Voices turned to hushed whispers. Beasts who never tangled with one another were now standing in close proximity. There was a certain...aroma in the air.
No, nothing in the Hexside potion lab had exploded this time, thankfully. Though, from the looks of things, even if it had there wasn't a single teenage soul in the entire building who would know otherwise. It was the night of Hexside's annual Grom dance, and that - as well as the young love often associated - was all that was on everyone's minds. Large groups of students traveled together in the hallways, making arrangements for rides and double dates and the like.
The remaining one percent - those slipping through the cracks of Grom fever, initially or not - included Luz and Amity, who had been radio silent on the matter of Grom to pretty much everyone. Of course, they had already spoken privately on the matter many times - with words, with kisses, with smiles, with emojis. Just not around other people.
For one thing, they were the second longest-running couple that Hexside had in the past decade. With their relationship going on a year and a half now, it was the honest truth that, much like high schoolers in Luz's realm, the students of Hexside were nosy. Even when she wasn't around Amity, Luz was constantly having to dodge questions of Grom, if she was going, what "Hexside's power couple" would be wearing, and rather they'd be role model students like before or ditch the school-sanctioned festivities after an hour or so for some hanky panky.
Which was a lot to unpack, especially considering Luz hadn't cleared all of it herself yet. And then there was the matter of Amity, who had been grounded from attending the prior year's Grom and was understandably terrified that some external force was going to ruin her chance to be Luz's Grom date.
Sensing her girlfriend's presence nearby, Luz tip-toed her way around a less populated hallway and dipped into a vacant open restroom, knowing that Amity had been showing up wherever she thought she could get some quiet and reassurance. In fact, she could estimate her attempting (and failing) to nonchalantly find the same restroom as Luz in 3...2...
"Oh, Luz!" Amity dramatically exclaimed, putting on a show for approximately nobody and also fooling nobody. "I just had to run into the restroom real quick and...hey, you're here!"
Luz got a good look at the girl in front of her. The brilliant, kind-hearted, beautiful Amity Blight, purple ponytail purposefully calculated in the morning to keep the hair out of her eyes, from a line of the richest and cockiest bastards in all of the Boiling Isles...and yet, as amazing as Luz knew she was, it never seemed as special to her as when Amity got nervous about something and immediately ran to her girlfriend.
"Man, you have the nose of a bloodhound," Luz laughed.
"So, since I'm here...we're still on for Grom, right?"
Luz just smiled and kissed Amity. This was no fewer than the fourth time that Amity had asked her about Grom this week, "just to be sure." Luz had certainly tried the "logical" approach before in reassuring her, but seemed to be futile. She couldn't say for certain what was causing Amity's anxiety about the whole thing, but she at least did what she could to comfort her.
"Of course we are, babe," Luz said. "That all you had?"
"Well, uh..." Amity started, a little embarrassed realizing what she had just been in a panic over. "I guess so."
"Don't worry about it," Luz insisted. "But don't you have Abomination crafting class next?"
Adopting a mock drill-sergeant tone and position, she boomed, "Hop to it, Blight!"
Amity laughed down the hallway. "Of course, serge."
Luz still wasn't entirely sure that Amity got the joke - were drill sergeants even a thing in the Boiling Isles? - but, even if she didn't, it had become an inside joke for the couple, something they could definitively hold onto and say was theirs. Sometimes, that little something was all they needed to get by.
Once after-school hours hit, Luz was normally thankful for the time she got to spent away from Hexside - certainly educational, but dripping with teen angst - and spend time with what she could call her "magical family."
Of course, this being the actual day of Grom, those plans were derailed a bit. Before she had even had the chance to sit down, Hooty was all in her business, and...well, it was hard to dodge the questions of your own house.
"Have you decided what you're wearing?" The house questioned, always eager about events he couldn't physically be apart of and as such needed every detail. "What's Amity's wearing? Are you guys gonna take a group photo before you leave? Can I be in it? Are you guys gonna kiss? Now that'd be a real hoo-"
Luz had to close the door behind her before Hooty could finish that awful pun. She knew he had all good intentions, but they were a little much sometimes. Before she even really had time to process that, she jumped back a bit realizing King was at her feet.
