Chapter Text
Luz was riding the bus back from school. She leaned her head against the window, watching the outside world zip past. It had been a long day at school and the peculiar smell coming from those crappy seats was not helping her headache.
What a waste of her time. Her day had started off so well too!
She’d actually gotten Hunter so far to fall asleep and she watched over him as she promised, for a while. But it was hard to not sink deeper into the old armchair. Frankly, it was a little nostalgic, falling asleep in that thing. She half expected her mom to carry her upstairs, but she wasn’t five anymore. And staying with her brother had its own charm.
She always wanted a brother, but had no idea what they were like. King seemed to really love sleeping near her though.
Anyways, when she woke up the sun was shining so beautifully through the window. Literal rays of warm light coming into the room.
She was ready to tell Hunter good morning, but when she turned she saw he was still out cold. A strong feeling of pride bloomed inside her chest. She fought the urge for mischief or high-pitched Spanish cooing.
Willow was awake uncharacteristically early, immediately spotting the blonde tufts of hair peeking out from the blanket as she walked into the living room. Her eyes widened and an adorable smile formed on her face. Only then did she notice her other friend in the room.
She greeted Luz with a whisper and pointed to the boy on the couch, clearly surprised to see Hunter sleeping.
She agreed with a giggle. Her pride in this never-before-witnessed skill growing even stronger.
Willow had quietly walked closer, keeping her eyes on the sleeping boy. She seemed very impressed and asked how Luz had managed it.
When she asked Willow if she was jealous, she'd denied it so vehemently that the only logical conclusion could be that she was. Luz had not actually expected that, but it made her incredibly happy.
She went absolutely feral teasing her friend.
All those years of shipping characters online flooding back to her as she beheld the result of her matchmaking skills. Not that she had anything to do with Hunter and Willow meeting, but who cares! Their love story was unfolding in front of her very eyes!
Of course, her squealing woke him up. She couldn’t possibly be blamed at a time like this, it was way too cute.
They wished him a good morning as he looked around all drowsy and yawning. Hunter’s hair was a mess, completely tangled and one strand even ended up in his mouth. Luz couldn’t help but laugh as she helped him fix the literal bird’s nest on his head.
Willow escaped like the wind, using breakfast as an excuse. Luz had never seen her face so bright pink.
It was only seven o’clock in the morning at that point and the rest of the house was slowly coming to life.
She boasted about her accomplishment every time someone woke up. Everyone had a similar happy and surprised reaction. She didn’t want to embarrass her brother too much though. So she had decided to keep Hunter’s new off button a secret, for now.
The vibe at home had finally gotten back to normal. Luz was so, so glad all that tension was gone.
It didn’t take long for her perfect day to turn sour though, considering it was a school day and she would throw away six hours for an unruly classroom and depressed teachers. Precious time that she could be spending on far more important things. Like building a portal!
They had an actual plan now and it felt so close, so real. Like she could just reach out and touch it, turn the knob and walk into the Boiling Ilses.
Instead she had to ’sit still and listen’ all day. Bombing a history pop quiz was just the icing on the cake. At least she had something to look forward to, her date with Amity!
Just her and her beautiful girlfriend on a mundane, slice-of-life date they both loved. Luz was a little nervous about the talk they’d inevitably have, but it was important and she felt ready.
The bus’s frame shook violently and bumped against her temple. This thing was hitting every pothole known to man! Luz reflexively winced from the pain, then slowly looked around to see if anyone had noticed. If they were judging her.
Whatever.
Even if they were, she didn’t care. Or shouldn’t care.
She was about to put her forehead back against the cold glass, until she recognised the neighbourhood. Luz didn’t know how quickly she had to grab her stuff and get out of there. She practically ran through the front yard and flew through the door.
“I’m home!” She announced while using one arm to swing herself into the living room.
“Luz!” Gus jumped up from the floor where he and Hunter had been lounging, absolutely surrounded by books. He stood in front of her in an instant and grabbed her hand. “Come on!”
“Welcome home.” Hunter greeted, chuckling at her surprised reaction to Gus turning her around and leading her through the hallway.
“Wow, wait-“ Luz stopped in her tracks, Hunter almost bumped into her. “Where is Amity? I have to get ready for our date.”
“Willow and Vee are helping Amity with her outfit-“ Gus explained.
“Yeah, serious fashionistas.” Hunter added ironically.
“And we’re gonna do the same for you!” Gus said excitedly, tugging her along as he headed for the basement. “Well, I’ll be styling you and Hunter will watch from a distance.”
Luz looked back at the oldest witch as they slowly and steadily herded her to the stairs. Partly because she wanted to see his reaction to Gus’s dig, but mostly because everything was moving a bit too fast for her. She was still catching up to this plan.
“Yeah, yeah.” Hunter waved Gus’s teasing away annoyed. He huffed indignant. “Blight was clear enough about my fashion sense.”
Luz couldn’t help but laugh as she finally understood what was going on. She was willing to bet it was Amity’s idea to have them get ready for their date like this, and she absolutely loved it.
Her day was already getting perfect again.
Amity twirled in front of the mirror. She had found a soft pink dress at the thrift store they visited a while ago. It was stretchy at the top and had a long, flowy bottom. It had a square necklace and short bubble sleeves. The way the frilly skirt spun as she moved made her feel like a fairy tale princess.
Its colour now perfectly matched her faded hair, which stung a little, but the perfect fit was too good to pass up.
She felt cute.
Dressing up for a date was something she had kind of dreamed about. It’s not like it was her burning ambition or something, but it was nice to experience. She only wished she had the annoying voices of her siblings behind her as she tried on different clothes.
Instead, it was Willow and Vee, who were the best hype-women ever. It just wasn’t the same. Even though they’d be teasing her every way to Sunday, she missed Edric and Emira. But she was still grateful to have the girls help with her outfit and boosting her confidence.
“I think I hear Luz downstairs.” Vee chirped up as she was searching through a drawer. Amity felt the excitement spike and she almost ran downstairs to greet her girlfriend.
“Wait, we’re not done.” Willow looked up from rummaging in the closet. She laughed as Amity immediately turned on her heels.
“Do you think she’ll like the idea?” Amity asked, suddenly not as confident in her plan.
“You kidding?” Willow walked behind her, looking at their reflection as she put her hands on Amity’s shoulders. “She’ll love it!”
“One hundred percent!” Vee matched her energy. They carried out their duty as cheer squad very well, instantly making her feel better. Vee slithered closer, as she held up a cute, black hairband with a tiny bow on the side. “Now, I was thinking of matching this with your black sandals.”
“Ohmigosh, cute!” Amity squealed and Willow nodded passionately.
“And I found this.” Said the plant witch as she placed a necklace around her neck. Amity immediately recognised the small, golden heart connected to a delicate chain. She gasped enthusiastically as the gold metal made contact with her skin.
“Actually, Luz gave this to me.” She explained, an unavoidable smile tugging at her lips. “So it’s perfect.”
She remembered when she’d made a passing comment about liking the design. They were just browsing in the mall, but the next day Luz handed her a small gift bag with that necklace inside. She was truly adorable. Amity was still looking for something to give back, nothing felt good enough yet.
“I was also thinking of this belt, but I’m not sure anymore.” Willow continued as she held it next Amity’s dress. She had to suppress a laugh, because the way she was holding it almost made it look like a snake, especially with that grossed out look in her eyes.
“Nah.” Vee said decidedly after tapping her chin and squinting at the new combination. Willow didn’t seem too heartbroken about it, throwing the thing over her shoulder with flair. It landed on top of the large pile of clothes that had already been rejected.
