Archive of Our Own

The events of Sinsmas don't date back that long ago, not even a month, but Blitz is worried about Stolas. Since then, the owl is completely letting himself go. Despite having medication available now, which Blitz didn't even know existed, the owl doesn't take it, or maybe just a pill or two. Blitz isn't an expert, but he knows that's not how it works. On top of that, the owl has completely stopped taking care of himself. His plumage is neglected, and his beak has little crusts from the lack of care. He doesn't eat and even taking a bath has become optional for the owl, even though he normally loves it. Blitz's heart breaks seeing his majestic and elegant owl turn into such a sloppy bird.. What Blitz would give to get that owl back.

Then, one day at work, he opens his desk drawer to look for something and finds his support ticket stamped by Millie, offering them a date without Blitz tagging along and right there, an idea comes to him. He pulls out a stack of paper and his pens and starts putting his plan into action.

That evening at the apartment, Blitz is excited as a puppy. Neither Loona and even less Stolas understand why, and the imp doesn't want to spill the beans.

Once the two of them go to bed, Blitz sets up his plan and goes to the bathroom and the kitchen to get everything ready. After finishing the whole setup, he stops in front of a sleeping Stolas. Without any trouble, he notices two or three damaged feathers sticking out clearly from the feathers on his head. He pulls them out gently with a pang in his heart. He is still his beautiful bird, but it's obvious Stolas doesn't see himself that way anymore and doesn't seem to want to take care of himself, neglecting himself more and more day after day. Then, Blitz strokes his face and kisses his cheek before heading to the beanbag that serves as his bed.

In the morning, as usual, the imp is the first one up to make breakfast. Today, he is even more excited than usual, he can't wait for Stolas to wake up. Besides, he doesn't have to wait long, the smell of coffee and pancakes gently wakes the owl, who stretches with a yawn. Blitz bounds over to him, a huge smile on his face, unable to stand still.

"Morning Stolas, how you doing? You sleep well? You hungry? I made pancakes and a surprise for you."

Stolas looks at Blitz, not understanding where the imp can get so much energy so early in the morning and especially why he is wearing such a smile.

"Well yes, I think so, thank you Blitz," Stolas mumbles, already overwhelmed by Blitz right as he wakes up, even before a coffee can help him wake up a bit more.

The owl gets up from the couch and heads to the bathroom, with Blitz glued to his heels, still just as excited. He walks through the door, the imp following him.

"Uh Blitz, can you give me a minute please? I would like to ... well, you see, can you leave me alone?" Stolas asks, perplexed by Blitz's behavior this morning.

"Oh yeah, course Stols, I'm just waiting right outside the door."

Then, Blitz takes a step back, his hands behind his back, rocking on his feet, still with a huge smile on his face. Stolas gently closes the door, completely lost by what's happening. After a short moment, the bathroom door opens again, Blitz still planted right in front of it.

"Blitz, what is all this?" Stolas asks, holding a piece of paper in his hand.

"Surprise! It's for you, to help you get better!" Blitz exclaims with a hop, his arms in the air, making the owl jump.

"That doesn't tell me what it is, Blitz," Stolas replies, his eyes wide open.

Blitz goes back into the bathroom and opens the cabinet behind the mirror, and Stolas notices there are other pieces of paper all over the place.

"They're support tickets or mission tickets, whichever you prefer."

Stolas looks at Blitz with a questioning look, waiting for the rest.

"OK, let me explain. Each ticket is a daily mission you gotta accomplish per day to get a reward. Here, take the one in your hand. That's the one for taking care of your gorgeous beak. Every day you take care of it, I'm gonna punch a little hole. And since it's like brushing teeth for me, there's two circles per day, one for the morning and one for the evening. And if you take care of yourself all week, after the seventh day, you get to pick a big reward card."

Blitz rushes to the kitchen and comes back with two small boxes filled with sheets of paper. On one of the boxes, there is a horse that looks like Blitz holding out a little star to another horse that looks like Stolas. On the other, you find the same characters, but this time, the Blitz horse is throwing tons of stars and hearts at the Stolas horse.