"Luz! Luz!" King exclaimed, holding some electronic equipment that Luz had never seen in her life up to her. "I got a job!"
"Oh?" Luz questioned, patting King's head. "Is it being adorable?"
"That's still an unpaid position. No, they needed a DJ for Grom, and Eda found this weird equipment she had lying around that makes all these beats and stuff!"
Upon closer examination, Luz was able to see that the electronic device that King was holding, which was basically a keyboard with some different switches at the top and a microphone attacked to the side. A branding on the side in white lettering read "DR. DJ". For all Luz knew, it could have been a children's toy in her realm - not that she'd ever let King know that.
"I don't know who this 'Dr. DJ' is, but he's got to be some kind of evil genius," King awed in wonder, flipping a switch on the keyboard that changed the pitch of his voice. "Hey-hey-hey!"
Luz was surprised to hear the stereotypical radio jockey voice suddenly booming from the cute demon. "DJ King is in the house, dropping all the latest jams-jams-jams-"
The device began to stutter on the last word, changing the pitch and echoing it as King bashed it against the couch in a futile attempt to make it work.
"It, er, does that sometimes," King explained. "But did you hear my voice? It was like...wham! Gets a room of people to listen to you."
"So I know what you're doing tonight." Luz said, "What about Eda? I know it's not her idea of a fun time, but you gotta get home somehow."
Eda entered the conversation by chuckling from her position on the couch. "Well, King wanted me to watch him for a little bit, but he might shoo me out once this DJ business blows up in his face."
"Hey!" King interrupted.
"Also," Eda continued, "Raine and I were gonna have a night on the town. An early night, because we're old, and also before the town is flooded with hormonal teenagers."
Luz smiled at the reference to going out with Raine - Eda had seemed a bit more chipper ever since she'd gotten reunited and kept in touch with her old flame. The old witch could claim what she wanted about being a free spirit, but everyone had some sort of craving for companionship.
"Ooh, hormonal teenagers!" King observed. "Luz, you're a hormonal teenager, right? What kind of tunes are they into these days?"
"Nope, not having this conversation." Luz insisted, pushing past the small beast as he whined in protest and heading up to her room.
With a sigh, she laid flat on her bed, her eyes peering over the images she had tacked up to make it a little more homely. Amity had only been in here a couple of times, and though she had tried not to think too much about it, tonight could just as easily be one of those nights.
They had been together for so long, it was pretty much expected. Not that it was a healthy expectation.
Not that she didn't want it too.
Her face turning a bit crimson just from her own racing thoughts, Luz decided to shut her eyes for a couple of minutes, just for a bit of a calm before the storm.
Any calm that her rest provided proved to be futile, as Luz was startled awake by voices calling from downstairs, at least one of which wasn't supposed to be there for quite a while.
"Luz? Are you almost ready?" The voice of Amity harmonized.
"Yeah, 'cause I need to be punctual too!" King said. "You always wanna make a good impression for your first gig."
Luz's eyes were suddenly wide open, as she realized that dozing off in the afternoon had led her to a very short time before the Grom was going to occur...
And she was...
"Oh crap oh crap oh crap"
The girl practically jolted out of bed, thoughts racing about how she needed to be quick but also wanted everything about the night to be so special, wanted to greet her girlfriend at the door...certainly not a possibility now.
Luz shook her head a few times, a technique she had developed a long time ago to get the craziness in her head out and focus on what she needed to do. Getting organized, after that, only took a couple of minutes. Feeling "presentable," Luz left her room and headed down the stairs.
"The moment of truth," Luz whispered to no one in particular.
When she reached the bottom floor of the Owl House, she was, first and foremost, captivated by the glance of her cotton candy goddess' attire for the night she had gotten - before Hooty blocked the view, that is.
