Chapter 25: Tainted Reality Exchanged Not Terminated (Trent)

VikTheViking on Ao3 Quotev and ko-fi

VikTheViking1 on Tumblr and Wattpad

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"Stolas told you that, didn't he?"

It was evening, just starting to get dark out. The room bathed in a cool blue light. The air was tight and dry and the tea wasn't calming his agitation. Andrealphus was talking to his dimwit of a sister about the photo of his niece that was supposed to be in the tabloids by now. Poor kid would be the talk of the town and not in a good way, but it would fade and she would get over it. That is, if it was ever sent out.

"No." Stella lied as she leaned back in her chair, risking tipping it over carelessly, "I simply decided not to publish it to save my own neck. You were the one who was being daft, conjuring up a scheme that might make me seem like a bad mother to the public eye."

"You wouldn't be!" He slammed both hands on the table, then sighed, "You might seem partially culpable for a little while, but we'd be able to push the blame onto Stolas entirely once we got damning enough evidence."

"Well I don't want to seem at all capable," Her tongue slipped on the word, "not even for a second!"

"Trust me, my dear, you have made sure of that all on your own." He grumbled as he took a sip from his ornate teacup.

"Whatever. Until we have something that will fully drag Stolas's name through the mud, I will not budge on this." She said, stirring an ungodly- undevily? Stirring an unsettling amount of sugar into her tea.

"Oh my Satan, why do I even bother?" He put his face in his hands and listened to her slurp like a degenerate.

A noise came from Andrealphus's pocket, and when he took out his phone a wide grin slowly spread across his face.

"Gotcha."

— — —

Months of careful chatting with strangers, many of whom sent d**k pics like it was saying hello, some who shouted at him for including pronouns in his profile, and one who even accused him of being a spy or terrorist or something. Then weeks spent chatting, flirting, and getting to know one particular person. Someone who understood him better than Blitz, who was funnier than Blitz, and who cared about him more than Blitz ever did. All for Blitz to show up and interrupt his date.

Luckily, Stolas had already transformed into the Succubus disguise. He had chosen clothes that would mostly suit a succubus, and he enjoyed having horns on his head, and even decorated them with a lunar necklace. He always dressed to fit the royal image, so it was nice to be able to try something new. Though the moment he looked up and saw Blitz standing there, he instinctively tried to cover his exposed stomach with his arms.

"You're Trent, I'm guessing?" Blitz asked, and Stolas had to look down to make sure his disguise was still intact.

"How did you know?" he had never worn this disguise before, so perhaps Blitz happened to know a succubi who looked like this and also happened to use the same name as the one he had used on his disguised account . . .?

"You're an exact copy of your Succuchat icon!" Blitz showed him his phone and Stolas pulled out his own. They were the exact same messages sent at the exact same time. Stolas took a deep breath, still in bewilderment of how this could have happened.

"I see, that is the chat I was having, but . . . I was chatting with a gentleman named Bluez." Stolas said, begging for this to all be some kind of misunderstanding.

"Ah, sh*t. Did I forget to change that? I'm sorry. I was typing real fast when I was making the profile. I found out it was wrong later, and meant to change it, but uh . . . I got distracted and forgot about it." Blitz seemed a little embarrassed, and Stolas couldn't help but wonder what this distraction was. He supposed it made sense. Blitz didn't exactly go back and check his spelling so honestly, if it was possible to misspell one's own name, Blitz would be the man to do it.

"Hang on, how did you know my name was Blitz, then?"

Stolas was sure he looked like a deer in headlights. He had been prepared to lie a little bit while on this date, to keep his true identity hidden for just a little while longer, but this was a question he was not at all prepared for, "I-I-I uh, well. I suppose I must have heard it somewhere . . .? Oh! That commercial! Yes! The Expedient Murder Professionals? That's how I know you!" he messed up the name on purpose, hoping to make it seem like he had heard it in passing, and wasn't something he had memorized by heart.

Blitz seemed to accept that answer, and before he knew it, they were heading inside the restaurant. When they arrived at the booth, Stolas froze in place. What was he doing? This wasn't right. As far as Blitz was concerned, he had blown him off yesterday. He probably was hungover this morning because of him. And here he was acting fine, putting on a strong face, in hopes of dating someone new, someone better . . . Better than him.

His plan was to go on the date, see how it went, and decide what to say to Blitz after. He knew he had to apologize at some point. What to say after that . . . He wasn't sure. But now Blitz was right here in front of him, with no idea who he was actually talking to. It just . . . it didn't seem right.

"Don't worry, you can get anything you want. I'll pay!" Blitz's voice brought him back to the present.

"Oh, no. I can pay for us. I just was thinking, um. . ." Was there a realistic excuse to leave? Without hurting his feelings? IF there was he couldn't think of one, "Nevermind."

"You sure?" Blitz asked, looking so sweet.

"Y-yes, it's fine." Stolas hid behind his menu. It was one date. He could get through one date.

