Have you ever had a question that you never wanted to ask, but wanted… needed the answer to? A question you knew that no one else would ask? Well, there was once a young witch that had such a question, who was typically quite logical, determined, and focused. Recently however, these traits have become ragged and confused, and during a particularly uncomfortable class at Hexside School of Magic and Demonics, this young witch needed to ask her question. This question however, had no guarantee of an answer, let alone the one that she wanted, yet asking it would not only mean possible death out of sheer embarrassment, but quite possibly an end to everything she holds dear. Still, it had to be asked…
"What about humans?"
Amity was at the back of the classroom, a significant change from most of her magic classes where she was always at the front where she could pay the most attention to each teacher. This class however, while she still wanted to be attentive to what was being taught, was of a drastically different nature than most. She had taken a seat in the back, and was wearing her hood, in an effort to go unnoticed. Unfortunately, asking any question in this class did nothing but draw attention, and as expected, every eye turned to her.
"Pardon me?" Asked the teacher, a bipedal demon with blue skin, a moustache, and six eyes with a pair of spectacles for each set.
Amity was grasping the edges of her desk in a death grip, slinking down in her seat while speaking unintentionally quietly. "What about humans?" She repeated.
The teacher adjusted a pair of his glasses and cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Uh, sorry… we don't have a lot of information on humans, seeing as there aren't any…"
A tiny hand in the front of the class raised excitedly, and Amity's blushing face turned an even deeper, warmer red. She recognized that hand, and the witch it belonged to. "Oh no…"she whispered to herself. "What is Gus doing in this class?"
"As the former president of the Human Appreciation Society, and a personal friend of the only human on the Boiling Isles, I can tell you all about humans!" Gus said excitedly.
"Sure. Whatever." The teacher said, dropping the stick of chalk and sitting back at his desk.
Gus sprang up to his feet and nearly leaped up to the front of the class. "So humans, as it turns out, are a lot like us witches! Two arms, two legs, a head… and surprisingly no gills or dorsal fins!"
"Okay, but how do they… y'know?" Someone in the class asked. "Are they like demons, or witches?"
Gus paused for a moment, having apparently forgotten exactly what class he now found himself in front of. "Oh, I uh… I don't actually… but, I could ask my human friend. I'm sure she wouldn't mind explaining human mating methods."
Amity was finding it difficult to breath. If he recognized her, and then told Luz that she was asking about human relationships and… other things, could she even face her again? She had missed a week of school after giving Luz a peck on the cheek on the doorstep of the manor, and couldn't bring herself to face her until having been stolen from her home by Hooty and brought to the Owl House itself.
Luz was a very physical girl, eager to hug and kiss, and cuddle, and it was… nice. She was so warm and inviting, and just being around her made Amity's heart skip and her skin tingle all over. Amity, on the other hand, hadn't been any of these things for quite some time. The Blight family weren't exactly known for being open or comforting to each other, and Amity had been uncomfortable at first with Luz's physicality, being unaccustomed to being so close. But now that they were girlfriends, would Luz want to push to other things now? Were witches and humans compatible? Were there dangers they had to be aware of? Was Amity ready for any of that?
Amity pulled her hood down lower, making sure her pink hair was tucked back and out of sight of the other students. She hadn't thought to hide her uniform track colors, and to her knowledge she was the only known witch on the Boiling Isles in a relationship with a human, so a modicum of deductive reasoning could certainly reveal her identity.
Once Gus sat back down, taking notes on his volunteer assignment, the teacher shook himself out of his nap and stood back up at the front of the class. "Now, is this clear to everyone? Demons, witches, and what have you… just do some research as not everyone is safely compatible, alright? You don't want your head bitten off on your second date due to a misunderstanding." Nervous giggles came from several students, with one in particular bug demon blushing. "Great. Now if there are no other questions, you can all be excused." He said as the period bell screamed.
Amity was the first out the door, nearly running into Luz and Willow, who had been waiting outside the class, talking. "Oh… no…" she said. She had tried to come up with something interesting, or at least sweet to say until her mind locked up.
"Not the first thing I was expecting to hear." Luz said, her own cheeks reddening slightly as she leaned in for a quick smooch on Amity's cheek. "What class were you just in?"
"I, uh… none. I mean, safety. It's a safety class. For safety." Amity replied, her eyes darting back and forth as the rest of the class started to file into the hall behind her.
