This Will End Well - Tumblr Posts

When the letter came, on much nicer paper than the one he'd sent, Blitz almost didn't open it. By then, he'd had plenty of time to regret his decision to get into any kind of contact with her--but it was done, he reminded himself. He'd already kicked that particular hornet's nest.

"Don't open a can of worms if you don't wanna see them squirm," he muttered under his breath.

Loona's chair shifted out in the main room. "Blitz? Did you say something?"

"Um, nope! No, not me. I don't have anything to say. To anyone. Ever." He unfolded the letter and scanned it and felt--fuck, what did he feel? Hope? Shame? Guilt? He didn't feel guilty for getting together with Stolas, not really, because that goddamn owl possessed his stupid little heart, but knowing how wrong they'd done her... Stella deserved, at the very least, to be able to yell at him. Blitz didn't know what their marriage had been like, he had never really asked, but he did know that she'd given Stolas a daughter. Staying married for so long, having a child together, only to have it end like this... There was probably no salvaging any good out of any of this, but fuck it, he had to try. He had to at least give Stella the chance to scream at him and hate him.

He put the letter in a drawer and glanced over at his lemon tree. The No Whores sign seemed to be pointed directly at him, and Blitz groaned, covering his face. "Yeah, no whores. Toooo late for that one, buddy."

-

It felt weird, really goddamn weird, going to Stella's place instead of Stolas's. Blitz stood outside for a long moment, staring up at the door, realizing that this could very well be where this life ended...

But he was already here. If he chickened out now, Stella would probably hire Striker to hunt him down next. And hot as that might be, it wasn't a showdown he was looking to have anytime soon. So, he tucked the bottle of (cheap, crappy, but what he could afford) wine he'd brought under his arm, raised a hand, and knocked on the door.

This was fine.

Yeah. Yep. It was going to be fine.

@doublejango said: Dear Stella,

No way to say this that isn't awkward, but I'm really sorry for causing you pain. We shouldn't have let you get hurt. And idk, maybe you're not, maybe you don't mind, but I think about it a lot and hope you're okay.

If you ever like, wanna hang out sometime? Lmk. Maybe we can go get our claws done or something.

Sincerely, and Please Don't Murder Me,

Blitz

Her first instinct after reading the message is to crumple it up and set it aflame. It was, after all, from the imp who ruined her entire fucking life, as far as she was concerned. But, lucky for him, it was one of the few times she managed to reign in her anger before doing anything too drastic.

Taking a deep, DEEP breath, Stella looked back down and read the message again. And again. And a couple more times just to be sure. Well, from his chicken scratch he seemed...oddly sincere? Truth be told, most of her anger was towards her ex-husband. Still, a scoff left her. She couldn't imagine why Stolas' imp lover wanted to hang out with his wife--ex-wife. Still, this could provide an opportunity...

Her message was short and simple.

Fine. Consider yourself lucky I will indulge your request, but we will meet here at my manor. I can't be seen in public with you. I'm sure you understand. Stella Goetia

"Uh, no, I don't think so," Blitz assured her. He hesitated, because while the woman was hot she was also pretty fucking intimidating, then stepped forward and offered the wine. "Here. Um. Thank you. For having me." Even if your staff are a bunch of bitches, he thought, but had enough sense to say. Stolas's staff didn't like him either, and Blitz really couldn't fault them for it--or Stella's. He was the homewrecker. There were probably a lot of ways he and Stolas could have gone about things that wouldn't have fucked Stella's life up so hard...

Thinking about all of that was going to give him a headache, though, and he figured he better save his headache-points for whatever their actual conversation would be. Which was, in and of itself, a good damn question. Because now that he was here, looking up at this glorious demon, Blitz didn't know what to say.

What was that shit the Morningstar girl sang? That was always on the radio these days?

It starts with sorry That's your foot in the door One simple Sorry Spoken straight from the core... Something like that? It wasn't really his musical style, but it was catchy and he had to fight the urge to hum it now.

Stepping away, he looked for something to sit on and climbed up onto a couch. Freakin' Goetia and all their furniture, designed for tall motherfuckers.

"So, uh... I guess... there's no way this won't be awkward. But I feel like you... you haven't... really... I mean..." Looking down, Blitz rubbed at the back of his head. "I get the impression you and Stolas have been fighting too much for him to really hear you? So I--I want to. If there's stuff you want to say. I want to hear you." His golden eyes looked up, meeting hers, apologetic and nervous and unsure, but also sincere. Blitz didn't like hurting people, and even if part of him wanted to loathe this woman for how she treated Stolas... he also knew he maybe didn't get the whole picture. And maybe, you know, just fucking maybe, Stella deserved to be seen. To be more than just the unwanted wife at yet one more point of her story.

Blitz tried to keep his breathing even and his body language relaxed and still. Stella could tear him apart in a heartbeat if she wanted to. He just had to pray she wouldn't decide to use those pretty talons of hers.

And I gotta quit being afraid of her, he realized, cause that's just... judging her, right? Which isn't fair.

A servant would answer the door, looking a bit surprised to see Blitz there. "Ah, you must be Blitz." A look up and down Blitz's form. "The homewrecker." The servant added as an afterthought. A shrug, and a gesture for Blitz to follow them.

The servant led Blitz to the drawing room and informed that Stella would see him shortly and scampered off. A few minutes would pass before Stella would announce her presence.

"So you actually showed up." Stella raised a brow, sniffing haughtily. She stared down at the imp, noting the bottle of wine tucked under arm. Probably that cheap swill but she suppose she would accept. It was her duty as a gracious host after all. "Were you seen?"

