Eda yawns and scratches her back as she lazily makes her way downstairs. After their night of dream diving, she realizes the grave mistake when Amity brought Luz in it was just barely dusk. Meaning she had gotten her sleep way earlier than she had wanted. And Eda is not a morning person.
When she reaches the bottom set of stairs, her ears picked up the sound of snoring in the living room. It took her a moment to recognize it, knowing it wasn't Hooty's because his is way louder, but is surprising to think they would be sleeping down here. Eda shuffles over to the couch and peers over to find Luz sprawled to one side with a sheet leaning mostly off the edge.
"Huh," Eda mutters. She turns and heads to the kitchen. She fills a pot with water and sets it on a stove to boil, then grabs a cup to fill it with water. She takes a few sips from it as she shuffles back to where Luz is still sleeping soundly like a baby.
Eda takes one more sip from the glass, feeling the cool water soothing her parched throat. She pulls it back and smacks her lips with an, "Ahh…"
Then proceeds to dump the rest of it over Luz's head.
"Ah! Mutiny on the ship! Don't drown me!" the girl jumps out of the couch and fell onto her side. Luz groans and looks up to see the empty glass in Eda's hand, then back at her. She beams, "Morning, Eda!"
"Kid, what did I tell you about spending the night in the livingroom? I already had to wake you up from dream eating spiders, the last thing you need is a visit from the sleep paralyze demon."
"That's okay! Hooty is just over there," she gestures to the front entrance.
"Who do you think I was referring to…" Eda yawns and levitates the glass back to the kitchen. Which smashes against something since she wasn't looking where it was heading. "Anyway, why are you sleeping down here? Is the new bed not doing it for ya? Or did you and Amity get into a fight?"
Luz stiffens at the mention of her name and coughs, "Course not… the exact opposite, actually."
Eda raises a brow at that, "Opposite?"
"I mean I don't think we officially declared it but we sort of… you know, talk and we uh-"
"Spit it out or I'm going for a 'refill,'" Eda groans while gesturing another dunk with the absent cup in her hand.
"We're dating now!" Luz blurted, then back out on it with, "Probably! Maybe!? I don't know! Agh, the point is we both know we like each other!" Her cheeks grow hot as Eda took the news like a haymaker to the face. Eda thought she should have gotten herself some coffee first, but never did she expect to receive this news at way-past-too-early o'clock.
"No kidding?" Luz shakes her head. "Huh, to think that little Blight actually managed to pull it off. And here I thought it was going to be dragged out for an annoyingly long time with a little payoff at the end." She ruffs Luz's head then pats her on the back, "Good for you, kid!"
"You knew!?"
"It was pretty obvious. The red face, the nervous giggle, and the incoherent babbling? I was questioning if I was going insane for being the only one to noticed."
Luz is seriously starting to question her awareness skills. If her life in the Boiling Isles was recorded in a book, she can imagine hearing the collective groans of the audience for her amazing display of density. She would also hope the film adaptation would at least get the casting right.
"Yeah so… because of that, if felt too weird for us to sleep in the same room together. So, I opted to crash on the couch."
"Don't you have to be married for that kind of thing?" Eda chuckles. Luz suppresses a whine and pulls the blanket over her head. "Don't joke about that! I still haven't gotten over it!" she cries.
"Well if you need someone to talk to… give me like ten minutes to get a cup of joe first. Mama needs her bean juice," Eda turns to head back to the kitchen.
Luz doesn't wait for her to return and leans over the armrest of the couch to shout across the room, "I don't know the first thing about being in a relationship! I mean, sure I see it in a lot of books and tv, and maybe fantasize the idea in my head occasionally, but I never imagine someone having a crush on me! I thought I would be the one to do the embarrassing confession."
Eda responds from the kitchen as she prepares her coffee, "Think you're giving yourself too little credit there, kid. There's a lot to like about you. It was only a matter of time for someone to notice. Not that I expect it to be Amity, that's for sure."
Neither did Luz. It's still a shock to her to know that Amity of all people would harbor feelings for her. Her. A nerdy human girl who is nowhere near as smart or amazing. She couldn't help but feel Amity being way out of her league.
Eda walks back in and sips from her steaming cup of coffee, "Oh yeah, that's the stuff. Look, I know how scary it is to have your first relationship with someone. But these types of things are no different from being friends, you're just… you know, friendlier. You get what I'm saying?"
"I… think so?" Luz nods, not actually understanding what Eda meant by 'friendlier.' Wasn't she always being friendly to her? "Is that how your past relationships been, Eda?"
"Ehh… you don't want me to answer that," Eda quickly occupies herself with another sip to discontinue the subject.
"But what do I do now that she's staying at our place for at least three more days? Not saying I don't want to see her but I just don't know what to do. What I should say or how I should act in front of her?" Eda already knew what she's going to ask when she looks back at her with hopeful eyes, "I could seriously use some advice."
"Shocker. Lucky for you, I got one that's fresh and hot out of the oven. It's cliché, you probably heard about it a thousand times, and you're likely not going to listen but here it is." Eda presses her finger against Luz's forehead to emphasize each word with a tap, "Be. Your. Self."
Luz rubs the spot on her head and frowns. Be herself? Being herself was what got Amity to hate her in the first place. She hasn't really done anything different to change that. All she did was be honest with her.
Amity has said a lot of nice things about her. Stuff like being funny, kind, and even… cute. It's still hard to believe Amity called her that. Kids are cute. Puppies are cute. King is cute. Her?
"I don't know," Luz shakes her head, "I just don't understand what she sees in me. It's easier to see why people wouldn't like me…"
"Everyone has their bad faults, kid. I know it's hard to imagine knowing someone as perfect as me, but you'll find everyone has a downside." Eda lets out a yawn and lazily smacks her lips, "But a real friend or someone who genuinely likes you would see past those faults. Sometimes they might see it as good ones too. And you already got all three living in this house who do."
