Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Toys, check. First aid kit, check,” Stolas said to himself as he looked over his backpack for the millionth time. He was so excited about today and he wanted to make sure everything was in order.  

It had been a month since he made his first friend and after their first playdate, Blitzo was coming over almost every week since then. They played many games together and they would play fight in his playroom. Blitzo was surprised that the little prince knew how to do that and found it fun.  

Blitzo always went to his palace so now it was Stolas’ turn to visit. It took a lot of convincing on the little prince’s part for Paimon to allow it and when he was given the approval, Stolas packed a small backpack. He then ran to dress into a simple outfit, he was told by Mr. Butler that Blitzo’s family might feel intimidated by his royal attire, so he dressed in a simple blue and purple shirt and blue pants, he even took off his crown.  

“Are you ready young prince?” he heard Mr. Butler call to him from outside his room.  

“Oh! Yes I am!” Stolas called out before he grabbed his backpack.  

He ran out of his room with a smile, happily holding the straps of his backpack. Mr. Butler chuckled in amusement; it had been a while since he saw the young prince dressed like he used to.  

“The car is ready young prince,” the imp butler said in a calming manner.  

“Right!” Stolas exclaimed before he cleared his throat and spoke in a more dignified manner, “That is most delightful.”  

The eleven-year-old followed the butler down the hall of the palace and outside to the waiting car. He crawled in the car after Mr. Butler opened the door for him and buckled himself in.  

“Where to prince Stolas?” the driver asked in a monotone.  

“The imp circus please!” the prince piped, “I have a playdate!”  

The driver huffed and waited for the butler to come in on the passenger side before driving to the fairgrounds where the circus was. Stolas looked out the window and watched the scenery change from the posh city he knew very much to the rustic side of the city. He let out an excited chirp when he saw the big top. He knew that he was supposed to act prim and proper, but he was just so happy to play with his friend!   

Stolas lit up again when he saw a little impish boy standing at the edge of the road.   

Eagerly he rolled the window down and poked his head out, “Blitzo! I’m here!”  

Blitzo smiled and stepped back so he wouldn’t get hit by the limo, he learned the hard way that cars did not care if they saw an imp child by the street.  

“Hey Stolas!” he called out happily, “You made it!”  

Even though strict protocol said that he was supposed to wait for the door to be opened, Stolas unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the door himself. Mr. Butler looked like he was going to have a heart attack when he saw the young prince jump out of the car before it parked.  

“Prince Stolas!” he cried out in shock, “You know royal protocol!”  

Stolas blushed and sheepishly looked at the butler, “Sorry... I was just so excited...”  

Mr. Butler sighed and got out of the car, “I will overlook this once but never do that again.”  

“Yes...”   

Blitzo looked at the prince with a sympathetic look on his face, he only knew Stolas for a short time and knew that he was just a kid who wanted to play.  

“Well... follow me!” the imp said, grabbing Stolas’ hand and lead the way.  

Stolas was happy and almost had a skip in his step, “Where are we going?”  

“My tent,” answered Blitzo, “It’s nothing fancy but it’s home.”  

“Really?”  

Blitzo smiled, “Yup! Papa is gone for the day, and my sister and best friend are practicing so it’s just me and my mama!”  

Hearing that made Stolas gulp, he met Cash once and didn’t like him. He was smelly and had a scary face so he worried that Blitzo’s mother might be the same.  

“We’re here!” Blitzo announced when they stopped at a modest tent, “Welcome to my humble castle!”  

Stolas chuckled, “It looks nice!”  

Mr. Butler sniffed the air and smelled something savory being cooked, interesting.  

“Come on,” Blitzo opened the tent flap, “Mama! I’m back!”  

There was a soft chuckle, and a voice called out to him, “Blitzo, you would wake the dead with your voice.”  

Stolas walked in and saw a tall imp woman in a long purple dress; she had long black hair and a kind face. Stolas saw that she was wearing a black choker with a skull pendant on it.  

“Oh,” she didn’t look surprised when she saw the young prince staring up at her, “So you must be Stolas, it’s nice to meet you. My name is Tilla.”  

The owl prince blinked before he stood up straight and had his hands folded in front of him, “N-n-nice to meet you miss Tilla!”  

Tilla smiled at the boy’s politeness, she hoped that maybe he would influence her boy to act more well-behaved.  

