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Blitzø hadn't noticed at first when it showed up, tucked behind Stolas’ back preening the bird's feathers. He'd thought the bright flash had been something interesting finally happening on the soap opera playing on the tv that only Stolas was actually watching; until he felt the trembling beneath his claws. Quickly he pulled his hands away, not willing to risk harm to the other man, and shifted to rest his chin on a thin shoulder.
“Did your favorite couple break up again?” He asked, eyes trained on the screen where a group of imp characters were having an argument he didn’t even try to follow. When no response came from the bird he moved his gaze to where Loona sat on the loveseat. The hound was perched on the edge of the cushion she had just been sprawled across, ears perked in alert as red eyes flicked from her adopted father to the coffee table. After several passes he finally got the hint, looking along the cluttered table for anything amiss among the disorganized mess that was normally there from three people emptying pockets and bags onto it. It took less than thirty seconds for his eyes to hone onto the almost shining white envelope edged in ice blue sitting amid the piles of crumpled receipts and loose change.
Swallowing thickly, he leaned further into his bird's space, “We getting invited to a wedding?” The attempt at levity was met with more awkward silence, the soap opera still playing in the background while Stolas stared at the letter as though it would attack him. “You, uh want me to open it birdie?” Instead of answering, long fingers moved to pluck the letter off the table and sliced the top open with a practiced motion of a talon from years of answering correspondence from his ‘family’.
He could feel Blitzø's breath from where he was leaning over his shoulder while he read the full page of scathing cursive that turned out to be mostly insults, the warm air grounding in a strange way despite his heart hammering behind his ribs. “Gonna have to summarize for me birdie, I can barely read plain print let alone that curly mess.”
“It's from Stella,” the owl started, quickly raising a hand to halt the tirade Blitzø opened his mouth to start at the peahen's name. “She says Octavia is refusing her duties…and given the option between staying with her mother, getting engaged, and producing an heir, or me; I am apparently a better choice.” The phrasing his ex wife used was much more colorful, but he wouldn’t be repeating the filth she wrote about his family. The silence his words met was oppressive, and he could feel his anxiety rising from its barely calmed state.
“I’m to pick her up in two days, but I understand if that’s too much, I’m sure we could find alternative lodgings for her and I if you’d prefer.” His brain was already moving a mile a minute, trying to work out if the meager savings he’d managed over the last ten months would be enough to rent an apartment in Pride–if he could even find anyone willing to rent to a banished prince, that he startled when a hand laid on his arm.
“You aren’t going anywhere.” Blitzø’s voice was hard, tail snapping angrily behind him. “We just got settled.” The set of his jaw told Stolas the smaller man was holding back his anger in an attempt to not turn the evening into a fight.
“I just…Via wasn’t. You didn’t sign up for my child.” He stammered weakly, eyes downcast to avoid the luminous pair boring a hole into him.
”Christ on a stick! I knew you had a fucking kid birdbrain, of course she’s welcome in our home.” Despite the snappish tone Stolas felt warm as he always did when the smaller man referred to something as theirs.
“Thank you darling.” Blitzø found himself wrapped in the others arms, beak nuzzling against his horns as if preening them. across from them Loona made a disgusted sound and stomped out of the room muttering about them having a fucking room now. He could feel Stolas’ chuckling beneath his back as he started a mental list of all the shit they’d have to do.
Obviously cleaning out the spare room was a high priority, and they’d have to go shopping for food she’d like. Stolas could probably handle that task. Fishing his phone out of his pocket he shot a message to M&M to cover the office, letting them know baby bird was finally coming home and grinning when almost immediate messages came back confirming they’d handle things the rest of the week. The rest of it could wait until tomorrow he decided, leaning back against his bird, tail flicking out to grab the remote and restart the episode that got interrupted.
***
Two of the longest days he'd had in a while later had Blitzø backing out of their driveway with an anxious Stolas waving him off from the small front porch, Loona standing behind him looking bored. It had been a struggle to get the owl to let him go alone to collect Octavia, but not even a cold day in hell would have Blitzø allowing Stolas within fifty yards of his screeching bitch of an ex wife. He had a sense of deja vu as he drove the all too familiar route to the palace gates after close to a year; though it was for a much different reason this time.
He didn't recognize the pair of hellhounds standing sentry in front of the gates, unsurprised, yet curious if the icy bitch probably replaced the entire staff, but overall paid them no mind, yellow eyes zeroing in on the newest sad bird being added to his collection. Looking surly as ever, Octavia was slumped against the white brick wall separating palace grounds from the rest of Pride, a decent stack of luggage and boxes piled next to her. As he put the van in park in front of the teen he was glad they at least hadn't thrown the kid out with nothing like they had her father.
She barely glanced up at him when he jumped out onto the pavement before scoffing. “He couldn't even be bothered to get me himself?” Blitzø forced himself to take a deep breath, speed running counting to ten in his mind. He couldn't snap at the kid when he was supposed to be playing nice and bringing her back to her father. He instead plastered a fake smile on his face and went to grab the first of her belongings, using his tail to pop open the back of the van.
”He wanted to, but he doesn’t exactly fit well in the van and we weren’t sure how much stuff you’d have.” He kept his voice even, knowing he couldn’t fuck this up for Stolas, who despite his anxiety had been over the moon at his daughter coming to stay with them. He kept reminding himself that this was a kid who had enough life altering bullshit happen to wreck a stable adult, not just the asshole who made his bird cry and shut down for days.
It took a few short trips between the pile of luggage and the back of the van to load everything, Octavia standing awkwardly against the palace wall clutching a backpack and guitar case. Slamming the back door shut had the teen jumping in a manner reminiscent of her father, causing the imp to once more tamp the urge to march into the iced over palace and murder a certain bitch. Growling under his breath he opened the passenger door and vaulted himself through it to the driver's seat, fingers tapping on the wheel impatiently as he watched Octavia clamber into the van. She ended up sitting with her guitar and bag stuffed between her legs, looking uncomfortable as hell but he said nothing and started the van.
