watch!"