"That's… actually very sweet of you to say," Luz said in surprise, "Thanks, Eda."
"See? I can be a good mentor," Eda chuckles, "Things may seem different now, kid. But I'll always have your back when you need it."
The distant sound of a door opening from upstairs drew their attention to the ceiling. Not long after did they start hearing Amity's voice calling from the hallway, "Eda? Luz? Is that you?"
"Speak of the devil," said Eda before giving Luz a wave and makes her way out, "I'm out!"
"Wait, you're leaving!?"
"I'm just stepping out for a bit. You girls are going to need some room to talk, right?" Eda lies as she clearly does not want to stay for whatever awkward disaster that's about to unfold. "You already got past the hard part, so just talk to her. You got this." She walks back to the kitchen and leaves through the backdoor.
"No, I don't!" Luz cries after them, "Where are you even going!? You live here! Eda!"
"Luz?" The human girl freezes at the sound of Amity's voice calling her name. She turns her head to find Amity looking down from the steps who offers a timid wave. "M-morning," she said, softly.
"Amity!" Luz quickly throws the blanket off the couch. She adopts a pose going for a casual look but realizes her mistake of leaning on one elbow while laying on her side. After readjusting her position, she says, "Good morning! How, uh… how are you?"
"I'm fine," Amity answers as she makes her way down the steps. Her voice is noticeably quiet and shaky. She could barely keep an eye contact with Luz without quickly averting her eyes the moment they see each other. "How about you? D-did you sleep well?" She coughs, "I mean, after what happened…"
"Yeah! Don't worry about it, I'm fine. Better than ever!"
"That's great."
"Isn't it?"
"Mhm."
"Yup…"
Both girls wait for the other to say something but neither of them knew how to make a transition from here. Luz never realized how loud the silence can be. Only the rhythmic thumping of her heart can only be heard. Hopefully, Amity can't hear it as well.
"Is…" Amity clears her throat and clutches her arm to steady herself, "Is Eda up? I thought I heard her voice from up there."
"You just missed her. Why?" Luz bolts to her feet, "Do you need to talk to her? Because I can go fetch her if you want."
"No! That's perfect-I mean, good. Fine!" Amity cuts herself short to stop the volley of words from coming out. She breathes in and exhales to calm herself before continuing, "I was hoping to speak with you alone. To talk about what happened last night."
"Oh?" Luz notice Amity appearing visibly uncomfortable in making the request. She wonders if it was about the joke she had said last night. This made her laugh nervously, "You know I didn't mean it, right?"
Amity pivots her head and gives her a disdained look, "What…? But I thought you-?"
"No!" Luz flails her arms to stop her, "I meant about the kiss, the joke that is. Not that it's a joke, I mean I would be okay if… I'm just gonna shut up now and let you continue."
Amity stifles a noise at the word and nervously fidgets. "I-I meant about our confession! I should have been clear from the start, I'm sorry." She sighs and felt her heart doing its best not to burst. Even after confessing and learning about Luz's feelings too it still makes her feel incredibly uneasy. But she could feel something else in these feelings now. A steady sense of joy and content.
Taking in a deep breath to calm her nerves, Amity says, "I think it's important we talk about… us. About how we go on from here. If you're still willing to…"
Still willing to? Luz wasn't sure what she had meant by that. Her reply came out softer than she intended, "Why wouldn't I?"
"My parents," Amity answers, "I may not care about they think anymore, but not only are they still my parents but they're powerful witches with a lot of influence. They're capable of doing whatever it takes to make sure their precious daughter doesn't stand out of line… I don't care what they'll do to me."
Amity turns to Luz, "But I don't want them to hurt you." She places a hand over Luz's. It wasn't an intentional act as she was unaware of her arm even moving. When she notices Luz staring down and followed its direction, she blushes and pulls it back.
"There was something on your hand!" she poorly lies, still feeling the touch residing on her palm. "The point is, we would have to be extremely careful. Its one thing being my friend but being… s-something more could put you at risk. I don't blame you if it sounds like a lot of pressure. If you prefer… you could back out now."
Luz widens her eyes. It hasn't even been a day and already she's being asked if they want to break up? Could you even do that? Did she just break a record?
"It's enough to know you like me. And you have no idea how happy it makes me to hear that, really. I wouldn't mind for us to stay as friends. For us too…" Amity shifts her face away as her voice cracks at the end. Luz reaches out but hesitates when she heard a soft sob escaped. Amity ignores it and finish her words with, "We can still be Azura Book club members… right?"
It's not like Luz doesn't understand where Amity is coming from. From what she seen, even ignoring the monstrous nightmare versions, her parents seem intense. And she saw what they were going to do to Willow for just being a friend even though they practically eight years old. If they found out about her? She could be expelled in Hexside. Her name would be infamous. And she could possibly never see Amity again. It would be trouble for them both to stay together.
Looking at it now, it could be better for them to stay as friends. Backing out would be the smart decision.
But when has Luz done anything smart in her life?
"Do you want to?" Luz asks.
Amity looks back, blinking away the tears. "What?"
"To be together?" she clarifies, "Because… I really want to. I never had a girlfriendbefore, or a guyfriend-boyfriend, I mean. Hehe… it's a lot to take in. And yeah, it's kind of scary to think about it. But I still want to give it a try. Don't you?"
Her heart leaps, "I… I do. A-are you sure? Not trying to be a pest or anything, but are you really sure?"
Luz giggles, "I am!" She takes both of Amity's hands into her own and raises them up between them. It would have been too bold of her to follow through but seeing Amity squirming and fidgeting nervously only encouraged her. "There might be some struggles ahead of us, but… I feel sort of… comfortable, knowing that you'll be with me. You know?"
It's that part about her again is what makes Amity admire her so much since their last troubled encounters. For someone as silly and strange as Luz, she displays the strength she wished she had during her life. Could things have been different if she rebelled against her parents? Would Willow still be her friend? Could she get them to understand her feelings?