“So…what’s been new?” The words rang too loud in the silent van, barely getting a look from his passenger as she scoffed and slumped deeper into her seat. Rolling his eyes he reached a hand over to flick on the radio, heavy bass thumping through the speakers from whatever metal CD Loona had been listening to last time she borrowed the van. His first instinct was to turn it back off until he caught the subtle head nodding from the bird. He could handle a half hour of brain shaking screaming if it meant the kid would stop moping.
Pulling into their driveway he gave the horn a quick beep—his normal way to announce he’d made it back, even though he was certain that at least Stolas was waiting at the door like a loyal dog. The moment the engine cut Octavia was out the door, metal door slamming harshly when she shut it and moved to the back of the van. Before he could even get out of the driver's seat she had flung the back door open and shut in quick succession and marched up to the front porch with her things following behind her.
“Couldn't have done that shit earlier.” Blitzø muttered under his breath as he stalked up the small walkway to the house he and Stolas had managed to buy three months prior thanks to the increase in business the failed execution brought and the birds otherworldly ability to budget despite the privileged life he'd been born to. If Octavia had heard, she was ignoring him, the click of her talons the only noise as she followed him with her things floating behind her in a cloud of purple. He'd honestly forgotten the kid could do magic, having gotten used to Stolas’ lack of powers, but he wouldn't complain too much about not making multiple trips to bring everything in.
Walking through their front door had him quickly veering to the side where his own daughter was leaning against the wall, to avoid crashing into Stolas who was waiting, jittery, right inside the doorway. The moment he caught sight of his daughter, all four eyes widened and he moved forward. “My Starfire!” Both Blitzø and Loona cringed as the teen stepped back hands in the air and the smile on Stolas’ face crumpled. Blitzø instinctively moved forward to place a hand on the bird's arm as a comfort but also to pull him carefully back.
“Loonie, why don't you show Octavia her room.” He flashed his daughter a pointed look while starting to guide Stolas towards their room, hopefully before the inevitable water works began. While her dad took care of his bird, Loona squared her shoulders and turned to the girl who was still standing awkwardly in the front door, putting on her best customer service smile that only looked slightly murderous.
(Art by Artzval)
“Come on,” she watched as Octavia and her things came slowly through the door looking uncomfortable. “Living room, kitchen.” Loona waved a paw at each room while she closed and locked the door—four locks because you couldn’t be too careful, before slipping ahead of the teen and leading her down the small hallway on the side of the kitchen.
She and Blitzø had spent the last two days making the spare room habitable after almost five months of being storage for shit they didn't want to bother finding a proper home for and she felt they did a decent job as she flung open the door. “bathrooms across the hall and I’m the door at the end.” Octavia moved past her, her things settling haphazardly on the beige carpet. Loona waited another minute for the kid to say anything; a thanks or a question before she pushed off the doorframe with a grunt. She’d shown her the room and pointed out the important areas, it wasn’t her problem if the princess was going to play mute; she’d done what was asked of her and was going to bed.
***
Blitzø was doing his best Impression of a zombie after spending most of the night consoling an anxious bird. He had finally gotten them both to bed around midnight only to be woken up at four when Stolas went out for a glass of water and was ignored when he went to check on the girls and went back to crying. He was infinitely glad he'd been convinced to leave the last couple of hits for the week to M&M, already thinking of the fat nap he'd be taking after breakfast, hopefully with his face buried in feathers.
Loading the coffee pot, he began pulling out things for pancakes, even finding a hidden pack of sausages in the freezer when he went to pull rats out for Stolas, and Octavia he reminded himself. The rodents went into a bowl of warm water—it still made his stomach turn thinking about how the avians ate the things raw more often than not, while the sausage was dumped into a pan on the stove. Still alone by the time his batter was mixed, he wandered down the small hall off to the side humming to himself. It was autopilot to knock on Loona’s door first, cracking it open just enough to poke in face through.
”Loooonie!” He sang, ducking back with a laugh when a pillow came flying at his face. “Great shot sweetie, time to get up.” He stood there long enough to hear the angry groan and shuffling of blankets before he turned and went back towards the kitchen. He barely remembered to stop at the other closed door, so used to it being empty, but gave it a quick knock. “Breakfast kiddo!” He spoke loud enough for it to carry through the door while walking away, hoping it would be enough to rouse the teen.
Both Loona and Stolas had joined him in the kitchen with wild bedhead before he’d finished the last of the pancakes, a plate stacked high with them in the middle of their small table. The hound was on her second cup of coffee, taking gulps of it between too big bites of honey soaked pancakes. When it became clear that the fourth member of the house wouldn’t be joining them they were piling dishes into the sink to be dealt with at a later time, Stolas pausing every few minutes to glance between the full plate sitting on the counter wrapped in Saran Wrap and down the hallway.
”I’ll put it in the fridge and she can get it when she gets hungry.” Blitzø reassured him, doing just as he said before heading out of the kitchen to the living room, tail wrapping loosely around the bird's wrist as he passed to tug him along.”Now come on, we can catch up on your soap opera while we have the long weekend.”
They’d been halfway through their second episode when Stolas did the freaky bird head thing that freaked Blitø out; beak opening to say something. It only took a half glance behind them for Blitzø to poke a claw into the other man's side, shaking his head pointedly when he turned to glare.
From the couch they could see Octavia moving silently in the kitchen, plate in one hand and bottled water in the other. The pair watched as she glanced at the microwave and decided it wasn’t worth it before heading back down the hallway.
