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Blitzø fumbled with his keys a little more than usual as he unlocked the door to his apartment. That tended to happen when one was drunk on afterglow and the delicious lingering pain of violent lovemaking. Or maybe he was getting too soft to shake off his cuts? Fuck, he hoped not.

The view that greeted him as he pushed open the door only exacerbated that concern. With all the money coming in, he and Loona had moved to a much bigger and fancier apartment in one of the nicer neighborhoods. Sure, neither of them picked up after themselves so it was thoroughly trashed, but they'd moved up to fancier digs all the same.

Speaking of Loona, Blitzø's pride and joy was slouched on their new double wide sofa, quietly texting. She spared a brief glance up at the imp before scoffing and going back to texting. "The fuck happened to you?" she grunted.

"Oh, y'know, the usual," said Blitzø, "Got into a fight with a couple of fuckers who thought they were hot shit. There was like five of those assholes. I taught 'em a lesson." He rubbed his knuckles on his chest, which he now realized was exposed through his torn dress. "You think I look fucked up? You should see the other guys!"

Loona sighed and bowed her head until her forehead touched the screen of her phone, then glared back at Blitzø. "So that's the usual huh?" she snapped, "Funny how something always seems to happen every time you come home from work."

Blitzø drew back in indignation. "Hey, I can't help it if I'm running late sometimes! Things got complicated on the way home."

"Oh, bullshit!" snarked the Hellhound as she glared up at her adoptive father, "You suck at making stuff up. What happened this time? Trouble in paradise? Harper finally done with your shit?"

That little remark was enough to sour Blitzø's mood. "Do NOT talk about our star investor like that!" he growled. He ripped his disheveled blonde wig off and stormed towards the bathroom. "If you MUST know, Harps and I were following up on some work stuff, and we got a little carried away." He heard Loona gag as he stepped up to the vanity to finish cleaning the smeared makeup off his face.

There was a huff beside him, and he turned to see Loona glowering at him from the open door, her arms folded and her phone pocketed. After a few moments of tense silence, Blitzø dropped the washcloth in the sink and looked at the Hellhound again. "Alright, what's going on? You've been pissy for months. You keep telling me it's 'fine,' but nothing about this is 'fine.' Talk to me, Loonie."

"Okay, you wanna talk?" snarled Loona, "Fine, let's talk. Let's talk about how you're home late every other night. While we're at it, let's talk about how you sometimes don't come home at all, and I don't see you again until I punch in at the office the day after."

"Now Loonie, I know it's hard," said Blitzø, "but I.M.P. is growing faster than a shogoth with a gland problem. I'm the CEO! That's a really big job and requires lots of meetings over big important god-tier stuff. I gotta keep our investors happy, especially Harper."

"Uh-huh, sure. And I'm sure you've got all kinds of special ways to keep Mr. Harper happy."

Blitzø's eyes narrowed. "What are you implying?" he demanded.

Loona bared her teeth and pointed accusingly at the imp. "I'm 'implying' that you're too busy taking it up the ass because you think an Overlord is in love with you. Fucksake Blitzø, you've completely turned your company AND yourself over to him!"

The imp pushed past Loona as he returned to the living room. She stalked after him, her fur bristling. "Y'know, I figured you'd be a little more grateful, what with how good things have been since Harper invested in the company," said Blitzø.

The Hellhound put her hands to her cheeks, wide-eyed and smiling mockingly. "Well golly gee, Blitzø! Thanks so much for never being around anymore! It's real fucking swell that you spend most of your free time bending over for Mr. Harper, and the rest of it bending over for Stolas!"

Blitzø grabbed at the base of his horns in frustration. "Okay, first of all, Stolas is a rock-bottom bitch, and he only topped one time . Second of all, you need to show the people who keep this company in the black a little more respect. Third, weren't you the one complaining that I didn't give you enough space? I thought you wanted more alone time!"

"I did, but that's not the point!" Loona growled, "You're always running off to spend time with your 'boyfriend.'" The air quotes she used set Blitzø on edge. "It was cute at first, okay? But you're over there fucking him every fucking day! Goddammit, Blitzø, I've got nothing but alone time now that Harper's got his claws in you!"

"Now that's enough!" Blitzø snapped, "I don't expect you to understand, but as Lucifer is my witness I love that man!" He jabbed his finger into his palm for dramatic emphasis. "Look, I'm sorry that he's been distracting me, but this is the first time I've ever-"

Loona didn't seem to be listening, though. She was running her fingers through her shaggy mane of hair and walking away from him. The imp stomped his foot in annoyance. "Little lady, you get back here and look at me while I'm talking to you!"