No, it doesn't matter. What's done is done, and right now she's feeling giddy and joyous to have this silly human girl by her side. "That means a lot to me," Amity blushes, "Thank you, L-"
She stops and glares over her head. Luz frowns, feeling slightly worried by the sudden shift of her expression from a flustered smile to a hard stare. Could it be her hair? Luz tries to look up to check, but she ended up finding something else distracting her. A long, feathery neck… Oh crud.
"Ooh, are we sharing confessions?" The stupid, annoying sentient door owl stretches his face over Luz's head. Luz lets out a painful gasp as Amity instinctively locks down her grip while glaring at Hooty.
"Hooty!" shouted Luz, "We're kind of in a middle of something here-"
"My turn!" Hooty declares then clears his throat, "Eda says I need to stop chewing on clothes but between you and me, I haven't been clean for the past months."
Luz was about to shoo him away, but Amity stuck her finger against her lips while staring at Hooty. "Hold on," she says in a steel tone, "I notice I couldn't find a certain pair of tights in my belongings yesterday…"
He narrows his eyes to think, "Hmm, was it the pink one? I gave that one a try, but it didn't taste like strawberries at all. Just lies and a lot of cotton. But the elastic made it feel like taffy and I never had taffy before I-AHHH!" Amity lunges at the creature and pummels his head into submission.
"No, not again! Amity, stop! Put down the table! AMITY!"
~/~
After a few hours, King was the last person to join everyone for breakfast. The gumbo one of the frog twins left behind was admittedly great. A perfect meal to enjoy while watching trashy shows on the Crystal Ball.
Only he could barely focus with the constant talking and giggling from the two girls sitting on the couch. It wasn't so much of the noise they're making that's distracting, well not entirely at least, but it was the way they're acting towards each other. The way they're sitting just inches apart. How they never took their eyes off each other. The way Luz would sneak a poke only to get her hand slapped by the red face Amity.
It's sickeningly sweet, except for him it's more sickening than anything. He jumps off his chair and silently walks over to the kitchen with a half empty bowl. Neither of them had noticed and continued their chat.
Eda continues to stir the pot and looks over to see King coming with the bowl. He groans, "Ugh, what's with those two? They seem more… friendly. Friendlier than usual."
"It's called young love, King, and I agree. It's more gross than entertaining, but they seem happy." She pours herself another bowl and leans against the counter to eat. "And better get used to it, we're gonna be stuck with that for another three days."
"Three days?" King cries, "It feels like months already! We taken care of the spiders ourselves. What's taking them so long to clean out her home?"
"We did almost die with just two of them, King," Eda reminds him, as part of it was almost his fault with the shenanigans he put her through. "And she'll stay for as long as it takes for them to finish."
King grumbles to himself and crosses his arms after putting the bowl down, "Almost too long if you ask me…"
"King, don't be jealous of Amity."
"I'm not jealous!" King holds up his hand to stop his temper from getting the best of him. After that day when he accidentally caused trouble for Gus and Willow for taking up Luz's attention, he knows better than to compete with whoever she befriends with. In a calm manner he explains, "I'm just a little uncomfortable having a guest over. Just because Luz is hanging out with somebody on this week that I thought was only going to be between us doesn't mean I am envious or upset. I respect her as my best friend and her choices. That is all."
Eda snorts, "Yeah, whatever you say, Jelly Boy."
"I AM NOT A JELLY BOY!" King cries, "I AM A JELLY KING! AND I AM NOT JELLY!"
"Whose jelly now?" asked Luz as she comes in with two empty bowls. King flinches and rambles incoherently for an excuse, "Uh nothing. Food stuff?"
The human girl wasn't buying it and frowns at the little guy. She scoops him up and stares into his eyes, "Oh really? It sounded like she was referring to you. And I think I know why." Luz drops the intense stare and snuggles her face against his, "It's because you're so sweet!"
"I am not…! Eh, whatever." He accepts defeat as it was the better outcome than her believing what Eda claims. Luz carefully lowers him to the floor and goes to wash out the bowls. King notices Eda's smirk and silently sticks her tongue out at her before turning back to Luz. "Uh, hey Luz. You still remember about today, right?" he asks.
"Hm?" Luz half-mindedly responds as she scours the bowls with hot water, feeling eager to return to Amity. She didn't properly register the question and just answers with, "Yeah, of course I do!"
"Awesome!" he says too excitedly. He ignores a snicker from Eda and continues, "I got us a bunch of snacks for the big day, but I need to do another run since Amity will probably join us. Not that I don't mind, you know! I'm perfectly fine with it! Really!"
"Selling it a little too hard there, buddy."
"Shut it!"
Luz shuts off the faucet and dries her hands off. She only was able to pick up half of what he said but was able to catch the last part of it. "That sounds like a great idea! Thanks, little cutie!" She gives him an affectionate scratch behind the ears on her way back to the couch. King did little to hide his excitement with his tail wagging like crazy.
He proudly turns to Eda and points to laugh, "Ha! How's that! Would a jelly person do that?"
Eda rolls her eyes but is admittedly impressed with how he handled it, "Okay, you got me. For a second there I thought we're about to have our Plot B for today…"
"Weird way to put it but whatever," King shrugs and makes his way to the door. He stops by a coat hanging next to it and shoves his hand into its pockets to pull out a small bag of snails and waves goodbye to her. "If I don't come back, I expect swift and merciless vengeance in my name."
"Wait a minute, are those my snails? I don't recall letting you use them!"
"Can't hear you, I'm already out the door bye!" He slams it shut behind him.
Back in the living room, Luz sat down at the couch next to Amity as she rummages through her school bookbag. "Apparently King got a little surprise for us later," Luz recalls to her.
"What kind?"
Luz shrugs, "I dunno, I was kind half listening. He already left for something so I guess we can kill some time before he gets back."
