Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It's been only two weeks since the witches crash landed in the human realm. Luz had led them towards her house in the pouring rain, which didn't hurt them... It was a strange sensation. The human realm by itself was very strange. Willow had not expected that they would adapt so quickly.

Luz's mom had opened the door, getting the scare of her life. Her daughter had finally come home, but she was covered in wounds and bruises. On top of that, she'd bring 4 witches with her in the same condition. But Camila is a saint, she welcomed everyone into her home.

That night, Luz had introduced them to a basilisk named Vee. She had sought out refuge, just like them, months earlier. Then Camila and Vee had helped them patch up. They had explained everything that happened. But if she were honest, Willow had felt incredibly numb that night. She couldn't do much, Amity had been a much bigger help. Being able to explain most things very calmly.

Luz was assisting her, knowing exactly what her mom wouldn't understand. Hunter had been completely focused on Gus, sometimes looking around the room suspiciously. Willow remembered he looked smaller than normal, Gus too. His experience of the human realm was tainted, the one thing he had dreamed off for years was ruined. It was a horrible night, but at least now they were safe, warm and healthy. Well, getting there at least.

However, to Willow's personal surprise, they all got used to their new living arrangements very quickly. At the end of the first week, they had already established a routine. They had learned all sorts of human things. They even had a few fun outings. (Mainly to the grocery store, which Gus was over the moon about.) Hopes were high.

They also worked on a way back home. They were planning to get the portal door working again. Somehow. But before that they would have to clean the old house a bit. Fix it up. Though, they mainly tried to distract themselves.

One thing the squad did to keep their spirits up, was play games. Gus had even come up with one himself: Whoever made Hunter laugh would win. What would they win? Nothing really, the sound itself was prize enough.

Willow and Gus had noticed how he rarely ever laughed. The first time they heard his genuine laugh was 6 days into their stay. The sound was amazing and contagious. So, the Emerald duo made it their mission to hear it again.

Dark humor seemed to do surprisingly well. But so did puns, which wasn’t surprising at all. Flapjack was the current record holder, but he's totally cheating.

Through this game Willow realise something. Hunter would always cover his mouth when laughing. Then she noticed he'd do the same thing when he yawned. It was kind of cute, in a weird way. She thought he must just be insecure about his tooth gap.

One morning Hunter sat down in the living room where everyone else had already gathered. The morning-people were watching tv, while the not-morning-people were grumpily trying to wake up.

He spotted Willow on the couch, so he sat down next to her. She was one of the grumpy ones. Sprawled out lazily, her feet far away, her arms slack and her spine looking miserable. Hunter didn't want to say anything about posture though. Not again.

It was Sunday. Miss Camila didn't have to work, so she slept in. Breakfast would be approximately an hour and a half later than normal. But Hunter still woke up at six.

He told the others it was just habits. Which was technically true, but he really wanted to do chores while everyone else was sleeping. That way he wouldn't have to 'have a talk' about it.

This morning, he had tidied the living room, swept the floors, cleaned the downstairs bathroom, and set the table. Breakfast was still half an hour away. The other kids had slowly been waking up and trickled into the living room. Hunter then made coffee before joining them.

He put his coffee mug down on the little table in front. Avoiding Vee who was sprawled out, similarly to Willow, next to (and over) the table. She was also one of the grumpy ones. Gus was in front of the table, looking at the tv with wide eyes. Absentmindedly trying to find the straw of his orange juice with his tongue, and failing.

"Morning." Willow's drowsy voice came from beside him. She lazily turned towards him and smiled sweetly, closing her eyes like she would fall asleep again.

"Good morning." Hunter said a lot more cheery. He couldn't help but smile at her antics. He felt his cheeks getting hot, which had become a regular occurrence lately. It was very strange for him.

"You're a big fan of coffee huh?" Willow said with a tired smile. Trying to come up with a pun to make him laugh. But she couldn't thing of anything, it was too early! So, Flapjack would retain his leaderboard position. For now.

“Yup! I love me some dirty bean water in the morning.” Hunter grinned with an eye on Luz, who was cuddled up with Amity on the big chair. Both of them were morning people, but still slow and tired.

Luz cringed loudly at his sentence, like he had hoped, and Hunter smile grew even wide.

"Ugh! Whyyyyy!" She whined.

“HA!” He laughed like this was his personal victory. Some of that Golden Guard snarkiness shining through.

Willow noticed something in that moment. His mouth was wide open and his tooth gap was in full display, but there was something else…

His incisors were sharp. Like really sharp. Like really, really sharp. Like Eda-sharp.

“Whoa! Hunter, do you have fangs?”

Gus spit out his orange juice. Hunter immediately covered his mouth and looked at Willow bewildered.

“No.” His voice was muffled.

“You’re a terrible liar.” Amity was now wide awake, trying to look into his mouth from where she sat.

“What?! Let me see!” Luz raced over to the couch.

“No! I don’t have-“

“Come on~ show them to us!” Willow was now extremely close to his face. He tried to back away but Luz was on the other side.

“Y-Yeah Hunter, show us!” Gus looked just as excited, but his voice wasn’t like the others. There was a trace of… something in there. Whatever it was didn't stop him from joining Luz's side.

“Fang twinsies!!” Vee gasped loudly. She had apparently also woken up, turning around as fast as demon-ly possible.

Suddenly Hunter was surrounded by everyone trying to look into his mouth. It all happened so fast, it felt like switch had flipped. Everyone was wide awake now, the room was full of energy. He was stammering and trying to find anywhere to focus on. But everywhere were eyes, and expecting smiles. He blinked rapidly and felt his breathing getting a little irregular.

“I don’t have fangs!!” He yelled and jumped over the back of the couch. Running to the basement. He felt incredibly embarrassed. His face probably reflected that too, looking like a blond tomato. All he wanted to do was run and hide.

Upstairs all the kids saw their oldest run for his life. Wide eyes and gaping mouths. Most of them too stunned to speak.

"He totally has fangs." Amity smirks.

"Amity!" Willow slaps her shoulder lightly. Guilt was already clawing at her heart.

"What?" The pink haired witch didn't seem to understand it yet. "You're the one who brought it up."

Willow pouted. This was not helping her rising feelings. Gus patted her head, he understood. Luz did the same with Amity to calm her down. It worked like a charm, it always did.

"I think we messed up there." Luz laughed nervously. Willow nodded, looking at the hallway.

"Yeah... we kinda swarmed him." Vee said with the same expression. "I mean, he jumped over the couch."

"Oh..." It finally clicked in Amity's head. "Right. You're right. We should go apologise."

"Or at least check up on him first?" Gus offered. "Should we all go?"

"I'll go." Luz said as she stood up. "He's probably fine, we just embarrassed him."

The room filled with a few 'yeah's and 'totally's as she walked out. Vee began to joke with Amity about the incredible leap they witnessed. Gus assured Willow the whole thing wasn't that bad.

"So... what did they look like?"

"Gus!"

"I didn't get to see 'em!"

Luz descended the stairs. She found Hunter sitting crosslegged on his makeshift bed. He was holding Flapjack on one hand and scratching him under the chin with the other. The bird and his owner were laughing and cooing at each other. The little palisman had clearly calmed him down successfully.

"Hey buddy." Luz called out when she got to the bottom of the stairs. He didn't startle, so she figured he'd already heard her come down. Hunter didn't turn towards her though.

"Hey..." He kept his attention on Flap. His ears turning a soft pink again.

"We kinda overwhelmed you there, huh?" She asked coming closer to him. This time he turned his head to her direction and nodded. Maybe he was still a little affected.

"I'm sorry about that." She offered. "We all are."

"No, no, it's okay!" Hunter finally said. "I'm sorry."

"What?" Luz sat down next to him, hugging her knees. The human gave Flapjack some scritches too. "Why are you sorry?"

Hunter didn't say anything for a while. He just looked around the room for a bit. And continued to pet Flap, who then chirped at him.

"I don't know." He admitted softly.

"Is it a Grimwalker thing?" Luz whispered. She was just as paranoid as Hunter that someone would somehow hear them, anytime they talked about it.

"Probably." Hunter sighed. Luz bumped her shoulder against his and he returned the gesture with a smile.

He really didn't want to talk about this, but he had no choice right now. Flapjack chirped some soft reassurance. He hopped from his hands to Luz's knee, cuddling against her face. Then he settled in his witch's hair.

"Can you help me with a story for the others?" Hunter asked her. Luz looked at him surprised, then became excited. That was a rare sight lately.

"Of course!" She sprang up. "What if, after years of gruelling training, your teeth adapted to an aggressive lifestyle?"

"Uh-"

"OR, or! What if, you sharpened them to make yourself look more menacing?" She held her hands like claws in front of her. Hunter laughed and stood up next to her.

"I was thinking something a little simpler?"

"Oh..." Luz smiled awkwardly. "They can't be fake, you can't take them out."

"Mmmh." Hunter ruffled her hair. "Got any more creative ideas?"

"Ah stop that!" Luz swatted at his hands. He could even see a little sparkle in her eyes now. "Okay. What if, you have them instead of a bilesac?"

Hunter tilted his head at her, encouraging her to continue.

"Like, you don't have organic magic, but you do have other traits. Like fangs!" she said it like it was an amazing accomplishment.

"That could work... maybe." Hunter held his chin and thought about it.

"Yeah! And-"

"Kids! Breakfast is ready!" Camila's voice came from the top of the stairs.

"We're coming mom!" Luz shouted back. Completely forgetting the sentence she was just about to say.

"We'll just have to go with it." Hunter looked at her worried. She touched his shoulder with a sweet smile.

"Don't worry Hunter." She said reassuringly. "It'll be okay."

Hunter sighed, throwing the tension from his shoulders. He ruffled her hair again. Then she barrelled into him for a hug. It felt weird at first, he still wasn't used to this. But he soon relaxed and it actually felt rather nice. Luz squeezed tight before letting go, and let him towards the kitchen with Flap flying in between them.

The duo stood in the doorway and everyone turned to them. The room was filled with apprehension and awkwardness.

"What happened?" Camila looked between them. Vee and the witches had helped her make a big Sunday breakfast. With waffles, eggs and a tiny bit of bacon. Yes, it was more expensive then simple toast, but this was important to her. And to these poor kids.

Luz slapped Hunter's back hard. The tension that had climbed back onto his shoulders fell off again.

"We overwhelmed Hunter a little, but he's okay." She said cheery.

The room relaxed, relief on everyone's face.

Luz walked over to her mom to help her with the last waffles. Explaining everything in whispers.

Hunter followed a few steps so he'd be insides the kitchen. Gus bounced to him and they did their secret handshake. It was his way of checking if his buddy was actually okay. Gus lit up afterwards. Then he punched him awkwardly in the shoulder.

"Sorry for swarming you back there."

Amity, Vee and Willow chimed in with 'yeah's and 'sorry's of their own.

"Nah it's okay." Hunter punched him the same way back. "I was just a little embarrassed about the... well, t-the uh... you know."

He gestured to his mouth, blushing a little. He refused to say fangs.

"Can I see them?" Gus pumped his fists, looking up with stars in his eyes.

"I wanna see them too!" Vee climbed over the kitchen island and joined Gus's side with the same pose.

"Wait wait wait! Me too!" Luz ran over to make the duo a trio.

Hunter looked at each of their excited faces bewildered. He couldn't believe this. Amity sighed with her hand pinching between her eyes. Willow shook her head, looking amused.

"They don't learn, do they?" She whispered to her friend.

Hunter wasn't completely surrounded, so the urge to escape was less strong. But still!

"Pleeeeaaaase?" The trio pleaded. Three sets of puppy-eyes staring at him.

Hunter looked at the girls for help. But he was met with smirks. He would not be rescued today. He sighed and scrunched his nose. Looked down at their stupid little faces one more time. Then pulled his upper lip in a way that they could see his teeth.

Luz and Gus squealed. Making his embarrassment ten times worse.

"Fang twinsies!" Vee gasped again.

"They're not fangs." He muttered stubbornly.

"Alright kids, settle down." Camila called, secretly also curious about theses supposed fangs. "Breakfast is served."

Hunter couldn't be more grateful about the save. And the table full of delicious food. They all quickly took their seats and happily devoured everything.

Breakfast was peaceful and fun. Afterwards Amity raised her hand.

"Can I ask now?"

"Sure." Hunter sighed

"Why do you have fangs?" Everyone was curious, but Amity was a girl who needed answers. Hunter appreciated that about her... most of the time.

He looked at Luz for support, who gave him discrete thumbs up. But now all eyes were on him and he's never been good at lying.

"It-it's because um... I'm only half a witch." He laughed awkwardly. "Can't draw spell circles, but I get sharp teeth!"

"Don't call yourself that." Willow scrunched her nose.

"Ah no. I didn't mean it like that, I'm just..." Hunter pleaded inwardly with the Titan to make him better at improv. "I'm different in those things. Just those two things."

Luz tried not to facepalm. Hunter wasn't doing great. Vee looked at her sister knowingly, who sent her a begging look. Discretely of course.

"That makes sense." The little basilisk offered, like a guardian angel. She was way better at lying.

"Yeah, it's very interesting." Amity looked convinced.

"Don't worry bro." Gus patted his shoulder. "We love you just the way you are."

"Uh thanks." Hunter laughed awkwardly again. Finally able to breath once more.

"Just don't call yourself that again." Willow said, her voice sweet but threatening. Hunter nodded fiercely.

"Yes. I mean no! Um, I promise."

A few mornings later when Hunter entered the kitchen, Luz ran over.

“Show me them fangs!”

Hunter looked away, not really wanting to comply. It was just them and Camila. The rest wasn't awake yet, but they'd be here soon.

“Show. Me. Them. Fangs!”

Luz punched his stomach with every word. Not hard or anything, it felt more like tickling. Hunter was glad that she seemed to love his teeth so much. But he refused to admit he had fangs. It made him feel weird.

“Come on! Please!!”

Apparently fangs were a big deal to her. Willow seemed to be impressed with them as well, Amity didn't really care and Vee was happy. Gus was just happy he had something to tease him about.

Hunter was glad that the gang hadn’t asked too many questions. They'd accepted his lame excuse very easily.

“Fiiiiiine.” He sighed, raised his upper lip and opened his mouth.

“Yehes!”

He was never living this down.

Chapter Text

It has been 3 weeks since they arrived in the human realm. The teeth incident was still fresh on Hunter’s mind. Another thing to keep him up at night. Not of the nightmare variety though, which was nice. This was just embarrassing.

And it was making him think about the whole Grimwalker-business. He definitely didn’t need more of that.

It was Friday and 6 am, but Hunter had been awake for even longer. Insomnia sure was fun! He got out of bed quietly, to not disturb Gus on the couch beside him.

He wanted his thoughts to steer clear of the Grimwalker topic. Or his uncle… or the fate of the Boiling Ilses, Darius, Eda, if they could even find a way back home-

So, he did things around the house. It had become his role here. Not officially, nobody wanted him doing this. But he did it anyway.

He wanted to be useful.

He wanted to keep Camila happy. Who wouldn’t be happy with a clean, organised house?

Besides, he liked doing it. It was a healthy distraction, like Luz always says. So he dusted every corner of the house, cleaned the kitchen several times and put everything where it belonged. Vee even taught him how to do the laundry, but it was still extremely early. Only quiet cleaning for now.

The bright, summer sun was slowly coming up. Would that make it 6:30 now? The sun rays through the curtains gave the room a warm energy. The natural lighting was a very welcome change.

It also lit up the clouds in various different colours. It reminded him of home, those purples and oranges. But they weren’t they same. The human realm was a lot more peaceful.

He didn’t trust it.

He wanted to, but this place still didn’t feel real. Every failed attempt at a portal, grounded them more. Every block in their creativity, made it feel so permanent. And it made him feel guilty.

His missed home, but he wasn’t really in a hurry to go back. He was sad, but not for himself. He would never in his life tell the others! He felt awful for wanting to stay here longer.

In this peaceful house.

The sun had another benefit, it made more dust particles visible. Which Hunter was actually grateful for. His brain was starting to wonder again. Not. Enjoyable.

He could technically also talk to distract himself, because he wasn’t alone. Flapjack and Ghost were keeping him company. And judging him.

Which is why he didn’t really feel like talking to them. Giving them the excuse that they needed to be silent. He had promised Amity no noise before 7 am after all. She is the lightest of sleepers.

But if those forbidden topics were barging back in... Ghost headbutted his shin. She had decided for him.

“Put the duster down, nerd.” She meowed.

“Don’t go stealing Amity’s nicknames now,” Hunter whispered back, “please.”

The white cat palisman licked his ankle. Her sandpaper tongue made him jump back, giggling. It meant that her name-calling was out of love, much like her witch.

“Put it down!" She meowed again.

"Stop cleaning, Hunter." Flapjack chirped. He flew down from the fridge onto the counter in front of his witch.

Both of them were now looking at him with even more judgement. Hunter didn’t think that was possible for a bird and a cat, but here they were. He sighed.

The fact he could understand Ghost at all was making his brain go places. Flapjack was his palisman, they had a strong bond and always knew each others intentions.

The fact he could talk with him proved that. However, he was able to talk with the others as well. He has understood every active palisman he’s ever come across.

He used to think it was normal, but learned his lesson quite early on. His commander back then thought he bonded with the deer palisman they were "retrieving", just because he—

Doesn’t matter.

It’s a Grimwalker thing.

So he’s been careful about talking to Ghost, Clover or Emmiline while their witches were around. One more thing he was hiding from them.

He hated this! At this point he would rather have a nightmare.

“Do something fun, find something else to distract.” Flapjack chirped.

“Read a book.” Ghost purred. “You nerd!”

“Not a bad suggestion,” Hunter said, “still don’t like that name though.”

“A tree can’t change its home.” Flapjack said amused, as he landed in his hair.

“What does that even mean?” Hunter walked over to the living room. Camila’s book collection was fair game. She had promised him many times.

“It means I can call you a nerd, because you are one.” Ghost mewed, bouncing alongside him. Flap confirmed it with a strong chirp.

“Alright alright, I get it.” He picked out a book on fossils. “But cleaning is not a bad distraction.”

“There is literally nothing left to clean.” The cat climbed on his lap the moment he sat down on the couch.

Ah. This was his fate now. They had successfully trapped him.

“There’s always dust.” Hunter mumbled.

“I am going to break that duster one day.” Flapjack settled comfortably in the blonde locks. Comfortable for him at least.

“Please don’t. It is Camila’s, she'd be very mad at me.”

“She wouldn’t be mad at you.” Ghost reassured him.

“Camila is a very nice lady.” Flapjack bonked him on the head with his beak. “And a spectacular mother.”

“Yes… I know, but still—” Hunter sighed. He played with the pages, not yet able to focus on the text. “Luz is very lucky.”

Ghost licked his hand. Hunter giggled again, jerking his hand away from her.

“Stop licking me!”

“Well hello there~” Gus came into the living room. Instantly in a good mood, seeing his bro so cheery. To Hunter, he came out of nowhere.

“Gus! Uh- good morning. Did I wake you up? Im sorry-“

“Nah, I just woke up on my own. It’s almost 7 ya know.” Gus said nonchalantly. He knew how to calm his friend.

“Oh.” Hunter relaxed. The house had finally entered the world of the living. Rest easy now, brain.

“Watcha reading?” His best friend came up to scratch both palismen under the chin.

“It’s a book about fossils.”

“Oh cool! Are human fossils very different from ours?”

“I don’t know… I haven’t actually read anything yet.”

“Oh. Well you do that then. I’m gonna grab some juice.” Gus said as he walked towards the kitchen.

“Do you need help?” Hunter gestured to Ghost to get off. Going non-verbal now that the others were waking up. She refused.

“No, I think I got it!” Gus laughed from down the hall.

“Read, nerd.” Ghost meowed lovingly.

Hunter reluctantly did as he was told. He’d have to combat her name calling later. Not that he really minded, he never felt hurt whenever Amity did it, but 3 times in 1 morning was a bit much.

Gus came back from the kitchen, two glasses of juice in hand. He didn’t bother asking Hunter if he wanted one two. The answer would always be no, when he meant to say yes.

He joined him on the couch and they looked at the pictures of human dinosaurs together. Discussing the similarities with their own extinct reptiles. A few minutes later, Amity and Vee appeared in the doorway.

“Hey nerds!”

Hunter couldn’t help the desperate sigh that escaped his mouth. The girls looked at him funny. He looked away embarrassed. He could just feel Ghost’s evil grin radiating from his lap.

“Good morning.” Vee chuckled.

Gus greeted them both. He showed Vee the book, but she had already read it and subsequently showed him her favourite page.

“So the ‘hey nerds’ was warranted.” Amity smirked. “What was that sigh for?”

Hunter met her eyes awkwardly. Her sassy expression matching perfectly with Ghost’s entire being. He’s been called a nerd 4 times in a very short amount of time. So his sigh was just as warranted.

“Flap has been calling me a nerd all morning.” He lied. The bird bonked him on the head for blaming him.

The actual culprit made a ‘mmrrrp’ sound. The white fluffy monster was laughing at them! Then she climbed down to greet her witch.

“You guys wanna have breakfast? Luz and Willow won’t be here for a while.” Vee said.

At that moment, Camila walked in. Hunter’s first instinct was to grab the book from Gus. It took an embarrassing amount of effort to ignore that instinct.

“Good morning kids,” She said cheery. They all said their good morning’s back. “I heard something about breakfast?”

“Yes, because those sleepyheads will take at least 2 more hours.” Amity laughed.

“Luz is usually a morning person,” Gus interjected, looking at Vee amused. “Did you swap or something?”

“No!” Vee crossed her arms with a playfully sour expression on her face. Then her face dropped and her voice got more serious. “Luz actually didn’t sleep well last night...”

She looked at Camila carefully, Hunter couldn’t help but do the same. Amity tapped the basilisks arm, she was probably not supposed to say that.

“Another nightmare?” Camila asked, but she knew the answer. She had one of those ‘worried mom’ expression that they saw very often. Hunter hadn’t been able to place them at first, being extremely foreign to him.

But Camila quickly had one reserved for him too. Luz had to explicitly tell him she wasn’t angry, just worried. He didn’t know how to feel about it yet.

“Poor girl.” Flapjack’s chirp was the only thing that could be heard, because the room was filled with an awkward silence. “You should talk to her.”

Hunter scratched his feathers to discretely tell him he understood. He would try, Luz was more likely to talk to him about her nightmares. Maybe because he had them too? Hunter didn’t feel like he could really help her though.

“Oh, is that ‘Guide through the Fossil Record’ you have there?” Camila finally broke the silence. She pointed at the book in Gus’s hands.

“Yes!” Hunter shot up. “I took it to pass the time, I hope that is alright.”

“That is quite alright, Hunter.” Camila reassured him once more. “You can take any book you like.”

Amity’s understanding look was a lot better than Ghost’s pitiful one. Vee gave him some grace by ignoring him, talking to Gus about her favourite fossil again.

“So breakfast then?” Amity asked.

“Yes, let’s do that. Does anybody want eggs?” Camila rubbed her hands, ready to make breakfast just a little bit more special.

Hunter smiled politely. He did want eggs, but of course he didn’t say anything. Gus slung an arm over his shoulders, making him bend down quite a bit.

“We do!” He called out enthusiastically. Forever his saviour when it came to asking for things.

———

“Good morning.” Luz yawned as she entered the kitchen. She saw her mom and her friends (except Willow) all at the table. They greeted and welcomed her, but were already done with breakfast.

“Feeling better sleepyhead?” Amity kissed her on the cheek when Luz sat down next to her.

She nodded and returned the kiss. She still felt horrible, but an itty bitty bit better. And that’s what her girlfriend asked.

Clover and Emmiline had hitched a ride on her. Luz appreciated the company after a night like that.

“There you are buddy~” Gus cooed as his palisman stepped on his hand.

Clover flew over to Hunter and Flap. She buzzed up a storm when she joined the little cardinal in the blonde nest.

“Aye que lindo~” Camila cooed and the kids laughed. Hunter felt his face get hot from embarrassment.

Still, he’d never tell the precious creatures to leave. He had accepted his fate as ‘palisman free real estate’ long ago. Besides, Clover was always fun to be around.

He understood the constant buzzing and was trying his best to hide it. Apparently, Clover had tried to get her witch out of bed early for once. It didn’t go well. It was near impossible for him to not laugh as Clover described the things Willow miraculously slept through.

Buzzing next to her ear, sticking a paw in her nose, tickling her nose with bee-fuzz. He could clearly picture it.

The bee had even considered dropping something heavy on her. Luckily for the unaware witch, Luz came to the rescue. Or ‘disrupted her creative process’, as Clover saw it.

The aforementioned saviour looked at him curiously. Luz knew. She also knew he wanted to hide it. In her opinion, he was scared for nothing.

They would all think it was awesome he could talk with their palisman. A sharp pang of jealousy shot through her heart. ‘Their palismen’. That didn’t include her.

“Should we wake Willow?” Hunter asked.

“I’m NOT doing that again!” Vee burst out. Whatever she was doing was put on abrupt hold.

“Have you learned nothing?” Gus joined her passion.

“I still haven’t fixed that hole in the wall.” Camila mummed, squinting over her coffee.

“Sorry Mami…” Luz laughed awkwardly and her mom ruffled her hair.

“It’s alright Mija. When you live with 4 witches it was bound to happen.”

“Yeah…” Amity laughed in the exact same way as her girlfriend, “so not a good idea.”

“Luckily you don’t have to.” Willow chimed in as she entered the kitchen. “Also, I’m still very sorry about the wall.”

The group greeted her. Camila also reassured her about the wall again. She offered to fix it together to make her feel better. The plant witch happily agreed.

“I’ll make you two some eggs.” Camila got up, taking the empty pan from the table.

“You had eggs? Without me?” Luz gasped in fake-offence. She got up and put a hand to her forehead, like a Regency woman about to faint.

“How dare they. Such betrayal!” Willow joined her demeanour. Interlocking her fingers with her bestie. Those historical romance movies were leaving their mark.

The girls hooked their arms together, turned around dramatically and walked those 4 feet to the stove as fancy as they could.

At the table were 4 sets of eye-rolls. But they couldn’t say they weren’t amused. Amity snickered lightly and Hunter chuckled into his hand.

“Does that count?” Willow spun around and pointed at him. Then looked at Gus overjoyed. “Does that count for the game?”

“Sure!” Gus laughed. He smirked wide at his bro, whose expression soured. Hunter pouted and crossed his arms. This game was ridiculous if you asked him. “One point for Luz and Willow, I’ll write it down later.”

“We’re still behind Flap though.” Luz giggled.

“It’s not fair, he’s too cute!”

After the girls finished their breakfast the group got to talking about their plans. They wanted to do something fun and Camila came up with an idea. She offered to take them to the mall since she had an unexpected free day. Gus was insanely excited to explore and soon enough everyone matched his energy.

Except Luz.

She was smiling and cheerfully talking, sure, but she seemed off somehow. Hunter knew what Luz was normally like. She clearly wanted to go, but was apprehensive for some reason. He could guess what it was.

Willow and Vee, under leadership of Gus, ran upstairs to get out of their pyjamas. Camila followed at a calmer pace, after looking down at her bathrobe and fluffy slippers. Amity wanted to follow them too, but stopped in her tracks.

“Are you coming?” She asked Luz.

She had also noticed her girlfriend’s attitude was not as bubbly as it normally would be. Luz loved getting out of the house to show her friends the human realm.

“Oh I’m all set!”

She showed off her lame cat-hoody with pride. A black cartoon cat was on it, with the text ‘cats are clawsome’.

“Um.. alright.” Amity reluctantly agreed. She couldn’t think of anything to say. Maybe it’ll be easier for them to talk at the mall.

“I’m also ready to go.” Hunter said, gesturing to his own normal sweater and jeans. “You go change, and I will clean the table.”

“I’ll help!” Luz called out, jumping on her bro. She was doing too much now, looking overly excited, trying to conceal her feelings.

They grabbed the breakfast supplies as Amity went upstairs. The resulting silence while the put stuff back in the cupboards made Luz uncomfortable. Hunter thought it was quite nice, but she felt the need to fill it.

“So~ what did Clover say when she was all upset?” Luz bumped her shoulder into his.

“She was describing very vividly how she tried to wake Willow up early.” He smirked as he patted the little bee.

“Oh yeah,” Luz laughed and patted her too, “Sorry, baby, but that’s mission impossible.”

“So… what’s up with you?” Hunter questioned. Luz turned to him slowly with an uncomfortable expression. Now she missed the silence.

“When did you get so good at that?” She pouted. Hunter shrugged, credit belonged Flapjack for this one. But he had gotten better at it. Somehow.

“I heard you had a nightmare?” Flap was still in his hair, happy that his witch had listened to his advice.

“Who snitched?” Luz joked. She really didn’t appreciate Vee or Amity telling him that. Did they tell her mom? Was she worried?

“Vee did, but go easy on her. You shouldn’t keep those things to yourself.” Clover flew onto his shoulder and Emmi walked upside down on his arm.

“I’d rather tell you myself.” She pouted again. She couldn’t be mad at her kinda-twin for long. Vee never lied to mom and it was probably better to share anyways. She just didn’t want to admit that Blondie was right.

“Then do so.” He said, proud of his wit. He absentmindedly picked up Ghost, holding her like a baby.

Luz looked at the very serious boy covered in tiny magical animals. He looked so happy with his smart-ass respons. She wanted to brake out into a belly laugh. But instead she felt broken.

The nightmare had come back to the forefront of her mind. She thought about how her own palisman couldn’t join them in using Hunter as their playground. They were still stuck in the egg.

She didn’t even know if they were alive.

This sight made her laugh with tears forming in her eyes. It startled Hunter. He fumbled for a second, unsure and concerned.

Then he moved Ghost over to one arm and reached out with his other hand. He held Luz’s head. As she sniffed, he lightly pushed her towards him.

She immediately gave in and moved into the awkward, palismen-filled hug. Her head was resting on his chest and she looked down to Ghost in his arm. She mewed. Luz tickled her belly, laughing weakly through her blurry vision.

“She says ‘there there’.” Hunter translated. Rubbing her hair like she was also a cat. Considering everything, this awkward hug was quite impressive. Luz blinked away her tears and sighed.

“My nightmare was about my palisman. My egg… and Eda.” She paused to wipe her eyes. “I dreamt I was with her, carving the palistrom wood. But this time when I was done, she told me I made a mistake. That I shouldn’t have made it an egg. That I- that I… killed it.”

