The walk home through the woods was punctuated by a lot more giggling and blushing than it would be on any other day. Of course, it wasn't just any day. That day was special. It was magical in a way that had nothing to do with spell circles or glyphs. It had very quickly become Amity's favourite day, because she'd finally done it! She'd finally confessed. She had a girlfriend now! She came to an abrupt halt at that thought and tugged on the hand held firmly in her own, grinning when the girl on the other end of it stopped to look at her in amused exasperation.
"Again?" She asked as Amity stepped in close.
"Yes," Amity replied, leaning in to press her lips to Luz's for the umpteenth time that day. Despite her apparent protest, Luz returned the kiss with enthusiasm, reaching up to tug at her neck, pulling her in closer. The sensation sent delightful shivers down her spine but, when Amity tried to step in even further, their feet caught on each other and they tipped backwards with a combined cry of surprise. Apparently there hadn't been any room left between them.
A few stumbling steps later, Luz let out a gasp as her back smacked against a tree, saving them from a fall. They were both giggling like idiots, flushed bright pink as they caught their breaths from the brief scare.
"Smooth," Luz teased, making Amity huff out a laugh as she leaned into her, pressing Luz into the tree.
"Shut up," she snickered back. Their eyes met and for a moment they both froze, staring at one another as heavy tension built between them. Then Luz let out a little snort of laughter, pressing her forehead to Amity's and they dissolved into joyful giggles again. It was all still so new and exciting. When Amity looked up, Luz was giving her a soft look that made the butterflies in her stomach flutter wildly. She swallowed hard. Her head was spinning in the most delightful way and she was pretty sure she was trembling all over but she didn't care. Not when she got to pull Luz in for another sweet kiss.
The feeling of Luz's lips against her own. The way her breath ghosted across her cheeks. The way she was threading her fingers into Amity's hair, making her pointed ears twitch as her fingers grazed them. It made Amity deliriously happy and nervous all at once. Neither of them really knew what they were doing but it didn't matter. She delighted in the way their noses would bump or their teeth would clash when one of them got a little too eager. They were total amateurs, but they could learn this together. She was a perfectionist after all. She was determined to be great at it, no matter how much practice it took.
Amity reveled in her newfound ability to simply kiss Luz whenever the mood struck, even if it turned them both into blushing, lovesick messes. For almost two months she'd pined over this girl she was sure she'd never be able to have, because what were the chances she liked girls too? Or that she liked Amity back? But now… She drew back to stare in awe at the flushed girl in her arms. Luz speared her with a smug little grin and tilted her head.
"Satisfied?" She asked snarkily. Amity had to swallow down the nervous little lump in her throat again. Titan, she liked her so much.
"Ju-just… needed to make sure it's still real," she said breathlessly. "That I'm not just having a really good dream." Luz giggled against her mouth when Amity leaned in again. And again. And again. She was laughing and protesting the little pecks but she was kissing back anyway. Amity had no intention of stopping. At some point Luz managed to turn her head just in time to escape. Her lips accidentally grazed Amity's neck just below her ear, making her squeak in surprise. Her whole body went rigid as a bright flush spread from the spot Luz had unintentionally kissed to cover her entire face. She could feel her ears fluttering wildly. That was new.
"Luz!" She whined in protest, pressing her scarlet face into the other girl's shoulder in an effort to hide, totally overwhelmed. Luz squeaked out an apology, her own face heating up to match Amity's. They both stood frozen for a second before Luz reached up to give one of her wildly flapping ears a pinch that made Amity yelp.
"You're not dreaming, you sap," Luz chuckled, lightly pushing Amity back so she could look her in the eyes. "This is definitely real and I'm totally not complaining, but if we keep stopping to do this, every five minutes, we're never gonna get home." She smirked at Amity playfully as she reached up to boop her nose with a finger. "Besides, this tree is kinda scratchy."
"It hasn't been every five minutes," Amity pouted at her but relented, stepping back to allow a still giggling and blushing Luz to push off the tree and take her hand again, leading her back onto the path they'd been following. It wasn't her fault that kissing Luz was so nice. They'd been dancing around each other for so long, could the human really blame her for wanting to make up for lost time? Or for wanting to remind herself it was all really happening? That she wasn't just trapped in some vivid gay fantasy that she never wanted to wake from?
When Luz laced her fingers with Amity's and drew her in close, Amity decided she was alright with just walking for now. Even the novelty of walking hand-in-hand with the girl of her dreams, who was now also her girlfriend, was enough to send her heart fluttering. Luz idly grazed her thumb over Amity's fingers as they strolled down the path and she had to force down an excited, gushy squeal. She was embarrassingly smitten.
Flushed with joy, the two exchanged playful, teasing nudges with one another as they walked around the last bends in the path, bringing their home into view. What they found there was a surprise to both of them.