"Okay," Amity nods, "Like what?"
A good question. One Luz was for some reason not prepared for. It normally wouldn't be hard for her to come up with an idea, but when she sees Amity sitting on that couch looking at her expectantly with a smile it was like someone just threw her thoughts into a disposal drain.
Luz notice she must have been staring too long when Amity's smile slowly fades and her eyes glances back at forth. She blurts out, "You know like, uh… stuff?"
"Stuff?"
"Yeah, stuff!"
Amity giggles, "Sounds fun… but I'm thinking this might be a good time to finish what's left of my homework from school first. I haven't touched it since Emira and Edric dragged me to that fair." It was the first time she was glad they did.
"Homework? On a free school week? Ugh, that's so lame!" Luz backpedals on that statement realizing how rude that must have sounded, "Lame as in how disappointedly easy it must be for you. With you being in a top track like Abomination and being so gifted and smart…"
Amity loved the compliment, despite how oddly structured it was, and blushes. But it then occurs to her what Luz just said that bothers her. "You know I'm talking about the same homework assignment everyone at school got?"
Luz blinks, "Everyone?"
"Yeah… you did do yours, right?" Amity asks, now watching Luz's expression falling into anxiety. "Luz? Did you even start on your assignments?"
"Uh… not really, because… I don't recall getting them?"
"What?" Amity nearly shot to her feet, "But everyone was supposed to be given an assignment from their chosen track."
But she didn't choose a track. Right, Luz couldn't have known because she is learning from all of the tracks. Could she be exempt from the homework due to her special role? That wouldn't seem likely since the work is supposed to make up for the days they'll be missing.
"Usually they would send the assignments to their home if a student was absent on that day. Did you check your mail at all during the week?"
"Good idea." Luz cups her hands and shouts, "Eda!"
"Yo!" The Owl Lady walks in just as she finishes her last bite.
"Did you happen to see any papers sent from Hexside to me?"
Eda taps her chin with the spoon to ponder, "Hmm… oh yeah, I think I recall seeing those. I threw them out."
"You WHAT!?" the girls screamed.
"Nice harmony," snided Eda, "Oh don't give me those looks. Homework is a huge waste of time. What's the point of attending classes that you're already getting up early in the morning for to sit there for eight hours every day for twelve years that they felt the need to waste even more of your personal life? You know whose class doesn't have homework? That's right, this gal."
Amity raises an eyebrow, "But your lessons are primarily done from home. Wouldn't that just make it all homework?"
"… don't ruin it for me too, kid."
"Eda," Luz claps her hands for her attention, "I dig your defiant wildfire spirit, really I do. But I went through a lot of trouble to convince Principal Bump to allow me to learn from all tracks. What kind of a message would I be sending if I start ignoring my schoolwork? I can't afford to be a delinquent!"
"Calm down, I still have the trash lying around somewhere. Was going to use it for target practice," Eda conjures a glyph in front of her. The distant sound of something rustling and knocking over a few objects on the way here reveals a big black trash bag floating towards Eda's hand.
"Eugh!" Amity cringes, "Did you have to bring the whole garbage with it?"
Eda shakes her head, "Oh no, I don't mix papers with my usual trash. This is all that came in from the mail."
"Wait," Luz watches the bag slowly hovering over her, "What do you mean by-"
The knot on the back unties itself through Eda's magic before the entire bag flips upside down, burying Luz in an avalanche of papers. She pops her head out from the bundle of paper and scans every one of them.
"Are all of these school assignments!?" she cries.
Amity stares incredulously at the pile and picks up some of the paper to inspect, "T-that can't be! Even I don't get this much work at once in any of my classes let alone a week-off assignment."
"You can imagine why I took the initiative of getting rid of them. You're welcome," Eda says, huffing at them for biting at her generous deed.
Luz shuffles herself out of the pile before feeling a thick parchment jabbing at her stomach. She digs through and pulls out a letter with a stamped seal of Hexside's logo. She opens it and takes out the letter from within.
"Dear Luz the Human,
"Due to the peculiar status of your education at our school we could not find a proper fill in for this week's assignment. The grades have already been set up for you to complete an assignment from every track. We apologize for the poor planning and whatever inconvenience this might cause. For that reason, we'll allow for half of the assignments to be completed and turn in to receive full credit for all tracks. Failure to meet this condition will severely impact your grade and will likely force us to revoke your status. With your grades and performance, I have full faith in your abilities to see this through
"Best of luck, Principal B. The 'B' stands for Bump, of course, just trying to appeal to the younger kids, you know-oh, nevermind it's stupid. You're not still writing this part down, are you Janette?"
Luz lowers the paper and lets it fall from her hand. "Oh good," Luz squeaks with a forced grin, "For a second there, I thought it was going to be good news…"
"He's bluffing," Eda wagers, "Want me to send a strongly worded letter? It'll be a nice change not having to forge them this time."
"You've done quite enough, thank you." Amity pulls Luz away and shakes her, "Don't panic! You saw what the letter says, you only need to do about half of these to pass."
"But this could take me days to finish and we're already about halfway through the week!" Not to mention this would eat up all the time she could have spent with Amity.
Amity goes down to her knees and picked through the papers, "Then we'll work together! I'm familiar with some of these subjects. We can start by sorting out the papers to their proper assignments, pick out your strongest subjects, and then we can go on from there."
Luz looks at Amity with renewed hope, a feeling that is just as strong as their conflict against the nightmare they were in. Not even a fear-devouring spider could compete against the stress of piled homework deadlines.
She asks, "You will?" Amity nods then gets pulled into a hug from Luz, "Oh thank you so much! You're the best!" Luz felt her stiffen before her and realized what she's doing. She lets go for her to pull away, but Amity still clings against her for a moment longer.
"… oh… oh, sorry, I thought…" Amity withdrew her face now feeling the weight of the embarrassment.
