Puzzles and Pride

by TheCat1987

Summary:

Buckzo's latest haul from the Human Crap Thrift Shop causes a new interest for Blitzo when he discovers a bunch of puzzles. When Buckzo won't help him, Blitzo seeks assistance from King Paimon. But with his son relying on the owl king, the old ringmaster starts to feel left out and stupid.

Notes:

Thank you to Adam29 for the idea and ParkRyder525 for the assistance with this one.

The idea of Blitzo relying on Paimon for something and unintentionally making Cash jealous of Paimon is something I think could happen. Especially in terms of intelligence and not feeling able to help his son. I went with Buckzo not being that good at puzzles and Paimon having an affinity for them because I could see Buckzo not being that good at them. Crosswords and wordfinds are one thing but stuff like rubix cubes, ivory towers of babel, and those metal puzzles where you have to unhook and rehook them together aren't easy for him. I don't think Blitzo would mind if his dad wasn't good at them; he'd just want to spend time with his dad.

I also imagine after required education up to high school, he'd want to make money right away so he'd go working grunt work. And colleges even in Hell I imagine being pretty expensive so working for him was the best option. It doesn't always bother him but being at the bottom of Hell's hierarchy and even being looked down on by fellow imps can get to him sometimes. He isn't stupid even if he has his bonehead moments but it can be hard to see your own successes and achievements sometimes.

And Paimon, for his intelligence, can sometimes feel overshadowed by his own son since he's very smart for his age. His airheadedness can be seen as a problem too since there are even other royals that see him as just a ditz. But he doesn't let that get to him and just tries his best. Even with his harshness, he does try to give Buckzo some reasonable advice. Same with Barbie pointing out that Buckzo was jealous that Blitzo was seeking someone else out for advice. She had to learn that the hard way.

On a lighter note, Barbie getting into beanie babies and Fizz enjoying paddle balls is pretty cute.

Chapter 1: Thrift Shop Finds

“Phew! Another haul from the Human Crap thrift shop completed!” Buckzo grinned triumphantly as he plopped a large sack of junk onto the table in the kitchen.

Thursdays were usually purge days at the thrift store so Cash liked to scope out whatever good deals were going on. Or just take whatever was going to be thrown out. It wasn’t really stealing if they were going to toss it away anyway. He was doing them a favor by taking their crap so they could clear it for more crap from Earth.

The kids ran up first to see if any toys stuck out to them. Barbie found some beanbag animals that were apparently really popular on Earth. She heard somewhere they were supposed to be worth a lot of money but she just cared about how cute they were. Fizz found a few toys he could use for practice for his juggling routine; a ball in a cup toy and a paddle ball. If he could perfect using those, his routines would have some more spice.

Blitzo found a few flying toys but what caught his eye, surprisingly enough, were some of the puzzle toys. The ones that stuck out were a cube that had a bunch of colors all mixed up, a tube thing with plastic balls out of order, and some metal puzzles you had to try and unlink before linking them back together.

“Boy these humans are stupid leaving their junk for us to take.” Barbie commented as she placed a few of the beanbag animals in the curls of her horns.

“We’ll use it better than them.” Fizz reasoned as he started to paddle the paddle ball.

Blitzo was pretty focused on his new puzzles when his dad poked his head. “Ya like ‘em?” he guessed.

“Y-Yeah…they’re pretty neat.” Blitzo smiled before looking up at his dad. “Could we try figuring some of these out together?”

“Maybe later, okay?” Buckzo told him, not noticing his son’s shoulders slump a bit. “I ain’t so great at puzzles and crap. Stolas might be able to help ya tomorrow.”

Blitzo pouted a bit before gathering up his puzzles and other toys before heading upstairs. He looked down at his dad sorting through the junk on the table before letting out a sigh. “Neither am I…but I still wanna try…” he whispered.

(...)

“Ah Master Blitzo. Welcome.” Mister Butler bowed.

“H-Hey Butler-dude.” Blitzo smiled awkwardly, pouting when his dad began mussing up his spines.

