Chapter 4: Two Can Play (Version 2)

Same as the previous chapter, but the ø is silent, and may include some Easter eggs, fun facts about the fanfic, have slightly better editing, or other extras that the original chapter does not as the previous chapter, but the ø is silent, and may include some Easter eggs, fun facts about the fanfic, have slightly better editing, or other extras that the original chapter does not contain.

Stolas had meant to ask Blitzø to be his boyfriend. He had meant to tell him he would put his own life on the line for his. He had meant to say what a great father he was, and that Via would eventually get used to having him around . . . probably. He had meant to say a lot of things, but very few came out and Blitzø had left anyway.

The whole idea of trying to date other people was meant to be a backup plan. He'd take some time for himself, then talk to Via about it, of course, but that was all only for if Blitzø really did think of him as nothing more than a sugar daddy. Which, he supposed, he must think so. Blitzø had sat there listening to him ramble for a good while, but the moment he mentioned love, Blitzø had run for the hills.

Admittedly, he did make the online dating account on Lustinder out of spite. He was upset and he thought it'd be a perfectly harmless way to express his frustration at how Blitzø had just left him standing there crying without so much as a goodbye. He swiped right on a bunch of fellows and went to bed crying, thinking he'd delete it in the morning and that would be that. When he woke up, his phone notifications were sounding rapidly. Turns out Stolas isn't as common of a name as he had thought and even with no pictures actually showing himself, and a different last name, someone had figured him out and spread the news everywhere.

The account was deleted almost instantly, but it was too late. Stolas tried calling Blitzø but he wasn't picking up. It only made sense if he had already seen the News. Or if he didn't care . . . Stolas was struggling to hold back tears when he heard a knock on his bedroom door.

"Oh, um- One moment!" He said, wiping his eyes and putting on his robe, "Come in!"

"Dad, what the hell is this?!" Octavia charged into the room, and shoved her phone in his face.

"Your phone?" He hoped his eyes weren't too puffy.

"Obviously, but what's on it?!" She shouted.

He took it from her hand and read was on the screen, "Oh! I'm so proud of you for reading the news, Via. As demon royalty it is very important to keep up with current events. Though this particular site may not be the best for it. It mainly deals with gossip and celebrity scandaaaaaaaallllssss. . ." He trailed off after he realized what she was actually trying to show her, "Oh sh*t."

"Yeah, I'm being sent this by every person I know. And even some that I don't. What the f**k, Dad?" She yelled.

"Language, my dear." He sighed, "Why don't you sit down?"

Via plopped down on his bed and crossed her arms, "Okay, I'm sitting. Now, talk."

Stolas sat beside her, "Well, um . . . You know how . . . my good friend Blitzø came over last night?"

"Ugh, Dad, please don't let this be a story about your s*x life." She pulled her beanie down.

"Oh, no, no, no! Actually . . . We kind of ended . . . things." He looked down and frowned at the bedding.

"What . . .?" She looked confused.

"Yes, well, originally I was hoping to start a real relationship with him, . . . but it seems he doesn't feel the same way." He tried to fake a smile to make it seem like it wasn't a big deal.

Octavia was surprised, but when she thought about it, it made sense. Her Dad was a foolish man, but he wouldn't have ruined their lives for just anyone. He did care about her, but she had seen him silently looking miserable for years, maybe all her life, though she didn't see it at first. And when she finally did, it was something easier to ignore and pretend she hadn't seen, then to face. Maybe if she'd had asked him why he was so depressed, things may have played out differently. Not that she had any control over the situation, but she loved her Dad, and wished she could've done something to make both her parents happy together. That, however, was the dream of a child, and she was not a kid anymore.

Stolas sighed and continued, "I know that the divorce hasn't been finalized, but I wanted to tell him how I felt. Still, he left without saying a word, so I suppose you won't have to worry about him coming over anymore."

"Dad. . . Are- are you crying?" She said, unsure what to do.

"What? Of course not. Why would I cry when I have my little Starfire with me?" He said, but he wiped his eyes just to check.

"Wrong pair." Via said, and pointed higher up on her head.

Stolas touched the same spot on his own and found that his upper eyes were, indeed, crying, "Oh, how silly of me. Betraying me once again are you?" He scolded them as a joke.

" . . . Dad . . ." She said, but she didn't have the words, so she hugged him instead.