A familiar girl, dressed in a fashionably ripped, multi-track Hexide uniform, was having what appeared to be a very enthusiastic conversation with Hooty. The large fish hook in her ear glinted in the late afternoon sun. Amity recognized her as one of Luz's friends from her brief stint in the Detention Track, though she couldn't remember her name. They hadn't had much opportunity to interact beyond the girl helping to save her and the rest of the school from a Greater Basilisk.
"Viney?" Luz called out in surprise. The girl, apparently named Viney, turned to them and perked up when she noticed the way they were pressed together, Luz's arm still wrapped snugly around Amity.
"Well, look at you two!" She said, smirking at them mischievously. "Guess I'm gonna have some good news to take back with me!" Amity and Luz shared a confused look before stepping apart, though Amity was glad when Luz reached for her hand.
"What are you doing here?" Luz asked curiously, tilting her head in confusion. "Not that it isn't great to see you, but I didn't know you even knew where this place was."
"You mean other than talking to this fascinating house demon? You never told me you lived in a living house, Luz! That's so cool!" Viney gushed, turning to look up at a preening Hooty.
"Finally! Someone who gets me!" He puffed proudly. "We've been talking for ages coz you guys took so long to get home, hoot!" Viney snorted, eyeing the two of them with a smirk.
"Gee, I wonder what could possibly have kept you," she snickered, wagging her eyebrows at them. Both girls flushed bright red but Luz seemed to take it mostly in stride.
"We got… held up," she said, shooting a little grin at Amity, who only blushed more. It was one thing to be confident enough to kiss Luz up against a tree when it was just the two of them. It was entirely different when faced with other people she barely knew. She was still new to being 'out' after all. Hex, she was barely out as it was. Very few people knew the truth and years of keeping her secret made it strange to be open about it in front of others. She huffed awkwardly, trying to cover her embarrassment as she turned to Viney, eager to change the subject.
"Did you really just come here to talk to the bird-tube? How can you stand listening to it for so long?" She asked, genuinely curious how anyone could listen to that grating voice for more than a few seconds. Hooty squawked indignantly.
"Rude!" He grumped. Viney laughed but shook her head.
"Nah. As interesting as this guy is," Viney said, jamming her thumb in Hooty's direction, "I'm actually here as a favour to the twins." Amity's eyes widened at that.
"Ed and Em sent you?" She asked. She'd never officially met Viney before today but it was feasible that she knew Amity's mischievous siblings. They were notorious trouble makers after all. It wouldn't surprise her if they'd had encounters with the Detention Track students and their hidden maze of tunnels in the school. Actually, it would explain a lot about how the twins seemed able to just appear out of nowhere on a whim.
"Yup," Viney replied, raising her hand to draw a little spell circle in the air. The resulting levitation spell lifted several bags into view from around the side of the house, depositing them carefully in front of the door. "They asked me to bring these to you." Amity was momentarily stunned as she stared at the fairly large pile of her belongings. There was a lot more than she had expected. From the way the twins had been talking, she'd thought she would be lucky to get just a few pieces of clothing. It looked more like they had rescued her entire closet and then some.
The absolute relief of knowing she wouldn't have to keep borrowing clothing from Luz for the rest of her life was palpable. She'd already been worrying about what she would wear in the morning since Luz only had so many school uniforms. Besides, as often as she'd secretly fantasized about getting to wear Luz's hoody, it had always been reciprocal in her sappy romantic daydreams. She didn't want to be a wardrobe hogging mooch on top of everything that Luz and Eda were already doing for her. Not to mention she wanted to be able to see Luz in something of hers as well.
"Oh my gosh! This is great! You guys saved so much stuff!" Luz gasped. "This is really cool of you, Viney! Thank you!"
"Don't worry about it. Mittens here is Em's little sister, I'm happy to help," Viney said, grinning devilishly when Amity scoffed at the use of her nickname. The fact Viney even knew that name sparked a thought in her though and she narrowed her eyes. Emira had seemed awfully flustered when Edric had brought up her mysterious 'friend' after all.
"How exactly do you know my sister?" She asked suspiciously. It couldn't be what she suspected, could it? Surely Emira would have mentioned it. Viney gave Amity a knowing look.
"You didn't think you were the only one didja? Em is just a lot more discreet than you, girl," she said. Luz's eyes widened comically as she gasped out loud.
"No way! You and Emira? For real?!" She squealed. Amity, on the other hand, was far from excited. Viney didn't even need to confirm it. The implication was obvious. Her sister had a girlfriend. Had apparently had one for a while. She was like Amity. Emira had just never thought to tell her little sister that they shared something this big. Pain bloomed in Amity's chest. A deep, lonely ache that stifled her breath a little. She hadn't had to go through all of this alone. She hadn't needed to be so confused and unsure for so many years. Maybe if she'd had someone to talk to, things wouldn't have gone so horribly wrong…
"Oh, no wonder she was so mad!" Luz gasped suddenly. It made sense. Emira's reaction to what her parents had done to Amity had been a lot more visceral than Edric's. Especially considering the fact that she was usually the more level-headed of the twins. After all, it could have easily been her. Viney grunted and rubbed uncomfortably at her neck.