Mr. Butler cleared his throat to announce his arrival, “Prince Stolas is here on a playdate with Blitzo Buckzo, he is due back at the palace in three hours. I trust everything is in order?”  

The boys looked at him and then Tilla who nodded.  

“Alright then,” she looked at the boys and crouched down at their eyes level, “why don’t you take your friend to the tent? I’m sure Fizz and Barbie could use a short break.”  

“Okay mama!” Blitzo smiled and ran out of the tent while still holding Stolas’ hand.  

Mr. Butler tried to follow but Tilla stopped him. She said that she needed help distributing the stew she made for the performers. Mr. Butler tried to object but the kind woman promised that Stolas was safe with her son which he did have to agree on that.  

Meanwhile Blitzo and Stolas were at the tent watching two kids practicing in the circus ring. The girl was on the high wire while the boy was on a ball juggling. From what Stolas was told, the girl’s name was Barbie, and she was Blitzo’s twin sister while the boy was Fizzarolli, Fizz for short, and Blitzo’s best friend since forever. Stolas did remember Fizz but never met Barbie. Right now, the boys were told to wait in the seating area while the kids were practicing.  

“Why aren’t you practicing Blitzo?” Stolas asked.  

“O-oh well,” the boy stuttered out, “It’s my day off!”  

“A day off?”  

“Yup! I’m so talented that they begged me to take a break!”  

That was a lie of course. Blitzo was just told that he wasn’t needed for practice today because he would only get in the way. It stung because he really wanted to show off his awesome trapeze skill to Stolas. But then again, if he did practice then he wouldn’t be able to play with Stolas. So, he guessed it was a good thing.  

“Well while we wait,” Stolas dug through his backpack and pulled out a horse toy, “Let’s play with the toys I brought!”  

Blitzo smiled and grabbed the toy, “You’re on!”  

Stolas pulled out a pirate toy and made it act like it was going to steal the pretty princess pony’s treasure! Pretty princess pony would not allow it and fought back bravely against the fiend!  

The boys laughed when pretty princess pony stomped the pirate to death and buried him in Stolas’ backpack.  

“Well that was fun,” Stolas declared and then asked, “So… that’s your mother?”  

Blitzo looked at him confused, “Yeah? Who did you think she was?”  

The little prince sputtered, “Sorry! Sorry! It’s just…. I never saw a real mother before.”  

“Huh?” now that was weird, who hasn’t seen a real mom before?  

“Don’t you have a mom?”  

Stolas gave a sad look and shook his head, “I don’t have a mother. Not anymore that is.”  

Blitzo began to panic, of course he asked a mean question! Mama always got after him for doing that!  

“I’m sorry Stolas!”   

“It’s okay,” the prince said frantically when he saw how upset his friend got, “I was told that she’s in the stars, always watching over me.”  

Blitzo wanted to say that it sounded weird but kept his mouth shut.  

“So that’s why I asked, your mother seems really nice!”  

The imp smiled, “Of course she is! She’s mama! Mama’s the best mom ever!”  

Stolas giggled, Blitzo was right about that.   

Tilla did seem nice and there was an air about her that he liked. Maybe she could be his friend too!  

By then, Fizz and Barbie stopped practicing and Blitzo introduced Stolas who responded with a shy wave. They responded with eager greetings and asked what was in the bag he had. Stolas showed them his toys and soon all the kids wanted to play.   

Soon pretty princess pony needed help from the pirate king to save her from the amazing werewolf lord and his partner gargoyle high wire! The pirate king was victorious in the battle against the amazing werewolf but soon Stolas and Fizz had to stop Blitzo from biting Barbie after she decided to be the pretty princess pony instead. Fizz was able to pry the girl off her twin while Stolas decided that their game was over by grabbing the toys and stuffing them back in his backpack.  

The twins had scratches on their faces which were now being cleaned from the wipes Stolas had in his first aid kit. And he was told that it was unnecessary, he felt a little smug knowing that Mr. Butler was wrong about that.  

“Ow! Stolas that hurt!” Barbie cried out as the alcohol touched a mean scratch on her face.  

Stolas let out a startled hoot, “Sorry Barbie!”  

Blitzo laughed, “What a girl!”  

Fizz reacted by pinching a very sensitive cut in the little imp's face.  

“Yowch!”  

“Serves you right!” the only girl in the group stuck her tongue out and then looked at Stolas, “Listen princey, my brother is a dumb butt! If he does something stupid, give him a good punch!”  

Stolas chuckled nervously, “I think I’ll manage.”  