The daughter Stolas had betrayed the trust of was now comforting him, which caught him by surprise. He knew he didn't deserve her warmth, but he wrapped his arms around her and prayed beyond any hope that she wouldn't feel his shaking breath, the unsteady rise and fall of his chest, and that she wouldn't leave him, too.

Octavia pulled away, "That still doesn't explain why you have dating profiles that are showing up in the news."

"Ah! Yes. That." He remembered, "Well, last night I was . . . Just a little upset after what happened. So, to relieve some of the stress, I made a fake dating profile. I didn't mean for anything to come from it, and I thought I had been careful enough that it would remain a secret, but some tech wiz or another figured me out and- . . . Well, you know the rest." He looked dejected.

Via couldn't help but snicker a little, "I'm sorry Dad, but I don't think it takes a 'tech wiz' to figure out that Stolas Galloway is actually you. I mean, you put a picture of yourself in royal clothing with your face blurred out." She paused to laugh, "Who else could it possibly be?!"

Stolas grinned, happy to see his daughter happy, even if she was laughing at his expense, "I suppose I could've done a better job at disguising myself." He laughed with her.

She took a moment to catch her breath, "I get it, Dad. And, you know, . . . it's okay if you want to go out and date some people, the red d**khead or someone else."

"Really . . .?" He was not expecting that.

"Yeah, I mean, I'm still coming to terms with . . . well, everything that's been going on, but . . ." she paused, thinking, "but I know that you've been lonely a long time now and . . . I want you to be happy."

She looked up at him and smiled, and he teared up again, "Oh, thank you, Darling, thank you." He wrapped her in a big hug.

"Yeah, yeah. I love you too, Dad." She smiled and rolled her eyes, hugging him back.

"And I really am sorry about how everything has turned out. I should have done so, so many things differently. You deserve better and I-" He choked on his words.

"It's okay, Dad!" She pulled away so she could look at his face, "Just . . . promise me that you'll try to lay low for a while? Please?"

"Yes! Yes, of course! Trust me, I don't like receiving this type of attention either." He smiled at her.

"Thanks." She got up and began to leave, but paused at the doorway, "I still can't say I like the guy. In fact, I kind of hate him, but . . . if he makes you happy . . . maybe I can give him a chance. Maybe."

"Oh, well. I'm not sure it's going to work out between me and him, so you don't have to worry about that, anymore." He rubbed the back of his neck.

She smiled, "Wow, and I thought you were the one who always told me to fight for what I wanted." And with that she left him to his thoughts.

— — —

At 11 pm in the pride ring, in a city, in an apartment, on a couch, sat an imp in his thirties, contorted in a weird position that he somehow found comfortable. Blitzø was doom scrolling online, which most scrolling is doom scrolling when you're in literal hell. It was a regular part of his routine, but no amount of societal doom was distracting him from his interpersonal doom.

As a general rule, Blitzø hated waiting. If there was a line at Wack Donald's, he cut it, sometimes literally cutting people to get through. If there were numbered tickets at the DMV (demonic motorized vehicles), he'd swipe someone else's number. And if there was a five year wait for a yearly hellbies shot, he'd try very hard to not to shoot everyone in the waiting room. So the fact that he had already waited for 2 weeks, just for a privileged *sshole to swallow his pride and come ask for him back, with no guarantee it would happen at all, was his own personal hell.

Blitzø paused scrolling through his phone, considering for the first time that there was a chance he could be wrong . . . Maybe Stolas was really done with him. He'd had his fun, and decided for the both of them that it was over, without bothering to ask him how he felt about it. . . Not that he felt anything more than general irritation. If he really was done with him though, then there would be nothing he could do about it. Well, either way there was nothing he could do. Blitzø would have to wait. That was fine. He could wait. He could wait better than Stolas head ever waited in his f**king life.

It became very difficult when Stolas was being shoved in his face, and not in a literal way this time. Every social media, news, or video website was all a buzz with the possibility of making a connection with a Goetian prince. People were making memes about it, posting theories about why he was doing this, the morals of him dating while the divorce hadn't yet been finalized, and most importantly, what accounts he might be. The Internet was drowning in constant ads for dating apps and s*xual favor websites. And that's where it all started.

Blitzø had passive accounts on just about every dating app out there, mostly looking for hookups. It's not that he couldn't find one in person; a horny demon was always just a stone's throw away. But online apps showed you their name first, which helped him avoid f**king a Dennis on accident. It had been awhile since he had looked at any of them though. Being a father to Loona and getting the business up and running had taken up a lot of his time and so swiping for dates had fallen to the side of his priority list.

