Chapter Text
A few weeks had passed, and Stolas was starting to get into the rhythm of things.
Living life as a commoner was, to be expected, rather difficult. But if Stolas could redo it all again, he would choose this life in a heartbeat, rather than waiting around for his father to marry him off to the next wealthy Goetia heiress. But still, that didn’t mean that living this kind of life didn’t take some getting used to.
Stolas wasn’t used to having to do, well, literally everything by himself. Too used to the butlers having everything stocked, figuring out all the doctor’s appointments, scheduling, etc. It was quite the learning curve. The first time Stolas had stepped foot into a grocery store he was stuck there for hours; Octavia having fallen asleep in the cart by the time he was done shopping. But who could blame him? It wasn’t his fault that he couldn’t understand for the life of him what the difference between baking soda and baking powder was, or understand why there were so many different kinds of salts and sugars.
Don’t even get him started on all the chores, appointments, and sports practices he had to keep up with. He hadn’t realized that washing machines took so long to wash a week’s worth of clothes. Not to mention the fact that he had managed to shrink his favorite blouse. Stolas was just thankful that his place was small, not like the large palace that he’d lived in previously. But even then Stolas still managed to forget Octavia’s doctor’s appointment. If that wasn’t bad enough, apparently the penalty for missing an appointment was waiting another 3 years until he was eligible to book another one, meaning that he’d have to make the trek into another ring if he wanted to schedule Octavia in for her yearly shots. Lovely.
Speaking of Octavia, the young owlet had also gotten into ice hockey, something that Stella would have looked down on. He could already hear what she’d say now. How it was something unbecoming for princesses to partake in. To spite her from the grave, Stolas had signed her up for try outs, and he was almost tempted to go dance on it when Octavia earned a spot on her school’s peewee ice hockey team. The season was set to start in the upcoming winter, and Stolas was so excited to start bringing her to practices. That is, if he could figure out how the calendar app on his phone worked. So far, he’d been depending on sheer memory and sticky notes but with his current track record the methods didn’t seem to be working out too great.
Mishaps and learning curves aside, after a few weeks, it was nowhere near perfect, but Stolas was finally starting to find a rhythm.
*
Thankfully, when it came to his job, that seemed to be the one area that Stolas excelled at. Not only that, but Stolas also made some friends. He hadn’t realized how good it felt to have people in his life that cared for him aside for his daughter. One of those people were Mr. Pringles. Who, underneath the prim and proper exterior, was an absolute delight. The older imp was always sharing about his own daughters, and different stories of what to expect from a child’s teenager years. He was also a great listener, someone who was willing to lend an ear whenever Stolas was having a hard day or was having a hard time figuring out how to raise Octavia. Mr. Pringles was a comforting presence to be around, someone that Stolas could turn to for advice. Sometimes it felt as if the demon had pseudo adopted Stolas as one of his own. Mr. Pringles, in the few weeks that Stolas has known him, had already invited him to come to his daughter’s engagement party. The thought of that had Stolas wishing that Mr. Pringles was his actual father. Perhaps he wouldn’t have been so lonely growing up if he were.
Coming out of his thoughts, Stolas puts away some papers, getting ready for lunch and waving bye to Mr. Pringles who was clocking out for the day. Stolas usually took his lunch in the library, wanting to keep it open for any students who needed a quiet place to read or study. But Moxxie had said that Millie and Blitz were both out today and needed a friend to sit with at lunch. Stolas couldn’t say no to that, and so he made his way over.
Walking through the halls, Stolas wonders how someone who was as sweet as Moxxie, could be friends with someone as crass as Blitz.
Stolas had been willing to brush off their first interaction as a fluke, perhaps the imp had simply been nervous. But no. Thank Lucifer they didn’t cross paths that often, but the times they did were utterly insufferable. Blitz had continued to make such… crude and inappropriate comments towards him, and it didn’t help when the friend group had learned that he was former royalty. It seemed that whenever Blitz was in the same room as Stolas, he had to go out of his way to make some snarky comment about how Stolas probably wasn’t used to having to work for a living, or how it was nice to see him taken down a peg instead of ‘just sitting there on the throne and looking pretty’. It was downright infuriating!
Sure, Stolas was royalty. But he wasn’t even that high of a rank to begin with, and he was royalty no longer. So why keep bringing it up? It’s as if the imp enjoyed torturing Stolas in this way by throwing petty insults and inappropriate comments in his direction. His friends were no help either, Moxxie and Millie just told him that he was like that to everyone. And from the limited interactions that he’s had with the whole friend group, it’s to Blitz’s merit that at least that much is true.
Insufferable demons aside, thankfully it seems that their paths don’t seem to intertwine that often. Maybe because Stolas tries his best to hang out with the couple whenever Blitz is not around. He knows that eventually he’ll have to get used to the abrasive imp, as it would be wrong to make the lovely couple choose between Stolas and Blitz. But it’s hard ok? So until Moxxie and Millie bring it up themselves Stolas is content with what they have going on now.
“Stolas!!” Moxxie cries out, waving to him from across the lounge. “Over here! Hurry!”
With a chuckle, Stolas shakes his head slightly as he makes his way over to the table. “Why hello Moxxie, what has gotten into you?”