"Yeah , Em was pretty messed up when she told me about all this. She did say that your parents wouldn't handle this sort of thing well but I didn't think they'd take it this far. I don't think Em did either," she admitted, turning to look sympathetically at Amity. She was valiantly fighting the burning sensation in her eyes, trying hard to stifle the feeling of betrayal that was settling in her stomach but it was probably written very clearly across her face. Luz's arm settling around her shoulders helped though.
"Why didn't she ever say anything? She's known about my feelings for Luz at least since Grom but I… I had no idea…" She murmured, her voice wavering. Viney sighed sadly and gave her arm a comforting pat.
"She feels awful about it, trust me," she said, looking directly into Amity's eyes to make it clear she was being sincere. "It took a lot to get her to calm down enough to function yesterday. I promise, Em never meant anything by it. She was just scared of what would happen if anyone found out, just like you. She's wanted to talk to you for ages, but she was terrified. You two should talk about it now though. You both need it." That, at least, Amity could understand.
She'd been devastated at first, when her siblings had found out about her secret, terrified that they would out her, whether intentionally or not. Ed clearly knew about Em and Viney but the twins did everything together so it made sense. Amity's own relationship with her older siblings had only just recently started to improve. She supposed she couldn't blame Emira for being afraid of sharing something so monumental with Amity when it had been her mission to get them busted for their antics for so long. She leaned into Luz and took a steadying breath, feeling the tension in her shoulders ease.
"Y-you're probably right," she managed, pushing down hard on the lingering sense of betrayal. She didn't want to be angry at her older sister when she'd seen how distraught she was. Not when she knew exactly how dangerous it was to be gay in their family. Being mad at Em wouldn't change what had happened.
Amity was frankly in a better situation than her sister at the moment anyway. She got to be open about who she was if she wanted. Emira would have to keep hiding or risk their parent's considerable wrath. She met Viney's eye and smiled at her weakly. "Can you ask her to text me or something? And… tell her I understand? I'm not gonna lie and say I'm not hurt but… I do get it." Viney smiled at her gratefully.
"Of course I can. I've actually gotta get going," she replied. "I promised the twins I'd report back when you got your stuff." Luz leapt forward to give her a parting hug.
"Thank you, for bringing me my things," Amity said sincerely. "I appreciate it. You didn't have to." Viney chuckled when Luz let her go and shrugged nonchalantly.
"Don't sweat it. I'm scoring major girlfriend points right now," she said with a wink. "I'll see you two cuties around ok?" With that, she trotted off, calling back a promise to come have another chat with Hooty when she had the time.
"Byyyyyyye new friend!" Hooty drawled from his door. "I miss you already!" Luz and Amity grimaced, hurriedly carrying the pile of bags into the house to get away from Hooty before he decided he wanted to keep talking. It took some effort, but they managed to dump all of her things into her new room. The prospect of having to unpack it all was daunting though. Luz glanced at her and grinned sheepishly.
"You wanna do this now or can we do something else? Like literally anything else…" She said, giving Amity the biggest puppy dog eyes she'd ever seen, leaning in close with her hands clasped near her chin. Amity's heart seized at the sight. Luz had no right to be that adorable!
"Oh come on, that's not fair. You can't make that face at me and expect me to be able to say no!" Amity reached out to playfully shove the offending face away, making the other girl laugh heartily.
"I have no idea what you're talking about! This is my regular face," Luz giggled innocently. Amity snorted and rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, sure it is. Anyway, I don't really feel like dealing with this right now either," she said, gesturing to the pile of bags. "And we have a ton of homework to do. I could actually use your help catching up with some of the classes if you don't mind," she added. Luz's eyes lit up as she bounced happily on the spot.
"I'd love to tutor you!" She cried enthusiastically. "Obviously I can't help you with the actual spells but I know all the theory really well! And maybe you can help me figure out some new glyphs!" That idea was certainly intriguing. Luz's own personal brand of magic was fascinating to Amity. It would be interesting to see how she went about discovering new glyphs.
They made their way downstairs together, where Amity set about getting their school supplies arranged on the coffee table while Luz headed into the kitchen to snag them something to nibble on before joining her on the sofa. Eda and King hadn't returned from the market yet so it was blissfully quiet in the house as they dug into their homework and snacks.
Luz's thorough knowledge of magical theory was incredibly helpful in getting Amity caught up on all of her new classes. Switching tracks mid-year was usually hard enough as it was, now Amity had eight new, very different subjects to learn on top of her abominations with almost no experience in any of them. Thankfully, Luz was an enthusiastic tutor. She was a lot smarter than people gave her credit for and was eager to discuss each new topic in as much detail as Amity wanted. Luz worked incredibly hard to make up for her lack of natural magical ability. Being a dedicated, hard-working student herself, Amity admired Luz's diligence in the pursuit of learning everything she could about magic.