“Do you wanna do something with you hair?” Willow asked, playing with a pink strand. The motion gave her flashbacks of Emira doing the exact same thing.
“Hmmm, I was thinking about an updo.” Amity began, gathering her hair in a lazy example of a bun. She dropped it again, looking at her friends sheepishly. “But I don’t wanna make you guys do my hair for an hour and then decide I don’t like it.”
Vee giggled and Willow laughed, shaking her head. She already waved her hand, probably ready to brush it off. Having her friend support her like this, made her feel so happy. Amity was ecstatic, and honestly a little surprised, with how much closer they had grown.
“Hold on a minute,” Vee cut her off before Willow even started. She shape-shifted into her human disguise, but her hair was pink instead of the usual green and blue pattern. And it was styled in a lovely messy bun.
“Oh my Titan Vee, that’s genius.” Amity marvelled at her hair. She looked away shyly, but smiled wide. The idea of Vee modelling for her by shapeshifting was perfect, it seemed so obvious in retrospect.
“Yeah!” Willow agreed, also circling around the basilisk and admiring her creation. Amity could tell it made her well up with pride.
She modelled a few options for them while Amity described what she wanted. They ended up with something pretty complicated, but with Willow’s seal of approval she asked them to replicate it. The plant witch’s confidence wasn’t misplaced, because when it was done it looked almost exactly like Vee’s blueprint.
Amity loved every inch of it. The high braided bun, incorporating the cute headband, left a few curly strand in front to perfectly frame her face.
“What do you think?” She asked, twirling in front of the mirror again. Now with the complete outfit.
“It’s adorable!” Vee cooed with her palms pressed together in front of her mouth.
“Absolutely gorgeous!” Willow declared, her hands on her hips and a satisfied smile on her face.
Boosting her confidence indeed.
If everything was going according to plan, Gus and Hunter had been doing the same for Luz. Though, Amity hoped the illusion witch was taking the lead like he promised. Hunter’s fashion sense was… questionable at best.
Luz stood in the middle of the basement as Gus bounced around her in a whirlwind of clothes. Hunter was off to the side, lounging on the couch with a stupid smirk on his face.
Gus had displayed possible options for outfits everywhere; the couch, the washing machine, the sewing table. It was mostly her stuff, but she recognised some articles - especially accessories - as coming from the boys’s closet. There were definitely some outfits she liked, but the sheer magnitude was a little overwhelming.
He was taking this really seriously.
“Wow…” Luz gawked, standing around uselessly as Gus waited for an answer. “It’s uh- it’s a lot.”
“I kinda raided your closet, sorry ‘bout that.” He laughed, scratching his cheek.
“It’s fine, I love this idea.” Luz assured him. She took the combination of a cropped hoody with flared jeans from his amped up hands.
“Amity came up with it,” Hunter said, standing up and joining the fashion show at Gus’s side. Luz nodded and smirked as she reviewed the dark purple fabric in her hands. She knew it. “Said she wanted a dramatic reveal, like you were picking her up at her house.”
Luz looked up quickly and her face must’ve betrayed her sudden panic, because Gus slapped his arm and shot him a pointed glare.
“What?” Hunter threw his arms up and looked at his buddy confused. “Was that a secret or something?”
“Did you guys work on the portal today?” Luz asked and Hunter got the expression of sudden realisation. She really didn’t have the time or mentality to be subtle here. Or to worry about the boys worrying about her.
She just wanted to know if they were getting closer, so she could pick her girlfriend up for real.
“Yup, we’re still figuring out the kinks” Gus said, giving the taller boy another snarky look. Hunter avoided his gaze by suddenly being very interested in the ceiling, absentmindedly picking at his nails. Gus rolled his eyes with a smile. “We experimented with the palismen’s magic, but-“
“That’s great! Did it seem powerful enough?” Luz interrupted, an incredibly light feeling bubbling up from her insides. It almost felt like it was forming a lump in her throat.
“Yes!” Gus stepped forward, looking just as giddy as she felt. “Their raw power is incredible.”
Luz’s smile was instant and so wide it put as strain on her cheeks. A soft sigh unwillingly escaped from it and a dangerous feeling of relief made itself comfortable in her gut.
They could do this. Their research was paying off. Their time wasn’t going to waste, they didn’t even need her six hours. With the palismen’s magic they would finally, finally get them back home.
Get her friends back home, of course. She was already home.
“We have high hopes for this plan.” Gus said. They were infecting each other with their good moods and dopey smiles. Hunter seemed doubtful, but he was probably just worried. He was a worrywart! No need to dwell on that, right?
Suddenly, there was a finger waving in her face. Gus picked up another outfit he had showcased. “BUT for now just focus on the clothes.”
“Oooh, I like this one.” Luz knew she got distracted easily and Gus was using that against her, but that outfit was totally her style.
After she had changed in the bathroom, she obediently returned to the basement. All the while fighting the urge to sneak upstairs and find out how things were going. She was super curious, but there was no way she’d ruin Amity’s plan.
“Hhmmm,” Gus tapped his chin, scrutinising his own combination as Luz did an apprehensive spin in front of them. “Hunter go get your boots.”
“What?” The blonde turned to him with a questioning frown.
“They’d fit perfectly with the outfit!” He explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “And it’s not like Luz has a much smaller size.”
“I dunno about that…” Luz admitted. She didn’t have to point out that Hunter was taller than her. She was pretty sure he’d even grown a few inches since they got here.
“Just go.” Gus said hot-tempered when Hunter showed similar hesitation. He gestured with his hands, like herding a troublesome sheep, until he got his buddy to the stairs. “If they don’t fit that’s too bad, but we won’t know if we don’t try!
Luz cracked a smile and shared an amused look with her brother before he disappeared to the hallway.
Amity’s nerves were getting to her, she hadn’t thought about this waiting period while Luz was still getting ready. She knew she looked good and she knew it didn’t even matter what she wore, her girlfriend would still think she was pretty in a garbage bag. But she was still getting antsy, pacing through the room.
“Girl, calm down.” Vee said in another failed attempt to get her to relax. She was laying on her belly in Luz’s bed, her head resting on her hands and her tail swaying from side to side.
“You put too much pressure on your plans, Ami.” Willow added, leaning back in the pink office chair and playing with clover. She was right, but that didn’t really help lower her stress.
Stress that she didn’t even know where came from.
“I know…” Amity conceded, but kept pacing.
“Knock knock!” They suddenly heard Gus’s voice from behind the door. He didn’t really wait for an answer before swinging the door open, bowing with court-like flair. “Luz is ready and waiting downstairs for you, my lady~”
Amity burst with a laugh, quickly suppressing it to pretend being disgruntled. The girls behind her didn’t hold back, roaring with laughter as Gus performed another, deeper bow.
“Thank you Gus.” Amity said graciously after the three of them had died down. Her nerves had disappeared like snow in the sun. “Did you…”
“Don’t worry, I worked my magic.” Gus reassured her. Amity was pretty sure the angelic glow around his head was an illusion, but she still opted to check for a spell circle behind his back. Gus smiled innocently as he broke the spell.
Amity stared at him with playful exasperation and Gus giggled. Then he winked. “And Hunter didn’t touch a thing.”
“Come on guys, he’s not that bad at…” Willow’s voice trailed off as all the heads in the room turned. Teasing eyes and mischievous smiles settling on her.
Vee slithered over to her, resting her head on the chair’s armrest and staring up at Willow like a cat. Gus walked over as well, his hands folded behind his back with a similar smirk.
