Work Text:
-Artwork by Ritsuu-
"Hey Stols, whaddya think about a little vacation?"
Stolas looked up from his paperwork and tilted his head. "A vacation?"
"Uh huh!" Blitzø grinned, propping his elbow on the edge of his desk and leaning towards him. "Nothing too crazy… you know, just a couple of days. Maybe somewhere warm?"
Stolas hummed thoughtfully. "There are some nice beaches in Envy."
Blitzø perked up. "Yeah? You like the beach?"
"Oh. No, not really," Stolas said with a shake of his head and a soft chuckle, then went back to his paperwork.
"Oh… uh, shit… seriously?" Blitzø replied, sounding deflated. Stolas looked back up to find his whole demeanor had changed.
"Taking Octavia was nice, but Stella always made it a miserable experience," he said with a little shrug. Blitzø looked even more conflicted, and Stolas' brow furrowed. "Is… that a problem? Why do you ask?"
Stolas really had no idea where this line of questioning came from. Blitzø had told him that it was just going to be the two of them in the office today because everyone else took off for one reason or another, and Stolas had only just gotten started on today's paperwork. Why Blitzø was suddenly wondering about vacations Stolas had taken and his opinion on them was beyond him.
"Well, fuck… I figured you'd like the beach, because you liked laying out by your pool," Blitzø said, his tail twitching behind him. "But… you think you'd have fun if you're with, y'know… someone who isn't Stella, right…?"
"Well…" Stolas began slowly, feeling a little embarrassed. "It… it isn't so much an issue of me having a good time, rather… whoever I go with."
Blitzø's brow furrowed in confusion and he straightened up. "The fuck you mean by that?"
"Well, it's just… I don't really know what to do… I'm not much fun," he admitted sheepishly.
"What?!" Blitzø snapped, suddenly outraged on his behalf. "You're tons of fun, dumbass! And luckily for you, I planned a whole list of summer activities, so you don't gotta think of shit."
Stolas stared at him in silence for a few seconds, feeling completely lost. "...Blitzø, what are you talking about?"
"Our vacation."
"Our vacation…?"
"Yes! The one I've been planning for the past month as a surprise," Blitzø replied.
Stolas blinked a few more times, and then the realization finally hit him. "O–oh! You were asking me to go on a vacation with you? To the beach?"
Blitzø's brow furrowed. "Yeah, didn't I just say that?"
"Not really," Stolas said while trying not to look too giddy about it. "Oh, I'd love to go, Blitzø!
A wide grin spread across Blitzø's face. "Alright, thank Satan. Here, put these on and I'll be right back."
Blitzø dropped a pile of clothes on Stolas' desk and then sped off into his office, closing the door behind him. Stolas picked the items up one by one and laid them out. There was a red button-up with a tropical print on it, some khaki shorts, and a white tank top. He quickly shed his clothing and pulled the new ones on, then smiled giddily down at himself. Moments later the door to Blitzø's office flew back open, and he stepped out wearing a near identical outfit, except his shirt was yellow, his shorts were black, and he wore white slide sandals on his hooves.
Stolas felt his heart fluttering in his chest. Blitzø wanted to go on a vacation with him and had even gotten them matching outfits! This was so exciting. Except, of course, for the fact he was going to find out that Stolas was no fun to vacation with. He wasn't left much time to worry over it as Blitzø jogged over, pulling a rolling suitcase and holding up two papers that looked like oversized plane tickets.
"Hop on and close your eyes, birdie!" he said, patting the top of the suitcase.
"You… want me to sit on your luggage…?" Stolas asked slowly, staring down at the suitcase.
"Our luggage, but also no, I want you to get on the plane!" He waved the paper tickets around. "Sit on this shit and close your eyes, bitch! Gotta give you the whole experience."
Right… sometimes, demons would take a plane or other modes of public transportation to get from one place to another. Blitzø was already trying to teach him how life was for the "regular demons" as he often put it, and Stolas didn't want to look foolish, so he quickly sat himself down on the luggage and then tucked his feet in.
"This is your captain speaking, and we're about to take off, so close your eyes!" Blitzø yelled from behind him.
Stolas giggled and did as he was told, and a second later Blitzø was pushing him all around the office on the suitcase.
"Oh shit, another plane!" Blitzø shouted, veering sharply to the right. Stolas squawked and clung to the handles on the side. "That was a close one. Shoulda told you to wear your seatbelt."
"Do planes actually move this erratically?" Stolas asked through giggles and hoots as Blitzø continued to fling him one way then another.
"Stolas, there's nothing erotic about planes, get your birdpuss outta the gutter."
"I–I said erraticall–"
"TURBULENCE!"
The luggage–er, plane–began shaking violently, and Stolas screeched and nearly fell off.