The Hellhound stopped and turned her head only slightly. "Or else what? You're gonna run back to Harper and cry on his dick?"

Blitzø spluttered, then stalked down the hall to get in front of Loona. "Watch it, Loonie. Say whatever the fuck you want about the weird thing I have with Stolas, but I won't sit here and listen to you insult my boyfriend. Like I was saying, this is the first time I've had something REAL."

"Oh my FUCKING God, Blitzø!" Loona shouted, throwing up her hands. Before the imp could reprimand her for invoking the ruler of Heaven, she continued. "Don't you fucking get it?! Harper does not fucking love you! He's using you to get to Stolas! You're his little plaything, and that's all you'll ever be! It's just like with Verosika, and every sideshow skank you met before AND after her!"

Her face twisted into an ugly sneer. "He doesn't love you, Blitzø. Nobody loves you . NOBODY COULD EVER LOVE YOU!"

No sooner had the words left her lips, Loona clasped her hands over her mouth, eyes wide in surprise and horror. But the damage was done.

Blitzø shrank back, his face equal parts shock, anger, and betrayal. Loona had hurt him many times before. He'd come to accept that, and they'd always make up eventually. But this time? She'd rammed a harpoon through his chest.

The imp backed into the wall, his horns unceremoniously chipping the plaster. His arms folded around to hug himself, and his slender body shook.

"Blitzø I'm sorry..." Loona started.

"Go to your room," Blitzø curtly interrupted.

"Dad-"

"I said GO TO YOUR ROOM!" Blitzø shouted, making the Hellhound recoil. "And DON'T come out until it's time for work tomorrow. You're FUCKING GROUNDED!"

Loona's fearful expression shifted once more into that angry scowl. "Alright, know what? Fucking fine! I was going to bed anyways. Not like I have anything better to do." She stormed past the quivering imp and slammed her door. Silence filled the apartment once more.

Blitzø leaned against the wall, shaking and panting. Hot tears stung at his eyes, which he futilely tried to swipe away. Finally, with a roar of anguish, he swung around and put his fist through the wall, because fuck the security deposit.

With a gaping hole in the plaster and his knuckles bleeding, the imp slid down the wall and drew his knees up to his chest. He buried his head in his hands and struggled to hold back the despair welling up inside of him. Loona's words echoed in his head, only to be supplanted by a crueller and all too familiar voice.

Nobody could ever love you!

Nobody could ever love you!

Nobody could ever love you!

Does anybody love you, ** Blitzo?**

He couldn't stay here. Not right now.

With one final deep breath, Blitzø got unsteadily to his feet and walked to his room. Once he'd changed out of his ruined dress into his usual day clothes, he went back downstairs and out onto the street. Then, he took out his phone.

For several minutes he stood on the sidewalk with his finger hovering over Harper's number. He could call and ask to spend the night. Harper would probably agree.

No. He might not be the smartest imp, and he wanted nothing more than Harper's strong arms around him, but this could make it worse. Besides, Harps already had a lot of shit going down; he didn't need Blitzø unloading all his baggage on him. Not to mention that Loona was probably right that it'd end with him crying on the dragon's dick.

Blitzø started walking up the street. One of the benefits of being able to afford to live in a nicer neighborhood was that he didn't have to be on guard so often. All the same, his pistol never left his side.

He swiped through his contact list until he came to Stolas's number. Bingo! Stolas would understand; he had a daughter. Blitzø pressed the button to dial.

The owl demon answered after the first ring. "Why Blitzy, what a pleasant surprise. Calling me for once~" he purred.

Blitzø tensed. Fucking caller ID . "Hey, Stolas. Um, I wanted to..." he swallowed. It was hard to talk with the lump in his throat, "...I wanted to talk to you about something. Some heavy shit's going on right now."

There was a pause on the line, and for a moment Blitzø thought maybe the call had dropped. "Oh dear," Stolas finally said, his tone much more serious, "You're not hurt, are you? Where are you right now?"

"I'm outside my apartment building. It's hard to explain on the phone just..." the imp sighed, "I don't wanna be alone right now, and I don't wanna be at home. Can you come get me?"

Another pause. "I certainly could," said Stolas, "But know that my wife is at home."

"NO! No! I don't need to go back to your place. We can go somewhere. Anywhere. Just not here."

"I understand," said the Prince of Hell, "Stay where you are. I'll be with you in only a moment."

Blitzø hung up without another word, then leaned against a wall. Less than a minute later, a portal suddenly opened in front of him, making him jump. He relaxed as the lanky owl demon emerged. "Fucksake, don't do that right next to me!" he said, "Almost gave me a heart attack."