“Sorry what was that?” He asked innocently, making Willow’s shoulder tense up as she tried to look anywhere but at them.
“Not bad at…?” Vee teasingly repeated her own words. Now she was full-on blushing.
Amity didn’t know how to jump in there and join the teasing, so she let the ‘peas in a pod’ do their thing. Even Clover was buzzing around, she could only guess how much the fuzzy bee was poking fun.
Amity was honestly still confused by this crush. Not from Hunter’s side of course. And not that he wasn’t a great guy, but…
Why?
When they were kids Willow always fell for the smooth, charismatic heroes it the romance novels they read. Well, when they snuck into the young-adult section of the library and secretly read together in their hideout.
Amity claimed the library hideout in the friend-divorce, sometimes she even hid there from Willow. She always regretted it, especially when she read about a cliché, charming heroine. Or about an outlaw love interest or some kind of misunderstood villain.
Anyways, this crush on Hunter surprised her is all. He was more anxious and nerdy than smooth or charming. But she was very happy for her.
She shook her head, tuning back in right as Willow jumped out of her seat utterly flustered.
“So Luz is ready?” Willow asked deliberately, trying to turn their attention back to the matter at hand. She hooked her arm with Amity’s, most likely using her as a shield.
“Yup!” Gus granted her the mercy of a change in topic. He got up from his dramatic - honestly impressive - lean on the chair and rubbed his hands together. “Let’s get this date started!”
He lead them down the hallway. Amity’s nerves came back in full force, but this time it felt more like exhilaration, like adrenaline. They stopped in front of the stairs, her friends all turned to her for the next step of the plan. But she was distracted by a certain conversation she overheard.
“Tell me I can do this.” Luz’s worried voice came from downstairs. Amity’s stomach dropped.
“You can do this.” Hunter’s voice instantly replied, not too enthusiastically.
“Now say it like you mean it.” Luz deadpanned. He scoffed in a particular way where Amity knew he was shaking his head.
“Relax.” Hunter said, not at all eloquently.
“That’s rich coming from you.” Luz pouted and Amity finally realised their banter was in good humour. She shared a knowing look with her friends as they giggled quietly.
“Okay, you guys go and tell her I’m coming down.” Amity whispered. Willow punched her arm softly before following Gus down the stairs. Vee was hot on their heels after shapeshifting to her human form and giving her a parting thumbs-up gesture.
“She’s ready~” Sounded Gus’s voice. She also heard Willow and Vee quietly compliment Luz’s outfit, only making her more curious.
Amity took a deep breath and walked down the stairs. In the most elegant, movie-like way she could, just as planned.
Luz was standing on the perfect place to greet her, only a few feet from the bottom step. Her mouth hung open in a comical, over the top way, but just as genuine as ever. Amity knew her face was hot red, like Willow’s tomatoes in the garden.
She was aware Luz cleaned up nice, but Gus had really outdone himself. She wore a dark purple jacket on top of a black top, which perfectly framed her shoulders. The sleeves reached to her elbows and her arms were adorned with a great deal of bracelets. Amity recognised a lot of them as gifts she’d happily given.
It made her happy to know they were both wearing each other’s gifts today.
Luz also wore a pair of stone blue skinny jeans. The formfitting pants nicely contrasted with the more loose jacket. Amity’s face was already hot enough, so she quickly focused on the brown lace up boots those skinny jeans ended in.
Wait- were those Hunter’s boots?
They certainly completed the outfit though. She’ll remember Gus’s impeccable fashion sense for next time.
Amity nearly skipped down the last steps, coming to a halt when she reached the bottom. She smiled brightly, marvelling at the way her ‘outfit reveal’ plan went off without a hitch. Luz’s beautiful dark curls bounced as she quickly closed the distance between them. Amity felt her arms wrap around her as she was suddenly lifted in the air and spun around.
“Ooooooh so pretty!” Her girlfriend squealed as she giggled from this princess-worthy hug.
Luz set her down, but didn’t release the hold around her waist. Not that Amity would ever want her to. She wrapped her own arms around Luz’s neck as they continued to hold each other in an ecstatic, bubbly giggle.
“You look quite good yourself~” Amity told her quietly, with a flirty voice she’d only ever use for Luz.
“Hey!” Gus grabbed her attention as he yelled. He was huffy as he tried to avoid the hand Hunter had placed over his face, seemingly shielding his eyes from her and Luz’s embrace.
Hunter and the girls next to him laughed as Gus finally succeeded in liberating his eyesight. Amity felt a little embarrassed at how easily she’d forgotten her friends were there. Her cheeks turned even redder, if that was possible. She let her arms fall off of Luz, who placed a quick peck on her cheek before releasing her.
Okay, now her cheeks were as red as they were going to get!
“Thanks for all your help folks,” Luz said upbeat as she grabbed Amity’s hand and led her to the front door, passing their friends. “But if you’ll excuse us, we’ve got a hot date right now.”
They walked outside under a symphony of laughing and cheering.
“I’m so glad my plan worked.” Amity leaned against Luz’s shoulder as they walked through the front yard. “Wasn’t it just the perfect movie trope?”
“It was perfect.” Luz agreed, touching her head briefly against hers. “Your plans always work.”
———
Luz thundered down the stairs, scaring her brother half to death. She briefly noticed his intense, wide eyes from behind his sewing machine as she flung herself on the couch. Grabbing Gus's pillow to muffle herself as she screamed her lungs out.
"Didn't go well?" Hunter asked nonchalantly like he hadn't just tensed every muscle in his body. If he was about to joke about this, if that stupid idiot was going to tease her about this...
"Shut up." She said defeated, still with her face buried in the pillow.
"Sorry, bad joke." Hunter's voice came closer. She turned her head to watch him sit down crosslegged on his mattress. "Did something happen?"
"No!" Luz responded instantly. "The date was perfect and happy and amazing."
It really was. She had taken Amity to a cute little café in town. They talked and laughed and held hands. They did all the cute couple stuff and enjoyed their slice of life day out.
Luz flirted with her of course, even more than usual. Comparing her sweetness to the various pastries on the menu. Then almost ordering the cheesecake because Amity called her ‘cheesy’, until she reminded Luz about all the lactose in it. So Amity ended up with the cheesecake, which she loved by the way, and Luz devoured a slice of apple pie. And it was lovely and amazing.
"But I couldn't do it!" Luz desperately continued, before she confused Hunter too much. "I couldn't talk about my feelings!"
"Ohh..." He looked like he understood now. Flapjack was perched on his shoulder, half hidden behind his long hair. He should really cut it already, or at least style it better. Hunter gave her a tightlipped smile. “Did you run away again? Or- from the conversation I mean.”
"No! Amity didn't bring it up, so I had to bring it up. I wanted to bring it up, but I couldn't!" She rambled on, still desperate and miserable.
"Wait, Amity didn't bring it up?" He held his hands up, Luz could practically see the gears in his head struggling to turn. "But that was the whole point."
"Don't judge me!" She cried out, burying her head back in the pillow.
"I'm judging both of you." Hunter’s voice sounded low and unimpressed.
"You!" Luz instantly retaliated into the pillow. She pushed herself up with sudden fiery determination, before continuing with a angry index finger pointed in her brother's face. "You're not allowed to judge anyone, you're a mess!"
“T-that is totally irrelevant!" Hunter sputtered offended. Luz suddenly had to try her best not to laugh, Hunter's frown slowly turned into a smirk. He shrugged again. "True, but irrelevant."