Although Blitz had come here willingly, although this shit was fully his idea, he had started to regret it. He didn't know what powers Stella might have, if any, but the air around her practically crackled with electricity. She seemed ready to strike out with a single lethal bolt of lightning -- until suddenly, she wasn't so angry anymore. Or at least, not so volatile. Blitz had watched her with wide eyes, his usual smirk thoroughly in absence, but when she sat down and seemed almost defeated?

It hurt. Seeing her like this, letting her walls down as much as she probably ever did, it hurt. Ached. It shouldn't, maybe, considering everything Blitz had caused in her life, but it did. And maybe, he realized, maybe it wasn't entirely his fault. Sleeping with Stolas, oh, that absolutely was. Announcing it to the world after falling on her cake, his fault. But all of her pain, her tension, her fury? That wasn't his fault--and that almost made it all worse.

Because how long, how the fuck long had Stella and Stolas been living in carefully managed misery?

Blitz relaxed ever so slightly. He turned towards her on the couch, tucking one leg up under himself. Maybe he wasn't great at opening up, at sincerity, but he thought he could recognize it when he heard it, and she was damn well being sincere right now.

"If you didn't want this marriage," Blitz said, voice far kinder than usual, "if you could have had anything. If someone, anyone, would've just asked you... What did you want? You must've had some kind of dream, some yearning, at some point...?"

Stella looked down at the bottle of wine, sniffing slightly before plucking it from his hands and tucking it in the crook of her arm. Maybe she'll let the servants have it.

She noted how nervous he looked. Good. He damn well should be after every fucking thing that happened because of him.

Stella was ready to scream at him for ruining her life after hearing what pitiful excuse would surely spill out of his mouth. She wouldn't have been surprised if he started bragging about how he fucked her ex-husband. The last thing she was expecting was an apology.

She could only stare at him in utter disbelief. Whatever insults or threats she was prepared to throw at him dying right there in her throat. For once in her life, she was stunned into silence. Was this just a desperate attempt to save his skin? Most likely. But even she could tell that his apology actually seemed...genuine. That wasn't something she was used to.

Actually, she had realized this was the first time someone had apologized to her and meant it. "I..." She began, struggling to find the words or how to even respond to such sincerity. Eventually, she released a sigh and dropped down on the sofa opposite of him. She popped the cork off the bottle with her talon and drank straight from the bottle. She was going to need it for this conversation.

"I never wanted our marriage..." She admitted quietly. Well, she wasn't screeching at him. That was a good sign!

"I don't know," Blitz said, voice softening, "it doesn't seem pathetic to me. But then, I don't have any magic, unless you count the Life Changing Magic of Fucking Up." Frowning, he reached out and, very gently, rested his hand over Stella's palm. Blitz barely made contact, still not entirely sure he was safe here, not entirely sure she wouldn't break his arm, but he didn't want to just ignore the insecurities and vulnerabilities she shared. That would be a fucking dick move, especially considering he was the one who had freaking asked her for them to begin with. She was hurting, maybe she had been for a long time, judging by what she'd just told him. People who were hurting deserved, at the very least, a kind fucking touch, right?

Looking up, studying her eyes, he shook his head. "The pathetic thing is that your family didn't bother to give you support or encouragement.

"My daughter was... the adoption agency treated her like trash. They literally told me she wouldn't amount to anything. She's been building her self-esteem up brick by brick, from nothing. And she's not nothing. She's incredible. Maybe you are too, you know? Or maybe you can be? Just because--

"Stella," Blitz's voice actually sounded loving, without any pretensions, without any caution, without any bullshit, "screw the people who told you that you wouldn't amount to anything. If you were always put down and told you couldn't do anything useful... when the fuck were you supposed to learn the skills? To believe in yourself enough to practice and learn? I'm not trying to fuckin," he moved back, awkwardly folding his arms over his chest now, "argue with you or tell you who you are or anything. Just that... I'm trying, really trying. To start believing in myself. After believing that I wasn't shit. That I was a big fat nothing. So I guess maybe... I get how hard it can be to do more than--pose. More than pretend to have your shit together.

"But you've got money and some magic. You've got family and friends. Right? Maybe it's not too late. Loona's magic works better when she's feeling confident. When she believes in herself.

"Maybe," the imp met the Goetia's eyes, "maybe it would be the same for you. If you want to be great, maybe now's the time to start saying fuck you to the assholes who held you back. Maybe it's time to start trying? Practicing? Cause you're not a lost cause. You're not. Trust me, I'm like a fucking conno... sewer.... conair... whatever, a sommelier of lost causes. I know 'em when I see 'em.

"And you ain't it.. You're immortal, babe. It ain't too late to start developing that power of yours. Not by a long shot."

Stella was visibly taken a back his genuine inquiry, evident in how she looked at him as if he grew a second head. When had anyone ever asked her what she wanted? Truly wanted?

"I...." She looked down at the her hands clasped in her lap, deep in thought. Honestly...what did she want?

"I wanted...to be great." She finally decides, exhaling deeply. As vague as it was, that was the only thing she could think of what she wanted. Truly wanted. "My parents never thought I would amount to much. I don't possess strong magic like my brother so never they bothered having someone teach me to hone and strengthen it."

She opened her palm, a spark of pink magic crackled between her fingers...before promptly dying with a pitiful sputter. "That's pretty much all I can do. Pathetic, isn't it?"