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An imp with curly horns and a striped dress pushed the door to IMP open. She walked in slowly, observing the pictures on the walls. She frowned when she noticed the “Amazing Imp Twins” poster. Loona and Stolas both went silent, glancing at each other, unsure what to do.
When Barbie’s eyes finally landed on Stolas, she paused. “Oh. It’s you.” She said it quietly, not malicious, simply shocked.
“It’s… you,” he responded, wracking his brain. Of course he knew who she was. Even if he hadn’t seen pictures, he would know—she walked just like Blitz, whipped her tail the same way. Stood like him. He felt like he knew her, deep in his bones. But why did she recognize him? “Blitz is out at the moment but he will be back shortly. Feel free to sit on the couch while you wait.”
She furrowed her brow. “Are you here as some kind of punishment?” Oh. The trial. Everyone knew him. Right.
She noticed the picture sitting on the desk, the one of Blitz and Stolas smiling together. “Or did he take you in?” She laughed a bit too hard, mouth wide open. “That bleeding heart bitch. Of course he would.” She said it like an insult.
“He… yes, Blitz took me in. It was very generous of him.”
Loona snorted. “Yeah, real selfless motives there.”
Barbie glanced over at her, but only for a second, seemingly refusing to take her eyes off Stolas too long. Like she wasn’t sure what he would do. She nodded her head in Loona’s direction. “That your bodyguard? Didn’t expect this lot to be able to afford it.”
Loona glared and tensed up. Stolas gently placed a hand on her shoulder, and she relaxed a little.
“Loona is an employee here, and Blitz’s daughter. I’d advise you not to speak about her so dismissively if you’d like to remain welcome in this establishment,” he said, slipping into his Protective Dad Voice.
He braced himself for defensiveness, but Barbie’s jaw dropped in genuine surprise. “His daughter?” She exclaimed, voice cracking.
She got closer to Loona, looking her over much more intensely. Loona took a step back and let out a little growl. Barbie ignored it, still looking her up and down. Like she was searching for something.
“Yes, I’m adopted. Take a fucking picture, it’ll last longer.“
“He takes care of you?” Barbie asked. Loona froze, all anger melting into confusion. “You feel safe here?”
“Uh… yeah?” Barbie raised an eyebrow. Loona affirmed, more strongly, “He’s a good dad.”
“Huh.” Barbie narrowed her eyes, then shrugged. She turned and walked toward his office, her tail whipping back and forth the way Blitz’s did when he was anxious or excited.
Stolas reached a hand in her direction. “Hold on, I’m not sure—“
Barbie turned her head back and rolled her eyes. “We shared a womb, bitch, I can go into his office.”
Loona and Stolas looked at each other. Stolas had to admit that the logic did seem sound, although neither he nor Loona were at all close with biological family members, so they had no frame of reference for such norms.
“Maybe we should just let her do what she wants until Blitz gets back?” Loona whispered. “I’ll text him.”
Stolas felt like this was more of a calling situation, but he’d banned himself from calling Blitz during missions long ago, and he was afraid that the ringtone could interrupt a key moment and get Blitz in trouble. He followed Barbie into the office, figuring he should at least keep an eye on her. She was already kneeling on the floor, ass up, tail waving as she searched through a box of paperwork she pulled out from underneath his desk. She threw papers to the side and they floated to the ground in loose piles. She looked so much like Blitz that he had to hold himself back from grabbing her and picking her up like a naughty cat.
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mess with my filing system,” he said, leaning down to start organizing the papers. “If you’re looking for information, I’m sure Blitz and I can help you out once he gets back.”
She looked up at him. “Nah, I’m good.” Then she darted under the desk again, pulling out another box. A label on top of it said “Stols Sex Shit.” “Ooh, this one’s interesting. So you’re sleeping with him for a place to stay, huh? Pretty smart actually. Makes a lot more sense than hiring a Goetia as a secretary!” She laughed again.
Stolas flushed red. “That’s not any of your business,” he said, grabbing the box from her hands and holding it to his chest. However, it was something he’d need to question Blitz about later.
“Aw, you’re no fun.” She pouted.
Stolas heard a swish and saw the glow of a portal coming from the other room. “Oh, thank Lucifer,” he muttered.
Barbie popped her head through the doorway. Her face darkened, as though the yellow overhead office lights somehow shifted away from her. Stolas strode past her, intending to stand beside Blitz and take cues from him about how to approach this.
Blitz, Millie, and Moxxie all stood by the desk, looking uncertain. Loona was speaking to them quietly, gesturing toward the office doorway, where Barbie still stood ominously.