They'd been drifting closer on the sofa as time passed and it wasn't long before they'd shifted from sitting side-by-side to reclining together instead, sharing the book in Amity's hands as they discussed their theories on the subject of abominations. Of course it was a little hard to focus on the intricacies of summoning magic considering her current position.
Luz was propped up in the corner of the sofa while Amity rested with her back against Luz's chest, head set comfortably under her chin. When she tightened her hold on her waist and leaned down to press a quick kiss to the top of Amity's head before propping her chin there again, Amity decided this was absolutely her favourite new way to study, distractions and all. She already loved learning new magic; getting to cuddle and kiss her girlfriend while she was doing it just made things infinitely better.
They'd been at it long enough for the sun to start setting and, as the lights in the house came to life with the growing darkness, their quiet, giddy little study bubble was burst by the front door swinging open. A tired-looking Eda and King trudged into the house just in time to catch them in the midst of a chaste kiss. Eda let out a loud laugh, pointing at them dramatically from the doorway.
"Hah! I knew it!" She cried triumphantly and, if it weren't for the fact that Luz was still holding onto her, Amity probably would have fallen off of the sofa with how hard she'd startled at the intrusion. Eda didn't seem to care that she'd interrupted them, turning to King with a huge grin plastered across her face. "Cough it up, furrball. I win!" She smirked, holding out her hand with a grabbing motion.
King griped under his breath as he pulled a bag of snails from somewhere within his collar and tossed it at Eda's head. It smacked her square in the nose before dropping into her hand, but she cackled gleefully as she counted the coins anyway, ignoring the grumpy, grumbling demon that was now stomping further into the room, his arms crossed.
"Eda! What the heck?" Luz yelped as she and Amity scrambled to sit up on the sofa. Her face was about as red as Amity's but that didn't stop her from glaring at her mentor in annoyance.
"Oh come on, kid. You think I was gonna pass up the chance to win a bet against King?" Eda laughed, waving the little bag of snails in the air, as if to taunt King further. He let out a humph, turning his head away in an adorable pout.
"You were taking bets?!" Amity asked indignantly. Had she been so obvious? Actually… yes she probably had been. But still!
"Obviously. King was convinced you would never work up the nerve to make a move but I could tell you have the stuff. And it only took two days! Impressive," Eda said, winking at Amity. Luz huffed indignantly.
"How do you know I wasn't the one that asked her out?" She grouched playfully. Eda could only snort at her apprentice.
"Come on, kid, be serious. You're an oblivious idiot when it comes to this stuff. Blushy Blight over there was way more likely to break first," she said, jamming her thumb in Amity's direction. Eda had a point. But, in Luz's defence, she hadn't exactly been the only oblivious one. They'd both been stupid about the whole thing and Amity had needed a push to make a move in the end.
"Actually, Willow had to talk me into it," she admitted with a sheepish grin. Luz turned to her with an amused smile.
"Really? I'll have to give her the biggest hug tomorrow!" She said, unknowingly mirroring Amity's own thoughts on the subject. Eda simply shrugged as she tucked the little money bag into her hair
"Well, the point is you did it so I won either way." She paused and looked down at them with an uncomfortable expression. "Come to think of it, this could be kind of an issue. I joked about it before but I have even more reason to say that doors will be kept open in this house now," she declared. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you two figured this all out but you're also living together now. Am I going to need to have a talk with the two of you about… this stuff?" She asked, waving her hand between them awkwardly. Amity and Luz both yelped, darting as far apart as the sofa would allow, their faces bright red.
"Eda, we're only fourteen! We literally just started dating this afternoon! We do not need to talk about that!" Luz whined, her eyes wide and embarrassed as she patted her burning cheeks, trying to hide her very obvious blush. She looked absolutely terrified at the thought. Amity couldn't agree more, nodding vigorously from her side of the sofa. She was not ready to think about anything that might require closed doors or talks… Just the implication was enough to send her brain spiraling into a mild panic. Kissing Luz was great but even that one tiny glimpse into… more, when Luz had accidentally kissed her neck, had been enough to completely break her. Nope. Not ready. Not for a long, long time.
Eda stared them down before, seemingly satisfied, she let out a long, relieved breath. "Thank the Titan, because I don't think I'm ready to have that conversation with you either. Just…" She pulled a face, swallowing thickly. "If things change and you do need to talk, come to me will ya? I'm happy for you kids, I really am, I just want to make sure you're not getting into anything you're not ready for." Amity was genuinely touched at how much Eda cared but the thought of talking to her about any of this was mortifying. Eda left for the kitchen in a hurry, eager to get as far from this conversation as possible with an oblivious King following after her, demanding snacks as compensation for his loss.
Once alone, both girls took a moment to just breathe, trying to calm down. The air in the room was incredibly awkward now and they were both looking anywhere but at each other. Amity took some comfort in the fact that Luz seemed just as uncomfortable as she did. At least they were on the same page about this particularly sensitive subject.