Just then, Tilla walked in the tent pushing a soup pot stand while Mr. Butler followed her pushing a cart that had bowls of various sizes.  

“Come and get it!” she announced while she stirred the stirred.  

In an instant, almost everyone in the tent lined up in front of the pot. Stolas though stayed in the seating area out of confusion. The soup he was smelling smelled good, but it looked odd. It was a sickly purple color with bits in it, they looked like vegetables, but he could tell.  

“Aww!” he heard Blitzo complain, “Vegetable stew again?”  

He pouted when he was given the chipped bowl of the stew.  

“Now Blitzo, we discussed this,” Tilla scolded gently.  

Blitzo still pouted but he took the bowl anyway and stomped back to the seating area, the stew almost spilled out as a result. He sat next to Stolas and looked at his stew glumly with a sigh.  

“I hate it it when we don’t get meat...”  

“O-oh, I’m sorry Blitzo,” Stolas said with a sad chirp, recently he took notice that his new friend wasn’t as well off as he was and it made him feel bad.  

Blitzo huffed, “It’s okay Stols! I bet you get lots of good meat the moment you snap your fingers,” the boy then paused and gave a sly grin at the owl boy, “Say, you wouldn’t have to-”  

“It doesn’t work that way Blitzo,” Stolas deadpanned with an unamused look on his face. Even if he did, the young prince knew that Mr. Butler wouldn’t have time to bring good quality meat, “Besides, vegetables are good for you.”  

“That’s what mama said...” Blitzo whined but he still put the bowl to his mouth a slurped loudly.  

As he ate, Stolas noticed Mr. Butler walking up to him with a bowl in his hand.  

“If your father asks, you did not eat this,” the butler explained, “Miss Tilla insisted you eat this.”  

The young prince looked at the small bowl in great curiosity, the vegetable chunks were in odd shapes, and they looked like they were cooked before they were but in the broth. Nonetheless, Stolas copied Blitzo by putting the bowl to his beak after giving his thanks. He slurped his soup in a more dignified manner, the warmth of the soup bathed his body, and the spices danced on his tongue. It wasn’t like the food he ate back home but it tasted so good!  

“This is amazing!” Stolas exclaimed with a smile, wiping the broth that was left on his face.  

Blitzo rolled his eyes, Stolas really liked the simple stuff but that was what made him cool, “Well mama is the best cook in all of hell!”  

“No doubt about it!”  

The rest of the day was filled with more laughter and playing after the kids ate their lunch. Fizz and Barbie were surprised when Stolas eagerly engaged in play fighting out in the field, wasn’t he supposed to be a prince? Aren’t princes supposed to be delicate?  

“I give! I give!” Blitzo laughed out when Stolas had him pinned on his stomach.  

Stolas chuckled and got off, “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”  

“Nope!” the imp stood up and brushed the dirt off himself, “That was fun!”  

Fizz and Barbie looked at the two boys and then each other before they smirked. After nodding, they attacked, Fizz got Blitzo while Barbie got Stolas, tackling them to the dirt floor. The boys were shocked at first but then began to laugh as they playfully fought back. It was fun and they were all sad when they heard Tilla call out to them to tell them that Stolas needed to leave.  

Much to their utter disappointment.  

“Thank you for having me!” Stolas said with a big smile.  

He was back at the tent while Mr. Butler frantically used a small clothes brush to remove the dirt on the young prince’s clothes.  

Tilla chuckled, for a prince, Stolas was very much a child who loved getting messy.  

“I’m glad you had a good time dear,” she said, reaching over to gently ruffle his feathered hair, “Feel free to come over any time you like.”  

A happy trill escaped the boy’s beak, he forgot how good it felt to have his hair ruffled.  

“I will if Blitzo says it’s okay!”  

Blitzo nodded fast with a big smile, “Yeah! Please mama? Stolas is awesome!”  

That made the boy feel happy.  

“Of course,” Tilla smiled, “Any friend of Blitzo’s is always welcome.”  

The boys smiled and said their goodbyes before Stolas followed Mr. Butler to waiting car. Stolas was happy, he had a great day, and he made more friends! He couldn’t wait to write to his big brother about it! It had been a year since he left to become king and Stolas felt so lonely. He sent letters since then, but he never got a reply, but he was still determined.  

“I should tell him about Tilla as well,” he said to himself in the car.  

