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“Your Highne–er, Stolas?” Moxxie tried, looking up at the tired owl demon.
“Yes Moxxie?” Stolas replied, shutting his notebook and giving the smaller imp his full attention.
“I’ve really enjoyed writing with you lately. You’ve got quite a knack for words,” the white-haired imp smiled.
Stolas felt his feathers fluff up from the genuine compliment as he laughed lightly. “Oh thank you. It’s nice to find someone that can appreciate the written word,” he blushed before sighing a bit. “But the dreaded plague of writers has struck me. Writer’s Block.”
Moxxie winced as he patted his arm. “Oh that is the worst,” he nodded sympathetically. “How do you get past it?”
“Well I try to push through and write down as many ideas as I can so I don’t forget them…but that can be exhausting,” Stolas admitted, flopping down on the desk. “What about you?”
“I find stepping away and doing something else can help a lot,” Moxxie advised before perking up a bit. “You’ve gotten pretty ahead of all the paperwork we’ve had piled up for ages, right?”
“Yes, reorganizing the filing system you had was the first thing I did when I had some time on my own.”
Moxxie chuckled a bit as he offered his hand to the former prince. “Well how about I take you out for a day to relax and refresh those creative muscles?” he suggested, stunning the owl.
“You…want to hang out with me?” Stolas blinked.
“Well we’re friends, aren’t we?” Moxxie reasoned.
“Yes…” Stolas nodded slowly as he let the small imp take his hand. “I suppose we are…”
(...)
Leaving a note for Millie, Blitz, and Loona who were on a mission to Earth, Moxxie decided to take Stolas to a few of his favorite haunts in Imp City. Most of the imps that booed Stolas after the trial mostly settled to just giving him the stink eye or ignoring him which he preferred compared to having trash thrown at him. And the small imp could tell that the tall bird needed a change of scenery.
It was probably why Loona was so lethargic in the office when she was secretary.
“Okay Stolas, our first stop is getting some refreshments,” Moxxie smiled, gesturing to a nearby Doughnut and Bubble Tea shop.
From what the former prince could tell, it was quite a cute and trendy shop with younger demons enjoying themselves. The interior was a friendly atmosphere with soft pop music playing in the background and comfortable booths and chairs at tables for everyone to enjoy their treats at. The doughnut shapes were unique but familiar to him but the tea…the tea surprised him.
“Erm, what is bubble tea?” Stolas asked, tilting his head a bit. “I’ve been drinking tea since I was small but I’ve never had this.”
“Oh this is a special kind of tea with tapioca balls, milk, and whatever flavor you want,” Moxxie explained. “It’s great for on the go and can be served hot or cold. The doughnuts are also really good too if you’re not that much into sweets.”
“I can take or leave most sweet things but I know Blitz likes his chocolate,” the tall demon chuckled.
“Maybe we can bring some doughnuts to the office for when they get back,” the smaller imp suggested before turning to the teen at the counter. “Excuse me. We’d like to have a dozen of your doughnuts please. One of each flavor you got.”
“Okay, man…” the teen nodded, picking out each ring as Stolas noticed the unique shape being like balls you could tear off. The menu said they were mochi doughnuts which intrigued him. How were they compared to regular doughnuts?
“We’d also like two orders of boba. I’ll take a strawberry milk tea and Stolas? What would you like?” he wondered.
“Oh um…this is my first time so…I’ll take the classic milk tea please,” he told her.
“Sure dude.”
Since this was his first time having bubble tea, Moxxie advised him to try it cold so the boba wouldn’t burn his mouth. They sat down on a nearby bench at the local park, a rare enough place in Hell, which Stolas appreciated. In the hustle and bustle of the city, having a place that was surrounded by nature was a breath of fresh air.
“Okay so you stab the straw through the top and drink the tea,” Moxxie explained, demonstrating as he slowly drank his drink. “Ahh…refreshing!”
Stolas stabbed the straw through the plastic top and started to drink, enjoying the tea flavor before he was caught off guard by one of the boba balls going up the straw. “O-Oh lords!” he coughed, spitting it out in his hand. “S-Sorry. That surprised me even though I knew it was there.”
“Yeah for boba, it’s better you sip slowly so you don’t choke,” the smaller imp explained, patting his back to make sure his airways were cleared. “They do taste really good though.”
Stolas tossed the half-chewed boba into the trash before trying again, purposefully going slow so the boba wouldn’t hit the back of his throat. Once he got another boba in his mouth, he chewed on it and was pleasantly surprised by the sweet taste. The texture took some getting used to but it was quite delicious.
“Mm! This is tasty!” he gushed, his feathers fluffing out from delight.
“Told ya,” Moxxie grinned. “A lot of coffee shops are actually trying to bring variants of boba for their drinks, especially flavored lemonades.”
“Perhaps on our next coffee run, we can try to find some,” Stolas suggested.
(...)