Luz giggled, her arm falling down weakly. She died down and they sat in silence for a little while. Luz’s misery returned unforgiving, she sighed after sitting up more comfortably.
Flapjack hopped from his witch’s shoulder to hers. He nuzzled into her cheek, singing a sweet melody she wished she could understand.
"What do I do now?" She moped, giving Hunter puppy-dog eyes as she absentmindedly gave the little palisman scritches.
"For Titan's sake, just talk to her!" He yelled at her, moving his hands around wildly. Luz jerked backwards surprised, she felt Flap’s little claws grab tighter on her shoulder.
"I'm trying!" She yelled back, scaring the bird into flying up frazzled.
He circled above them chirping loudly. Luz thought for a second she’d really scared him, but Hunter’s expression didn’t suggest that. He actually rolled his eyes, ignoring whatever Flapjack was saying.
He got a solid bonk on the head for it.
Flap landed in his hair afterwards, still chirping loudly as he nestled in the blonde locks.
"He's speaking in proverbs again." Hunter scrunched his face in a puzzled way, then shrugged as he looked at Luz. "Pretty sure he's calling us similar. In a bad way."
“What did he say exactly?” Luz laughed
“Birds of a feather flock together.” Hunter translated. Luz cocked her head at the familiar saying, he seemed to think she needed more clarification. “It’s more the way he said it that suggests it’s bad.”
“That’s a human saying.” Luz said, she could see her words shock the grimwalker in front of her.
“It is?” Hunter raised an eyebrow than looked to Flapjack. The cardinal hopped away, avoiding eye contact in a not-so-subtle way.
Luz was sure Hunter noticed it too, because when Flapjack chirped, he squinted suspiciously. She couldn’t imagine the cardinal was a much better liar than his witch.
“Anyways,” He changed the topic very obviously. The blonde boy clasped his hands together, jutting them in her direction. “Talk to your girlfriend Luz.”
“I told you, I tried.” She whined in despair.
“Well try harder, try more, try better.” Hunter said in a mock-pout.
“You’re not being kind at all…” Luz said in a real pout, a part of her a little peeved he wasn’t all soft and understanding like usual. But a bigger part of her was very glad they were joking around. She loved their banter.
"Listen hermanita," Hunter said enunciating the word carefully. His pronunciation was off, but Luz still got a kick out of the nickname. "A perfect date where you're happy and in love isn't a loss."
He poked her forehead to support his point.
“Alright, alright,” She swatted it away. “I get it.”
Luz reached out to pet Flapjack, basically insuring Hunter had to sit still like a pedestal for his palisman to be doted on. He had a point and she didn’t do anything wrong, she just had to find the courage to bring up her feelings.
Easier said than done though.
As she scratched the cardinal’s chin through the blonde nest, she had an idea. A perfectly devious, rambunctious idea.
"You know what would make me feel better?" She said, trying to suppress the smug, Cheshire Cat smile forming on her lips. He seemed to be considering it, but she wasn’t done yet. “Then let me do it when the others are there too.”
“No.”
“Come on~”
"Don't touch me." Hunter now looked at her suspicious, or rather, like a warning. As if those would ever stop her.
“Gruñón.” Luz reached a hand in the general direction of his ear. Hunter leaned backwards, effortlessly dodging her attempt. She got up from the couch extra slowly, every braincell in her skull focused on the same thing.
“I don’t know what that means,” His voice still carried the same alarmed suspicion. Apparently he’d noticed her movements all the same, because he kept backing away. “But I’m not letting you touch my ears.”
Hunter stood up, using his height as an advantage. Incredibly unfair, but if he thought that would intimidate her, he was sorely mistaken. Luz had seen him through enough embarrassing moments to ever be scared of him.
And if she had anything to say about it, this was going to be another one of those moments.
Flapjack flew away, sensing the suspense of the coming battle. Hunter was stuck between some kind of fighting stance and cautious body language.
Luz’s determination burned stronger as she crept forward. She lunged, arms outstretched and ready to scratch. But the next thing she knew, she was laying with her back pressed on Hunter's sleeping bag.
She blinked, her brain having a hard time catching up to the insane takedown Hunter had just used on her. He was like some kind of martial arts champion. His leg had hooked behind her knees and his hand gripped her hoody, to not drop her too hard.
But her resolve wasn't quelled yet! Her arms were still free to reach out and- until they weren't.
"Stop it." Hunter laughed as he grabbed her wrists.
"Okayyyy..." Luz groaned, she held out a hand for him to shake. "Truce."
"I'm not falling for that again." Hunter said, still holding onto her wrists. Luz cackled maniacally and he helped her stand up. Once her wrists were free she grabbed a pillow and chucked it in his face. Hunter gasped indignant. "I knew it!"
He grabbed his own pillow, flinging to her head. But she blocked it, quickly countering with Gus’s blanket. They didn’t erupt in an all out pillow fight, but their competitive spirits were definitely awake.
"You have to teach me how to do that." Luz said very energetic, doing her best rendition of a judo takedown against the empty air.
“No," Hunter shot her down, getting a hit in as she turned around with a mopey expression. He smirked after literally wiping that look from her face "Get outta here.”
She blew a raspberry at him, finally honouring the truce and cleaning up their weaponry. She only now realised that the boys's sleeping stuff was back here.
"No more sleepovers?" She put on a sad voice while fluffing up Gus's pillow and laying it back on the couch carefully. She had no idea how he'd feel about his pillow being used for war. So she was erasing as much evidence as possible.
"You still wanna keep tabs on me?" Hunter sighed annoyed. His tone confused her and so did his face when she almost snapped her neck to look at it.
"That's only part of the reason I wanted sleepovers." Luz told him with a frown. She wasn't going to lie to him, but it was hardly the most important reason at play. She just wanted to be close to all her friends after - what she now knew as - his stone sleep. The sleepovers were meant to cheer them up, the second one in particular.
"Oh." Her friend froze then smiled at her awkwardly. Luz giggled, punching him softly on the shoulder. The tips of his pointy ears turned a soft pink as he tried to hide his embarrassment by putting back his own pillow.
The room fell into a comfortable silence. Luz returned Gus's blanket to it's rightful place with the same care. Hunter sat behind the sewing machine, continuing his work on what she guessed was a sweater. Flapjack circled in the air a few times before nestling in spare fabrics and threads.
Luz wasn't ready to leave yet. Her heart was still set on some kind of competition. She dropped back down on Hunter's sleeping bag, folding her legs.
He raised an eyebrow at her, probably confused about what she was still doing here. But he didn't say anything.
It didn't take long for boredom to take over as Luz just sat there watching her brother sew. She started drumming her hands on her knees. She swore she saw Hunter roll his eyes.
“Did you come straight to me after your date?” He asked as he grabbed another patch, a slice of pizza. She wasn't sure if he was actually curious or just trying to tame her adhd. He leered at her from behind the machine. “I don’t know if I should be flattered or concerned.”
“Of course I didn’t.” Luz huffed offended. She also tugged on her hoody, because with that whole makeover thing he should’ve really noticed she was wearing a different outfit. “I’m a great girlfriend and didn’t just ditch Amity right after our date. I’ve been home for like an hour.“
She lost some of her gusto recounting her steps. “Also, the guilt and regret only set in after we were already home.”
Hunter burst out in a laugh, he didn't even try to hide it.
"Hey!" Luz stood up and dashed over to the sewing table. "Don't laugh you jerk!"
She made another attempt to scratch the spot behind his ear, but he dodged it pretty effortlessly. All the while still laughing like an jerk.