She pressed her face into Hunter’s chest when the tears filled her eyes again. She regretted telling him now, what if the others walked in? What if her mom saw her like this? Once the floodgates opened, she couldn’t stop.

“It was so messed up! How could my brain make Eda say those things?” Her voice was breaking, she was staining his shirt. She felt Clover rub against her cheek and Ghost licking her hand.

“It’s okay, you’re okay.” Hunter shushed her. “Nightmares are funny like that. They put your fears right in your face in the most horrible, screwed up way possible.”

“Yeah!” Luz turned to Ghost again. But forgot Clover was there, getting a face full of bee. It made Hunter snort. He quickly regained his composure and continued with a gentle voice.

“But don’t worry Luz. Your palisman is alive, I promise.”

“Can you promise that?” She pulled back to look into his eyes.

“I can. I’m sure they are alive. I can feel it.”

“Thanks Hunter!” Luz barrelled back into the hug. It made Flapjack fall off his head. She squeezed his lungs out as the little cardinal chirped aggressively. “Sorry Flap.”

“He says he forgives you.” Hunter smirks. Luz’s chuckle was still weak. She sighed and let go of her friend.

“I’m just so scared something is gonna happen to it.”

“I understand, but listen Luz. Your egg is save. It’ll hatch and you’re gonna show your palisman to Eda.”

Luz looked up at him, smile big and genuine.

“And before that, I’ll guard it with my life.”

The boy covered in magical creatures, shining brightly like the sun, was now back to looking hilarious. Luz broke out into the belly laugh she wanted before. She definitely felt better now.

———

The gang was outside getting ready to get into the car. Luz felt a little restless again. Her talk with Hunter helped a lot, but her fears didn’t just magically disappear. She wondered if there was a spell for that.

She looked at Hunter. He did say he would guard it right? No. No, thats not fair. He should not have to-

“Can I stay here?” Hunter looked at Camila nervously. Standing in the doorway, still half inside.

The kids stopped in their tracks and turned to him confused.

“I want to, uh, take care of the palismen.” He tried to explain. Picking up Emmiline from the ground as he smiled anxiously. “We shouldn’t leave them alone.”

“We’ve left them in the house before.” Gus pointed out confused.

“Ah well yes. That’s true…” Hunter trailed off.

“I understand, but it doesn’t feel right to leave you behind.” Camila tapped her chin. She didn’t want to force this kid to go to the mall. She still struggled with how to treat Hunter.

There was deafening silence. Guilt crept up on Luz, but he smiled at her. Did he really not mind?

“I can stay?” Willow offered suddenly.

“Huh?” Hunter’s eyes shot to her instantly. A tiny blush crept over his face. “No no no, thats not necessary! You wanna go to mall, right? You should go, have fun.”

He waved his hands, laughing awkwardly. He cursed his voice and his face. Titan why?

“I will stay. I’ve been to the mall enough times.” Vee said, snorting at the stupid boy and prodding him in the side. “Plus, it’d be boring without this guy stumbling through stores and cafes.”

Hunter was conflicted between being grateful and offended. He pushed her away with a hand on her face, earning a laugh from the others. Then he remembered Camila was there too and his back straightened.

“Okay, then the problem is solved right?” Amity asked, rearing to go.

“Yup!” Luz took her girlfriend’s hand and led her to the car. Glancing back to give a silent thank you to her bro.

“Are you guys sure?” Gus asked.

“Oh yeah, we’ll be fine.” Vee waved him away.

Willow looked at them confused, silently questioning Hunter if he was really sure. He smiled at her as genuinely as he could muster. She accepted it, and got into the car with Gus.

“I forgot something!” Luz ran back suddenly. Basically running through Hunter and Vee into the house and up the stairs. Hunter walked after her a little bit, watching the stairs from around the corner.

She flew back down holding her egg. She slid to a stop in front of him. Hunter held out his hands and she gratefully put the palisman in them. He saluted her and she beamed at him.

Then she flew past Vee, saying goodbye, and entered the car. The stragglers waved the off, while Hunter kept the egg behind his back. Camila drove off and the gang was in for fun mall-day.

Hunter and Vee retreated into the house. Vee stared at the palisman in his hands while they walked to the living room. Something stirred in her.

“So… What was her nightmare about?” She asked while giving him side-eye.

“I don’t know if I’m allowed to share that.” Hunter looked at her confused.

“Was it about the egg?”

“Vee!”

“Yes or no.”

“That’s not fair, you know I can’t lie!”

“So yes then.”

Hunter gave her a disappointed look. Her behaviour was surprising. And annoying. Where was this coming from?

“Okay, I’m sorry. I was just…” She looked down at her claws. A little ashamed of herself. “I asked her, ya know?”

He did know. It made sense now. Hunter didn’t fully drop his disappointment, but looked at her intrigued. He waited for her to continue.

“She didn’t want to share it with me, but with you it’s like immediate.” Vee made an explosive gesture.

Hunter’s expression softened. An upset Vee wasn’t easy to comfort, but he could understand her.

“Don’t look at me like that.”

“I’m not.”

“I was just curious, okay?”

“Sure.”

Vee was about to defend herself, shoulders tense, a finger pointed at him. Basilisk-fury burned in her eyes. Then her arm dropped and she looks more sad than anything.

“I still don’t know if she even likes me.”

“Aww Vee, of course she does!” Hunter put a hand on her shoulder, but removed it slowly when she turned to him irritated. “I mean uh- it’s Luz! She wants to be friends with everyone.”

“I took her place for months!” Vee plopped down on the couch, hugging her tail to her chest. “She said it was okay but what if it really wasn’t? She doesn’t trust me…”

“Just because she didn’t want to talk about her nightmare, doesn’t mean she doesn’t trust you.” Hunter sat down next to her carefully. “It was just a… difficult subject.”

“Then why did she tell you so easily!?” Vee buried her face in her tail with a defeated sigh.

“I don’t know! Probably because of what we’ve been though together.” Hunter tried not to think about the mindscape too much. “Because I get nightmares like that too. And last time, she told me just because I was the only one still awake.”

She still didn’t look fully convinced. Hunter tapped the egg in his lap. Gently running a finger along the grooves.

“Or maybe because I’m a Grimwalker…” He said softly. Vee lifted her head. “She knows palismen are different with me.”

Vee opened her mouth, but couldn’t think of any words. Hunter’s expression was bittersweet. His true identity was a difficult subject too. They rarely talked about it after the reveal.

She had hoped to bond over the fact they were both (part) demon. But she respected his wish to keep it hidden. Maybe this could help him think more positively about being a Grimwalker?

“It’s a pretty cool trait.” She patted the egg. Hunter sighed.

“I don’t know why Luz tells me those things.” He’d rather to stay on the first topic. “But she doesn’t tell Amity either and I’m pretty sure she likes her.”

“You’re right.” Vee giggled. She patted Emmiline as she climbed on the side of his head. “I mean it though, it’s a cool trait to have.”

“Thanks.” Hunter shifted uncomfortably. “I just know it’s not normal.”

“And?” Vee jumped up from the couch. Basilisk-fury returned to her eyes. She shifted into pastel version of Hunter with a clown nose on. “Normal is boring!”

“Hey!” Hunter put the palismen aside to chase her. Which gave Vee a substantial lead, running around the house as clown-Hunter.

They chased each other for a while, the palismen even joined in. Eventually they tired themselves out and Vee retreated to her room to watch a show on her phone.

Hunter wanted to start cleaning again, but Flapjack and Ghost threatened to actually break the duster. So he returned to reading ‘Guide through the Fossil Record’.

He’s always been a fast reader though. Finishing the book under two hours. He put it back on the shelf and boredom took over.

“You look tired.” Clover buzzed.

“He didn’t sleep at all last night.” Ghost mewed at her.

“Thats not true!” Hunter protested. “I slept like 3 hours.”

“That’s still horrible!” Clover flew into his cheek, like a fuzzy punch.

“Yes.” Flap joined his bee friend by pecking his other cheek. “You know that is not a sufficient amount.”

“Yeah, tell em Emmi.” Ghost pushed the chameleon with her nose. The blue palisman stuck out her tongue as her eyes drifted in different directions. “She agrees.”

“Take a nap Hunter.” Flapjack chirped, prodding into Hunter’s cheek again. He averted his eyes with a ‘hmpf’ sound.

“Yes. Nurse Clover demands it.” The little bee said, floating pointedly in his face.

“Nurse Clover?”

“Doctor Flapjack’s orders.” The bird joined in flying in front of his face, to look at him very serious. Hunter just thought they was cute.

“You with them?” He looked at Ghost and Emmiline who had laid down next to the egg.

“With them?” Ghost elegantly crossed her paws. “I run this hospital.”

“I’m a brain surgeon!” Emmiline called out proudly. The other palismen exchanged uneasy glances.

“Yeah… I wouldn’t let you operate.” Hunter tickled her under the chin.

“Anyways.” Clover landed on his knee. “Nap.”

“Yes nurse.” He sighed.

He held Luz’s egg to his stomach and laid down. The carefully carved wood was brimming with potential. Hunter could feel the life softly emanating from the inside. They weren’t quite there yet, but the creature would join them soon enough. And they would be a little menace, just like their witch.

The rest bunched up together and found a place on his legs. Turned out they were right, he drifted off almost immediately.

———

Hunter woke up to giggling and something fluffy in his nose. He heard a camera shutter.

“Shit my sound was on.”

His eyes flew open when he heard Luz. He flinched back, but didn’t get up fully. His head spun from the sudden movement.

He was once again surrounded on the couch. His friends were standing behind the coffee table. Luz was closer in a photographer position with her phone. The giggling had not yet stopped.

Hunter finally investigated the fluffy thing that had been tickling his nose. Ghost. Of course. It seemed he had turned on his back in his sleep, hugging Luz’s egg to his chest. Then the other palisman found their way to curl into his stomach, while Ghost had planted herself in his neck and against his face.

“Welcome back guys.” He yawned when he managed to sit up just enough to lean against the armrest. He snuffed the remaining cat hairs out his nose.

“Good morning~” Amity teased.

“Is this what you meant by ‘watching the palismen’?” Vee poked the Grimwalker in his cheeks.

Luz slapped her sister’s arm and gave her girlfriend a look. If they teased him, Hunter might never sleep again! This was the first time she had even witnessed it. It’s totally not important that she was the one taking pictures of him, not at all.

“I had no choice!” Hunter joked, relieving her concerns. “It was nurse Clover’s orders.”

“Aww that’s so cute!” Willow cooed at her bee still sleeping soundly against his stomach. A soft pink quickly formed on Hunter's face.

“And she’s not wrong,” Gus added, saving him from saying anything stupid. “You need to sleep more, dude.”

Hunter wanted to fire back a snarky respons, but Amity noticed something. The noise she made brought everyone’s attention to her.

“Wait. Why do you have Luz’s egg?” She asked, visibly confused.

A few ‘oh hey’s and ‘wait yeah’s filled the room. It was like everyone just now noticed the blue palisman resting in Hunter’s hands.

“I asked him to keep an eye on it for me.” Luz answered for him.

Hunter carefully handed her precious carving back to her. Luz smiled very gratefully, she was able to have fun at the mall without worrying.

But if he wasn’t opposed to teasing right now…

“Still, this was sight to behold.” She smirked. Hunter’s warm and selfless aura dissipated as he squinted a look of betrayal at her.

“I’ll say!” Gus laughed. “We didn’t expect to come back to this pile of palisman on the couch.”

Hunter sighed. He guessed he should be more embarrassed by this. But those two could tease him all they wanted, because he really didn’t care.

He was stopped, for the second time, from making a smart-ass respons. His attention quickly snapped towards Camila, who just rounded the corner of the living room.

“Ohoho~ look at all the sweet babies together.” She said, when she witnessed the Palisman cuddle herself. “Tan lindo~”

Hunter’s eyes were now locked on their host. His hands fidgeted, picking at his fingernails. He looked at her with a hopeful smile. This was good in her eyes, right? Lindo meant cute, right?

Was it okay to be proud of this? Or should he come off as humble? Wait, was he supposed to say something now?

“I just put the groceries in the kitchen, who can help me put them away?” Camila continued with what she actually came for.

Hunter sprung to his feet.

“Yes! I can do that!”

The huddle of still-sleeping palisman got a rude awakening. As one collective, they slid off his lap. Hunter cringed when they hit the ground with a loud thump.

“Sorry guys…” he grimaced.

Ghost hissed at him and Emmiline made some disgruntled noises of her own. Flap en Clover laid on the ground, absolutely dazed. Nobody was hurt, they were made of wood of course, but that was still stupid.

Hunter cautiously lift his head towards the matriarch. She looked more surprised than anything. What did that mean? What was behind that expression? How could he be so forgetful?!

Amity broke into a snicker. Everyone turned to her and she tried to hide her laugh. But she failed. Luz gained her own wobbly smile from looking at it.

“Sorry, that was really funny.” Amity said as she walked over to Ghost. Who yowled when the witch picked her up. “Oh hush, you little drama queen. You’re fine.”

Luz was about to crack. Vee and the other witches were starting to have amused expression as well. Even Camila put a hand over her mouth, wrinkles formed in the corner of her eyes.

So, she wasn’t mad?

Soon, everyone was giggling again. Willow and Gus picked up their own palisman to shush their whining. Hunter looked at everything a little dumbfounded.

The laughter washed away any feelings of shame. He didn’t feel ridiculed, even though the were laughing at him. He felt a little stupid, sure. But the energy surrounding him was warm and soft. Like the morning sun was shining in his face again.

Hunter bend down to pick Flapjack up. The cardinal was still a bit dazed, but gave him a look anyways. He’d get a righteous amount of hair-tugging later.

“Alright then!” Camila sighed her last chortle away. The Dominican mother gestured to the vague direction of the kitchen. “Shall we?”

Hunter gave her a sheepish smile and a diligent nod. The awkward boy happily followed Camila into the hallway.

Maybe, just maybe, Vee was right. Maybe it was a pretty cool trait to have.

Chapter Text

Gus was lying on his couch-bed in the basement, with Hunter next to him on his mattress. It was long past bedtime, but neither of them were even close to sleeping. For Hunter this was just another Tuesday, but Gus should’ve been off to dreamland by now.

He just had too many things floating around in his brain.

It had been a little over a month now. Gus thought they had acclimated quite well to the Human realm. He was proud of his new understanding and expertise.

Luz had taken them to so many exciting places! The movies, the supermarket, human picnics, an ice cream shop. That last one was a little weird for them. Ice was supposed to scream, but here it was just lying there.

Gus knew their food was different, he just never imagined how different. The flavours were so rich and there was a LOT of sugar. In everything actually, not just the ice cream. Even though the witches couldn’t digest certain things, Gus loved human food.

He especially fawned over the fastfood restaurants. It was absolute insanity to him. Restaurants in the Boiling Ilse were supposed to be fancy, they were an experience.

Gus and his dad would always go for special occasions. Those places attracted illusionists, who made the room just a little more special. Making glasses sparkle, making flowers float around or giving the room a golden glow.

He missed that so much, but he was sure they would do it again soon. They'd celebrate saving The Ilses by going to the fanciest restaurant they could find!

Not this otherworldly 'McDonald' thing. Although, he would love to show his dad some day. It was honestly amazing how the place handled food. And it was very fast indeed!

The group also returned to the mall a couple times. Gus had taken it upon himself to show his buddy around. Hunter had missed their first opportunity, and while Gus totally understood, he was still bummed.

So, he’d looked around with a guide-perspective in mind. After he got over his initial excitement of course. The mall was so unbelievable big, it felt like the shops were endless. It was a little overwhelming. The Demon realm markets had nothing on the mall. Luz was so amazing for doing all of that for him, for all of them.

Camila was just as adamant as her daughter about keeping them all happy. She took such good care of them.

Gus had never missed a mother in his life. It was always him and his dad against the world and he loved that. But Camila had become a second or third parent to all of them so quickly. It was… it was impressive honestly.

The more he missed his dad, the more he sought comfort by Camila. And she gave it to him so readily. She fed his love for human things, encouraged him about the portal and kept his hopes up.

She was a lot like Hunter in that way. They let him be scared and sad, before comforting him.

Just a few hours ago Camila offered to have a movie night! They had done that before and everyone was excited. This time though, she suggested they watch Jurassic Park, because Gus and Hunter had loved that fossil book so much.

The boys were absolutely enthralled. They loved the technology, the characters and of course all the dinosaurs. Amity and Willow didn’t care for it, but were amused all the same.

Vee proudly explained all the special effects, but still got a little quiet when the T-rex tried to break the car. Willow helped by bumping their shoulders and asking how she thought that part worked.

Gus loved hearing about the human’s version of illusion magic.

Luz had seen the movies many times before. She called it a classic, but kept interrupting with spoilers. It got to the point where Gus and Hunter would shush her whenever she opened her mouth.

When there was a tense scene with the kids and two velociraptors, Luz wanted to assure them the characters would be fine. She only got the first few syllables of her sentence out.

“Don’t worry-“

Hunter, who had been sitting next to the spoiler grinch the entire time, wrapped his arm around her shoulder and clasped his hand over her mouth. He pushed her against him to prevent her from escaping.

“Luz shut up!”

He had been too immersed in the movie to really think about his actions. If his mind wasn’t so full of dinos, he would’ve been worried about Camila sitting right there. Or Luz herself being uncomfortable. But he never had to worry either way.

Luz burst out in a muffled, uncontrollable laugh.

“I swear to Titan…” Hunter growled with as much amusement as actual annoyance. He shook her back and forth. She laughed even harder and slapped her knee.

Hunter finally let her go and she melted into the couch in a fit of giggles. Some poorly constructed sentence about their obsession with the movie somehow escaped her lips.

He hadn’t noticed it before, but everyone around him was cracking up too. Gus grabbed him from the couch so they wouldn’t miss the end of the chase scene.

Luz clearly wasn’t wrong. They had been fanboying through the entire movie and it didn’t stop after the credits rolled.

They’d kept their excitement up all the way through their bed-time routine. And had still not calmed down when they got downstairs. They recreated scenes from the movie with dramatic vigour, which wasn’t hard for an illusion witch.

Gus even made some really convincing velociraptors with his magic. Who chased the duo around while they pretended to be Ian Malcolm and Alan Grant.

They were making quite the ruckus and eventually got told off. Amity yelled from the top of the stairs to be quiet, causing Luz and Willow to shuffle her off to bed. And after laughing about that too, the boys finally settled down.

She was right of course. It was late and the girls were trying to sleep. Gus tried to do the same, not wanting to mess up his sleep schedule. But he ended up just lying there, thinking.

Hunter said it would be “one of those nights” and grabbed a book instead. Even with the fairy lights, the room was rather dark. Perfect for sleeping, just not for reading. Gus wasn’t going to question it though. That was a conversation for another day.

Or was now the perfect time?

It was late at night. They were cozy and warm. Hunter had finally gotten comfortable enough to relax with him. Gus had even seen him go to sleep earlier than him a couple times.

But not tonight. It was “one of those nights” after all. So yeah, it was a bad idea.

They had ‘deep talks’ before, but this was a difficult one to have, even on a good day. He wouldn’t want Hunter to lose his comfort, to disturb his brand new peace.

But he still couldn’t sleep! He had to talk about something.

“The human realm is pretty cool huh?”

“Absolutely.” Hunter smiled. He put the book aside to give his buddy his full undivided attention. Gus loved when he did that.

“I mean, that movie!” Gus magicked a T-rex with hearts and sparkles above his head. “So cool!”

“I know right!” Hunter was ready to go an another fanboy rant. “The part where the T-rex defeats a velociraptor?! and then the roar— and then the banner falls down!”

“Peak cinema!” Gus quoted Luz and they both laughed.

Their human friend hadn’t been talking about tonight’s movie. But she used the phrase a lot, so now Gus did as well.

"Yeah, I kinda like this place.” Hunter smiled down at his hands. But then seemed a little frazzled and quickly continued talking. “N-Not that I don’t like our own realm, or-"

"No I get it.” He interrupted him and Hunter relaxed again. Gus moved to lay on his side, looking down at his bro.

“I was worried that I wouldn't be able to enjoy the human world, with the way we got here,” Gus said. He couldn’t help the pain that seeped into his voice with that last part. Hunter’s expression softened even further, Gus didn’t think that was even possible. “but I have. I really, really have."

"Me too." Hunter bumped his fist into the witch’s shoulder, making him sway back and forth with a giggle. “And we’ll find a way back eventually.”

“Of course!” Gus wasn’t worried about that. Those feelings came and went like waves, but right now his hopes were high. “We’re gonna get that portal working.”

He felt their conversation coming to an end. He was definitely not done talking.

“You know what else is peak cinema?”

“What?”

“The actual cinema!” Gus bounced up, sitting on his knees and pumping his fists excitedly. “You remember when we went there? That movie was so funny! And that big box of popcorn was really delicious, you’re just hit with that smell when you walk in!”

“Shhhh,” his friend tried to calm him. “Amity might yell at you again.”

“She yelled at us, Hunter.” Gus made a pointed hand movement between the two of them. “She yelled at us.”

“Alright, alright.” Hunter snorted. “But you should still settle down.”

“Fffffine…” Gus laid back down on his side, hoping Hunter had not caught onto him yet. “Oh! Do you remember that picnic we had?”

“Um yes?” Hunter looked at him a little confused.

“We went to that field with the hill and we were able to use our magic because there weren’t any humans around.”

“Yeah, I remember,” Hunter deadpanned. “That was last week.”

“And then there’s the time we-“

“Gus.”

“The time we went rafting. And we-“

“Gus.”

“… Yeah?”

“Go to sleep!” Hunter snorted as he pushed his full palm into the witch’s face. Gus made an offended noise when he was pushed onto his back.

“You’re one to talk.” He crossed his arms with a huff.

“That’s…” Hunter pointed a finger in the air, but lost his gusto pretty fast. “That’s fair. How about we both try to sleep? See who gets there first.”

“You’re on!” Gus was determined to beat him. But fair was fair, he had to actually try to sleep.

Hunter couldn’t help the smirk that formed on his face. Did he really think he could win from an insomniac?

Well, he should at least try.

Soon enough, he was the one just lying there, thinking. He could hear steady breathing next to him. The younger boy had lost as predicted.

Gus had a point though, Luz had led them through all sorts of crazy activities. Hunter’s memories of the ‘rafting’ thing were both fond and extremely unpleasant.

He felt powerful while steering the boat. It was like steering an airship, one of the very few things he missed from home.

Gus, Amity and Vee were very frightened. It was stupid, but he liked being the protective one for once. He was usually the one that needed comforting, so it was a nice change of pace.

Willow was looking fierce as always, but Hunter could tell she was secretly afraid too. Or at the very least worried. Him and Luz were the only ones actually enjoying the River Rapids.

It helped that he knew it was safe. As rough as the river looked, the real speed wasn’t anything special. They had all experienced much worse back home. On top of that, Luz had assured them that Human water wasn’t boiling.

It was fully confirmed after Amity fell in the river…

They all freaked out, her girlfriend most of all. She almost dove in after her. Luckily, Amity knew how to swim. Hunter and Willow steered the boat towards a sand bar, so they could reunite with their fallen comrade.

“Omigosh Amity!” Luz ran towards her, hugging the drenched witch. “Are you okay?!”

“Yes, don’t worry Batata.” Amity smiled. “I’m fine! The water here is harmless right?”

“Yes of course!” Luz answered like it was the most obvious thing ever. She never learned what it took to make a lake or river back home safe to swim in. “I know my super awesome girlfriend is not going down by the likes of the River Rapids.”

The couple twirled each other around, laughing like the idiots-in-love that they were. Gus, Vee and Willow cooed at their overly-sweet display and voiced their own happiness over the fact that Amity was fine.
“The Blight survives another day.” Hunter congratulated her, after hoisting the boat out of the water enough for it to stay put.

“Ha-ha,” Amity punched him lightly in the stomach, “I can see you trying to come up with some dumb joke already.”

“I’m just saying…” Hunter smirked. “You can never call me a wet cat ever again!”

He gestured to her state of being. Not a single person could deny she looked like a soaking cat. If Ghost fell in the river instead, the differences would be impossible to find.

Judging by the snickers and giggles that erupted, he was right. Gus made a set of neon blue cat-ears appear on Amity’s head. Which made Willow and Vee burst out in a roaring cackle.

“Awwww~” Luz covered her mouth, trying to hide that her adoration was turning into a laugh.

Amity turned beet red. That face was a common occurrence, but it was still amazing. Ever. Single. Time. The abomination witch swatted the illusion away and turned to Hunter with a fury he hadn’t seen in a while.

She had chased him around with a purple ball of fire, while he ran with rowdy laughter.

Now that Hunter thought back, those memories were mostly fond. He felt so happy and free. He was surrounded by an incredible amount of warmth.

He almost felt like a normal kid.

But the feeling never lasted. Normal was just not in the cards for him. Everything reminded him of that.

The few books on Grimwalkers he was able to find were burned into his memory. The pages haunted him, but realisations of what they meant still snuck up. And when it inevitably did, anxiety and panic would seep into his skin.

It had been the usual reason for his insomnia the first few weeks in this house. Amongst other things. But he went from sleeping due to complete exhaustion, to sleeping because he wanted to. Well, sometimes.

Nowadays, it was mostly the nightmares that send him back into the hopeless feelings he’s grown so accustomed to.

It always started the same.

Golden masks on a dark forest floor, bleeding into the grass. Bones scattered everywhere. Fog blocking his view.

Then cracks would form, first in the masks, then in the ground itself. Hands would rise from them, decaying hands, clawing at his feet, gripping his legs.

Then he fell.

A large fissure widened right underneath him. The hands dragged him further down. Dirt and blood spilled into his mouth, filled his eyes, clogged his ears. The earth gave way and he fell. He fell right back into his hands.

Hunter woke up in a cold sweat.

He shot upright, his eyes wouldn’t open, his mouth felt dry from the mud, he still couldn’t hear anything! He desperately clawed around him, trying to find an escape. His breathing hitched, was there still earth in his throat?

He tried to cough it out, but there was no resistance. His lungs heaved and his head spun. He kept grabbing and scratching and clawing. But all he felt were soft blankets and a cold wooden floor.

His right hand slammed against something hard. His wrist send a shot of pain through his arm.

Wait.

His eyes were open. He could see fairy lights and a couch. Soft blankets and a wooden floor…

Right.

He was in the basement. No forest, no masks, no blood. No Belos. There was nothing in his throat, or his eyes, or his ears.

He was safe.

That was the couch he just hit. His head spun quickly to the witch sleeping on it. Gus was facing him. He had his duvet all the way past his head, only his face was peaking out. His eyes were closed and his breathing was slow and steady.

He was still sleeping.

Hunter thanked the Titan. Disturbing Gus right now would absolutely break him. His own breath finally found some regularity. He tried his best to focus on the four fingers technique.

With every breath, Hunter felt his stress ebb away. His head still hurt though. He decided splashing some water on his face might help.

He soundlessly ascended the stairs, he was an expert at that by now.

He wondered what time it was as he walked to the bathroom, avoiding all the creaky floorboards. He went straight for the sink and didn’t bother to turn on the light.

The cold water felt like nirvana on his skin. It slowly cooled down his skin and his headache faded away. He washed his face and hands, and his neck for good measure. He breathed steadily between every splash of icy heaven.

Eventually he felt grounded again and took his towel from the rack. They had to extend the rack to hold six towels instead of two. Hunter often felt bad that Camila had to buy so much extra inventory.

Nevertheless, he was very happy with the soft fabrics on his face. He would be forever grateful for Camila Noceda. She was so compassionate.

He dried his face and hung it back on the rack. As he moved back towards the sink, his gaze caught on his own reflection in the mirror.

His magenta eyes stared back at him.

He stopped dead in his tracks. The blend of magenta and red was glinting in the mirror. Even in the dark the colours were clear to see.

Red eyes.

It was the very mark of a Grimwalker. Their most recognisable part. He was once again reminded what exactly he was.

It had only recently turned into such an issue for him. Magenta irises just weren’t weird in the demon realm.

Sure, the masked helped, but most people didn’t know anything about Grimwalkers. Besides, other people had weird colours too. Like very bright green or yellow.

Here in the Human realm though, it was the strangest thing.

Hunter got asked ‘how he had red eyes’ by humans on the street quite often. Just earlier today he had one of those encounters.

———

The Hexsquad, as they liked to call themselves, was hard at work in their clubhouse. The bright summer sun was shining through the windows of their newly renovated place.

They had fixed the giant holes in the walls and the floor, they had hung colourful wallpaper, Camila had given them an extra rug and Luz had found an old bean bag in the attic. They had even found a tiny ‘cooler’ at a yard sale.

They tried to decorate the place as much as possible with plants and string lights. The witches had made drawings of their families and Luz had put up a poster of the portal door, as much as she remembered.

Hunter was still fixing the old chair that had been there forever. He was almost done with the stitching, but that would have to wait a little longer.

They were trying to build a portal and it was proving very difficult.

They were scattered on the floor with notepads and books. Vee had tried to organise the pens, erasers and pencils in the middle. Put the pile dispersed every few minutes.

They were all trying to brainstorm human-versions of the ingredients they needed, yelling suggestions across the room every now and then.

Hunter was also trying to remember the portal he had seen in the castle. It was different from the one Luz had made, bringing them straight to the Human realm instead of the in-between she had described.

He was sporting a similar look to Gus and Amity. Hands in hair, staring at the pages. Hunter sighed frustrated, his own pages were still so empty.

That’s of no use to her.

Willow let out a despairing groan and snapped her notebook closed. She sat up straight to stretch.

“Let’s take a break.” She said, more like a demand than a offer.

“Yes please…” Gus flopped on his stomach with similar noises of pain.

Amity and Vee joined in with their own agreement. Hunter tried to ignore them and focus on his 1/4-filled page. From the absence of a certain human’s voice, he guessed Luz was doing the same.

But you can’t just ignore a conversation that’s happening right next to you. Amity suggested to go into town and Vee seemed excited about a particular place.

So, to the objection of Luz and Hunter, the witches and demon stood up and evacuated.

“Wait guys, I have to-“ Luz tried, but her girlfriend interrupted.

“Nope.” Amity said sternly. She grabbed her arm and tugged until she stood up.“You have to take a break.”

Gus was already out the door.

“But if we just-“ Hunter started.

