Archive of Our Own ^beta

When Luz had explained malls to him, he had assumed they would be similar to markets or stalls back home. He could not have been more wrong. 

She had brought Hunter to what she called “an outdoor mall”, which meant a lot of small shops outdoors. Seemed nice and quaint. 

Well, this was the third store she had dragged him into. The store was so bright, and not only was there music playing, but people were talking. He hated it, and must’ve done a bad job hiding it, because Luz’s face had fallen and she asked him if he wanted to leave. He had felt slightly bad for saying yes, but Hunter had forgotten how quickly his sister moved on from things, because she saw a dog and immediately forgot about not being able to buy more clothes.

He chuckled to himself as some lady scolded Luz for petting her dog, and Luz moped over to him, dejected. “Want me to hex her?”

A smile brightened her face again. Titan, Hunter would love to have her emotional permanence. “Nah. You’d go overboard, and, like, explode her.”

“No I wouldn’t! I’m very in control.”

Luz snorted. “Okay, buddy.”

The clothing stores didn’t work out, but when Luz pulled him into a plant shop, he felt much more comfortable. He delicately ran his fingers down the petals of a particularly nice flower. 

Suddenly, he had a strange urge to get one for Willow. Yes, she could probably make any of these in an instant, but he wanted to get her one.

Luz was across the shop, looking at her own things, and Hunter didn’t call her over. He wanted to do this alone.

“Do you need any help?” A kind voice broke his train of thought, and he jumped. “Hey, I’m Dana, I just wanted to know if you want help picking anything out. Or are you just looking?”

He paused, unsure how to answer. “Am I allowed to take these?”

Dana wrinkled her brow. “Um, no, you can’t just take them. But if you tell me which one you want, you can buy it.”

“Oh. Okay.” Hunter nodded, and looked back down, hoping she would take the hint and leave. Thankfully, she did, and Hunter kept looking at the plants.

When Luz wandered over to him, he widened his eyes and informed her they had to pay to get things here. Then she laughed. At him.

“Yeah, dude, that’s kind of how stores work. Keep forgetting you don’t know these things.”

“I could start an uprising at your Human school in one day. Watch it.”

They locked eyes for a moment, then both smiled. Luz patiently explained how stores did actually work, and he felt foolish.

“Okay, let’s go.”

“Hunter, wait. Mom gave me money. For us. Do you want a plant for your room?”

Hunter felt his neck go red. “Let’s go.”

Luz studied him, then gasped. “It’s not for you!”

Hunter tried to walk out, and she blocked the exit. He always forgot how quick and nimble she was. “Tell me who it’s for!”

“Eda. I’m playing a long con at revenge and this is the third step to my plan. Now move.”

And, of course, she didn’t. “Is it for mom? No, you wouldn’t be so secretive or weird. Oh! Are they for me?”

“You wish.” He tried to nudge past her, but the only way to do that would be to use force, and he wasn’t going to do that. Curse her. “Fine, if I tell you, will you leave me alone?”

“Of course not. Now tell me.”

He took a deep breath. “It’s stupid, I know. I thought I could get something for Willow.”

Luz squealed so loud he felt his ears bursting. “That’s not stupid at all! That’s so cute! Let’s pick out plants for Willow!”

She was obnoxious the whole time, but with his sister’s help, Hunter picked out and paid for a ‘Peperomia Watermelon’ plant. It was beautiful, and his ears burned at the thought of trying to give it to Willow.

There was both pride and shame at feeling his feet hurt. On one hand, he was had been part of the Emperor’s Coven, he didn’t get tired. On the other hand, he wasn’t part of the Emperor’s Coven anymore. It was okay to be tired.

Still, he said nothing, and felt only shame when Luz asked him if he was tired.

“No,” he spluttered. “I could walk for hours. I’m slowing down so you don’t feel incompetent in comparison.”

She raised an eyebrow but said nothing. He inwardly cringed. 

“Well,” she said casually, “I love walking around the mall, but you know what’s even better? Mall food. We should stop and get something to eat.”

Oh, thank Titan. “I guess.”

“Do you wanna get burgers?”

Hunter tilted his head to the side. “What?”

Luz stopped walking and turned to stare at him. “Hunter. Have you never had a hamburger?”

“No?” Hunter gave her a side eye glance. He would never understand the seemingly random things that got her so amped up.