"Just get outta here already." He playfully slapped her arm to the side. Luz suppressed the urge to mock him, he sounded too much like a whiney little brother. Instead, she shuffled away, stopping in front of the stairs.
“Wanna play video games?” She pointed over her shoulder, an anticipating smile plastered on her face. Her competitive drive was still in high gear.
“Uh…” Hunter looked back surprised. She saw his eyes flicker to his palisman and the expression he wore didn’t sit well with her. The blonde boy turned to her and smiled. “Maybe later.”
“… okay.” It took all her willpower to walk back upstairs as her entire being begged her to meddle. Her brother was easy to read and there was something going on between him an Flapjack. But she had to remember it wasn’t her place, reminding herself to stop interfering in things that didn’t concern her.
Not much good came of her meddling in things like that…
Hunter took his sweater out of the sewing machine. It was coming along quite nicely. His only problem was the diminishing amount of space left. Every time he decided on a patch and sewed it on, he saw three more he really liked.
So before he they started overlapping too much, he decided he was done for today.
But first…
He watched his palisman stir in the little nest he’d made. Flapjack had probably made a hundred different nests on that table, every time Hunter used new fabric or string.
“Do you like it?” He asked, holding up the part of the sweater with the new patches. Flap’s beak stretched out into a yawn, his eyes fluttered open.
“It looks great!” He chirped. Hunter smiled wide, looking down at his work proudly. Flap made a low cooing noise, looking up at him with compassion and it confused him. “Is it bothering you?”
“Huh?” Only then did he notice that his hand had subconsciously reached for the spot behind his hand. He quickly dropped it. “Oh, no it’s… fine.”
The little bird radiated doubt, his tiny eyes squinting. Hunter laughed nervously. “Really, it’s fine. Luz is just really annoying about it.” The palisman still didn’t say anything, but Hunter knew what that look meant. He sighed, knowing what he had to admit to get Flap to stand down. “It’s just so… abnormal.”
“Is this new feature really that bad?” Flap chirped, added a nice trill on the word ‘feature’ which made Hunter involuntarily chuckle.
“No, it’s not bad.” Hunter reluctantly admitted, giving the cardinal a miffed look. “That was actually the best I’ve slept in a long time.”
“Happy to hear it.” He laughed and Hunter smiled softly, nodding still somewhat reluctantly.
He folded the sweater up, gliding a finger over his newest stitches. They were so neat, mostly because of the machine, but still. He really felt like he was getting better at this, if only he could show Darius.
Hunter saw Flapjack’s feathers puff up as he stepped out of his pile. He had actually planted to talk to him about something else, but wasn’t sure if he should. He scratched his cute little palisman under the chin and made up his mind.
“How did you know that human proverb?” He asked once Flap had stretch out his little wings. He seemed to freeze for a second, giving him a wary side-eye before pretending like nothing happened.
“I am sure I’ve heard other witches say that before.” He chirped nonchalantly as he preened his back feathers.
”I’m not stupid Flap,” Hunter mumbled as he propped his elbow on the table, resting his head on his hand and looking down at his palisman with a sigh. “Even your name is a human thing.”
The cardinal stopped rooting through his feathers, but still avoided eye contact. He hummed a low noise as he looked around the room, seemingly deliberating if he should tell him the truth. He slowly looking up at his witch with a guilty expression and Hunter suddenly felt a little nervous, not sure if he really wanted to know the answer.
“I was made by someone who loved the human realm.” Flapjack told him, reminiscing with a look of happiness and yearning. “She traveled between the two worlds frequently.”
Hunter felt relief bloom in his stomach, his nerves had been unnecessary. He was actually intrigued about the witch who carved his sweet little bird, she must’ve been a really nice person.
She must’ve had the same intense desire for freedom he had felt when he and Flap bonded.
“What was her name?” He asked, curiosity rising in his chest and digging its sharp claws in his brain. This was the first time Flap had ever talked about his origins. Granted, it was the first time Hunter had asked him about it.
“… I do not remember.” The little red bird averted his gaze, Hunter could tell he was lying. One benefit of being a terrible liar was recognising fellow terrible liars.
“Flapjack.” He couldn’t help the disappointment seeping into his voice. He reached out his index finger to gently pat his head, but his palisman took a step back.
“It doesn’t matter. She’s been gone for a long time.” He chirped mournfully, scraping a tiny claw over the wooden table. He was still reminiscing, but his eyes had turned dark and somber.
“Oh.” Hunter fell silent and he instantly wanted to open a giant sinkhole and jump down into the black abyss. He desperately sputtered out an apology. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-… I shouldn’t have-“
“No no, don’t worry!” Flapjack quickly hopped forward, rubbing against the hand he was still holding up. “It’s alright, Hunter.”
Hunter was intimately familiar with beating himself up, he knew all of that fool’s tricks. So he should really stop falling for them, or stop picking fights with himself in the first place.
He felt a bit less stupid now, gratefully tickling Flap under the chin. His sweet little palisman was just as familiar with talking him down.
“I just miss her sometimes.” Flap said in a low chirp. “Both of them.”
Hunter’s curiosity was furiously poked by that last cryptic mumble. He was so tempted to ask further, pry a little more, but the mere idea of causing Flap more pain was unbearable.
Losing the witch that carved you must be hellish grief for a palisman. Hunter had no idea what that felt like, but talking about it had obviously been awful for him.
“You often remind me of them.” The little bird cooed as he rubbed his cheek against Hunter’s palm.
He couldn’t figure out if him saying that meant he was willing to talk more. He really didn’t want to risk it, but he had an idea on how to ask.
“If you ever want to tell stories about them, I’d love to hear it.” He promised as he stood up, holding out a hand for his friend to jump on.
“Perhaps I will,” He chirped, flapping his wings to make the jump easier. Hunter put him on his shoulder very gently, tilting his head as Flapjack rubbed against his cheek. “Some day.”
He guessed they both wanted to hide the truth sometimes. What a pair, truly a matching set.
“Or if you ever wanna tell me what you keep looking for in the shed.” Hunter tried with a hopeful smile, as he made his way upstairs. “I’m all ears.”
Flap turned to him with an unimpressed look. He knew he wouldn’t get any information out of him, no matter how many times he asked. And his latest run-in with curiosity was still weighing on his conscience, making him apprehensive. Didn’t the humans have a saying about that too?
“Alright then, keep your secrets.” He decided, laughing as he booped the little rascal on his beak just before opening the door to the hallway.
When he walked into the living room, everybody was lounge on or next to the couch watching tv. Some kind of animal documentary, that Vee no doubt put on, was showing a tiny rodent creature frolicking through a field.
He definitely wasn’t the only one that thought it was cute, Vee and Gus were practically melting into the couch. Willow, sitting next to them, almost had sparkles in her eyes. And the girlfriends, who were cuddled up on the floor, cooed as the creature jumped in the air with all four paws stretched out. Amity was the first to notice him.
“Hey nerd!” She said in that teasing-but-affectionate way. Hunter rolled his eyes and sighed.
“Hi.” He said unenthusiastically as he sat down in the big, comfy chair. He pointed towards the creature on the tv. “What is that?”
“A rat.” Gus said like he was in love.
“A greater stick-nest rat.” Vee clarified, she swished her tail back and forth. “It eats invasive plants.”
“Invasive?” Hunter got worried, watching the rat pluck a bunch of purple flowers.
“That’s when a plant or animal is not originally from the country it’s in now.” Vee explained further, but he felt no closer to understanding those concepts. “Invasive species are bad for the local ecosystems, but this little guy seems to thrive on those weeds.”