"No, I shouldn't have-"
"I don't mind!"
"Really? Then you wanna… try again?"
"… um… not now, maybe? I don't know…"
"UGH!" Eda groans in disgust and covers her ears on the way out, "I'm getting secondhand embarrassment here from you two. If you need me, I'll be outside trying not to hurl."
They watch her shut the door behind her and turn back to look at each other. Amity breaks the silence first with, "I'll… I'll start sorting out the papers!"
"Good idea!" said Luz, a bit too hastily. "I'll grab some snacks from the kitchen. I think I recall King mentioning he got them for us…"
They cleaned up the mess of papers from the floor and carefully organizes them. Picking out the best subjects Luz knows she's confidant in completing. The five tracks being Plant, Illusion, Bard, Potion, and Abomination.
Amity takes out her own work and sat down with her by the coffee table. It didn't take long to finish hers as Luz got halfway through the first assignment from the Plant Track, but now that she's available Amity was able to help Luz speed through it.
"Hey, not bad. I didn't figure you to have a green thumb at this sort of thing," Amity noted.
"Thanks, but I can't take all the credit. I took classes with Willow and she's a prodigy at that stuff. Gus is a real whiz too with Illusions, so you can imagine why I pick those two."
A prodigy? So she really was talented after all. Amity remembers how hard it was for Willow to catch up in Abomination Track. She certainly hasn't made it easier for her too with the constant belittlement. It seems scary to believe now, looking back at it, how different of a person she was. Someone who had to throw away their friendship for the sake of the other. To pretend that the person wasn't worthy of being a friend or a witch.
But the scariest part about it all, was that Amity forgot when it stopped being pretend. It feels sickening to think about it.
"Amity?" She felt the jab at the end of Luz's pencil against her cheek. She flinches and pushes her hand away, "Hey! I'm here! What?"
"You seem kind of distant there for a second," Luz said with concern, "Is something the matter?"
"It's nothing, really…" Amity says, rubbing at her cheek. "Did you have a question?"
"Nope!" Luz declares proudly and shuffles the papers together before giving them a tap against the table to straighten them out. "First one down for the count! Chip me!" She opens her mouth wide and points at it.
Amity merely stares at the girl then glances around, unsure what she is doing. "Uh, what?" she mutters.
Luz open her eyes to see if Amity was being serious, "You know? That thing people do when one has their mouth open and the other tries tossing a chip into it? A victory snack!"
"I don't get it."
"Just give it a try!" Luz hands her the bag of opened chips and opens her mouth again. Amity frowns and takes out a crisp, cheeseball. She carefully holds it between her thumb and index finger like she's about to flip a coin and braces herself for whatever is about to happen. She releases her thumb and shoots the chip high into the air.
Which proceeds to bop Luz's nose, missing the target entirely and making her let out a small "ah!" noise. Amity burst into a fit of giggles, "This is so dumb!"
"It's supposed to be dumb," Luz playfully retorts, "Give it another try, you got this!"
Amity obeys and takes out another cheeseball, now more confidant in landing the shot. She angles her hand and calculates the trajectory, the rate of descent, the sodium content, and the air resistance before making another shot. This time it lands perfectly on her tongue. Luz beams and crunches on her snack, giving Amity a thumbs up.
The way she glows from catching that snack triggers something in the back of Amity's brain. A newfound desire to get her to do that trick again. Anything to see that adorable face she makes. "Again," Amity said, pulling out another chip.
"Oh, okay!" Luz opens her mouth like a pet waiting for her treat. This time the chip bounces off her forehead but before she can tilt her head back down, another chip pelts her against the cheek. And another. And another. And another.
"Stop!" Luz giggles under the rapid assault of the chips. She blindly waves her arms to block the shot before finding Amity's and takes them. The girls laugh together as Amity ceases her fire and drops the bag back onto the table.
"Okay," Luz squeezes her hands, "I think somebody got a little too excited there."
"I could've made it," Amity says with a sly smile.
"Yeah, in my eyes." Luz laughs along with her again. She glances down at their hands interlocked with each other as Amity continues losing herself. Luz looks back up and watches her in admiration. It still doesn't make sense to her that such an amazing girl likes her. But here she is, laughing hysterically and sitting so close.
It's a strange thing to just discover a crush on someone. She knew Amity was pretty but... she really is pretty. After being used to her serious mannerism and mature attitude, to see her like this is endearingly adorable.
"You know," Amity quiets down after hearing Luz suddenly speaking up, "I was admittedly scared this morning about… us. Not that I have a problem with it, it's just I wasn't sure what it would be like."
"What do you mean?" she asks.
Not a question she was prepared for. Luz stumbles on her words as she scratches her head, "I don't know… I thought things would be drastically different between us. It is kind of new, but still familiar. Guess what I'm trying to say is, that I like this. Like we're still friends of some sort."
Amity tries to smirk but the words that came out of her were timid and shaky, "Well… why do you think it's half of the word girlfriend…?"
Luz's jaw drops and she slams her hands onto the table in astonishment. "You're right, it is!" she exclaims.
"You just found that out now!?"
"Oh man, could you imagine how Willow and Gus will react?" Amity's expression drops at the mention of their names again. Luz notices the change and lowers herself back to her spot. She didn't understand until she recalls the talk they had this morning. "Oh, you don't want them to know?" she assumes.
Amity shakes her head, "No, it's not that. I don't mind if they know. I'm just… worried how they would react… or if someone else finds out and it gets back to my parents somehow." She knows the two of them won't have a problem about it, or at least she knows Willow won't… hopefully. But if its one thing Amity knows for sure is that there are others who are aware of her family status that won't hesitate to make it known about her relationship. Students from other families who are competing against hers. Or people like Boscha would like a chance of getting back at her. They would have to be careful.
"Should we talk about who we want to know?" Luz suggested, "You know, establish some ground rules or something?"