“No.” Willow took the notebook he was scribbling in away.

“Leaving now would only-“

“No.” Vee came to join the plant witch for a duo to behold. Hunter looked up at the girls with slight fear, hidden by stubbornness.

“But-“

“NO!” Both of them yelled and Flapjack chirped incessantly. Alright, the message was clear.

“Sorry guys, but you’ll have to sit this one out.” Amity said to the palismen.

They were cuddled up in a dog bed that Camila had given them. The magical creatures all said things along the lines of ‘fine by me’ or ‘have fun’. It was safe to say they weren’t heartbroken about being left alone.

Hunter stood up under the pointed gaze of the girls. But he made no motions towards the door, looking at his pen apprehensively.

Vee grabbed the back of his shirt and basically dragged him out of the door. Hunter let out a yelp while stumbling backwards, looking at Willow who just followed with a smirk on her face.

“Okay Vee, where did you wanna go?” Luz asked after stretching in the sun. Seemed like Amity already convinced her.

“There’s this boba place that I’ve really wanted to try.” Vee shifted to her human disguise. “I don’t know where it is exactly, but I know what it’s called.”

Apparently that was good enough for Luz’s phone, because shortly after pressing a few buttons she was leading them through town. Vee and Amity on either side of her.

Even though they no longer looked like twins, the basilisk and the human still resembled sisters. Acted like it too.

The boba shop was small, but it had a few tables and sofas. The place was decorated with a pastel colour pallete, the counter had photo’s of their products on display and the wall behind it had their menu on chalkboards.

They found a table in the corner with 6 seats and started deciding on their order. Luz and Hunter were tasked with memorising everything.

“Oh no…” Luz gasped after patting every pocket that her pants had. “I forgot my wallet!”

The table was filled with a moment of shock. Before they could despair over walking all that way for nothing, Vee fished a couple of banknotes from her pocket.

Luz’s sigh of relief as her sibling deposited two 20-dollar bills in her hands, was quickly replaced by confusion.

“Wait. How?”

“Camila gave it to me for this exact situation.” She said with a cat-like grin. Luz pouted at her.

Vee playfully hit the back of her head, messing up her hair. Luz retaliated by ruffling hers. Before they could turn it into a fight, Gus told her to order already.

“Right, we’ll be back in a minute.” Luz chirped and tugged Hunter along.

The cashier who greeted them looked to be around their age. He had a mint green apron on over a white T-shirt. Blue hair peaked out of a hat with he shop’s logo on it.

“Welcome to Boba Pop, may I take your order?” The guy practically did a double take to look at Hunter. “Wow, dude. I love your contacts! Where did you get ‘em?”

“My what?” He asked confused. He was not prepared for this question, he didn’t even know what it meant.

“Your eyes,” The cashier pointed at his face. “That red colour is awesome.”

Hunter was a little overwhelmed. This guy had never experienced social anxiety and it showed. At least now he knew what they were talking about.

“Oh this is my-“

“Favourite colour!” Luz jumped in. “It’s his favourite colour.”

She smiled weirdly at the guy and Hunter looked at her confused too. Then the realisation that he couldn’t say ’natural colour’ to a human hit him like a lightning spell.

“Oh! Yeah, I really like… con-tats.” He laughed awkwardly. The energetic cashier seemed oblivious to their weird behaviour.

“Cool! Where did you get them?”

The duo looked at each other with the same stumped expression.

“They were a gift!” Luz managed to improvise. She looked smug at her own answer. “For his birthday.”

Hunter looked away with a wobbly smile when he thought ‘yeah my very first birthday’. He quickly repressed it.

“Um yes,” He said, “and we don’t know where they got them. The friend I mean, who got them for my birthday.”

Hunter trailed off and looked to Luz for guidance. She was just smiling at the employee so he did the same.

“Aww, thats too bad.” The blue-haired boy looked genuinely dejected. Then he straightened his back and looked at them a little shocked. “Oh! I’m so sorry. May I take your order?”

“Oh no, don’t worry.” Hunter tried to assure him, waving his hands frantically. Luz offered both guys some mercy by starting with her own order.

Luz tried her best to ordered everything, but couldn’t remember some of the details. She blanked completely on Willow’s order and looked at the grimwalker next to her for help.

“Jasmine green milk tea with half ice.” Hunter said with absolute certainty. Luz smirked at him. “What?”

“Nothing~”

“Is that all?” The cashier asked, putting it into the machine. Hunter still wondered how those things worked exactly.

Luz confirmed and payed for their order. They only had to wait a little bit for the employees to make everything. When it was done, they said goodbye to the blue-haired guy and walked back to the others.

Vee was probably the happiest to get her drink, but the others were excited too. They opted to take the drinks to go instead of sitting at the table. It seemed like a waste of a six-person table to Hunter, but the rest wanted to walk around in the sun.

And so they walked around town with their cold drinks, enjoying the nice summer weather.

They walked past clothing shops, cafes, restaurants. Making plans to remember certain places for future visits. Eventually their drinks ran out and they crossed the road for a trashcan.

From there they saw a ‘cute little park’ as Amity called it, obviously they had to go there.

They walked towards the charming elm trees, but when they rounded the corner of the fence they stopped dead in their tracks.

There, on a pedestal stood two large stone statues, wearing clothes straight out of a history page.

Witch-hunter history.

Luz stopped so abruptly that Gus bumped into her. Amity was holding her hand and felt a tug when her girlfriend halted. Willow, who had been walking next to Gus, recoiled from their crash.

The three witches immediately voiced their curiosity and concern.

Hunter recognised him too. Vee only noticed because he fell silent. Just a second ago they were talking about tea, now he stared up at this thing with an unreadable expression.

She followed his gaze. The bone-chilling realisation almost made her shapeshifting unstable.

“That’s… Belos.” Luz managed to get out after her friend’s concerned murmurs.

The witches surrounding her all looked at her bewildered, then snapped their attention to the statue.

The pedestal read: Gravesfield folklore, The brothers Wittebane.

Hunter felt like his body was about to crumble. That was indisputably the face of the man he had called uncle his entire life. And that was his brother. That was Caleb.

That was his blueprint.

A disgusting feeling rose in his throat. He felt like the world was spinning around him. Light-headed and reeling, his mind was blaring alarm bells. He couldn’t hear what Luz was saying to their friends, the sounds around him were distant and distorted.

He couldn’t stop looking at him.

His lungs were threatening to give out. Irregular short breaths entered his body, while breathing out felt impossible. He was in the verge of hyperventilating.

Vee felt a little woozy and off-balance. The hold on her shapeshifting was weakening. She felt her hands turn back into claws and saw some green spots forming on her arms. A nauseating feeling tumbled in her stomach.

They had statues. Belos and his brother had statues here. Two witch-hunters had statues here.

A sharp sound to her left broke her out of her daze. Hunter was looking even more wobbly than she felt. She could see the panic in his eyes. She tracked his gaze once more and it finally clicked.

On instinct she grabbed his hand, her claws dug into his skin. He barely felt it. Hunter slowly turned to her, still feeling spaced out. Vee gently tugged on his arm and walked backwards.

He let her lead him over grass, feeling too overwhelmed and scared to pretend he was okay. She tugged her brother along, until they were out of earshot, making sure he was with his back towards the statue.

She took his other hand and squeezed them both, this time being mindful of her sharp claws. The pressure helped him focus a little, but breathing was only getting more difficult.

“Breathe Hunter.” Vee spoke clearly. He squeezed her hands back, desperately trying to ground himself.

And like a broken spell or an unlocked chain, his lungs finally worked again. His irregular gasping for air turned into irregular deep breaths.

“Just breathe.”

The basilisk carefully looked back at the group. The other witches were still inspecting the sculpture and listening to Luz talk about Philip.

It looked like they had successfully slipped away.

“Just breathe.” She said again, calm and pointed.

She coached him through his rising stress, and slowly his hyperventilating stopped. He followed her calming breaths, eventually he moved onto his familiar four-fingers technique.

Vee’s hand now floating in the air in case he needed it. In time, Hunter calmed down. He looked at her with nothing but gratitude. She had helped to prevent a full-on panic attack.

“You okay?” She asked attentively.

“Yes.” Hunter blew out a hefty breath one more time. “Thank you.”

“We’ve gotten pretty good at this, huh?” Vee let out a loaded sigh and a shaky chuckle. Hunter nodded with a tired smile. She swung the hand that still held onto his back and forth.

“And to think I wanted to murder you just a month ago!" She laughed a little odd but with obvious relief. Hunter couldn’t help the elated laugh that escaped out his mouth.

The strange feeling of humour after an almost-mental breakdown, made his sound a little weird too. She was right, their relationship was insane. The basilisk that was scared out of her mind when they first met, had called him ‘brother’ only a few days ago.

He was aware that they had a unique kind of bond with their shared experiences in the castle. But he’d never expect to be regarded as family. He wasn’t sure if he deserved it, but it made him feel so happy.

And treating Vee like a little sister made her really happy, even though he couldn’t yet get himself to call her that. She said she enjoyed hugs and hair-ruffles. Apparently teasing, bickering and joking around was also part of it.

He was still new to it all, but it just felt so right.

Luz had been calling him ‘bro’ and ‘hermano’ for a while now. Maybe he was more used to it than he-

“Whatcha doing over here?” Willow suddenly appeared to the right one him.

Saying it startled him was an understatement. Hunter yelped a loud “WAAA-“ before he doubled over and went back to his calming breaths.

Willow, having missed his panic, was looking jolly and unbothered. She cocked an eyebrow at him with an amused smile. But when she saw that Vee didn’t share her sentiment, she got worried.

“Sweet mother of Titan.” The blonde boy heaved out.

“Are you okay?” Willow asked. Looking from Hunter to Vee and back.

“We’re fine.” Vee assures her. Being infinitely more skilled in lying, she quickly fabricated a half-truth. She glared at the statue. "That... thing just makes me really uncomfortable."

“Mmmh, I get it.” Willow nodded with a soft look. Thinking about their past always made her angry. She looked back with a scowl. “I just wanna spray paint all over it.”

"That sounds like a wonderful idea!" Vee smiled creepily. Focusing on Hunter’s feelings had helped her to calm down as well, but now her mood was really improving.

“Guys,” Hunter piped up when he felt grounded once more. “Vandalism is wrong.”

He was met with two deadpan faces. The tips of his ears tinted pink when he looked at Willow. He quickly turned his eyes away.

“But I wouldn’t stop you.” He mumbled.

“Alright!” Vee jumped away, ready to throw rocks at Belos’s image. This was going to be very therapeutic for her.

Willow and Hunter watched her leave. The green-haired girl met up with Luz, said something and started doing exactly as she set out to do. Gus and Amity didn’t take long to join in.

The duo standing in the distance looked at each other, and started giggling.

“Do you wanna join them?” The plant witch asked, really wanting to do so herself.

“Maybe another time…” Hunter looked away. He felt like his legs would refuse to walk back to that thing.

Willow understood, and as much as she felt the vandalism-urge burning in her soul, she wouldn’t leave Hunter behind. She couldn’t even imagine how devastating it must have been to find a statue dedicated to you abuser. Her heart bled for him.

The blonde witch would always be ready to distract her when she needed it. She had no trouble returning the favour.

“Hey, look at this.” She crouched down next to a flower bed on the edge of the park, gently bending a purplish-blue flower towards him. “This is called the balloon flower.”

Hunter was immediately intrigued. He crouched down next to her and inspected the plant. It was a cluster of flowers on one stem, they were star-shaped and had a peculiar looking pistil.

“See how the petals are fused?” Willow ever so carefully glided her thumb over the blue petals, they were indeed stuck to each other. “We don’t have any flowers like this in the Boiling Ilse.”

“Why not?” Hunter was fully captivated.

“I dunno.” Willow shrugged. “Different evolution I guess.”

“Oh.” Hunter laughed. He had expected some profound answer, but that made sense. He touched one of the other flowers to feel the strange petals for himself. “Did you learn about these in that book?”

“Yes! The one from the library.” She was delighted that he remembered she loved that book so much. “Balloon flowers are actually very popular.”

She was also glad he accepted her attempt at distracting him with plant facts. So Willow happily listed all the different names for the different shades of blue present in this species.

They talked about the book for a bit. He was excited to learn that the human realm had flesh-eating plants too. But then Willow had to break the news to him that they were really tiny. After that, the group called them to leave. Their vandalism-therapy was done.

Hunter found himself walking at the back of the group again, this time with Gus. They had to pass that damned statue again to go home. His effort to resist wasn’t strong enough, he looked up at Caleb’s face one last time.

He felt like a freshly scabbed-over wound was splitting back open. He wouldn’t go into a panic again, but he felt sick to the stomach. And maybe a little dizzy too.

“Hey,” Gus looked at him curiously. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah!” He lied.

“Did the statue make you uncomfortable too?”

“Yeah…”

Hunter knew this was bound to happen. Gus was incredibly observant and smart. More so than anyone, he was the real mom of the group. He cared so much and they had build an amazing friendship, which was exactly why this was so uncomfortable.

Gus, on the other hand, didn’t feel very smart right now. What kind of question was that? Of course he was uncomfortable!

He just wanted to talk about it.

But Hunter clearly didn’t, so he wouldn’t press the issue. He could take a wild guess either way. He knew that Hunter wasn't even looking at Belos's statue. He was looking at his brother.

Caleb Wittebane.

———

Hunter had been staring at his reflection for what felt like an eternity. A wounded sigh eventually escaped his mouth. His shoulders slumped, breaking him out of his frozen state.

His hands moved involuntarily to his face. He rubbed the inside of his eyes. Then he squeezed them shut and opened them wide. He intently studied the colours and the fibres.

He always thought that the way the fibres of an iris weaved was so pretty. Not when he looked at his own, but someone else’s, like Willow. Like an intricate web of beautiful pigment.

He didn’t hate the colour of his eyes, he hated what it represented.

He dragged his hands down to his mouth. His chapped lips had always been a constant and Amity had desperately tried to get him to use lip balm. She was right, she was always right, that’s why she was so annoying. He just forgot.

With one finger he lifted the side of his upper lip, uncovering his fangs. He was still more inclined to call them sharp teeth. That’s what they were after all.

He used to hate those, but his friends all loved them so much. Now he wasn’t sure how to feel. Just neutral maybe?

He then moved his hands up into his hair and hung them on his neck. His hair had grown, falling just past his ears. It looked different, but he could still style it the same way.

It didn’t have to stand out, right? Nobody noticed? He couldn’t bring himself to cut it here.

He had to cut his hair religiously back in the coven. It always had to look perfect. Everything always had to be perfect. The human realm was supposed to be his peaceful escape.

No.

No, stop.

What was he even thinking? They had crashed into this realm in an apocalypse. The end of the world! This was refuge, not an escape. He had to remember the difference.

That still didn’t mean he had to cut his hair.

He moved one hand to his scar, softly pulling the skin up and down. Tracking the edge, like he’d done a million times. It was the only thing entirely his own.

His eyes, his teeth, the rapid growth of his hair. That was all Grimwalker. The colour of that hair, his bone structure, his nose, his eyebrows. That was all Caleb.

“What a shame. Out of all the Grimwalkers, you looked the most like him."

Why couldn't he reject that sentence? Even just as a bold-faced lie. He wanted to utterly deny that is was true, but when he looked at that statue...

It looked so painfully similar.

His scar was the only thing that didn’t belong to either of them. But even that little beacon of uniquely him, didn’t bring any comfort. How could it? It was a deep pink slash across his cheek. His very first scar.

He barely remembered how he got it. Well, it was Belos of course. He just didn’t recall any of the details.

It was the first of many. Every single one of them seemed so clearly malicious in retrospect. How had he ever been so naive?

It is the curse! He didn’t mean to! As if that monster could ever really love him. A lie, that’s all it was.

His arms dropped to his sides. The hundredth sigh of the night escaped his lips. He hated this so much. But he couldn’t move away from that damned mirror. Like plant magic was rooting him to this one spot in the bathroom.

When he looked in that mirror, he didn’t see anything he liked. He didn’t see himself.

He wanted to punch that mirror and-

The sounds of very familiar slithering passed in the hallway, violently ripping his attention away from the mirror. He heard the slithering in the kitchen and then a crunching noise.

Vee.

More like his guardian angel. The kitchen was very appealing, stronger even than the mirror’s pull.

That was good right? He had to escape this depressing pit he created. Joining Vee would do definitely force him away from his own mind. Or maybe misery just loved company.

He deliberately kept his head down, looking at the mirror would root him back in place. He hoped he left the sink neat enough.

Hunter entered the kitchen and saw his basilisk sister elbow-deep into a cereal box. She was looking off in the distance while munching, until she noticed him. She froze and they looked at each other for a solid 10 seconds.

“Hey.” Vee said blankly, breaking the awkward silence.

“Hey.” He returned in the same passive way.

She continued to crunch on her midnight snack and tilted the box towards him. He shuffled over and leaned on the counter, grabbing a fistful of the cereal.

Usually he’d be a bit upset about eating from the box, but he was just so tired that he didn’t care anymore. He felt a little empty right now.

“Insomnia?” Vee asked, blinking slowly and sideways.

“Nightmare.” Hunter answered between crunching. “You?”

“The other one.”

“That sucks.”

“Sure does,” She snickered. “Nightmares aren’t much better. Are you okay?”

“Yeah I’m fine.” Now that he actually had company for his misery, he didn’t want to get into it.

Vee knew he was lying, naturally, but she was leaving it be. She didn’t really have the energy for a heart-to-heart right now either. They just kept eating their cereal in comfortable silence.

Then Luz walked in.

Both basilisk and grimwalker froze again in the middle of their munching. Their human sibling stood just past the doorway and looked at them surprised.

“Hey.” They said at the same time, in the exact same way as before.

“Hey,” Luz laughed and bounced over to grab her own helping of cereal. She hopped onto the counter and ruffled both of their hair. Calling them both ‘hermanitos’.

Vee glowed at the nickname, and Hunter smiled. A small, growing feeling of light was forming somewhere, almost within reach.

“Di’ya have a nightma’?” Vee asked through a mouth full. Hunter didn’t even have enough energy to lecture her about proper eating etiquette. Eating from a box kind of defeats the purpose anyways.

“No, I couldn’t sleep.” The human answered. “I feel like I went in and out of sleep at least 6 times already.”

“Insomnia.” Hunter hummed knowingly.

“Yeah…” Luz sighed. She was well aware of her insomnia-household. This wasn’t the first time that the three of them had gathered in the kitchen, at the most ungodly hours of the night. “So I came down here for some water, but this is way better.”

She threw a piece of cereal in the air and caught it with her mouth. Hunter moved wordlessly to the cupboard and filled three glasses with water. The girls both looked at him with shit-eating grins. Hunter rolled his eyes, he could never just do something nice without them turning it into a big deal.

“Awww you big softy.” They cooed. Hunter looked at them annoyed, then snatched the cereal box from Vee’s hands.

“Just for that, I’m eating the last of this.”

“NO!” The sisters gasped and leapt to save their snack, but he was too fast and too tall.

Hunter tipped the thing over and the last of the cereal, which was only 5 pieces at most, was gone.

“How could you!” Luz called out with a dramatic look of betrayal. Hunter and Vee both shushed her, trying to hold in their laughter.

“How could you?” Luz whispered this time, giggling along with them.

“Ya know… we have another box.” The sly basilisk suggested, showing off the inside of the pantry.

“Vee, we can’t eat two boxes of cereal in the middle of the night!” Hunter whisper-yelled, slapping their greedy hands away and closing the cabinet door. “What about the others? What about breakfast?”

“Yeah Vee, think about breakfast!” Luz teased like she hadn’t just been reaching for that box as well. Vee stuck her tongue out.

“What time is it anyway?” She asked and Luz pulled her phone from her back pocket.

The blue screen lit up the room, but she completely forgot to check the time when she noticed a sudden shine.

“Wow….” Luz marvelled at the teens standing in front of her. “Cat eyes.”

The teens in question, being completely lost, looked at her confused.

“I didn’t know you guys have that!” She was awestruck.

“Have what?” Vee felt stumped and wanted an explanation quickly.

“You know when cats are at a certain angle to a light and their eyes glow?” Luz was met with a couple of dumbfounded faces. “Because of their night vision? You guys have reflective eyes… like cats?”

“Reflective eyes?!” Hunter reacted suddenly. The realisation had snuck up on him, as if thinking about it earlier had doomed it to come true again.

“What? Nooooo hahahahaha-“ He laughed nervously, backing up until the edge of the kitchen island dug into his back. His voice trailed off and he took a deep breath. “No.”

“Hunter?” Luz’s voice was uneasy and she reached out a hand to him, but it faltered. Vee looked wary and uncertain.

His heart sank. It had barely gotten the chance to climb out and it sank all the way back down.

“No…” His voice broke.

He hugged himself tight. His arms were tired, his legs were tired, his everything was tired. He slid down against the island.

“Hunter?” Vee asked with the tinniest voice. She eyed Luz and they shared a look of extreme worry.

“Noooooo…” Hunter buried his face in his hands and groaned. “Whyyyyy?!”

Did the Titan hate him? Was he cursed? This night just kept getting worse! And just when he thought he escaped those feelings, those thoughts. Leave them in the dark bathroom and never look back. He really was naive.

Luz and Vee shared a final look and joined him on the floor. They sat down on either side of him, leaning against him as a silent show of comfort.

Hunter felt tears stream over his face and by the way his shoulders shook, his sisters could tell. Luz put a hand on his back and the older boy let out a shaky breath. He let go of his legs and slowly sat back up, dropping his arms on the ground.

Nobody said anything.

Vee wrapped her tail around his ankles and let head head fall on his shoulder. Her cheek smushed and her fuzzy hair tickled his neck. Luz hugged him tight, resting her head against his arm.

Hunter just let the tears fall.

He felt a confusing mix of distress, comfort, exhaustion, gratitude, fear and love. He really hated today, it was such a long, draining day.

But he felt so happy to have these two consider him family. They let him bawl his eyes out without question, sharing this moment of pain just to make it easier for him.

Eventually they would let each other go. Vee would spend the night watching YouTube videos. Luz would read Azura books until sunrise. And Hunter would rest his tired eyes, for once sleeping dreamless and peaceful.

But for now, they would stay like this. Together.

Chapter Text

Hunter didn’t know why his scars shed. But if he had to take a wild guess, it was probably a Grimwalker thing.

He remembered thinking it was normal when he was younger. It was just a thing that happened every few months. It was annoying, but not weird, or potentially unsettling to other people.

Until an extremely awkward conversation with Steve.

It was on a mission a few years ago, when he was 14. Hunter was ordered to capture a Snaggleback. The task itself wasn’t hard, but he needed backup for getting it back to the castle. So he’d called in the cavalry, Steve. He was Hunter’s favourite scout, even though he was practically glued to Lilith. Steve was never mean, he never tried to steal credit or gain favours.

On the way back Hunter found out shedding was in fact NOT a normal thing that happened. They were using an airship to easily transport the Snaggleback. His shedding day was very well-timed, he’d been scratching all day and the flight back home was no exception.

“Ugh! I hate it when my scars shed.” Hunter complained as he itched his arm. Steve had been eyeing his scratching for a while, but he hadn’t said anything. Now he turned to him confused.

“What?” The big hollow eyes of Steve’s mask stared directly at Hunter. Who thought he simply hadn’t heard him right.

“The shed. On scars.” Hunter tried to explain, he remembered thinking it was so obvious. “It always feels so weird.”

“Do you mean the scabs?” Steve continued to stare at him, this time Hunter looked at him in confusion. It was suddenly very quiet a thousand feet in the air. Even the Snaggleback had stopped its chittering.

“No?” Afraid that he said something wrong or stupid, Hunter decided to stop talking all together. He even ignored poor Steve when he asked more confused questions.

Since that day, his shedding became something to hide. He tried to find any kind of information about it in books from the healing coven. But that only confirmed that it was unnatural.

At least now he knew why it happened, but he had no idea how it all worked. Maybe the damage to his skin had exposed the Selkidomus scales underneath, or… in between?

He still didn’t fully understand what made him go from lose ingredients, to a fully formed witch-imitation. Maybe the wound had locally deactivated the magic? He didn’t know!

And it didn’t matter, because right now he needed an excuse, not the truth. Since, apparently, he had walked into the kitchen with a bleeding face!

Last night, when he’d gone to bed, the scar on his cheek was itchy. Which probably meant that he ripped his shed while sleeping. He hadn’t even felt the wound, or the blood dripping down his chin. He only noticed after Luz, Camila, Amity and Willow had collectively gasped the moment he walked in.

He was startled and still a little dazed from not being the first one up for a change. Of all the days to start sleeping in. He had actually been sleeping at night recently, for 8 hours even. But this was the first morning that the clock read 6:30 when he woke up. On a week day!

His friends had reassured him time and time again that sleeping in was no big deal. In fact, they wanted him to do it. But he was still nervous when he climbed the stairs that morning. Still, when he reached the top, nobody was impatiently waiting for him. Nobody scolded him or barraged him with an extra long list of demands.

His anxiety seemed to just wash away, and he felt very relaxed walking to the kitchen. He found Luz, Camila, Amity and Willow at the dinner table. They were having a cheerful conversation over breakfast. It was Wednesday so that breakfast consisted of toast and cereal.

He felt completely at ease. They were happy, the room was warm and inviting, the sun shone bright beams through the window. Everything felt just right. But when he walked in, their conversation stopped. They all gasped.

He had stupidly turned to them with a questioning look, like an idiot, a fool!

Amity clasped a hand over her mouth and Camila brought hers to her heart. Willow dropped her spoon in her cereal bowl and Luz pushed away from the table, standing up abruptly.

“What? What’s wrong?” He had asked bewildered. Again, like an idiot. Their looks of pure horror should've been a clue.

“Hunter… you’re bleeding.” Amity was the first to regain her composure. Her voice was laced with fear and her eyes matched it. But she wasn’t making eye-contact, her gaze was locked on his cheek.

“What?” Hunter touched his face in disbelief. Yup, there was definitely warm, sticky blood on his hand. How in the world did he not feel anything? How had he not noticed sooner?

“Oh.”

“OH?!” Luz yelled out mortified, it made him jump a little. Luz’s whole body was rigid with tension, her hands were slammed on the table. She seemed angry, but Hunter knew she was scared by the look in her eyes.

They had no idea what was going on. But… what could he possibly give as explanation?

“This just… happens sometimes.” He said with great difficulty. He hoped his obliviousness of the whole thing helped support his case.

“That doesn’t JUST happen!” Willow shouted even louder than his sister. Her hands gestured wildly above her bowl of cereal. She looked so concerned.

They all looked so worried, he couldn’t stand it.

“It’s fine, I swear!” He didn’t know what else to say. He didn’t know how to calm them down. They had rarely seen blood like this. He was freaking them out and he didn’t know what to do!

Hunter rushed over to the sink to wash the blood off his face and hands. He stumbled against the counter and gripped the edge. He could fix this. He had to somehow ease their minds.

The moment he saw the deep red smear on his hand he knew what was happening. And he also knew he could not tell them the truth. Shedding?! Normal people don't shed!

His fingers became fidgety and it took him a few tries to turn on the sink. His heartbeat was already going a million miles a second. His eyes darted all over the place, but he couldn't see Camila out of the corners. Was she still at the table? Did she leave? Was she walking over to him?

Was she worried? Was she angry? And what about Luz, Willow and Amity? They looked so scared.

His hands were shaking and refusing to cooperate. He used to have better hand-eye coordination than this, even when he was injured. The repetitive motion of washing became fumbled. Why wouldn’t it come off?

“Hunter, baby, you are not fine.” Camila said, her voice was gentle but stern. Hunter’s shoulders tensed up. She didn’t sound angry, but he still felt like he couldn’t breathe. At least her voice was distant, which meant she was still at the table.

He hadn’t even registered what she said. He wasn’t ignoring her on purpose! But maybe it was better that way. If he could just get that damn blood of his hands, he could fix his face and everything would be okay again.

“Hunter…” Amity spoke softly. She couldn’t believe what was happening.

"It's not a big deal..." He muttered, he was trying to keep them at bay now. If he could just fix this and show them there was nothing wrong, everything would go back to being peaceful.

"There is blood coming out of your face!” Luz yelled again. She was distraught and frustrated with his attitude. Hunter felt his own frustration rise with how little blood was coming off his hands. He was running out of time.

"I know!” He turned around with desperation, he was trying so hard to calm them down. “But- just trust me, I promise it's normal."

All four of them were still at the dinner table. They had joined Luz in standing up and looked ready to jump into action, but it seemed like they were glued to their places. And Hunter was grateful for it. He could use the kitchen island as a kind of barrier between them.

"Hunter!" Willow said his name like it was supposed to mean something. Like the pure protest she put in saying just his name would make him understand. It didn't. It just made him more nervous.

"That's not normal!" Amity explained. She was right, of course it wasn’t normal. That’s how he’s felt ever since that mission years ago. He knew it wasn’t normal, but-

"It is for me!"

Hunter shut his eyes when he yelled back. He didn’t mean to do it, he didn’t want to. He’s never done that before, not here. He just felt so hopeless.

They all fell silent for a bit, catching their breath. Hunter looked at the ground nervously. The words had burst out in distress, as an attempt to comfort them, but he wasn't ready for what they meant.

Should he just tell them? He could explain it better if they knew- no. No no no, sweet Titan no! This could NOT be their first impression of a Grimwalker. He had to pivot this somehow.

His head shot up to watch their reactions, expecting questioning looks or suspicion. But instead he was met with several intensities of anger. Amity's furious expression was laced with somber understanding. Camila and Luz were sporting a very similar look of rage. But Willow's fiery eyes were definitely the highest level.

“Belos is fucking lucky he’s dead.”

Oh.

Right.

Well, at least he didn’t have to pivot this anymore. They already did it themselves. Hunter wasn’t ready for that implication either. He only felt more uneasy. Even though it was… true.

He turned around again very quickly. The energy in the room had changed, at least he could breathe now.

He heard Camila say something about a first aid kit and someone left the room. Hunter was pretty sure it was her, but he didn’t want to turn around a second time. The blood was finally starting to fade, it didn't used to take this long. Or maybe he never noticed because it wasn't urgent.

Nobody said anything until she came back and he heard her walk over. Hunter steeled himself.

“It doesn’t seem like something normal to me, but we won’t keep pressing you for answers.” Camila spoke softly, putting the kit to the side on the counter. Her presence wasn’t as scary as he expected.