Unfortunately, Blitz didn’t seem to have a clue what to do. He stared at Barbie for a minute, eyes wide and pupils shaking. Then he shook his head and walked toward her. They met in the middle, posed in the same tense way, a living mirror.
Even at his most presumptuous, Stolas had never been bold enough to believe he was anything like an “other half” to Blitz. Frankly, he’d never believed Blitz was the type to be half of anything. He was as whole as a person could get. Overflowing, even.
Yet, as he watched the twins next to each other, Stolas got a deeply unsettling feeling, like he was looking at one thing ripped in two.
“Barb, are you okay? Do you need something?” Blitz asked. “I can—“
“I don’t need your help, asshole. I’m doing just fine, but thanks for the vote of confidence,” she spat out.
Blitz faltered. “That’s not what I… did you finally want to get lunch?”
Barbie rolled her eyes. “I’m here for information.”
“Oh.” Blitz grinned easily, the way he did when he was hiding his true feelings. “Right, whatever you need.”
“Fizz says you two are talking again.”
“Yeah…? Have been since…” Blitz furrowed his brow in thought and started counting on his fingers. “Uh, the summer. So almost a year.”
“A year,” Barbie repeated, her voice eerily neutral.
“I didn’t realize you two still talked regularly.”
“We talk all the time. We never stopped.”
“He… didn’t mention—“
“Well, it took him a year to bring up that he was in contact with you, so I’m not surprised.”
Blitz let out a short, uncomfortable laugh. “Yeah, well, a lot has happened. I’d be happy to tell you about it, maybe work some things out… the stuff with Fizz, it was a big misunderstanding—“
“A misunderstanding.” Barbie nodded to herself slowly in disbelief. “You just set your friend on fire and then didn’t speak to him for fifteen years on accident. That’s really the story you went with. I know Fizz is gullible, but fucking Christ.”
Blitz put his hands up, made himself small, appeasing. “It’s the truth!”
“Nothing is ever the truth with you! There’s always some sort of spin, or bullshit. You haven’t been honest about shit since we were twelve and Dad caught you sneaking his beer into your jacket.”
“That isn’t… I’m honest about the things that matter! Barb, we’ve talked about this, I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone!” He put his hands together like he was pleading. The discomfort in the room was palpable—Millie, Moxxie and Loona all seemed unsure how to handle seeing their normally fearless boss reduced to tearful apologies. Stolas wanted to wrap him up in a blanket and take him far away, where no one could ever hurt him, but he also knew how badly Blitz wanted to work things out with his sister. “Do we need to talk about this here? Can’t we go somewhere and—“
Barbie smirked. “What, you don’t want your little employees finding out about all the shit you’ve done? So much for being honest.”
Stolas stepped forward, placing himself slightly between the two of them. Blitz glanced up at him nervously. “We all trust Blitz entirely. He’s allowed to keep information private if he chooses.” Millie and Moxxie nodded in agreement.
“Sure, he’s allowed. But he doesn’t need to respect anyone else’s privacy, right? His boundaries are sacred, but everyone else’s are just a suggestion. Funny how that works.”
Millie and Moxxie made eye contact with each other, but said nothing.
“Don’t act like I’m the only one with issues,” Blitz argued. “Sue me if I have to go searching just to make sure you’re not dead in a ditch somewhere!”
“I never asked you to do that!”
“You shouldn’t have to ask, we’re—” Blitz choked on his words. Stolas took his hand and squeezed it. Blitz closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I’ve been working on it. The. Boundaries thing.”
“It’s true, he really has,” Moxxie said, more to himself than anything.
“Of course he gets infinite second chances. How many times have you had to forgive him by now for shit he never should have done in the first place?” Loona and Millie only glared at her, but Moxxie’s face gave him away, and she pointed at him triumphantly. “I knew it. So fucking predictable.”
Blitz turned back and scowled at him, tail lashing. “You got a fucking problem, Mox?”
“No, I wasn’t—I didn’t say anything!” Moxxie put his hands up.
“Darling,” Stolas said softly, and Blitz’s head whipped toward him. His gaze softened immediately, and Stolas felt a warmth bloom in his chest. “We’re all here for you, remember?”
“You know I always have your back, Sir,” Moxxie insisted.
Millie placed a hand on Blitz’s free arm. “Your family’s got you, B. We’re not goin’ anywhere.”
Barbie’s mouth wobbled. She wrapped her arms around herself, self-conscious. Her dress was ripped at the sides, and she tugged at one of the rips with her fingers.