“Don’t cause too much trouble for the birdbrains, ya hear?” Buckzo smirked before heading back to his truck. “I’ll be back to pick ya up later!”

Blitzo waved his dad off before letting off an annoyed sigh. “Is Stolas ready yet?” Blitzo wondered.

“He will be done with his lessons soon. In the meantime, you can wait in the lounge.” Mister Butler told him, guiding him to his usual waiting area if Stolas’s lessons ran long.

“He’s gotta get his homework done on a Friday? Damn that sucks.” Blitzo commented before sitting on the long couch.

“I shall bring you a drink to keep you occupied while you wait. You like juice, yes?” the older imp recalled.

“Grape if ya got it or apple’s good too.” the imp boy told him. When he watched the butler leave, he pulled out the puzzle cube and started to fiddle with it. The more he played around with it, the more confused he got. “Why do humans like these?”

“Humans and demons seem to enjoy a challenge every now and then.”

Blitzo looked up and saw King Paimon appearing next to him in a flurry of shadows. “Don’t you walk normally?” Blitzo commented, kind of used to the Goetia King’s strange flourishes by now.

“I walk just fine, thank you.” Paimon retorted before looking away with slight embarrassment. “It’s just easier when I don’t have to run around like a commoner.”

“You ran like crazy a while back.” Blitzo teased, recalling his father chasing the king with a switch for unjustly punishing him.

“Oh shush.” Paimon grumbled before looking down at the puzzle cube. “Where did you find this?”

“My dad got some from the Human Crap thrift shop and I thought a bunch of these weird puzzles looked cool.” Blitzo explained before pouting a bit. “I wanted dad to help me but dad says he sucks at these so he won’t help. I’m not good at puzzles either but I still wanna try, y’know?”

“And you were going to have my son assist you?” the owl king guessed. At Blitzo’s nod, Paimon took the cube out of his hand before summoning a rag and some cleaning fluid. “First of all, you should disinfect anything you get from the human realm. You never know what sort of germs those humans have.”

“Uh-huh…” Blitzo nodded slowly, watching as the king quickly sprayed and wiped down the puzzle cube. He really was uptight.

Once Paimon was finished making sure the cube was clean enough, he handed it back to the imp boy. “There you go. All properly cleaned up.” he told him before pointing to one of the corners. “There is a trick to one of these cubes, you know.”

“There is?” Blitzo blinked, looking at the toy.

“Yes.” he nodded before leaning down to point at the cube. “Turn this corner here sideways. Then do another turn downwards.”

Blitzo did as he was told before his eyes widened. He quickly turned the cube sections around before gasping in surprise. “I…I did it?”

“It would seem so. Well done.” Paimon nodded.

“Stolas is gonna be so impressed!” Blitzo grinned before looking up at the tall royal. “Thank you Mister Paimon!”

“King Paimon, please…” the king corrected before his expression softened. “And you’re welcome.”

Stolas soon came trotting down the stairs, happy to see his friend. “Oh I’m terribly sorry about making you wait. I was having trouble with one of my assignments.” Stolas apologized.

“No worries. I got some cool toys I think you might like.” Blitzo grinned as he showed Stolas the freshly solved puzzle cube.

“Oh I love puzzles! We can play with some I have upstairs!” Stolas clapped in excitement as the boys went back upstairs. They were going to have a fun day of playing with new toys and challenging each other. Blitzo was just happy he had an advantage now he could use it to impress his friend and maybe even the king a bit.

He was the one to teach him after all.

(...)

“Almost…and…got it!” Blitzo grinned as he finished solving the cube puzzle for his folks at dinner. He couldn’t help but drink in the praise as they stared in awe. Barbie was almost certain he would’ve chewed up the cube by now in frustration. But she was legitimately impressed he could figure it out. It was already pretty scrambled when he got it.

“That’s really neat, sweetie.” Tilla smiled as she watched her happy son place the puzzle on the table.

