There were many things Amity Blight prided herself on: her studious nature; her ability to control the classroom; the tenacity she had to complete every single assignment handed her way with flying colors; and the raw magical strength she possessed. Yes, her parents had a hand in every single minute of her life, and she had bowed her head in submission for them to mold her in their perfect image. But even they could not control all the details of her life, which was why she chose to hide away in her little secret room in the Bonesborough library. Her own little safe haven where she could truly be herself.
Until Luz the human wrecking ball came in and upended it all.
First at school in the Abomination track, then the Covention, and the Library Incident. Everything Amity had known, everything she had worked so hard to maintain in her perfect order, turned upside down by the human's crazy antics. Looking back on it all, Amity could not argue against her reasoning for loathing the energetic and wacky mannerisms that made Luz who she was; none of her behaviorisms made any sense, especially to someone who had known only strict order and rigid control. But all it took was the threat of being sewn into a book by an evil incarnation of a beloved children's story, and all the assumptions she had of Luz went away.
"Now what?"
"I don't know! I didn't even think that would work! I was all 'raaaaaaaahhhh!'"
Just the memory of that wordless battle cry had Amity covering her mouth to stifle her giggle and she shook her head. Now was not the time to reminisce, she had schoolwork to do. Amity stared down at the spellbook laying open on her desk, eyeing a page she had been reading for the past twenty minutes, and she groaned. Titan, was she ever going to concentrate? Pushing a few stray bangs out of her eyes, Amity skimmed through the spell formulae as she tried to force her brain to cooperate. When the spells started warping into things Luz had said, she slammed the book shut and leaned back in her chair.
"Bloody Titan, what is wrong with me?!"
That was a rhetorical question, but she knew the answer, and her name was Luz Noceda.
Amity shoved away from her desk and stood to pace around her room. With each lap, she stubbornly refused to allow her gaze to fall on the window bench where, only an hour before, Luz had kissed her. It was a far cry from the romantic display she had read about in books, and further still from the daring dreams she allowed herself to indulge in, but would never admit to in the light of day, but still, it was a kiss. Frowning, Amity crossed her arms as she thought about it. Maybe kiss was the wrong word to use, peck sounded more appropriate. The duration hadn't been more than a couple seconds, so to say it was a kiss was, perhaps, a stretch.
Her head snapped up and she slapped her hands over her wildly wiggling ears. Titan, was she really trying to determine the facts of their first kiss?! Cheeks burning hotter than an incubated dragon egg, Amity fell flat onto her bed and planted her face into her pillow. Had she not let out a wordless shriek of inarticulate frustration, she would have heard the knock at the door which heralded the arrival of two pairs of feet approaching her from behind.
"Whatcha doing, Mittens?"
"Practicing for your confession?"
Her eyes popped open in shock and she whipped around to stare up at her older siblings in horror. The twins were flanking either side of her bed, barring her escape, their signature impish grins on their faces. Taking a deep breath and counting backwards from ten, Amity clenched her fists and steeled herself. "What are you two doing in my room?" She growled, sitting up. "I'm busy studying."
"Uh-huh," Ed glanced to his twin. "I didn't know kissing your pillow counted as studying. Are you trying to figure the thread count?"
Amity gave her brother a deadpan expression.
"Don't be ridiculous, Ed." Despite herself, Amity felt hope flicker across her face. "No," Emira continued, "I think she was kissing her pillow to practice for a certain lil-cutie patootie."
Amity fought down the red haze of frustration that her siblings' jabs never failed to cause. She took a deep breath to try and control her furiously blushing face. She knew that at least part of her fiery flush was due to the fact she had already been kissed and the twins didn't know. Titan, she hoped they didn't know. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh? Then how come we saw your girlfriend flying away from the house all red in the face?"
"G-girlfriend?!" Amity launched off the mattress with her pillow in hand and swung it at Emira's head, but she ducked out of the way, laughing. "Luz is just a friend! Yes, she's a girl and a friend, but she's not my girlfriend!"
Emira side-stepped another pillow chop and grinned. "Then, you wouldn't mind if I asked her out, would you?"
"Look at her face!" Ed laughed.
Snarling, Amity glared at her siblings as they darted around the room, keeping the bed between them and their younger sister like a barrier. "Are you here just to annoy me or is there a legitimate reason you came barging in?"
Playfully toying with her long braid, Emira smiled cheekily and propped a hand on her hip. "My my. Aren't we testy today?"
"We just came to tell you dinner will be ready soon." The teasing light faded from Ed's eyes, as did his sister's. "Mom expects you to be there."