“Oh Stolas, you wouldn’t believe it,” Moxxie sighs as he drapes an arm over his face, leaning over closer to Stolas. “Apparently Ghostfuckers: The Musical is releasing a sequel! But it truly is hell because all the showings are during the day on a weekday. Can you believe it?”
Patting Moxxie’s head as he bites down hard on his bottom lip to stifle a laugh, Stolas puts on his most sympathetic voice. “Oh that is absolutely terrible Moxxie! Will it be recorded on television at all?”
Sighing, Moxxie uncovers his face as he sits upright, face somber as he responds. “It will be, but it won’t air until next month. Do you know how long I’ll have to avoid all sorts of media until then? It’s torture! I’ll have to live life under a rock until it comes out, avoid everyone I know and love. It’s been real nice knowing you Stolas.”
At that Stolas lets out the laugh he’d been holding in, “Moxxie dear, you don’t need to do that. I’m afraid that besides you and I, no one really cares for this kind of media.”
“But that’s where you’re wrong Stolas!” Moxxie exclaims while jumping up in his seat, grabbing Stolas by the shoulders. “Blitz loves Ghostfuckers and I already know that bitch is going to take the day off, watch it, and spoil it for me just to spite me!”
“Well then,” Stolas responds, fighting to keep his face from turning into a grimace at the mention of Blitz’s name. “I guess you and I will just have to go into hiding this month and avoid him then. Please give Millie my sincerest apologies for stealing you away.”
“Exactly,” Moxxie says, his grip on Stolas’ shoulders tightening, “I’m glad you understand. Millie will come around once she realizes how important this is to me.”
Moxxie releases his grip and sits back down, opening up his bag to pull out a sandwich. “Anyways,” he mumbles out around a mouthful of sandwich, “How’s it going Stolas? Anything new with you?”
“Ah yes! My daughter just got accepted onto the school’s ice hockey team! She’s very excited as am I, Stella had never encouraged those kinds of activities. Said that sports were not princess-like.” Stolas held back a frown as he remembered that conversation very clearly. Via had cried all day after Stella refused to let her join the fencing team at her previous school.
“Aw congrats to her! I’m sure she’ll do great, I heard the ice hockey team is getting a new coach that’s supposed to be really good,” Moxxie said as he scarfed down the rest of his sandwich just as the bell rang shrilly. “Bye Stolas! I’ll see you later under that rock, I’m sure Millie will understand.”
And with that the imp was running off, leaving Stolas behind who just chuckled at his friend’s antics. Millie would most definitely not understand. But she would be supportive, Stolas supposes.
*
Placing the last misplaced book on the bookshelf, Stolas lets out a small sigh as he rolls the cart back up to the front desk. Another day done. Today had been particularly crazy, with different classrooms coming in for reading time in the morning. As a result, books were laid strewn across the library, taking Stolas the rest of the day to put them back in their proper place.
Locking the door to the library, Stolas starts walking to Octavia’s classroom to pick her up.
As he makes it closer to the room, he waits in the hallway along with some other parents waiting to pick up their child. While Stolas is waiting, he’s tempted to lean against the wall and doze off right where he’s standing. It’s hard to keep his eyes open, but thankfully it seems the other parents seem to be feeling the same way, if the dead, thousand yard stare on many of the demons’ faces are any indication.
“Daddy!” a small voice cries out as he’s tackled into a hug. “I’m done with school! Now let’s hurry and go to the ice rink!” Octavia shouts as she begins dragging Stolas by the hand.
“Starfire!” Stolas stumbles on his step as he tries to keep up with his daughter, “ice rink? Why? Since when did the school have an ice rink?”
“Since always,” Octavia grumbles, “And ice hockey practice starts today don’t you remember?”
So that’s what Stolas was forgetting.
“Of course Octavia, how could I forget?” Stolas pinches his arm. How could he have forgotten? She had been so excited the night before. “Now s-slow down! Your father is not as young as he used to be.”
Giggling, Octavia lets go of Stolas’ hand, running ahead of him into the rink. Stolas has to job to keep up with her, laughing to himself as he does. They grow up so fast, don’t they? First they’re just a small egg, completely vulnerable to the world, and then all of a sudden they’re their own person, with their own interests. Although it had been a tough transition for his daughter after Stella’s death, along with moving across the ring, Stolas was glad that she found something she enjoyed. Something to bring in a little joy into her life during this difficult time. His thoughts are interrupted by a loud, irritating voice.
“Hey pretty bird!” Blitz exclaimed as he walked up to where Stolas was standing. “Didn’t know you’d be here, cuz I would’ve packed a different bag of equipment if you know what I mean.”
“No, I don’t know what you mean,” Stolas quipped, frown forming on his face as he looked above Blitz’s head to ignore the waggling eyebrows thrown his way. “And what are you doing here? Do you have a child on the team as well?”
“Ehhh, yeah you could say that,” Blitz replied, throwing his arms behind his head as he closed his eyes. “I’m also the new coach! So I guess we’ll be seeing each other a lot more often, won’t we pretty bird?”
Well fuck.
Stolas is totally killing Moxxie as soon as he gets home. He’s sure that Millie would understand.