Hunter nodded slowly, more to indicate that he heard her words.
Nothing on the Boiling Ilses was, or could be, invasive. Everything originated from the Titan. Countries were weird on their own, but how could something be invasive just for crossing the arbitrary lines determined by humans?
“Invasion bad, rat good.” Luz summarised when she saw how confused he still was. She seemed to have forgotten about that game he owed her.
“Right.” Hunter just opted to watch the tv. He didn’t want to look stupid. But throwing a quick glance to Gus and Willow, who both shrugged, reassured him that they had no idea what any of that meant either.
“And he’s just really cute.” Willow smirked at him, the others humming in agreement.
He heard the sound of the front door open and close, keys jingling and shoes being kicked off. He fought the urge to jump up and look into the hallway, or even so much as turn around. It was Camila, he knew it was Camila, it always was and could only be Camila.
Luckily he didn’t have to wait long for the confirmation, as their host walked into the living room.
“Aye que Lindo~” She cooed at the rat on screen. Hunter only then noticed how exhausted she looked. She seemed almost dishevelled, her hair fuzzy and her eyes dull. Like she just came from an illegal brawl.
“Are you okay?” He jumped up. This time he couldn’t suppressing his instincts, not that he even thought about it. “Do you want to sit down? Here, take my seat. I can get you something to drink?”
He felt the burning stare of his friends on the side of his face, preferring not to see the look in their eyes. Camila’s compassionate smile wasn’t much better, but it also brought him comfort somehow.
“Gracias mijo,” She put a hand on his arm and sat down like she was completely drained. “I had a long shift today.”
She breathed a sigh of relief as she settled deeper into the chair. Hunter involuntarily did the same, he stopped picking at his nails, which he didn’t even realise he’d been doing. Camila gestured to the couch where his friends were making room for him to sit. “But no need to get me anything, sweetheart.”
He sat down at his designated spot, still avoiding eye contact with his friends and pretending he was very interested in the documentary.
It showed an aquatic animal that looked very interesting. Its tail was a little similar to that of a Selkidomas, but other than that its smooth body and tiny flippers looked so weird. It was called a ‘common dolphin’ and Hunter thought it was anything but cute, but the girls disagreed.
Vee was explaining to Gus how they were able to film an animal underwater. Willow and Amity somehow still looked at the tv with sparkling eyes as the beast eviscerated a small fish.
Hunter’s attention was suddenly pulled back towards Camila as she said something Spanish under her breath. She brought a hand to her forehead and let out an annoyed groan. He couldn’t remember if he’d ever seen her like that before. Was she angry? What was she annoyed at? Did they do something wrong?
“I can’t believe this.” She muttered to herself and he practically felt his heart rate spike. She turned to them. “Kids, I forgot to swing by the grocery store after work.”
Oh.
“Amity, Hunter,” She shot a pointed look at the both of them. “Would you two mind going to the corner store and buying some stuff for dinner?”
“Of course!” Amity read his mind. She perched like a Jackalope alerting to rustling leaves.
Hunter nodded happily. There was a flash of something he couldn’t quite place on their caretakers face, but then she smiled gratefully.
“Gracias bebes, I think the list is on the fridge.”
Hunter’s head snapped towards Amity and her eyes met his. They froze for just a second, staring.
Then they bolted.
There was no countdown, no verbal agreement, not even a shared thought bordering on telepathy. There was just a race to win.
Amity dashed behind the couch, reaching the hallway before him because he had to climb out of the couch. He almost passed her, sliding to a stop in front of the kitchen, but she slipped through the doorway first and rushed to grab the shopping list that was pinned to the fridge by a tiny rainbow magnet.
Hunter loudly exclaimed from the defeat and Amity cackled all the way back to the living room. He shuffled behind her in disappointment, grumbling. Amity held the list high in victory, Camila and their friends looked at them with clear confusion. Hunter just shot them the most sour look ever.
“I got it.” Amity said awkwardly, waving the list.
“Right!” Camila broke out of her daze and led them to the front door where they put on their shoes. It was still warm enough that they didn’t need a jacket. She gave them a shopping bag and some money. “I’m sorry for making you two do my errands.”
Hunter stopped dead in his tracks, turning around surprised before he could step outside. Amity seemed just as confused.
“But I’m very tired and I need my no-nonsense kids to do their thing.” She put a hand on Amity’s shoulder with a grateful smile. She practically glowed with pride and Hunter couldn’t help but feel the same thing bloom in his chest.
“Don’t worry,” his pink-haired friend said, reassuring Camila. “We love to help you out.”
“It’s the least we could do when you take care of us every day.” Hunter added. A soft expression graced her face and Camila gave them another grateful smile.
“Alright, be careful. See you soon.” She said as they walked down the garden path. They waved their goodbyes and promised to be quick. “Buy yourselves some extra snacks!”
Camila’s last sentence, before she shut the door, made them stop abruptly again. Hunter looked at Amity a little uneasy, she looked at him with tight-lipped resignation. A quiet understanding between them, they were going to struggle with that one.
——
Amity looked at the colourful rows of packaging on the shelves. It was weird to see so many different version of the same things. Stores back home didn’t have seventeen different brands for every product. She liked human realm food, but it will always be weird to her.
Sometimes the flavour was so intense and rich that she almost wanted to marry what was on her plate. Other times she was eating something so bland, it was just sad.
The trip to the corner store was boring and uneventful. She got to bark orders at Hunter, as was the prize for winning the game. And he’d have to do all the heavy lifting. It was a very efficient system in her opinion. But as expected, they were facing difficulties to pick out ‘a snack’ that wasn’t on the list.
“What about this one?” Hunter held up a bag of chips with cheese flavouring. “Vee loves them.” “I don’t like the taste of those.” Amity admitted sheepishly.
“Do you like this one?” She pointed to a light blue packaging for chocolate chip cookies. Chocolate was one of the first things Luz had wanted them to try and for good reason, it was amazing.
“Sure.” Hunter replied noncommittally. “Would that be… appropriate?”
“I think so?” Amity shrugged.
“Let’s just get it.” Hunter lowered the shopping bag on the ground, the handles stretching from the weight. “I don’t wanna take too long.”
“Yup, I agree.” She grabbed the crinkling tray and dropped it into the bag. “Plus, it only costs a few snails- uh, I mean dollars.”
“Perfect!” Hunter nodded approvingly and they both burst out into a quiet, embarrassed laugh.
As they made their way towards the register, Hunter swung the bag back and forth a few times to hoist it up easier, holding it in both arms before putting it on the counter by the register.
Amity sniffed with amusement, Emira always did the exact same thing.
Her legs stopped working. A homesick feeling overwhelmed her and suddenly she was threatening to break down is this stupid little grocery store. Now the rows of shelving made the space seem uncomfortably small and all those colours surrounding her felt foreign in the worst way.
Everything she saw was tormenting her with its humanity.
She missed the tangible products that didn’t have that ‘plastic’ stuff around them. She missed the sweet elderly demon behind the register. She missed-
“Amity?” Hunter interrupted her train of thought by calling her name, for what might’ve been the second or third time judging from his expression.
“Huh?” She asked, hoping he’d just see it as her daydreaming. At least she wasn’t crying or anything.
“We need to pay.” Hunter pointed a finger at the register and all their items that had, apparently, already been rung up.
“Right!” Amity laughed nervously, forcing her legs to move forward and taking the bills Camila had entrusted to her out of her pocket.
