Hunter was still asleep when Willow woke up, and still had his arms wrapped around her. Lil' Rascal had made a nest between his head and her belly, as well. The two didn't seem like they would wake up soon. Clover buzzed quietly, looking to Willow before looking out the window. The sun had just started to peek over the horizon. Maybe she should try to wiggle out of his grasp so she can do her early-morning workout? But looking down at him...she didn't really have the heart to. He looked so peaceful, and with the bags under his eyes he needed the rest as well.
Willow leaned back into the bed, content to stay like this until he either woke up, or her fathers eventually discovered them, and it would be the latter. After some time passed, Eun gently and quietly opened the door, peering in and making eye contact with Willow. She smiled, her ears flicking as she gave a small wave to her father. Eun smiled back, looking at Hunter for a moment and seeing he was still asleep before looking back to her.
"Breakfast soon." Eun whispered to her, " Might want to wake him up before your father comes and does so." He gave a small wink before turning, closing the door partly. Willow smiled as she turned her attention down to the boy in her lap. She moved her fingers through his hair, trying to stir him as gently as possible.
"Hunter?" Willow whispered down at him, his ears flicking as he shifted slightly, giving a groan before squeezing her slightly as he stubbornly buried his face into her stomach. She gave a small giggle, still brushing his hair with her fingers. Lil' Rascal woke up, blinking a few times before stretching his wings and jumping Hunter's shoulder, chirping a little melody as the boy's hand twitched and moved to his eyes to rub them. " You awake, Hunter?"
"Hnnnnngg…" Hunter shifted around, pressing into her more. " No…"
" You're silly." Willow giggled, moving to cup his cheek to gently caress her thumb over his skin. " Breakfast is almost ready." Hunter finally opened one of his eyes at that, looking up at her. He snorted before he moved to sit up, but fell off her and onto his side before trying again. He was definitely not a morning person. He yawned, rubbing his face again. Willow moved to place a kiss on his cheek, gaining a smile in return as she then moved to get out of the bed, looking back at him expectantly. His smile widened, flicking his ears as he shifted to get off the bed, stumbling slightly as he stood. Yup...really not a morning person.
The two exited the room, Hunter following Willow down the hallway like a lost puppy as he stumbled slightly behind her. Maybe she should have let him sleep more. As the two entered the kitchen the two fathers looked over to the teens. Gilbert snorted slightly as he looked over Hunter, who looked like a proper, half-asleep mess that needed to either go back to be or have a cup of bean-juice. And with Hunter on auto-piolet it looked like it would be the latter as the teen went over to the bean pot and opened a cabinet above it before pausing.
" ...this isn't the castle." Hunter stated before rubbing his eyes. Willow covered her mouth slightly to keep herself from laughing as she watched him with amusement. She moved to fetch him a mug, handing it over before turning to get the half-and-half from the fridge, knowing he preferred his bean-juice with it.
" So...did you sleep too well?" Eun asked Hunter with an amused smile. Hunter put his finger up as he filled the mug with the bean juice.
"I'll get back to you on that…" He said as he sat the pot down, then lifted the mug to his lips. The Parks watched with fascinated horror as the teenage boy chugged the mug down quickly without hesitation. After he lowered his hand, he didn't make so much as a hint of pain or disgust at the bitter and still scolding liquid he just chugged, then proceeded to fill the mug again. At least this time he took the creamer Willow had given him and filled his mug with more than he probably needed.
"...How much coffee do you drink in the mornings, Hunter?" Gilbert asked, trying not to sound concerned as he tended to the bacon in the skillet.
" Ahh...usually like, five cups?" Hunter shrugged as he turned, swirling his mug. " Don't worry, I think I am good with only the two today." Hunter waved his hand at the fathers, trying to reassure them that there would still be plenty of coffee left for them and Willow. He didn't notice the looks exchange that happened between the Parks before Willow cleared her throat.
" So, what time do you wanna meet up with everyone, Hunter?" Willow went to sit on a barstool next to the kitchen's island, watching Hunter with a smile. He hummed as he sipped from his mug, looking at her after as his brain became more aware.
" Uhhh… When everyone is ready, I guess?" Hunter shrugged, moving to go sit on the other stool next to her. " Meeting at the Owl House, right?"