"Thank you." Hunter carefully looked in her eyes, they were full of worry. He nervously looked away again.

Camila slowly reached a hand out towards his shoulder. Hunter did an involuntary step back. Her hand staggered in the air and she let it fall down on the counter. He shut his eyes as shame filled his heart. She was just trying to help!

“And if you need help with this…” Camila paused. She gestured to the first aid and sighed. ”… you only have to ask, okay?”

Hunter was shocked. This experience veterinarian and attentive, caring mother was leaving it to him. She was trusting him to know what to do and do it well. She was giving him exactly what he wanted.

“Okay.”

Camila was truly amazing. But why did she look so sad when she turned away? Why did Luz give her mom such a baffled stare? They didn’t need to worry, he wouldn’t need help. He’s done this a million times before.

Hunter breathed a sigh of relief, he finally felt his heart rate slowing down. He put his head back under the sink. The blood was still not coming off easily, but now he actually could fix it. Everything was going to be okay.

“Hey, let me help you.” Willow suddenly appeared next to him. Hunter glanced up in surprise.

He straightened up when he saw Willow’s face. She had the kind of stubborn look in her eyes that he first saw on the flyer derby field. He wasn’t quite sure what she was feeling right now. Things should be going back to normal, why did she still look so alarmed?

For a second he saw over her head. Amity, Luz and her mom stood a few feet away, in front of the fridge. His sister was hugging her stomach, looking very ill at ease. Amity was rubbing her girlfriend’s back, she shared a worried glance with Camila.

Hunter eyed Willow in confusion. She held the cloth she was holding under the sink. Then she held it up as if to show it to him. When he didn’t say anything she took it as the green light and held it against his damaged cheek. Gently wiping off blood.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Her voice so soft and honey-sweet. The motion on the side of his face nearly frictionless. He stared down into her piercing emerald eyes.

Hunter’s brain was silent. It was literally empty up there. Suddenly it exploded back into action and with it his whole face turned hot like fire.

“Uh- YeA- I uhm, I’m okay.” He stammered. He cursed his voice for betraying him.

Willow was unconvinced. She tapped the counter a few times and pouted. The only words that were able to form in Hunter’s mind in that moment were: cute.

The plant witch then decisively tugged a cupboard above her open, taking a big bowl and filling it with water. She put the towel inside and shut the sink off. While holding the bowl in one arm, she took his left hand.

“Come on.” Willow walked passed him and tugged him along. Her grip on his hand wasn’t harsh or demanding, he could slip out easily if he wanted to.

He just didn’t want to.

The feeling was so nice and unexpected. Her soft skin wrapping over his war-torn palm. The determined way she was pulling him along. Before he realised it, she had brought him to the dinner table.

Hunter threw his eyes to the group in front of the fridge, utterly dumbfounded. Luz’s face turned into slight shock before her hand went up to her mouth, failing to hide a smile. Amity followed suit, the corners of her eyes crinkled from her amusement. The fear both girlfriends had was nowhere to be found. Camila also grew a smile, but a much tinier one.

Hunter didn’t feel any less dumbfounded.

“Willow-" Hunter began, his voice didn’t sound nearly as strong as he wanted it to.

“Sit.” She cut him off with a very nice-sounding demand. Pulling out a chair so the back of it was against the table, she pointed at it and looked up at him challengingly.

He turned again to the fridge-group. The girlfriend duo was now sporting full Cheshire Cat smirks. Camila was avoiding eye-contact, her smile slowly growing wider.

Willow set the bowl on the table, wringing the cloth out so it was just damp enough. Then she faced him with one hand on her hip. He searched in her eyes, but saw no way out. So he sat down.

Those forest green eyes, rich and beautiful. They came closer. He felt the heat rise to his face again when she carefully stroked some hair out of the way. His eyes blinked rapidly without permission. She was so close!

Those emerald eyes were brimming with focus. She brought the towel to his cheek again. Incredibly gently she began rubbing the dried blood off. Hunter was almost certain she’d never done this before, but it felt painless.

His heartbeat was accelerating again and his breathing was far from regular. But it was very different from a panic attack. He made slow and tiny breaths, almost like he was scared to breathe. Like expanding his lungs too much would make the moment stop. And his poor excuse of a heart was loud, so loud he was scared she’d hear it, but it wasn’t hysteric. Just loud.

Every time she went away to wash the towel in the bowl, that heart sank to watch her leave. And then it skipped a beat when she put the towel back against his cheek. If that piece of cloth wasn’t there, she would be holding his face in her hand. Hunter’s gulp was unintentional.

Willow’s pretty eyes darted to make contact with his. His heart screamed and begged his brain to come back, but it was gone, turned to mush. He couldn’t look away.

“Sorry if it hurts. I’ll be more careful.” She said and smiled at him. A genuine, sympathetic smile that put dimples in her cheeks.

The boy was too stunned to speak.

He heard giggling from behind him. He hadn’t even noticed that Luz and Amity had moved back to the dinner table. He couldn’t see them anymore, but their presence was palpable. Hunter didn’t know if his face could become any redder. A few shades darker and Willow wouldn’t be able to distinguish his skin from the blood.

A hair strand fell down into her workspace and Willow tucked it behind his ear. Her fingers grazing his temple, creating a tingling feeling on his skin. But the strand fell back down again.

“Can you hold your hair back?” She asked pointing at the now multiple strands clinging to the freshly cleaned side of his face. Willow moved back to the bowl to do the whole rinse again. He still watched her eyes in a trance. When she heard no answer, Willow glanced back up confused and expecting. “Hunter?”

“Huh?” Finally, his brain had returned and his entire body rejoiced. It bursted back to life, or at least back into talking. “Oh! Yes. I can do that.”

Another round of giggling erupted behind him. Hunter’s fiery blush had spread to the tips of his ears. He tried to combat the burning with his much colder hands while smoothing his hair.

“Here Hunter, you can borrow my hair tie.” Luz said. He turned around to find his sister and her girlfriend cuddled against each other. Their chairs pushed close together.

Amity was resting her head against Luz’s collarbone as she hugged her around the waist. Luz had one arm over her shoulders, while waiving the hair tie around with the other. Both of them had that Cheshire smile again. Or rather, still had it.

Hunter glared at them, but he knew there was zero ground to stand on. He just accepted the offer and quickly turned back around. Resulting in another laugh from those two.

His only saving grace right now was knowing Vee and Gus weren’t here to witness this mess. The blood, the panic or… this. Hunter thanked the Titan for that.

Wait, where was Camila? Hunter searched the kitchen and found the Dominican mother in front of the stove. He couldn’t quite see what she was making. Maybe her lunch for work? She seemed relaxed and he was happy she hadn’t left yet.

Okay. Focus. Hair, bun. He could do this.

His jittery fingers complied, Hunter was so glad his brain was back. He popped the hair tie in his mouth as he pulled back his hair. It had gotten pretty long, so the girls taught him how to make a bun.

When he was done he nervously looked at Willow again. She’d been patiently waiting with the rinsed out towel and smiled when they made eye contact. His make-shift heart thundered against his chest.

She got close again and continued wiping his cheek, somehow more gently than before. Now that his brain wasn’t a melted pile of mush, his thoughts were going a million miles per second.

He thought about how close she was. He thought about the complete switch that the morning had made because of her. He thought her cheeks looked more pink than before, but he must’ve imagined it.

Hunter thought she was so gentle and kind. And she cared so much about her friends and family. Hunter knew that he was apart of that too, but now he felt it.

And the feeling was incredibly strong.

Her eyes became too much. He lowered his gaze, focusing on his hands in his lap. There were still some crusted blood smears left on them. He picked at them. Out of sight, Willow hummed as if she was deliberating something important.

"Look up." She instructed, her sugary voice still made demands sound nice. For a second, he thought that she wanted him to look into her eyes, but that was crazy. She was staring very intently at his neck. The blood had probably trailed down on it. He did as he was told without really thinking about it.

Wow, he’s never trusted anyone with his neck before. Wow, that's a weird thought to have.

She went to rinse the cloth out once more, then started cleaning under his jaw and down his neck. Her touch still so soft. Judging from the feeling, Hunter could tell the blood trail reached just above his clavicle.

His heartbeat had quieted just a little bit and Hunter found himself staring at her eyes again. Her gorgeous emerald eyes, they weren’t showing any pity. Just care. And a bit of concern. He had no idea how bad it all looked, he didn’t get a chance to find a mirror in the mayhem.

He could feel her try out a slightly harsher scrub, which he was fine with. His neck didn’t have an open wound. He’d probably do it even harder himself.

He never cared about scraping or scratching his skin, he just wanted the blood gone. Willow wasn’t used to that, and he hoped she never would be.

Just thinking about every time he’d done this alone was making him itchy. Or maybe those were just the other scars that still need to shed. He scratched one on his upper leg, through his sweatpants. Yup, it was definitely the scars. He’ll have to be more careful with the rest, so they wouldn’t bleed.

Titan, he was so weird!

“Alright! Almost done.” Willow beamed at him, dragging him out of his thoughts. She wore a proud smile, giving her those cute dimples.

Hunter’s blush burned hot as he automatically smiled back. A pretty shaky smile at that. Part of him was relieved that Willow didn’t have to take care of him anymore. But a small part of him never wanted this moment to end.

“Just have to wipe this a few more times.” She said as she held the cloth against his face again. Her gentle touch made his heart skip another beat. If it were real, he’d be concerned about how many it had missed.

“I think the wound is pretty shallow.” She wiped once over his scar and stared at it closely. It took him some effort not to shrink away. “And it doesn't look like it’s bleeding very fast."

“Good.” Hunter said, giving in to the reflex for personal space. His poor, fake heart couldn’t take it anymore. He stood up and finally breathed normally. His face had been on scorching hot overdrive for way too long.

Willow took the first aid kit from the table. When had that gotten there? She opened in and searched through the items. He watched her awkwardly. He wanted to thank her, but he wasn’t sure how.

“Uhh I don’t really know how this works though.” She said apologetically. Taking out Azura themed Band-aids and trauma scissors, supporting her claim. Willow chuckled at her items and Hunter couldn’t help but smile.

She put everything back and held the kit out to him. As he took it, his brain screamed at him.

“Thank you!” He blurted out, a little too loud. He clumsily pointed at his face. “F-for everything.”

“You’re welcome!” Willow smiled so brightly she could’ve just as easily been the sun.

Hunter sifted through the first aid kit, laying the things he could use out on the table. Disinfectant wipes, dressing, gauze and tape. Oh yeah, this’ll do nicely. As should be expected in the house of a vet, Camila was very keen on their health.

He’d have to use disinfect it first. Hunter absolutely hated this step, but it was necessary. He wiped down to remove any new blood and as expected it hurt like hell. He hissed through his teeth and balled his fist, trying his best to suppress the reaction.

“Are you sure you’re okay? It looks painful…” Willow said, noticing it anyways. She was about to sit down next to Amity, but paused when she heard him.

“What? Pffft no! I’m fine!” Hunter laughed awkwardly. Her eyes squinted and he knew she didn’t believe him. His wonky smile probably wasn’t helping either. He coughed a few times to get a grip on his voice. “Don’t worry. This is supposed to hurt.”

Willow crossed her arms. Why was she so hard to convince?

“He’s not wrong,” Luz said, forever his saviour. “How are you gonna bandage your head anyways?”

“Are we getting mummy-Hunter today?” Amity laughed. Their amusement seemed to convince Willow to take her seat.

“Ha-ha,” Hunter rolled his eyes, “that’s not necessary.”

He threw the dirty wipe away and turned to Luz. He was eager to actually teach her something. He could give her useful knowledge. Of course, he hoped she’d never have to do it.

“First, you put a 4x4 dressing over the wound.” Hunter opened one of the packets. And draped it over his face, making sure to only touch the edges. He could see Luz’s smile growing and before she could make a joke about sauce, he explained further. “Dressing is a sterile piece of gauze that helps to stop the bleeding.”

Luz closed her mouth in disappointment, but she still seemed intrigued about his process. A tiny feeling of pride filled his heart, which he knew shouldn’t be there, but he couldn’t help it.

“Then, you put a strip of normal gauze on top of it.” Hunter continued, taking said gauze and cutting about 6 inches off. He also took the tape and ripped a few pieces off with his teeth.

“Like this.” He let muscle memory take control as he taped the gauze just below his eye. He pulled it taught and taped the other end on the underside of his jaw. He repeated the process for a second strip, just for good measure. He secured it all with two more pieces of tape on the vertical sides.

“Tada!” Hunter did jazz-hands, which he regretted instantly. He dropped his arms awkwardly and put all the first aid stuff back in the kit.

“Huh, it’s like a makeshift giant band-aid.” Luz said amazed. Amity, who was still cuddling close to her, hummed in agreement.

“Exactly.” He smiling as much as he could with that band-aid so close to his mouth. “Once it’s closed, you can leave it exposed to air. No need to exchange the bandages.”

“Oh cool.” She was impressed, though still a little uncomfortable. He understood his knowledge had… implications. But he’d rather her know how and not need to use it, than not know how when she needed it.

Well, he’d rather just crawl into a hole and never come back out. But it was a little too late for that.

Hunter dared to look at Willow again. She was stirring her bowl of cereal. It had turned into a mushy porridge and judging from her expression, Willow didn’t find it very appetising either.

She suddenly looked up and their eyes met. She smiled and gave him a thumbs up. He could feel heat rise to his cheeks again. He really thought he was over this by now. At least half of his face was hidden.

He knew without looking that Luz and Amity had that stupid smirk again. But screw them! Willow was just being nice, that’s just her thing. And he was just embarrassed about everything. He was just flustered, because…

It doesn’t matter! It’s over now and everything can go back to normal.

“Here, cariño.” Camila said as she put a plate down and motioned for him come closer. “Eat up. You need something better than cereal to replenish the blood you lost.”

The plate had two pieces of toast with a generous amount of scrambled eggs on top. She also put a bowl of fruit and a glass of water down. It looked amazing.

“Wow… thank you.” Hunter said perplexed. He hesitantly walked over, looking a little too surprised for Camila’s liking. He looked up at her, he wanted to say something else, but changed his mind and sat down.

He glanced at the girls on the other side of the table. All three of them were watching him impatiently, Amity even gestured at the food like ‘eat already’. He took a bite out the mountain of egg on toast. It was absolutely delicious. He realised how hungry he was, quickly going in for a second bite.

He hummed in delight and Camila was very happy to hear it. She smiled lively and exchanged thumbs-ups with her daughter. A sudden noise made Hunter stop in the middle of his third bite.

There were thunderous footsteps in the hallway. Gus appeared, grabbing the doorway so his momentum swung him into the kitchen. He screeched to a halt in the middle of the room.

“WHY IS THERE A TRAIL OF BLOOD IN THE HALWAY?!?”

Damn it.

Amity was watching Vee and Gus flock around a very worn-out Hunter. They had barged in one after the other, with the same reaction when they saw his bandages. They gasped and ran to him, inspecting every inch of his face.

Hunter tried his best to assure his buddy he was okay, but Gus wasn’t having it. And when Vee joined in, the conversation started all over again.

Now they bombarded him with barely intelligible questions. Vee even checked him for a fever, practically facepalming Hunter who was beginning to look annoyed.

Amity was sure they weren’t actually worried at this point, but they showed no signs of stopping. Still, she didn’t see a reason to step in. This was payback for scaring them so much.

Judging by the relaxed way Willow and Luz sat beside her, they felt the same.

“If you two are trying to play nurse you’re a little late for that~” Amity said in a sing-song voice. She smirked at her friend. “Isn’t that right Wi-“

“HAHA! Yeah cuz Hunter already patched himself up!” Willow exclaimed nervously. Then she leaned in to whisper threateningly. “You’re so funny Amity~ eat your breakfast.”

Luz tried to stifled her giggles when Willow gave her a menacing look as well.

Amity had no idea why she was so worried. Hunter’s crush on her was so painfully obvious, she didn’t need to hide anything. To be honest, Amity was still a little shocked that Willow liked him back. But this morning was undeniable, her beautiful best friend likes the blonde dork.

Luz swore up and down that she even saw Willow blush when Hunter put his hair in a bun. Amity didn’t see it though.

Gus hugged the older boy tight, yammering as he pushed his cheek against Hunter’s chest. Hunter seemed to resign to his fate, patting Gus’s back with a peeved expression.

“Veeeeeee~” Gus cried out with way too much theatrics. Turning to her while shaking his friend. “Hunter’s dying!”

“I’m not dying!” Hunter yelled irritated. He tried to wriggle out of Gus’s hug. “It’s just a wound, a shallow flesh wound, I’m okay!”

“But what even happened?” Vee whined frantically.

“Nothing- I just… Guys!” He turned to the girls with desperation. “Tell them I’m okay.”

Amity looked from her left to her right, sharing a silent agreement. They weren’t letting the entertainment end just yet.

“Well,” Amity placed her elbows on the table and rested her chin on folded hands. She leered at Hunter. “you never told us what happened.”

Hunter tilted his head and stared at her with a look of pure betrayal. His mouth hung open from disbelief. He kept staring at her while Vee and Gus circled around him, poking and prodding. Willow bursts out laughing, quickly followed by Luz.

"Ugh!” Luz exclaimed after her giggle-fit died down. She was looking at her phone for the time. “I have to get ready for school."

Amity watched her girlfriend get up and walk away. She was surprised to see her eyes so sad. She jumped up to follow Luz while she got ready for the bus. Her girlfriend had literally just laughed her butt off, what was going on?

“That was a pretty weird start of the day, huh?” Amity said as she followed Luz upstairs.

“Ha, definitely.” Luz gave her an exhausted look. They entered her room, which was now just ‘the girls room’.

It was a bit cramped with the extra beds, but they made it work. They tried their best to keep things tidy. Although, Willow’s bed was a constant jumble of blankets that no one could untangle.

Amity’s own bed looked pretty inviting right now. She needed a nap, and it wasn’t even seven-thirty yet!

This morning had really been something. First, her friend was bleeding from his face. It had plunged the room in a state of panic. But then, out of nowhere, Willow had saved the day by playing nurse.

It was kind of impressive how easily Willow got him to sit down and cooperate. After sharing a shocked look with her girlfriend, which quickly turned into giggling, her and Luz sat down to enjoy the moment.

It was such a nice domestic moment. Watching the flustered mess form afar, side by side with her own source of tomato-face. It was almost nostalgic.

She walked over to Luz’s desk, which was a bit of a mess. The books they got from the library, all their drawings, and anything interesting enough to bring home were all be dumped on the desk. Luz’s egg palisman was also there, under a lamp. Nobody knew if keeping it warm like that was necessary, but it couldn’t hurt.

“So… what do you think happened with Hunter’s scar?” Amity picked up her pencil case from the desk, she knew Luz would forget it otherwise.

“I don’t know.” Luz answered quickly. She gathered her books in her schoolbag

“Hehe, maybe he couldn’t see where he was going through that hair and bonked against a wall. I swear his hair is growing faster than mine.” She held her own, now faded-pink hair up from the sides, but Luz wasn’t watching her. She didn’t really react at all. Amity decided to change the subject. “When does the bus get here?”

“I don’t know, soon.” Luz said, starting to feel a little antsy.

“What’s it like in there anyways?” Amity handed her the pencil case before she closed her bag.

“Boring- I don’t know…” She shook her head. Again, her eyes looked so sad. Amity still wanted to cheer her up, but she wasn’t sure how. Maybe she could tell Luz a story about the flying bus back home.

“Ya know, in the Boiling Ilses-“

“Yeah! Um...” Luz interrupted her, she looked a little alarmed. She pointed to the window. “Sorry batata, but I gotta go.”

“Oh. Right, of course.” Amity stepped aside, receiving a kiss on the cheek before her girlfriend practically sprinted away. She stared at the empty doorway.

The room fell silent and cold.

Her heart felt heavy in her chest, as she descended the stairs again. She tried not to feel so dejected, but it just wouldn’t go away.

It had been 6 weeks since her entire life turned upside down. That’s 1 and a half months. Or 42 days. Amity spared herself from calculating the hours. She didn’t need to count those.

Who’s counting anyways? Not her. She’s fine. She’s perfectly fine. She’s strong. She didn’t need to know. She didn’t need to think about it.

She didn’t need to think about her siblings or her dad. Or her home. Or her entire planet. Or how her girlfriend had become a little distant, hadn’t asked how she was doing in a while, hadn’t opened up to her lately.

Hadn’t comforted her about all the things she didn’t need to think about.

It was strange. Even though they had been living together for 6 weeks, and constantly saw each other, they barely had time to talk. Actually talk.

It wasn’t Luz’s fault! She can’t read minds. Amity just missed her bubbly girlfriend.

But it was fine! She is strong. And if Luz couldn’t be optimistic right now, she’d be strong enough for the both of them.

Starting with a portal to the demon realm.

She gathered her friends from the kitchen and they went to work in the clubhouse. They were close, she could feel it. They had a plan for a new portal door, which used palismen magic as substitute for Titan’s blood. They just needed to figure out a good set up.

Which was apparently impossible!

Especially if no one was helping her! Gus was busy teasing Willow, while she made magic flowers in the corner. Something about ‘livening this place up’. As if that mattered right now.

Hunter and Vee were in the other corner talking about a stupid old chair that had probably been there for centuries. She could hear Hunter fussing about ‘fixing it up with a sewing machine’ or something along those lines.

That was not important right now!

Not only were they doing nothing, they were also distracting her. Gus’s endless questions about Amity’s earlier nurse-comment, was making it very hard to focus.

She was trying to draw a schematic for the portal, but she couldn’t hear herself think.

And the scratching!

Oh sweet Titan, the constant itching from Hunter. What on earth was that guy doing? Did he decide to wear a sweater made of Griffin fur? Or whatever the human equivalent of that was!

“GUYS!” Amity yelled to get everyone’s attention. It worked, because 4 very surprised faces turned to her. Good. They better listen up. “Can we please focus on making this portal?!”

“Sure, we just-“

“No! Because we finally have an idea that might actually work, but you guys aren’t doing anything!” Amity watched her friends eye each other.

“Vee, you go back to the house and gather the portal-ingredients we bought yesterday. Willow and Gus, you guys go to the store and buy those metal cables. Hunter, you get over here and help me make a schematic - and stop scratching!"

"Alright! Damn!” Hunter threw his hands in the air. He gave her an incredulous look. “What is with you today?"

"Nothing!” Amity looked around at her friends, all of them seemed bewildered.

Okay, she may have overreacted just a little bit, maybe. She had the tendency to explode when something was annoying her, and then she’d just keep going. Like opening the floodgates.

“Good luck bro.” Vee slapped Hunter on the back. She slithered to the door faster than Amity had ever seen her slither before. She transformed in her human disguise and disappeared.

“Quick, let’s get outta here.” Willow elbowed Gus in the side and they also made a break for it.

Amity looked down, feeling her face warm up with embarrassment. She had definitely overreacted.

“Okay…” Hunter walked over to join her at the round table. He sat down carefully on the mini-cooler and breathed out loudly. “I’ll help you.”

“Thank you.” Amity said exasperated. He slowly reached out for the pen she was holding, giving her a look like she’d bite his head off. She slapped it down in his hand.

For a few minutes, they sat in silence. Hunter drew possible idea’s on how they would generate palisman magic. Amity monitored closely.

“Soooo…” Hunter began, clearly testing the waters. The death glare she gave him didn’t stop him though. “What is with you today?”

“Nothing.” She said again, knowing he wouldn’t buy it. She looked at his encouraging smile, which was lopsided thanks to the bandages. She sighed. “I wanna go home.”



“Of course.” Hunter said with sore understanding. He waited for her to continue.



“And I can’t do that unless this works.” She tapped her schematic repeatedly with her index finger. Those half-scientific drawings, held together with hopes and dreams.

“Yeah, but… those have kind of always been the stakes right?” Hunter said cautiously. He was on guard for any signs of Amity getting mad again. She was only surprised. He was seeing right through her. “Did something else happen?”

Amity looked at her hands, picking at her finger nails. For some reason, the way Hunter asked felt familiar. Sometimes he had weird instincts about these things.

“Have you noticed that Luz seems more sad lately?” She said, trying her hardest to not sound completely heartbroken.

Hunter took a deep breath. He averted his eyes and hummed in a way that showed how big a deal it was. For both of them.

“I don’t think she expected it to take this long.” He fumbled with the edges of the schematics.

“I wanna talk with her, help her. Cheer her up, you know?” Amity asked and he nodded. “I just don’t know how.”

“Why don’t you go on a date again?” Hunter suggested. “You can talk with her privately, but also cheer her up.”

Amity stared at him. It was so simple, he’d come up with it so easily.

“That’s perfect.” She was shocked.

“Well it’s not portal science.” Hunter laughed and she rolled her eyes. Then she remembered something and her face grew an evil smile.

“Maybe you should take your own advice.” She kept her voice sweet and innocent. She was plotting a perfect comeback, the poor boy had no idea. He only turned to her puzzled. “With a certain plant witch?”

Her scheme worked exactly as she wanted. Hunter’s confusion turned into wide-eyed recognition for a split second. Then his whole face lit up with a blush just as bright as that morning.

“D-Didn’t you wanna focus on the schematics?” He stammered. Amity cackled, happy with how her plan came together. Hunter hid his face in his hands until he calmed down.

They eventually went back to work. The idea flowed more easily. Funny how such a simple idea could mean everything. Amity felt a lot lighter now that she had a plan. Her brain was already busy designing a perfect date. She bumped Hunter’s shoulder.

“Thanks by the way.”

Hunter was sitting in the basement, sewing a pink armchair cover with the machine. Vee had helped him sneak it out of the clubhouse.

He really wanted to fix it and this seemed like the perfect time to use the sewing machine Camila had given him. She was delighted to find out he like sewing and taught him how to use the machine. It was very fun, she was a nice teacher.

Flapjack was snoozing nearby on the table. He had made a tiny nest of fabric scraps. Every now and then, he’d wake up to check Hunter’s progress. He’d compliment him when he did a good job. Or when he did a bad job. Flap still didn’t really understand sewing.

Like when Hunter accidentally stitched his sleeve onto the fabric. After telling Flapjack that, no that really wasn’t a good thing, he flew upstairs to grab a pair of scissors. He also suggested to wear something with short sleeves for the time being.

Hunter was a little paranoid that someone would come downstairs and see his scars. Which usually wasn’t bad, but some of them were still… shedding. Flapjack, being the hypocrite that he was, told him it was fine and went back to sleep.

He might be cute now, but Flap wasn’t as peaceful earlier. The little bird had gotten the shock of his life when he saw Hunter with those bandages. His ears still hurt from the loud chirping.

But explaining what happened to his own palisman was a lot easier. He already knew all his secrets.

Selkidomus scales, of all things.

He had read a lot about them when he’d lived at Hexside. The Selkidomus was an strange creature, an amazing representative of the Boiling Ilses’ standards. But they were difficult to study, thanks to them slowly going extinct.

As much as they still didn't know, the bestiary was quite extensive on the demon. There was a lot more information than there was about Grimwalkers. Hunter had felt a strange comfort reading about their traits and life history. It was easier to latch onto something he could actually learn.

He also felt a familiar pang of guilt whenever he thought of the creatures. He knew he was to blame as well, even if he technically never killed one. For days he had been hiring pirates, casting tracking spells and sailing the ocean.

He was hunting his own kind... in a way.

Was it normal for him to feel connected to those creatures? Is that why Belos told him to capture one? Did Belos make every Golden Guard hunt a Selkidomus? Were they all just collecting the ingredients for their successors?

Hunter shivered, half involuntarily and half in an attempt to shake those awful thoughts. Such a barrage of questions was painfully common nowadays. He tried to not fall into a spiral. Again.

“Hey bro,” Luz’s voice startled him. She was halfway down the stairs and hung over the railing. “Watcha doing?”

“Oh hey,” Hunter relaxed when he saw she was alone. “I’m fixing that old chair from the clubhouse.”

Luz jumped over the railing and landed on the couch. She sat down beside him and came way too close to the sewing machine, blocking his view on purpose.

“Ooooh cool!” She laughed.

“It is cool.” Hunter said as he shoved her head out of the way. Flapjack woke up from the commotion and went to greet Luz, who gave him all the head scratches he wanted.

While she was busy with Flap, her expression seemed to fade a little. Her smile was still there but her eyes looked somber. Hunter was reminded of what Amity said earlier in the day.

“Are you okay?” He asked worried. Her head shot back to face him.

“I’m fine! H-how are you?” Hunter raised an eyebrow. Luz grimaced, she heard it too. She just hoped he wouldn’t-

“Rough day at school?” There it was. His kind expression was nothing but a trap! He’d be all understanding and nice, and then she’d tell him all her problems.

“Yup!” She admitted just to move on quickly. She was here to check on him, not the other way around. “Anyways, I was thinking about this morning.”

This time it was Hunter’s turn to feel uncomfortable. They both had something they didn’t want to talk about. But he had literally been bleeding this morning, so his thing would have to go first. He sighed and checked the stairs to see if the coast was clear.

“Is it a Grimwalker thing?” Luz whispered after following his gaze.

He nodded, but didn’t explain anything just yet. A big part of him wanted to explain it to her. To ease Luz’s concerns and have her mediate with the others. Another part of him felt guilty that she was constantly the only one he wasn’t lying to. It seemed like they were always sharing secrets in the basement.

He also just didn’t want to admit it. The demon realm is weird, witches are weird, Luz herself is weird, but Grimwalkers are on a whole different level. It was embarrassing.

“My scars… shed.” He finally managed to spit it out. He looked back over at Luz. Their eyes locked for a solid minute of silence.

“I’m sorry, what?” She finally said after blinking a few times.

Hunter groaned and he let his head fall on the table next to the sewing machine. It was nice and cushioned from all the fabric scraps. Flapjack flew from Luz’s hands onto the back of his head.

“There, there kid.” He chirped and rubbed his beak over Hunter’s hair in way of patting him. Luz did the same thing on his shoulder.

“I’m gonna need a bit more information, bud.” She was trying to be supportive but that was hard when she was utterly confused.

Hunter sighed and moved so that he was laying on his chin. He checked the stairs one last time. Flap climbed up to nestle on the top of his head. He chirped a few encouraging words and Hunter sat up. He just wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.