”She’s gonna need time to adjust.” He reminded Stolas as they settled back onto the couch, shoulders touching from leaning into each other’s space. “At least she’s eating. I don’t think Loona left her room the first week after I brought her home.” The look Stolas gave him said he didn't believe a word he'd just said, but he also didn't argue the point just slumped further into the couch and returned his gaze to the television with a pout.
***
“I never thanked you enough for being an easy child.” Blitzø muttered quietly to his daughter, who like him was watching what could only be described as a trainwreck unfolding in their living room. Blitzø had the van keys in hand, his work bag slung over one shoulder and Loona waiting next to him half focused on her phone while Stolas was trying to reason with his kid.
“You’ve not been out in the real world enough yet for me to feel comfortable leaving you here alone.” The older owl was pleading with the pouting teen hunched on their couch still in her pajamas, long head feathers hiding half her face. Her father had a handful of clothing clutched in his talons, his own plumage fluffed in his anger.
(Art by Case of Kings)
“You never cared about leaving me alone before and I’m still alive aren’t I?” The tone garnered even Loona’s attention, the arm holding her phone dropping to her side as she openly stared—even she didn’t try taking that tone with Stolas of all people. Blitzø could pinpoint the exact moment someone was about to snap—years of dealing with an asshole like Cash would teach that to ya, and the tension that appeared in the owls’ shoulders at his child’s words had him moving forward on auto pilot.
Crossing the small room to stand next to the fed up avian demon, he wrapped his tail loosely around the taller man's leg to get his attention. “Hey Stols, why don’t you and Loonie go on a coffee run before work and I’ll just portal me and Octavia here over once she gets dressed, yeah?” Gently, he took the small stack of clothing into his own hands, managing to give the others hand a small squeeze.
Despite what the other Goetia thought of him, he was smart enough to see an out when offered and smiled down at his partner—a title that still filled him with happiness, before turning his attention to Loona. “I'm driving.” the hound deadpanned, stalking over to pluck the keys from her father. “Let’s go.” She gestured to the owl to follow her and headed to the front door only to double back for the bag slung over the imp’s shoulders.
Blitzø and Octavia both watched silently as the other two left the house, the former counting to ten once the door clicked shut before his attention turned to the stubborn girl sinking into his couch. Sighing he tossed the clothes onto the coffee table—clean still from weekend chores, and vaulted himself onto the opposite side of the couch to stare her down.
“What?” The snapped word had him grinning, a new personal best at making someone uncomfortable enough to acknowledge him in less than five minutes.
“Wanna tell me what your deal is?” He kept his voice conversational, remembering doing the same song and dance years ago with a snarling Loona.
”I don’t have a “deal”.” Not able to help himself, Blitzø snorted when she used honest to Satan air quotes, getting a scowl for his trouble.
”You’ve been here four days and this is the most any of us has seen you. You don’t join us for movies, or meals. It’s like you don’t want to be here, so why bother to come?” His aim for nonchalance missed if the face she made was any indication, and damn if the quiver of her beak when she was upset wasn't an exact mirror of her father.
“My uncle convinced my mother to arrange my marriage. He was awful. Twice my age and just interested in using me to bear an heir.” The words came out quiet, like speaking them would make it happen and Blitzø had to strain to hear them. The admission was met with loud silence, for once he didn't even have a joke to respond with. It wasn’t like he ever had to deal with an arranged marriage, that was solely something Hell’s royalty did, not backwater circus imps.
He realised after several minutes that he’d been sitting, staring at the kid for too long and she’d gone back to hiding her face behind long feathers, talons picking at the fabric of her star patterned sleep pants. “Me and your dad ain’t gonna be marrying you off, but you’re going to have to try to meet us halfway. And right now that means going to the office with the rest of us.” He silenced her with a hand when his beak opened, likely to spew the same vitriol she was giving her father. “You can go in your pjs for all I care. Satan knows Loonie and I have before. Just come hang at the office, we’ll order in for lunch and you can probably convince Mills to give you a target practice lesson.” He hoped she was at least considering it, bribery was far from the only weapon in his arsenal, but definitely the easiest.
“I can always just carry you.” he offered with a shrug after another long silence where the teen hadn't even glanced at him. “So what’s it gonna be, princess?” He stood from the couch and straightened his coat, going back to stare unnaturally hard at the slumped girl until she threw her head back with a drawn out groan.
”Fine, but I’m not going to pretend to be happy about it.” He rolled his eyes at her dramatic rise from the couch. Somehow she’d managed to not disturb her feathers with her movement pink eyes glinting beneath the gray, arms crossed over her stomach. “Let’s get this over with.” She jerked when Blitzø cheered and gave her a slap on the back.
”That’s the spirit!” A loving swipe across his wrist had a shimmering yellow portal opened into the office to which he mockingly bowed with an arm outstretched. “After you princess.” Flipping the man the bird while she went, Octavia stepped through the diamond of light into the office that had changed very little since she’d snuck in to go to earth. She could see her fathers influence in the small plant sitting on the edge of the desk and a magazine about space sitting crooked on the small end table by the couch.
She resumed her slouch from the house on the faded red couch of the office, daring Blitzø with her eyes to say something when he stepped out of the portal that closed shut with a tiny pop behind him. Loona and her father hadn’t made it to the office yet, just the two smaller imps that she vaguely remembered in passing being disgustingly domestic in a way her own parents never were in the small kitchenette.
Closing her eyes and leaning her head on the back of the couch, she wished she’d had the foresight to grab her headphones from her new room, resigned to listening to the going ons of the business unless Loona had earbuds she was able to borrow. She’d managed to doze off somehow, despite the spring of the couch digging into her back she was too lazy to move from and found herself being woken by her fathers hand on her shoulder shaking her lightly, the other holding a takeaway cup bearing a logo she didn’t recognize.