"I'm sorry Blitzø, I-" Stolas stopped upon seeing the stained gauze pads around the imp's head and neck. "By Lucifer, you are hurt!" He knelt to cradle Blitzø's head in his hands, and his expression darkened. "Who did this to you? They will pay for this."

"Stolas, relax. I'm okay!" the imp quickly insisted, "Just got a little scraped up on a job is all."

The Prince of Hell slackened his grip on Blitzø's chin, and he sighed. "Right, my apologies. I feared the worst when you called," he cocked his head, "What is the matter? You seemed distraught over the phone."

Blitzø rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Yeah, I kinda am. Some shit unrelated to" he wordlessly gestured to his bandaged scratches "went down. You got someplace we can go to talk about this?"

Stolas straightened up and tapped his chin for a moment. Then, he perked up. "I know just the place!" With a casual gesture, he tore a hole in the fabric of time and space, then took Blitzø by the hand. The imp followed, more curious than apprehensive as to where Stolas was taking him.

Knowing the owl demon, Blitzø assumed that he would take him someplace space-related. The observatory, some place with a clear view of the night sky. Shit maybe even out to some asteroid or something. So naturally the imp was surprised to find himself in a brightly-colored restaurant with lots of pastel and chrome finishing. Off to one side were the tables and a lunch counter with stools. Off to the other was an indoor playground with a ball pit and a brightly colored network of big plastic tubes hanging from the ceiling.

Blitzø's gaze lingered on the latter before his attention was drawn by a loud gasp. "Your Highness!" exclaimed a chubby, purple, multi-armed demon in a striped shirt and apron behind the counter. "What a pleasant surprise!"

"The pleasure's all mine, Carl," Stolas warmly replied as he led Blitzø up to the counter. "It's certainly been a while, hasn't it?"

"A few years at least!" Carl agreed, "I haven't seen you around here since..."

"Since Octavia grew up, or so she says," finished Stolas as he took a seat. "For old time's sake, I'll take the usual for myself, and Via's usual for my friend here."

Friend. Blitzø couldn't help but steal a glance at the owl demon when he said that. Of all the things Stolas called him over the years, this was the first time he called him "friend." In all the whirling, conflicting emotions that rose up whenever he thought about the Prince of Hell, hearing that hit different. It felt good, almost.

As Carl hurried into the kitchen to prepare whatever "the usual" was, Stolas patted the swivel stool beside him. "Now, hop on up, and tell me everything that troubles you," he said.

"Gotta say I didn't expect you to bring me to a dessert shop," Blitzø admitted as he took the seat.

Stolas casually shrugged. "It was the first place I could think of that would help improve the mood. Whenever my Via would feel sad when she was little, bringing her here never failed to cheer her up."

"Kinda fucked up you'd take me to a kids' place to cheer me up. Ah fuck it, I ain't complaining," Blitzø leaned against the counter and sat for a moment in silence. "Anyways, suppose you wanna know what's got my panties in a twist, huh?"

The owl demon chuckled, a blush coloring his cheeks. "A creative way of phrasing it, but yes I do."

Blitzø pointed at Stolas in warning, "Don't cream yourself in front of all these kids, perv. Anyways..." he drifted off, his claws drumming on the counter as he pondered where to begin. "...Have you ever gotten into a fight with Octavia? I mean like a really big one."

Stolas cocked his head. "Well, we've had our share of disagreements, and she did have that breakdown at Loo Loo Land a couple years ago, if you'll remember."

Blitzø nodded thoughtfully. "Too bad I missed most of that. I was, uhhhhh, busy." He stole a glance at the owl demon, who was decidedly not amused. " Anyways , short story is that me and Loona got into a fight. We both said some shit we probably shouldn't have, but then she," he paused to take a deep breath, "She said something that really, really fucking hurt."

While he was talking, the imp was vaguely aware of the Prince of Hell's arm gently draping over his shoulders. He leaned into the touch. Hell knew he needed it right now. "Has Via ever done that to you, Stolas? Has she ever broken your heart into a million pieces, and you don't know which ones to even pick up first?"

Stolas didn't answer right away, save for a gentle squeeze from the crook of his arm. "When you put it that way, I can't say she has," the owl demon finally admitted, making Blitzø's hopes sink. "We've argued plenty, of course, but I can't say she's ever broken my heart. Regrettably, there are times I fear I may have come close to breaking hers."

The Prince straightened up as he said that. "Hang on, there's something to consider! Blitzø, what exactly led up to this fight?"

While Blitzø racked his brains for as many details as possible, Carl emerged from the kitchen bearing two large bowls filled high with the biggest, most colorful sundaes the imp had ever seen. His eyes practically bugged out of his head as one with strawberry, caramel, whipped cream, and little gummy candies was placed in front of him, complete with a long silver spoon.