"Wow, Luz, you look amazing!" Hooty exclaimed, in awe of Luz's Grom attire. Her outfit of choice was a white blouse with a black spaghetti-strap camisole under it, olive green linen trousers, and some nice black dress shoes. "You could be going on a date or to be a CEO girlboss in that!"
Luz chuckled. "Hooty, where do you hear these words? Anyways, uh...you mind moving over a bit?"
"Huh? Oh, sure, I hadn't really - OH MY STARS!" Hooty exclaimed, eyes sparkling at the sight of what Amity was wearing. Luz was feeling the same way too, though she was less inclined to exclaim aloud as Hooty was.
Amity was wearing a long, gray lace dress with a flower pattern across the torso, with a pair of tan sandals. Something about her makeup, the moonlight, and the color of the dress with her eyes together really managed to make the girl's appearance "pop" visibly, to both the house and Luz now.
Sometimes Luz didn't know if it was her or her "hormones" that her mother had given her a long, awkward talk about a couple of years prior, but she could tell genuinely in her heart that Amity Blight was one of the sexiest things she had ever seen in her life.
"Oh, wow, look at you all adorable," Amity said, looking at Luz's outfit with a smile.
"Are you kidding? Me?" Luz questioned in disbelief. "You look freaking incredible, Amity!"
"Do you think it's too much?"
Luz kissed her girlfriend on the cheek. "No way. I mean, I don't wear dresses very often, but on a night like this...God, I can't even imagine you looking any better."
Amity's cheeks started to turn a bit red. "Well, I-"
"There'll be plenty of time for flirting later!" King interrupted. "We gotta get a move on!"
"You can't rush perfection," Luz replied, gesturing at Amity. The joke flew over King's head.
Entering through the doors of Hexside, Luz and Amity immediately noticed the way several mouths closed and pairs of eyes darted over to them. Thankfully, these looks were clearly in awe and admiration of the couple.
Eda, Raine and King were following behind them, each having their own unique reactions to the fanfare.
"Oh, gee, I didn't think all of these people still remembered me," King said. "Is it from my stunt as a teacher? A writer?"
"No, King, I think they're looking at the power couple over here," Eda insisted, causing Luz and Amity to look knowingly at each other and blush almost synchronously.
"Power?" King questioned, walking past Eda and moving closer to the girls. "What kind of power do these two wield over a school of students?"
"The power to turn heads," Raine said with a chuckle.
"Seems minuscule. Anyways, I gotta go set up!"
King's little legs darted toward his destination, and as he did Eda leaned in and whispered something to Raine, who nodded.
"I think we should go help him set up," Raine stated. "There are some things he might not be able to reach."
"I was thinking the same thing," Eda replied coyly. "Well, you two have fun!"
Eda and Raine began to follow after the demon, leaving Luz and Amity to themselves in the crowded hallways of Hexside.
"Okay, uh...see you guys later!" Luz said with a wave in their direction, trying to stay cool with the knowledge of so many eyes on her. "So, you wanna go find Gus and Willow?"
Luz turned to Amity, seeing that she was looking at her, but with her eyes appearing slightly glossed over. "Amity?"
Amity suddenly blinked, rubbing her eyes. "Huh? Oh, uh...yeah. Sorry. I just can't get over how good you look."
"Aw, I wasn't sure about it - but you, you look so good," Luz said, pulling her girlfriend in for a hug. The pair heard a squeal of delight (or someone getting murdered) in the distance, followed by the loud blow of a whistle.
"No PDA!" The familiar voice of Principal Bump interrupted the girls' scene, leading to some groans from the other students and both of the girls' faces turning crimson.
"So, uh...finding Gus and Willow?" Amity suggested.
The pair were able to catch up to their friends in the crowd, and the night's festivities were really beginning to take off now that they had a DJ present. Not that the students were making it easy on him.
"So, uh," Boscha started, standing in front of King's DJ table, "do you have that song goes 'do-do-do'? I think a guy says 'oh yeah'?"
"That describes approximately thirty thousand songs," King replied dryly.
"Ugh. What about that one where the girl goes 'oh, oh'? I think there's a guitar?"