Not a bad idea. Once again, Luz showing off that hidden brilliance of her. Amity agrees, "Yeah, that could work. Maybe we should list off the ones we want to tell first? Eda and King already knows about us-"
"And Hooty!" Luz interjects.
"… sure, Hooty… and the people we will eventually tell so far are Willow and Gus." Amity counts on her hand then turns to Luz, "Who else do you want to tell?"
"I kind of want to tell everyone."
"Luz!"
"I know!" She chuckles at the colors rising in Amity's cheeks, unsure if they're by embarrassment or annoyance. Either way, she can see why her siblings love to poke fun at her. Luz gives it some thought, "Hmm… I guess it wouldn't matter to them but if it's alright with you I would like to let my fellow multi-track friends know. You might've heard of them. Jerbo, Barcus, and Viney."
"I'm familiar with some of them… but are you sure they can keep a secret?"
"Heck yeah!" Luz proudly exclaims, "Our bonds have been forged by the isolation of detention, where we retreat to our secret hideout that allows us access to-I mean nothing, because it is a secret and we keep it very hidden!"
Amity frowns but not at the last part, "You were in detention? Wasn't that your first day?"
"That's right," Luz stretches out her arms and feigns a yawn, "Guess you didn't know you were hanging out with a bad girl. I'm kind of… infamous."
"How scary…" Amity rolls her eyes with a grin, "Okay, I'll trust your judgement. Anyone else?"
"Don't you have anyone you want to know?" Luz inquires.
"I… don't exactly have any other friends now…" There was no way she could make that sound any less sad. It's not like she has other acquaintances to talk to, but something as embarrassing as this would be hard to share with strangers. Maybe she could tell her own Abomination. It has been supporting her through her crush this entire time and… okay, now it's just getting pathetic.
Luz sympathetically whines for her and suggests, "What about your siblings? Emira and Edric would be happy for-"
Amity grabs Luz by the collar of her shirt and pulls her close to her face. Normally an action that would cause her to melt under the anxiety of them being so close, but her head is filled with nothing anger. "NO! Out of the question!" she demanded.
"B-but they wouldn't tell on you to your parents! Would they?"
"No, they wouldn't," Amity admitted with a sharp tone, "If you have any idea what it's like to have two older, annoying siblings that would take whatever they could find to constantly tease, prank, or outright embarrass you, then you would understand the pain I would have to go through. Every. Single. Day. The last thing either of us should do is give them more ammo for their antics!"
"Okay!" Luz squirms, "I understand! Please don't hurt me!"
Amity calms down after she agrees and gently let's go of her, "I wouldn't, for the record… Sorry, but my family is out of the question for sure. Is that everyone?"
Family. The word lingers onto Luz for a moment, hesitating at the thought before finally deciding on it. "Um… if possible… I would like to tell my mami," said Luz.
Amity turns scarlet at the suggestion, remembering the sweet woman from Luz's dreams. "Oh! Are you sure?" Amity coughs, "I'm fine with it! Just… I thought she doesn't know about you being in our world."
"She doesn't… but I know she would like you," Luz scratches at her arm, trying to ward off the nerves. It's already enough to keep her stay at the Boiling Isles a secret but adding another like this is even more burdensome. Not to mention the question if she even approves of her dating someone from another world.
Which brings up the problem. Luz takes a good look at Amity, noting all the features about her that stands out from being inhuman. Except for the hair, clearly just being dyed due to the roots. But it would be hard to explain why the counselors from a place called Reality Check Camp would allow their kids to change their hair color. The golden irises would be harder to explain. Contact lenses could suffice as an excuse but it would also suffer the same issue as the hair color.
Luz is too focused to realize how intense of a stare she's giving to Amity, making her shift uneasily from her gaze. She averts her eyes and asks, "W-what? Is there something on my face?"
"I guess the ears would be a problem," Luz mutters out loud without a thought.
"My ears!?" Amity flusters and shot her hands up to cover her ears. "What's wrong with them?"
"Nothing! I didn't mean it to sound like that," Luz defends herself, "I was thinking of sending her a photo of you, but the ears might stand out… a bit…"
A photo for her mom? That's a relief. She could barely hold a conversation with the dream version of her, and that one didn't even care about her not being a human. Amity places both of her hands on her hair, testing the length it would take to reach down her ears. "I could just put my hair down," she offers.
"Hey, yeah! That could work!" Luz exclaims, "Except the dyed hair and the golden eyes will still be an issue. Hmm… there has to be magic that can temporarily change them, right? Maybe Eda knows a few spells."
Amity recalls the large, unkept hair that doesn't look like it has been washed before. She shudders, "I don't know about that…"
Both of the girls hear a distinct voice coming from outside the front door. Hooty opens himself and announces, "King's back! Hoot hoot!"
The little demon steps through carrying a few bags in both arms, "Yes, it is I! Bask in the glory of the ruler of all-" He opens his eyes to the girls before him and suddenly drops the groceries, before letting out a horrible scream.
"What are you doing!?"
Luz and Amity looks at each other, then at the table, then back at King. "Homework?" answered Amity.
"Gross. But not that! This!" King gestures at the pile of snacks Luz has taken from the kitchen, "All of our rations for today! You're already eating them without me!?"
"Don't worry, we haven't eaten all of it." Luz then frowns and asks, "What do you mean by today?"
King angrily stamps his foot, "What do you mean 'what do I mean?' All this food was supposed to be for our Ghost Hunter marathon!"
Luz blinks, "What now?"
"The commercial we saw on the Crystal Ball together?" King reminds her, "The one we agree to binging through when your school break arrives? The activity we planned on doing together?"
It all started coming back to her now. She had promised King to spend the day with him. Luz had forgotten all about it ever since her encounter with Amity at the fair. "Oh my gosh!" She bolts to her feet and wipes the crumbs from her shirt. "King! I'm so sorry, I forgot! I didn't mean to-"
"You forgot!?" he cries, his voice nearly cracking at the end. "I reminded you this morning!"