Like water tossed over a flame, Amity felt her frustration vanish and the pillow she had clenched dropped to the floor from limp fingers. If their mother expected her children at dinner then that meant there was something she wanted to discuss with them. No surprise, considering they would be gone for the weekend and most likely wanted to lay down the law. Especially after the time Ed and Em tried to make copies of the entire household staff. There was a reason why they had to get rid of so many mirrors in the spare rooms and halls.
"Okay," she nodded slowly and walked back to her desk to push in her chair. "I'll be right down."
"See you in a bit, Mittens." Em said and the twins walked out the room, closing the door but not enough for it to shut. As they walked away, Amity could hear her sister mutter to Ed. "I think we really hit a soft spot with that 'girlfriend' bit."
"Did you see how mad she got? I thought she'd throw one of us out the window!"
Rolling her eyes, Amity leaned against her chair and sighed heavily. She would just have to mull over her homework and jumbled feelings about Luz later. Now, it was time to put on the mask of Amity Blight, Top Student, and have dinner with her parents.
88888888888888888
Luz told herself she would not think about it. Nothing happened, so there wasn't anything to think about. She tried to focus on the flight back home, but she couldn't. Even trying to mentally read through the fifth Azura book lasted no more than a few seconds. She would not think about it, she would not think about it.
"I'm not thinking…." she muttered under her breath as Owlbert came to a landing outside of the Owl House. Hooty zoomed out to greet her, jabbering utter nonsense, but Luz barely heard him. "I'm not thinking…"
Eda called out to her from the kitchen and Luz absently raised a hand in acknowledgement as she propped Owlbert against the wall. Her feet carried her up the stairs and to her bedroom where she crossed the cramped space to the window and pushed open the glass to sit on the ledge. The light from the setting sun had turned the Boiling Sea a vibrant hue of deep purple, sending golden beams across the waves.
She did not kiss Amity Blight. They just bumped heads. Slightly. Okay, maybe their noses booped too, but that didn't mean they kissed. Right?
A faint tingle lingered over Luz's lips and she lightly brushed her fingers over them. Even if it was a kiss, it hardly counted as one. Luz had read more than enough fan fiction and watched enough anime to know what a real kiss was like...okay, an imaginary kiss, and that little bump between her and Amity was not a kiss. Besides, if they were to actually kiss, it would have to be perfect. Swaying beneath the moonlight to a soft tune, holding each other in their arms, the stars reflected in Amity's shimmering amber eyes as Luz would dip her down and slowly lean in, her lips lightly brushing the witch's before - wait, what?!
"Stopstopstop!" Luz slapped her cheeks, ripping her gaze from the Boiling Sea. "Don't go there, Noceda. Amity is just a friend! A magical top student witch who is kind and caring, and beautiful…Augh!" her eyes widened and she dug her fingers into her hair. Dropping onto her bedroll, Luz threw her face into her pillow, screaming out every ounce of oxygen in her lungs. What was wrong with her?
"Should I come back later?"
Luz's head shot up and she whirled around to see Lilith standing in the doorway, pausing as if she were about to knock on the door. A single eyebrow was arched delicately as she eyed the red-faced girl curiously, lowering her hand to clasp it behind her back.
"I was coming to tell you that Edalyn says dinner is ready. I can tell her you would like some time to yourself, if you would prefer?"
For probably one of the few times in her so far short life, food was not in Luz's best interest at the moment. Plus, having to face Eda and Lilith after whatever had just happened - but it wasn't a kiss! - when she had defended Amity in front of them yesterday was even less appealing.
Lilith cocked her head to the side. "Is everything alright?"
"Yes...no...maybe?" Growling, Luz turned back around to plop her face into her pillow. She didn't hear Lilith enter her room, but when she glanced over her shoulder, she saw the elder witch still standing in the doorway. Concern filled her eyes and her hands were held behind her back, but she looked as if she was torn with an internal dilemma. It took Luz a full minute to realize the witch was waiting to be told to either go away or come in. Sighing, Luz sat on her heels. She would have to tell someone about this, and technically, Lilith had known Amity the best out of the residents of the Owl House. Even if she had tricked Amity into cheating.
"I think I have a problem."
"Oh?"
Tapping her fingers together, Luz stared at the floor in an attempt to hide the blush she knew was burning across her face. "So, you know I took Amity back home, right? Well, we knew her mom and dad were home and I didn't want her to get caught, so Owlbert flew us to her window." Even just reliving the memory was making the blush burn hotter. Swallowing, Luz continued. "Amity got off and we said goodbye to each other, but then this...gust of wind came out of nowhere and I think we sorta-kinda-maybe...kissed?"