"There's the big rewards box for when you completed a whole ticket. Though, some rewards need one, two, three or more completed tickets, depends on the size of the reward. And the small rewards box. That one, you can pick a small reward if you do at least three missions a day. There's tickets for everything. For taking care of your beak, taking your meds, doing your hair, taking a bath, doing your makeup, eating your whole breakfast, finishing your dinner. Then there's also..."

Blitz goes back to the kitchen to drop off the small boxes and returns with a few additional tickets.

"Over here, these are bigger missions that you don't gotta do every day, they take time or a lot of energy, so I called them special mission tickets. Once they're done, they can be worth several completed tickets. For example, there's doing a total body care for your feathers, which is a bit more than the daily care, or also going out to look for a new outfit. I know you don't like going out shopping because there's still dumbasses throwing trash at you or talking shit, and it makes you uncomfortable... but I'm gonna beat their asses and you'll see, you're gonna have a good time. What else is there for a special mission?"

Blitz looks at the small sheets in his hand.

"Oh yeah, there's this too, spending an evening at the theater with Moxxie. He already asked you twice and you said no, even though I'm sure it would do you a world of good.

Anyway, you see, there's stuff to take care of you so you stop neglecting yourself and other stuff to help you feel better in general, to cheer you up. And also, if there's missions you can't do alone, you can ask me for help, like cutting your talons or whatever. Whatever it is, don't hesitate."

Stolas stares, looking lost and a bit overwhelmed by the energy and all these explanations. Blitz, for his part, stands proudly in front of the owl, still with a huge smile drawn on his face. Seeing the imp so happy warms Stolas's heart a little, but...

"Blitz, this is very kind, but you shouldn't have gone to such trouble for me. You know, I am not a child, I only need time and I do not think these tickets will truly help me," Stolas begins, truly not wanting to offend the imp after all the effort he put into this surprise, but not being sure if it will actually bring him anything.

"Try it and you'll see, I'm sure you're gonna get into it and it's gonna help you. Come on, I'm heading back to the kitchen and I'm waiting for you so we can put the first little holes in all the mission cards you did."

With these words, Blitz steps out of the bathroom all happy, leaving a perplexed owl behind him, still holding a piece of paper in his hand. Stolas sighs. He is going to try to please Blitz and do one or two of his missions, he genuinely does not want to hurt the imp who looks so happy and proud of his idea. The owl goes through and reads all the little pieces of paper. He puts back the one for taking care of his beak. Blitz really made a mission ticket for everything…

Blitz waits impatiently in the kitchen. Loona comes out of her room, still half-asleep.

"Morning my Looni-Lou!" Blitz exclaims, still completely hyped up about his surprise for Stolas.

"Did you swallow a battery this morning, seriously! What's gotten into you? And what's with these boxes and sheets on the table?"

"It's the surprise for Stolas, to help him get better and take care of himself," Blitz replies proudly, bringing Loona her breakfast.

The latter looks over and reads a few tickets.

"And you think that's gonna work? I'm not sure Stolas is as... as... playful as you," Loona replies, not knowing what word to use to avoid offending her father.

"Stolas is perplexed too, but you'll see, I'm telling both of you: it's a genius idea and it's gonna help him a lot, I'm sure of it," Blitz announces proudly, puffing out his chest.

Loona sighs and eats her breakfast without pushing further.

Stolas finally comes out of the bathroom and sits at the table. Blitz joins him and stands impatiently in front of him.

"So, what missions you did, Stols?"

The owl sighs and hands two tickets to Blitz. The first is for getting dressed to go to work and the other is for washing his face. The imp would have hoped for more tickets, but it is a start. He punches both tickets and proudly hands them back to the owl.

"Missions accomplished and validated! One more and you get to pick a reward from the small box," Blitz repeats happily.

Stolas looks at Loona, who returns his incredulous gaze. Then, Stolas receives his pancake plate, placed in front of him. Blitz only gave him a single pancake this time. Normally, he always serves three or four, and Stolas only eats a tiny fraction of it.

"So, I know it looks like not much, but if you finish your plate, you'll have accomplished another mission, and I can always give you more pancakes if you're still hungry. But this way, with just one, the mission feels more achievable, right?"

Stolas sighs: "That is kind, Blitz, but I am not hungry. A simple cup of tea will suffice, thank you."

Blitz has a hard time hiding his disappointment, but he pulls himself together and brings the cup of tea to Stolas, then asks him timidly:

"What about your meds? You take them?"