When she'd sufficiently calmed her racing heart, Amity glanced at Luz apprehensively. Thanks to Eda's embarrassing little offer, there was a gaping distance between them that needed to be closed. She'd been enjoying herself before the rather abrupt intrusion and wanted to get back to what they'd been doing, thank you very much. She just wasn't quite sure how to go about it.
Should she ask? That seemed awkward. It had happened naturally before, so should she just wait it out and hope they'd cuddle again? That was far too uncertain, especially considering how weird the energy still was in the room. She glanced over again and noticed Luz was giving her the same longing look that she knew was on her own face.
Deciding to throw caution to the wind, she shifted closer until they were sitting next to one another again, not quite touching, but close enough that it wouldn't take much. Luz caught on immediately and grinned, tension melting from her as she opened her arms to accept Amity into them. Amity sank back against her girlfriend, thankful when the weird energy between them dissipated and they settled into the sofa with contented sighs. Ok, so no need to ask then. Apparently Luz was just as eager to cuddle as she was. Good to know.
"I'm glad we don't have to worry about hiding this from Eda," Amity admitted, leaning her head back onto Luz's shoulder. It was comforting, knowing Eda wasn't judging them at all. She'd never have gotten acceptance like that from her parents. The very thought of ever being able to snuggle like this with Luz in Blight Manor was laughable.
"Nah, Eda is cool, despite all that… other stuff," Luz chuckled, tossing an exasperated grin at the kitchen before turning to look down at Amity again. "Did Willow really talk you into telling me?" She asked, her look becoming teasing. Amity laughed and nodded.
"Yeah, she did. She gave me a really good pep talk," she admitted. Thinking about it made her sit up suddenly and Luz gave her a curious look. "Actually, that reminds me, she wanted me to call her when I told you. Do you mind?" She asked, looking back at Luz questioningly. She pretended to think on it for a second before yanking Amity back into her arms again.
"Only if we do it like this," she said with that lopsided grin of hers. She was doing that a lot today and it was frankly quite unfair. How was Amity expected to resist that? Heart fluttering, she decided she just wouldn't bother resisting at all. She was perfectly ok with getting to snuggle Luz all she wanted, even during a call with Willow. With a hastily drawn spell circle, Amity summoned Eda's crystal ball from across the room so she could call their mutual friend. It didn't take long for the girl to answer, her eyes lighting up when they landed on Amity and Luz curled up together.
"Oh my gosh! Amity, did you…?" She hesitated, glancing between them before raising her eyebrows questioningly. Amity couldn't stop the smile that spread across her lips as she nodded. Willow let out a loud, excited scream. "You did it! Oh my gosh I'm so happy for you guys!" She gushed, beaming at them brightly. Luz leaned in over Amity's shoulder to get closer to the crystal ball, making her flush as their cheeks brushed.
"It's all thanks to you! You are the greatest friend ever, Willow!" She said, pressing a kiss to Amity's temple, giggling when her already rosy cheeks deepened to a rich crimson. Amity huffed playfully and pushed her away before turning to Willow.
"She's right. You're the best, Willow, thank you! Honestly, I don't think I'd have been able to do this without you." Willow rolled her eyes at her good-naturedly, mumbling something that sounded distinctly like 'disaster'.
"I have my moments," she said aloud. "Now spill! I want to know everything! How did it happen?!" Amity let Luz tell her the story, enjoying the way she gushed about it all like it had been some epic romantic scene from a fanfiction. Honestly it had actually been kind of embarrassing and awkward but she wouldn't trade that moment for anything. Not when the results had been so perfect. When Luz moved onto the tale of their walk home however, Amity raced to clamp a hand over her mouth, eyes wide and face bright red.
"Luz! I don't think Willow needs to hear about that," she said hurriedly, giving her a look somewhere between pleading and stern. Luz grinned sheepishly.
"Yeah… probably not. Guess I got kinda carried away," she chuckled, pulling Amity's hand away from her mouth to give it an apologetic squeeze. When Amity looked back at the crystal ball, Willow wagged her eyebrows at her with the smuggest look she'd ever seen. Oh stars, this was going to be a thing now, wasn't it? Willow was never going to let her live this down. She found herself smiling at the thought.
"So are you guys gonna be open about this at school or do I need to run interference to help keep it quiet?" Willow asked. Amity and Luz shared a look at that.
"It's up to you. I don't care if people know but I get it if you wanna keep it quiet," Luz said gently. Amity hesitated. Did she want to keep things quiet? She hadn't actually considered coming out to the public now that her parents knew, too distracted by everything that had been happening to even think about it. The incident with Boscha had been terrifying, yes, but that had mostly been because she hadn't wanted another choice stolen from her. She'd already been through enough without being forced out of the closet on top of everything.