As they walked out of the store and back down the road, her mind wandered back to the demon realm. She just couldn’t stop thinking about it!
She missed her siblings, she longed for them so painfully. She hoped with all her heart that they were safe. She missed their stupid pranks and their endless nagging. She missed how Emira helped her with her hair and the way Edric would sneak her snacks at night.
And she missed her dad. She was so unbelievably angry that she got separated from him, just when they were starting to get along.
But she didn't miss her mom. Maybe that made her a heartless, ungrateful child, but she didn't care. It's not like she was happy she got separated from her, that was a whole other extreme. She just didn't care where or how she was.
People always said “but she’s still your mom”, like that meant anything.
“Oh,” Hunter exclaimed like he remembered something, once again dragging her out of her thoughts. “How was you date?”
The giant smile that formed on her face was easy and real.
“Perfect,” Amity said dreamily, remembering the cute tea shop and her even cuter girlfriend.
“So you feel better?” Hunter readjusted the big bag on his shoulder.
“… Yeah.” She looked straight ahead so Hunter couldn’t see her face. He either didn’t catch her lie or chose not to pry, because he didn’t respond.
She’d been beating herself up about this all afternoon. All her problems seemed to fly out the window when she saw Luz laughing. For a moment everything was okay again. Now the longing for home and the dread she’d never see it again were crawling back into her brain.
And she didn't take the opportunity to talk to her girlfriend about them! So stupid.
She always felt better after talking with Luz. Amity never expected her to understand. Not when she had missed Camila so much, even when their relationship wasn't as good as it was now. But Luz never said "but she's still you mom”. Never. She understood.
But Hunter, he got it.
She carefully looked up at his face, hoping it wouldn’t instigate any more questions. His long blonde hair hanging down like a slob, he still hadn’t figured out how to style it properly. She remembered when they first started decorating the shack. She, Gus and Willow made drawings of their families and she had felt obligated to explain why she hadn’t added her mom.
Vee and Willow did their best to sympathise, Gus could comprehend her reasons, Luz understood, but Hunter was the only one that knew what it felt like.
Pure apathy.
Because he was feeling it too. Or he had felt it in the past. Not that they talked much about that. Or often. But he told her the numbness tended to transform into anger sometimes. And they talked about how much they had cared at some point, to an unhealthy degree.
“I get it.”
“I know you do… isn’t that horrible?”
“Probably.”
She watched him move the shopping bag from one shoulder to the other. Could she talk about her complicated homesickness with him instead?
They were already approaching the Noceda residence, the quaint little house with its white picket fence, and she felt the opportunity slip through her fingers willingly.
It just didn’t sit well with her. Equating her childhood with the terrible abuse he’d suffered felt so wrong. She didn’t want to be pretentious, apparently she had been in the past and didn’t even realise it.
She was also worried about rubbing his lack of a home in his face. She knew it wouldn’t take long for Camila to adopt him and Luz had told her about a certain Coven Head. But what if he took her talking about her siblings the wrong way?
Besides, she wouldn’t want to saddle him with any more stress around building the portal.
Amity pushed her knuckles against his shoulder blade in the way that Edric absolutely hated, getting the same kind of annoyed response out of Hunter.
“Come on,” She ran up to the door and rang the bell, gesturing for him to hurry up. An irritated mumble accompanied his shoes scuffing on the gravel as he readjusted the heavy bag one last time.
Luz opened the door, greeting her with a kiss on the cheek. They moved to the kitchen, finding everyone else already there. Willow was watering the house plants, Vee was showing Gus something on her phone, and Camila was preparing a salad.
“Welkom back kids,” She said cheerfully when they greeted her.
Amity and Hunter unloaded the groceries on the island. Camila immediately took the stack of frozen pizzas and put the first one in the already-hot-oven. Amity also proudly presented the cookies they bought.
“We got a snack.” Hunter said, his tone almost veering into arrogance. “For ourselves.”
“Just the one?” Luz’s mom asked and they froze.
Hunter looked at Amity a little uneasy, she looked at him with tight-lipped resignation.
“Uhm- well, that’s a perfect choice!” Camila quickly course-corrected, taking the package and marvelling at it like it was a prized possession. “Good job.”
“Wait, did someone say chocolate?” Luz piped up, quickly walking towards her mother and snatching the cookies out of her hand.
“Aye!” Camila took them back and playfully slapped her daughter’s hand away. “I know you’re hungry because it’s dinner time, but you’ll have to wait until after you’ve actually eaten your dinner.”
“Ooh, we’re having pizza?” Willow also walked up and examined the stack. Camila spun around as she picked up the top box.
“Yes-“
“Really?” Vee bounced over, clearly overflowing with excitement.
“Oh my titan, YES!” Gus approached from the other side and Camila turned around again, looking a little frazzled.
“Alright. Everybody step away from my kitchen.” She ordered, but Hunter was the only one actually taking a step backwards. Amity didn’t want him to feel weird, so she quickly joined him.
The others just giggled and slowly made their way towards the dinner table. Willow carefully lowered the pizza onto the stack with a funny expression.
“Yes, we’re having pizza.” Camila sighed in that exaggerated way, that she by now recognised as mock-irritation. “But only because I knew I’d have a long day at work today. And I’m making a salad so that it’s not too unhealthy.”
“Yeah, we don’t care about that last part.” Luz told her with a teasing smile.
“I do.” Their blonde friend pouted.
“Hunter.” Luz turned him around and put both hands on his shoulders so she could stare intensely into his eyes. “It’s pizza. Food for the soul. Food of the gods!”
Amity could see he was barely holding a straight face, while Luz was completely serious.
“How could you look me in the eyes and say you don’t like it?” She lightly shook his shoulders back and forth before walking around him.
“I never said that.” Hunter’s confused gaze followed her as she rested her arm around Amity’s shoulders.
She giggled and nuzzled her girlfriend’s cheek, earning a blushy laugh back.
Camila put the salad bowl on the table and told them to sit down. They all happily obliged as she took the first pizza out of the oven, cut it up into eight pieces and distributed each portion onto their plates. And so they ate each pizza one by one.
There was some debate over who got the left over piece at first, but after the first few rounds most of them had eaten their fill. The salad also helped, which was delicious of course. Amity had never been disappointed by Camila’s cooking.
Her flavours could rival the spices of the Boiling Ilses.
After dinner the squad - as had unfortunately become their nickname for the group - cozied up in the living room to watch a movie, having the cookies as dessert. Amity quickly understood why Camila had been worried about them only buying one snack, the sweet chocolate goodness was devoured before they could even pick a movie.
Luz eventually convinced them to watch a movie about dragons. It was an ‘animation’ movie, which took some explaining, but the first few minutes were pretty cool. Gus and Vee were immediately hooked and Luz was excitedly telling them about ‘techniques’ used in the movie.
Amity thought it was charming, but if she had to be honest, it wasn’t the best film she’d ever seen. The dragon’s anatomy was totally wrong and most of them wouldn’t even be able to fly in real life. Luz said it was one of her favourites movies ever though, so she wouldn’t judge until seeing the whole thing.
Hunter and Willow looked like they were enjoying the film too. The latter relaxed on the couch, an amused smile on her lips as she watched the tv. And the former lounging on the ground, resting his elbow on the coffee table, rivalling Gus’s invested look.
Maybe it was the Viking’s on screen, or maybe it was Hunter hair hanging down in sad strands, but Amity got an idea that she just had to try.