"Eeyup." Willow nodded, shifting as she watched her fathers go about finishing the making of breakfast.
"Is that Matt kid going to be there? I didn't like how he was looking at me." Hunter commented before taking another sip from his mug. He decided he would rather keep a distance between him and Matt, given the boy wanted to be bitter about how his obvious crush on Willow fell through. Maybe in the future if Matt got past it they could be friends, but right now that was a drama Hunter wanted no part of.
" Probably not but I am unsure. Matt doesn't usually hang around with us. I was honestly surprised to see he was there at the amusement park yesterday." Willow shrugged. She was fine with Matt, he was a bit strange, but after he and Gus made up she was willing to give him a chance. He always got real nervous around them at times, she assumed it had to do with how he was treated in Gladus.
"Eehh…" Hunter groaned before finishing off his second mug, about to stand to get himself a third cup before Eun reached over and quickly took the cup from him. " Hey!"
" I think that is enough coffee, Hunter." Eun said in a fatherly tone, making Hunter pause as he was taken aback. He sat back down, muttering an 'alright' under his breath as he watched Eun and Gilbert do the final preparations and then turn and sit plates in front of him and Willow. Scrambled eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns! Hunter practically felt his mouth watering. It was usual food to have in the castle, but something about the way they looked here seemed particularly...delightful?
After some idle chatter as the four ate, Hunter having smeared his eggs with more hot sauce than could be healthy for a witch, they soon finished their meal and cleaned up. Hunter was a bit more grateful than he wanted to admit that they didn't expect him to help with the dishes, considering he never did anything of the like before. He left to go sit on the couch in their living room, soon followed by Willow who sat next to him.
" Want to watch the crystal ball for a bit before we go see Eda?" She asked, motioning to the ball that rested on the table. Hunter gave a nod as he snuggled back on the couch, Willow flipping the ball on as the middle of the morning news appeared. The two watched for a while as Perry Porter, apparently Gus' father as Willow told Hunter, talked about different happenings around the isle with his fellow news anchors. Hunter started to nod off again by accident as the different news clips played, his body being too used to having more caffeine in the morning than it was currently given.
Hunter wiped at his eyes as he sat up, looking over to the white space that surrounded him. He stood and started to head down the hallway toward the Throne Room. He threw open the doors, charging inside with purpose before stopping just a little ways from the stairs. Staring up at the dark figure, it lowered its head down to him.
" è̴͎̚l̸̛͇p̵̯̕͜o̵̬̜̐̒e̴̮͂p̷̜͂ ̵͉͠ÿ̸̳n̴̦̊ä̵̢́m̸̘̕ ̷͈̌̚e̵͔̋͠v̶͓͘͜ò̵̩̲l̶͙̎ ̶̩͗t̴̀ͅ'̴̇͝oǹ̴̠ o̵͙̒̅͜ḓ̸͆ ̵̖͝I̵̟͔̚̚ ̶̧̾͌d̵̞̜̿̇n̶̳̎̄͜Å̶͈̗̏ ̶̠͐.̴͉̎ͅd̵͎̼̔̚ĺ̵͈i̶̇́͜h̷͇̲̕ć̴͓̒ ̵͉͖̾y̴̡̮͑̊ḿ̸̛̙̜ ̷̝̟̾,̵̼̓͗u̶̙̇o̸͕͍͌ȳ̵͚ ̵̢̓̉e̴̬͌v̸̧̟̇õ̴̤l̴̪̹̏ ̵̥͒Ị̷͘."
" Who are you?" Hunter asked the creature, lifting his hand to where a face should be.
"H̵̨̓͑ ̷͓̱͎̈́́͜Ù̶͕̭̫̞ ̶̦̈́ͅṆ̵̆͗̓ ̴̳̇͘T̵̘͉͉̮̈̄ ̷̭̌́È̴̢̪͝ ̷̜̮̓̊͐̕R̵̗͌̒̕̚" The creature replied, " H̸̭̒u̴̯̔n̵̡͑t̷͈̑e̵̮͆r̷͖̓...Hunter?"