Stolas turns his head and sees the imp next to him, his eyes bright, but he clearly sees a hint of worry in them.

"No, I did not take them," Stolas admits, a bit ashamed, avoiding Blitz's gaze.

Blitz rushes to the bathroom and comes back with the bottle and the little paper stuck on it. He places them in front of the owl without saying a word and looks at him, full of hope that he will take them. Stolas stares at the bottle, then at the imp. Why is Blitz putting so much effort into him? Why does he care so much about him? He is not worth it. But he does not want to hurt the imp, so he opens the bottle and takes out three pills before swallowing them right in front of Blitz's eyes, which suddenly fill with joy and pride.

"Awesome, Stolas, you did it! I'm super proud of you!"

He takes the sheet and punches it as well, then places the small rewards box in front of the owl.

"Here, you can pick a card, whichever you want, you earned it. There's duplicates of the same ones, so you can keep them on you and use them whenever you want. You can even use several at the same time!" Blitz exclaims.

Stolas pulls out the small sheets and looks at them one by one, curious, he must admit, to see what Blitz came up with as rewards. There is, among others:

• A bowl of popcorn of your choice all for yourself
• A super expensive bath essence from the chic shop in the Sloth ring
• Choosing the evening movie, without any complaining
• Choosing the music during the drive to work

And then, there were two other cards. One where nothing is written except "Write whatever you want, I will do it" and another for a "Comforting hug". Stolas hesitates. It is ridiculous. He knows very well that if he were to ask for all these things from Blitz, the imp would do them without any reward card… but Stolas does not ask for them. He puts all the sheets back into the box and keeps one in his hand, which he quickly shoves into his pocket before the imp can see which one he chose. That too is ridiculous, because if Stolas wants to cash it in, he will have to show it to Blitz. The imp, for his part, still smiles proudly at Stolas.

Afterwards, it is finally time to go to work and Stolas realizes that Blitz left a few mission tickets here as well. He expected to find missions like "Write the reports" or "Organize the missions," but instead, he finds a ticket to "Take a break with a team member while drinking a coffee or tea of your choice" and another to " Tell an annoying client to fuck off." None of these missions are executed today, nor any others in the evening at the apartment, except for the one to "Put on your pajamas to go to bed."

Stolas sighs, what on earth went through Blitz's head to come up with such an idea?

The next morning, Stolas accomplishes the exact same three missions once again and picks a card that he uses immediately this time, the one to choose the music in the van. Blitz is very proud. He notes the date on the ticket to "validate" it and lets Stolas pick the music. The imp takes this very seriously indeed.

The following two days, the owl does his same three morning missions and chooses the reward to pick the music again and the movie to watch. The evening in front of the TV, where Stolas chooses a telenovela, goes quite well. Blitz looks perplexed during several scenes but does not say a single word, as promised on the reward ticket. Even though the movie does not seem to be much to his liking, he still stays sitting silently next to the owl the entire evening. And Stolas must admit that it is, despite everything, a rather pleasant evening.

Suddenly, the next morning, Stolas tells himself that starting to complete another ticket would do no harm because, after all, he already automatically accomplishes a fourth mission every single evening, which is putting on his pajamas. That will make it five, and maybe, just maybe, he will even manage to do a sixth one day. And the owl wonders if he will then be entitled to two small reward tickets, or if the imp is going to limit him to just one? He could simply ask Blitz, but he is afraid of raising false hopes in the imp if he cannot manage to do all of that, and he does not want to disappoint him.

He looks at all the little sheets of paper hanging everywhere and, in addition to the usual three, he decides to do the mission that asks him to take care of his beak. Stolas looks at himself in the mirror. A single treatment will not make all these crusts disappear from his beak, it will take days. Perhaps Blitz will not validate this mission, seeing no difference. If that is the case, he will drop it.

But on the contrary, Blitz's eyes light up when he sees Stolas come out of the bathroom and hand him that little piece of paper, showing him that he has accomplished a new mission, even if the effect is not immediately visible. He could simply give the tickets to Blitz without actually doing these missions, but that would be cheating the imp who put so much effort into this game.