King sighed deeply. Despite his inability to cater to Boscha's bizarre and vague requests, he was able to play what seemed to be a solid mix of music that kept the teenage crowd moving. However, it being his first gig, he didn't quite fully grasp the variety that was needed for the atmosphere of Grom, and he noticed after over an hour some of the students were looking a bit antsy.
Put up your hands, say "I don't want to be in love, I don't want to be in love..."
This was a fact that hadn't escaped Eda either, who nudged her partner on the shoulder to acknowledge the music.
"What a cockblock," Eda said in a low voice.
"Eda!" Raine whisper-exclaimed, trying to hold back a chuckle.
Eda simply smiled at them. Even in a crowd of teenagers, being with Raine seemed to make the world as a whole seem a little less...bleh. Not that it had been as bleh with Luz and King around, but this...this was something different. She touched Raine on the arm, getting a good look at their face and stroking their cheek.
"I think we should get out of here," Eda whispered. "We can come back for King later."
Raine nodded. "And the girls?"
"If they're still around."
Making sure that that King was distracted, the pair headed out of the school. At the same time, Luz headed towards King's DJ table, hoping she could persuade him to change the mood of the event a bit.
"Hey, King." Luz said. "You're really doing great!"
"You think so?" King replied eagerly, happy to receive the praise.
"Definitely! But, as much as I love Now That's What I Call Pop Punk volume 8 - and I do! - I think the crowd might be interested in something different."
"Oh. Well, I got a mixtape of the screams of the dead from this guy in a tan suit."
"No, no, no. I was thinking something more...romantic."
The demon tilted his head at Luz, much like a dog, the concept still escaping him. Luz decided to take charge and whispered a song title off the top of her head into King's ear.
"Oh! I think I have that one." King stated as he grabbed the microphone from his amateur DJ kit and took on a different persona (and voice). "Yo, yo, yo! King DJ back on the mic! How's everyone feeling?"
The response from the crowd was muttered and a bit lukewarm.
"I hear you, I hear you! Don't worry, we're gonna be switching things up a bit. If love is in the air tonight, then I've got something more on the romantic vibe coming right up!"
King flipped a switch on his equipment, and the beats faded into a record-scratch that transitioned into the next song. Within a couple of seconds of a slow violin beginning, most of the movement on the dance floor had stopped, and pairings of two were starting to move closer together.
Luz gave a wink to King, who smiled back at her. The atmosphere of the Grom had changed fast - this was clearly a song meant for couples to slow-dance to, and teenage hands began to wander around the waists and backs of their partners - the only form of physical contact Principal Bump could approve of, just for tonight.
While Luz and Amity had shared a dance at the last Grom they went to, this was something different. Something a little more intimate.
Amity looked at her girlfriend with a smile, holding her hand out. "Luz Noceda, may I have this dance?"
"Of course you can, love," Luz replied, grabbing ahold of her girlfriend's hand. Amity held her balance, but was suddenly hit with butterflies just from Luz calling her "love."
Luz pulled the witch closer, moving a bit of hair out of her eyes so that she could look right into her eyes. The pair's arms and legs became synchronized, the music naturally allowing them to move at a leisurely pace. With almost everyone else's eyes on their own partners, Luz and Amity felt alone in the world for a few minutes.
Being able to dance with someone you were so in love with, without having to defeat any kind of weird Grom creature - that was a feeling that Luz hoped everyone had the chance to have at some point because it felt amazing.
So amazing, in fact, that once the song ended, Luz hadn't realized quite how low her hands had gotten on her girlfriend's body. Once the two were sucked out of the music vortex, she jumped back a bit.
"Heh, sorry about that," Luz said.
Amity smiled. "You've got nothing to be sorry about."
Leaning into her girlfriend's ear, she whispered something that little invisible hairs stand up all across Luz's body: "Do you wanna get outta here?"
Luz's face turned red. Amity's confidence went down a bit after the fact, as she backtracked a little bit.
