Chapter 12: Damnation Carnations

He had done it; Stolas had sent a message to Blitz under the guise of Trent. Was this the right choice? He didn't know, but in the end, all he was doing was talking with him. It was a nice day out, so Stolas set his phone down for a while to get some fresh air. He took to gardening in his greenhouse. The sound of running water trickling into the pond, the fresh greenery everywhere you looked, the smell of the soil, the feel of the leaves, everything about it helped to ease his mind.

While there, he could also talk to his plants in complete privacy; so he would go there often to tell them of his woes when he had no one else to speak to. Therapy had been helping him with that, so it had been awhile since he had gotten his hands dirty as he talked gossip with his growing friends. It's not like they could respond, so a lot of what he said to them were just unfiltered thoughts; something a great bit different from the careful and strategic way of speaking he had been taught to use growing up.

It was a relief to stop worrying about whether or not he should text Blitz as Trent anymore, but it was all the more stomach churning to think of what might happen due to this one choice. Blitz's opinion of him might wither, stay neutral, or by some miracle, grow better. They could form a bond, a friendship, or perhaps something else? It was a bit early to be getting his hopes up, but if there was a one in a million chance that things worked out, he would take it. All hope was not lost; he could picture it now, the shocked look on Blitzy's face when he realized it was him all along, then smiling up at him and taking his hand. He imagined taking walks with him along asteroid belts, gifting Blitz a bush trimmed into the shape of a stallion on his birthday, they could spend more alone time together exploring ******* ***** ***** all over the **** **** ********* ******, and then one evening by the tree where he once offered him a job as children, he might produce a wedding ring, simple and filled with love. Stolas would be allowed to plan the wedding however he wanted this time. Octavia could be the flower girl, or perhaps she could be his maid of honor. They would cut the cake together, playfully smoosh it in each other's faces, and then they'd ride off to their honeymoon together in a beautiful horse drawn-carriage. He'd have to be sure to invite Bluez to the wedding.

There was another option, of course. Another, terrible option. Blitz would see that it was him all along, and look at him with disgust. Stella had been right about him being a boring stiff, and no adventurer and thrill seeker like Blitz would want to be with him. He would see who Stolas really was; just a desperate, pathetic f**king man who would do just about anything to be with him; including bargaining, cheating, and deceiving the ones he cared about most. Was he . . . the monster of the story?

Plenty of other scenarios were also possible; endings where they would start a relationship, but it wouldn't last. Scenarios played across his mind, where Octavia would have to go through another divorce, where Octavia resentment for Blitz would arise once more and he'd be put into an impossible situation. Scenarios where either of them could be slain by an assassin, or be chased into a corner due to the public revolt, ending their happiness too soon.

Every single one of these scenarios were far, far down the line and a million and one choices had to be made in order to even get within range of them. Once again, Stolas had gotten ahead of himself; carried away in fanciful dreams, and anxious nightmares. One step at a time, just as Bluez had said. What an odd fellow, Bluez. How could one person give some great advice to him, but also be in such desperate need of advice himself? Well, not a single person in any realm escaped being a hypocrite and a contradiction. Still, such a paradox of parts made for an interesting character, and he'd happily walk away with officially having 2 friends at the end of this online dating attempt, if nothing else. Next time they talked, he'd have to recommend Bluez see a therapist. The poor man seemed like he could use a licensed professional, too.

"Dad! Are you in here, mumbling to yourself again?" Octavia didn't bother knocking as she opened the glass door.

"Wha- I don't- you shouldn't- And anyway-" Stolas stumbled on a watering hose as he was standing up, "Ahem, I was talking to my dear friends. You know how plants like a good conversation. Did you come here to join me? I do have some damnation carnations in need of repotting."

Octavia walked over to him and handed him some papers, "Maybe later. The mail's here."

She stood there and watched him look at the addresses to decipher what was junk and what was not, ". . . Sooooooo, how are things with the murderous douchebag? Did you end up messaging him on that dating app under your fake name?"

Stolas froze in place, before nervously looking at her, "Well, first of all, that's not a very nice name to call someone, especially since you're the one who encouraged me to go after him again. His name is Blitz, and I expect you to call him as such."