Almost three hours later and she was bored. Loona and one of the smaller imps had disappeared through a portal with her dad's shitty boyfriend shortly after the hellhound had made it to the office leaving her in the company of the female imp and her father. Millie had her hands full of a squirming infant even offering to let her hold it. Thankfully she hadn’t seemed to take offense to Octavia’s decline of the offer, just telling her to let her know if she changed her mind. Her dad on the other hand looked far too at ease behind the scratched desk so unlike the one back home she grew up playing under; doing paperwork and answering calls from sinners instead of reading the stars.
Five o'clock finally hit and she was probably the most excited of six of them to leave the office. Despite Blitzø's comments during their talk that morning, no one had offered her a chance to shoot anything. In fact she'd been largely ignored for much of the work day aside from being asked for a lunch order halfway through. Instead of just opening a portal to their house, she was crammed into the van with everyone else, suffering through dropping off the married couple before they drove back out to the house.
“I'm staying at the house tomorrow. At least then I can be bored out of my mind with cable.” she declared as they filed through the front door, already headed to her room.
“We can talk about that in a few days kid, maybe next week?” yellow eyes glanced at her father to confirm, getting an almost imperceptible nod in return. The teen resisted the urge to throw a tantrum at the imp trying to parent her knowing it'd go nowhere if her father was not only allowing but encouraging it. She allowed herself a scoff as she stomped off, aware that the three other members of the house were staring after her.
Just as it had gone for the last four days she’d been left alone to her own devices until the smell of cooking started to fill the house. She heard the bare hooves of the imp go past her bedroom to knock on Loona’s door before coming back to hers. The familiar knock sounded but instead of hearing the clicking go back to the kitchen the doorknob rattled and the door pushed open.
She stiffened, used to her mother and uncle barging in and taking whatever she was working on away for ‘hobbies better befitting a princess’ and was moving the taxidermied hellpiglet she’d been working on behind her on instinct before she realised the short man was simply leaning against the doorframe, bright eyes glowing in the dim light she had on.
“What do you want?” She snapped with narrowed eyes. Rather than getting onto her about her attitude, or barging into her space, he stayed where he was looking bored.
”Dinner’s almost ready. If you’d like to emerge from your cave we usually eat on the couch and watch a movie on Mondays.” He pushed off the frame as he finished speaking, grabbing the door and pulling it shut while he left without waiting for her answer.
She sat staring at the closed door for longer than necessary before pulling her latest project from behind her back, the half sagging face of the piglet staring at her from its stand. “You don’t have to judge me.” She told it, shoving it face down into the pile of blankets she took with her from her palace bedroom. Groaning to herself she got up, deciding that if it had been fine to be in their business all day in the constellation covered pants and oversized t-shirt that it’d be fine for dinner as well.
At home she’d never be so bold and risk facing her mothers ire. It had been expected of her to appear for both breakfast and dinner; the occasional lunch if there had been guests and was to be dressed like a proper princess. Her days of black clothing had ended the same day her father got himself banished, no longer there to keep her mothers wishes at bay.
Walking into the kitchen she was prepared to either be ignored completely or told to get dressed; what she wasn’t expecting was the other three members of the house standing around the kitchen, also in pajamas. Her dad was plating sides next to the stove his boyfriend was cooking on, something that smelt strongly of barbeque sauce while Loona leaned halfway across the counter telling the room about the job she’d gone on with only Moxxie for backup. The conversation didn’t stop when she entered, her dad offering a smile and Loona nodding to her in greeting and she found herself moving to stand awkwardly against the wall to listen in.
“He tried to run in and help and managed to trip over a dog bowl and smash his face on the floor. So now I've got the pissed off target shoving a knife in my face and he's laying there bleeding.” Loona was going on with her story and Octavia found herself giggling at the hand motions and faces she was making.
She'd been so focused on the hellhounds story she didn't notice when Blitzø was done at the stove until he spoke. “Alright baby bird, how many skewers you want?” Her neck cracked with the speed her head turned fully around to stare at him, eyes widening as he gagged. “Okay new rule, no freaky head twisting during dinner.” He declared to the laughter of Stolas and Loona.
She didn’t bother moving her head or body, just stared at the red skinned man like she was being tricked. “One?” She finally answered, waiting for the comments of her eating too much and losing her figure.
”You sure? Your dad usually throws back like six of these suckers.” Worn tongs held up a single skewer holding four mice nearly dripping in barbeque sauce. Like every other meal she’d been served since coming here, it made her mouth water. Her mother and uncle, despite being naturally thin, ate like they were in danger of being overweight and meals were often small and lacking any meat or carbs.
”How many can I have?” The question spilled out of her, beak clicking shut afterwards as all eyes stared at her in the now quiet kitchen.
Blitzø placed the pan on the stove before responding, “You eat until you’re full kiddo. If you ever want more just get up and get it.” The imps brow was furrowed, understanding clear in the look he was directing at her. “If I don't make enough it’s easy enough to cook more.”
She nodded, feeling like it was the response the short man wanted, watching him turn back to the stove and pile half a dozen of the mice covered sticks on two of the plates and what appeared to be chicken on the other two; having apparently decided she wouldn’t take an acceptable amount of food on her own. She took the plate offered to her, standing awkwardly against the counter while everyone else collected plates, cups and a large bottle of cola.
”Alright! Time to introduce Octavia to Spirit” Blitzø cheered to twin groans from Loona and Stolas as they filed into the living room. She found herself tucked on one half of the loveseat next to Loona balancing her plate on the armrest. Catty corner to them their fathers were a mess of tangled legs on the couch, the flatscreen across from them starting the horse movie the other three had seen multiple times.