“So, I’m made from Selkidomus scales. And the Selkidomus goes through a shedding phase every now and then. So…” He made a motion with his hands to put two and two together. Luz seemed to get it. “When a shed isn’t ready to come off yet and it gets ripped or whatever, it damages the skin underneath. That’s happened a few times before. So I’m guessing I ripped my shed in my sleep and that’s why I was, uh… bleeding.”

“Huh.” Luz stared at him blankly and the basement entered another uncomfortable silence. It was definitely not the weirdest thing she had seen in the Boiling Ilses, but this was also definitely not what she expected. “So it really is just something that happens sometimes?”

“Yeah.”

“You shed.”

“Yeah.” He showed his upper left arm, where the scar was a little flaky. Luz had a befuddled expression. “But only on my scars.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know!” He threw his arms up with sudden misery. He dropped his hands on Luz’s shoulders and held tight as he looked her directly in the eyes.

“I don’t know! There is zero information about grimwalkers. Nothing! The only thing all the books can agree on are the ‘ingredients’. I don’t know anything about me!” He whisper-yelled the avalanche of his feelings. The sudden misery turned into hopelessness and a tiny hint of crazy.

“Oh right, that-”

“You know what I do know Luz? I know that the locals on The Arm collect the scales, because they believe it brings luck. But I don’t feel lucky!” Hunter shook her back and forth. He was being dramatic for the bit, while also meaning every word he said. “I don’t feel lucky at all Luz!”

“Okay, okay, calm down!” Luz laughed as she grabbed his arms to stop the shaking. Her brother slumped over his sewing machine, fumbling the loose threads with a grumpy expression.

He had forgotten Flapjack, who slowly slid off his head. The cardinal made an undignified chirp before remembering he could fly. He landed on the table in front of his witch and whistled anxiously.

Hunter patted him to let him know it was okay. He was dead serious, but he wasn’t seriously upset.

“It’s really not that bad.” Luz said. Hunter glared at her, thinking she was lying to make him feel better. “No really. I’m just glad you’re okay. This morning was a lot.”

“I’m sorry.” Hunter’s guilt was having a field day with this entire situation.

“No,” Luz playfully chopped his head. “it wasn’t your fault.”

Even if that wasn’t what she meant, it was true. He's gone too soft, too relaxed. How could he just forget about his shedding? How could he ignore the signs? Just because he was tired?

“I just-“ Luz continued. “I’ve been thinking about this all day. I couldn’t focus!”

“Is that why you had a bad day at school?” He saw an opportunity to change the subject and took it. He wanted to move on before they even started talking, but now he was really eager for a new topic.

“Ah, I see what you did there.” Luz grimaced again. There had to be a way to avoid this. Apart from making Hunter feel guilty. More than he already did, at least. “Yes, but also no! There was something else this morning…”

He waited for her to continue, looking at her expectantly. He had told her about his thing after all. Now it was her turn.

“Everything in due time.” Flapjack chirped at his witch.

“He says you gotta say it.” Hunter translated falsely. Flap looked at him bewildered and Luz smiled at it.

“Did he now?” She asked as she propped her elbow on the table and rested her chin in her hand. Flapjack chirped indignant. He tugged hard on Hunter’s hair-noodle.

“Well it’s only fair!” Hunter defended as he tried to escape his bird.

Luz laughed at their antics. Hunter seemed to feel better after telling her. She knew the same would probably be true for her, but she was ashamed.

“I was mean to Amity this morning.” She admitted after contemplating for a while. She knew he was the last person who’d judge her.

“Mean?” Hunter’s face scrunched in doubt. That’s not what Amity had told him.

“She was just trying to be nice and I was being blunt and rude.” She hugged herself around the middle, looking at her brother for any hints of disappointment. But suspicion was still written on his face. “It’s true!”

“Okay, okay.” He sat back upright and put on a more serious expression. Flapjack made a soft trilling sound, making Hunter look from him to Luz. The tiny cardinal nodded encouragingly and the witch turned to his sister a little unsure. “Why were you being rude?”

“I don’t know.” Luz responded in surprise. She hadn’t expected that question, but it was definitely the right one to ask. Flap really was a wise old man in the shape of tiny bird. “Stress?”

“Why?” Hunter was glad Flapjack’s suggestion worked. His own instincts were to just comfort Luz, tell her that she couldn’t have been that horrible. Now he realised that wouldn’t make her feel better.

“Because!” Luz yelled, but more words wouldn’t come. Why was she stressed? She groaned. “Everything?!”

Flapjack flew onto her shoulder and chirped faintly. She couldn’t understand them but it sounded comforting.

“Again, not your fault, but this morning was a rollercoaster. And then I was scared I was gonna miss the school bus. But I also just didn’t want to go at all.” Luz became more anguished as the truth spilled out. “It’s already been 6 weeks! I have to go to school now. I’m wasting almost the entire day, while I should be making a portal! I should be getting you guys home!”

Luz’s feelings-avalanche was just as miserable as his own. Hunter wasn’t sure what to do know, so he resulted to following Flap’s lead. His palisman was still on Luz’s shoulder, gently rubbing his beak against her face. Hunter patted her head awkwardly. Luz laughed weakly.

“School is not a waste.” He tried jokingly, still coming up with something better to say.

“Human school is.” Luz pouted. She knew it was important, but it definitely didn’t feel like it. Hunter shrugged.

“I know it’s taken longer than we wanted, but you can’t lose hope.” He ruffled her hair and Luz ducked away. Flap jumped down to the table again, chirping his support for those words.

“I know and I’m not.” Luz said honestly, then she sighed. ”But I gotta get that portal working before I lose my girlfriend.”

“Calm down drama queen.” He laughed. “You and Amity are fine. The Boiling Sea would freeze over before you two break up.”

“But I don’t know how to apologise.” Luz whined. This was a big deal to her. She hated disappointing Amity like this. “I’ve been avoiding her since I got home.”

“Well that’s not smart.” He admitted, Luz gave him a grumpy look. He tried to ruffle her hair again, as he thought of a solution. A plan hatched in his brain. “You could take her on a date, to make it up to her.”

Luz lit up. His idea was absolutely perfect. The first time she’d taken Amity on a date in the human world, they both loved it. It was exactly the mundane, slice of life date she promised her. And it was awesome.

“That’s genius!” She looked at him excited. She would make this the most perfect date ever.

“I know, right?” Hunter said with a cocky smile and his palisman rolled his eyes.

She jumped up and sprinted back up the stairs, on all fours of course. She refused to use that thing like it was intended.

“Alright, bye!” He called after her. He laughed and shook his head as he went back to his sewing. Flapjack flapped his wings happily.

After just about 40 minutes, the armchair cover was done. He went upstairs to find Vee, so they could go to the shack and fix the chair for real. He found her in the living room. She was watching tv with Willow and Gus, all sprawled out on the couch with some snacks.

Their mission to go into town alone and buy those wires had apparently been intense. Gus had told him about something called a ‘plastic bag fee’ they didn’t know about. Which meant they didn’t have enough money. They had been scared to death about going to jail.

The poor cashier had tried to talk with Willow, but she insisted that they’d take the bags back. Gus had carried all the wires himself while Willow frantically pushed the money in the cashier’s hands. Then they escaped at breakneck speeds.

Hunter could only imagine the breakdown he’d have if he was in that situation. They had acclimated pretty well, but sometimes it was clear how foreign they really were. Luz was dearly missed on those missions.

“Hunter!” Gus greeted after hearing him approach. Willow and Vee turned around too and waved at him. “Welcome back to the upstairs world.”

“Hey guys.” He greeted back. He held up the fabrics he’d been working on for the past hours. “I’m done with the armchair thing.”

“Woah you already fixed it?” Vee slithered off the couch and over to examine his handiwork. She showcased it, so that the others could see it better.



“It looks great!” Willow commented and Gus nodded impressed.



“Thanks” He said sheepishly. He knew he still had a lot to learn, but it was nice to get compliments. Especially from her.

“Can you help me put it back on the chair?” He said to Vee. He was eager to complete his task and didn’t want to hang around for too long.

“Sure.” She agreed and they moved towards the hallway.



“Hey wait,” Gus stopped them in their tracks. “How’s the… uh- cheek situation?”

“It’s fine.” Hunter told him. All three of his friends looked at him with utter disbelief. “No really, I’ll probably take the bandages off soon.”

“If you need help, you know where to find me.” Willow said with a caring look in her eyes. Hunter could feel his ears catch fire just thinking about it, or just remembering this morning.

He was saved from having to form a response by Amity and Luz walking into the room, hand in hand. Hunter was happy to see it. Although, it seemed like he wasn’t leaving anytime soon.

“Looks like the lovebirds are back to normal.” Willow said as she propped her arms over the back of the couch for a more comfortable talk.

Amity and Luz looked a little flustered, surprised that their friends had noticed. But they were also very happy to have overcome their brief awkwardness.

“I have a sneaking suspicion that Hunter had something to do with that.” Vee pointed finger guns at him. It was hard not to notice that both girls felt better after a conversation with him. The boy had a gift.

“Yeah, you might call me a relationships expert.” Hunter said sarcastically. Many people rightfully scoffed.

“You told a couple to go on a date.” Gus pointed out with a deadpan expression.

“Exactly, who could’ve thought of that?” He responded jokingly, grinning from ear to ear. Or ear to bandages in his case. It earned him a few laughs, but Luz saw her own opportunities.

“Fangs.” She pointed at his mouth, evil smirk and all.

“Stop!” Hunter covered it on instinct. His fear was short-lived, turning into annoyance as he glared at her. “This joke is getting old!”

“It’s not a joke, Hunter, it’s the truth!” Luz yelled passionately. Vee nodded in agreement. She used Hunter’s shoulder to jump up and ruffle his hair.

“Embrace your fangs!” The basilisk yelled with the same enthusiasm as their sister.

“They are teeth!” Hunter escaped her claws and made a break for the hallway. He was going to fix that armchair with or without her help. Vee decided it was with her help, changed into her human disguise, and went after him.

The girlfriends joined Gus and Willow on the couch. Cuddling as they settled, like the cuties they were. Gus was very glad they were back to normal as well. Besides, it reminded him of something. He turned to his bestie.

“If you need help, you know where to find me~” Gus repeated her words with an over-the-top sweet voice. Holding his hand elegantly under his chin and smirking.

Willow’s cheeks went pink. Her eyes dashed from the tv to her friend, completely caught off guard. She pushed Gus away as she tried to cool off her face.

He just couldn't pass up an opportunity to tease those two.

Willow had told him everything about this morning. She had been very flustered and he practically had to drag it out of her, but it worked. Gus knew all. And he was extremely salty that he had missed it.

Chapter Text

Hunter walked on the soft forest floor. The leaves and moss cushioned his feet. There was no path to follow, but he knew where to go. Through the trees, there was a certain way forward.

Large, winding, blue trees. Everywhere. He’s never seen Palistrom trees this tall before. There was a thick canopy above him, but the forest was exceptionally light. Like the sun had an unbothered reach to the floor.

It must be summer.

Everywhere he looked was teeming with life. Those magnificent winding trees had a bunch of shelf-like mushrooms on them. He saw a small, black and white bird standing on one, while it drilled into the tree bark. There were tiny flowers growing between the roots on the ground. He saw a few butterflies fluttering around them.

He always thought that, even though their bodies were very disturbing, their wings were the prettiest things.

The forest wasn’t just bright, it was noisy. He heard rodents scurrying, insects buzzing, and many more birds chirping. All just out of sight. Hunter knew he probably wouldn’t see any larger creatures, he wasn’t exactly being stealthy.

But he didn’t feel like he should be.

He was just walking. On a path that he knew. He wasn't hunting or tracking anything, he wasn't on a mission. No beast in existence wouldn't notice his approach.

The exact moment when he had that thought, he was proven wrong. There, previously hidden behind the giant tree trunk Hunter walked past, was a Celeritas deer. He was surprised to say the least. The demon was too, its head shot up and it stared at him like, well like a deer in headlights.

Hunter stood still as well, admiring the majestic beast. Its blueish fur was meant for camouflage, its legs were even red to blend in with the grass. The deer broke out of its frozen state, turning and running in a show of that top speed it was famous for.

And Hunter let it go.

Because he didn't have to chase it. Because he could just watch. Because he could relax here. He was sure of it. This forest was a place where people should relax.

As he continued walking, the forest slowly become less bright. He could see the sky beyond the canopy a little, the fluffy clouds had turned into beautiful shades of purple and orange. He’d been here for quite a while.

It must be a really large forest.

Life was slowing down, the flowers were closing and the animals were leaving to sleep. The shadows grew and the sky turned darker and darker. Still, Hunter knew the way forward. When the dusk turned into night, the forest once again came alive.

Hunter could hear more sounds than before, but couldn’t see the nocturnal creatures that came out of hiding. He hoped any large demons were still too shy, because night was the best time to hunt. If there were Celeritas deer in this biome, there were predators who ate them. And Hunter wasn’t exactly thrilled to become a ‘unique dessert’.

The moon and stars made sure it wasn’t entirely pitch black. So he didn’t feel too scared. In fact, he felt just as relaxed as when it was daytime.

Something caught his eye, a light blue glow at the base of a tree he had already passed. Between the roots and the long red grass, sat an ice blue crystalline rock. It emanated a soft but cold light. He was instantly intrigued, but when he turned to get a closer look, a noise made his ears prick up.

“Hunter.”

He felt the hairs on his neck stand upright as a familiar voice whispered behind him. His head quickly shot back again.

But there was no one there.

He scanned the environment in front of him. The trees still looked the same and, most importantly, the forest was still loud. If there was a beast stalking him, the birds and rodents would stay far away. He must’ve imagined it.

“Hunter!”

This time he was certain the voice was real. It came from beyond the trees, as if someone was calling him over. It felt so familiar, but he couldn’t place it.

The chances of a puppeteer demon messing with him were low. And he still didn’t feel the slightest bit worried or afraid. He was only curious. It felt like he was going to see someone important. This was the person he had walked literal hours for.

“HUNTER!”

A sudden pain hit him hard in the chest. Like a violent punch or a blunt object traveling at mach speed.

He could almost feel the electrical current through his back as he shot upright and his eyes flew open. His lungs filled with air in one big gasp. Flailing, his arms searched in front of him, grasping at anything to hold onto. But there was nothing and his arms fell back down immediately.

Where was he?!

It was too bright. It gave him a headache, his eyes were struggling to adjust to the lights. His bedroom was never like this in the morning. Where was his staff? Where was his mask? Where was Flapjack? He heard his palisman somewhere in the room, but the chirping was a little hard to understand. Actually, there were a lot of muffled sounds that he couldn’t hear quite right.

Suddenly, he felt something wrap around his neck. His hands instinctively grabbed onto it. He flinched away as much as he could, searching quickly with blurry vision. The panic went as quickly as it came, when he realised it was just Gus. His friend was hanging around his neck and pressing against his shoulder, hugging tightly. Hunter relaxed, moving his right hand to try and hug him back in this awkward position.

Wait. He hasn’t been at the castle in forever.

Everything came flooding back to him. The disastrous mission at the Night Market, a stressful hideaway at Hexside, the Day of Unity and a portal to the Human Realm- basement!

He’s been sleeping in Luz’s basement for 7 weeks! Hunter groaned from the pain behind his temples. He rubbed the side of his face and tried to move his legs slightly. His limbs were really heavy, like he was wading through molasses. Waking up had never been this difficult before.

There was a soft sniffling sound coming from his right. He looked at Gus, his eyes finally worked properly, and saw the boy’s shoulders shaking. He took uneven, tiny breaths that made his body jolt like a hiccup. His face, which was difficult to see underneath Hunter’s own chin, was all scrunched up and his eyes were shut tight. Any air that escaped his mouth came out in soft sobs and when he sniffed through his nose, there was a loud and pretty gross sound.

He was crying.

“Gus? What happened, what’s wrong?” Hunter asked immediately alarmed, his voice came out a little hoarse. With his free arm he pushed ever so lightly against his friend’s shoulder, trying to get a better look at him.

The hold on his neck loosened a little when Gus looked up. He took a deep breath to try and form words, but it only came out as abrupt coughing. Then his lip trembled and anything he said was impossible to understand. He buried his face back into Hunter’s neck as his shoulders continued to shake and his sobs grew louder.

With his newly restored sight, Hunter looked around the room in search of possible danger. He was extremely surprised to find the girls all gathered around his bed.

Willow was sitting beside Gus on her knees. She was gripping the fabric of his sleeping bag. Amity sat at the foot of his bed. She held her hands together in front of her chest with tense shoulders. Vee was standing behind her. She was in a half-human disguise with yellow piercing eyes and a tail wrapped around her legs. Her hands were clutching a phone.

They all looked mortified.

Alarm bells went off in his head. Something happened and he wasn’t there to protect them.

“What happened?” Hunter asked again, looking back and forth between the three of them. He couldn’t keep his voice from betraying the fear he felt.

Willow was still clutching the edges of his bed, her eyes locked on his. She breathed deep and steady. It looked like she was fighting the urge to cry, but maybe that was just interpretation, he wasn't sure. Vee shivered and her rigid body moved out of the blue. She sat down between the other two girls, her gaze anxiously shifting all over the place. Amity stared at the floor and blinked a few times before she looked back up. Her eyes were the only part of her face where he could see her true feelings.

A harrowing mixture of fear and stress was present on all of their faces. But he also saw a lot of relief in their expressions.

Flapjack, who had been circling above him in a wild storm of chirps that Hunter couldn’t follow, landed in front of him. The cardinal had to catch his breath and hung his wings beside him instead of folding them up. Exhausted, he hopped over to his witch’s left hand and rubbed against the palm. It would’ve been comforting if the state of his palisman hadn’t chilled Hunter to the bone.

“Gus woke us up a few minutes ago.” Amity took up the role of explaining, forever capable in high-stress situations. But the tone of her voice was flooded with unease. “He told us you weren’t breathing.”

What?

“Hunter are you okay?” Amity asked worried when he didn’t respond. He couldn’t respond, he couldn’t think, he could only watch her as his vision slowly hazed over.

What?!

“Does he look okay!?” Willow burst out, gesturing wildly. Hunter’s attention snapped towards her, his vision briefly refocusing.

This wasn’t happening.

“He’s clearly in shock!” Vee yelled. She also moved her hands wildly, her features shifting in distress. Gus’s grip on his neck disappeared and Hunter felt himself sway woozily in the now free space around him.

This was not happening!

“Stop yelling at each other!” The youngest witch shouted at the girls. His outburst definitely worked, because they all went silent and looked at him in surprise.

Hunter’s stomach churned, a rising nauseous feeling morphed to dizziness in his head. The ringing in his ears grew louder. The pain in his head became sharper. He blinked rapidly, straining to focus.

Gus wiped his wet eyes aggressively with his sleeve. This seemed to quiet down the others even more. Willow shrunk out of her fire and, when Gus sniffed in a nasty way again while tears kept pouring from his eyes, she rubbed his back in an effort to soothe him. Vee was breathing heavily, seemingly deliberate, trying to calm herself down and get her magic under control. She was struggling to do so, judging from the way her half-human hands clawed in the air. Hunter watched in a daze as Amity noticed it too and carefully touched Vee’s hand. The basilisk startled, but quickly understood her friend’s comforting gesture. She gratefully interlocked her fingers and squeezed in Amity’s hand. It must’ve worked, because her breathing slowed down and her magic became stable again. Amity gave her a strained smile, then locked eyes with the floor and let out a heavy sigh of her own.

Luz!

Where was Luz? He had found her earlier, right? She was here too, right? She had to be. Why hadn’t she said anything yet?

It felt like his thoughts were trudging through mud. Vee had said something about shock, but that wasn’t quite right. He knew what shock felt like and this definitely wasn't it. Still, his mind wasn't working like it should be. He felt nothing but confusion.

He finally found Luz. She was the only one on his left side, sitting on her knees and hugging her stomach. Her face was pale, almost ashen, and her entire frame was tense. How in Titan’s name could he not find her? She was right next to him!

She was looking at him so intently, as if he would disappear if she didn’t watch him. He silently begged her to say something. To tell him what was going on. To help him out of this mess! But she just kept staring at him. Was she even seeing anything at all?

“Hunter?” Willow broke through his trance. Her voice was so tiny, it didn’t fit her at all. Seeing her scared was unnerving. If Willow of all people was scared, then how the hell was he supposed to feel?

No, how? He seriously couldn’t tell. It felt like his brain was filled to the brim with fog and the more he tried to search through it, the more he got lost.

“I…” His voice was still hoarse. He swallowed to remedy his dry, sandpaper throat, but it barely helped. “I don’t understand.”

Willow looked taken aback slightly, this was clearly not the response she expected. Her pretty features morphed into concern. She squirmed in her seat, trying to form a response, sharing an unsure look with Vee and Amity. The pink-haired witch at least tried, her eyes darting around and her mouth gaping like a fish. An indecisive hum escaped when she snapped it shut, completely at a loss. Vee had long since surrendered, keeping her eyes on her fidgeting hands to avoid any expectations.

In the silence, Gus’ shaky sigh was painfully loud. He’d calmed down a lot, probably thanks to Willow, and had been following the awkward glances of the three girls. He turned to face Hunter again and took a deep breath.

“I had a nightmare.” He began. Emmiline had taken a position on his shoulder, rubbing her face lovingly against his cheek. Flapjack had settled into his lap, likewise trying to comfort the 12 year old. He’s only 12 years old! “It made me really anxious, so I went to wake you up. Cuz you said you wouldn’t mind.”

The last part sounded more like a question, as if he was asking for confirmation. Hunter could only give a few quick nods.

“But-“ Gus’s voice broke. Despite Emmi and Flap’s best efforts, there were new tears forming in his eyes. “But you wouldn’t wake up! You were so still a-and it looked like you weren’t breathing. So I checked!” He added quickly, as though someone would hold it against him if he hadn’t. “I ch-checked your mouth and I-… I couldn’t feel anything!”

A sense of dread came over him as Hunter looked at his friend’s terrified face. He had a theory, a sickening gut feeling that settled down after listening to that story. For what felt like the hundredth time, his vision glazed over only to focus anew when Willow spoke up.

“That’s when he went to get us.” She said as she put her comforting arm back around Gus. The witchling let himself fall against her.

“Everything happened so fast.” Amity added, which Vee supported with a nod, her gaze still very much locked on her claws. The tension in the room was almost visible.

Everyone was on edge because of him. Everyone was afraid because of him.

The overwhelming urge to puke felt more real with every second. He knew what it must’ve looked like. He knew what they must’ve thought.

“And Hunter…” Willow was trying to catch his eyes, but he looked away. “We couldn’t find your pulse.”

Hunter’s head whipped around to Luz so fast it hurt his neck.

You let them check for a pulse?!?

She was still in the same crumbled up pose as before, uncharacteristically motionless. But his sudden and intense glare made her jolt backwards, a nearly unnoticeable amount. She blinked for seemingly the first time and met his eyes apologetically.

No- Stop!

This wasn’t her fault!

It wasn’t her fault that this happened. It wasn’t her fault that they checked for a pulse. And it wasn’t her fault that he doesn’t have one. That he doesn’t have a bloodstream. That he doesn’t have real organs, or a real body… That he isn’t real.

Wait-

He does have a bloodstream, he could bleed! He had bled just a few days ago! This was absurd! Stupid! Of course he has blood, he might be a grimwalker but he is alive! He just… doesn’t have a heart.

Hunter placed a hand on his chest. His Galderstone’s subtle pulsing almost felt like a heartbeat, it was trying its best.

He absentmindedly rubbed his chest, then his sternum. Hard, just like he was taught, the pain helped him tune back in. He was met with Luz’s worried face, this time he gave her an apologetical look. He also realised that Amity had been talking this entire time.

“-veins, so I have no idea if we were doing it right. I mean, obviously not because we couldn’t feel anything. Titan, I should’ve paid more attention in healing class. Or actually listened to Emira when she was talking about these things.” She rattled on. Luz reached over the sleeping bag to hold her girlfriend’s hand. Amity immediately quieted down, letting out a trembling sigh. She gave her a grateful smile that spoke volumes.

Luz really had been in some kind of trance just now. Had she come to the same conclusions as he had?

“I was trying to find…” Vee pointed at her phone as her voice trailed off in disappointment. She dropped her hands to her lap. “Anything that might help.”

She looked just as surprised as the rest that she had suddenly found her voice. Her tail unwrapped from her legs and landed with an agitated sweep behind her. Shifting uncomfortably, she cleared her throat.

“Then Gus slammed your chest.” Vee continued. That was probably the pain he had felt earlier. The punch that had ripped him out of that dream. The basilisk looked at Gus, he was still slumped against the older witch, but his tears had dried. She gave him a worn smile that fell just as quickly. “Luckily that worked.”

The room fell silent. Were they waiting on him? Hunter tried to think of something to say, anything. But the fog, and the mud, and every other mess he was searching through didn’t want to comply.

Maybe things were just moving too fast. Maybe he was still reeling from his rude awakening. Maybe he really was in shock. He didn’t know why, but he wasn't panicking like all the other times. He wasn’t in a cold sweat, breathing rapidly, heart beating fast and loud against his ribcage.

He was numb.

And his head hurt, and he couldn’t think. All he could do was look at their faces, hazily and contrite.

Intense stares drilled into him. They were expecting an explanation. Or a promise that he was okay, however unbelievable it would be. Or at least a reaction. Anything!

But he had nothing. He didn’t know. He genuinely didn’t know.

What if he was wrong? What if this wasn't a grimwalker thing? What if there was actually something wrong with him?

“I’m not saying there is something wrong with you, but maybe it’s a good idea if Camila takes a look?” Vee offered, as if she had been holding her breath and only now let go. He knew how uncomfortable she got in the silence. “I know she’s a vet and not a doctor, but she still knows a lot about health.”

“Not about Witch-health!” Amity yelled, her harsh tone surprised him.

“It’s not that different!” Willow said defensively.

“We don’t know that!”

“Don’t you want to make sure he’s okay?!”

“Of course I do!”

Their bickering made his headache even worse. Maybe in a different situation, or simply at a different time, it would be amusing. He’d interject with a lighthearted joke or an understanding remark. Or something else that in another moment would’ve worked. Or even something that failed but still managed to make them realise what they were doing.

But this wasn’t that moment.

“We-“

“I think that’s a good idea, Vee.” Hunter interjected, pushing through the pain in his throat. Addressing his sister directly, like Willow and Amity weren’t even there, calm and resolute. He was so done with this.

This moment, this situation, this night. He wanted it to end already.

The basement fell silent again. This was basically him admitting that there was something wrong. He decided to play it that way.

He was tired. He couldn’t explain shit. He couldn’t calm them down. He couldn’t reassure anyone.

He looked at Luz. Her eyes locked with his, a sheen of recognition painted her face. She didn’t have the same horrified look in her eyes as the others, but her face was stiff with worry.

I don’t know what else to do. Please help me.

His sister's stare widened. She placed a hand on his shoulder, a forced smile on her face. And, finally, she spoke.

“Okay. I’ll go get her.”

——————

The harsh blue lights gave the kitchen a cold atmosphere. It was definitely the middle of the night. The window was like a pitch black portal, no stars or moon to illuminate the garden, apparently the lights along the road didn't reach that far either. It was uncomfortably different from the warm, inviting kitchen Hunter was used to.

Camila was examining him, she said the kitchen would be better suited because it was bigger and had better lighting. Unfortunately, she was right. She had instructed him to hop on the kitchen island. Then she grabbed the first aid kit and some of her veterinary stuff.

So now Hunter was slouched over, with his legs dangling over the edge. He was vaguely aware of the clump of his friends gathered in the corner. They had stopped just in front of the doorway. Hunter knew they were watching, but he couldn't find the energy to care.

Flapjack was standing on the counter next to him. Every now and then, he chirped some comforting words. Flap was trying his best to soothe his witch, but he was still very worn out. His feathers were ruffled and his beady eyes blinked sluggishly. He looked pretty much like how Hunter felt.

Past nausea and dizziness, he didn't feel much of anything. But the room was already spinning a lot less than before Camila started this investigation. The closest thing he felt to an emotion was confusion. A feeling that had refused to leave ever since that dream.

Most dreams feel real in the moment, but when you wake up they're so obviously ridiculous. This dream wasn't like that. Even now it felt like he had actually walked through that forest. He could remember everything so vividly.

It was disorienting.

It had been so tangible, so authentic, even though he's never in his life seen a palistrom forest like that. In fact, he was sure those didn't exist anymore.

It was a proper forest. Not the sad orchard that he’s visited so many times, where all the trees grew in straight rows and weren’t allowed to get too high. Where not even mice nor insects dared to live, forget about any large beasts!

Besides, it was weird for him to have anything other than a cold-sweat nightmare.

Hunter mentally kicked himself. His dream was hardly the most important thing right now. But he couldn't stop thinking about it. Did it mean something? Was it related to the way he slept that night? Or was it just a stupid dream? More pleasant than his usual, but just as unhelpful.

His eyes searched the floor, but the off-white linoleum didn’t hold any answers. Obviously.

"Honey, I need to put the stethoscope on your skin, do you mind if I slide it under you shirt?" Camila asked carefully, interrupting his train of thought. She tugged softly on the back of his shirt, making sure Hunter knew what she meant.

He did. It would be a lot easier for her if he simply took it off, or held his shirt up to expose his back. But there were a lot of scars there. It’s not that he was ashamed of them, but he he wasn't eager to show them either. This was different from a few scars on his legs, he didn’t know how his friends and Camila would react.

"N-" He tried to answer her, but the air caught in his throat, like his voice was trapped. And when he shook his head, Camila didn't seem to understand what he meant. He sighed and tried again. "No, go ahead."

Hunter was reminded of when he sat on an examination bed in the infirmary. He hated the healing coven, but he really shouldn't. They kept him alive. He was only allowed to go there when he had to, when his newest wounds were too serious to heal on their own.

He just hated when that happened.

The healing coven witches would move around him in much the same way Camila was doing. The cold part of her stethoscope pressed against his back, then his chest. Finally something that felt familiar and it had to be this.

He moved his limbs as she instructed, breathed exactly like she told him to while he stared into the wall ahead. His long hair hanging in sad strands around his face, like a curtain shielding his expression from outsiders. Or rather, from his friends. He didn't want to look at them, and he didn't want them to look at him.

“Let me check… some more things.” Camila said hesitantly, her hand a few inches from his chin. He made no motions to get away from her. So she placed one hand on the side of his face, holding him gently, and the other under his chin. He felt two finger press into his skin.

