Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Let it be said that trying had never gotten Blitzø anything good.

But he and Stolas were in a better place these days, on more equal footing after he had given Blitzø the Asmodian crystal.

The bird had been so insistent that they needed to be better at communicating. Had been so eager to open up and tell Blitzø all the sordid details about his awful childhood so that they might better understand each other.

So when Stolas was staring at him with tears brimming over his big round eyes, Blitzø couldn't help but try for him. Couldn't help but crack open the door inside his heart and give Stolas a peek at the inner workings of his miserable little brain.

He hadn't been able to talk about all of it, he would need a lot more time for that, but Stolas had been ecstatic all the same.

At the time, it had felt nice. Cathartic even, not that he would admit it to anyone.

Now, staring at Stolas in disbelief and slowly tuning back into what the bird was rambling about, he was reminded yet again that trying had never resulted in anything pleasant.

"So, as I was saying dear, we'll be going over to their place at noon for lunch and-"

"Wait. Wait. You took the liberty of setting up what now?" Blitzø spluttered out.

"A double date!" Stolas repeated, blissfully unaware of the devastation he was causing. "I thought it was so nice that you and your friend are on speaking terms-"

"Barely!" Blitzø cut in.

"-after being apart for so long! Since Asmodeus and I are also friends I thought it would perfect!" Stolas clapped his hands together in in excitement.

Blitzø rubbed a hand down his face and counted to ten. They were going to have a talk about boundaries later, but he knew Stolas wasn't being malicious. Besides, the damage was already done. It would look worse if they canceled it. Stolas would never, so Fizz would know it was Blitzø.

"Fuck it, fine." Blitzø relented, trying not to be mollified by how the bird's face lit up at Blitzø's agreement.

If he let himself think about it, there was a part of him that desperately wanted Stolas and Fizz to get along. He was well versed in stomping that hopeful part of him self down though, so he shoved that shit back into the murky broom closet of his brain where it belonged and focused on the fact that at least the food they served would be good.

Chapter Text

Blitzø was steadfast in his refusal that he was nervous. He took a deep breath in front of the mirror, making sure a flippant look was in place on his face before he went back out.

He didn't acknowledge the concerned once over Stolas gave him. So what if he had poured coffee until his mug started overflowing onto the counter this morning. And had accidentally ran into the bathroom door instead of opening it three times already. He was fine.

Blitzø grabbed his leather jacket and pulled it on, turning to Stolas with what was meant to be a confident grin but in reality was a strained grimace.

"Blitz, are you sure you-" Stolas started, but paused at the imploring look Blitzø shot his way.

"Yes, yes, yes. We've been over this already Stolas. We're going." He finished the statement by walking up and lacing his fingers in his boyfriend's with an air of finality.

Stolas hesitated, but nodded. "Well, if you're sure darling."

"Let's get this shit show over with." Blitzø confirmed, letting go of his hand to straighten out his jacket again.

Stolas opened the portal and Blitzø made a futile attempt not to start sweating profusely as they stepped through it. At least the leather would hide most of it.

Blitzø barely had a chance to take in his surroundings when he was suddenly barreled into, falling onto his back with a surprised oof.

Fizz grinned down gleefully at the look of shock on his face, tail swishing side to side playfully. "GOT YOU!"

The jester laughed and Blitzø found the feeling contagious, his prior nerves fading away and a fierce competitiveness taking its place. "You little shit, you're gonna fucking pay for that!"

He reached up to grab Fizz and give him a taste of his own medicine, but the imp jumped back and bounced away. Blitzø growled and started chasing after him.

Stolas and Ozzie stood to the side watching with matching looks of endearment on their faces. They shared a look of solidarity and whipped their phones out to get as much of the interaction recorded as possible.

Blitzø paid them no mind, dead set on catching the other imp. Fizz took a turn a little too slow and Blitzø did not hesitate to launch himself at him, successfully pinning him down.

"HA HA. Take that BITCH!" Blitzø crowed.

"I've been....defeated." Fizz stated dramatically, embellishing it with a fake cough and dying noises. "Tell Ozzie I loved him."

Blitzø stood with a chuckle and held out a hand to help him up. Fizz accepted the offer, rising and immediately bounding over to Ozzie, who opened his arms for the jester to leap into.

Ozzie gave Blitzø a warm smile as he walked back over to where Stolas was waiting. "Good to see you again, Blitz." He turned his attention back to the imp in his arms. "You hungry, baby?"