She'd stopped caring about appearances thanks to Luz and her new friends but this was something entirely different. Amity had become a private person over the years out of necessity, but was that still what she wanted to be? As a kid, she'd been a lot more open. It hadn't been until she'd lost Willow's friendship that she had started to put up those walls Luz had so happily knocked down. Now that she'd shed her 'little miss perfect' façade, was she ready for everyone to know the real her?
To her surprise, the thought didn't scare her nearly as much as she had expected it to. Maybe it was because she had Luz by her side now. Maybe it was because she knew Willow, Eda, the twins and even King (Gus didn't know yet but she was fairly certain he'd wouldn't care) all accepted her as she was. Or maybe she was just finally comfortable with who she was and didn't feel like she needed to hide it anymore.
What did it matter what everyone else thought when all the people that were actually important to her were ok with it? What did it matter when she was ok with it? A part of her was almost excited to flaunt it a little. What better way to stick it to her jerk parents than to show the world who she really was so they couldn't deny it? Amity smiled at Luz warmly then.
"No, it's ok," she said at last. "I didn't want Boscha yelling it to everyone in the cafeteria today, but that doesn't mean I want to hide either. The only people who I was really worried about finding out already know anyway and there's not much they can do to me at this point. I don't care what people think anymore. If they don't like that we're together, they'll just have to deal with it," she said resolutely. Luz beamed at her proudly and squeezed her into a tight hug, nuzzling their cheeks together with a gushy little squeal.
"So I get to show off that I got the prettiest girl at school to be my girlfriend?" She asked, giving Amity a smug little smirk that made her heart stutter.
"Technically, I got you to be my girlfriend. But yes, you do." Ok, if she got to flirt this openly with Luz whenever she wanted then she was pretty sure she was going to enjoy being out. Willow rolled her eyes at the two of them playfully.
"You guys are such saps," she said, laughing when Luz stuck her tongue out at her. A loud sneeze from the kitchen interrupted them and they heard Eda groan.
"For the love of Titan, I think I'm allergic to all the mushy nonsense going on in there," she grouched, just loud enough to make sure the girls heard. They all snickered at that. "Will you two get off the crystal ball and come eat dinner already? I want to turn in early tonight," Eda added loudly.
With a quick goodbye to Willow and a plan made to see her at school the next day, the girls ended the call. They made their way into the kitchen together, where King and Eda were already eating what appeared to be take-out of some kind. Not the healthiest of meals but, from what Luz had told her about Eda's culinary experiments, it was probably the safest option. Amity resolved to learn how to cook for them. It was the least she could do.
As they sat to eat, she noticed that Eda looked particularly exhausted. Dark circles had formed under her eyes and her movements were sluggish. She'd seemed pretty quick to tire over the last two days actually.
Amity glanced over at Luz, who was devouring her meal with unabashed gusto, chatting enthusiastically with King at the same time. She felt a smile tug at her lips. Stars, she was even adorable when she was completely ignoring all forms of table etiquette. She didn't seem at all fazed by Eda's apparent exhaustion though, so maybe it wasn't worth worrying over. Of course that could be because the girl was more focused on her food. Deciding to ask Luz about it later, Amity finished her meal and was quick to try to gather the plates. Eda waved off her offer to do the washing up though, claiming she would just use a little magic to deal with it in the morning.
"Stop worrying so much, kid. You're gonna get more wrinkles than me. I may not act like it all the time but I'm the adult here. You let me worry about taking care of you and not the other way around, yeah?" She said, giving Amity a look that told her Eda knew exactly what she was doing. She sighed, glancing away uncomfortably. She hated feeling like a burden. Reluctantly setting the dishes down, she followed the others into the living room. Eda yawned loudly, stretching her arms over her head with an audible cracking noise before turning to the teens and giving them a serious look.
"I need to make an ingredients-run at The Knee for my potions business tomorrow. I'm leaving early so you're probably not going to see me before you go to school but I'll be back in time for dinner. Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone," she said, eyeing them for a moment to make sure they understood. "Amity's in charge while I'm out."
"What?!" Luz and King yelped in unison, staring at Eda in shock. King pointed an imperious paw at Amity, glared at her darkly. His murderous gaze only made him look more adorable.
"Usurper!" He yelled furiously. Eda lifted him off the ground with a roll of her eyes and tucked him under her arm, totally unfazed by his squirming.
"She's clearly more responsible than the rest of you knuckleheads," Eda said simply, shrugging nonchalantly. Amity smirked at them and crossed her arms smugly, making Luz huff. The slight upward tick of her lips didn't exactly sell her grumpy façade.
"I'm gonna hit the nest, now. Don't go to bed too late, kids," she said, stifling another heavy yawn as she made her way upstairs with a still struggling King. The girls went back to the sofa and Luz lifted the abominations book they'd been reading earlier, flipping through it once they'd settled in. She wanted to figure out the glyph for summoning one but Amity had been reluctant to help her with it.