— — —

"Bahahahahahahahah!" Blitz was laying on the bench on his side of the booth, kicking his legs in the air, cackling at Stolas's (or Trent's) expense.

Stolas blushed, tensing, "Look-"

"Y-you thought-" Blitz laughed, "You thought that-"

"Listen-"

"That the stuffed pancakes were gonna be stuffed-" Blitz cackled, "With pillow stuffing?! Like the stuff in stuffed animals?!"

Stolas smiled, which felt different with lips instead of a beak, "I'd never heard of them before."

"Yes but," Blitz giggled, "It's a restaurant! Why would it put nonfood inside of food and expect people to eat it?!"

"Well, I'm glad it was strawberries, because my other thought was that it was turkey stuffing, but frankly, that sounded just as inedible." Stolas said.

Blitz laughed even harder, and Stolas waited as he caught his breathe and sat up, "Did you have to make me almost piss myself, Trent? You really haven't heard of anything being stuffed before aside from turkeys and plushies?"

His smile faded. Right, he was Trent, and he couldn't let his guard down, "I suppose not."

"Well, play your cards right and I might stuff you." Blitz grinned.

"You'd. . . Feed me until I'm overfull?" Stolas tilted his head.

Blitz laughed again, "Sure, that too."

"I'd better get started then." Stolas said and began to eat.

After a few bites Blitz asked, mouth still full, "So, how's your kid taking the divorce?"

Stolas choked on his food, wheezing, with sounds that he hoped weren't too noticeably birdlike. Blitz raised his eyebrow, "You okay?"

Stolas downed some lemonade, "I-I'm fine. And she's fine. Well, she hates it, but that was to be expected."

"Mm," Blitz stabbed his omelet with his fork, "She thinks you ought to stay together, then?"

"Oh, heavens, no. She just wishes that it would be over with, and that we would take a break from fighting every once in a while and pay some attention to her. At least, I'm pretty sure that's how she feels." Stolas looked at his pancake, cut and now bleeding out strawberry goo.

"You haven't asked her?" Blitz shoveled more food in his mouth.

"Oh, of course I have. But . . . you know how it is with teenagers. Trying to decipher what they say from what they actually mean, especially when it comes to their needs, can be impossible! I miss the times when she didn't think she was too cool to ask for help or affection." Stolas smiled at the wall behind Blitz, reminiscing.

"D*mn, that does sound sweet. Wish I got to experience Loona being cuddly. Loona's the name of my daughter, by the way. Not sure if I mentioned that." Blitz explained.

He didn't, Stolas knew that for certain. He had known that the man he thought was Bluez had a daughter, but had he said her name was Loona, especially with the odd spelling, his suspicions might have been raised. Although, he did have some questions now. Maybe he would finally be allowed to ask, "When did you adopt your daughter?"

"Did I say she was adopted?" Blitz asked, not looking up from his coke.

"O-Oh, I'm sure you mentioned it at some point." sh*t he needed to be more careful.

Blitz shrugged to himself, "Let's see, how many years now? She was seventeen when I adopted her so . . ."

"Seventeen? I had assumed you had gotten her much younger than that." Stolas said.

"Meh, don't say gotten. Makes her sound like an object. She's a hellhound, so she's sensitive about things like that." Blitz said.

"A hellhound?" Stolas tried to feign surprise, "I've never heard of someone taking one in to be their child."

Blitz pointed his butter knife in his direction, "Listen buddy, you're on a date with an imp, so I assumed you weren't prejudice on stupid sh*t like that. Don't prove me wrong."

Whoops, perhaps too surprised, "O-of course! I mean, I am a little taken aback with the new information," he lied, since he already knew, "but if she's your daughter, she's your daughter."

Blitz grinned a proud dad grin, "That's right."

"So, she joined your family at seventeen? I'm curious. What made you choose her of all the pups that were available- I mean, up for adoption?" Stolas spoke as he realized that the vocabulary he had been taught really was outdated at best, "I've always wonder what kind of thought must go into such a big decision."

"Well," Blitz sighed, "There were so many that were sad and needed a parent desperately. And given the state of things, many of them wouldn't get them, just an owner, if they were lucky. But . . ." he trailed off for a moment and smiled, "I saw her, looking so big, and yet so small. I heard the lady who ran the place talking about how useless she thought she was," he spat the word and sighed again, "I was about her age when my life first fell apart. I didn't have anyone to help me back then. I just thought . . . maybe I could help her." He looked up, then back down again, "S-sorry, it sounds stupid . . . saying it outloud."

"No, no!" Stolas said, leaning forward, "It sounds wonderful. You needed her and she needed you. There's nothing more beautiful than that. And there's nothing else needed to make you two a family."

Blitz smiled, placing his hands on his hips, "Yeah . . . I don't know about beautiful, but yeah, you're absolutely right."

"So . . . how did your life fall apart at her age?" He quickly added, "I-If that's alright."