Stolas wondered if it was overwhelming, seeing the five of them standing together in their own territory, an impenetrable wall. After years of lonely Goetia parties, he’d barely started to get used to social situations where he was not the odd one out.
“R-Right. Yeah.” Blitz took a shaky breath, smiling gratefully at Millie. “I know.”
“Family! Family. And everyone said you weren’t a good clown!” Barbie doubled over, putting her hands on her knees as she laughed. Loona’s ears flattened and she let out a growl. “Oh, that’s fucking hilarious. No wonder Fizz didn’t want to tell me about this.”
The way Barbie was talking felt… off. It reminded Stolas of something. What was it? Where had he heard this mocking tone before?
“When are you going to grow up and admit that there’s no such thing as family for people like us? This is Hell. Like it or not, it’s every demon for themselves in the end.”
Oh. She sounded like Blitz, yelling that he could never be tied down.
At the time, Stolas had believed he was being callous, but by now he’d seen the truth—Blitz clung onto his loved ones so intensely that he often failed to leave breathing room. Even Stolas, with all the mistakes he’d made, was treated as a permanent fixture once he was allowed into Blitz’s orbit. Blitz simply didn’t let go of things.
Was Barbie showing a similar defensiveness? Was she projecting her true desires onto the argument because asking for something felt too vulnerable? Or was Stolas reading too far into it, distracted by the similarities between the twins’ mannerisms?
Barbie turned toward Millie, Moxxie and Loona. “Don’t let yourself get screwed over just because his ideas sound nice. Blitzo’s all talk.”
Moxxie looked at Barbie like she had just spat in his face. He opened his mouth, but stopped when Blitz spoke up.
“That’s not fair,” Blitz said, but his voice was weak. It was alarming, because weak was not a word Stolas ever associated with Blitz. Even when he was soft and sweet, or when he was scared and hurt—and Stolas was starting to see those sides of Blitz more and more frequently—Blitz was always strong. Always pushing through bravely. It was something Stolas admired greatly, and also something that worried him.
But here Blitz was, talking like he was unsure of himself. He pulled away from Stolas and hugged his hands around his body, like he was bracing to take a slap. It set off something primal and protective in Stolas.
“Is there something we can help you with, Barbie Wire? Because this is a business and we do have appointments to get back to,” Stolas said firmly.
“It’s fine, don’t…” Blitz mumbled, but he didn’t sound confident. He seemed stuck between his desire to keep her there and his fear of what might happen if she stayed. Stolas was lost for which way to sway him.
If it was Via, he knew that both he and Blitz would never turn her away, no matter what she said or how angry she was. He knew it with his whole heart, saw the way that Blitz spoke about her with the same tone he reserved for Loona. But Via was a teenager, and besides, any accusations she threw toward Stolas were likely deserved. This was… more complicated, somehow. And, most importantly, Stolas dreaded hearing someone talk to Blitz this way. In fact, he fucking hated it.
“The only thing you can help me with is minding your own business, bourgeoisie bitch,” Barbie snarled, speaking directly to Stolas. For a second he was surprised she knew such an intellectual word, and then he felt like an asshole for having such a thought. Barbie’s tail whipped back and forth aggressively. “Fuck this, I’m out of here.”
“No! No, please, don’t leave yet. We can talk about anything you want, just let me—” Blitz begged, reaching out toward her. She paused, pupils locked in on his fingers, as though waiting to see if he would actually touch her. Blitz’s hand shook, and he grabbed it with his other arm like he was injured, holding it to his chest for a moment.
Then Blitz turned again, pulling out his keys. “Looney, can you drive everyone home? I think it’s time to call it a day. I’ll catch up with you.”
Loona looked back and forth between his keys and his face, hesitant. “Are you sure?”
“We can stay, really,” Moxxie said, sounding concerned.
“We want to stay,” Millie added, an emphasis that Blitz likely needed to hear. She was gripping Moxxie’s arm tightly, like she was holding herself back.
Barbie scoffed, crossing her arms.
Blitz’s breathing got faster, tail curling around his legs. Perhaps this was too much for him, too many demons to worry about at once.
Stolas nodded at them all. He placed a hand on Blitz’s back. “We will catch up with you.” Only then did the three of them relax a bit. Blitz looked up at him, ready to protest, but Stolas just smiled calmly. “I stay or everyone stays.”
Blitz sighed. “Okay.”
Loona finally took the keys from his hand. Millie and Moxxie followed her out, although Moxxie kept pausing to look back at them with worry. Blitz leaned into Stolas’ space for a moment, more instinctive than intentional, pressing the side of his horn into his waist.