Stolas sighs. He is only entitled to one reward for the moment. This time, he chooses the bath essence ticket. Blitz is so proud and happy that his plan is working that he takes Stolas to look for his oil at the very end of the day. And because of this, in the evening, the owl decides to take a bath, allowing him to start a new ticket, and with the simple act of putting on his pajamas, he hits the target of six missions done on this day. Blitz practically explodes with pride as he brings the box and hands it to him. Stolas takes another ticket and keeps it in his pocket with the other one from the first day.

As the days go by, Stolas can even choose two small reward tickets per day and even starts a seventh ticket, which is finally managing to finish his breakfast plate. It must be admitted that Blitz helped him by making him a tiny pancake. He chooses the music once again, as well as a ticket giving him the choice of his breakfast for the next day.

This continues, then the weekend arrives and Stolas has completed his first three tickets started at the beginning. He is therefore entitled to choose his big reward or rewards, or to keep his tickets to accumulate them, Blitz having already made new tickets for the following week. Stolas admits that he finds a certain pleasure in discovering the rewards the imp has written down. Among the big rewards, he finds:

• A whole day in the library with Blitz without him saying a single word
• A complete feather-care kit
• A day off from the office
• A foot massage
• A visit to the most beautiful flower garden on Earth during the night
• Watching the stars on Earth too, in an isolated spot

There are even rewards that bring a small smile to Stolas, where he is not sure if it is a joke or not, but knowing the imp, he is quite capable of it: "Cutting your ex's hair feathers while she sleeps" or "Putting hot sauce in Elsa's tea during an event."
And once again, the blank card that Stolas can fill out with whatever he wants.

To tell the truth, he does not know what to choose. The foot massage would tempt him, but it takes five complete tickets; the care basket, it takes six. The library outing only costs two tickets. The only rewards requiring only a single ticket are the ones to play a mean trick on his in-laws and the day off from the office. And concerning the ones for Earth, Blitz set the bar high: twelve tickets.

Should he wait or use a portion of his tickets? Perhaps he should do more missions to get more tickets.
And without realizing it, Stolas got caught up in Blitz's game. He gives two tickets to the imp along with the one for the library visit. Blitz proudly notes the date on them and hooks the two complete tickets to the reward. The imp can be meticulous and organized when he wants to be, which is good to know, the owl tells himself. Stolas keeps the remaining ticket aside.

Their day at the library goes off without a hitch. Blitz stays by his side and while the owl reads, Blitz silently prepares more tickets and reward cards.

The next day, Stolas decides to try a new mission. The idea of being able to go to Earth to see a botanical garden or the stars ran through his head all evening, but twelve completed tickets is a lot. Especially since other rewards attract him too. Stolas sighs and looks at all the possible missions. The daily care of his feathers, perhaps? Blitz even divided them by parts: head, arms, torso, legs, and tail. Stolas does not have the courage to do it all and is grateful that Blitz had the idea to separate them into different small missions. Taking care of his head feathers is a logical start. Since he started taking care of his beak again, it makes a matching set.

Thus the days pass. Stolas accumulates several small rewards, some that he uses right away, others that he hides in his pocket. While he hands the small box back to Blitz after making his choice, he sees the little packet of special missions on the counter. He had completely forgotten them. He gets up from the kitchen table, walks over to the little pieces of paper, and begins to read them. Blitz looks at him without saying a word, but his gaze speaks volumes. He is so proud and happy to see his owl getting back on his feet. Without a word, he stays next to Stolas until the latter hands him a mission.

"Do you think we could try this one after work?" the owl asks uncertainly.

Blitz takes the sheet and reads, then with a huge smile: "Course Stols, whatever you want, my beautiful bird."

Stolas blushes at this nickname which he does not find unpleasant, quite the contrary. Even though, obviously, it is a lie. He is taking a bit more care of himself, but he knows that in general, he still looks more like a sloppy bird than a beautiful bird. The workday ends earlier than expected, Blitz being far too impatient to help Stolas accomplish his special mission.