She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, okay. Blitz, then. So did you message him or not?"

Stolas put the mail under his arm, "Um, I did. I wasn't sure at first if I should but I asked a new friend of mine, and they gave me some advice that helped me see it from a new perspective."

"A new friend . . . talked to you? Dad, if you want to talk to your plants, that's fine, but if they're talking back, maybe you should be seeing a psychiatrist, instead of a therapist." She cautioned warrily.

"Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no, no! It was one of the friends I made on the dating app! This one is named Bluez, here I'll show you some of his profile pictures." He took out his phone and scrolled through some for her, but all of them were very blurry and non-specific.

"Oh my g**, Dad. Only you would go on an online dating app full of horny d*ckheads, and end up making platonic friends. Also, I'm not sure this guy knows how to use a camera." She raised an eyebrow and smiled.

Stolas faked a gasp, "So judgemental! I thought I raised you better than that."

"Maybe you did, but mom sure didn't." She grinned knowingly.

Stolas took in a big breath of air and held it in his cheeks, ". . . is it okay if I laugh at that?" He squeeked.

"Uh, yeah?" Via said.

Stolas burst out laughing, giving into snorts, chortles, and hoots. Dropping the letters everywhere, he doubled over and fell on the floor, pounding the ground with his fist as his eyes watered from all the giggling.

". . . It wasn't that funny." Via furrowed her brow, but smiled.

"Yes, my dear . . . Yes, it was." Stolas caught his breath as he stood back up, "Never say that to her face."

"Yeah, obviously. Anyway, what did you send?" She asked, though she knew the answer. The fake Blitz account was on Loona's phone, but she had been sending her screenshots as they discussed how to reply.

"Oh, I just told him the one joke about the 2020 pandemic being a copy of the Black death, and how it was plague-rism" Stolas hooted a giggle, "Then we exchanged jokes for a while."

"And . . .? Did you actually try talking to him?" She prodded.

"Oh, well. He did try to ask me some questions a few times, but uh . . . I just told him more jokes . . ." Stolas sighed, "I'm just . . . so scared of screwing things up again. I'd like to talk to him, but if I say the wrong thing . . . he may run away from me again. And I don't think a chance like this is going to come up again."

Via looked at her anxious father with empathy, and grabbed his arm to comfort him, "Aw, Dad. I get why you're nervous, but you'll never know unless you try. Plus, I'm pretty sure that you're more likely to screw things up if all you know how to talk about are Dad jokes."

He smiled at her, "You're right. I'll try to just talk to him, demon to demon. Thank you, Starfire."

Stolas gave her a little peck on the head, and began picking up the mail. Octavia knelt down to help him when she came across a paper with pictures of plants all over it.

"What's this?" She stood up, and Stolas followed suit.

"Let me take a look," He took it from her hands and flipped it over, "Ah! It's an advertisement for a garden expo in a few days. Oh, but I want to spend time with you and I'm sure there's nothing that will interest you there."

"Dad, I appreciate you always doing things I want to do, but it's okay if sometimes you pick what we do together." She nudged him.

Stolas smiled at his baby girl growing into a kind, selfless person, "Okay, well, let's see. The tickets are pretty inexpensive. There will be food, drink, and. . . Oh my stars!"

"What? What is it?" Via got on her tiptoes to look at it.

"An unveiling of one of hell's rarest plants: the morgue tree." He finished.

"Is that the one where the fruits look like dead demon heads? I definitely wanna go now." Via was suddenly excited.

"Alright, but tell me if you get bored. We can leave at any time, okay?"

She started hopping up and down in excitement, "Sure, whatever. Oh, Dad, do you think that the juice of the fruit is black, like demon blood?"

"I sure hope not! That would be horrifying." He swallowed nervously at the thought.

"I think you mean awesome." She grinned.

Author's Note:

Just a short chapter this week. I was a little stumped on how to get to the next part, but I drew a couple timelines on a paper, and picked my favorite one, and did another poll on Tumblr about the first step in the plan, and now we can finally move forward. My dear editor also gave me some great ideas for some future plans, so I hope you stick around. Thanks as always!