"I think that's enough!" he yelped.
"Ugh, fine," Blitzø grumbled, and a second later Stolas could hear the sound of a portal tearing open and felt himself being pushed through.
When Stolas opened his eyes, he found they weren't in Envy at all, but somewhere on Earth. The sky was blue and so was the water, the sun was warm on his feathers, and the beach appeared to be totally empty of other demons–er, people.
"I did a bunch of research, and this island is almost completely remote! Which means nobody lives here but us. So we have the whole long weekend to ourselves," Blitzø said with a grin. "No disguises needed or nothin'."
Stolas glanced over at a small house halfway up the beach and raised an eyebrow. Blitzø followed his gaze, his tail snapping behind him once.
"Yeah, well, there was one person living out here, but uh… now they're not!"
Stolas stood back up and looked around. It really did look beautiful, and Stolas would be lying if he said he wasn't thrilled that Blitzø wanted to bring him here. Still, he worried that Blitzø would quickly grow bored of him and become upset. In fact, judging by the quick movements of his tail, Blitzø was already feeling agitated.
"Is…. is something the matter?" Stolas asked slowly, and Blitzø let out a little gasp as he straightened up.
"Oh! Uh, n–no, just.. why don't we take the suitcase over to that house and get ready for our first day of vacay?" Blitzø asked, eyeing the suitcase with an odd look on his face.
Stolas puzzled at the suitcase for a bit, then looked back up at Blitzø. He still had the "plane tickets" in his hands, and he started to put the pieces together.
"...Did… you want me to push you on it?"
Blitzø's face flushed and he looked away. "Nah! I mean, only if you wanted to… er, no, I can push it! That's the gentlemanly thing to do."
Stolas couldn't help but smile. "Well, you need to take a ride on the airplane to reach our destination too, right? It only makes sense."
"Well fuck, when you put it that way…" Blitzø said with a grin, hopping up on the luggage. "Let's go, birdie!"
⋆⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆
"Alright, first summer activity is building some sand castles!"
Stolas stared down at the pile of sand uncertainly, then back up at Blitzø with a frown. If only he still had his magic, then he could have created a perfect sandcastle that would have impressed him… but he hardly knew how to actually create one by hand. Stolas attempted to move the sand around and press it into a shape, but it merely crumbled the moment he let go. He let out a little huff of irritation.
"Something wrong, Stols?" Blitzø asked as he titled his head to the side ever so sweetly.
"I–I just…" Stolas began, feeling his cheeks flush. "I don't really… um… know how?"
"Didn't you say you took Via to the beach? You never built sandcastles with her?" he asked, brow furrowed.
"Well, we just used magic," Stolas mumbled, feeling even more embarrassed. "It's alright, I'll just watch you. I don't mind."
And he really didn't, honestly. Blitzø was so skilled at so many things, and he'd learned a lot from watching him these past few months. He did his best to not ask questions, of which he had many, because he didn't want to frustrate him. Stolas understood so little about the way the world worked for most of the citizens of Hell, and it wasn't Blitzø's responsibility to educate him.
"It's easy, Stolas, I'll teach you right now," Blitzø said, waving a hand dismissively.
"Oh," Stolas replied, watching as Blitzø began to work over his pile of sand with his hands, his tongue poking out in concentration. "Well, if you're sure…"
Blitzø showed him how to pack the sand just right so it would hold its shape, offering tips on how you could use a little bit of water to help it hold its form, but not too much water, and after some trial and error Stolas was finally able to build a sandcastle of his own. Blitzø said it was the best sandcastle he had ever seen, although Stolas felt it wasn't that impressive.
Blitzø was struggling with his own castle, never seeming very happy with how it was turning out and opting to start again every time he glanced over at Stolas' castle. Eventually, Stolas suggested that perhaps instead of a sandcastle he could make a sandhorse. Blitzø lit up at the idea, his tail swaying blissfully behind him.
⋆⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆
"Fuck, it's hot as shit," Blitzø complained, wiping the sweat from his brow after creating roughly 15 and a half sandhorses. "Swim?"
"Oh! Sure," Stolas replied. He reached into their beach bag and pulled out a towel and his reading book. He carefully laid his towel in the sand and then sat down on it, cracking open his book in his lap.
"Um… what are you doing?"
Stolas lowered his book to find Blitzø standing in front of him with a puzzled look on his face.
"...Reading a book?" he answered, tilting his head to the side.
"You don't want to swim with me?" Blitzø asked, his tail drooping slightly.
Stolas' eyes widened and he shut his book. He hadn't realized Blitzø was asking him to swim with him, he simply thought Blitzø was asking his permission to go swimming while Stolas stayed behind. Which was silly, obviously… Blitzø didn't need his permission to go swimming, or to do anything.