It would’ve been really nice if he didn’t know she was checking for a pulse. Where he was so sure just a minute ago, he now had no clue. Did he have one or not? He couldn’t remember if he’d ever checked his own pulse.

He’s placed a hand over his heart plenty of times, and his galderstone used to fool him with its fake beats. But why would he ever bother to check his own pulse? Using a technique he specifically learned to check if other people were still alive on himself was absurd.

Against his will, his eyes fluttered up and looked into Camila’s. She then looked into his, as if she could sense it. Maybe she could. She gave him the softest, gentlest, most comforting smile. And he nearly broke.

Please just say there's nothing wrong with me.

Hunter quickly fixed his gaze back on the ground. There was a pressure on his eyes, a kind of pain that meant he was exhausted. A pain he knew very well. Sleepless nights were a constant in his life. At first it was simply from working on countless missions as the golden guard. He didn’t have time to sleep.

In Hexside he was too scared to sleep. And the first few days in the human realm he just wasn’t able to. No matter how much his eyes burned, he stayed awake, thinking too much.

Stone sleeper lungs.

The words kept repeating in his mind. That was his theory, his gut feeling, his explanation. He had read about Stonesleepers, even before his desperate raid of Hexside’s library. He used to think they were cool. Learning about the dinosaurs that used to roam the Boiling Isles in his studies was actually fun.

But now, thinking back to the books he read in his hideout left a bitter taste in his mouth.

The Stonesleeper has a very unique ability. This creature can go into something aptly named ‘the stone sleep’, during which it slows its breathing down to near zero. Subsequently, its metabolism and heartbeat also slow down. The creature then turns its hide to stone using petrification magic.

It this state, the demon is protected from all kinds of threats and has no need to hunt. A perfect hibernation, used in moments of danger but more often in moments of peace. When it feels safe enough to rest.

However, not every Stonesleeper with a rocky hide is actually in a stone sleep. The creature has evolved to use its unique ability as camouflage or even as a decoy, tricking potential prey into a false sense of security. Until the demon strikes.

He had read the same information again and again, in five different books, next to the passages and stories about grimwalkers. Searching for any correlation, any shared traits, any effect on personality or character. He’d been so desperate to learn about himself that the air became harder to breathe, and the edges of vision went dark. Flapjack had to calm him down and forced the books closed with his tiny beak. He’d begged his witch to go somewhere else for a bit.

Hunter could barely call it a theory anymore, part of him knew it was the truth. What happened earlier tonight was the result of his dinosaur lungs. And it was terrifying, he didn’t want to be anything like them.

Stonesleepers were not cool. They were giant, dangerous monsters. Vicious predators that survived a mass extinction during the Hecktaceous period, only to terrorise people of the Deadwardian era.

They were scary, Hunter didn’t want to be scary. He already terrified his friends tonight and he hated it. The look in their eyes after he asked for Camila, the glances they exchange when they thought he couldn’t see, it killed him.

He was a little wobbly on the stairs and they all looked so worried. He already regretted his decision when he watched Luz leave. But a big part of him genuinely and desperately wanted to check it out. Not breathing was very concerning, grimwalker or not.

Then Luz came back to the living room with Camila on her heels.

Amity and Willow had to explain everything again. Hunter couldn’t really follow it, not that he tried very hard. There was no new ground being broken, he had all the information already. Listening to it again, this time with Camila’s reaction right there…

He didn’t want to follow it.

He had made the mistake of looking into her eyes then as well. The horrified expression that formed on Camila's face after they told her... It was so foreign to him. He wanted to cry. He wanted to apologise. He wanted to travel in time and never let Luz wake her up.

She really cared.

He knew that already. But every time she showed it, every time he saw her face full of concern, it was like a fresh new gut punch. As if he never learned his lesson: Camila cared.

She had stayed silent for an unbearable time, then she promised to take a look and led them to the kitchen. And now they were here, under the cold, unnatural lights. A soft pitter patter started to fall on the roof above. It quickly turned into louder, more harsh rainfall. The black portal that was supposed to be a window had streaks of water run down it's surface.

He still had mixed feelings about the non-boiling rains of the human world, but the sound was always comforting.

“Alright cariño,” Camila said as she packed up her work kit. She caressed his hair, clearing his face. He braved to look at her and anxiously awaited her verdict. She put another strand behind his ear and gave him another painfully tender smile. “I am sure you’re okay.”

Hunter was suddenly flooded with so many feelings that he couldn’t distinguish any of them.

“Thank goodness,” Flapjack chirped and hopped closer on the counter. It startled him, he kind of forgot Flap was there. Hunter scratched his palisman on the cheek, he recognise the relief on his little face as one of the feelings in the lively mix of emotions inside him.

But he couldn’t muster a nod.

He couldn’t tell him he agreed, because now it was officially a grimwalker thing. Flap didn’t notice his reluctance however. He gratefully melted into the chin scratches.

Hunter felt terrible for the stress he’d caused his sweet little palisman. He wondered if his condition had effected Flapjack in some way. Palismen were very in tune with their witches emotions, sometimes too much so. Hopefully this wasn’t part of that magical connection, but just Flap being tired.

Hunter did feel more at ease doting on his palisman. He was happy with Camila’s news, and very grateful.

For the first time, Hunter looked back at the doorway. Relief was painted clearly on his friends’ faces. Luz was snug against Amity’s side, her head resting on her girlfriend’s shoulder. Her eyes were shut in an exhausted kind of calm. Amity’s own head rested on top of Luz’s, but her eyes were locked on Hunter. She smiled, strained but genuine.

Luz was holding Vee’s hand. Whose other hand was pressed against her chest, meeting the tip of her tail that spiralled down, wrapped tightly around her. She was smiling as well, but hers was not strained. She beamed at him, looking almost cheerful, and swung the arm attached to her sister back and forth.

The solace his sisters gave each other was difficult to see when it was him they needed comfort from.

Gus was on Vee’s other side, but he was somewhat turned away from her, because of the way he hugged to Willow. Gus’s face was obstructed by Emmiline, who snuggled her witch with a surge of kind words. Willow had her arm over his shoulder, the other one was wrapped around her own stomach. Her beautiful peridot eyes were fixed on Hunter. She took a deep breath while squeezing Gus tighter against her. The ghost of a smile tugged at her lips.

Hunter had difficulty looking anyone it the eyes, let alone smile back.

He focussed back on Flapjack, who was more than happy to receive his attention, and eventually on Camila. She had followed his looks at his friends. She, unlike him, was capable of giving them a reassuring expression.

“I couldn’t really find a pulse either, but I’m pretty sure you’re still alive.” Camila said playfully, still stroking his hair. Her humour fell flat as Hunter was suddenly very busy with keeping his dinner down. The stone that fell onto his stomach may as well have been his heart.

He was right after all, he had no pulse.

Judging from the fraught silence coming from the doorway, the rest couldn’t appreciate the joke either. But eventually a few voices murmured in support.

“Maybe your anatomy is just a little different?” Camila offered somewhat awkwardly, throwing a questioning glance at the witches. Hunter didn’t follow up to see their answer. “Your heart and lungs sound perfect, so a weak pulse is out of the question.”

She said it so matter of factly and she kept patting his head, he wanted to believe her.

“Maybe…” Camila began, as if she was contemplating something. She moved her hand onto his shoulder. Looking from him to the other kids when she decided to go on. "There are different stages of sleep. One of them is called deep sleep. That’s when our brains slow down, our muscles relax, our temperature drops, and our breathing becomes really slow. Now, this is also the stage that’s the most difficult to wake up from.”

Hunter fixed his eyes on the wall again. Camila's explanation was of more use for the other kids. It was nice, it just didn't apply. While she kept talking about ‘brain waves’ and ‘sleep cycles’, he found himself more interested in the wall’s decorations. The green wallpaper had such a different colour at night. The rustic shelf mounted on it was littered with all kinds of knickknacks.

Picture frames, spices, oddly specific kitchen gadgets. And a plant that spilled over the edges of its pot, which Willow had immediately volunteered to take care of. Just like all the other plants in the house, the number of which had steadily increased over the weeks.

In the same way they had done in the basement, his eyes slowly glazed over. His vision became blurry and unfocused, his hearing muffled. Camila's voice seemed to blend into the background.

Then he felt something on his cheek.

"Oh hijo." It was Camila's hand, holding his face. She gently turned his head to face her. Hunter fought desperately to keep himself from breaking. She rubbed her thumb over his cheek. “You’ve had a lot of trouble with sleep, right? Deep sleep could be a little… new to you?"

“Yeah, maybe.” Hunter tried to sound as convincing as possible, but he heard his own voice echo uneasy in his ears. Camila gave him another heart-wrenching smile he was certain he’d never get used to.

"I promise you're okay."

Camila was so good at giving him exactly what he wanted. He really loved that about her. He felt respected and cared for in her house, in her presence.

But it also made him question if she was telling the truth.

He was ashamed of that feeling, but it gnawed on his brain. He knew, logically, that Camila would never do such a thing. She wasn’t the type of person to lie. Not about this. In spite of that, those thoughts wouldn’t go away.

She brushed another long hair strand behind his ear. It had fallen in front of his eyes when he looked down, in an almost dramatically sad way. It was a fine representation of his general state at the moment. He wanted to be happy and relieved and grateful, he really did. He wanted to accept Camila’s explanation and climb back into bed, but the overwhelming sense of dread made him miss the numbness he felt before.

While everyone else was now put at ease, he was the one terrified.

“Hunter, I’d like to give you a hug. Would you…” Camila’s voice trailed off, like she wasn’t sure how to ask the last part. But it was clear enough.

At first his mouth fell slightly open from surprise, but then his lip quivered a little and he pressed them together in an attempt to fight his emotions.

He nodded.

He didn’t trust his voice right now. Camila’s simple offer had felt like yet another gut punch. She opened her arms for him so he hopped off the kitchen island, into her warm embrace. Her arms enveloped him entirely. Her warmth and her scent filled his perception, drowning everything else out, just for a moment.

Hunter couldn’t remember the last time he’s hugged someone taller than him.

If that ever even happened.

His eyes burned with a new kind of pain. A stinging, prickling sensation which he knew meant there were tears forming in his eyes. Titan! Why?! He blinked rapidly to try and deter them. He hoped Camila wouldn’t let go too soon, so he could hide his face against her shoulder.

“You’re okay, hijo.” Camila said again. This time, he believed her.

And he stopped fighting.

He let the tears form and fall. Burying his face in Camila's shoulder, her warmth covered him like a fluffy blanket. He breathed a little staggering. He held his arms tighter around her back, not wanting her to ever let go. At least not for a while.

He suddenly felt extra hands and more weight piling onto him. Slowly moving his face away from the crook of her neck, and blinking the blurriness out of his eyes, he investigated. He saw Vee, Amity and Willow had joined the hug. He checked his assumptions on the other side, finding Gus and Luz.

Yup, they were in the middle of an awkward, but endearing group hug. He unclasped one hand from Camila to slowly ruffle Vee’s hair. He did the same for Gus with his other hand. After which he put his arm around Luz to make the huddle feel more like an actual group hug. The trio had very determined expressions, which was kind of adorable.

Catching Amity’s eye, he tried to show he was thankful and signal he felt guilty about causing trouble. He wasn’t sure if she got all that, but she smiled a lot less strained this time. He even managed a wobbly smile for Willow. Which she instantly returned much brighter.

Flapjack landed on her shoulder, signing a bunch of supportive words. Only then did Hunter notice Emmiline had also found her place on Willow’s shoulder. She squeaked that she hoped he’d feel better soon.

“I’m sorry to worry you all so much.” Hunter sighed.

A cacophony of voices erupted. After ages of excruciating silence, he heard all his friend’s voices like he was used to: completely unintelligible due to them talking over each other. But the overarching message was that it wasn’t his fault.

If nothing else, it was nice to hear.

“Bueno,” Camila leaned back, lovingly putting a hand on his cheek again. She rubbed faces and ruffled hair by the other kids while the group hug disbanded. “I know that it’ll be very difficult right now, but let’s all go back to bed, you need sleep.”

——————

Gus stood like a statue in the middle of the basement. The girls had all lingered when him and Hunter were herded to the stairs by Camila. Gus had been ready to get back to their room and curl up on his couch-bed. But with every step they actually approached the door, he became more reluctant.

How do you move on from a night like this?

The weird feeling settled uncomfortably in his stomach. Luz seemed a little antsy too, swarming around them while Camila bid them goodnight. Vee on the other hand, looked pretty happy. She yawned and bounced over to cling to her mom. Amity seemed content too, but Willow was sporting a more worried expression next to her.

Amity had hooked her arm in Willow’s and the look she gave her screamed ‘I will comfort and support you’. Gus just knew Willow hated that look. He saw in her expression that she really didn’t want to be glued to her in that way. But she didn’t outwardly reject her either.

It was weird seeing them like that after screaming at each other in the basement.

Their friendship had become a lot better since the day of Unity, but it was still rocky at times. Maybe he should talk to Willow about that tomorrow. She still had the tendency to think Amity was treating her like she was weak. But Gus honestly believed she was just trying to be a good friend.

Their minuscule scene was a nice distraction, but it didn’t help Gus’s feelings. He still didn’t know if his anxiety was normal. What made it worse, was Hunter being unreadable as he listened to their caretaker’s good night wishes. His blank expression stayed as Camila sent them off to bed.

And now they were here. Both of them standing in the middle of the room, his friend seemed just as hesitant as Gus felt.

He was absolutely exhausted, but there was a snowball’s chance in the Boiling Sea that he could sleep right now. It was pointless to even try.

He felt horrible.

Uncomfortable and tense and, above all else, filled with regret. His heart squirmed around in his chest. Flashbacks of the incident were already floating to the forefront of his mind. The panic had set in so fast, everything happened so fast.

It was scary.

Hunter must be in the same boat, but a hundred times worse because it all happened to him.

Gus was too tense, too anxious, too riled up to even think about sleeping. A smaller part of him was afraid, scared they would go back to sleep and it happened again. That’s probably what Hunter thought too, and that’s probably why they had been standing like this for what felt like an eternity!

Which had actually barely been a minute.

“I don’t think I can sleep anymore.” Gus said after deciding to just rip the bandaid off. His skin crawled too much in the silence.

“Me neither.” Hunter admitted like Gus expected. He stared at his sleeping bag like it was one of Eda’s magic traps. Flapjack was perched on his shoulder, rubbing his beak against his witch’s face.

“Do you wanna try…?” Gus asked carefully, knowing that they probably should. But hoping he would say no.

“No.” Hunter said in a low voice. Flap chirped and the blonde boy tickled his chest feathers. Then he turned back to his friend and quickly added, “Do you?”

“Not really.” Gus admitted. He also hoped Hunter wouldn’t feel guilty. He had a habit of getting it in his head that everything was his fault.

If anyone should feel guilty it was Gus. He’d started this whole mess. He woke everyone up, scared them, all for some deep sleep and a hard-to-find pulse. Hunter just looked so…

He should’ve known better.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Emmiline squeaked. Gus kind of forgot he was carrying her. She stood up on her back paws, curling her tail around his hands and putting her front paws against his chest.

“All this happened because of me, Emmi.” Gus whispered as imperceptible as he could. He didn’t want his friend to hear.

"No no! Not true!" Emmiline squeaked louder. She glanced at Hunter for a second, before climbing up to his shoulder. She hugged the side of his face. "It was just a big misunderstanding."

Her squeaks were softer this time, probably trying to soothe his racing thoughts. It almost felt like she was telling him a secret this way, mumbling so close to his ears. She continued to shush him and Gus shut his eyes to focus on her words and the scaly-but-gentle paws that rubbed arduously over his temple. Emmiline wasn’t exactly a natural at calming people, but she tried her best and that’s what mattered.

“Yeah…” Gus sighed. “I just feel like I made everything worse. I got so scared so fast. I shouldn’t have assumed…”

He’d opened his eyes again and noticed Hunter kind of drifting away. He landed at the table conquered by sewing supplies. Gus felt his shoulders tense as he worried if Hunter had heard everything after all. But it came as quickly as it went, because that would be impossible. It’s not like grimwalkers had better hearing.

"You had a nightmare." Emmiline whispered. Gus was more focused on Flapjack as he jumped onto the sewing machine. Hunter probably said something because the cardinal chirped happily. His own palisman moved away from his face with one last rub against his cheek. “Hunter would understand!”

Grimwalker.

Hunter raked a hand through his hair. He shot a kind smile his way, but he couldn't hold eye contact. Gus quickly looked away as well.

Maybe it wasn't...

Before Gus could finish that thought, his wandering eyes spotted something that put everything else aside.

A red box with a blue border seemed to scream for his attention. The colourful picture on the front and sudden memories of late game nights culminated in a beautiful idea.

“Oh!” Gus exclaimed, stumbling over his feet as he beelined for the box. He managed to grab it without injury and showed it to Hunter. “We could play a game?”

“Oh,” his friend blurted out after his surprise disappeared. Hunter’s smile for once didn’t look so forced and Gus felt like the room got several tints brighter. “Okay.”

His own smile came easy as he bounced to the specific spot on the floor where they usually played boardgames. Hunter moved to join him, but was stopped in his tracks by Emmiline yawning. Both boys ‘aww’ed at her adorable display.

“Someone’s tired.” Hunter cocked his head to the side, Gus laughed. ‘Exhausted’ was probably a better word, but he didn’t want to ruin the better vibe.

“You should go to sleep Emmi.” Gus said as he put her back in his hands. The chameleon gave him a look, she was sceptical. He giggled and tried to reassure her. “Yes, I’m sure.”

Hunter gestured to the fabric-covered table, Gus knew what he meant and nodded. His buddy knelt down and let Emmiline hop over to his hands. He brought her to the nest that the palisman had made from the fabrics and threads. It was cute and soft and nobody dared to touch it.

Gus started to set up the game, they’ve played it enough to abandon the manual in the box.

“You too Flap, you’re completely drained.” Hunter told the little bird. Flapjack warbled from his perch on the sewing machine, Hunter didn’t translate, but it sounded like a protest. He carefully picked him up anyways, putting him next to Emmi. Flap conceded immediately, chirping softer this time.

“Yeah, we will. Eventually.” Hunter responded. He gently caressed Flap’s feathers on his back. “I promise.”

Gus guessed that was about them going to sleep too. He thought it was fair to try, like Hunter said, eventually.

“I know, love you too” He heard him whisper to the cardinal. Gus couldn’t help the wide smile on his face. He pretended to hear nothing and continued to put the colourful tokens in their assigned squares.

They played for a while.

Neither wanted to make good on their promise to try sleeping. Not yet at least. This made them play worse than normal. They made bad decisions, chose the lower numbers on ambiguous dice rolls, and just generally did the polar opposite of what someone who wanted to win would do.

They also took every opportunity to knock each other’s pieces off, so that it had to start from the beginning. Usually they’d show mercy every so often. This new way of playing was strange, but it was also fun.

It was a good distraction.

Hunter kinda slumped and Gus noticed his eyes were shut. But before he could say something, his friend shot back upright. He focused back on the game like nothing happened, but Gus also noticed his eyes meeting his own for just a second. It was like a look Gus would give his teachers if they caught him zoning out.

"Are you okay?" He asked, knowing full well that he wasn't. He just had no idea what else he could say. It was almost a reflex to ask that question.

"Yeah yeah!" Hunter said in a weird, high pitched voice. He was still really bad at lying. Gus kinda hoped he would never get better at it.

"We can try to sleep if you want?" Gus asked. The distraction stopped working and all the bad stuff was settling back in his stomach. Thoughts raced through his brain at breakneck speeds.

"No. No, I just-" Hunter hung his head, tossing the dice back and forth in his hands. "I don't think I can, even if I wanted to."

Gus looked at his friend, patiently waiting for him to fill the silence. To expand further on his feelings. He wanted so desperately to just blurt out that he knew. He wanted to tell him everything was okay. Grimwalker? So what!

But he wanted Hunter to come to him. To tell him out of his own volition. He wanted to give him the privacy he deserved, the freedom he longed for.

He wanted to be patient.

Gus liked to think he was making slow progress in his personal mission of ‘making Hunter more comfortable’. He believed that in due time, he would open up more.

And he did! He told stories about coven missions and his secret wild magic studies, but never anything serious. Not from a lack of negative experiences, Gus was sure. Hunter just didn’t want to talk about it yet.

So for now, he'd stick with the slow progress. Playing games late at night in the basement, sharing a love for books, learning about the human realm together. He'd show, not tell. He was a freaking illusion witch after all!

That's what he set out to do, but if Hunter would just tell him...

Bonding was nice and all — if someone had told him months ago that he would care this much about a scruffy teen, Gus would call them crazy — but this night was already so different. All the same things they were doing felt so much heavier. Maybe this could be the perfect place to start?

His brain was like a metronome, swinging between wanting to talk or not. Gus had to admit that his eyes held a certain expectation when he looked at his friend in that moment.

But Hunter stayed silent.

That tactic rarely worked on him, because he's used it so many times himself. He had used it on Luz so many times now, they lost count!

It was a simple truth they both knew: people love filling awkward silences, and then they’d just blurt out their secrets. The trick still worked on Gus, knowing what the other person was doing didn't seem to help at all. Hunter though, he was some kind of expert.

So deafening silence it was.

As they played their game. Gus rolled the dice, getting a five and a three. Instead of using the high roll to bring his furthest piece into the finish, he used it for his newest piece on the board. And he used the three to knock off one of Hunter’s pieces. His friend shot him a fake pout and Gus smirked.

The silence was broken by the door to the basement swinging open. Both of them turned their heads, seeing Luz walk down. She was struggling to drag the covers of her bed down the steps. Neither of the boys really reacted, maybe they were shocked. Or maybe they weren’t surprised at all and were just patiently waiting for her to descend.

Gus felt like his second guess was more accurate.

"I'm sleeping here tonight!" Luz proclaimed cheerfully when she finally reached the floor. She had a very big, toothy smile, but her eyes weren’t laughing. She was very obviously trying her best to stay positive when she was actually very tired.

“Okay.” Gus and Hunter said in unison. Luz nodded with vindication, like she was saying ‘yeah that’s what I thought’. Was she worried she’d have to convince them? If Gus wasn’t running on empty he’d welcome her with literal open arms.

She was probably also in that same boat, waterlogged by discomfort.

“Can’t sleep either?” Hunter asked as she shuffled to his bed and dumped her stuff next to it.

“Yeah...” Luz said, looking away awkwardly and shrugging in an exaggerated way. Yup, she definitely felt the same. Gus could appreciate her attempts to stay bubbly and cheerful.

“Sorry about that.” Hunter said quietly, looking at his hands as he fidgeted with the cuffs of his sweater.

“It’s not your fault." Luz told him, beating Gus to the punch. They exchanges looks that Gus couldn’t really read. Luz joined their spot on the ground. "I just wanted to check on you.”

Gus swore those looks between them meant more than the words they said. His exhausted mind couldn’t stop the tiny pang of jealousy that ran through it. But it was only good for Hunter that he was so close with Luz.

Wait.

Could those looks mean she knows? Did Hunter tell her about being a grimwalker?

This time a stronger wave of jealousy washed through his intestines. If Hunter told Luz, why didn’t he tell him? They were best friends.

Gus forcefully stopped his train of thought, shaking his head in what he hoped looked like a ‘trying to stay awake’ way. If all of that was true, he was happy for Hunter. He deserved to have someone like Luz looking out for him. And nobody said he couldn’t have two.

“You wanna play too?” Gus asked Luz, trying to hide the mental gymnastics his brain had just done. He pointed at the colourful board that laid forgotten on the floor.

“Ludo? I haven't seen that game in ages. Sure, I’ll play.”

She continued to wipe the floor with them. But only because Hunter and Gus weren’t trying before. Now it was on!

The trio slowly became more at ease and actually started to have some fun with the game. When Luz won for the second time and celebrated her victory with arms outstretched to the sky, a big yawn interrupted her cheer. Gus laughed at the sight, but then he also yawned, in the middle of his laugh. He tried to fight it but, of course, he couldn’t. Hunter look at them fondly.

“Maybe we should go to bed now?” He asked with a smirk, hanging backwards and folding his arms. Gus suspected that his ‘we’ didn’t actually included himself.

“No way!” Luz objected, Hunter immediately shushing her. Gus didn’t think she was loud enough to wake anyone up, but would never say it. He was kind of happy to see his friend fall back into his normal habits. Luz stuck her tongue out at her brother. “I gotta make it a perfect run with three wins.”

“Absolutely not!” Gus protested, revelling in the shushing he got as well. He was already setting up the board and smacked Luz’s pieces off. She gasped in offence. “I’m not letting you. I wanna win at least once.”

“Alright, it’s settled then.” Luz put her pieces back on the board, in the staring square. “One more round.”

Hunter scoffed, trying hard not to smile. He rolled his eyes, but set up his own pieces too.

Halfway through their third match, they heard the basement door swing open again. Willow and Amity leaned over the railing, smiling as they greeted the trio. Gus and Luz waved happily.

Gus was surprised to see Hunter’s face not light up at the sight of her.

Willow flew down the stairs, dragging her comforter behind her like a cape. She had her pillow under her arm like a grudgby ball. Once she touched down and threw her things onto the couch, she sat down between Gus and Hunter.

She put one arm over each of their shoulders and hugged them close together. Hunter yelped as Willow basically held them in a head lock. Gus couldn’t help the giggles that escaped his mouth. It was exactly the same as the time he was wrestling Hunter and she crashed their match, except this time she released them much faster.

Amity came down a lot calmer. She had her blankets neatly folded, setting them down carefully on the arm rest of the couch. Then, she turned to Luz as fast as possible. Her girlfriend was already waiting for her and they embraced.

Gus didn’t feel the need to witness their pda. They were cute, but he didn’t want to see them get all smoochy. He did still hear Amity’s exasperated sigh, indicating how her and Willow felt under that positive exterior. It was so obvious nobody even pointed it out this time, of course they couldn’t sleep.

They too were in that same boat. If anymore people climbed in it might sink from the weight.

“So… sleepover?” Luz asked sarcastically. She shook out her comforter, arranging it neatly next to Hunter’s sleeping bag on the ground.

“Yeah, I guess that’s what’s happening here.” Willow chuckled. Her hand had lingered on Hunter’s shoulder, and Gus couldn’t wait to tease her about it tomorrow, she gave him another warm smile and stood up. Picking up the stuff she had thrown so haphazardly just a second ago.

Gus was again surprised by his friend’s reaction. Hunter was supposed to be an open book, but he couldn’t read that expression. He wasn’t embarrassed or flustered, he didn’t look sad that Willow was leaving, he didn’t even seem happy that she had been so close.

He could almost see it, what his reaction would normally be. The boy would be blushing and smiling, he’d be mesmerised by her. Was it weird that Gus was this involved with their crush hell? Nah.

He was just a very nearby best friend.

Very nearby, like all the time. Probably because they lived in the same house right now.

The girls were chatting as they set up shop, building what Gus could only describe as a pile. A cozy pile though.

“I’m joining,” Gus said as he pulled his covers from the couch, dropping it on the nest that had engulfed Hunter’s flimsy mattress.

“You’d rather sleep with us on the ground than on your own soft, elevated couch?” Amity deadpanned.

“Yup!” Gus matched her sass and pointedly dropped his pillow as well.

“Awww Gustifer~” Luz draped herself over his shoulders and gave him a noogie. Gus cringed from the weird feeling of her knuckles rubbing over his scalp. He laughed, thrashing until he escaped her.

Willow and Amity burst out laughing at the state of his hair. The plant witch reached out with an unsteady head to try and fix it. Gus swatted it away, much rather doing it himself. He tried and failed to stay mad, rolling his eyes with a sigh.

The girls finally calmed down. Luz’s joke about it turning into a sleepover felt more and more accurate.

“I like how humans can have a moonlight conjuring more than once a year.” He said while fixing the position of his blanket. “And without moonlight.”

“Well, we’re not conjuring anything.” Amity pointed out with a smirk.

“Not yet~” Willow joked in a singsong voice.

Gus looked back at Hunter, expecting a smile at least. But he was still just sitting there, staring off into the distance. He didn’t like not knowing what Hunter was thinking.

“We should move the couch.” Willow said, interrupting his worries. She was arranging all the pillows on one side of the pile. “I don’t think everyone will fit otherwise.”

“Yeah good idea!” Gus said, a bit louder than he intended. He hoped that Hunter would feel better once their weird little fort was done and they could get some sleep.

He must’ve noticed him staring, because Hunter seemed to zone back in from wherever he was and started cleaning the game. After putting it away, he kind of wandered around the room. Like he was suddenly very interested in Camila’s old stuff.

The pile was done, and it was big. But without any mattresses to speak of, it didn’t look that inviting yet.

“I think we need more blankets.” Gus pondered out loud, hand on chin.

“We can gather some stuff from the living room.” Luz offered.

“I’ve got blankets!” Vee announced as she thundered down the stairs. Carrying a stack in her arms higher than her head. She held them up once she reached the bottom, like she was presenting them, beaming a smile at her friends.

They all laughed and greeted her.

“Did we all have the same idea or something?” Gus asked, watching her drop the fluffy blankets on the floor and rush towards Hunter. Vee hugged him tightly and he wrapped his arms around her back.

Gus saw her smile fade just for a moment as she buried her face in her brother’s chest. But when she bounced away, it was back in full force. Gus watched her inspect their pile with great interest. When he turned around again he saw in Hunter’s eyes what he hoped so fervently wouldn’t be, guilt.

His heart sank and he felt a lump in his throat. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what to say.

“Sort of.” Willow answered his question, looking towards Vee confused. “None of us could sleep, but…”

“Vee said she wasn’t joining.” Amity finished her sentence. She and Luz had picked up the new blankets and were organising them in the nest. None of them seemed to have noticed what he saw.

“I thought I couldn’t fall asleep because of those two.” Vee pointed accusingly between the other girls.

“Yeah, she just kept tossing and turning,” Amity pointed her thumb at Willow. “More than usual I mean.”

The plant witch stuck her tongue out at her friend. A myriad of knowing laughs filled the room.

“It’s not like you were much better.” Vee said in Willow’s defence. “You kept sighing the whole time!”

She demonstrated with a mockingly dramatic sigh. Willow joined in and they started alternating like a broken record. Amity rolled her eyes.

“Should we go to the basement too?~” Vee imitated their pink-haired engineer with an overly soft voice.