***
It had been two weeks and still she was being dragged each morning into the dingy office to wait around bored out of her mind while her dad worked and Millie or Moxxie fussed with the baby. She’d tried everything she could think of to get out of going in with the rest of the household. Pretending to sleep had her being carried through a portal, refusing to come by hiding in her room had her dad walking in and forcing her out. So she sat on the lumpy couch with a scowl, watching various sinners come in to schedule jobs and the group of imps and Loona leave and come back covered in mortal blood.
She'd been watching the clock on the wall slowly ticking to five when they’d leave and she could go back to working on her taxidermy when the door to Blitzø’s office swung open, bashing against the already dented wall. “Hey Stols! I was thinking I’d take baby bird with me on this last hit since Loonie left early.” He declared earning looks from both Goetia as well as Moxxie who was on baby duty.
While she and Moxxie had twin looks of confusion, her fathers face was the stony look she’d gotten used to seeing during family mealtimes growing up. “You want to take Via to the human world to help you kill a human?” He demanded, the tone of voice making her shrink back against the back of the couch. Who knew her dad could still use the same tone of voice he used on her mother when she was trying to force Via into some princess mold.
“It’s just a sniper hit. Perfectly safe.” The imp waved a hand dismissively, “Just sitting on a roof waiting, thought it’d be a good chance for her to get out of the office for a bit.” The frown on her dads beak said he thought it was anything but safe but seemed to realise they were fighting in front of both another employee and their child.
She and Moxxie shared a look when Stolas stood and grabbed Blitzø’s arm to drag him back into his office, the door slamming hard enough to rattle the glass window. The cheap door did very little to block out the noise of the two arguing; Moxxie simply ignored it to focus on the impling settled on his lap while Octavia put her headphones back in and turned the music louder to drown them out.
The door opened right as the fourth song on her playlist finished, and she chose to ignore the ruffled look of her dad in favor of Blitzø’s excited grin. The short man practically bounced over to where she was sitting, barely waiting for her to pull the cord from her ears before speaking rapidly. “I got your dad to agree, so as soon as Mills gets back we’re heading out.” She blinked up at him, nodding slightly in acceptance. It wasn’t like she wasn’t used to adults making decisions for her; and she didn't get many chances to go into the mortal world.
So she found herself bundled in a too big jacket of Loona’s they'd pulled from a storage bin, her ass going numb on the ice cold concrete of a flat roof. Beside her Blitzø was kneeling against the raised edge, eye pressed against the scope as he looked for the target. She was honestly mad at herself for not refusing to come considering the ‘mission’ was really just being bored in a different, colder location.
“Wanna take a shot?” The question caught her off guard, neck cracking with the speed she turned her head to stare at the imp. “Targets probably gonna be another half hour, but I'm sure you could manage to pop off some pigeons.”
Rolling her eyes-the attempt at ‘bonding’ was so obvious a blind quieve could see it, she rose onto her knees and shuffled over to where he'd set the rifle. She knelt awkwardly as he fiddled with the stand, cursing under his breath about ‘tall ass owls’ before he moved to the side.
“You've seen a pigeon right?” When she shook her head, he pointed out the flocks of birds scavenging in the alley between buildings or nesting on the edges of the other rooftops. She thought they were sorta cute, in a buggy sort of way. She listened to him go over how to shoot the rifle, correcting her form when she moved to look through the scope. “Recoil isn’t bad on this one, but it’ll hurt if you aren’t used to it.” He explained, shifting the butt of the gun to rest against her shoulder better.
Her first shot went wide, chipping into the concrete ledge and sending the group of birds squawking into the air. Thankfully the rifle was on a stand since she immediately pulled her hands away from it, shoulders slumping as she waited for the berating to start.
”Not bad for your first try. Might even be better than Mox when he first started!” Pink eyes widened and she stared at the horned man who was grinning excitedly at her. “Give 'em a few minutes and they’ll be back and you can try again.” she blinked owlishly, trying to understand why he wasn’t yelling.
“You aren’t…mad that I missed?” She swallowed thickly after speaking, hating the waver that came out. At home the palace, uncle Andre was quick to anger any time she didn’t catch onto whatever weekly task he’d set for her to master on the first try.
For a moment they blinked at each other, something like pity creeping onto the imp’s face. “Hell no kiddo, why in the seven rings would I be mad about you learning?” She would deny it to her last breath, but the soft way he said it had tears welling in her eyes that she quickly blinked away. Rather than reply and risk telling him more about what had happened once her father was no longer around to protect her, she moved back to the scope, jerky movements training it onto the birds that had returned to their perch.
“I have to convince your dad to let you replace Moxxie! No way we can let your talent go to waste.” The praise flowed easily from Blitzø when Octavia managed to get a bird on the second attempt.
She was shocked she’d managed to actually hit anything, the rifle was awkward in her hands yet she was proud all the same. “Do you think I could take it home with us?” She asked quietly, hoping for a yes, but bracing for the no. A verbal answer never came, instead she was treated to Blitzø flinging himself across the alley between the two buildings and came back with the feathered body clutched in one hand.
“Pretty sure your dad ain’t gonna be happy with me about this, but you should always have a trophy of your first kill.” Looking oddly catlike, he offered her the bird with a toothy grin and nudged her out of the way to take her place at the rifle.
She resumed sitting off to the side, talons fiddling with the wings of the bird shed settled in her lap, watching the normally goofy man snap into his assassin persona. It took less than a half hour for the target to walk by the building–on his way home from work per the file-and Blitzø had him taken care of in one silent shot, packing up the gear and opening a portal while she watched in morbid fascination as blood pooled beneath the body laid out on the concrete.
“Alright princess, let's go.” At being addressed she turned to see Blitzø standing next to a portal opened back to his office. She gave a last look over the ledge, the target now having a crowd of people forming around him, then made her way through the portal.