“Yeah I thought puzzles were boring but Stolas has some that weren’t boring at all!” Blitzo yammered on.

“I bet the little feather duster did a good job teachin’ ya, eh?” Buckzo remarked as he ate some of his dinner.

“Oh Stolas had some homework but King Paimon showed me a trick with it.” Blitzo explained, surprising everyone.

“I didn’t know Stolas’s dad liked puzzles.” Fizz mused.

“I had no clue either.” Blitzo admitted before snickering a bit. “He wiped it down first before giving it back and told me how to solve it. It was pretty cool.”

The rest of dinner went on fairly smoothly with the kids talking about their day and Tilla making sure they didn’t accidentally rest their elbows in the food. Buckzo was fairly quiet, absentmindedly eating his food and listening to his son talk. It made sense King Birdbrain would know more about puzzles and shit with his brainy nonsense. He might’ve been an airhead but the ringmaster had to admit the king was smart. If his goofy son wanted to ask him about puzzles, all the better.

…so why was it making him feel weird?

(...)

Buckzo’s strange feelings were increasing by the day when Blitzo would bring over another puzzle for King Paimon to help him with. Today it was a puzzle with various colored balls that you had to put in order from lightest to darkest and with the right colors. From what the label said at the thrift shop, it was the Ivory Tower of Babel. Once again, Paimon cleaned the puzzle down before offering advice on how to get the balls rolling as it were.

Buckzo said goodbye to his son but felt a little twinge of sadness when he barely got a wave back. All he could do was drive back home and work on some chores around the grounds; that’ll distract him from this weirdness he was feeling. His son was just going through a phase of enjoying puzzles. It wasn’t like he’d start asking that birdbrain for advice on other stuff, right?

But even with the older imp putting his all into his work, the rest of the circus family could tell something was bothering him.

“He’s been raking the same spot for ages…” Tilla whispered, looking at her husband in concern.

“Is he drunk?” Fizz wondered.

Barbie, watching her dad closely, shook her head. “No…this is something else. I’ll try talking to him.” she decided, running up to her dad.

Buckzo was absentmindedly raking the fallen leaves into a large pile, wondering if the kids would want to jump in at some point. He was so out of it he let out a loud yelp when Barbie tapped his arm.

“Daddy?” she tried.

Buckzo caught his breath before looking at his worried daughter. “Oh h-h-hey Barb. What’s up?” Buckzo asked, trying to look as casual as possible.

“Dad, are you okay? You’ve been acting weird.” she commented before catching herself. “Well, more than normal.”

Buckzo gave his daughter a slightly annoyed look before letting his shoulders slump. “I’ve been feeling…a little off.” he admitted, moving to sit on top of a nearby crate.

“How come?” Barbie wondered, sitting next to her dad.

“Blitzo’s been talking to ol’ Kingy about a lot of shit and…it feels damned weird.” he explained, feeling stupider the more he tried to open up. “Birdbrain knows more shit than me but Blitzo going to him for stuff feels…GAH! Ya know what I mean?”

“You’re jealous.” Barbie stated, shocking her dad.

“What? No I’m not!” he reasoned, though he couldn’t look his daughter in the eye.

“Dad, I went through the same thing when Blitzo started playing more with Stolas.” Barbie reminded him. “Just because he’s playing with him a lot doesn’t mean we can’t play together. And I like Stolas too.”

“I’m glad for ya kiddo but with grownup shit…it ain’t that easy.” Buckzo told her, shutting his eyes. “I got brains for some stuff but not a lot of other stuff. I just don’t wanna look like an idiot in front of your brother or you or Fizz, y’know?”

Barbie hugged her dad around his middle, surprising him. “Dad, you're not an idiot. You might do dumb things sometimes but you’re not dumb.” Barbie told him.

“Ya mean that?” Buckzo whispered, looking down at his daughter’s face which was beaming up at him.

“Of course I do.” she nodded, smiling when she felt her dad hug her back. “Besides, anyone that can tease Blitzo in a bunch of ways has gotta be pretty danged smart.” she giggled.