Abominations weren't like most magic spells. You had to control them after they were summoned after all and, without a magical connection to her summoned creature, Luz would have no way of stopping the thing from simply dissolving. Or worse, outright attacking her. Grimacing at that thought, Amity set her hand on the book, lowering it so Luz would look up at her. She hesitated.
Luz was stubborn by nature. It wasn't that she didn't believe Luz would eventually figure out the spell. The girl had a knack for these things apparently. But the thought of the dangerous experiments it would involve made Amity distinctly uncomfortable. The last thing she wanted was to have an argument with her about the dangers of abomination summoning on their first official day as a couple though, so she decided to go with a distraction instead.
"Has Eda seemed a little tired to you?" She asked. "It's just, witches usually get energy from our magic and Eda is pretty powerful so it seems strange for her to be so fatigued all the time. Is this normal for her?" Luz glanced up at the stairs, her face twisting up with worry that she'd clearly been hiding for a while. She set the book aside with an anxious little sigh.
"Eda is… well…" She seemed hesitant, frowning as she thought. After a moment and a few glances between the stairs and Amity, Luz sighed again, sitting forward. "You live here now so I guess it's kind of important that you know the whole truth. You remember I mentioned that Eda has a curse, right?" She stared at Amity defensively. Amity couldn't blame her, curses had a certain stigma to them.
"I do. I've heard about it before actually, but I don't know any details," she admitted. It wasn't common knowledge for kids her age, but her parents had spoken often of the wild, cursed Owl Lady that was evading the Emperor, so Amity had at least known that much. "If her curse is draining her this much then… I didn't realize it was this bad…"
"It's not," Luz said hastily. "Or at least… it wasn't. She was fine when I first got here but she's been getting tired quicker lately. I think it's getting worse and she's just trying to cover it up." She frowned, staring down at the clenched fists resting on her knees. Her shoulders were hunched, her eyes clouded over. Amity reached out to gently take her hands, running her fingers over her them in what she hoped was a comforting gesture. She hated seeing Luz so worried but she may well have a very good reason to be.
"How long has she had it?" She asked hesitantly. Curses were tricky. She was no expert of course, but she'd heard stories. From what Amity knew of them, the longer you left them untreated, if they were treatable at all, the worse they tended to get. Luz sighed and shook her head.
"Since she was a kid. She doesn't remember how she got it but, if she doesn't take an elixir every day, she turns into this big, feathery owl demon with black eyes." Well, now she understood the alias and taste in decor.
"Oh. That… explains a lot," she said. A worrying thought plagued her though. Why did Luz know what Eda's cursed form looked like? The implication was more than a little unnerving. "Has… has that happened before? Has she ever transformed around you?" Luz winced, her hands tightening under Amity's.
"Once, yeah. But it was kind of my and King's fault," she rushed to say. "Eda is usually really good about drinking her elixirs. I was just pestering her to teach me magic and she was already weak that night. I exhausted her before she could drink it and she transformed. She nearly destroyed Hooty..." She froze at that last admission before chuckling awkwardly, trying to cover her slip up. "On the bright side, that was the night I learned the light spell." Ignoring the painful pun and very obvious deflection, Amity was about to ask for details when they were interrupted by a little bwoop-like sound coming from Luz's phone that was resting on the table.
Luz scrambled for it, giving Amity a weak grin. "Sorry, I should check this. It's probably my mom." She turned her focus entirely to the phone and Amity pursed her lips. Luz clearly didn't want to discuss what must have been a pretty traumatic night. It was eating her up inside not to know but she also didn't want to upset Luz anymore than she already was. She'd let it go. For now.
So instead of pestering her for answers, she watched curiously as Luz typed a rapid message into her phone. Amity could see the screen clearly but she couldn't understand anything on it. Frowning, she tried to make out the words, conscious of the fact that she was being a little rude by reading over Luz's shoulder like this, but her curiosity was getting the better of her.
"Luz, what language is that?" She asked after a few back and forth messages. Luz jumped a little at the sudden question, glancing between Amity's curious face and the texts from her mother.
"This? It's Spanish," she said, gesturing to an earlier message on the screen. "See? You've heard me say hola right? It means hello. And this word just means mom." Amity hummed thoughtfully.
"Is it a commonly used language on Earth? I've never heard anything like it on the Boiling Isles," she asked. Luz shrugged a little as she set her phone back down.
"In some places, sure. I mostly just use it with my mom though," she said as she slugged a casual arm across Amity's shoulders to pull her into her side, like it was the easiest thing in the world. Amity felt heat rise in her cheeks but she certainly wasn't going to complain. A comfortable silence settled between them as she considered her next words.
"Could you teach me?" She asked, giving Luz a hesitant little smile. Luz looked genuinely surprised at the request.
"You want to learn Spanish? Really? But it'd be totally useless to you here," she said incredulously. Amity smiled and shrugged, feeling the warmth in her cheeks grow.
