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Stolas was the long-legged, pompous, rich kid who had waltzed into college their freshman year in freshly pressed clothes that looked out of place amongst the ripped jeans and college branded hoodies. Blitzø hadn’t talked to him, didn’t even bother going near him - especially once all the other rich and beautiful demons congregated around the owl like he was a beacon and they were moths - but hearing him speak from a distance Blitzø could sense a sheltered, shy kid when he saw one.
The first time they’d talked to one another, Stolas had literally run into him, his long legs knocking Blitzø over and the owl toppling to the ground as well - books and loose sheets of paper scattered across the busiest hallway on campus. Everyone stopped and stared, then kept doing whatever they were already doing.
Assholes.
“O-oh my Lucifer! I am so sorry!”
From a distance, Stolas’ voice had been melodic, perhaps even pleasant, but with the ringing in his skull echoing in his earholes, Blitzø only found it grating. He pressed a hand to the side of his head and tried to will the high-pitched whining to stop - did he hit his head or just his horns? Fuck, his head hurt. “Yeah whatever, asshole, try watching where you’re goin’ instead huh?” He hissed, his natural response to anything that even slightly pissed him off.
Blitzø opened his eyes just in time to watch as two pairs of glowing red eyes blinked in panic, a beaked mouth wobbling as he began to fumble with his words, white faceplate flushing with pink. “Y-yes of course, I really must apologise, I should have known better. You’re not hurt are you?” He asked, clearly noticing that Blitzø was cradling his head.
“Fuckin’ peachy, feathers,” he replied, hoisting himself up onto his feet.
It was at this moment that Blitzø’s eyeline met Stolas’ and he glanced down to see the tangle of taloned feet and the sheer amount of paper littering the tiles. None of it was his own, he didn’t carry anything to class. Just how much stuff had the bird been hauling?
“Ah good, I uh, I will let you get on your way then.” Stolas said, looking around himself at the enormity of the mess and began to gather the papers nearest to him.
He didn’t know what had possessed him in that moment, but all of the rage in his blood faded away. The bird looked pathetic, on his hands and knees trying to quickly gather all of his papers as quickly as he could - all the assholes walking by were even stepping on them for fuck’s sake. So, Blitzø knelt down and grabbed the nearest textbook - brand new, he couldn’t help but notice - and offered it to Stolas.
For a brief moment, Stolas was stunned, staring at the book like it was blessed before he slowly accepted it. “Thank you,” he muttered. His cheeks darkened in shade.
“Don’t sweat it, feathers. You’re gonna be late, right? We better pick up all this shit fast,” Blitzø reasoned, turning to more of the papers on the floor.
If he hissed at any passers by who so much as might have stood on one, he could tell himself it was just because he was still in a kind of shitty mood. And if he was late to class? Well, what else was new?
The only problem was that after being just a little nice to him, whenever Stolas spotted him on campus, he rushed over, chatting up a storm. Blitzø couldn’t help but humour him. Call him just as hopeless but the bird was clearly just lonely as hell. When Blitzø asked him about it, Stolas had cast a sad look to the ground and admitted that most of his Goetic peers had decided he was too dull to be seen with.
It didn’t take much digging to find out that those assholes had invited Stolas to a party, got him wasted and filmed him making out with and dry humping some Incubus dude. Blitzø made it his business to track down each and every one to break their stupid expensive phones.
Stolas had found out about that eventually and the stammering, twittering bird had barely made it through a sentence before he was sobbing his ‘thank you’s into Blitzø’s shoulder.
He told himself it wasn’t a mistake to allow Stolas to believe they were friends, especially when he found himself thinking about Stolas as that. Stolas often purchased him lunch without asking, shared his snacks and glanced over his theory assessments without complaint. If anything, it had been smart to befriend someone who was more educated than he was.
His mistakes had started when he casually mentioned that he had slept in the college library, which led to him having to admit to Stolas that he always slept there. Open all day and night, it was the perfect place to pretend he was simply pulling an all-nighter - he’d only been caught a few times but he’d been able to convince the librarian that he’d just been taking a nap between crunching on his assignment. Scattering his fourth-hand text books and notepads around had helped with the illusion, he was certain of it.
“W-well, I have a spare room at my apartment you know. If you’re in dire need of somewhere to stay, I would be more than pleased to house you until you can sort something out?” Stolas had offered and fuck if that hadn’t sounded like the best deal in all of hell.
What made this such a big mistake hadn’t become apparent until after he’d moved in and after he’d witnessed Stolas’ evening routine. The bird bathed for at least an hour, effectively hogging the bathroom, and then afterwards he strolled around the apartment in nothing but a silky, red robe that barely hid anything .
Blitzø wasn’t even attracted to the bird.
He wasn’t .
But he was a horny asshole and he was still seeing a mostly naked body of someone who was undeniably at least a little attractive. Add on to that that Stolas was constantly in host mode, making sure Blitzø had a drink or snacks or whatever else he needed, helped him with his assignments - boosting his grades, to boot - and Blitzø had quickly started to have a hard time curbing his urges.
He’d hidden more boners over the course of a month than he had his whole life and he was beginning to wonder if the luxury of an actual bed at night was worth it - until the night he absolutely fucked up.
Falling asleep on the lounge wasn’t exactly new, Blitzø had spent enough time couch surfing that Stolas’ lounge was more like a bed to him than the bed in his room was, but classes had been kicking his ass. Studying had been leaving him exhausted, especially this night which he’d spent all night trying to decipher his most imminent assignment - he was going to fucking fail it, for sure. He’d given up an hour ago, leaving his work all over the coffee table, and turned on the tv on to something at least half interesting.
It hadn’t taken him long to doze off.
Blitzø woke to a soft chuckle and a quieter sigh nearby. Whatever he had been watching had moved on to something else, someone prattling on about something stupid - but he didn’t want to get up, nor did he want to hear about the new plant Stolas had learned about. Normally he could let Stolas go on whatever tangent he wanted, but Blitzø knew he wasn’t in the mood for it at that moment. So he kept his eyes shut and feigned sleep, keeping his breaths slow and even, to avoid hurting Stolas’ fragile feelings by snapping at him.
As Stolas stepped through the living room, Blitzø heard as he turned off the tv, switched the lights off and then felt a panic in his chest as the click of Stolas’ talons on the floorboards came right up to the lounge. His presence was always a lingering static of latent magic, like pressing a hand too close to an old tv screen.
It was familiar now, though, a comfort as much as the reason his heart was beginning to race.
Stolas stood there for a such a long time, Blitzø almost crumbled from his deception, listening carefully for movement or anything .
Then, Stolas shifted, leaning over him to place a gentle hand over his chest and the lightest press of a beak pressed to his forehead, sending a flurry of sparks into the pit of his belly. But he kept his eyes shut, fighting the urge to squeeze them tight, hoping Stolas could not feel the way his chest thumped with the beat of his heart.
“Sleep well, Blitzø,” Stolas whispered. “You’ve deserved it.”
As the hand slowly slipped away a blanket replaced it, carefully laid over his body and up to his neck before the click of talons signalled Stolas’ steady retreat.
Blitzø opened his eyes just in time to watch as Stolas’ silhouette disappeared down the hallway.
Living with a rich Goetia was supposed to be making his life easier. It was supposed to be the best way to lounge around on an expensive ass, comfortable as fuck lounge and make use of a massive flat screen tv, all while paying the minimal amount of rent he’d ever managed to get - none.
But instead he’d caught the worst thing he’d ever caught.
Fucking feelings .
“Oh no…”