“Do you think Luz is coming back?~” Willow imitated her with another dramatic sigh.

“Awww batata!” Luz hugged her girlfriend and planted a kiss on her cheek.

Amity pouted as her face turned red. The other two girls cackled, high-fiving each other for the great performance.

“So I kicked em both out.” Vee continued with the story. “Thought we’d all sleep better if they just joined downstairs like Amity kept moaning about.”

“Willow suggested it too!” Amity fired back.

“But when they were gone, I still couldn’t sleep” Vee ignored the interruption. “So I thought ‘ah heck, why not?’ and grabbed as many blankets as I could find.”

Gus laughed at her story. But by the way she had hugged Hunter when she came down, he knew she felt more strongly about it than she let on. Vee probably felt the same way he felt, the same way they all felt. At least they weren’t alone, right?

That has been their saving grace this entire time; they had each other.

Willow yawned and flopped down onto the pile now covered in layers of blankets. She sprawled out her limbs in an exaggerated way. Gus knew, ironically, that’s how she usually ended up sleeping anyways.

“Leave some room for the rest of us!” Amity jumped down beside her and pushed her playfully.

Gus let himself fall onto them, getting pushed and poked until he rolled to Willow’s other side. Luz claimed a spot next to her girlfriend and Vee curled up next to her sister, shifting to her Basilisk form.

As if they had practised it, they turned their attention to Hunter in unison. Gus was really worried that he would misunderstand. They weren’t here because of him, they were here for him.

Hunter looked really out of it, staring blankly with half-closed eyes. He didn’t even get flustered about Willow basically sleeping in his bed. And Gus really wanted to see that, it would’ve been so funny. Instead, his friend just seemed confused.

“Get in here dude!” Gus exclaimed, getting four different ‘yeah’s as support from beside him. The anxiety that had stuck to the back of his mind acted up, jittery and tense. What if this didn’t work? What if he didn’t like the idea of this nest-thing?

To his relieve, Hunter’s confused expression fell into a smile. His eyes closed and something like an amused scoff escaped his mouth.

He walked over and slowly laid down on his back next to Gus. He let out a long, strained sigh as his body seemed to relax. Amity turned off the lights with a spell circle, sinking the room in near darkness, only the faint glow of the fairy lights remained. Sandwiched between his two best friends, Gus shut his eyes, feeling the anxiety finally leaving his mind for good.

Hunter laid in the darkness and silence. His eyes had long since adjusted to the shadows and the faint glow above him. He could see every detail of the ceiling and it was the only thing he could focus on. Folding his hands over his belly, he tried not to disturb Gus. Who had been sleeping soundly next to him for a while now.

All of them were asleep already, but he couldn’t.

He knew he wouldn’t be able to before even laying down. He was past tired. Past fatigue. Past exhausted. He didn’t feel empty either, just bad. Really really bad.

He sat up, not sure if the uncomfortable feeling in his back was from the blankets or his thoughts. He looked at them. Gus, Willow, Amity, Luz and Vee. Titan, they were all so important to him and he treated them like this.

The least he could do was ensure he wouldn’t wake them up, again. He wanted to toss and turn, worm around until this stupid night finally turned to day. So he crawled away, to preserve their sleep. Not too far away, he faced them sitting with crossed legs.

He summoned Flapjack’s staff form.

If he were awake, the cardinal would have protested egregiously. He would've flapped his wings hard and demanded his witch go to sleep. He would have pecked him on the head and given him some mystic advice or a lecture. He would've chirped up a storm until Hunter resigned to avoid waking everyone else. Again.

But no palisman could ignore this command, especially one as genuine and desperate as Hunter's was in that moment.

He was so grateful for his friends and so happy to be surrounded by them. He had to keep this. He had to protect this. Clutching the wooden staff closer to his chest, he understood what he had to do. He hated it, but he didn’t care. It’s the one thing he’s good at.

He could keep them safe. He could do what he was trained for, was made for. He could guard them.

Chapter Text

Hunter sat cross legged on the floor of the basement. His friends were all in front of him, snuggled up in the nest they had built hours ago. At least, he hoped it had been hours.

Time was blending in itself.

He yawned for what felt like the hundredth time, purposefully not suppressing it. It was a good way to keep himself awake, taking in a big amount of air and temporarily increasing his heart rate. He had a dozen tactics to help him stay alert at night.

He gripped Flapjack's staff closer against his chest.

He had breathing techniques for this, different from the one Gus had taught him, but this one was used to stay mindful instead of to calm down from a panic attack. Breathing rapidly for 15 seconds, then slowly for another 15 using his abdomen. It might work the same way for panic attacks, he probably wouldn’t remember that for next time though.

Hunter also counted. He counted blankets, pillows, boxes and fairy lights. He counted fingers and toes. He counted everything that could be counted. It was a good technique too, just like watching. Very actively watching everything around him.

Watching over them.

Willow was sprawled out, limbs in complete disarray. Gus was cuddled up to her left side, hugging her stomach as one of her legs was draped over both of his. Amity had mirrored him on the witch’s right side at first, but now she was entangled with Luz. Which Hunter thought was as adorable as it was hilarious.

Since Luz was drooling and snoring, while Amity slept like a fairytale princess. Her pink hair was draped behind her like silk and her limbs were placed delicately, she was even smiling like someone in a movie. Luz’s hair on the other hand was anywhere and everywhere, she’ll have a bad case of bedhead in the morning. Sometimes she even kicked her legs like a dog, but that was entirely due to Vee’s tail trapping them in place. Still, she was sleeping way more chaotic than their demon sister. Who had a calm grip on her blankets and was snuggling into her pillow. Vee often made a trilling sound, like the happy version of a snarl. Also adorable and hilarious.

Hunter would be happy to report they all slept soundly, as if they were dusted with sleeping nettles. Well, mostly soundly.

Willow had been moving around a lot in her sleep. At one point she'd kicked Amity's shin, Hunter cringed knowing how painful that was. Their pink haired engineer had groaned and turned on her back, her head lifted slightly. Hunter was worried she'd wake up and notice him sitting there. Her eyes opened and he was sure he was done for, but Amity lay back down. It was probably too dark for her to see anything anyways.

When Amity moved to cuddle with Luz, another arm got hucked at her head. Luckily it missed, but Hunter suddenly had to try very hard to suppress a laugh. Briefly dropping Flap’s staff on his lap to clasp both hands over his mouth. His lungs ached as they expanded with nowhere to put the air. A muffled noise escaped through his fingers.

It had completely messed up his concentration. He returned to his breathing exercise, gradually calming down and regaining his usual posture.

Hunter was probably the only one who liked the fact that Willow thrashed around so much in her sleep. It was cute. It fit her fierce and competitive spirit well. Most of all, it let him know that she was there.

It let him know that she was alive.

He needed that right now. He had to make sure they were all safe.

Hunter’s thoughts were interrupted by the basement door creaking open and bright rays of light filling the room. His head snapped to it, seeing Camila peeking through the opening. All he could do was watch as she walked down a few steps in order to look over the railing. He saw her scan the others with a fond smile, until she found him.

Their eyes locked and suddenly his actions felt a little silly. He'd been so sure that guarding them was the right thing to do, the only thing he could do. But now... was he wrong?

Camila's surprised and instantly worried expression seemed to suggest so. He looked away before her face made him feel queasy. Was she mad? Disappointed? Luz said one of them was worse, but he couldn't remember which one. Disappointing Belos always made him mad, there was no worse.

Maybe just worried was worse to him, he couldn’t handle her gentle, caring face. The matriarch slowly and quietly descended the stairs.

He rose to his feet to try and ease some of her concerns, but he was more unstable than he expected. He stumbled backwards, only able to catch himself using Flap’s staff as counterbalance.

"G-good morning." He stuttered in a pretty bad attempt to seem normal. Which was made worse by his body automatically going to stand at attention. Despite that, he tried to give her a cheerful smile.

Camila didn’t respond right away, the look on her face strangled his insides. With furrowed brow she examined him, her gaze flitting from side to side as she kept switching between both his eyes. Her mouth moved without sound, she didn’t know what to say. Then she sighed.

“Are you okay, hijo?” Her voice soft and warm. Camila held his face and rubbed his cheek with her thumb. Hunter looked up surprised.

He nodded, not trusting his voice. He was sure his face already betrayed him, shaky lip and misty eyes.

Camila somehow looked even more perturbed. She scanned the nest where his friends were still sleeping like babies. She looked like she was pondering something, then breathed in deep and focused on him again.

“Wanna help me make breakfast?” Her hand moved to pet his hair, before landing on his shoulder.

“Yes!” He almost forgot he was supposed to be quiet. He hurried a glance at his friends, but they didn't even stir.

“Okay.” She whispered with a nod. Giving him another gut punching smile, she tugged his shoulder ever so slightly and led him to the stairs.

Once they ascended and he followed their host out the door, the golden sunlight hit him. The warm rays tickled his nose, blinding his eyes. It completely took over the hallway, granting it a very welcome glow. It was finally day, after a night that felt like an eternity.

Finally dawn.

He saw Camila waiting for him to finish basking. He instantly picked up his pace. He shouldn't do that, Belos hated waiting.

He tripped again, but this time it wasn't because his feet gave out. Realisation struck him like lightning.

Camila wasn't Belos.

She wasn't anything like him at all. Why was he thinking about him!? Why was he acting as he would if he was still-

He shook his head, heart beating loud against his ribcage. He released a breath he didn’t realise he was holding. Camila hadn’t seen his stumble, already leaving in the direction of the kitchen. He hastily picked up the pace, doing his best to hide his gasping.

Everything was fine, he wasn’t the Golden Guard anymore. He was fine.

He got his breathing under control and, luckily, Camila didn’t appear to notice. When he trailed behind her into the kitchen, he looked out the window and saw he’d been mistaken. It wasn’t even close to dawn. He threw a glance at the microwave’s clock, reading 10:43 am. No wonder last night had felt twice as long.

Maybe that wasn’t a wonder either way.

"You can put the staff away, dear." Camila said fondly as she walked behind the kitchen island. She wore an amused smile as she looked him up and down.

"Oh right." A flash of yellow magic brought the bird back to chirping and flying.

And he was NOT happy.

Chirruping up a storm that was too fast and too incoherent for Hunter to follow. He tugged very hard on his long hair strand in the front, his chirps becoming even more scrambled. With every flap of his wings, he yanked on his head.

“Ow ow ow ow, Flap!” Hunter bumped into the table, trying to escape his palisman. The little bird spat out the blonde strands, realising his outrage might actually be hurting his witch.

“You shouldn’t have done that!” Flapjack flew close to his face. He hung in the air wheezing and Hunter was frozen. They were at a standstill. Only until Flap could catch his breath. “You were supposed to go to sleep!”

“Flap I’m sorry.” Hunter knew he messed up, but he hadn’t expected the little bird to be this mad. “I’m sorry for putting you in staff form, but I needed to!”

“You needed sleep Hunter!” He squawked again. “Still do!”

"I know, but-"

“You made a promise.” The cardinal spoke softer, landing on the table. Was this the difference between disappointed and mad? He folded his wings and continued in those low cheeps. “You were going to try.”

“I did try. But I... I can't Flapjack." Hunter's voice strained, threatening to crack. "I can't."

“Oh Hunter…” Flap’s eyes turned somber and worried. He lowered down to be at eye level with his palisman, crouching until his chin rested on the table in between his hands. The little bird instantly hopped closer, bumping his head against him and nuzzling his cheek. He faintly sung a soothing melody. “It’s okay, you’re okay.”

Hunter closed his eyes, feeling the soft feathers brush against his face. He wanted to apologise again, but the words got caught in his throat. Flap sung more sweet sentiments, he felt a lot better as the air between them slowly became less intense.

“I am sorry for yelling at you.” His palisman said and Hunter instantly shook his head. The muscles in his legs started to acidify, resulting in a sharp ache. Rising to his feet again, he held out his hands as a platform for Flap to jump on.

“I mean, you had a pretty good reason to be angry.” He said, feeling a little ashamed. The bird stretched his legs, his little claws carefully placed on his hands.

“Yes, don’t do that again.” Flap flew up on his shoulder. He perched and folded his wings, planning to stay right there for a long time. “But you went through a lot yesterday, so I understand. Just promise me you’ll sleep soon?”

“I promise I’ll try.” Said Hunter. He saw a red tail flicking out of the corner of his eye. But Flap nodded in agreement.

When he turned around, he was greeted by a very confused and intrigued Camila. To be honest, he had forgotten she was there, and what he was doing in the kitchen. He stared at her like a deer in headlights. She raised an eyebrow. Hunter hurriedly walked over to her, to actually do what he was supposed to.

“Flap’s pretty mad.” Hunter smiled nervously. He needed to tell her something as explanation.

“Was.” His palisman corrected, puffing out his chest feathers.

“He’s just worried about you.” Camila said and Flap nodded with a huff. She scratched him under his chin, earning some happy trills. “And he’s probably right.”

“Definitely.” Hunter swallowed hard. “I just- I-I-I just c-c-“

“It’s alright, baby.” She stroked his hair, spurring him to take a calming breath with her other hand. With her guidance, Hunter felt all the tension fall from his shoulders. Camila gave him a cheeky grin. “Now, these pancakes aren’t gonna make themselves.”

Hunter smiled, and for the first time that morning, it was real.

“Can you grab the milk and eggs, hijo?” Their caretaker directed him to the fridge while she pulled a bowl from one of the cabinets.

She had been calling him ‘hijo’ a lot lately. Hunter had no idea what it meant, but at this point he was scared to ask. He assumed it was similar to when she called him ‘dear’ or ‘baby’.

He also noticed she liked to pet his head a lot, but he didn't mind.

Camila got the whisk out of the drawer, while he grabbed the other supplies for the pancakes. This human breakfast food had been and instant success with them, it was Hunter's favourite from the first time he ate one. Though, being related to Flapjack's namesake might have something to do with that.

After gathering all the ingredients, Camila told him to start cracking eggs. As he picked one out of the carton Hunter felt it slips out of his fingers. He watched it fall as if in slow motion, entirely perplexed that something escaped his normally careful hand.

"Uhhh..." Is all he could say when it splat into the bowl, the shell shattering into tiny pieces. He slowly turned to Camila, but she laughed. A bubbly kind of laugh that didn’t seem to be at his expense.

"That's alright." She said between chuckles, fishing the eggshells out. She held out another one for him to try again.

"Maybe it's better if you do it." Hunter said with a nervous smile. Camila shrugged and cracked the rest of the eggs. He dubiously studied his hand, still not really understanding what went wrong.

Camila weighed the right amount of flower, sugar, and milk and poured them into the bowl, then she handed Hunter the whisk. He was able to mix everything without spilling, thank Titan.

“Isn’t it too late for breakfast?” He asked, eyeing the microwave's little clock again.

“Breakfast can be whatever I want it to be.” Camila said cheekily, Hunter couldn't help but laugh. It burst out of him in a somewhat hesitant giggle. Camila looked very proud of herself, beaming as she poked his cheek. “¿Es verdad no?

Camila carried the mixture to the countertop and put a pan with butter on the stove. They quickly settled into a routine where Hunter would put the batter in the pan and she would fry and flip them.

Flap was hanging around Camila, perching on her shoulders, picking at her hair - a lot softer than he's ever done to his witch - and standing on her hands whenever possible. Hunter warned him to not annoy her so much, but the Dominican woman assure them it was fine.

Hunter answered her questions about palismen and she answered his about human realm animals. They quickly got on the topic of her job, Camila explained what exactly she did and he listened with great interest. He wished he could come with her some time.

“Wait, it’s Thursday.” Hunter realised with growing anxiety. “Don’t you need to get to work? Doesn’t Luz have to go to school?”

“Don’t worry, hijo.” She assured him as she flipped another pancake. “I called to the school and explained that Luz would stay home today. And I’m taking a day off from work. Obviously I couldn’t tell them why, so I said it was for personal reasons.”

Camila’s explanation washed away his stress, but his insides still squirmed. He felt horrible for causing so much trouble. Preparing breakfast had apparently served as a great distraction, but now all the shame came flooding back.

Hunter didn’t feel like much help frying the pancakes. He constantly dropped things, knocked over other things, stumbled over nothing. But Camila was patient, holding the important stuff steady and cleaning up after him like it was no big deal.

She didn’t seem to care that he was awful today. And despite everything, Hunter actually had a lot of fun making food together. Camila appeared to enjoy it too, even though it took them ages.

By the time they were done, it might as well been their lunch.

Camila clapped her hands after they used up all the batter, two plates with high stacks of pancakes were waiting to be devoured. She said that they should set the table first and then wake up the others, to give them just a little more time to sleep. She got out some plates and walked to the table.

When he followed her with the cutlery in hand, he bumped into the kitchen island. The corner dug painfully in his side. He made a weird low breathy sound and Camila turned on her heels.

"I'm okay!" He choked out before she could ask. She eyed him suspiciously as he gripped his side. He smiled awkwardly. Camila supposedly decided to spare him, she sighed and went back to what she was doing.

“Should we wake the others now?” Hunter asked only a few minutes later, as he stood back and admired their work.

“Sí, I’ll go get them,” Camila pat his shoulder again. But because it didn’t feel warranted to him, he looked up at her surprised. “You brace yourself.”

He gave her yet another nervous smile. Before he could ask to come with, she had already disappeared around the corner. Her parting words of advice finally registered in his brain and he realised it was for the best.

He needed some time to prepare.

He reached a hand up, to where Flapjack had made himself comfortable in his hair, and felt a pointy beak softly rubbing against his palm. He absentmindedly scratched him under the chin, letting the sensation sooth him before one of the most awkward and tense days of his life began.

He could do this, right?

Suddenly, the peace and tranquility he’d experienced before was vanquished. Gus burst into the room, screeching to a stop in front of him.

“Hunter!” He yelled with a wide smile, like he’d been looking for him. “Good morning!”

“G-good morning!” He stumbled over his words. At least it wasn’t the floor this time. Last thing he needed right now was Gus watching him trip.

The others filed into the room, saying a couple of ‘good morning’s. They all started talking over each other and Hunter had no idea who to focus on. Camila made up the rear, giving him a sympathetic smile once he was surrounded.

“How are you feeling?” Gus grabbed his attention by tapping his arm. He also captured everyone else’s, it suddenly got uncomfortably silent. Six pairs of eyes locked on him.

“Great!” Hunter lied, giving his buddy a thumbs-up. He had no idea why he kept trying, he knew nobody would believe him.

He just hoped that one day he’d miraculously get better a lying.

As expected, Gus gave him a sceptical look. Luz was behind him, crossing her arms. She looked more annoyed than anything, shooting him a sour expression. Flapjack ruffled his hair in a silent show of support. Hunter decided not to study the expressions of the rest of his friends, he’d predicted this tension but that didn’t make it any less uncomfortable. Everyone was well aware of the giant ratworm in the room.

“Did you sleep well?” Amity asked nonchalantly. She was able to rip that bandaid off a lot better than anyone else. She still looked uneasy, even if it didn’t show in her voice.

“Um… sure.” His voice trailed off, he didn’t know where to look.

“Did you sleep at all last night?” Willow didn’t miss a beat. Hunter’s eyes snapped to her and he froze, he knew lying wouldn’t work but he didn’t want to admit it either.

“Hunter!” She crossed her arms, eyes wide in disbelief. His hesitation had already told her everything she needed to know.

"I tried... kind of." He squirmed under her fiery eyes.

“Hunter.” Her voice was thick with disappointment. It had a chokehold on his heart, making his brain race a million miles a second.

He had to make this stop. Right. Now.

“Look!” Hunter slid to the side, revealing the delicious breakfast table. In a desperate attempt to distract them. “Breakfast!”

Gus and Vee gasped, apparently they hadn’t noticed the table yet. Strange, but helpful. Willow and Amity, who was standing right next to her, definitely had. They gave him a very displeased look.

Whatever. Keep going.

“We have pancakes, a fan favourite I know,” He waved his hand with a theatrical flare he hadn’t used in a while. Luz and Willow exchange a look, but he tried not to think about it. “There’s orange juice and milk. We’re out of soy-milk, so Luz don’t drink that. We only have maple syrup as a topping, but that’s the best one anyways so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

As he rambled on, he moved to the other side of the room at a snail’s pace. Vee unfortunately noticed and followed him, all the while excitedly chattering with Gus and Camila. The other three girls were whispering, Amity pointed to the table. In response to whatever she said, Willow nodded and smiled. Hunter was happy to see it, partly because he was running out of things to say.

Luz, after petting her shoulder, slipped between them to follow her sister. The group still at the door started talking over each other again. Hunter was pretty sure they were enthusiastic though, their breakfast did look delicious.

Vee said something he couldn’t quite catch, but she stared at him with a questioning look.

“What?” He asked for clarification, feeling sorry that she had to repeat herself. Luz, now standing next to her, was squinting her eyes. Hunter much rather focused on Vee.

“Did you make those?” The basilisk pointed to the stacks of pancakes.

“Ohhh, no Camila did.” Hunter waved his hands in front of him. “I only helped a little.”

“Okay good, then it’s actually edible.” Vee smirked, punching his arm lightly.

“Why wouldn’t it be-“ Hunter abruptly realised she was insulting his cooking skills. She loved teasing him ever since he burned her omelette, five weeks ago. He playfully slapped her arm back. “Hey! I’ve been getting better!”

Vee giggled and wrapped her arm around his back, leaning her head against his shoulder. Hunter felt a little awkward in the side hug, not sure what to do besides giving her a grateful smile.

“Are you okay?” Luz quietly asked, in a way that made him think she already knew the answer. If he wasn’t sure by her tone of voice, her almost suspicious eyes sealed the deal. Her face was taught with worry, sending a fresh wave of guilt through Hunter’s conscience.

“Yeah!” He tried lying again, just in case that miracle finally happened. She stared at him with an incredulous expression.

But what was she expecting? She should know him by now.

Luz looked at Willow, Gus, Amity and her mom still animatedly chatting, then back to him. A softer expression on her face. Hunter followed her glances to their sister too. Maybe she thought that he’d open up if it was just the three of them. Maybe he would. If he didn’t feel so jumpy.

“Let’s eat before it gets cold.” Camila clapped her hands, then motioned to the table. Saving him from this personal hell.

Breakfast had the intended effect of calming down the room as they happily devoured their food. Hunter was extremely glad they enjoyed it, feeling more relaxed as they fell into their usual banter.

But his friend’s mood hadn’t completely turned around yet. The tension still hung over them like the grey clouds before a rainstorm, or the electricity in the air right before thunder strikes.

And he was still a wreck with no dexterity, almost spilling his orange juice on his pancakes. What a horrible combo that would’ve been. His antsy fingers were only made worse by everyone constantly staring at him.

But all things considered, breakfast went pretty well. Afterwards Hunter immediately made himself useful. He offered to do the dishes, but was told that they had a dishwasher for a reason. Naturally, he still collected all the plates and silverware to put them in said dishwasher.

The witches protested, but he somehow convinced them it was no big deal. To be fair, they would have to physically stop him from loading a dishwasher.

They wouldn’t go that far. Yet.

In the same way, Hunter couldn’t stop Amity and Gus from helping him. She offered to lessen the workload, then her and Gus walked over without waiting for his response. The rest wanted to help as well, but doing this with six people was a bit ridiculous.

Afterwards, Hunter volunteered to do more chores. He asked Camila if he could do the laundry, she was a little taken aback but agreed. She was confused by his sudden and chaotic need to help around the house.

“Hunter,” Willow stopped him from leaving. She hadn’t expected him to stop so abruptly and the look on his face made her feel uneasy. She struggled with what to say next, she was really worried about him. "Take it easy today, okay?"

"No no no, I'm fine!" He assured while walking backward to the door. He had great difficulty looking her in the eyes. His jittery nerves not just from the tense atmosphere this time.

He bumped his shoulder against the doorframe as he made his escape. A defeated sigh escaped Willow’s mouth. Luz shot her a knowing smile, petting her shoulder again.

"I mean, that’s what I expect him to say, but I still don't like it." The plant witch pouted, resting her chin on her hand. Luz laughed like a deflating balloon.

“He’s gonna do this all day, isn’t he?” She asked, but it was more like an observation. Her mom followed their exchange with growing concern in her eyes.

“Yup.” Vee confirmed dejected.

And that’s exactly what the better part of his afternoon consisted of; chores. He washed a few piles of laundry. Vee came to check on him and he assured her that he didn’t need any help this time. But she insisted to keep him company in case anything went wrong, since she knew more about human machines.

He collected the mail from the box outside and sorted it. Then he cleaned the bathrooms. He wanted to grab the duster again, but Ghost looked at the thing with murderous intent. So he took out the trash instead.

In short, he kept busy.

And he tripped, stumbled, bumped and fumbled his way through everything. His eternal eye-bags had darkened in colour. And talking or listening was proving impossible at times.

He'd rather not admit how many times he's walked into a wall.

“Hey,” Luz tapped his arm in passing, when he walked past her in the upstairs hallway. He stopped to listen, hoping she needed his help with something. “Can I talk to you?”

“Oh uh- I… um, I gotta go…” Hunter clambered for an excuse. He knew what this would be about and he wanted nothing more than to leave. “Vacuum! I gotta go vacuum.”

Luz was exasperated watching him run off again. She sighed and entered the study room where her mom was working on her computer.

“Mamí,” Luz said, not meaning to sound as whiney as she did. “Can’t you do something?”

“I think he needs the distraction.” said Camila, not even needing to look up from the screen to know what her daughter was talking about.

“I dunno…” Luz thought about it. She couldn’t decide if what Hunter was doing was really a healthy distraction or a bad one. “Maybe you’re right.”

“I really hope I am.” Her mom admitted with a certain eyebrow-raised look at her computer.

A few hours went by where Hunter only did housework. The longer it went on, the more keen his friends were on on making him rest.

Gus and Amity followed him around, helping him like they did with the dishwasher. They hovered next to everything he did. It was sweet, but it also got a little irritating. Vee and Luz tried to, in their own words, ‘talk some sense into him’. Which didn’t work.

Flapjack had given up trying to stop him. Very tired from flying around him the entire time, he decided to take a nap upstairs. After making his witch promise again to sleep this time come nightfall.

Willow somehow managed to sweet-talk him into lazing around in the garden. It started with her asking for help with her gardening, he should’ve known she was scheming. And when he finally realised — he jumped up to sputter out a sudden accusation which Willow only met with remorseless nodding — he had already wasted a whole hour.

But her vibrant smile had made it totally worth it.

He really liked being in the garden with her. Willow was just so completely in her element. Obviously she was a plant witch, but even besides that she was so enthralled by the outdoors.

Her most genuine and biggest smiles were in the garden. Her eyes actually sparkled. And her laugh! Titan, her laugh came so easily outside.

He’d make some stupid pun about the flowers she was planting and she would giggle, carefree and giddy. It made his insides worm around, but in a good way this time.

But still! Out there in the garden, he wasn’t actually doing anything. He wasn’t making himself useful. He wasn’t helping Camila. At best, they were making the backyard look nice.

That wasn’t good enough!

He quickly got back inside, having the misfortune of dashing past the rest of the hexsquad. They yelled his name, chasing after him into the living room, where he frantically searched for something to do.

“Hunter, stop!” Vee shouted almost angrily.

“Dude!” Luz shouted as well. “Calm down!”

Hunter’s shoulders tensed up as the room plunged into the most stressful environment since he woke up that morning. Willow joined the other witches at the door, blocking the way out.

They probably didn’t plan it, but now he was trapped. And it made his gut drop and his brain ring alarm bells.

He had to mitigate this situation somehow.

“Just stop.” Vee said again, slowly coming closer. Her arms moved like she was hushing a wild beast, her expression turned more gentle. “Take a break or something.”

“No. I don’t need a break.” He said calmly, trying to reassure them. “Guys, I’m fine.”

“No you’re not,” said Willow. “You didn’t get any sleep last night.”

“You need sleep to function. You need energy.” Gus added. Amity who was standing next to him nodded vigorously. They both shot him a pointed glare.

"I have done a lot more with a lot less." Hunter told them, remembering all the excruciating missions he went on with hardly any rest in between.

"That does not make me feel better." Gus countered, moving his hands around wildly and giving him a confused look.

Hunter, getting more nervous as he felt he was losing this battle, took a few steps backwards. He looked around, anywhere to avoid the eyes of his disappointed friends.

“Hunter, you look terrible.” Amity gestured to his general direction, walking further into the room

“Thanks Amity.” he deadpanned.

“I just mean you should rest.” She sighed, putting her hands on her hips. “You’ve been running around all day, doing chores. And that’s fine, I think I get it, but you’re not giving yourself a chance to relax.”

Her words resonated with him. She probably did understand, more than anyone else. He’s known since the beginning that she, just like him, just wanted to be useful.

“I have to-“ Hunter got caught off in the middle of his appeal. There was a sudden pain that shot up through his body, he had stubbed his toe on the coffee table. He stumbled and his knees gave out, he fell to the ground with a loud thud.

Before anyone could react, Hunter immediately sat up and held his right knee with pure anger. The buildup of frustration from every trip and collision boiling over.

“Work, damn you!” He yelled at his own leg as he shook it violently. A groan that sounded uncomfortably close to a growl escaped his mouth. He forcefully put both feet flat on the ground and stood up.

He's been in much worse conditions where he wasn't such a stumbling baby giraffe!

He stomped his leg a few times on the ground, making sure the stupid thing worked now. It also helped to relieve some of that finger-curling aggression he felt.

Right when he wanted to walk it off, he remembered the people at the doorway. Absolutely mortified, he slowly turned to see their reactions.

This was NOT helping his case.

Vee, Gus and Luz looked completely stunned, they didn’t react outside of a blinking stare. Willow and Amity looked like they had been ready to help him stand up, outstretched arms and a wide-eyed look of concern plastered on their faces.

Hunter cleared his throat in an attempt to combat the embarrassment, but it only felt more awkward. There was a long moment of silence, where all Hunter could think of was how he was going to get out of there. His face felt like it was on fire. He had to say something, get ahead of their lectures.

“Okay, I know you guys are not gonna believe me, but I am totally fine.” He laughed nervously.

“Alright that’s it! You have to take a break!” Gus yelled. He pointed at him with burning determination in his eyes. “Lay down or I will tackle you."