"I mean, not that it's not great here," Amity said. "I just thought, maybe, we could go, I dunno, somewhere...more private?"
Listening to her girlfriend and getting the full grasp of her intentions, Luz could feel her heart fluttering in her chest. There were two main thoughts going through her head: "oh my god what is this really happening" and "OH MY GOD YES YES YES".
"Not my place, of course," Amity continued as if the thought of the Blight Manor had just suddenly collapsed into her reality.
"Oh, uh, yeah, I didn't figure," Luz said with a chuckle. "I doubt there's anyone at my place right now. But what about Willow and Gus?"
"Whazzat?"
Luz jumped at the sudden, slurring appearance of her friend Gus, who for whatever reason appeared to have a little trouble holding his balance - Willow was at his arm, holding him up and looking a bit agitated.
"Oh, hey guys!" Luz said. "Uh...you okay, Gus?"
Willow sighed. "I don't know what's going on with him. Boscha put a hand on his waist, gave him a cup of punch, and now he's acting weird as heck."
Amity's eyes went wide. "He took a cup from Boscha?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Oh, uh...nothing major. Just be sure to keep an eye on him."
"Anyways!" Luz proclaimed, recognizing Gus would likely be fine and trying to spit the words out while she was in a burst of confidence. "So, uh, Amity and I were thinking of heading out pretty soon."
Willow's lips turned upwards with a knowing smirk.
"What?" Luz questioned, turning a little red. "What is that look?"
Gus hiccuped. "Y'know, I'm really glad I let you borrow my library card all of...all of those times. You guys are really cute together."
"Well, uh, thank you, Gus." Luz continued. "Sooo..."
"Goooo, you crazy kids." Gus insisted. Willow just nodded at the pair.
"I'll see you guys at school," Luz stated as she linked arms with her girlfriend, heading towards the door.
"Gay riiiiights," Gus slurred as the girls walked off.
As her friends left her vision of sight, Luz let out a sigh of relief. "Well, that was easier than I imagined it. Now it's just a matter of getting back to my place, I guess."
"Right," Amity replied, grabbing ahold of her girlfriend's hand. "I wanted to say that I had a great time at Grom with you, and if you, uh...well, I don't want to pressure you into anything-"
Luz put a finger to her girlfriend's lip. "Pressure? I haven't felt this little pressure in so long. Everything just feels right when I'm around you, Amity. And I want to show that to you in every way imaginable."
The girls found their way back to the Owl House. It was vacant inside, as Luz had expected. Hooty was also asleep, which saved the girls from some prying into why they had come back to the house. Overall, it seemed like the night had set up the perfect opportunity for the girls to start kissing passionately, their hands all over each other before the front door had even closed all the way.
There was something undeniably special about kissing in the wide-open space of the Owl House living room. For Amity, it felt incredibly liberating - the older Blight siblings had made out with most of the school in their time there and been up-front about it for them to narrowly dodge a few tabloid scandals. Amity had never felt that confidence, that belonging in almost claiming someone else with your tongue - not that there had to be tongue...
Luz was more into the factor of, well, kissing her cute girlfriend. She was a little shy and inexperienced when it came to the whole thing - Eda and King had conducted a full spy operation once just to see her kiss Amity early on in their relationship.
The pair eventually found their way out of the entry onto the couch without breaking apart, sort of shuffling their feet in a way that seemed romantic and hilarious at the time but would look utterly embarrassing to anyone not under the same love spell. The pair found themselves on a couch, their lips briefly pulling apart as Luz pulled away and smiled at Amity for a second.
"What is it?" Amity questioned, meeting the eyes of her partner with the same playful energy.
"You're beautiful," Luz moaned, pulling the girl in closer and pressing their faces together. Then, before she had the chance to dwell any further on it, Amity felt Luz's hot breath directly kiss the skin on her neck, making it feel like a million little invisible hairs were standing up inside, then beginning to suckle.