After dropping the rest of his team off at home, Blitz heads toward the big shopping mall. The owl seems tense, but the imp tries to reassure him, telling him that everything will be fine. Once parked, Blitz gets out and opens the car door for Stolas, who isn't sure he wants to go through with it anymore. Their last outing to this mall, right after Sinsmas, was a disaster. Between the insults, the trash thrown at his face, and the mockery, Stolas had felt at his absolute lowest, especially with the events involving his daughter being so fresh. Some demons had even thrown knives and forks at him, which luckily missed. But all this hatred and the risk of being hurt had left a mark on him, breaking him a little more than he already was. Blitz had thrown himself at those demons, and an all-out brawl had started.

Stolas remains frozen just thinking back to it. Blitz waits patiently, encouraging him to help him step out. Stolas looks at the imp, then takes one of the small pieces of paper from his pocket along with the pen clipped to the sun visor and starts writing before handing it to the imp. Blitz takes it. It is a small reward ticket where Stolas can write whatever he wants. Blitz's gaze softens as he reads the word. Stolas didn't need to use one of his rewards for this, the imp would have done it anyway to reassure his owl.

"I do not know if this can count as a small reward, or if what I am asking of you would be a big one," the owl says timidly.

Blitz smiles at him tenderly and holds out his hand: "It's totally a small reward, Stols, don't worry, it's valid all day until we're back home."

Stolas smiles, relieved, and takes Blitz's hand to get out of the van, keeping it firmly gripped.

Blitz guides him, still holding his hand, toward the mall and then toward the first clothing boutique. He lets go of it only to let the owl step into the fitting room. Stolas's mission is to find himself a new outfit, but not just any outfit: something a bit dressier for more "chic" outings.

The owl tries on a few outfits, but nothing seems to please him. Blitz then takes his hand again and heads toward the next store. Here too, Stolas tries on a few outfits and shows them all to Blitz. This reminds him of the day after his banishment, where he had also done a sort of fashion show for Blitz to find new clothes, having nothing left to wear.

Time passes and Stolas begins to relax, even finding a certain pleasure in doing a sort of fashion show for Blitz, whose eyes are sparkling at every outfit the owl tries on. Despite his anxiety seemingly having disappeared, he holds his imp's hand. After all, it is his reward. Stolas still hasn't found anything he likes except for the very first outfit, but he gave up on it upon seeing the price. Blitz was ready to buy it for him, but Stolas insisted, saying he would surely find a cheaper one. He does not want to ruin his imp even more. He knows Blitz has a hard time making ends meet, even more so since his arrival in his apartment.

Before they can enter the last store, a demon blocks their path.

"We don't want trash like you in our shop so get lost, you expired blue-blood! Beat it before I use your feathers to scrub my toilets!"

Stolas freezes. This is exactly what he feared.

Blitz loses his temper and fires back at the demon, but Stolas barely hears the imp next to him. The boos and insults from the other mall customers take over. Everyone around them starts insulting him, telling him to go hang himself, wishing him all the misfortunes of Hell, telling him that the princess is better off without a father like him. Stolas remains paralyzed by all this hatred surrounding him. It only takes one demon to start it for a blazing fire of hatred to ignite against the owl every single time.

Blitz gets even madder, but before he can jump at them, Stolas squeezes the imp's hand with all his strength and begins to tremble. Blitz calms down and looks at Stolas. He swallows his anger and pulls the owl out of this crowd that is throwing the worst words at him. He is going to take the owl back to the apartment and he is going to come back to deal with these demons, the imp thinks to himself, his rage boiling inside him.

Once back, Blitz settles Stolas on the couch. He heads to the kitchen to make him some tea. When he returns, he sees the owl holding several pieces of paper in his hands, tears starting to form in his eyes. Blitz sets the cup down and takes the pieces of paper. His heart tightens as he reads them. He places them next to the teacup and sits beside Stolas on the couch, before taking him in his arms and gently lying back, pulling the owl down with him. He wraps his tail around one of the owl's legs and holds him tenderly. Stolas begins to let his tears flow and to cry. Blitz holds him firmly, gently stroking his head while telling him reassuring words, words of affection, and plants soft little kisses on the owl's forehead. Once again, Stolas did not have to use his rewards to ask for all of this from the imp, but it seems Blitz's little game is having an effect he didn't expect. Stolas uses his rewards to silently ask for the comfort and warmth he needs, but does not dare ask the imp for.

Stolas falls asleep, exhausted by his crying and his emotions in Blitz's arms, who is going to spend his night not making all those demons regret their behavior and insults as planned, but continuing to hold and stroke the sleeping owl in his arms.