Miss Tilla was nice, he liked her voice and smile, he felt safe and assured for some reason. She reminded Stolas of his own mother who passed away when he was small, the only memoires he had of was her voice and smile.  

Blitzo and Barbie were so lucky to have Tilla.  

“I wonder if I could ask Tilla to be my friend too,” Stolas said to himself as the car left the circus grounds.  

The prince chuckled to himself, what a silly thought.  

An adult for a friend, how naive.

Chapter Text

“Good morning miss Tilla!” Stolas piped as he ran inside the tent the Buckzo family resided in.  

Tilla chuckled when she saw the twelve-year-old prince standing there, he had a big smile on his face and his casual clothes.  

“Hello Stolas,” She greeted with her kind smile, not looking away from what she was cooking, “If you’re looking for Blitzo, he and the kids are out getting something for sinsmas dinner tonight.”  

Stolas tilted his head, “Sinsmas? What’s that?”  

Stirring the pot of the stew she was making, Tilla looked at him confused at first, but then she realized why he asked that, “Oh that’s right, the Goetia don’t celebrate it.”  

Stolas walked to the small seating area and sat on the royal blue pillow he claimed as his the year before. Tilla ladled a bowl of beef stew and put it on a plate with a slice of bread; she gave it to the boy and sat in front of him.  

“Sinsmas is a holiday where hellborn celebrate the ring they were born in,” she explained, “we act out where we’re from with great exuberance.”  

“Oh...” Stolas said in understanding as he dripped his bread in the broth, “So you celebrate wrath?”  

Tilla shook her head, “Actually, we’re not from Wrath.”  

The boy made a chirp of embarrassment; he had been told a few times by his friends that he sometimes stereotyped them since they were imps. He was trying to do better but this one slipped out.  

“I’m sorry miss Tilla!” he piped, “I didn’t to offend you!”  

The woman chuckled and ruffled his feathered head softly, “It’s okay Stolas, you didn’t know.”  

The blush of embarrassment was still on the bird boy's white faceplate, “Still, I know that not all imps are from Wrath but I said it anyway...”  

“It’s a common misconception, I’m used to it,” Tilla spoke in her gently tone but when she saw that Stolas was still down, she began to think, “After you eat, why don’t you help me with something?”  

Stolas looked up from his soup, “Huh?”  

“I need help with something, and those kids love to make up wild excuses to why they can’t.”  

Stolas blinked and then smiled, “Okay!”  

He then proceeded to gobble up his stew, he loved Tilla’s cooking so much! There was something about her food that made the owl prince feel happy. None of the cooks back at the palace could make food this tasty.  

“Easy Stolas,” he heard Tilla chide gently, “You’ll get a tummy ache if you eat too fast.”  

The prince blushed again and ate his stew slowly.  

When he was done, Stolas took the bowl and plate with to Tilla. He learned quickly that you don’t leave dishes laying around when you’re done with them after using them in Tilla’s tent.   

“So what do you need help with Tilla?” Stolas asked after he gave her the dishes.  

Tilla put the dishes on a wooden tub in the soapy water before kneeling down to the owl prince’s eye level with a smile, “Every year, I make a special treat for everyone in the circus, and I need help making them. Want to help me? It's alright if you say no, you are the guest after all.”  

Stolas smiled, he loved Tilla’s smile, and nodded, “I’ll help! You gave me food so it’s the least can do!”  

“Alright then,” the woman chuckled and went to the chest where she kept her baking supplies, “I won’t make you do much, I just need help mixing. Blitzo, Barbie and Fizzarolli always complain about that part.”  

Stolas almost asked why she didn’t use an electric mixer but kept his beak shut, not everyone has the luxury of electric mixers he reminded himself.  

“What are you making?”  

Pulling out the flour, butter and sugar, Tolla spoke, “It’s my specialty creme puffs! I make them every year on sinsmas.”  

The boy’s eyes lit up, creme puffs were his favorite treats for tea and he’s going to help make it? How exciting!  

Tilla then pulled out a small carton of eggs, cream and box of butter from the tent's mini fridge.  

“I’ll do the baking, but you can help with the mixing,” she explained, “You can stop if you want.”  

“Okay!” Stolas piped, he was excited.  

Tilla poured the ingredients a saucepan and mixed them together, “I’m making the dough so you will make the cream.”  

Stolas nodded with a smile, “Yes ma’am!”  

Taking out a large bowl, she poured the heavy cream, eggs, sugar and vanilla extract. He then pushed the bowl to a very happy Stolas and gave him a whisk.  