"I-I wasn't paying attention! Me and Amity were talking and-"
King interrupts her with a frustrated noise, "So you were ignoring me! Even after I bought all this food with Eda's questionably earned money. Even after I offered to let Amity join us. You were just busy… being a couple of love potatoes!"
Luz wasn't sure if she heard him right that time and repeated, "Love… potatoes?"
"I don't know!" he cries, "I'm too angry to think!"
"King, I'm really, really sorry! Let me make it up to you," Luz offers, "We can still watch the marathon together!"
Amity pulls on Luz's shirt for her attention. "Luz! You still have plenty of work left to do! Remember what will happen if you don't have it all completed by the end of the break?"
She hesitates. Luz hates to wrong King like that, but the homework came at her in the worst possible time. She gives him an apologetic look and somberly says, "Sorry, little guy. But I need to work these assignments. If you just let me finish at least one or two then we can still-"
"Rrrgah! You're going to back down just because Amity tells you to?" King sharply accuses her, "Oh sure, you always have time for her. Let her stay in our home. Let her eat our food. Let her put spiders in our head!"
"I never meant to hurt anyone!" Amity protested, "You don't understand, King. Luz will be taken out of-"
"You stay out of this!"
"Hey!" Luz slams her hands onto the table, making even Amity and King flinch from the sudden outburst. "Don't speak to her that way! What I did was wrong, and I understand it makes you upset, but you will not bring Amity into this. If you got a problem, then you take it with me."
King stares back at her in surprise. The human girl who always exudes positivity and dorky happiness to which he grew accustomed to, is now glaring at him. He falters back, feeling a pang of remorse and guilt for what he said, but his anger still hasn't subsided.
King picks up the bags and turns away from her before saying, "It be the first time this week you paid any attention to me… I'll be in the shed."
Amity watches him leave, hesitating if she should say something but was too late by the time King reaches the door and slams it shut behind him. She glances up at Luz with her face angled away from her, still locked in her pose.
"I appreciate you sticking up for me, Luz. I know that must be hard," she said. Amity waits for a response or for Luz to at least sit back down. But all she could hear is a muffled noise. She calls out to her again, "Luz?" and pulls on her arm to turn her around. Revealing a face of someone trying their hardest not to burst into tears.
"Luz!? Are you okay?" Amity asks.
"I just yelled at my baby," Luz sobs, falling to her knees.
Amity doesn't know how to respond to that. Before she could even say a word, Luz buries her head into her chest and lets out a cry. "A-ah…" Amity's entire body freezes, save for her left hand which she uses to slowly pat her back. "Uh… there… there?"
"I didn't mean to forget," sniffled Luz, "So much has happened to us since the start of our break. I didn't mean to ignore him."
"Why don't you go talk to him?"
Luz sighs and shakes her head, "He'll just ignore me. The shed is his way of getting away from everyone. He probably won't want to talk to me for a while…" She glumly stares at the assignments before her but doesn't even make an effort to pick back up her pencil.
Luz reads out one of the questions, "'What precaution should you take if your double becomes sentient and seeks to destroy you in order to assimilate your identity?'" She slightly frowns at it but then sighs again, "I'm too upset to even process how absurd these questions are…"
"Why don't we take a different approach then," Amity suggests while sliding the Illusion Track assignments away. She looks over at the other worksheets, picks one out, and slides the new one in front of her to see. Luz squints at the Track section.
"Oh… Abomination Track," Luz lights up a little at that, "I guess I haven't really explored that track since I was given my status. What do we do for this one?"
"This assignment is an experiment paper, meaning you'll have to make your very own Abomination." Amity proudly smiles, "And lucky for you, you got a Star Student who excels in the course that will be helping you out.
That perks Luz right up. She takes the papers in her hand to confirm it herself. "My own Abomination?" she exclaims, "That sounds awesome!" She pauses and looks over to Amity who smirks back at her sudden shift in mood. "I mean… sounds kind of fun."
"Too late, you already cheered."
Luz turns to hide her embarrassed smile, "I'm supposed to be sad right now…"
"And I'm not having it." Amity takes her hand and helps Luz up to her feet, "Just get your mind off about it for a while. You can try talking to him once we're done. Maybe he'll cool off by then?"
"Maybe…" Luz exhales and squeezes Amity's hand, "You're right, I need to get the assignments done first then I'll make it up to him. So, what's the first step in making life, Ms. Blight?"
"Hm?" The title went over Amity's head but then strikes her back in the head like a boomerang, "Oh! Right, aha… uh, we'll need a cauldron and a list of ingredients. I suggest we check with Eda if she'll let us use her supplies."
"Sounds like a plan!" Luz beams.
~/~
"Tonight, on Ghost Hunters. We encounter the late owner of the plantation, Loc Sturges, who was violently murdered in his very own home."
The lead cast member walks up the stairs of the foyer of the large mansion they're investigating and holds out an enchanted mirror that is said to show the reflections of ghosts. "If this is the portal to hell," announced the lead, "then why don't you come on out and show us!"
The lights of the foyer flickers, causing some of the crew to scream. Furniture and paintings flung into the air and swirl around. From the ceiling descends a glowing spectral entity in the shape of a man with a crooked figure and hovers over the crew.
"I am the master of this mansion," boomed the old spirit, "How dare you vile mortals trespass upon my property-"
"Are you Loc Sturges?" interrupted the camera man.
"I-er, yes?"
The lead pulls out a badge and flashes it before the spirit, "We're with the Emperor's Coven: Bail Enforcement branch. We been told that you haven't paid your taxes since your death and have resisted multiple arrests in other counties. We're here to take you in."
"Oh… uh… give me one second, I left the stove on." The ghost backs away and phases through the wall behind him.
"… ain't the kitchen in the other direction?"
"Yup."