“Oh I can tease ya too ya little gremlin!” Buckzo grinned as he started poking his daughter’s arms and tummy, making her laugh. He ran a hand through her spines, glad he got at least a little of this out of his system. “Thanks for talkin’ with me, kiddo.”

“No prob dad. Want some help with chores?” the young imp girl offered.

“If ya can get some garbage bags to stuff those leaves in, that’d be great.” he told her. But as soon as he saw the eager look in her eye he gave her a knowing smile. “But I’ll let you and Fizzy jump in that pile first.”

“Yes!” Barbie cheered before running off to find Fizz.

Buckzo watched his daughter with a smile before letting it drop as he ran a hand over his face. He really wanted to believe his daughter when she said he wasn’t stupid. When demons of higher classes looked down at him, normally he could take it in stride. But when there were fellow imps that thought he was just stupid trash?

Sometimes it got to him more than he thought.

(...)

“Mr. Buckzo? It is a little early for you to retrieve your son.” Mr. Butler commented, seeing a slightly frazzled Cash Buckzo standing in the doorway. “Is everything alright?”

“Y-Yeah yeah. Everything’s fine.” Cash told him before looking around the fancy entryway. “Is uh…is the king around? I-If he ain’t, I’ll just wait for my kid–”

“You wished to speak with me?”

Buckzo let out a yell as he saw Paimon appear in front of him, scaring him. “Don’t fucking do that!” Buckzo snapped, catching his breath. “You’re gonna scare the piss out of me!”

“If you do that, you will be cleaning it up yourself.” Paimon warned him before crossing his arms. “What did you need to discuss?”

“Uh…can we talk somewhere less…open?” Buckzo tried, gesturing to Mister Butler.

“Ah yes. Follow me.” the tall king nodded as he guided the shorter imp to his office further away from the entrance hall. Buckzo followed behind, letting out a sigh. This was going to be so fucking awkward. It wasn’t like he hadn’t talked with him before but Paimon had booze to offer last time but this…he’d have to do semi-sober.

“Fuck me…” he muttered under his breath.

Unknown to the two fathers, a young eavesdropper was listening in and decided to tail them.

Once they were settled in the private office, Paimon had Cash sit in front of his desk while he sat behind it. “I am a very busy demon so say what you need to say.” Paimon stated.

“Look…this ain’t easy for me but…you’ve been helping my son with shit and…I guess I wanna say thanks.” Buckzo began, really struggling to get the words out.

Paimon raised an eyebrow before giving the ringmaster a slight smirk. “If that’s the case, why do you look so pained?” he questioned, resting his chin on top of his hand.

“S-Shut up! You royals are so high and mighty it ain’t easy for us to admit when you’re actually better, okay?!” Buckzo snapped, covering his mouth as his eyes widened. Did he actually say that out loud?!

“Is this about these little puzzles your son has been bringing over?” he guessed. At the fidgeting of the smaller demon, Paimon sat up properly in his chair. “Well if you aren’t good at something, it isn’t uncommon for your child to ask for help from another source.”

“But that’s just it. I’ve always sucked at puzzles. Word searches and crosswords aren’t so bad but stuff like that cube thing or those metal things ya unhook and hook back together?” Buckzo rambled before letting his shoulders slump. “A lot of this shit ain’t easy for me…never was.”

“Have you tried?”

“Eh?” Buckzo blinked, looking up at the tall king. “Uh…n-not since I was a kid…”

Paimon looked him over before letting out a sigh. “Perhaps you should consider why your son would want your help with puzzles in the first place. He didn’t know how a lot of them worked so he asked you. Why do you think that is?” At the imp’s blank face, Paimon let out another sigh and gave him a flat look. “Because he wants to spend time with you, idiot.”

“But I’m gonna look stupid.” Buckzo tried to reason.

“Does that really matter to your son?” Paimon questioned, surprising Cash. “Even if you aren’t good at it, he’ll just enjoy being with you. When I showed him what to do with those puzzles, he was excited to show Stolas and you.”