Sorta-kinda-maybe? Oh sure, that was a convincing way to not sound like a total goober. Bracing herself - for what, she did not know - Luz was surprised when Lilith slowly crossed the floor and kneeled down in front of her bedroll. The look on her face was a kind smile, though clearly she was also trying her best to hold back her amusement.
"And, how does that make you feel?"
Luz pulled her legs to her chest and rested her chin on her knees. "Honestly, I don't know. I mean, I don't even know if we really did kiss."
"Are you wishing you had?"
The question caught Luz off guard and she looked up at Lilith. There was no judgement in her tone, just genuine curiosity. Did she want to kiss Amity? Just a minute ago she was imagining a more romantic scene in her head, but that didn't actually mean anything, right? Luz shook her head.
"I didn't mean to! We're friends! Friends don't kiss friends on the lips! When friends do kiss friends, they're not friends anymore! And Amity's one of my best friends! If we did kiss, what does that make us? I don't want to do anything to mess up our friendship! Do you know how long it took me to get her to trust me enough to be my friend?" Shuffling on her bedroll, Luz dropped her eyes back to the floor and squeezed her legs closer to her chest. "I didn't have any friends back home. This is the first place I've ever really been able to be accepted, and I don't want to lose her."
It was quiet while Lilith processed Luz's words, her dual-colored eyes studying her sister's human apprentice carefully. There was still a lot she did not know about this energetic, bubbly girl and her home, but even she could sense the weight of Luz's anxiety. To have experienced such judgement and prejudice for being different was something she was familiar with. Not personally, but for what her own sister had experienced as children. Sighing, Lilith rested her hands in her lap and smiled at Luz.
"I think you're thinking about this too much. I know I'm the least person you would want to take advice from, and honestly I wouldn't blame you," she looked away when the human glanced up at her. "I still have a lot to make up for, what I did to you, to Edalyn, and to Amity. But, I believe she would not hold this against you. Amity may be part of the Blight household, but she is smart enough to have a mind of her own, and she cares for you." Lilith had seen the way Amity watched Luz when the witchlings had been in the Owl House earlier. It was evident just how much Amity felt for Luz, even if the human was too oblivious to notice, but Lilith had a feeling this was something to be left strictly between the two girls. "If it bothers you, why don't you talk it over with her?"
"What?" Luz yelped, her face going even redder. "But - but - but, what if she doesn't want to talk about it? What if she gets mad and says she never wants to see me again?"
"That's a lot of 'what ifs' to worry about." Sighing, Lilith stood up and brushed out her skirt. "Try not to worry so much about the possibilities of what could happen. If Amity really is your friend, then she will hear you out and, if she is willing, she will tell you what she thinks. You'll never know what will happen unless you try. Now, should I tell Edalyn to leave you a plate or will you be joining us?"
Chewing her lip, Luz sighed and got to her feet. "I'll be down in a sec. Thanks, Lilith."
A flash of surprise darted in the ex-coven leader's eyes before she quickly recovered and nodded to Luz with a small smile. "Of course, Luz."
That night, Luz turned the Portal Key over in her fingers, studying the wide lidless yellow eye. Why her? Out of all the Boiling Isles inhabitants to have used it in the past, including Eda, why pick her to enter the Dreamscape? She was a nobody. Just a visitor to the demon realm. What could she possibly do with that? All she had been able to do was wander around people's dreams, relive her own memories, and finding some wack gravity glyph she could make neither heads nor tails of. Setting the key on the floor next to her pillow, Luz settled into her sleeping bag and shut her eyes, thoughts buzzing through her mind of Amity and the Dreamscape. She did not want to go there tonight, not after what she had seen and felt over the past few days. For once, she wanted to just have a normal everyday dream, if such a thing existed. Unfortunately for that night and the rest after, the Dreamscape was not about to leave her in peace.
By the time Friday came about, Luz had to pinch herself every five seconds to make sure she was actually awake, and it was getting annoying. The Dreamscape did not seem to be in the mood to leave its chosen wanderer alone. In all truth, Luz was enjoying the wild sensations of exploring the world of dreams and had begun to make new discoveries she was more than eager to show her friends.
Sadly though, that did not help her in finding the courage to talk to Amity about the kiss. If anything, spending more time in the Dreamscape made it even harder for Luz to stay within the same proximity as the green-haired witch. Amity was apparently in a similar mindset as well. Any time Luz would try to speak to the witchling, she would either spit out a rapid-fire excuse before darting away or she would simply be impossible to find in the first place.