The next morning, Stolas has come to his senses and feels ashamed for letting himself go like this to his emotions and for asking for all of that from Blitz. The imp reassures him as best as he can, ensuring him that he did it gladly and that the owl had the right to ask for all his rewards, he had well earned them after all. After calming Stolas down, Blitz heads to the kitchen, not to start making breakfast, but to grab a few sheets of paper and hold them out to the owl.

"Here, you can pick one out of these three. It's your reward for making it through your special mission."

"Blitz, I do not need a consolation prize, you have done enough already. I did not manage to accomplish this mission and it was, once again, a true catastrophe."

"Course you passed! The mission was to look for an outfit and you tried on a bunch of them. You fought your fear to go back to that mall and whatever happened after, it's not your fault, Stols. You did everything right and for that, you deserve a big reward, so pick one, those are the rules," Blitz says firmly, still holding the pieces of paper out to him.

Stolas takes them and looks. Since their trip to the library, Blitz has renewed his mission and reward tickets:

• A foot massage
• Buying a big plant with its pot for the balcony
• A night in a real bed

"I do not know what to choose, Blitz, I do not feel up to..."

"OK, let's do it another way then. You like all three or is there one you don't want at all? 'Cause I can go grab a different one."

"No, it is not that, all three are tempting, but..."

"OK."

Then Blitz takes the pieces of paper back, turns them over, shuffles them and holds them out this time face down to the owl: "Pick one blind, that way you don't gotta choose, luck does it for you," Blitz explains.

Stolas hesitates. He does not feel like he has earned any reward, but he gives in to Blitz's insistence and draws a card: the foot massage.

"There you go! You want it right now or after lunch?"

"I... I am not really hungry, Blitz, and I..."

"OK, then lie down comfortably," the imp cuts him off, and he leaves for the bathroom to grab some lavender oil.

"Blitz, I do not think..."

"Tststs. I said lie down and let yourself be pampered, my beautiful bird."

The owl does as he is told and Blitz begins to take one of his talons and massage it with a bit of oil on his fingers.

"Relax, Stols, you're tighter than a thong on a sumo wrestler!"

This expression makes the owl hoots and he tries to relax. Blitz starts talking to him about anything and everything, their TV show, work, the laundromat prices that are acting like a roller coaster. Nothing important, but it relaxes Stolas, who lets himself be carried away by the imp's care and attention. Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined Blitz taking care of him like this. A warmth rises in his chest as he abandons himself into his imp's hands, and he must admit that this ticket idea won him over after all.

The morning passes and, after this relaxation session, the owl has found his appetite again, continuing to complete his daily missions.

Days pass, and so do weeks. Every day, Stolas does a few more daily missions, taking more and more care of himself. After all, Blitz calls him his beautiful bird and he does not want to prove his imp wrong. He deserves to live with a presentable owl and not a sloppy one. At work, Stolas is after all the receptionist and secretary, he owes it to himself to be flawless for I.M.P., for Blitz. And icing on the cake, the imp has prepared rewards so magnificent that it would be a shame not to win them.

Stolas finishes more and more tickets, uses more and more rewards. Even special missions, like the total care of his feathers, and he even dared to go to the theater with Moxxie. The imp made sure to get a seat at the back, a bit hidden to limit the damage. What made Stolas laugh quite a bit was that one of the rewards for doing this mission was, among other things, to go to the theater with Moxxie, but where this time Stolas had the right to choose the show.

Stolas is also increasingly confident in asking the imp for customized rewards. For instance, one evening, he asked for a kiss on the cheek before going to bed. He thought it would be a simple, one-time kiss, but the imp considered it a reward with an indefinite duration, and therefore places a kiss every single night on the owl's cheek.

Blitz adds more and more rewards where they spend time together. They already do anyway, but this time a bit differently, such as private cooking lessons where Blitz is the teacher and they cook together. Or gardening together on the balcony to take care of the plants received from other rewards. These are ordinary shared activities that Blitz would do with Stolas anyway, but for some reason or another, these are always the ones Stolas chooses instead of the care packages or even a night alone in a real bed at Ozzy's hotel.