While Luz was having to keep her head clear to keep her level of intimate confidence, a million thoughts swarmed into Amity's head in the couple of seconds Luz was...well, marking her. In fact, Amity's first clear thought was that some cursed magic had somehow gotten ahold of her girlfriend at Grom, because she had never been this straightforward before.
However, once those couple of seconds were up, it only took one or two more for Amity to quickly throw out that theory, as Luz turned a signature shade of crimson and started stammering her words.
"I, er-" Luz began. "It seemed nice."
Still a bit surprised but starting to operate on the same wavelength, Amity ran her fingers through Luz's hair. "Who said I wanted you to stop?"
"It's so cozy," Amity remarked unprompted as she entered Luz's room. This was because she'd gotten the vibe before that her girlfriend might be a bit embarrassed by the size and dustiness of where she slept when it was in fact of the most comforting places she'd ever been. Sure, the Blight Manor was big and expensive, but the fact that Luz only had so much space only made the finer details that much greater.
The photos that Luz kept tacked above her bed were particularly intimate - photos of Eda, King, Willow, Gus, and its most recent addition, Raine, all made up a couple of vertical lines down the wall. Luz liked photography - it was one of the few hobbies that translated pretty well to the Boiling Isles, and in a strange new place all you ever wanna do at first is take pictures of everything.
Then, there was a special row for her and Amity - some photos they had taken together on their own, as well as a few that Gus and Willow had also been in. Hearts had been doodled on the sides of a few of the photos with a black marker, a gesture that Amity recognized and appreciated.
And then, in her own special place to the side, Luz's mother.
Amity planted a small peck on Luz's cheek, who still appeared to be "recharging" from her surprisingly bold move downstairs. The gesture made her seemingly aware of her surroundings again, as she laid her head against Amity's dress shoulder and pulled a bit at the strap.
"You know," Luz said, tracing her finger along the witch's smooth shoulder skin, "I almost think we should go back to show off this dress. It looks really nice on you, Amity."
"Thanks...you too," Amity replied, instinctively feeling herself look away and start to flush a bit. Another half-second passed. "Oh, crap."
The atmosphere in the room changed entirely, as the formerly sensuous Luz bent over on the bed in a fit of laughter and Amity looked down at the floor.
"I mean, I was...you know what I meant, right?" Amity explained, words still a bit shaky. Making eye contact with Amity again, Luz could see that the witch was feeling a bit insecure - likely that she'd ruined a "moment" of some sort for them.
"C'mere," Luz smiled, pulling the other witch up to her lips and giving her a smooch. Amity wasn't sure if she was ever going to get tired of that electric feeling that the charge of her lips brought, but she prayed that day never came.
It seemed Luz was keen to enjoy it as well. Once she was able to stop giggling about her girlfriend's little slip-up, she took every measure to show Amity just how gorgeous she thought she looked, as her lips traveling down her skin made Amity shiver in a way that she'd never felt before.
Amity sat up in the bed, letting her hand caress Luz's hip as it traveled up her face and pulled her in for a more passionate kiss. Nope, still not tired of it.
And another. Still so right.
And another.
Like magic.
Regardless of rather you could point to an actual supernatural force or not, a spark had certainly ignited in the supply closet turned love shack. The two inexperienced witches together had never felt each other's bodies so hot to the touch, which of course led to the panicked internal anxiety on both sides of oh no I'm doing this all wrong she has to hate me.
If there was one thing the girls had learned from one another, it was that communication with a long way. As such, the awkwardness ended up becoming more of a hands-on class they had gotten the chance to take together, except they just skipped right past the obvious pottery metaphor.
There were a lot of things Amity had come to learn about herself in the past year and a half. There was a lot more to people than their pre-appointed status. Furthermore, there was a lot more about herself that she could find, beyond some sort of pre-appointed status that had been given to her before she was even born. Oh, and purple hair kicked ass.
Another, and perhaps the most important of them all, was that she was hopelessly in love with the human who had crashed into their lives one day and altered them permanently, Luz Noceda.
"A-Amity, don't stop..."