As predicted, when they came out into the office her dad was less than thrilled when she proudly displayed the pigeon she'd brought home even though all three imps praised her first kill and Millie even offered to show her how to gut it properly so it could be used as taxidermy. He honestly looked a little green as he smiled at her uncomfortably, eyes very obliviously avoiding her hands.
“You should've seen her Stols, a natural with a gun.” Blitzø’s excited rambling to a still sick looking Stolas was cut off when the office door clicked shut behind her and Millie, the wrathian leading her up to the roof.
“Ya don' t wanna be guttin’ anything where there's carpet, even if it's seen as much blood as the office has.” she'd explained before ushering her out the door. Octavia took her word for it; her projects always came pre-prepared to be mounted.
She nodded along while Millie explained how and where to cut as she did it and followed the instructions on removing everything from the skin of the animal. The teen was rather proud of herself once she had a small pile of meat and innards next to the now empty skin; even if the feeling of drying blood under her talons was making her skin itch.
“Now normally mama would throw all that in the soup pot for dinner, but the look on your daddy's face has me believing that won't happen.” The gap toothed grin had Octavia giggling into her arm.
“Probably not.” She agreed easily, “Think the dumpster’s open?” the dark haired woman shrugged, leaving Octavia to gather the pile and make her way to the side of the building. The lid to the dumpster was surprisingly closed but she still dropped the trash down onto it with a wet plop, wiping leftover viscera on her pants before returning to where they'd been working.
“Once ya get home, rub some salt into the inside to cure the skin. Once it's dry you're all set.” With that final instruction, the pair headed back to the office. Blitzø and her dad were still chatting, the imp sitting on the desk while her dad went over the potential clients he’d seen that day. When the pair noticed the women had made it back, their conversation cut out, Blitzø jumping into action to open a portal to M&M’s apartment and herding the birds out to the van.
The trio had swung through a drive-thru on the way home and for the first time she could remember she was allowed to eat in the car, Blitzø declaring that fast food fries had a ten minute window the drive would go past. So while her dad and Blitzø were singing badly along to old rock music on the stereo, sharing fries that Stolas was feeding to Blitzø as he drove; she sat cross legged in the backseat with her nuggets and fries laughing quietly at the two men’s antics.
At some point during the days she’d been shuffled to and from the I.M.P office, the two adults acting silly had stopped making her cringe in embarrassment. Sure she still found it weird to see her dad act so carefree, but she could at least acknowledge it was nice he was happy.
***
Despite it being a weekday, they’d stayed up late watching some terrible slasher horror movie marathon they’d stumbled on while channel surfing; she and Blitzø had been having far too much fun teasing her dad about being scared to quit before the series had ended. It was close to one am when she finally laid down, burrowing down into the piles of blankets and pillows she’d liberated when she moved from the palace, thoughts going a mile a minute as she thought about the last few weeks.
Hanging out with her dad’s shitty boyfriend—who may not be as shitty as she initially thought, hadn’t been terrible. Even though he was a loud person by default he never yelled when he was talking to her or her dad, and he’d almost seemed upset when she thought he’d be mad at her for not getting the first shot she tried right. He’d even helped her rub salt into her bird when she’d quietly brought it up one they’d gotten back to the house.
Truthfully, when she chose her dad over her mother it had been because he seemed like the lesser of two evils after meeting the man her uncle had chosen for her to marry. While her mother seemed content to allow her brother to ruin her life the moment she turned eighteen, something told her that even if they hadn’t spoken in months, her dad wouldn’t expect her to do anything she didn’t want. Dealing with the imp who broke up her family had seemed like a fair trade off for safety.
Safety was exactly what she’d gotten. The realization hit her like a meteor, that not once had she felt like she was truly in danger since she climbed into the passenger seat when the imp had picked her up. Tears welled up in her eyes and in the privacy of her own room she let them fall knowing no one would walk in unannounced. Living with her mother and uncle had been like walking through a landmine. Topics she couldn’t bring up changed constantly and without notice, resulting in yelling if she stumbled onto any of them and she’d rarely had time to herself after the televised trial. The pair of peafowl had put together a jam-packed schedule of lessons from deportment to dance and when she hadn’t been in lessons she was forced to sit in the room with the two as they had tea or meals.
Moving in here had been like a breath of fresh air even if her dad didn’t think she could be trusted alone in the house all day. No one had pushed her to be social even when she was drug to the office each day, and outside of the scheduled work hours no one scheduled any of her time—unless you counted the bathroom schedule Loona enforced with military precision.
Wiping her face with the edge of a blanket, she gathered the stuffed imp toy she’d had since hatching into her arms. She hadn't realised how much she missed the gentle care of her dad, and now Blitzø was right beside him doing the same, as though she was something precious instead of a burden. Twisting around to get comfortable, she tried to think about lighter things to go to sleep, knowing the lack of sleep would make the next day worse.
***
After going on her first hit, despite not even getting to do anything, Blitzø kept talking her dad into letting her go again and again. The first dozen or so were boring to the point of tears; just sniper shots and arson. It was after another afternoon sitting bored on top a trash covered rooftop that she finally broke as they came through the portal.
“Unless you’re going to let me do something interesting, I can stay here and be bored! Or you could leave me at home.” The argument of her staying by herself at home was well worn from several weeks of her begging for the freedom and her dad refusing to give it.
“I told you she wasn’t going to go for these easy targets forever.” Rather than replying to her, Blitzø directed his words to Stolas behind his desk. Octavia rolled her eyes; of course it was her dad and his overprotective nature that had her sheltered from everything for most of her childhood. Standing from his chair, Stolas made his way around the desk to stand before her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“The last thing I want is to put you in danger darling. If you got hurt I wouldn’t know what to do with myself.” The presence of his pupils made the sad look he was directing at her hit twice as hard, almost making her cave.