Blitz was quiet for a moment, "Meh, that's a story for another time. . . sorry."

"No . . . no, that's a perfectly valid answer." Stolas reassured.

"I-I really do want to tell you, I just . . ." Blitz searched for the words, and came up empty.

"It's alright, really. It's just the first date. There will be plenty of time." He said the words, but felt he was choking on them. Blitz didn't know it yet, but there would be no next time. He couldn't keep up the act of Trent forever. The truth would come out eventually, and whether he revealed it or Blitz simply found out, there was no way he would look at him the same; the way he looked at Trent now, eyes full of hope and affection. Oh, how Stolas had dreamed for that look, spent nights lying awake for it, but when he finally got it, it wasn't his to keep. It was Trent's. And even if he was Trent, Trent wasn't him. To Blitz, Trent was Stolas without any of the obligation, the abuse of power, the manipulation. Someone who he could be equals with, and never have to worry about public outrage.

And that's what made it hurt all the worse, because now he knew, without any doubt. That if they had been just this, two hellborn getting to know each other, they could have fallen in love. But too many things had happened, deceit and cowardice and cruelty on both sides, and he feared there was no hope for them now. He couldn't break his heart a second time, no matter how much he selfishly wanted this. Still, he held his brave face up for Blitz, so that at least this memory together wouldn't be soiled by his mistakes of the past.

Blitz smiled back at him, so sincere, "You're right. . . Hey, do you mind if we get out of here? I want to show you something."

Stolas smiled Trent's smile, "Yes, I'll follow right behind you."

Author's Note:

There were SOOO many new comments after the last chapter! Across multiple platforms, too! I guess when you finally get to the scene you've been building up to for so long, people are going to be excited about it. Thank you to everyone who has ever left a comment/review of my story. It really means the world to me to know that there are real people reading and liking my works. That the numbers on my screen actually mean something. That if one Wednesday I just stopped posting, there would be people who would care. Thank you so much!

There's just a little while to go now, and I am trying to work out what to do next. I have a Fizzmodeus one shot in the works, and maybe something else too, so that hopefully you won't completely forget about me as I try to decide what to work on next. I've been debating whether to stay in this universe or going to another one. I think I'll be done with Stolitz for now, at least as my main story. I mean, I love my bois, but I need a break, a fresh perspective.

So the debate has become whether to keep fanfic writing or start on something original? And if I keep writing fics, do I move to another ship in the hellaverse, or to a different show that there maybe some overlap in fandoms? I've thought about The Owl House, Good Omens, Loki, or something else. Trouble is, I don't have many good ideas for plot. I chose a Blitz x Stolas story because I was obsessed with the show, upset at where things were at the time, and had a specific idea on how things could get better. All of the shows I've listed have had endings, save for Good Omens. Writing from where it left off, it would be hard to focus on romance without getting into the main plot. If I stayed in the hellaverse, I might try my hand at Fizzarolli and Asmodeus, but at the same time, most of their story has already been told, and what hasn't, I'm pretty sure we will be getting in the next episode. I don't think I could pump out 25+ chapters before it drops like I've been able to with this Stolitz story. I could try Huskerdust, but their canon content is definitely coming out soon, and it would be all too easy to accidentally contradict the main story.

All this to say that the week after next, the 24th of January in 2023, I will be taking the week off, and try writing little bits of different story ideas, in the hopes that I'll strike gold.

The biggest trouble I find is that not only do I want to start a new story that I can ride on for weeks, I want it to be so intrinsically tied to the main story it's based off of that I couldn't untangle it if I wanted to. I may not be a lawyer but I know enough about copyright laws to know that any story I publish online will have little to no chance of being published anywhere else. And so any ideas that I have that could be at all untangled from their first inspiration and made into their own original work, I kinda want to keep for myself so I could publish it into a real book someday. The Pompous and the Prick was perfect for this reason. The world building, and the characters, and specifically their arrangements with each other, all were so unique and inextricably connected to the storyline I had in mind, that it didn't feel like a waste to publish it onto a fanfic website. It just felt like good writing practice, and an outlet for creativity (and frustration with a certain imp man and bird boi) while I thought about what original work I might want to write.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback in the comments about this. If you have suggestions or even fic requests, I'd love to hear it. You can also private message me on Tumblr viktheviking1 if that's easier. Obviously, no guarantees I'll write what you want, but no harm in asking. I'll at least read them over. I also will likely post a poll on tumblr in the near-ish future (probably jan. 18th or so), so you can follow me there to leave your input.

Maybe the title for this chapter was a little pretentious, but I enjoyed it. At the end of the chapter, especially the last line of dialogue, all my dear editor could think to say was "Ow . . . you hurt me." To which I say good. That was the intent. Here is the remnants of the title as I was workshopping it:

Time renewed everything

Time renewed erroneous

Time Reversed Everything Not Tainted

Trent

Tainted Reality Exchanged Not Terminated (Trent)

See you next week!