He opened his eyes, blinking a few times before looking over to Willow who gently woke him, giving her a smile. " Sorry…" he muttered as he rubbed his face. She gave a small giggle, moving to stand.
"You really are not a morning person, hu? If you want you can go back to bed, we can wait to meet up with everyone."
"What? Noo no!" Hunter followed her motion, looking to a nearby clock. Was he really asleep for an hour? He wiped at his eyes again before looking at Willow, " I think I am good to get ready and go, if you want. We can stop somewhere and pick up bean-juice."
"I am starting to think you rely on bean-juice too much." Willow commented as she turned to head to her room to get ready.
" At least I cut back on chewing on the beans themselves!" Hunter called after her as he went to the guest room to change, only now realizing that he had been sleeping in his casual wear. He hesitated, before sniffing his shirt. Maybe he could get away with just wearing this? Lil' Rascal chirped at him, shaking his head before fluttering to the backpack and demanding the boy change. "Alright, alright!" Hunter rolled his eyes as he went to change.
Willow pondered over her clothing for longer than she wanted to admit. The weather was going to be very nice and warm today, and she wondered whether to wear one of her new dresses or to just go with her usual casual wear, or maybe else? She knew she wouldn't be pondering for so long if Hunter wasn't currently downstairs. She finally decided to close her eyes, then reached into her closet and ran her hand over the different fabrics before pulling out something at random. She opened her eyes to see she had one of her newer dresses, smiling as she looked it over.
Hunter finished getting ready first, returning to sit on the couch as he waited. He had the faint memory of a dream from when he was sleeping… someone had spoken to him but what did they say? Why does he always forget his dreams anyway?
"Will you be staying the night again, Hunter?" Eun asked, stepping over to his chair and sitting with a smile. " It is ok if you do, you know."
"I am unsure...My uncle might expect me home later tonight, but given where he thinks I am I might be able to uh...stay." Hunter let his words dwindle, did he just admit to Eun that he lied about where he was? He thinned his lips, scratching his cheek as he felt the other man's eyes on him.
"Well, perhaps you should go ahead and leave your bag here just in case. I ask you to at least join us for dinner before you leave for the castle." Eun smiled, " We will be having Fish and Chips if that is of interest to you."
"That...does sound very good." Hunter nodded, smiling at Eun. " I will be sure to join you." Eun nodded before turning his eyes to Willow, who was putting a few items away in her purse, with a smile. Clover buzzed around before landing on her shoulder.
"Ok, I think I am ready!" Willow announced, smiling to Hunter as he stood up and turned to look at her, face already red but turning redder as he looked her over. She was wearing a lavender, cold-shoulder dress with a floral embroidered design. Hunter's eyes went to the hair clip in her hair with a smile, seeing the one he bought her from the amusement park. Oh titan, his ears are flicking around a lot aren't they?
"L-Let's get going then." Hunter offered his arm out to Willow with a smile, trying to keep eye contact with the girl, who took it with a smile before giving Eun a wave.
"Tell Dad that I'll see him later!" Willow said as the two made it to the door, Eun saying his own goodbyes. After the door closed, Eun couldn't help but frown. Gilbert walked out of the kitchen, still drying a cup as he gave his own frown.
"So, he lied to his uncle to come here?" Gilbert sighed, looking down at the dish in his hand. " What are they doing to that kid?"
" I am sure we can figure something out." Eun said, pushing himself to stand and head over to his husband. " I'll call for Doctor Convla now and tell them to come over around dinner time." Gilbert gave a nod, though he pondered if it was right to suddenly spring a surprise doctor visit on Hunter like this. If they heard right and he was The Golden Guard, he would have access to doctors but...a therapist? Maybe not.
" Do you think he will be willing to talk to them?" Gilbert asked honestly. " Hunter seems the type to keep everything close to his chest…"
"Well...it's better to try than not. Beside, if Eda can't give him answers on his…" Eun felt himself frown, worry ripping through his heart as he thought of what he overheard last night. " His...curse...maybe Convla can, at least."
_AN_
Hello again, my friends! We are now in the final 10 chapters...and as such I have decided that I will be updating the fanfic everyday until the end! I hope not to overwhelm you guys, but I hope you guys are as excited as I am for the final! As always please leave a comment, and I love you!