“I’m an adult dad, I don’t need you trying to keep me safe all the time.” She ducked her head, knowing the man’s face was going to fall at the reminder she wasn’t a baby anymore.
“I…suppose you could do something slightly more hands on.” Stolas’s voice wavered, talons of one hand picking at his pants while he directed his attention to Blitzø; who looked beyond proud.
“I’ve got the perfect mission planned for tomorrow. Be ready to get your feet properly wet, kid!” The imp gave her honest to Satan finger guns as he retreated into his office. She shook her head, returning to the couch she’d claimed as her territory in the office; wondering if the man could be any more cringe.
***
The pretty innocent interaction had led her to what might have been one of the top three worst times of her life, only being topped by the time she was eight and had puked all over the white suit of Lucifer when she had her debut to his court.
She’d actually been excited enough about not sitting around doing nothing that she’d gotten up early and eaten breakfast with everyone else, and actually put on a proper outfit instead of pajamas. Unlike with her mother, no one commented on the skinny jeans and baggy shirt she put on; Blitzø simply handed her a plate of small fish and toast while her dad was brave enough after several weeks of her being in the house to press his beak against the top of her head. She didn't react to the motion, but allowed it to happen before taking a seat at the small table to make her toast into a sandwich.
She was jittery in the van, only settling after the third look she got from Loona sitting half asleep next to her, and was out in the parking lot before anyone else had even gotten their doors open, bouncing on her heels as she waited impatiently.
“Alright, we’ve got two group hits this morning, a cult that sacrificed some bitch and then a family reunion from a disowned child.” Stolas rambled as they made their way into the office. “After lunch, you and Via have the husband that murdered his wife. Honestly Blitzø there wasn’t anything less violent?”
The look that the imp gave the owl said it all, but he still spoke. “We run an assassin company Stols, our whole thing is violence.” Beak pursed, Stolas didn’t bother with a reply, simply moving to his desk while the three imps and Loona gathered their weapons.
While the team took care of the two larger hits of the day, Via was being coached by her dad on using a human disguise—a new spell she was quickly getting the hang of, even though seeing white skin replace her feathers was weird. The only thing she kept was her pink eyes, and the color of her feathers only present in her hair.
"You've got it perfect Via.” She couldn’t help but preen at the praise from her dad, allowing the magic to drop and return her to the much more comfortable bird form. “We’ll pop out for lunch once the team comes back and then you’re up.” The smile he gave her was a little forced, but she appreciated that he was trying.
She was more than ready by the time they finally finished eating, donning her disguise as Blitzø opened a portal to show a heavily wooded area. Her dad wished them luck as they stepped through, the imp speaking only after the portal closed.
“Alright, what we’re going to do is, you’re gonna go knock on the door. Act like your car broke down and you need to use the phone. While he’s distracted I’ll sneak in and take him out.” She nodded along, excited to get to do anything but sit around and stare off into space. ‘Here, just in case.” She found a small pistol being pushed in her hand, moving to put it in her jacket pocket figuring the access would be easy enough.
She watched out the corner of her eye as Blitzø snuck around the side of the house, leaving her alone to walk up to the plain brown door and knock. It was mere seconds before an average looking man answered, wearing nothing but boxer shorts.
Eyes averted, she managed to stammer. “M-my car broke down, do you have a phone I could use?” She hoped it sounded sincere enough, acting wasn’t exactly a skill her mother had encouraged.
”Make it quick.” The man grunted, stepping to the side to allow her into the house. Squeezing past him, she looked around the sparsely decorated home, flinching slightly when the door clicked shut.
“I really appreciate your help, you were the only house I was able to find.” She explained as he led her deeper into the house to a den where he motioned to the rotary phone sitting on a small table.
“Yeah, I live pretty far out from any roads non locals would use.” A shiver went down her spine at his tone, moving to turn around only to be stopped by an arm looping around her neck. “You wanna tell me why you’re really here, or do you need some incentive?” She felt a blade press against his neck threatening to draw blood, eyes flicking to the side of the house Blitzø had gone to, hoping he’d made it into the house.
”Well sweetheart, what’s the real reason you came to my front door?” She swallowed thickly, feeling the blade scrape along her neck, no sign of the imp, and she really didn’t want to get her throat slit.
Panicked, she did the first thing that came to mind; summoning her magic. A purple glow surrounded the hand that held the hunting knife, jerking it away from her neck and twisting away from the man. He was staring shocked at his hand, trying to move it but failing before his eyes flicked to Octavia. ”What the fuck are you doing to me?”
“Killing you?” The words rang unsure in the room even as she used her powers to use his own hand to drive the knife into his stomach repeatedly until he crumbled to the floor, a puddle of blood slowly seeping into the carpet around him. The stabbing had sent blood spatter across her face and shirt; she’d have to remember not to stand so close next time; if there even was a next time.
Leaving the den she made her way outside, looking for Blitzø who she found trying to pry open one of the windows with no success. “Target’s dead ...or will be soon.” She muttered, realizing she hadn’t checked to make sure he was dead, but surely six-ish stabs were enough?
”Damn, look at you taking initiative. Let's go see what’cha did.” swallowing down the saliva that was pooling in her mouth–Satan she did not want to go back into that house, she followed Blitzø back through the door she’d left open. He let out a whistle when he saw the slumped form of the man.
”Whoa kiddo, you sure did a number on him.” He spun to face her, eyes shining. “I’m so proud of you!” She smiled despite the rolling in her stomach; it was so nice how open the imp was with his praise.
She ended up going back outside, the sight of the blood making her feel sicker by the moment, while Blitzø did a walk through for anything they could pawn back home. She was watching birds when he came out, an overstuffed garbage bag slung over his shoulder.