The lead immediately pulls out his chatter scroll, "Suspect is on the move. I repeat, suspect is on the move and have exited the back door. Call in the hellhounds."
King laughs as the sound of dogs barking and snarling mixed with the terrified wailing of the spirit. He chomps down on another handful of chips before turning back to the screen. "Ooh!" he shouts while pointing, "Luz, look! They're bringing out the Ecto-Tasers!"
He felt the realization hitting him and no longer found the sound of the ghost screaming in pain amusing. King flips through the channels on the ball trying to occupy himself from the thought. When nothing of interest was found, he shuts the artifact off completely.
"This wasn't as fun as I thought…" King sighs, "I should've waited until nighttime to be mad at them, then I could've just sleep instead of confronting them. Ah, who am I kidding. I don't want to stay mad at Luz. She's probably as upset as I am about this fight… Guess I am just jealous of Amity for hogging her."
But that changes now. King rises to his feet and raise his fist in the air, "Get ready for an apology of your lifetime, Luz! For this King is nothing without his people! And this decision has nothing to do with the fact that I didn't grab enough food to eat before I ran in here!"
Kicking aside the piles of empty bags and candy wrappers, King marches his way to the kitchen door. Out in the yard, Eda is laying against her lawn chair sunbathing. She notices King by the sound of his tiny prints and speaks up without turning her head, "Someone's full of energy. What's got you riled up?"
"It's called being a bigger demon!" King declares before opening the door and closing it behind him.
"… are we talking figuratively here?"
Inside, King carefully walks over to the living area where he last saw them but pauses at the sound of giggling. Confused, he creeps up to the doorway and leans out to see Amity and Luz huddled over a cast iron dutch oven placed in the middle of various roots, liquids, and gross animal parts.
"Now the trick here is you want to grate the griffin talons into the mix and stirk it counter-clockwise eight times," instructed Amity.
Luz reads off a book labeled 'Abominations for Dummies' and calls for her, "Uh, Amity, I don't mean to be a pest but it says here it should be sphinx talons and stirred clockwise six times."
"That formula is just a basis for simpler creations," Amity takes the book and closes it between her hand, "This is a concoction I created from years of experimenting. Allowing for stronger, faster, and more efficient Abominations. I don't just share this with anyone, you know…"
"Wow," Luz whistles, "So is this what they mean by friends with benefits?"
"What?" Amity flinches, "That's not-no! Don't ever say that again!"
"Sorry!"
"Now," Amity continues and takes out a vial of clear liquid. "This solution here will cause a sudden reaction to the formula, bringing all the contents together and reviving it as a living being. Think of it as a trigger."
"Ooh." Luz stares at her reflection in the vial, "You know, I was kind of put off by how close this sounded to chemistry but it's actually interesting! Do we just dump it in now?"
"Not yet," Amity covers the pot with a lid and tucks the vial into her pocket, "We'll need to let it rest for ten minutes first. Now remember, we're testing a small version to minimize the mess and possible hazards. Do you know what that means?"
"I do!" Luz playfully shoots up her hand to answer, "It means we need to properly divide ingredients while maintaining a balanced ratio. Sort of like baking!"
Amity folds her arms and nods at her human, "That's right. An imbalance ratio and different combinations could yield us an entirely different result. It could range from a mild mess to catastrophic levels."
Luz wasn't aware of that last part and gulps, "Oh… that's comforting."
"I wouldn't worry, I been carefully documenting everything we thrown in. And you have been listening to me well," Amity leans forward and suggestively smiles, "Guess you really are a good student."
"Well…" Luz blushes, "I do have a good teacher…"
"Haha…" Everytime Amity feels like she has the confidence to tease her, all it would take is one thrown back and her defenses shatter like glass. She loses her grip on her mind and couldn't stop herself from throwing a hasty reply, "And I got school to thank for that! Because… it's where we learn…"
Luz giggles as Amity sandwiches her face between two couch pillows. King feels increasingly annoyed watching them playing around and enjoying themselves again without a thought for him.
"Guess we should take this time to clean up. We got all these bottles and whatnots just lying around. It's a good thing we moved all those snacks away," said Luz, before taking a bite of a chocolate bar she had laying at the edge of the table.
Amity glances over as she's about to gather up the materials before noticing a distinct purple color on the bitten part of the candy she's holding. "Luz! There's Abomination gunk on your food!"
Luz stares down at the candy bar and notices the stain too, "Huh, guess that explains the tangy sensation on my tongue… am I going to die?"
"I-it's probably fine," Amity lies, as she hurriedly pulls Luz up the stairs to the bathroom. "We'll just need to wash it out and cleanse your system before it starts burning a hole through your stomach lining."
"WHAT!?"
Once the coast is clear, King walks in and inspects the lab before him. He lifts up the lid to peer inside and sees a bubbling matter of purple. "This is what they been up to?" King shakes his head and tosses the lid back on. "'Ooh, look at me! I'm a couple of teenagers who are in love~ I don't care about how my buddy feels! I rather just make purple soup and awkwardly flirt with each other!'"
King lets out an irritated noise and thrashes his fists all around him. A scene that certainly looked like he was dangerously close to knocking any of the contents on the table, but he kept himself a measure distance away.
He kept going for a moment before running out on stamina and anger fuel. King pants and wipes the sweat from his skull head, missing the actual part that is sweat entirely, and stands tall. "Glad that's out of my system. It's a good thing I'm mindful of my surroundings so I can physically express my wrath with no fear of consequences."
Dusting off his paws, King preps his legs and jumps onto the couch seat to wait for the girls to come down so he could apologize for his behavior. Which unfortunately, is higher than he expected since it was a new couch. He misses the spot entire and slides off the edge, slamming his body into the coffee table. Knocking all the bottles and even the pot to their sides.
King sits up and rubs his back before noticing all the spilled contents mixing with the purple substance Amity and Luz were making.
"Uh oh."