At no point had this been so clear for Amity then a space with no boundaries, a space where the obligations and chaos of the world around them seemed to be barred entry, where the worries of one day being pulled apart seemed - naturally - so distant. A world where Luz's request seemed to actually melt in her mouth, leaving Amity eager to give, to take, to be joined together in a way that was just between them.
At the same time, the warmth that filled Luz was unlike anything she had ever felt in the world, and she never wanted it to end.
The girls were wrapped up in one another for what they could have sworn were hours. In fact, it was less than an hour before Amity Blight felt her eyes drifting in the hard but oddly hostable bed of her girlfriend, cuddled together as the little spoon to her side. (She was partial to that position, though she'd never admit it out loud.)
Of course, it had actually been however many hours that Eda, Raine, and King were out, and Amity was awoken again by the startling, agitating feeling of when one is about to fall out of bed only to not actually be doing so.
She caught herself from her imaginary fall, sighed, and then held a breath in as she turned over to see a sound-asleep Luz and recalled the events of a couple of hours ago. Her heart fluttered a bit as she laid her head down and quickly became wary of what had awoken her.
"Eda, we're honestly getting too old for this," Raine said to Eda, their voice slurring a bit. "Maybe we should've stayed at the Grom?"
Uproarious laughter came from downstairs, seemingly Eda's. Unnaturally uproarious laughter. She definitely wasn't sober.
"Oh, I'm sorry, but that's too good, Raine," Eda laughed, stuttering and slurring her words a bit more. "You wanted us to be chaperones? Not being dead is too young for that, for me at least."
Amity heard a glass shatter downstairs and, amazed as to how the heck Luz slept through all of this on a daily basis, continued to listen in.
"I meant to do that," Eda hiccuped. "And c'mon, Rainstorm, I know you had fun. I can always tell when you get that cute twinkle in your eyes."
"Maybe I just get that way when I'm with you," Raine replied to Eda in a volume barely over a whisper. Of course, there was a method to their madness, as it seemed that it was enough to get Eda's cheeks to turn a certain blood shade. "I love how that still makes you go red. You're awfully cute yourself, Eda the Owl Lady."
Raine delivered Eda's formal title with a playfulness to it, leading them to giggle and kiss a bit in the living room before being interrupted by another voice.
"Lovely display, but could you guys get a room?" King asked. "Some of us did some hard work today and need our beauty rest! Teenagers may be some of the hardest monsters in all the Boiling Isles to deal with."
"Speaking of teenagers, do you know if Luz made it back yet?" Raine questioned, and their words made Amity tense up a bit in bed.
"Luz told me they weren't going to stay at Grom very long, so more than likely," King replied. "I can go check-"
"Leave 'em, King," Eda ordered. Raine raised an eyebrow at her. "I have a good feeling where Luz is, and she might need a little privacy."
King still looked confused. Raine began to whisper.
"The Blight Manor?"
"Of course not. Can you imagine? This is a safer Grom retreat than there."
Raine blinked. "I don't know, I guess I still, in a way, think of Luz as your kid."
"Well, I think, in a way, you're on the right track," Eda continued. "But she's sixteen. She's got those raging hormones, but she can be responsible when she needs to be. And you remember what we were doing at sixteen, right?"
"Oh, absolutely," Raine said suggestively with a little chuckle. "Those two do remind me a bit of us at that age."
"I just pray-tell they're smart enough to avoid the same drama."
"Is anyone gonna tell me what the heck is going on?" King questioned, a bit of fierceness in his voice that didn't really take to heart considering his small stature.
"King, ball." Eda said, pulling a rubber ball out from underneath the couch and tossing it in King's direction. The small demon's attention was immediately diverted.
"I will rule you!" King exclaimed, going after the rolling ball.
"Ohh, I think every relationship has its drama," Raine said, placing their hand on Eda's face. "But what's important is figuring out that drama together."
"Something I wish we'd known when we were younger," Eda replied, leaning in closer. "But...at least we have each other now."
"And forever, right?"
They were three powerful words that weren't meant for her, but Amity still took them to heart at the same time as Eda's affirmation.
And forever.