“Oh my god. We need to get you a burger.” She grabbed his hand and yanked him along, excited energy radiating from her. “Do you like cheese? You like cheese, right? I prefer hamburgers over cheeseburgers because I don’t really like the melted cheese, but you should try one. Only if you want the cheese, though.”

“Luz,” Hunter had no idea where she was dragging him to or what she was rambling about. “What is going on.”

Finally, she slowed down and let go of his hand. Despite himself, he sort of missed her weird clammy touch. “Right, right. Okay. Burgers are this super awesome amazing thing that humans have created, and I missed them so much in the Boiling Isles. It’s a symphony of meat and veggies and salt and bread, and oh my god, it’s so good.”

“We have meat on the Boiling Isles. And vegetables. And salt, and bread.”

“Hunter, you can’t even begin to imagine.”

She babbled on until she pulled him into somewhere called ‘Epic Burger’. He had learned the word ‘epic’.

When she pulled him to the counter, she ‘placed an order’. He knew all the words, but the interaction might as well have been in another language. The person behind the counter handed them some plastic with a number on it.

“What’s that for?”

“This is our number. When they call it, it means our food is ready,” she explained. He nodded, despite understanding nothing.

Then she pulled him over to a ‘soda machine’ and started putting cups under it. Hunter was so confused. The Human Realm didn’t have magic, how was this box changing liquids? Where were they coming from? He didn’t ask.

When she brought the drinks to their table and sat down, Luz stuck some more plastic on, and shoved a cup into his hand, telling him to put his mouth on the tube and suck.

He did, and started choking. It burned his throat. “What is this?”

“It’s soda! I got you a coke. Oh, yeah, it does kinda burn at first. But people really like these!”

“Not a person,” he mumbled. But he tried it again. Small sips. She bombarded him with questions about Willow and the plant until someone yelled a number and she jumped up. The Human Realm truly was so confusing. 

The food that she brought back was like nothing Hunter had ever had before. It smelled amazing, and his mouth watered. He was still getting used to that. None of the food in the Emperor’s Coven had done that to him, but many foods did here.

Luz unwrapped a few things and placed them on a tray for him. Apparently she also got him a ‘milkshake’. Sure, it smelled good, but it probably wasn’t all that Luz-

Holy Titan. He bit into it and flavors exploded in his mouth. Salty meat, acidic tomatoes, sour pickles, sweet ketchup. It was amazing. It was unlike anything he had ever tasted. 

“Fuck,” he said with a mouth full of food. Swearing was still new to him. He was never allowed to swear before, and he saved it for when it seemed very necessary. It seemed very necessary.

Luz laughed, a little food tumbling out of her mouth. Gross. “I told you! Try the french fries!”

Hunter tried to eat with decorum, but it wasn’t possible. He wolfed it down.

“Slow down, buddy. No one’s taking it from you.” Then Luz’s face seemed to fall. “Hunter? Hey, really. Slow down. No one is taking it from you.”

He froze, mouth stuffed. He swallowed hard. “Yeah.”

Luz pushed his cup towards him. “Drink a little. Hunter, you know you can eat whenever, right? We can get burgers whenever you want.”

He took a long, slow sip, letting the bubbles burn pleasantly. “Actually?”

“Yeah, man! This place is pretty cheap, and it’s not far away. If you like it, sure.”

Hunter chewed a fry. It was so good. Then took another bite of his burger. He tried to eat slower, really taste all of it.

“Can I… Can I ask you something, Hunter?”

He nodded.

“What was… food like there? You know, before?”

He knew. “Uh. Never anything like this. I was on a strict diet. Food, exercise, that stuff, Belos had me keep my body in pretty good shape. I didn’t ever really get food just because I wanted it, or because it tasted good.”

“You ate it really fast. Did he ever take food away?”

Hunter squeezed his eyes shut. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

“Yeah, right, sorry.”

They sat in silence for a second. With someone else, that might’ve ruined the day, but not his sister. She brightened everything, and everyone.

“Try the milkshake now.” She looked at him eagerly, previous conversation all but forgotten.

He did, and moaned. Then clapped his hand over his mouth, embarrassed. Thank the Titan, they were basically the only ones there.

“Shit, dude, we’ve gotta get you much fast food.” Luz punched him on the shoulder playfully. “Anywhere you wanna go, you know?”

Hunter leaned back. He did, actually. He did know. And it was pretty fucking cool.