“Now mix this until the mixture forms cute little peaks,” she explained with a smile.  

The little prince smiled and began to mix, he had seen Mr. Butler do this before, so he knew what to do. Father would never allow this if he found out about this, so Stolas won't say anything!  

With a smile, Stolas mixed, well he tried to, he swished the whisk around the bowl and the ingredients did blend but nothing happened.  

“Huh?”  

He mixed again and it remained the same.  

“Hm....”  

Stolas tried again until the mixture became frothy, but his arm was starting to ache.  

“Oh dear...” he felt bad since he really wanted to help Tilla who always welcomed him whenever he showed up unexpectedly.  

He heard a soft chuckle behind him and turned to see Tilla walk to him after she piped the dough on a tray, how did she make that so fast?  

“It’s okay Stolas, I had a hard time my first time too,” She explained as she took over the mixing.  

She did it so fast that Stolas wondered if the imp woman had secret magic since the frothy mixture turned into stiff cream.  

“I do appreciate you helping so far though,” Tilla said and gave the whisk to the prince, it was loaded with the finished cream, “Here, I always let my kids lick the spoon but since they ran off, it’s all yours!”  

The kind gesture made Stolas smile as he happily took the whisk and licked the cream, it was so creamy and smooth! And it tasted sweet!  

“I already have a batch made so this cream is for that, I’ll show you how to place even amounts on them.”  

“Okay!”  

Tilla showed Stolas how to evenly spoon the cream on the puff pastries that were already made, and he copied what she did enthusiastically.  

“And now, we do the fun part,” Tilla declared and pulled out a pot she kept hidden, so well hidden that Stolas didn’t know she had it.  

Looking in the pot, he salivated when he saw that it contained melted chocolate.  

“Money tends to be tight around sinsmas so I save whatever coin I can to get high quality chocolate to pour over the creme puffs. It gives everyone a little taste of luxury here.”  

Stolas looked at her and felt a small bit of guilt, he grew up in wealth and whatever he wanted, he got it without a second thought. Meanwhile, Tilla had to scrape together bits of money to buy chocolate, a simple luxury, for cream puffs. And yet she was happy with her life as it was.  

“I know that look young man, don’t feel bad about how your life is compared to mine,” Chided Tilla, she was spooning dollops of chocolate on the puffs, “It’s just the way things are.”  

Stolas gave a small pout, that was what Blitzo told him once when they were trying to see a movie together, but the clerk treated them differently. He hated it because Blitzo was so cool!  

 “Now, now Stolas,” Tilla gave him a plate the held two of the cream puffs, “no use crying over something trivial.”  

The owl boy looked at the pastries with curiosity, why was he given two?  

“Because you helped me, you get first dibs.”  

That made the boy smile, the chocolate was still warm and runny, it was perfect!  

Stolas was halfway through his first pastry when Blitzo, Barbie and Fizzarolli walked in the tent. The moment they saw the prince with a plate of Tilla’s famous creme puffs, they let gasps of betrayal.  

“Stolas you butthead!” Blitzo pointed a claw at the prince, “why are you eating mama’s cream puffs?!”  

“Because he helped when I asked and didn’t make a silly excuse to avoid it,” Tilla answered since she saw that Stolas’ mouth was full, he never spoke with his mouth full.  

“But mama!” Barbie whined, “We needed to get groceries!”  

Tilla gave a narrow look when she saw the bags the preteens were holding, “Comic books, soda and junk food counts as groceries these days?”  

Fizzarolli tried to hide the snacks behind him but failed miserably. Stolas had a smug look and happily ate his second pastry which led to the imp twins chasing him all over the tent.  

They only stopped when Tilla gave them the look . The look only a mother would give, the narrowed eyes, pursed lips and hands to her hips. It was so powerful that even Stolas, a prince, stopped in his tracks with a yelp.  

Then the look turned back into her soft smile, “There’s stew on the stove, Stolas already ate so eat up so you can have cream puffs.”  

The three imps pouted but did as they were told while Stolas was finishing his second pastry as he sat next Blitzo who slurped his stew. Tilla went back to finish the cream puffs; she would need help giving them out later and the kids were not going to make wild excuses this time.  

“Good two shoes,” Blitzo mumbled.  

“Lazy,” Stolas retorted with a smug look.  

Blitzo growled.  

Stolas stuck his tongue out.