It hurt Luz more than she wanted to admit, even to herself, how Amity seemed to be going out of her way to avoid her.
I guess I was being stupid. Luz thought as she poked her Mystery Meat lunch with her fork, making little divots in the less-than-appealing grey mass. How could someone like Amity forgive me for doing something as dumb as that? Calling her beautiful, leaving her a magical flower, and Owlbert making us kiss? She probably hates me, and I can't even talk to her about it. Sighing, Luz continued to prod at her food, oblivious to the looks of concern Willow and Gus had fixed on her.
They knew about what had happened between the girls, Luz had told them the very next day when Willow had noticed a distant look in the human's usually bright, energetic eyes. Between classes, the two friends had tried to find a solution to fix the situation.
"Of course, Amity doesn't hate Luz for kissing her!" Gus shoved his fingers into his hair frustratedly. "She's probably just torn between her feelings for Luz and her overbearing parents!"
Having been the target of said overbearing parents, Willow could not argue against that. "It just caught them both off guard. They both care about each other, but they can't get out of their own way to say how they feel." The plant track student pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed heavily. Why did two of her most hard headed friends have to crush on each other? It was not an easy issue to work through. Willow had been able to stay in contact with Amity and, after nearly an entire day of neutral back and forth messaging on their scrolls, Willow finally hit something.
"Amity still wants to do the sleepover tomorrow." She mused, rubbing her chin. "Her parents have been keeping her on edge with the whole break-in at Hexside, ordering that she go straight to the house after school."
Gus' eyes lit up. "Great! Then we should tell Luz!" His smile dropped when Willow shook her head, the thoughtful look not leaving her face.
"I think it's better if Amity tells Luz she's still going."
"But," the witchling frowned. "How are we going to make her do that?"
Humming, Willow glanced at the time to see they both had one more class before lunch, and lucky her, she was going to have one with Amity. A knowing smile worked its way across her face. "I think I've got an idea."
That Saturday morning, Luz jumped out of her sleeping bag with the energy of someone who had finally seen a decent night's sleep. For once, the Dreamscape had let her enjoy a good old fashioned dreamless slumber, and Luz was feeling more like herself. Well, almost so, since she still had not heard from Amity and all Gus and Willow knew was that she had been ordered by her parents to go straight from school to Blight Manor. No detours. That gave Luz some hope that Amity wasn't upset with her, though she wished the witchling had at least talked to her at school. Even if they didn't have an abominations class to share, Luz would have preferred to to spend at least a little time with Amity. Her face flushed at that thought.
Oh cramity, what is wrong with me?
"You alright there, kid?"
Luz's head snapped up from her breakfast to see Eda studying her closely. "What? Oh yeah, I'm good!"
"You sure? You've been blushing at your cereal for five minutes without touching it. I even bought the kind that isn't alive."
The memory of the crunchy green Scorn Flakes crawling up and out of her bowl like an army of angry ants was enough to kill Luz's appetite then and there. Good thing she needed to get moving anyways. "Nah, I'm good." Luz slurped her cereal from the bowl and quickly placed it in the sink, scooping her messenger bag from her chair. "I'm gonna go meet up with Willow and Gus in town to grab some stuff for our sleepover."
"And lil Blighty too?" Eda raised an eyebrow at her apprentice over the rim of her mug, snorting at the deer-in-headlights expression, before Luz shook her head to get rid of her thoughts.
"Uh, yeah, I think so...later!" Luz darted out the door and around the house, waving a goodbye to Hooty who was busy admiring a leaf drifting along in the dirt.
While she could have asked to borrow Owlbert for a ride into Bonesborough, Luz had a sneaking suspicion the cheeky palisman would try to get her into even more trouble with Amity than she already was. A nice walk into town would help clear her mind, and Luz enjoyed strolling through the streets of the town. Thankfully, none of the demons or witches so much as glanced at her which told her that either they didn't recognize her from the broadcast of Eda's attempted petrification, or just didn't care. Either way, Luz was able to easily make her way to the fountain at the center of the market square where she agreed to meet Willow and Gus, and hopefully, Amity. Knowing that she had arrived early, Luz plopped down on the lip of the fountain and pulled out a copy of the Azura book she carried around to pass the time with.
She had just started on the chapter where Azura and Hecate were about to call a truce in order to down a mutual enemy when approaching footsteps made her glance up to see a familiar head of green hair bobbing through the crowds.
Amity!
Luz snapped her book shut and jumped to her feet as Amity approached the fountain, a duffel bag slung over her shoulder. Gus was walking alongside her, wearing a backpack, and the two appeared to be in a heated debate, their voices in hushed tones.