"Ha! I'd like to see you try." Hunter said smugly. The absurdity of his threat distracting his tired brain from what it should be doing, reassuring his friends. He brought a proud hand to his chest. “I’ve been trained in all forms of combat and I will not be-"

"AAAAHHHHH!!" Gus yelled as he charged at him. Hunter didn't expect him to actually attempt a tackle, but before he could even react the illusion witch was only inches away.

His arms were spread wide, swiftly wrapping around his target. When his chest made contact with Hunter’s abdomen, the power behind his small friend forced him to take a few steps backwards. Which wasn’t possible. The edge of the couch dug into his legs and they both fell onto it with a massive thud.

Hunter groaned in crushing pain, most of which coming from his bruised ego. There were a few concerned sounding voices, as well as a few laughs. Gus had landed with his head on the older witch’s chest and he giggled, looking proudly at him.

"Coming in hot!" Vee dashed around the coffee table.

"Nonononono, Vee please-" Hunter's plea went savagely ignored. The basilisk jumped on top of them both, knocking the wind out of his lungs. The impact made the couch creak in pain, harmonising nicely with Hunter's groan and the laughter from across the room.

Gus shrieked, which quickly evolved into a roaring laugh together with Vee. Hunter looked away from their stupid little faces, otherwise he wouldn't help but laugh as well. His frown wavered either way.

The new weight shifted and changed, hard boney edges turning into a soft and round body. Her true form was a lot more comfortable, but he was still very much being crushed by the two of them.

Well, he could still breathe and the way they were draped on top of him now wasn’t painful. But he was definitely trapped.

Which, he finally realised, was probably the plan.

"Ya know, I sleep better with a weighted blanket." Vee piped up with a chipper tone of voice. "It's nice to have something giving that pressure."

Gus nodded in agreement. They shared a grinning look before simultaneously turning their gaze on him.

"I can't sleep now, it's the middle of the day!" Hunter protested, straining his neck to see them. He wasn’t giving up so easily, trapped or not.

"It's called a siesta," Gus said with a smirk. “Right Luz?"

"Yup!" Said Luz, popping the p. She had moved in front of the tv, together with Amity and Willow. Hunter looked at the three girls, still giggling and snorting.

"I'm guessing I can't count on any of you coming to rescue me?" He flashed a hopeful smile, wishing he’d be proven wrong.

"Absolutely not." Amity shot his hopes down immediately.

"In your dreams." Willow said sassily. Hunter felt heat creep onto his cheeks. He quickly locked his eyes on the ceiling. He was just really embarrassed is all!

"Alright you leave me with no other choice." He said, pretending to give up and resign himself to this couch prison. He let Vee and Gus share a look of victory before raising his hands to his mouth. "Flap! I need a teleport! ... Please?!"

The room got loud with laughter. Hunter didn’t miss the familiar chirps of his palisman though. Flapjack flew in, but he landed on Willow's shoulder.

"No." He chirped.

"What do you mean 'no'?" Hunter was baffled. "You're my palisman."

"I am." Flapjack twittered, nonchalantly preening a few chest feathers. "And the answer is no."

"Good job Flap" Willow giggled, nudging her cheek against his little face. Flap happily returned her affection.

"Traitor." Hunter mumbled, letting his head fall back down. He should’ve known the cardinal wouldn’t help him escape. Maybe he was still mad at him.

Flap flew over to the couch cushion. He nudged his little cheeks against him, showing he wasn’t angry. Hunter’s relief quickly turned to confusion. If he wasn’t angry then why did he have to stay here like this?

“If you can’t sleep, just rest.” The palisman said. Maybe he saw this as ‘doing it for his own good’. And Hunter should probably count himself lucky to have such well-meaning and doting palisman. Well, he didn’t feel very lucky today.

This wasn’t good for him. He didn’t need to rest!

“Flap…”

“Amity’s right.” He chirped against his protest. “This nonstop running around isn’t healthy. You can do more chores after you take a break.”

“She’s always right.” Hunter whispered annoyed, dodging the actual topic. His arms found a more comfortable spot around the little gremlins on top of him. Since it looked like he wasn’t getting out of here anytime soon.

“Hunter.” Flap pecked him gently on the nose. “Just relax for a bit.”

He hummed in confirmation, not really saying any words. But Flapjack accepted it happily.

“Love you~” He sung. Hunter pouted and mumbled his response, moving his head to the other side. That wasn’t sufficient for Flap, who hopped up on the back rest looking down on his boy expectantly.

“Love you too.” Hunter humoured him, still feeling salty. He ignored the numerous ‘aww’s from his friends.

Flapjack meant well, they all did. But this just wasn’t what he needed.

Still, he really did love that bird, so Hunter followed his advice. Resting, not sleeping, not closing his eyes.

It was good enough for his friends. Amity and Luz disappeared upstairs, and Willow sat on the floor with her back against the couch reading a book. They were satisfied with his surrender.

Vee had hopped off and was on her phone in the cozy chair, but Gus remained as his weighted blanket.

She was right, it was nice. But Hunter was never going to admit that.

A very easily removable blanket by the way, Gus was not that heavy. But he didn’t want Flapjack to get mad again and he didn’t want to disappoint his friends, they needed this more than him anyways. He could stay put for them. For a while. Probably. Maybe.

Besides, he looked adorable like this. Snuggled against him, eyes closed and cheek smushed on his chest. It would be pretty ironic if Gus ended up napping instead of him.

Hunter looked to the side, just able to see Willow as she was nose deep in her book. She absentmindedly pushed up her glasses. He also thought she looked adorable, but in a different way somehow. He shook the weird thought out of his head.

“What are you reading?” He whispered. She turned her head and scoffed in amusement. She sat up straighter and put one arm on the couch cushions to lean on, looking at him directly with a disapproving gaze. Hunter smiled slyly. “People can rest and talk at the same time.”

Willow burst out into a soft, breathy laugh. It filled his chest with pride as the heat crept onto his face again.

“I’m reading that new gardening book I got at the library.” Willow whispered back. She held it up so he could read the title: The Gardener’s Complete Manual. “It’s really interesting actually, it has several chapters about growing edible plants. Which could really help me maintain Camila’s vegetable patch. Look, this one’s called ‘from seed to bloom’, isn’t that cute?”

Hunter nodded as she held the book next to her excited face. He definitely thought it was cute.

“Can you read it to me?” He suggested. She looked surprised for a second, blinking a few times. Then she regained her previous knowing expression. 

“Hunter…” Willow rolled her eyes. 

“Please?” He dropped his confident act, sending her a pleading face. “I’m so bored.”

“Fine.” She turned back to sit more comfortably on the floor. Her cheeks looked flushed, but he must’ve imagined it. Was he really so tired he was starting to see things?

Hunter diligently listened as the plant witch read to him about her favourite topic. He genuinely enjoyed learning about it, but sometimes he’d get distracted by the was she brushed her hair behind her ear. Sometimes he caught himself listening to her voice more than her words.

“I have to get back to the garden and finish up my work real quick,” She said after reading the entire chapter. She stood up, placing the book on the coffee table as she set her eyes on him again. “Are you gonna be okay here?”

“Do I have a choice?” He asked hopeful.

“No.” She said cheerfully, breaking his heart with a smile on her face. And she walked away.

Now he was stuck here with no distractions. Just his thoughts, lovely.

He should’ve been less chaotic. If he was half as frazzled, they wouldn’t have been so worried. The whole point of doing chores was to show them they didn’t have to worry! He wanted to be of use and help Camila after everything she’d done for them.

And everything she’d done for him specifically. After the night that they had, that he caused… But he just ended up causing them more stress. Again.

Titan, this was torture!

Didn’t Willow just leave? How long has he been in this silence? And how long will he have to stay in it, keeping his thoughts from spiralling?

No, no, he could do this. It’s just resting, he was great at resting! Of course he knew how to relax, no problem.

“Kids! Dinner’s ready!” Sounded Camilla’s voice from down the hall. 

“OH thank Titan!” Hunter couldn’t hide his relief, pressing the palms of his hands on his eyes. Gus snickered, which felt weird against his chest.

He hadn’t been napping after all, he could’ve talked to Gus this whole time! Or Vee, she’d been lounging across the room with headphones on, but he could’ve just waved her over.

Hunter gave his friend an embarrassed smile. The smaller witch climbed down, returning the precious feeling of freedom to him. As they walked towards the kitchen, Vee slapped him on the back with an delighted laugh.

——————

Hunter was laying on his side, the mattress underneath him was soft and thick. His body sunk in it, perfectly snug. Not to mention the extra comfort coming from the actual bed frame. No wonder Amity was so unhappy to relinquish it to him. Hunter would’ve loved to let her keep it though, it was only making it harder to stay awake.

The girl’s room was surprisingly bright at night, with no curtains in front of the window and the glowing stars on the bunkbed. It was a miracle they got any sleep at all. But evidently they did, he heard Willow’s familiar snores in sync with Amity’s quieter breathing behind him. In front of him he saw Luz and Vee, their upper bodies alternating in rising as they slept soundly. He couldn’t see Gus in the top bunk, but he was pretty sure his buddy was out for the count too.

It was Luz’s idea to have a ‘second sleepover’. After dinner, Camila pointed out that all their stuff was still in the basement. Hunter wished he’d remembered that sooner, it could’ve been a helpful chore. And maybe then he could’ve avoided this situation.

Hunter had rushed to pick everything up. His friends, still unhappy with his work ethic, followed him downstairs. But they kind of just hovered around, not seeming very motivated to clean their nest.

“Hey!” Luz perked up, hitting her fist on her palm like she had an idea. “Why don’t we have an actual sleepover tonight?”

Hunter stopped in his tracks as the rest all began excitedly agreeing.

“Let’s move everything upstairs, since our room is a spacier. I can teach you guys some human sleepover-traditions?” Luz continued to rally their friends behind her. Gus was immediately game, literally bouncing in place before turning to his buddy.

“What do ya say, Hunter?” He looked up at him with big, expecting, puppy eyes.

“…I can’t think of a single reason why not.” And boy, did he try. Hunter knew they wanted to keep an eye on him and he wasn’t going to deny them that, but he really didn’t want to be observed anymore. He gave his friends a tight-lipped smile of resignation, hopefully hiding his annoyance.

Camila, his last chance at a rescue, had agreed to it. But when Luz tried to convince her to let Amity, who was off to the side and red as a tomato, sleep in her bed to conserve space, her mom saw through her and refused. She also preferred that the boys had their own beds. Which is how Gus ended up in the bunkbed and Amity struggling for space next to Willow.

Luz was determined to make the second sleepover better than the first one, playing video games, painting nails, doing ‘truth or dare’. Vee had gotten some experience at the camp she went to, so she helped with the activities. The witches said it wasn’t very different from a moonlight conjuring after all.

Any other night, Hunter would’ve loved it too, to feel like a normal teen for once.

But he couldn’t pretend to be all happy and excited. It was hard to focus on those activities. So he actually felt relieved when they eventually went off to bed. That was, until he realised he had to do nothing for several hours.

Hunter moved to lay on his back, staring holes into the ceiling. He couldn’t go back to sleep. He just couldn’t. It didn’t matter how logical he tried to think it through. Or how rational he tried to assure himself.

He just couldn’t.

He was scared. He didn’t want anything like that to ever happen again. And yes, he knew it probably wouldn’t, but he couldn’t risk it!

He didn’t want to stand guard again. He had no idea what had gotten into him the night before. Just thinking about it made him sick to the stomach now.

And yes, he was tired, he was absolutely exhausted. His limbs felt dense and moved clumsily if at all, his head hurt and he was dizzy, but that barely mattered.

He didn’t even try to sleep, like he promised Flapjack. He was a lying lier who lies and who was doing everything in his power to stay awake.

He couldn't put them through that again. They were so scared.

“We couldn't find a pulse."

The words still echoed through his mind. Making him feel like he was teetering on the edge of a cliff. Watching the waves crash against the rocks down below with horrible vertigo. It was decided, he was never sleeping again.

Okay, even his exhausted mind could rationalise that that was impossible.

But…

But he had to.

He got fidgety, his heartbeat was racing all of a sudden and his hands felt sweaty. The soft covers became itchy and uncomfortable. He tossed and turned, but he got scared it would wake the others. His breathing hitched.

He couldn’t stay here!

His body reacted to his inner thoughts without him meaning to, instantly sitting upright. Hunter froze, slowly looking left and right to see if he disturbed anyone.

He held both hands against his chest. The stupid galderstone banging against his ribcage mocked him with its double standard. It pumped his blood, it kept him alive, but it didn’t make a pulse.

Because it was a stone, not a real heart. It wasn’t real.

Whatever! Focus Hunter! Copy or not, this body was his own. And he had to stop it from hyperventilating before he got too loud. He used Gus’s breathing technique and calmed down after some time.

From his new vantage point, he could see Luz’s desk where all the pasliman had curled up around the egg. Flapjack was snuggled in Ghost’s fluffy belly. If he snuck out, guaranteed none of them would notice.

As silent as a mouse, he slipped out of bed before he missed his chance.

Hunter tiptoed downstairs, grabbing a glass of water before flopping down on the couch with a long sigh. He thought it would be best to leave the lights off, the window let in some moonlight that gave the room an eerie, silver glow. He cursed his grimwalker existence under his breath between sips of heavenly cold water.

He was never ever telling anyone else he’s a grimwalker.

He wished he could erase the knowledge from Luz and Vee's minds as well. Hell, he wished he could erase it from his own!

On the other hand… If Vee didn't know, she probably wouldn't have gotten comfortable around him. Maybe she'd even still hate him. And without Luz's support he would've never been able to navigate all of his 'unique traits'. Without them knowing and helping, he never would've made it this far. In becoming comfortable that is, and growing into his own as an ordinary kid.

As ordinary as possible at least.

Actually, without Luz he wouldn't have made it at all. He owed her so much. It's funny how such an annoying little brat could turn into the most important person in his life.

Maybe not most important, Willow and Gus were pretty high up there. Maybe they just all shared the number 1 spot.

No wait, they were all a close second to Flapjack. That bird was definitely the most important presence in his life. But Vee, Willow and Gus were still very important, Amity as well. Hunter liked to pretend that she wasn't, but she really was. They both still joked about hating each other, much to Luz's dismay, but in reality they really clicked. They just really understood each other.

They deserved to know, didn't they?

Damn it!

They deserved to know, but he couldn't tell them. Because he was scared.

No…

That was him justifying everything, wasn't it?

He could tell them. He was perfectly capable of saying it. But he chose not to. In that moment, when they probably needed it the most, he chose not to say anything. Because he was selfish.

The only thing he was scared of, was his friends leaving him behind. Because in all fairness, they had every right to. He wasn’t just a grimwalker, he was a grimwalker whose blueprint was Belos’s witch-hunting brother!

If he were Willow, Amity or Gus, he wouldn’t trust him either.

His eyes burned as he felt tears form in the corners, he wiped them away aggressively. He wasn’t at risk of waking anyone up, so why was he still sitting there thinking? He could be reading a book or something.

“Hey.” He suddenly heard a voice and his head snapped towards the doorway.

“Luz!” He reflexively called out when he saw who it was. He rubbed a hand over his cheeks to get rid of any remaining wetness and cleared his throat as Luz came to sit next to him. “Um hey.”

She made herself comfortable on the couch, tucking her legs to the side. Hunter awkwardly waited for her to say anything as she looked at him with an exasperated expression.

“You should be asleep hermano.” She punched his shoulder weakly, a tired smile on her face. Her voice was a little vacant, but still determined.

"I can't sleep Luz."

"I'm pretty sure you could, you look exhausted."

"I can't."

"You can, but you won't." She pointed a finger at him, poking it into his arm. She was getting fired up now.

Hunter sighed, shooing her hand away. She was right and there was no use trying to deny it. Of course Luz of all people would see right through him.

"Can you blame me though?" He muttered despondent. Luz seemed to recoil slightly, becoming a lot less intense.

"No." She admitted.

She brushed some nonexistent crumbs from the couch cushions and he ran a hand through his hair.

“What’s that human saying about a pot and a kettle?” Hunter’s voice was forced, trying to be witty. “You should be asleep, you have school tomorrow.”

“Yeah, would if I could dude.” The brown-haired girl picked at the couch some more, throwing tiny balls of lint across the room.

“Ah, good old insomnia.” Hunter shot her an empathetic smile and she laughed.

“I dunno if I’m allowed to call it that.” Luz said and he shot her a puzzled look. “I thought you had have it for forever. Like, constantly.”

“No that’s chronic,” he explained. “You probably have acute insomnia.”

“Well I don’t think it’s cute at all.” She scowled before turning to him with a smirk.

He looked at her with a perfect blend of annoyance, disbelief and disappointment. But the corners of his mouth involuntary turned up and he couldn't hold a serious expression anymore.

Especially not when she was staring at him with that ridiculous, cat-like grin plastered on her face.

He begrudgingly rolled his eyes, his smile turning into quiet laughing. Which then turned into a bit of a giggle fit with Luz joining in, way too proud of herself.

"That's so stupid!" Hunter managed to say between laughter.

"You're stupid!" Luz pouted, scrunching her face to mock him, but quickly faltering to laugh again.

They giggled for a while, but seemed to realise at the same time it wasn’t really that funny. They died down awkwardly and stayed silent for another while. Hunter picked at his freshly-painted nails, it really would’ve been fun some other evening.

“Can we talk about it now?” Luz threw another piece of lint, this time there was a little aggression in her movement.

He remained silent.

“Hunter, these ‘grimwalker things’ are getting kinda scary.” She leaned forward to look at him, an impossible expression on her face. He looked away.

He knew! He knew that already, she really didn’t have to point it out.

“Maybe you should tell them.” Luz almost whispered, Hunter's eyes snapped back to her.

"Then are you gonna tell them you helped Belos?" He retaliated by reflex, his voice venomous and cold. It wasn't fair. It was mean and manipulative, and not even true! Whatever Luz did was so infinitesimal that it was almost insulting how much guilt she felt.

But it worked.

And when her encouraging smile dropped and her eyes filled with fear, shame took over every inch of his being.

“Luz,” He choked out. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“Not it’s not!”

“Okay, it’s not.” She admitted. Hunter breathed in sharply and out shakily. He didn’t know whether he should be happy with her confirmation. Whatever feeling of relief he felt mixed uncomfortably with heartache, but her warm smile returned. “But I get it.”

“And I forgive you.” Luz added almost sarcastically. Placing a hand on his shoulder and staring at him wide-eyed. Her joking tone made him feel as though she didn’t realise how serious he was.

"Luz-" He started with a face that hopefully didn't look too much like a kicked puppy.

“You’re not ready," she interrupted him, her tone and expression very serious this time. "I understand.”

"Thanks." Hunter waved his white flag, ready to stop fighting about how horrible he was. He stared ahead for a few seconds, at their reflection in the black screen of the tv. "You're a very forgiving person."

"Well, I'm not ready either." She deflected, putting a hand on her heart. "Every time I think about how to tell them, I wanna cry. And run away."

Hunter laughed with his voice devoid of anything remotely close to humour. It was painfully funny how well she had described that feeling.

"But you can tell me anything." Luz scooched closer with another stupid grin and expecting eyes.

"Yeah," Hunter said bluntly. He knew he'd eventually open up to her, he always did. And he kind of owed her this time. But not to that face. He pushed her head to the side, earning a giggle as Luz fought against him to stay put. "Same goes for you."

“So... it was a grimwalker thing?” She was relentless. Hunter sighed, trying to look into the hallway, making sure there was nobody else.

“Stonesleeper lungs.”

“What?”

Hunter explained he had the lungs of a stonesleeper and told her about the creature’s unique ability. Unbeknownst to him, Luz slowly got twisted smile on her face.

Hunter’s eyes had been fixed on the hallway. He was hoping, praying and manifesting that nobody was eavesdropping. He did notice the suspicious silence. But his suspicions died when he felt a strange sensation behind his ear.

Whatever it was, it felt good. A tingling that grew in intensity, creating an amazing feeling. His surroundings faded and the room seemed to disappear. The sensation spread through his entire body, filling him with peace and tranquillity.

He felt like he was floating, the wonderful feeling pushing the shadows in his mind away. He closed his eyes. He felt like sleep would easily come to him, but not because he was exhausted, he was just… calm.

He was in a state of absolute euphoria.

Then he heard giggling. A mischievous kind of giggling that he had come to know all too well. Luz! He ripped himself away from the clutches of sleep and his eyes flew open. He hadn’t even realised he’d closed them.

He’s never turned his head so fast in his life. Luz had her hand behind his ear, pure glee plastered on her face. He ducked away and swatted at her arm.

“WhaT the fAwck?!” He yelled out, his voice cracking in a cringey way.

Luz erupted in laughter, quickly covering her mouth to not wake the others. Hunter was extremely embarrassed and offended, but mostly confused.

“What was that?!” He asked again desperately, but quieter this time. It was no use. His sister was busy dying from laughter.

Even after calming down a little she didn’t feel the need to elaborate. Just smiling widely at him, way too proud with herself.

“What in Titan’s name did you just do to me?!” Hunter whisper-yelled, rubbing the spot he’d felt the feeling. It clearly didn’t come of as threatening because Luz only smiled bigger.

She folded her legs underneath her and stood on her knees. Now towering over a very alarmed Hunter. Her cat-like grin didn’t escape him this time. He pointed his index finger like a warning.

“Nooo.”

“Yeeeeeeeess.”

She wiggled her fingers in front of her. Hunter backed away slowly, considering also standing on his knees on the couch. Then she attacked! Hunter dodged her touch and swatted at her arms again. He didn’t want to hurt her however, so it was a weak kind of defence.

She reached the spot and Hunter felt that divine feeling creep in again. It took all of his willpower to duck away. He grabbed Luz’s arms and laughter escaped her mouth again.

Hunter was not having it.

He folded his legs underneath him as well. Trying to regain a little bit of dignity, he pushed against her shoulders. She lost her balance and fell backwards, but landed softly on the couch. So she immediately lunged for the spot again, gripping the backrest for extra speed.

Hunter caught her hands. It wasn’t difficult, as Luz’s arms were weak from laughing so much. Before he knew it, he was joining in, laughs erupting out of him in bursts. They were now having a full on wrestling match.

Eventually, they got tired and called a truce. Along the way, they had forgotten to be quiet, but the rest of the house appeared to still be out cold. They flopped back on the couch. Their little match had taken them through the room. Luz gripped her stomach, apparently laughing too much could hurt. Hunter took some deep breaths and rubbed his face.

His hands unwittingly traveled to the spots behind his ears. How humiliating. The absolute audacity of this human! How dare she.

“No but seriously, what was that?” He deserved some clarification here.

“It’s a Stonesleeper secret: they have a ticklish spot behind their ears. When you scratch it, they calm down and fall asleep.” She once again looked way too proud of herself. Grinning from ear to ear. Hunter was just more confused.

“Wh- How… Why does that work on me?" He groaned with his hands pressed to his eyes. "And how do you even know about it?!”

“Lilith taught me!” Luz beamed. Suddenly her face fell, she looked like she saw a ghost.

“Are you okay?” He could guess what kind of realisation had hit her like that.

“Yeah! … No. No, I’m not.” She didn’t have to lie to him. He bottom lip trembled and she bit it, looking down at her hands. “I just miss them so much.”

Hunter didn’t really know what to say, or if there was even anything to say. She was staring blankly ahead, like she was somewhere else entirely. Tears were forming in the corners of her eyes.

Hunter’s heart fell into a thousand little pieces. He felt so useless beside her. He was still pretty bad at the whole comforting thing. The only thing he could think of was raising an unsure arm to his sister and placing his hand softly on her shoulder.

She was a little startled by the touch, suddenly back on earth. She looked at him with pain in her eyes, the corners glistening in the faint light coming from the window.

Hunter was already questioning his action, how could a weak shoulder-touch ever be enough? Then Luz lunged for him. She crashed into him, her head hitting Hunter's clavicle hard. The hug was awkward and honestly kind of painful, but he wouldn't trade it for the world.

“Uhm there there.” Hunter mechanically patted her back, not any less unsure in this situation. If only Flap were here to tell him what to say.

“Pfft- Wow you suck at this!” Luz lifted her head. The tears that she had held back were making two wet streaks down her cheeks. But she was smiling.

“I know.” He whispered and he saw her smile brighter. Hunter wanted to cheer her up, luckily he was he was getting pretty good at that part. He pushed her head against his chest again. “Shhh, I know I suck. Shhh, it’s okay. I know.”

He used an over the top baby voice and pat her head like Camila always did. Luz giggled and it sounded very genuine. Success!

“You really wanna make me feel better?” Her voice was muffled, but carried a certain tone. Hunter could feel a joke coming.

“I’ll do anything.” He said dramatically. Holding her in front of him by the shoulders.

She wiggled her fingers like a weirdo. Hunter shot her a displeased look, but was contemplating to let her do it. Luz wasn’t just suggesting a scratch behind the ear though.

“Then let me do it in front of the others too.”

“No.”

“Awww come on!” Luz whined loudly. He shushed her, but she ignored it. She quickly rubbed off her tear streaks with her sleeve, looked like she was over it. “You looked just like that Stonesleeper, it was hilarious!”

Hunter tried to fight the uneasy feeling of his stomach flipping. He didn’t want to be similar to those… urg! He hated everything he inherited from them.

"Wait- you've seen a Stonesleeper?!” Hunter’s brain suddenly caught up. “Up close?”

"Yeah!” Luz was excited, bouncing on the couch to get more comfortable. The fact she’d been crying a second ago didn’t make sense. Regardless, he was happy she was feeling better. “They're like the cutest dinosaurs ever!"

"What?" He reacted in pure disbelief.

"What?" Luz looked at him funny.

"Aren't they... vicious predators?" Hunter asked confused. He wasn't sure if he really wanted the answer to that question, maybe Luz was just joking. Maybe she hadn’t actually been close to it.

“No way!” Luz frowned and Hunter felt a weird feeling in his chest. “Well at first it was pretty scary, but when I scratched its neck it turned into a big softie! Me and Lilith even rode on its back, it was super cute after that.”

“Huh.” Hunter was stunned, recognising the feeling in his chest as relief. All those books were wrong.

“I’m sure they’re vicious to their actual prey though.” Luz tapped her chin thoughtfully. “The one we found was really hungry, pretty sure it saw me as food before we became besties.”

Hunter thought that was relatively fair, but the fact it had been so friendly to Luz and Lilith even though it was starving. This was absurd. So many of the books he read had misinformation in them. What a shocker honestly.

The first time he’d gone into Hexside’s library he had taken every single book that even so much as mentioned grimwalkers. He quickly learned that some of the stories, mostly from the fiction section, were bogus. They had inconsistencies that, although he was scared, even Hunter could spot.

But the non-fiction wasn’t like that. And he never thought that it could be the same for other ‘monsters’. Bestiaries were impartial, at least it seemed that way. Scratch that, they were supposed to be impartial!

If the books weren’t even real- If no one knew the actual truth- Everything in his life was a lie!

“Heh, a dangerous foe turned big softie.” Luz said, interrupting his spiral. She bumped her fist against his arm. “That’s exactly like you.”

“Ha… yeah.” Hunter trailed off, not really seeing the humour in it. Being compared to that beast still made him feel uncomfortable. Okay, calm down. Lilith must’ve gotten her knowledge from books too, they weren’t all bogus. He wished he could ask, he never really liked her but the way Luz talked about how she thrived outside of the coven… It suddenly hit him that she was mocking him. “Hey!”

“Admit it, you’re a softie hermano.” She laughed.

“Shut up.” He mumbled. Her calling him ‘brother’ right now was definitely planned, things like that is what made him a softie!

He wanted nothing more than to stop thinking about all the books that may or may not have been totally false. He needed a change of topic.

“How are things with Amity?” He asked as he also got into a more comfy position on the couch, he’d felt kind of frozen before.

“Good! Well, better.” Luz fumbled over her words. “I mean, we were good and we’re still good. It’s just that I feel like she doesn’t fully trust me, if that makes sense?”

Hunter raised an eyebrow and cocked his head, showing that it, in fact, didn’t make any sense. Luz groaned after trying and failing to explain it more, like she couldn’t decide what to say.

“She just wants to talk about how I feel all the time.” She eventually burst out.

“And that’s so horrible because…?” He waved his hands around, spurring her to continue. He was very confused what the issue here was.

“Well I can’t tell her the truth.” She sighed, then cut him off before he could even respond. “And whenever she wants to talk about the Boiling Ilses I just get really…” She wiggled and shook her hands around, having trouble finding a word again. “…flighty?”

“Alright,” Hunter said a little disturbed by the aggressive way she was moving and trying to process what she said. “Can’t you talk about your feelings without telling her everything?”

“I can try.” Luz shrugged.

“You two still going on that date?” Hunter asked before placing a proud hand over his heart. A smug smile pulling at his mouth as he gave a pointed look. “I gave you that genius idea for a reason.”

“Ha-ha.” Luz kicked his knee softly, it felt more like a playful push. “We were planning to go tomorrow after school, but I'm not sure if that's still a good idea."

"Luz.” Hunter turned fully, staring deep into her eyes. “If you let me ruin your date I will actually cry."

"Oh no- Hunter!" Luz couldn’t decide wether she should laugh or be genuinely upset about his threat.

"I'm serious! I'll do it!" He doubled down.

"Okay! We'll go!" She relented.

Hunter was joking, but if Luz had actually cancelled her date because of that ‘incident’, he probably would cry.

They sat in another long, awkward silence. But the longer they sat in it, the less awkward it felt. Hunter almost started feeling peaceful, sinking deeper in the couch, the silver moonlight still bathing the room in an almost spellbound glow.

“Go to sleep,” Luz said, “I’ll watch over you.”

Hunter watched the expression on her face for a few seconds. He longed for sleep. There were a million reason why he shouldn't, but somehow they didn't feel that heavy anymore.

“That’s my line.” He smiled as he felt himself giving in.

Luz didn’t respond, probably knowing there was no need. She pat the couch cushions as she stood up, getting a blanket and an extra pillow from the comfy chair. Hunter lay down with some reluctance when she unceremoniously dropped the pillow. After which she draped the blanket over him, tucking him in with self-satisfied smile.

He shut his eyes even more reluctant, but the calm that washed over him was so overwhelming. And his poor aching eyes finally had relieve.

He felt something brush against his ear. His eyes flew open again, giving Luz a warning look right away. It didn’t deter her stupid grin or her hand from his hair.

With one last sigh, he surrendered himself to the feeling of pure bliss.

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.