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This was a fucking stupid idea, one Blitzø should've known was bound to be a shipwreck. After a year since the shit show of Stolas losing everything, Octavia started to miss her father and started to contact him again, which of course Stolas was over the fucking moon, and Blitzø was happy for him, he really was, but he didn't foresee that their reunion meant that they would be in a fucking borrowed cottage by the lake of fire, with Stolas and Octavia sharing a room and Loona taking the only other room, which meant Blitzø got the couch, which was barely tolerable by the way.
After what seemed like hours of tossing and turning, the imp finally seemed to find a comfortable position and fell asleep, only to be woken up by a gentle shaking.
"Whaa?" He slurred, still mostly asleep.
"My dad's looking for you."
"He can come to me if he wants to." He said as he floats between asleep and awake.
"He's asleep." Via says, voice inked with concern. "He's having a nightmare or something."
"Oh yeah, he does that, usually when I'm not around for him to spoon." Blitzø mumbles, before yawning and raising his blanket higher.
"Oh fucking great, I'm not enough comfort for him even in his sleep." Via spits tearfully and angrily.
At that, Blitzø became wide awake and sat up. "Hey... It's not like that."
"Then what is it, huh? Because from here it looks like whatever I do he still chooses you, even when he's unconscious he still chooses you over me!"
"Look... it's not like that. Your dad, went through a lot, and in the past year, I was basically the only semblance of comfort he had and he... Just grew accustomed to things, and found ways to cope with it. It's not because it's you but because for him...us, it's routine and this change, even if its familiar it's still fucking different for him, although it is still welcome."
"But shouldn't he be happy now? I'm back aren't I? It's like no matter what I fucking do he'll still feel like shit."
Blitzø chuckled at that. "Believe me, just because something good happens doesn't mean it automatically erases all your trauma." He licks lips and looks at the direction of the room Stolas is in before turning back to the other owl. "He's been through a lot like I said, plus, he's walking on eggshells around you, afraid that one wrong move will drive you away again."
"So it's my fucking fault?"
"That's not what I meant." The imp sighed. "It's just that... you're important to him, he doesn't want to fuck up."
"But he already fucked up, he left. None of this would've happened if he just stayed."
"Kid, I don't pretend to understand all this complicated adulthood shit, satan knows even I don't understand it, we're just fucking horses flopping around."
"I think you meant fish."
"Whatever." Blitzø says offhandedly. "The point is, it's not as simple as that, he didn't leave your mom only because he hated her, it was because he knew he was too good to be treated like shit."
"It's not like you treated him any better."
A guilty smile appeared on his lips. "I don't deny it, I treated him like shit, although for the record, I wasn't as bad as that bird bitch...no offence. But yeah I treated him like shit, he treated me like shit too, what we were then...is so different to what we have now, I think you know the... extent of our relationship before all this bullshit happened, and I hope you see the differences of what we have now."
"Do you think he stayed because he felt like an obligation? Like he fucking needed to?" The goetia mumbled, as she wrapped ber arma around her legs, making herself look small.
"Obligation? No. Needed to? Yes. Needed and wanted to. You were the one thing that kept him sane I guess, one thing that made him so genuinely happy. He stayed because you were the only thing that was worth staying for."
There was silence before she spoke again. "But you still won."
"I don't see it as a victory, kid. It hurts to see him hurt, I didn't win because he lost so much."
"But he loves you. He chose you."
"Just because he loves me doesn't mean he loves you less... Like look at me and Loony, not that I'm saying we're better at this father-daughter shit, trust me, it took a while to get here, but anyway, I love Stolas, but that doesn't mean I love my daughter less, or that I value her less, I know that, she knows that, he knows that. You and I know that your dad has a big heart... There's room for both of us, trust me."
"I thought you would hate me."
"Why?"
"Don't you see me coming back as an attempt to steal him back?"
"No...do you see me as someone who stole him?" Blitzø's question was met with silence. "That hurts you know... knowing you see me as someone who stole him when I see you as someone who I desperately want in our lives, my life."
"Huh?" Via looks up at Blitzø.
"Sometimes I just close my eyes and see the four of us, huddling around, a happy family or whatever...but if it comes to that, if he wakes up one day and leaves to be with you, without hesitation I'll let him go."
"Really? Just like that?"
"Kid, I'm an asshole but I'm not heartless, I would never deprive Stolas of his daughter, and I will not deprive you of a father."
"But why will you just let him go like that? Without even putting a fight. Aren't you supposed to fight for what you love?"
The imp shrugged. "I'll let him go, because I love him. No matter what I do, there will always be a hole in his heart that craves for your presence, one that I will never ever be able to fill, nor would I want to... Letting him go is me fighting for him."
"He'll choose you again, he did it once, he'll do it again."
"That's because he didn't have a choice, I was sentenced to death, you might not see it, and I might not still understand why, but he had no other option than to save my life... And you didn't give him a choice either, you just shut him out without even hearing him out... I mean he fucking trespassed a castle just to talk to you, fought ice bitch without powers to see you, if that isn't enough proof, I don't know what is. Look, kid, If it comes to that, I know he'll choose you and I wouldn't blame nor hate him for it, but I'm begging you not to put him through that again, for his sake."
Silence filled the room as Via stared blankly at the wall, thinking as Blitzø shifted uncomfortably at the tense air that threatened to choke him.
Then a quiet whimper from the other room broke the silence, and they both turned to the room.
"Go." Via says. "He needs you."
"I-" Blitzø was taken aback at that. "Are you sure?"
The goetia shrugged. "I love him." The imp smiled gratefully before getting up and heading to Stolas' room, but before he could step in, Via called him. "Hey Blitzø?"
"Hm?"
"I think I'm starting to understand why he loves you."
Blitzø doesn't respond, what would be respond to that? He just sent a teary smile, as his heart filled with happiness at the words. The imp quietly closed the door behind him before slowly getting in bed and getting in, instinctively, Stolas seemed to sense his presence and wrapped his arms around the imp.
"I love you." Stolas suddenly said, making Blitzø jump.
"Holy shit you're awake! You almost fucking killed me, you asshole. How long have you been awake?" He asked with no malice in his voice, only adoration and amusement.
"Long enough."
"You heard the whole thing didn't you?"
He nods. "I heard the whole thing."
The imp chuckled softly. "You asshole, you left me to fend for myself."
"I didn't want to interrupt! You were doing so well."
"Yeah well... I think i did I good job, so..."
"I think so too." He kisses Blitzø before laying down again, then a wet laugh suddenly came out from Stolas.
"You okay?" The imp asked worriedly, but a smile was playing on his lips.
"Yes... It's just, I don't know when was the last time I was ever this happy, genuinely, fully, happy." He says as he looks up at the blank ceiling with a grin.
Blitzø smiles. "Well let's keep it that way. I love you, Stolas"
"I love you too."
From the other side of the door, Via listens at the hushed conversations with a smile. She knew her dad was in good hands, and so was she. Hope filled her as she dreams of having a family, filled with nothing but joy and love, and a house that was truly a home.
As Stolas' breaths evened out again, Blitzø was now the one staring at the ceiling with a shit eating grin. Stolas has his daughter back, and maybe the family he had always wanted was not so out of reach.
Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all.