Max woke up tangled in sheets that definitely weren't his.
For half a second he thought he'd teleported somewhere by accident. Then the scent hit him — sugar, citrus, alcohol, and faint glitter — and he groaned.
"Bee…"
He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. His body still felt like he'd been run over by a parade float. The aftermath of Beelzejuice, divine magic, and emotional exhaustion was a hell of a cocktail.
The other side of the bed was empty.
Good. That meant Bee was already gone handling Gluttony business instead of crushing his ribs again in her sleep.
On the nightstand sat a glass bottle filled with bright pink liquid. A sticky note was slapped onto it in glitter ink.
Enjoy the leftovers~
♥
There was a lipstick kiss stamped at the bottom.
Max stared at it.
"…I am dating a natural disaster," he muttered.
He flicked his hand lazily. The bottle shot sideways, hit the wall — and phased into it instead of shattering, sinking into his shadow storage like it had never existed.
"Later problem," he sighed.
Then memory slammed back into him.
"Oh right. Stolas."
He sat up immediately.
"I need to get Octavia."
His clothes melted into existence over his body — clean, pressed, annoyingly fancy. He didn't even remember choosing them. His magic just defaulted to "meeting royalty" mode.
He stepped into the hallway and walked to Octavia's room, knocking once before pushing the door open.
Her bed looked like a crime scene.
Blankets everywhere. Pillows on the floor. Feathers scattered like she'd fought the mattress and lost.
"Octavia?" Max said gently, sitting on the edge of the bed. "My Owl? You alive?"
A groan emerged from the blanket pile.
"Shut up…" she mumbled. "I need to sleep…"
He winced. "Damn. Hangover."
She'd had three glasses of Beelzejuice.
Her first time.
"Here," he said softly, pressing two fingers to her shoulder. "This'll help."
A small healing pulse washed over her.
She exhaled sharply. "Oh thank Lucifer… that helped a ton."
Octavia sat up slowly, feathers a complete mess, eyes half-lidded.
She blinked at him.
Then her face turned red.
"Oh no."
"Oh yes," Max said, smirking.
"Oh Lucifer I'm so embarrassed," she groaned, burying her face in her hands. "I'm so sorry about last night."
"It's fine," he said quickly. "You were the least chaotic one. That's saying a lot."
He conjured a glass of water and handed it to her.
She drained it instantly.
"Come on," he added. "Your dad wants to see us. He said it was important."
She froze mid-step.
"…Right."
She started to stand, then hesitated.
"Max," she said quietly.
He turned back.
"Why didn't you indulge last night?"
He blinked. "…That's a loaded question for someone who just woke up."
She didn't look away.
"Surely it's more than just being shy," she said. "You had… opportunity."
Max sighed and sat back down.
"Fine," he said. "You want the honest answer?"
She nodded.
"I would love to," he admitted. "But imagine the fallout."
He counted on his fingers.
"Your father is one of the most politically powerful beings in Pride."
"Charlie's dad is literally the King of Hell."
"And Loona's dad is—"
He paused.
"…complicated," he finished diplomatically.
Octavia snorted.
"I am sitting on a minefield," he continued. "If I favor one, it's unfair to the others. If I rush it, I create drama. If I mess it up, I risk hurting all of you."
He met her eyes.
"I don't want any of you feeling like you were pressured or left behind. So I wait."
Octavia stared at him for a long moment.
"…That's annoyingly mature," she muttered.
"I try."
She smiled softly. "Fair enough. But you do realize we're not all going to pile on you at once, right?"
He coughed. "Statistically uncertain."
She laughed and shoved him lightly. "You're ridiculous."
"Get dressed," he said, standing. "Royal meeting. No feather chaos allowed."
A little while later they were downstairs, grabbing a quick bite in the lobby kitchen.
Octavia chewed thoughtfully. "You know… if my dad ever tasted your cooking, he might do something unspeakable."
Max nearly choked. "Please don't curse me like that."
She giggled. "Relax. You're safe. Probably."
"Yeah," he muttered. "Last thing I need is Blitz thinking I'm stealing another father figure."
They finished eating and walked to the front door.
Max opened it.
Both of them froze.
Stolas was standing right outside the hotel entrance.
Full regalia.
Tea cup in hand.
Looking completely calm.
"…Shit," Max and Octavia said in perfect unison.
[A.N: Sorry for the shorter chapter than usual. But this is going to set up some self made lore im imprinting into the story and the real reason why Msx hasn't done anything to them yet. And thank you readers so much. We hit 420k Veiws and 1.5k Collections. A little low sadly but I don't care. I just care that some people are enjoying my writing. I will have to take a few days off to work on my other stories but I will be back! Enjoy!]