And the owl's customized rewards are, themselves, increasingly intimate in a way. In addition to the goodnight kiss, he asked for Blitz to sleep with him on the couch, to take a bath with Blitz with no strings attached, just to have him there, or mutual back massages.

And one thing leading to another, the rewards offered by Blitz follow the owl's: a special couple's blanket with two openings for the head and four arms, a candlelight dinner, and many others.

Little by little, Stolas is once again the well-groomed and majestic owl Blitz used to know, and they even managed to return a third time to the shopping mall. This time, it did not end in a disaster. The fact that Blitz threatened almost every passerby with his weapon must have had something to do with it.

Stolas looks at himself in the mirror. The owl facing him is unrecognizable compared to the one from a few months ago. Blitz's game worked well. Not only has he completely left behind that sloppy bird that was pulling him further and further down, but he also feels emotionally lighter. Happier thanks to the imp's rewards, into which he puts so much attention and affection. Blitz kept all the sheets, always writing the date and filing them away like a treasure. Which touched the owl enormously.

Stolas checks his makeup one last time. Perfect, worthy of a beautiful bird, just as Blitz keeps calling him. The owl takes all the little papers. Normally, he should now have enough for an outing to Earth and a customized request. He wishes to go stargazing with Blitz, and he wishes for a real kiss on the beak. Provided Blitz agrees, of course, but something tells him the imp will have no objection.

He steps out of the bathroom and gives all the mission tickets to Blitz, who does his job as the ticket puncher, punching every single ticket. Now that Stolas performs all the daily missions, it gives Blitz a lot more "work" than at the beginning. They even added a game rule: five small rewards are equal to one full ticket. This way, Stolas could draw from the big rewards more often. He wanted to save up for the trip to Earth, but spending simpler moments with Blitz tempted him too much and he took longer than expected to save enough tickets. But today is the day. He waits impatiently for Blitz to hand him the box so he can choose his two rewards.

Blitz goes to get the box, but he seems much more quiet than other days. Always repeating how proud he is of the owl, today, he took the tickets without saying a word. Is this whole game becoming too boring for him?

Blitz stands for a moment with the box in hand, looking at it without moving toward Stolas. The owl begins to wonder about Blitz's behavior and, above all, to worry. The imp suddenly looks much less confident than all the previous days. Could there be a problem?

"Blitz? Is everything alright, my darling?" Stolas asks, worried.

Without a word, Blitz places the box in front of Stolas and takes a step back, holding his tail in his hands and looking away.

"Blitz?"

"Choose," the imp simply replies.

Stolas turns toward the small box and looks for the stargazing reward, not really paying attention to the others, and pulls it out of the box once found. He wants to hand it to the imp when he realizes that among all these sheets he knows by heart, a slightly different sheet is now there. Instead of the plain white paper, a small pale pink sheet has been slipped in. Stolas pulls it out and sees Blitz freeze out of the corner of his eye.

He reads:
Very special reward for a real date, includes:

• A visit to a flower garden
• A picnic under the stars with cuddles
• A kiss on the beak or wherever you want
• A night of passion (optional, if you are ready for it)
• An imp who loves you

Valid for a lifetime
Price: Doesn't matter

Stolas reads it a second time, his heart refusing to believe it. Blitz, for his part, is paralyzed by anxiety, even holding his breath.

The owl feels tears welling up, then he takes all his little pieces of paper that serve as tickets and, along with that little pink sheet, hands them to Blitz.

"Here are all the tickets I have, Blitz. I exchange them all for this reward, these and all those that will follow. What is on this little sheet is everything I have ever wished for, I will not need anything else, my darling. I love you too."

Blitz catches his breath, so relieved and happy to hear these words from the owl, then he takes Stolas in his arms, squeezing him with all his strength. The owl does not wait to return his embrace. Both shedding tears of joy. After a moment, Stolas breaks the silence:

"If it is within the rules of the game, I would like to already use a part of my reward."

"Yeah, course my beautiful bird, whatever you..."

The imp is cut short by a beak against his lips. He closes his eyes, melting under the contact, and returns the kiss while taking the owl's head between his hands. The two kiss, sharing with each other all the affection and love they feel. Happy to have each other and to be able to love each other for the rest of their lives.

Blitz had said it: it was a genius idea.