Fizz trailed his fingers down Ozzie's neck. "You know I'm always hungry when you're involved."

Blitzø started fake gaging at the display, causing Stolas to titter behind his hand.

Ozzie placed a quick kiss on Fizz's head. "Alright, follow me then. We thought it would be nice to have our meal in the courtyard."

Ozzie turned and started walking in what Blitzø presumed was the direction of said courtyard. Blitzø fell into step next to Stolas. He snuck a quick glance at the bird, before steeling himself and joining their hands together. Stolas shot him a look of surprise before delight took over his features.

Blitzø felt guilt start to creep in, but he shoved that shit back down and focused on how nice Stolas' hand felt in his. He hadn't been the best at showing Stolas affection when others were in their general vicinity. Seeing the lovey dovey couple in front of them and Stolas' reaction to something so small made him want to try harder. And he would, as long as he survived this whole ordeal first.

Chapter Text

As they settled around the table in the courtyard, Ozzie and Fizz shared a glance. Ozzie took the cue for what it was, standing up and gesturing to Blitzø. "Blitz, do you mind helping me get the food from the kitchen?"

Blitzø, blissfully unaware of the scheming pair, nodded and hopped out of his seat. "Sure."

A pang of anxiety shot through Stolas as Blitzø started to follow behind their host. He was briefly tempted to offer to help in Blitzø's place, but quickly dismissed the thought. To do so would be rude to Asmodeus, and would most likely rub Blitzø the wrong way if he wasn't able to adequately explain why.

Stolas fiddled with the napkin resting in his lap instead, trying to tamper his nerves with the repetitive movement. He had always hated this part of garden parties with Stella's friends. Anytime that he had the unfortunate experience of being alone with one of Stella's friends while she was freshening up had always resulted in a slew of petty comments and insulting questions.

This wasn't Stella's friend though, this was Blitzø's friend. Not only that, he was Asmodeus' boyfriend. Their experience at Ozzie's still haunted him, but Asmodeus had been perfectly pleasant since then. Surely Fizzarolli would be the same.

Despite being able to logic his way through it, he still felt a sense of dread as they watched the side door close, leaving the two of them alone.

Fizz turned towards Stolas expectantly. "Sooo, you and Blitz are officially dating."

Stolas felt apprehension swell in the pit of his stomach. He should have spent more time mentally preparing for this, he had expected that it would be the four of them together for the entirety of the date. He willed it away and cleared his throat.

"Yes, we're official now." Stolas was proud that he said it in a in a steady tone. He could do this, had done it plenty of times before.

Fizz studied Stolas' face for a second, before extending a long arm and clapping him on the back. Stolas tried and failed to keep the baffledness from showing in his expression as the imp's mouth stretched into a wide grin.

"Congratulations man, I've been telling him that he's a dumbass for the past few weeks. That guy is dense."

Stolas felt his mouth drop open and struggled to shut it with the whirlwind of emotions that were swirling around his head. This wasn't at all how he expected the conversation to go. Fizz didn't seem bothered at all, simply continuing without comment on his lunch companion's obvious surprise.

"Listen, Blitz is a great guy, but he can be a real ass sometimes." Fizz reached across the table and dangled his phone in front of Stolas' open mouth, which he shut with an audible click.

Stolas stared at the phone in front of him for a moment before gingerly grabbing it. "Um, pardon my rudeness, but what is it you wish for me to do?"

"Put your number in and make a contact for yourself!" A slight flush spread across the imp's cheeks in embarrassment after the exclamation. "If you want to that is, I can get ahead of myself sometimes."

"Oh!" Stolas brought the phone closer to him and his feathers puffed out excitedly. "I've never been asked to give a friend my number before!"

He quickly typed the number in the device, saved it, and carefully slid it back over to it's owner. Fizz immediately picked it up and started typing. A little buzz went off in Stolas' pocket.

"There! Now you have my number too. If Blitz is ever a bitch to you let me know and I'll give him shit. Or, you know, if you just wanna talk or hang out."

Fizz said it like it was nothing, which rendered Stolas almost speechless. He pulled himself together quickly though, unfolding his napkin and smoothing it out in his lap. It took a tremendous amount of will power not to pull his own phone out of his pocket just to make sure it wasn't a prank.

"That's wonderful Fizz, thank you." Stolas replied, finally relaxing as the last of his worries about being left alone with Blitzø's friend left him. He adjusted to a more comfortable position before continuing with a question that was burning away at him. "Do you have any embarrassing stories about Blitz from when you two were younger?"