Blitzø thought he heard Stolas chuckle as he greedily dug into the ice cream. The imp soon paid for it with the wave of brainfreeze that split his skull. Once he'd recovered, he resigned himself to taking smaller bites. Now, where was he? Oh, right.

"Loonie's been acting really weird the past couple months," said Blitzø, "I mean, she's always kinda bitchy, but this is like advanced bitchy, know what I'm saying? I'd keep asking her what's wrong, and she'd tell me it's fine.

"And that's what I thought for the longest time! She was really digging her move from receptionist to the front lines - against my wishes, might I add!" he gestured with his spoon, sending a wad of ice cream flying across the counter and into another customer's dish, "We've got a bigger, fancier apartment! This was about as much as any of us could've asked for."

Blitzø sank into his seat and prodded his sundae. "Guess I was missing something though, because things weren't fine. I pretended they were until she finally blew up at me tonight."

Stolas hummed in contemplation, "It sounds like something you were doing was hurting her. Did she finally tell you what it was?"

Blitzø briefly contemplated how much to tell his friend and part-time lover. Another spoonful of his sundae was the courage he needed to get started. Ultimately, only part of the story came out, focused primarily on his staying out late.

"It's not like I can help it, either!" he exclaimed as he scraped the bottom of his bowl, "I tried to tell her that my job's gotten a lot more complicated, but she wasn't having any of it. We both got more and more pissed at each other and she just..." he mimicked stabbing a knife into his heart. There was no way he'd be able to repeat what she said out loud. Not in public.

Stolas picked at his own sundae while he listened. Once Blitzø was finished, he offered his two cents. "I won't ask you what she said that upset you so," he said, "And I unfortunately cannot offer much advice without more information."

"S'fine, I just needed somebody to talk to," Blitzø said, "Just gotta figure out how to make time for my daughter is all.

The owl demon nodded sagely. "It seems that you're letting your work take precedence over the needs of your family. Once tempers have cooled, you'll need to sit down with her and express your feelings. Be ready to listen to hers in turn, do not be defensive. Then, you can begin looking for a compromise between your work and your daughter."

The imp nodded along while Stolas spoke. None of this was going to help at all, but the birdbrain meant well. Once the Goetia had finished, Blitzø slid out of his chair. Surprisingly, he already felt better. Nothing like a belly full of sugar and some soothing words of encouragement from a friend. Speaking of whom, Blitzø reached up to pull Stolas's unnaturally skinny frame into a hug.

"Thanks, Stolas," he said, "I really needed this."

"Anytime, Blitzø," Stolas replied as he gently rubbed the imp's back.

Blitzø stepped back and stretched. "Aight, I think I've had enough touchy feely crap for one night," he declared as he turned on his heel. "If ya need me, I'll be over here."

With that, Blitzø marched into the indoor playground, right past the 10 and under sign posted at the mesh entrance. "Move!" he barked as he grabbed the impling trying to crawl into the entrance of the play tubes by the scruff of the neck and the seat of the pants. After unceremoniously flinging the kid off to one side, he dove up the tube in a cacophony of bumping and shuffling.

Stolas leisurely watched Blitzø's silhouette scurry through the maze of colorful pipes suspended from the ceiling as he finished his sundae. So far, everything seemed to be going according to plan. The fact that Blitzø had come to him instead of Harper was testament to that.

Oh, the owl demon knew that his little plaything was hiding something from him. He was certain that Blitzø's relationship with Harper was part of the argument. The friction was there, and ripe for exploitation.

With the imp busy, Stolas took the opportunity to summon one of his journals. He smiled serenely as he turned to the page listing the plans he had for his rival. The sand delivery was a good start. The meeting he'd scheduled with the union organizers would be next.

It would only be a matter of time before his efforts to make Harper's work days more "interesting" would pay off. The Overlord would become more distant, his temper tested. With the right pressure in the right place at just the right time, the dragon might even lash out. If Blitzø's relationship with his "family" continued to suffer, there would be only one demon the imp could turn to.

"You'll be mine once again, Blitzy~" he cooed as he jotted down a few more sentences.

"Whassat?" called Blitzø, his head popping out of the ballpit. At least two or three of the balls were impaled on his horns, and a stray syringe hung from his chin.

"Oh, nothing!" Stolas said as he banished his journal and quill back to hammerspace, "Just thinking out loud as usual."

"Uh huh, whatever weirdo," Blitzø said, before diving back into the sea of brightly colored and decidedly unhygienic balls.

Stolas contented himself with watching his impish plaything for the rest of the evening until the parlor closed. Yes, he was a patient man. It would all fall into place in due time.