"I didn't realize you wanted me to join you," Stolas said awkwardly. "I'm fine watching you, darling."
Blitzø blinked, his tail going totally limp. Drats, Stolas had said another wrong thing.
"It's fine," Blitzø said, instead reaching into the bag and pulling out his beach towel. "I'll chill with you."
"But you said you were hot," Stolas pointed out. "You should swim."
"You trying to get rid of me, or something?" Blitzø asked in a tone that sounded as if it was meant to be a joke, but didn't exactly feel like it was.
"I…" Stolas began, clutching at his chest feathers and twisting his fingers around in them. "I can't swim."
Blitzø blinked incredulously. "...Huh?"
"I can't swim," Stolas repeated.
"But you had a bigass pool at your palace that you were always sitting by," Blitzø said.
"Yes, I sat by it," Stolas replied.
"But sometimes you wore a swimsuit," Blitzø added.
Stolas sighed. "For aesthetic purposes."
Blitzø blinked several times and said nothing. Stolas got the feeling he was trying to figure out what aesthetic meant.
"It was to look nice for you," he supplied, his cheeks heating up.
"Oh!" Blitzø said, his cheeks flushing a little too. "That's, uh… well, you always look nice, birdie."
Stolas' face felt too hot, so he buried it in his book again. He could hear Blitzø digging around in their beach bag once more, and then the sound of him breathing in and out very quickly, almost as if he was… having a panic attack? He lowered the book. Blitzø had what looked like a large brown balloon in his hands and was, apparently, attempting to inflate it.
"What are you doing?"
"Blowin' this up," Blitzø grunted.
He resumed his attempts but was clearly struggling, his face growing more and more red. When it was about halfway full Blitzø pinched the hole closed and started cussing at it, then went back to attempting to inflate it.
"I could help you," Stolas offered.
Blitzø shook his head. "You'll pop it."
"I won't," Stolas replied snootily. Blitzø narrowed his eyes at him and pinched it closed.
"The amount of times you sliced my stomach open with that thing while sucking my dick, Stolas?" Blitzø deadpanned, pointing at his beak accusatorily. "I think I would know."
Stolas' face was probably a deeper red than Blitzø's, now, and he buried his face in his book once more without another word. He never quite knew what to do when Blitzø would bring up the things they had done together in the past.
After several more minutes of Blitzø gasping and panting and cussing, he finally finished inflating what Stolas could now see was a somewhat horse shaped tube. He held it up for Stolas triumphantly, a grin on his face. Stolas smiled back.
"How cute. Have fun, darling."
Blitzø's brow furrowed. "Uh, I didn't do this shit for me, Stolas. I know how to swim."
"...Oh!" Stolas said with a little gasp. "You didn't have to go through all that trouble–"
"Shut the fuck up, Stolas, and get on the horse."
Stolas didn't try to argue again. They both waded into the water, and when it was deep enough, Stolas carefully sat down on the horse floaty. He was a little nervous at first, but once he got used to it, he found it very relaxing. Blitzø even swam back to shore and grabbed his book for him.
They spent most of their afternoon in the water, Blitzø splashing and playing while Stolas watched or read his book. Sometimes Stolas would float off a little too far, but Blitzø always came and pulled him back. One of those times, after Blitzø had been clinging to the horse floaty for much longer than was strictly necessary and staring at it, Stolas lowered his book.
"Darling, would you like a turn?" Stolas asked.
"Nah, brought it for you since you can't swim," he said, shaking his head.
Stolas knew that couldn't have been true, considering Blitzø had been surprised to learn he couldn't swim just a few hours ago. He realized with a small pain in his chest that Blitzø had likely brought the floaty for himself to enjoy, but he'd given it up for Stolas instead, and he was simply too kind to ever ask for it back. Stolas, however, had an idea.
"Perhaps we could both fit? Why don't you take us closer to shore, and we could try?" Stolas offered.
Blitzø seemed unconvinced at first, but when Stolas asked again and batted his eyelashes a few times, he agreed to try it out. He insisted on returning Stolas' book to shore first, however, which made Stolas blush despite Blitzø insisting it wasn't a big deal.
As it turned out, they were able to both fit on the horse together, and the smile on Blitzø's face as he clung to the horse's neck made Stolas' heart flutter.
⋆⁺₊⋆ ⏾ ⋆⁺₊⋆
"Thank you for planning all of this, Blitzø," Stolas said as the two sat side by side watching the sky darken. They'd finished swimming, eaten some dinner, and had watched the sunset together from the shore.
"Ehh, it's not a big deal," Blitzø replied with a shrug.
"It is a big deal to me," Stolas said quietly, pulling his knees to his chest and resting his cheek on them. "No one has ever done something so thoughtful for me, before."