Fizz laughed and immediately launched into a tale about them going to a concert as teenagers, using exaggerated hand motions to act out his story while Stolas listened along avidly.

---

When Blitzø finally made it back out with a platter of sandwiches, accompanied by Ozzie who was carrying a platter of chips and drinks that he had spilled three fucking times (wow, and Blitzø thought he had been nervous about their boyfriends meeting), he was greeted by the sight of Stolas and Fizz giggling uncontrollably together.

"And then he said ...'Honey, you wanna take a ride?'"

Stolas barely got out what he was trying to tell Fizz around a hooting laugh, which made Blitzø feel a sudden rush of fondness for his boyfriend. "And pointed to his crotch! I thought Blitz was going to kill him for saying that to me while he was sitting right there!"

"No way!" Fizz exclaimed. "How did you not lose it right in his face?!"

Blitzø felt his heart melt at the sight of the two of them getting along so well. Maybe double dates weren't that bad after all.

Chapter Text

Blitzø paused halfway in his climb up the lattice leading to Stolas' balcony. He heard a noise that sounded like voices, but Via was supposed to be staying at a friend's house tonight.

Stolas was probably watching one of his awful drama shows loud enough for the sound to drift outside. Shrugging to himself, he continued to climb until he was finally to the top edge.

Blitzø hoisted himself over and promptly fell flat on his face with a small grunt. He picked himself and wiped the nonexistent dust off his shoulder in an attempt to save face, freezing halfway through the motion when he finally examined the room in front if him and noticed that there were two figures on Stolas' bed.

He crept forward silently to see who it was. Stolas was sitting cross-legged near the pillows, wearing a face mask that was forest green. A smaller figure laid in the middle of the bed on his stomach, legs kicking back and forth. Blitzø squinted and realized that the smaller figure was wearing a familiar jester hat.

He stood there, a wave of inadequacy rolling through him as he debated on whether to announce his presence. They seemed to be having a great time and he really didn't want to ruin it for them.

He counted to ten and shook his head to help clear it. That was his boyfriend and best friend. Stolas hadn't told him not to come tonight and as pathetic as it was to admit it, Blitzø really wanted to see him.

Fuck it, he was just going to jump right in. Literally.

"SURPRISE BITCH" Blitzø yelled, voice wobbling with the light bounces that came from his abrupt landing on the over-sized mattress.

"Blitzy!" Stolas' feathers puffed up in a way that always gave away how excited he was and Blitzø felt his heart melt. "I thought you said you had a job tonight?"

"Dude, give a better warning next time!" Fizz chimed in with an exasperated look. "You landed on my tail."

Blitzø winced, carefully lifting himself to let Fizz tug the appendage free. His own tail looped itself around Stolas' closest leg. "I got done early, figured I'd stop by." He paused and swallowed, his nerves from earlier creeping back into his consciousness. "I can go though, if you two are busy."

Stolas opened his mouth to reply, but Fizz beat him to it.

"Catch!"

Blitzø, who normally was very proud of his quick reaction skills, did not catch. Instead, as he turned to look at his so-called friend, a slimy wad landed on his face with a wet splat.

His eyes blinked out of sync as it slowly slid down his face. Next to him, Fizz doubled over in laughter.

Blitzø snatched the offending object off his face."The fuck is this?"

"I believe it is a face mask, dear." Stolas replied, hiding his own giggles politely behind his hand.

"It's so you can join us, dumbass." Fizz rolled his eyes at him, tail still swishing side to side in amusement.

Blitzø looked between the two the two of them. "You all really don't mind me staying?" His voice came out much smaller than he meant for it to, and Blitzø wanted to flinch at the blatant vulnerability present in that singular question.

"Of course Blitz, we both greatly enjoy spending time with you." Stolas reassured gently, reaching over to grab the hand that wasn't clutching the slimy mask. Fizz nodded along enthusiastically in agreement.

Blitzø briefly tightened the grip of his tail on Stolas' leg in thanks. Stolas gave an answering squeeze to the hand he was holding. Luckily, his boyfriend knew him well enough to know that he desperately was ready to change the subject.

Stolas took the face mask that was still crumpled in the imp's hand smoothed it over his face with care. "There, now you're ready to gossip! Tell us about the job you went on today."

A grin spread across his face and he launched into the morbid tale with gusto. A feeling of contentment spread through him as the other two eagerly settled back into their spots on the bed to listen.