Cash blinked in shock before scratching his cheek in embarrassment. “I…guess I didn’t think about that…” he admitted.

Paimon’s expression softened as he sat back in his chair. “I’m still trying to learn to be more open around my son and my other children. And being a royal isn’t exactly the easiest thing in Hell. It isn’t like fairy tales.” Paimon explained. “He is so intelligent it can be intimidating but I am proud of him.”

“Heh. The little guy is pretty smart.” Buckzo nodded as he leaned back in his chair.

The fathers chatted for a bit more before heading back to the main hall. Paimon had something he needed to check on upstairs while Buckzo sat on a nearby cushy bench. He looked down and saw his son looking up at him, a metal puzzle in his hand.

“Eh? You done already?” he blinked.

“No but I heard you.” Blitzo told him before handing over his puzzle. “Can you help me with this?”

“Uh…I’m not–” He stopped himself, remembering Paimon’s words. He let out a sigh before taking the puzzle from his son. “I’ll give it a try.”

Blitzo smiled as he sat with his dad, watching him look it over. “You gotta try to get the metal pieces unhooked.” he told him.

Cash nodded as he looked the pieces over. Clearly there was a way to get them apart without snapping them in half. The gears were turning in his head before something caught his attention. He slowly started to loop one of the metal pieces around before it came apart. His eyes widened as he held up the metal pieces.

“I…I did it?” he blinked.

“Nice work!” Blitzo smiled. “Stolas and I were trying to do this one for ages but we got stuck.”

Buckzo smiled a bit as he moved an arm around his son. “You uh…still got the other puzzles from that thrift shop I brought for ya?” he asked.

“Uh-huh!”

“Can…ya show me how to do ‘em?” he wondered.

Blitzo smiled as he patted his dad’s back. “Sure thing. I’ll teach you everything I know.” he told him in a joking cocky manner, laughing when he got a bonk.

“Don’t get too cocky, pipsqueak.” he warned, though his tone was more playful than really annoyed.

[END]

Chapter 2: Real Talk

Summary:

When Cash and Blitzo return home, Blitzo decides to talk with his dad about what he overheard and we learned more about the cranky ringmaster.

Notes:

Thank you to AnimeToonzForever for an idea about a little short chapter with Blitzo and Buckzo talking and being real with each other. I imagine since Buckzo didn't go to college and probably didn't like school, he wanted to work to get a leg up in the world. But it isn't easy for some imps and sometimes it bothers him.

And I think Blitzo would feel bad about making his dad feel bad, even if it was unintentional, so he'd want to try and make him feel better. But a little teasing mixed in would fit too since that's their own way of showing they care. He might get annoyed by his antics but he loves him through and through.

And I wanted to add Tilla since she would want to make sure her hubby was feeling alright. They've stuck by each other through thick and thin so she'd want to make sure he was okay. But seeing him playing around with his kid and genuinely feeling happy makes her happy. And I had to sneak a little reference to the More Than Anything reprise from Hazbin Hotel since that song is so sweet. <3

The ride back home went off without a hitch, only the occasional pothole or slow driver getting on Buckzo’s nerves. He hated stupid drivers that didn’t know how to drive. When the light was green, you go! And whoever was in charge of Imp City needed to get those damned potholes fixed; it was like driving on the moon! But his son talking to him about the puzzles they could try and figure out together was keeping him from cursing out the stupid drivers in Pride.

Well, for the most part anyway.

“Hey! Look where you’re turning, dumbass!” Buckzo shouted out the window before rolling his eyes. “Fucking morons…”

They soon arrived at the circus grounds and Buckzo parked his truck by the oldsmobile. Blitzo got out and ran to his dad’s side. Buckzo got out next and was surprised his boy was standing right there. The young boy looked a bit awkward which confused the older imp; he’d normally be running inside to get ready for dinner.

“S’matter kid?” he blinked before his wrist was grabbed.