“Alright princess, let’s blow this joint.” She pointedly looked to the sky with a noise of disgust when he started licking the crystal on his wrist, knowing what skills he was using.
Entering the office, the entire room went silent, all eyes staring at her and she realised too late that she was still splattered with blood. Her dad had his feathers fluffed in alarm as he rose from his chair. “Blitzo Buckzo, she was supposed to help you, not do the whole mission.” Worried hands checking her over for a source of the blood despite it being the completely wrong color.
“The O is silent bitch.” The look her father sent his boyfriend over what they all knew was an automatic response was scathing.
“Not when you're in trouble it's not.” He clacked his beak at the imp who flinched back, seeming to finally understand that he messed up. Once his attention was back on her, she gently took his hands in hers.
”Dad, I’m fine. None of it’s mine. I would like a shower though.”
“Of course darling. Blitzø, open a portal home.” The change in his tone between talking to her versus Blitzø was jarring, making her feel slightly bad, it wasn't his fault the plan went awry.
They let her go home alone which surprised her. She’d been expecting her dad to follow her, but was thrilled to have the house to herself as she made her way to her bathroom, turning her music on and getting into the shower, taking the opportunity to use all the hot water before getting out and pulling on pajamas. She knew she could have called her dad, or Blitzø to go back to the office, knowing that’s what the men would have preferred, but she decided she didn’t want to.
Instead she found herself wandering through the house. Mostly she kept to her own room, venturing to the bathroom, kitchen, and living room but the rest of the house remained unseen. She avoided the door she knew led to dad and Blitzø’s room, no need to scar herself by learning what they left out behind closed doors, going to the door on the other side of the living room instead.
pushing the door open, she found a greenroom, filled with flowers and obviously maintained by her father even if it was lacking his man-eaters he spoiled at the palace. A part of her was glad to know gardening was an actual hobby and not something he did as an escape from the family he didn't want, thinking he'd given up his plants aside from the few hanging vines inside. She smiled, rushing back through the house to her room to collect the small pot shed hidden by the window, intending to add it to the greenroom.
It had been an impulse right after her dad was banished; when Andrelphus had begun icing over the palace, killing the plants her dad lovingly fed each day even when he didn't feed himself. She'd dug one of the smaller bulbs from Audrey III's pot in the kitchen, hiding it away in the room, the one place her uncle's ice wasn't allowed thanks to the tantrum she threw when he tried. She'd made sure to bring the tiny carnivore with her when she left, thinking maybe she'd gift it to her dad, but the poor thing had been hidden away in her room here too as she was unsure if her dad would even want it
“Let you get some proper sun.” she murmured to the plant as she carried it back through the house, setting it up on one of the empty tables that lined the edges of the room. “Hopefully dad won't mind when he notices you.”
It would be another few hours before the rest of the family came home–she decided not to dwell too much on when Blitzø and Loona became family–so she used the chance to bring out her hellpiglet to finish the mount on the low coffee table instead of her bed. It was weird to be out in the open working on something, her mother would have tossed the almost mounted animal out the nearest window if she caught sight of it, but here she was almost sure that she’d be praised for getting out of her room, Blitzo might even compliment the bright pink body she’d painstakingly laid out in a bed of flowers as though it were sleeping.
By the time the end of the work day rolled around, she’d completed the mount, leaving it to sit in the middle of the table surrounded by her tools. She had migrated to the loveseat to lay, some mindless reality tv show about housewives in Envy playing in the background while she scrolled on her phone. She barely glanced up when she heard the buzz of a portal opening, a far cry from the first few days that she would run to her room at any chance, moving her legs over as Loona stomped through after their father’s even though the older girl headed straight to her room.
She watched Blitzø throw his coat over the corner of the couch and empty his pockets onto the coffee table, eyes tracking the small pony figurine and wondering why he’d been carrying it about with him. Her dad all but collapsed on the larger couch, muttering something about ‘idiotic sinners and their stupid grudges’ one arm slung over his upper eyes.
The immature urge to gag was still present when–after removing his shoes–Blitzø crawled onto her dads lap like a prized pet, black talons automatically moving to slot between the spines on his back. Low purring started almost immediately, Blitzø’s eyes sliding closed. Waving a hand, Octavia summoned the book she knew Stolas was currently reading to him, knowing he’d never disturb someone resting on him; he’d done the same when she was small and seeking comfort.
”Thank you Starfire.” She hummed in acknowledgement and returned to staring at her phone. Per usual the only notification outside of her apps was another message from Stella she wouldn’t be opening; she’d grown sick of the woman asking when she’d come to her senses, and men wouldn’t wait forever for her tantrum to finish.
”Thank you for saying yes to me coming here.” She mumbled, eyes still glued to her screen. “Mom said you wouldn't want me anymore because you had what you wanted already.” The thought that had been running through her head since Blitzø had picked her up rushed out so fast they ran together. Her knees came up to her chest in the silence that followed, not daring to turn to see what look she was getting from the older owl.
Across from her, Stolas nudged Blitzø off him so he could join her on the loveseat, an arm coming around her shoulders to pull her against his side, Blitzø coming to sit on the back of the furniture in the way she knew her dad hated but somehow found endearing.
Sitting next to him, hearing how earnestly he spoke, she actually believed him, vision getting blurry as tears welled up. “Really?” She asked, voice thick as she turned to bury her face where his shoulder met his neck like she did when she was a nestling.
She felt Blitzø’s arms join her dads around her, “Kiddo, we’ve been wanting you here the entire time.” She knew if she looked up she’d see glowing yellow eyes looking at her with a dopey look she’d seen directed at Loona and her dad. She hugged the pair against her feeling oddly relieved. She’d been worried they’d taken her out of some feeling of obligation and hearing that she was actually wanted cemented for her that she’d made the right choice to come here.