"Hey guys." Gus said, finally wading through the crowd and meeting up with the trio. "Health class was great! Why don't any of you ever talk about it?!" He asked, and Amity had to remind herself that Gus had skipped a few grades, and likely hadn't been subjected to the topic of this class before.
"Health class?" Luz asked, frowning and looking at Amity.
"Yes." Willow stated with a smile. "On the Boiling Isles, with so many various forms of demon and witches, it's important to be educated on all the various forms of relationships."
"Yeah! Someone even asked about humans, so I was wondering if I could ask you some questions, Luz!" Gus added.
Amity wanted nothing more than to borrow one of Luz's invisibility glyphs as Luz looked directly at her at Gus's mention of the human question. "I… uh…" she said, and Amity hid her face behind her hands, darting off down the hall. "Amity, wait!"
"Was it something I said?" Gus asked, watching after her with a look of confusion on his face.
Luz seemed frantic, and began running after Amity. "I'll try and meet you in the cafeteria!" She called back. "Amity, wait!"
Amity was in flight mode, clutching at her cowl and searching for an escape route. She didn't want to deal with this right now. She couldn't. She regretted asking the question; even showing up for the class, and even thinking what she had been thinking. But she was in a cleared out hallway with nothing but empty, darkened classrooms. She tried the first door. Locked. The room across from it was locked as well. Finally, she tried the door at the end of the hall and opened it, wanting to be as small and insignificant as she could be as she put her back to a wall and slid down to rest on her heels. This felt far worse than her panics before the Grudgeby match against Boscha, or the roller coaster of emotions in the Tunnel of Love. She was struggling to breath, her mind was whirling, and her entire body was tingling like her blood couldn't figure out where it wanted to go.
Less than a minute later, the door opened and she looked up to see Luz's worried face. She turned, making sure she wasn't being followed, then quietly closed the door behind her. "Amity? You okay?"
"I'm… I don't know." Amity answered.
"You want to talk about it?" Luz asked, putting her back to the wall and sitting down beside her.
Amity sniffed. "No… but yeah." She said, burying her face in her arms that were holding her knees close. "I don't know."
Luz was uncharacteristically quiet for a few minutes, though Amity could hear her thumbs fidgeting. "I just… I wanted to know… just in case." Amity stammered, unable to complete a thought.
Luz leaned into Amity's shoulder slightly with her own, rubbing it softly. "Y'know, I'd rather you ask me than Gus." She said, and Amity could hear the faint tone of a smile in her words.
Amity chuckled and raised her tear streaked face. "I just… I guess there's a lot I still don't know about you. About humans. I know you're… you like being in other people's personal space. You're passionate about… everything, and…"
"Hey, I get it." Luz said with the hint of a frown. "I like hugs, and kisses, and being close to you. I'm sorry if it's too much…"
"No!" Amity nearly shouted. "No… I love it. I'm just not used to it, I guess. I like gestures, like the Tunnel of Love… even if it was Hooty that set it up, I know he got the idea from you. I just… I don't want to disappoint you…"
"Disappoint…" Luz said before realization struck. "Oh. OH! Amity… You are an awesome girlfriend, and I will never ask you to do anything you're not ready for. In the human realm, we have like all these rules and laws and stuff that are supposed to keep kids like us from thinking about… stuff like that."
"Does it work?" Amity asked, leaning her head to the side to rest on Luz's.
"Not really, no. Sometimes they try scaring kids, punishing kids, rewarding kids… even just for liking other people that the rule makers don't want them to like. Here though, everything seems so open."
"Huh. Yeah, I guess. When I asked about humans in that class, I'm not sure what I expected though. Just one of those stupid things, I guess."
"Still doing stupid things when you're with me?"
"Yeah…" Amity said, taking one of Luz's hands in hers.
Luz looked over, peering into Amity's golden eyes that always seemed to glow in the dark of the empty classroom. "Me too…" she whispered, starting to lean her face toward Amity's.
Amity's eyes were about to close when suddenly they shot open when she realized what was about to happen. "We should probably meet Willow and Gus in the cafeteria…"
Luz's closed eyes opened wide suddenly as well, the mood broken. She laughed, and then sighed dramatically. "As you wish…" she replied, quoting one of her favorite fantasy movies from her childhood. She was still clasping Amity's hand as they exited the classroom and walked down the hall.