"You're sure they do that?" Amity frowned at the younger witchling. "It has to be completely false."
Gus thumped his chest in a proud motion, which would have looked a lot more impressive if he wasn't so short. "I will have you know, Amity Blight, that I have the most reliable sources of human knowledge known to witch!"
"It sounds more like something for torture than fun, why would humans do such a thing?"
"Do what?" Luz asked, walking up behind them.
Both witches jumped, Amity's face going a bright red, and Gus bit his lip.
"Luz! You're here! I mean, of course you're here, this is where we agreed to meet! So of course you'd be waiting here for...us…" Amity's face was turning redder by the second. Luckily, Gus stepped in smoothly to avoid a nuclear meltdown.
"Sorry we're late, Luz. I bumped into Amity a bit ago and was telling her about this new human activity."
Blinking, Luz looked from Gus to Amity's burning face and back, raising an eyebrow. "Oh? And what would that be?"
8888888
Amity was in Hell. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration, but it felt like Hell. There was very little doubt that she had the physical capability to handle such an ordeal, but her mentality of the situation? That was an entirely different problem. Every single moment she felt Luz brush against her or share a moment of eye contact, Amity felt like her brain would implode. Thankfully, those warm brown eyes slid away from her and fixed on Gus in anticipation of what would happen next.
"Willow, left foot yellow!"
Grunting, the Plant Track student wriggled her heel along the mat to the massive dot, her hands braced to hold her in position, making it look like she was about to wheelbarrow away. Only her right foot remained free, toes bouncing in an attempt to keep herself from toppling over, which made little sense to Amity considering she was the one with the sturdiest position. Luz was splayed out in a dizzying display of limbs that did little to quell Amity's anxiety, given the fact the human's left knee was an inch from her nose. Her legs were splayed out in an awkward half-split, leaving her left hand to push into the yellow dot in a desperate struggle to stay upright. Of course, Amity was crouched with her arms stretched in a wide handstand, and her right foot set firmly on the mat. Putting her directly behind Luz.
Titan, give me strength! She feebly prayed as Gus spun the spindle. "Okay Luz, right foot red!"
With a groan, Luz scooted her foot to the side, her socked foot brushing Amity's fingers.
"Sorry Amity!" She squeaked when the witch bristled at the contact.
Willow snorted and Amity shot her a warning glare, listening to the spindle whirl around.
"Okay, Amity, left hand- "
"Aaaaaugh," Willow suddenly cried out and dramatically flopped onto her stomach, conveniently missing Luz and Amity. "Oh no, I fell! I guess I'm out of the game!"
Amity could have filled an entire pot of honey with the sweet innocence that oozed from Willow's voice as she scooted off the mat and sat down beside Gus.
"I guess it's just Luz and Amity now."
"Get the popcorn." Eda said from the kitchen doorway.
Face burning from both embarrassment and the exertion of staying upright, Amity sank her teeth into her lip in the hopes that whatever move Gus gave her would end this torture.
"Okay, Amity, that's right foot red!"
Of course. Hissing through her teeth, Amity eyed the evil red dot where her foot was destined to go and, channeling every ounce of athletic prowess she had, reached out with her toes. She felt the ball of her foot press into the slippery mat, and her sock shot out, throwing her entire leg up and hooking into Luz's knee.
The human yelped as they crashed to the floor in a tangled mess of arms and legs. Groaning, Amity lifted her face from the plastic material of the mat and looked over her shoulder.
OhmydearsweetTitan.
Luz had somehow managed to not only land on top of her, but her entire body was flattened over Amity's back. When Luz grunted, her breath tickled the pointed end of Amity's right ear and it involuntarily flicked. A high-pitched squeal nearly killed her hearing as Luz shifted.
"Oh my gosh, Amity! You didn't tell me your ears wiggle! That's so cute!"
"Luz," Amity gasped. "You're crushing me."
"Wha?" Luz looked down to realize her chest was resting on Amity's back. Her whole face went bright red. "Oh. Um. I guess that's game over."
Despite her burning face, Amity found herself wanting to play again. But, they had another activity to do, the reason they had come over, or so Amity told herself. It was time for them to see the Dreamscape.
Thank you all for your patience while I worked on this long-awaited chapter!
For any of you who have an account with the website Archive of Our Own (Ao3) keep an eye out for an new project I am collaborating on with an amazing artist featuring our lovable duo Luz and Amity as two of the world's most famous, and something misunderstood, couple of the Greek gods. A hint? Luz is the ruler of the Underworld and Amity is a Goddess of Spring on the run.