"Fucked up," Blitzø mumbled after a long silence.
Stolas had nothing to say in response to that, so he watched Blitzø as he quietly fussed with one of his sandhorses, his eyelids slowly drooping closed.
"Hey, Stols."
Stolas' eyes flew open and he gasped. Blitzø's hand was on his shoulder.
"Sorry birdie, wasn't trying to scare ya," he said, gently rubbing circles on his shoulder. "You fell asleep for a little bit."
Stolas looked up to find the sky was indeed completely dark, and dotted with stars. His beak fell open as he stared at them. It'd been a long time since he'd seen the Earth's stars, and even from such a distance they still amazed him. But he was being rude, he realized, so he shook his head and returned his focus to Blitzø.
"I'm sorry," he said softly. Blitzø sighed as he dug through their beach bag.
"Stop apologizing for shit, Stolas. I don't care if you fell asleep at night time because you're tired," he mumbled. "Or any time. Just stop worrying all the damn time."
Though the words were a bit harsh, Blitzø had said them with love. Stolas closed his mouth and tilted his head back, looking up at the stars again.
He had missed this so much, and he hadn't even realized it. He wondered if Blitzø had somehow known it and if this was all part of his plan, too. He felt something warm in his chest when he considered that, but a little bit of guilt, too. He hadn't contributed anything today.
"Alright, got one more activity for today, Stols," Blitzø said with a grin, holding up two little sticks.
Stolas stared at them, completely clueless as to what he was looking at. Eventually he tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes slightly. "Um… incense?"
"What? No, they're, uh…" Blitzø furrowed his brow and looked at them again, then shrugged. "I think Moxxie called 'em sparklers. I asked him to get us fireworks and this is the shit he brought back. On second thought, they're probably fucking lame. We can skip it."
Blitzø began to pack the sparklers away in their beach bag, seeming suddenly embarrassed to have brought them up at all. Stolas straightened up and shook his head, taking them from his hand.
"I'd like to see them," he said, holding them up in front of his face. "So, um… what do you do?"
"Don't hold 'em in front of your face, for one," Blitzø said with a snort. He grabbed Stolas' hand and turned it around so it was pointing towards the ground, and then took the other one. He pulled a lighter out of the bag with his tail and lit it, holding the flame near the ends of the sparklers. "And then I think we just… light 'em."
They both carefully touched the ends of their sparklers to the flame. At first, nothing happened, but then there was a hiss and a flash of light as both began burning. Stolas hooted in surprise and Blitzø nearly dropped his.
"Oh my, they're very pretty," Stolas said, watching the little sparks shoot off of it.
"Yeah, cooler than I thought," Blitzø said, watching his own with wide eyes. They held them and watched them quietly until they burned out, which happened rather quickly.
Luckily, Blitzø had packed a lot of them. They had fun lighting them and watching as they sparked and burned out, and they even played a game where they tried to draw pictures in the air and guess what the other had drawn. It was easy to guess what Blitzø had drawn… it was either a horse, or a penis. Blitzø had a harder time guessing Stolas' sparkler drawings, so he decided to make it easy on him and draw horses and penises too.
⋆⁺₊⋆ ⏾ ⋆⁺₊⋆
After all of the sparklers had been used, they once again sat side by side. Stolas couldn't keep the smile off his face, and Blitzø seemed to be feeling the same way. As he stared up at the sky above, an idea popped into Stolas' head.
"Would you like to know about the Earth stars?"
Blitzø looked up at him, his tail swishing back and forth behind him. For a moment Stolas worried that it'd been a silly thing to ask, and that Blitzø was going to find that boring as everyone else did, but then a wide grin stretched across his face and he nodded.
Stolas began by pointing out the North Star and a few easily recognizable constellations like the Big Dipper. Of course Blitzø asked if there were any horse related constellations, so Stolas showed him Pegasus and Equuleus. Blitzø was thrilled to learn that there were not only one, but two horse constellations, and he asked a lot of questions. It surprised Stolas, but he was happy to answer all of them.
Later that night when they had gone back to the beach house, Blitzø laid on the floor and doodled a bunch of "new constellations" that he felt should exist, "because they'd be fuckin' awesome." He asked Stolas for advice on how to make them look right, and eventually Stolas laid down beside him and they did a few drawings together. When they were all done, Blitzø proudly displayed them on the refrigerator. Stolas couldn't help but smile when he looked at them.
Perhaps he hadn't helped in any of the planning of their vacation, and perhaps he didn't even know how to do vacation properly, but Blitzø had shown him that it was okay for him not to know everything. He would be there to help, it seemed, whether Stolas believed he deserved it or not. And as it turned out, even without his palace or his status or his powers, Stolas still had things of value he could offer.
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