“Hunter?” She asked with a cautious voice, ready to tread carefully. He tilted his chin in acknowledgment, already eyeing her suspiciously. “Can I braid your hair?” “Oh sure.” He shrugged as he focused back on the movie. “Wait what?” Amity was genuinely surprised. This was going way too easily. “Sure.” He repeated. She couldn’t tell if he was enthusiastic or completely indifferent.
“Really?” She felt herself getting excited and Hunter got more suspicious.
“Yes?” He looked around for any warning signs.
Amity squealed like a fangirl, clapping her hands in excitement. At that point, Gus and Vee turned to her confused. They had only seen her do that when it came to The Good Witch Azura. Luz and Willow knew that side of her better, but neither expected her to do it because of Hunter. She saw her girlfriend poorly hide an amused smile.
“Come here.” She gestured for him to sit in front of her. She smiled brightly at her girlfriend, not even feeling embarrassed, while Hunter awkwardly climbed over the table. This was way too exciting.
It didn’t take long until everyone lost interest again. Hunter was definitely indifferent to the whole thing, fully focused on the tv while she raked her fingers through his hair to detangle it a little.
“Careful with the spot behind his ear~” Luz whispered.
“No!” Hunter spun around before she had a chance to react.
“What spot?” She asked confused, plus a little concerned she was doing something wrong.
“If you scratch it he-“ “NO!” The subject of her teasing leapt up to try and cover her mouth. Luz wrestled his hand away, trying to get her message out through bursts of laughter.
“If you scratch it he falls asleep!” She eventually shouted. Amity’s pure surprise spilled out of her in a weird guttural noise. How in the world was something like that even possible? To fall asleep from someone scratching your ear? Was Luz exaggerating?
“You’re dead to me.” Hunter deadpanned, retracting his hands and staring her down. He basically just confirmed it. No way…
“You have an off switch?!” Vee hopped out of the big armchair, bouncing towards him with unbridledly excitement. When he didn’t react, she locked her fingers with Luz who nodded vigorously.
“Why haven’t we been using that this entire time?” Gus laughed, Amity could see a teasing glint in his eyes as his full attention had found a new target.
She was also immediately drawn to Willow’s face. She seemed to be trying very hard not to laugh, smile, or in appear in any way amused by this new information. And she seemed to be failing.
“I only found out last night.” Luz explained, going into a whole tangent on how she finally got their most stubborn witch to sleep. Under a lot of giggling at that.
Hunter was ignoring everyone, a healthy shade of red on his face, and sat back down on the floor. Amity was happy to pretend nothing was said and continued gathering the strands in three even sections.
Something major happened with the boy and the dragon on the tv screen, which distracted the others again.
Or so she thought, as suddenly Luz’s hand was inching towards her work field. A delighted and devious grin spread on her face and the moment she saw that adorable expression, Amity knew she’d let her do anything.
She really shouldn’t, Hunter trusted her. They were friends now, they had a certain understanding and it hadn’t been easy to become friends.
And he trusted her!
But Luz was looking at her like that! Her hopeful- no, expecting eyes. Her mischievous smile that Amity loved so much.
So she let her do it.
Luz’s fingers found their way behind his right ear. Amity leaned back in anticipation, but the explosion she was waiting for never happened. Now overtaken by curiosity, she leaned the other way to try and see Hunter’s face.
It actually worked! His eyes were fluttering closed, his body slumped a little. His weight slowly shifted until his back was against the base of the couch.
She tapped Willow’s arm, who instantly brought a hand to her mouth when she saw what was happening. Her eyes betraying her adoration. Willow quickly involved Gus next to her, who had about the same reaction, but he seemed to think it was more hilarious than cute.
Vee had also taken note. Resting her elbows on the chair’s armrest and her head in her hands, leering at her brother with a giant smirk. She even put the movie on pause. Either to not disturb his peace or because she didn’t want to miss both spectacles.
“Wait wait wait, guys. Listen closely." Luz held her index finger in the air, a knowing grin making them do what she said.
"Oh my Titan.” Willow took the words right out of her mouth.
Hunter was making a soft noise, almost like he was snoring. But the sound rumbled. It was muffled and low, buzzing while he both inhaled and exhaled.
"It almost sounds like he’s…” Gus cocked his head to the side.
It's a sound that Amity recognised easily. A rumbling that her beautiful, sweet palisman produced whenever they were snuggling together.
"Purring!" She gasped.
"Holy- I'm gonna tell him." Vee slithered off the armchair and came in close to Hunter, like she was examining him, with the smile of a trickster. He didn’t even stir from her presence.
"You can’t! Guys!” Willow protested, leaning very far forward. She jerked back when she realised how passionate and loud she was, but Hunter still didn’t react. She shied away with a giant blush on her face. “He's gonna be so embarrassed…”
"Uh- Yeah, that's the point." The basilisk shot her a quick sassy look.
"Nooooo~" Willow whined.
Hunter’s head was slightly lifted towards Luz’s hand. His relaxed body swayed ever so slowly to one side, getting stuck on Amity’s knee.
Until he suddenly fell to the floor with a muted thud.
They all gasped in shock, Vee was already reaching a hand out to help him, but the fall had given Hunter an immediate and very rough awakening.
"What the-..." He looked around bewildered. The room was dead quiet, except a muffled snort coming from next to Amity. Hunter's eyes immediately snapped towards the source, finally seeming to realise what just happened. Luz sensed her impending doom, vaulting over the back of the couch and quickly making a break for it. "LUZ!!"
He scrambled off the floor and chased after her. The living room roared with laughter, but Amity didn’t join in.
"Wait!” She called out. “I didn't get to braid your hair!"
"You think I'm still gonna let you?" Hunter came back into the room, dragging Luz under his arm as she tried to escape what looked like very intense hair ruffling. He stared daggers at her and Amity cringed, giving him an apologetic look.
"Please~" She clasped her hands together and begged him with big, puppy eyes. "Please Hunter?”
He stood there for a long time, his mean stare slowly softening into a pout as he looked anywhere else, seeming to consider her plea. His face was, and had been, completely red. Even the tips of his ears burned. Then he rolled his eyes and they landed back on her with a very displeased demeanour.
"... fine."
Amity breathed a sigh of relief. She was so disappointed in herself for letting this happen, but he didn’t seem all that crushed about it. Yes, he was flustered, but he was more concerned with Luz spilling the beans. Hunter wasn’t mortified or humiliated. He still trusted her.
Now as long as nobody told him he purred, she’d get to make that braid.
She didn’t even know why she wanted to do this so bad, but her happiness spiked again when he plopped back down in front of her. He exchanged some very annoyed words with Vee and Gus, shooing their hands away from his head.
She took her sweet time sectioning his hair again as Luz - who had been banished to the big chair - put the movie back on. Amity let herself get inspired by the vikings on screen, planning to make a big complicated hairstyle.
“You ever thought about dyeing it?” She asked, her voice naturally turning cunning. She added a thin section of hair to the right strand before crossing it under the middle one and repeated the process on the left side.
“Don’t test your luck Blight.” Hunter huffed, but she could tell he was smiling.
Titan, the amount of times she had done this with her siblings! They would spent hours on the floor of her room, doing each other’s hair. They’d play with the styles and colours, before ultimately going back to the green their mom wanted.
She missed them so much.
Her muscles stopped moving, she couldn’t see the blonde locks anymore through her blurry vision. He was around their age, their height. Maybe in another life, he would’ve been friends with them at Hexside.
She choked back the lump forming in her throat, blinked away stinging tears and continued her work. She was fully aware that she was treating Hunter like Edric, or Emira, or both. But she didn't care!
This weird, stitched together family was all she had right now.