“Um…c-c-can I talk to you?” Blitzo began, looking for a private place to talk before pointing at the tent. “Over there?”

“Sure.” he shrugged, surprised at his son’s strength when he managed to drag him over to the big tent. All the performers and stagehands were done for the day so they had the whole tent to themselves. “So what’d you wanna talk about? Dinner’ll be ready soon.” Buckzo wondered.

Blitzo let go of his wrist, looking down at the ground. “Papa…I’m sorry…”

“Eh? What for?” he blinked.

“I…I heard you talking to Stolas’s dad and I didn’t know you were feeling sad because of me. I didn’t mean to…” Blitzo continued, shaking a bit.

Buckzo’s eyes widened before kneeling down in front of his son. “Hey don’t talk like that, alright? I was the dope that didn’t wanna help ya because I didn’t know shit about puzzles.” Buckzo reasoned.

“But I was ignoring you for Stolas’s dad. You’re my dad.” Blitzo sniffled.

He immediately hugged his dad, stunning the older imp. “H-Hey it’s okay…” Cash told him, patting his son’s back. “Look, I didn’t want ya to know this but…not bein’ booksmart ain’t always easy for me, y’know?”

“I-It’s not?” Blitzo hiccuped.

“Not really.” he sighed as he shut his eyes. “I wasn’t the best at book crap but I got through it. Work wasn’t easy for me either but at least ya got paid for it.”

“Well, I think you’re smart.” Blitzo told him, smiling when he ruffled his spines.

“Thanks, squirt.” Buckzo smirked as he looked up at the top of the tent. “It ain’t easy for imps when shit’s against us. But workin’ your way up can show the hoity-toity types we’re not just the lowest of the low.” He then gave his son a proud smile. “Hell, your mama and I started this circus when we were in deep shit and are still going strong. We got our ups and downs but we’ll keep this going for as long as we can.”

“I’m glad we got a circus.” Blitzo told him before looking at him in confusion. “Why do puzzles bother you so much then?”

Buckzo felt his face heat up in embarrassment. “I…I guess I felt kinda stupid with those kinds of puzzles. Word searches and crosswords, weirdly, don’t make me feel that dumb. With those puzzles from that thrift shop, I dunno…they never came easy to me.” he explained awkwardly.

“Why’d you buy them then?” the young boy wondered.

“Well…I thought I might try ‘em again but when you took ‘em, I didn’t want to embarrass myself in front of you,” he confessed.

“Aw you don’t have to feel bad about that.” Blitzo assured him before giving him a teasing grin. “You do other goofy stuff anyway.” he giggled, laughing when he got a bop to the head.

“Hey, watch it!” he warned, poking his son’s sides with a grin. “You’re a goofy twerp too, ya little knucklehead.”

Tilla, having heard the playful arguing, peeked her head into the tent with a smile. “Ah there you two are.” she greeted, walking up to them.

“Hi mama!” Blitzo waved as he ran up to her, giggling when she scooped him up in his arms.

“Dinner’s almost ready so go wash up, okay?” she requested, kissing his cheek before setting him down. She watched her boy trot out of the tent before sitting with her husband. “Everything okay, dear?”

Buckzo moved an arm around her before smiling a bit. “Yeah. That kid’s something else.” he mused.

“And you’re…feeling alright?” she guessed, blushing when he turned her head to his own and kissing her. She had been worried when he seemed so down for a few days and was concerned when he suddenly left to go pick their boy up early. But seeing them talking and laughing made her feel a lot more at ease.

“Yeah. I’m doin’ better, babe.” Cash assured her before taking her hand. “Sorry I worried ya…this shit gets to me, y’know?”

“I understand, sweetheart.” she nodded before bumping her forehead against his own. “But I never felt ashamed of you or thought less of you. You’ve done so much for me and I love you more than anything.”

Buckzo laughed quietly as he cupped her face. “Funny, I was gonna say the same thing about you.” he whispered before kissing her again.

[END]

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 113 of Blitz/Stolas Happier Childhood Memories