That's when an ad showed up in his feed for an app he had never seen before called Faceless Love. It was pretty new, but quickly gaining traction, as its primary function was to match with people without seeing their face. Either they had hit a lucky break with the mystery Prince thing happening right after it launched, or someone saw a need in the market and decided to fill it. Either way, respect.

Blitzø tapped on it, just to take a look. It seemed it still had pictures in the profile. But no people were allowed to be in them, it didn't matter if it was you or not. The sample in the advertisement showed a lot of sunsets and scenic views, which made him laugh. He was curious to see if people really just put a bunch of sinstrest stuff on their profiles, so he downloaded it. Then of course, in order to see other people's profiles, he had to make his own. So, he threw something together real fast and started swiping through. Sure enough, most of them were scenic beach views, some food posts from fancy restaurants, lingerie photos, and occasional blank backgrounds with song lyrics over top of it. He had swiped left on a bunch of these and was about to stop and delete the account, when he saw a simple picture of a flower.

It wasn't your typical, sunny fields with flowers and rainbows, or a bed covered in roses. It was a potted plant, and quite an ugly one at that. It was basically one big mouth, with several eyes around the bottom of it. It looked like one he had seen in Stolas' house one time, but it was a lot smaller, and on a dingy wooden table in front of a window. He scrolled down to see what other photos this person had posted.

There was a very warty toad sitting by a brimstone lake. A child's drawing of the night sky hung on a fridge. A pile of books of all different varieties and subjects, which he would have shrugged off as a bad attempt at looking smart, but the books were well worn. And then there was a picture of a bar of soap laying on what appeared to be a miniature stage . . .? Well, now Blitzø had to know. He scrolled back up, and started reading the description.

Why, hello there! Thought I'd give this new app a try. I'm a single Dad struggling to win the affection of a teenager who's outgrowing me. 😔

I enjoy reading 📕, gardening🌱🍃, music🎶, and soap operas (which is what the last picture was referring too, if it was too confusing 😅) Anyway, if none of that scares you away, please message me.

Blitzø chuckled at the dad joke. This guy was like Stolas but more chill. . . Stolas. His mind just kept coming back to him now that he wasn't going to see him again. Honestly, Stolas should just date this guy. They had a lot in common. Everything except the soap operas; he was pretty sure he was too fancy for that.

And that's when it hit him.

He dropped his phone on his face.

And that's when he had an idea.

If Stolas was going to be trying to find someone to make him jealous, he didn't have to just wait around, he could fight fire with fire. Blitzø doubted he could bag anyone of higher status than Stolas, honestly he still didn't know how he managed it with him. But he might be able to find someone hotter? Or smarter? More down to Earth -er, hell. He supposed it didn't matter really, so long as he managed to get someone who adored him, or at least could fake it in front of that rich pile of feathers. If he could do that, then he could prove to Stolas that he needed Blitzø more than Blitzø needed him.

Blitzø was about to start swiping right on as many profiles as he could to increase the odds (which is not a good or recommended dating strategy), when he saw the name on the profile he had been looking at.

Trent. Ugh. It was almost as bad as Dennis. But for the optional last name portion, it said ButYouCanCallMeSweetieIfYouLike

Blitzø smiled, and sent his first message.

"Hey there, Sweetie."

— — —

I was very nervous with this chapter because it was my first time writing Octavia. She doesn't have a lot of screen time, but I rewatched her sections and did my best. It was made all the worse because my dear editor was only able to read the Blitzø part of the chapter. Once I finished the first part, they were busy once again, so I had to turn to my number one supporter, who doesn't watch the show. So I briefly described Octavia to them, and they said it seemed accurate. I really wanted to stick to my deadline so I published it.

I feel like the further I get into this story, the more unsure I feel about my writing. Which is strange because thus far, everyone seems to be enjoying it and I'm slowly gaining likes and followers, but my brain just loves to catastrophize. So I keep thinking, "What am I doing wrong?" and "Any one of these chapters, I could mess up so badly that they stop reading". Guess that's what anxiety will do to ya.

This is my first time being so consistent with my writing. I usually pop from one story to the next, but having so much visible support from strangers who have no obligation to tell me they like it, has really helped. And having people who keep coming back to find out what happens next, has been holding me accountable. Maybe someday I might get back to writing my original work, but for now this is making me happy, and stretching that creative muscle, and that's what I really need at the moment.

Did you find the secret message in the chapter? Leave a comment/review and let me know.

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