Once they dropped the doughnuts off at the office, taking two for themselves and leaving a note for the rest of IMP, Moxxie took his companion to a local bookstore. He couldn’t help but smile at how excited Stolas was being surrounded by books and already flittering around at the different genres. He’s like that whenever he would visit a music shop and found a musical soundtrack among the other types of music.
Physical media would always hold a special place for the young imp and he was glad Stolas seemed to feel the same way.
“Oh gracious I don’t know where to start!” Stolas gushed, turning his head all around to look at everything.
“Another good way to get past writer’s block? Taking in something new at your local bookstore,” Moxxie advised. “It’s great when you find what you’re looking for but it’s even better when you find something you weren’t expecting.”
They soon found themselves near the back of the store, Moxxie looking at cookbooks to find easy to stomach recipes for Millie–the poor thing had been feeling queasy lately–while Stolas found himself gravitating towards the saucier manga section. He was staring at some of the shrink-wrapped manga with a slight pout as he held up a few titles. When he had his powers, he would use them to look through the sealed away books to see if they were worth picking up. But now he just had to rely on the cover and the description of the story on the back.
“Hmm…Millie might like this easy to chew stew…” Moxxie mumbled before looking over at Stolas. “Did you find anything yet?”
“Well there are certainly some interesting titles but can I admit something?” Stolas asked.
“Of course.”
“I discovered BL when I was in my late teens and eventually found MLM erotica and a lot of it was a great awakening for me even though I knew I was gay since I was a young lad but some of it I realize now aged like fucking milk,” he explained. “The artwork looks dreadful! How are their hands so big and yet their heads are so tiny?!”
“Ah. Late-90s/Early 2000s yaoi art was…certainly something,” the shorter demon shuddered, thinking of all the dreadful works back then that had terrible proportions and even more questionable stories/plot elements. “I’m glad they’re trying to make these stories better in terms of artwork, showing actual communication, and being less eewy with the couples in the relationships themselves.”
“I agree. Blitz and I have an understanding where if things go too far and I say our safeword, he stops immediately,” Stolas told him before picking up 50 Shades of Grey with disgust. “Smut like this is not only poorly written but it doesn’t understand the BDSM community at all. Safewords mean stop and the bastard in this doesn’t even perform after care.”
“Blitz performs after care?” Moxxie blinked in surprise.
“Of course. He makes sure that I feel safe and can relax after our intense lovemaking sessions,” Stolas gushed before letting his shoulders droop a bit. “Well…we haven’t done anything like that since…yeah…”
Feeling sympathy for the former prince, Moxxie took his hand and guided him to some nearby squishy armchairs. “Do you want to have sex with him now?” he asked, no judgement in his voice.
“Yes but I don’t know if I’m…ready to start that up again,” Stolas confessed, thinking of his nightmares spreading into his personal projects.
“My advice? Talk with him about these feelings,” Moxxie advised. “Communication is the key to a healthy relationship and he can’t read minds but he can read people pretty well. You’ll need to be direct with him since he’s…pretty brash and hardheaded but I think he’ll understand.”
Stolas took a deep breath before giving him a small smile. “Thank you Moxxie. You’re…very easy to talk to.”
“I like talking to you too.” Moxxie smiled back before picking up a yuri book from back in the day and cringing. “Why are their legs so long and their torsos so short?!”
“Oh lords that’s as bad as the yaoi proportions!” Stolas gasped before the two burst into a fit of giggles.
(...)
Before heading back into the office for the day–since the rest of the gang would be back from their mission any minute–the two writers sat on top of the roof of the office building taking in the view. Imp City could be gross and smelly and violent from the street view but from up high? It was beautiful in a way.
“I had a really nice day today…” Stolas commented as Moxxie looked up at him with a happy smile.
“That’s good to hear. Sometimes stepping away can do wonders when you feel blocked creatively or otherwise,” Moxxie told him. “And if you ever need to step away from the office for a bit, you’ll have some places to go.”
“And you’ll accompany me?” Stolas requested, an almost shyness in his voice.
“I’d be happy to.”
Stolas smiled warmly as he glanced out at the city, shutting his eyes for a brief moment. “Growing up, I didn’t have many friends, being surrounded only by royals around my own age but they weren’t exactly…friendly,” he confessed. “That day my father had Mister Butler take me to the circus and I first met Blitz and we had our playdate, it opened something up for me.”
“You’ve known each other that long?” Moxxie gasped.
“Well, it was just for a day but that one day changed my life,” Stolas replied. “I know it was an arrangement between our fathers but that day when I just got to have fun with another child my own age…it made that birthday meaningful. And seeing him stumble into my life years later…I felt grateful he gave me one of the best experiences I ever had because he was my first friend.”
Moxxie laughed quietly as he thought about his gruff boss. “Yeah…Blitz stumbling into my life really changed me for the better. He’s tough and we don’t always see eye-to-eye but…he saved me. I got to have a new job, I met the love of my life…” He then looked up at Stolas with a soft smile. “And I got to become your friend.”
Stolas blushed as he leaned against Moxxie, letting himself relax for the first time in a long while. “Thank you for being my friend…”
“Of course.”
[END]