Barbie looked back and forth between them. She stared at the place where Stolas’ hand met Blitz’s back, rubbing circles into his skin beneath his jacket.
“Oh, no fucking way,” she muttered, sounding awed. “This is who managed to tie you down? You and Fizz with your royal tastes, I swear to Satan.”
“Jealous?” Blitz teased.
“Oh, yeah, I always wanted to be a class traitor,” Barbie said sarcastically. “How did you manage to get into a relationship with a fucking Goetia when I can’t hold down a girlfriend for more than a year? How did you get a daughter who doesn’t hate you? Or manage to run a whole business without ripping it apart? How is any of this fair, after everything you took from—after the way you—“ Barbie pressed her hands into fists, looking nauseous.
“It’s not fair,” Blitz agreed. “I don’t deserve any of it.” Stolas squeezed his shoulder tightly, both as a comfort and a warning that if he kept speaking that way, Stolas would step in. “But I got lucky somehow, so I’m making the best of it.”
Barbie blinked at Blitz, like she wasn’t expecting that answer. Stolas wondered what script she was reading from, what the version of Blitz in her head would have said.
Barbie shook her head, pivoting. “Yeah, well, I guess getting saddled with a disgraced Goetia isn’t all that great. You know, Dad bragged to me about how he stole from a Prince when we were young. Told me he ransacked his whole palace for jewels. I thought he was bullshitting the whole thing, but you did it, didn’t you?”
Barbie was speaking to Blitz, but she was watching Stolas, waiting for his reaction. Of course, he had nothing to react to. He already knew what happened all those years ago. She turned back toward Blitz, leaning into his space. “Do you feel guilty? Is that why you keep him around here after he manipulated you or whatever? Or does it just feel good to be the only imp in Hell who keeps a member of the upper class as a pet?”
“Don’t fucking talk about him like that,” Blitz hissed, tail snapping behind him.
“It’s okay,” Stolas protested quickly. “I don’t—“
“Ooh, so I finally hit a nerve?” Barbie grinned. “You actually wanna fight back instead of whining like a little baby?” She put her fists up, mocking a wrestling match.
“Fine, you wanna fight so bad? I’ll give you a fucking fight!” Blitz shouted, stomping forward. His tail lashed, accidentally hitting Stolas in the stomach. Stolas winced, crumpling in on himself. A dramatic, completely involuntary reaction. Blitz froze immediately, all anger slipping away. He gently rubbed the spot his tail hit to sooth it. “Shit, I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to.”
I know, Stolas meant to say, but all that came out was a sad chirping sound, which was embarrassing. He pet Blitz’s horns, comforted by the familiar glide of rough keratin.
Barbie stared back and forth between them, looking utterly shocked. Stolas wasn’t sure what kind of revelation she was having.
“I really don’t get you,” she said, dead serious.
Then she grinned, casual and cocky, turning the mask on like a switch. “Anyway, I’ve learned more today than I ever wanted to know, so I’ll leave you to your… all this.” She swung her arms out dismissively, as though she hadn’t been expressing jealousy toward all this only moments ago.
“…Okay. If that’s all. It was nice to see you, Barb,” Blitz said, slumped forward, sounding so defeated.
Barbie’s face fell, a flicker of genuine emotion before she steeled herself and went back to her teasing smile. The motion felt so familiar that Stolas’ irritation with her suddenly faded.
He took a chance.
“Barbie, are you absolutely positive you wouldn’t like to go to lunch with us?”
Barbie straightened up like she’d been hit with a ruler, eyes wide. “I—what? Both of you? After I…”
Stolas glanced at Blitz, just to double check. Blitz nodded. Stolas smiled. “There’s a new place a few blocks away that I’ve been wanting to try. Do you like seafood?”
Barbie glared at him suspiciously. “Is this some sort of trick?”
“No trick. Just lunch. We don’t even have to speak.”
“You asked, so you’d better be paying.”
“Of course. I wouldn’t dream of asking an honored guest to pay for their own meal.”
Barbie snorted. “Honored guest.” She elbowed Blitz, who jolted at the touch like he’d been electrocuted. “You hear this guy? I kinda see why you like him.”
“Uh, yeah,” Blitz said, still staring at the spot where she touched him. “I mean, you’d better.”
“Don’t expect this to become a regular thing. This doesn’t mean I forgive you for anything. I’m just…” Barbie sighed. “Really fucking hungry.”
Blitz grinned at her.
“Why are you looking at me like that, you weirdo?” Barbie asked, sounding more amused than anything else.
But Stolas thought about Blitz dutifully making breakfast every morning, watching to make sure everyone ate, and he understood perfectly.