"It's not useless if we can speak it to each other right? Besides I… I like the way it sounds and it seems like it's important to you and… I want to learn more about where you come from." She glanced away bashfully, feeling a little silly for asking. But she genuinely did want to learn, so she looked back at Luz hesitantly, only to find her beaming.
"Awe, Amity, that's so sweet! I'd love to teach you! And hey, since no one else knows it, it could be like our own little secret language. We could talk about whatever we wanted and no one would know!" She gushed. Amity giggled at her enthusiasm. Lovable dork!
"Don't get carried away," she said, though she had to admit, having a secret little thing they shared sounded really nice. It was getting late but Luz spent a few moments teaching Amity some basic phrases. How to say hello, goodbye, sorry and, her personal favourite, what 'hermosa' meant. That had spread a flush across Amity's cheeks and had earned Luz a kiss.
They agreed to call it a night shortly after that, the following day being a school day. When they reached their rooms, the two girls stood awkwardly between their doors, not quite looking at each other. Luz was rocking back and forth on her heels while Amity rubbed uncomfortably at her arm. It was clear what they both wanted but neither of them made a move. How was it still so weird when they'd been doing this all day? Somehow it felt different when they were standing in the darkened hall outside of the rooms they slept in. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Luz puffed out her cheeks and frowned determinedly before darting in to press a quick kiss to Amity's lips.
"Night, Ams," she said, smiling up at her affectionately. Flushed and smiling, Amity scrunched up her face in thought, trying to remember what she'd just learned.
"Uh, b-buenas noches, Luz?" She said, somehow managing to phrase it like a question. The words felt strange on her tongue but it had sounded right. Right? She hoped desperately that she hadn't totally butchered the pronunciation. Luz gushed happily though, throwing her arms around Amity.
"That was perfect!" She gasped happily. Ok so it was a little embarrassing, but it had made Luz so happy that Amity decided she didn't care how silly she had sounded. They parted then, giving each other lingering, sappy looks as they slipped into their respective rooms. Safely behind her closed door, Amity leaned back against it to bury her face in her hands, a long, giddy squeal escaping her throat. By the Titan, this had been the longest, best day of her life.
Grinning like a total, lovestruck fool, she glanced around her room before her eyes landed on the pile of bags they'd left in there earlier and her smile fell. She groaned at the sight, having totally forgotten about them. It was far too late to think about packing out her things now. That was tomorrow's problem. She dug through them until she found something to sleep in and then promptly ignored them for the night. She'd much rather go to sleep and get to the wonderful, Luz-filled dreams she knew were in her immediate future.
True to her word, Eda was already out of the house when they woke the next day so, after a quick breakfast and a goodbye kiss for King courtesy of Luz, they left for school earlier than usual. It wasn't a long walk per say, but it was definitely going to take longer than a staff flight would have. They may also have been walking a little slower than was strictly necessary, enjoying the early morning air in the quiet of the forest as they strolled hand-in-hand down the path. When they finally arrived, they found Willow and Gus hanging out together near his locker, chatting amicably.
Ignoring the not-so-subtle looks people were giving them, Luz dragged Amity to their friends before scooping Willow up into a great big hug. Amity surprised them all by clutching Willow just as tightly as Luz was, the two of them crushing the poor girl between them. Their bright laughter filled the hallway as they all tried to talk at once, Willow gasping out congratulations while Amity and Luz thanked her profusely. Glancing over to the other, very bewildered, member of their group, Willow giggled and shrugged helplessly at Gus, who was staring at them all in open-mouthed shock.
"Best. Wing-witch. Ever!" Luz cried gleefully when she and Amity eventually released Willow. Gus tilted his head, frowning at the three of them in confusion. Amity felt a little bad. They had kind of been leaving him out of the loop.
"I'm even more confused than I was yesterday," he deadpanned. Turning to Willow, he gave her an annoyed look. "Am I allowed to ask what's going on this time?" Sparing Willow the need to explain, Luz tossed an arm around Amity's shoulder and dragged her closer.
"Thanks to Willow, Amity is my girlfriend now!" Luz said brightly. Gus's mouth fell open again as he looked between them with wide eyes, sputtering incoherently. Amity grinned sheepishly, giving him a little wave from under Luz's arm.
"You two are dating?!" He exclaimed, loud enough for several other students to look up. The whispers started almost immediately and Amity rolled her eyes. It was a good thing that they'd already decided to be open about it because she was pretty sure the news would be all over the school by the end of first-period.
Totally oblivious to the whispering students around them, or perhaps simply not caring, Luz grinned and let out a happy, "yup!" Gus stared at them wide-eyed for a second before he tilted his head again, folding his arms.
"Huh…" he said simply. "Did not see that coming." Willow snorted beside him and gave him an incredulous look.
"Gus you're more oblivious than Luz," she said, laughing at Luz's very offended expression.
"Hey!" She huffed, clearly trying very hard not to smile. Amity nudged her side with an elbow.
"She's not wrong," she chuckled. Luz stumbled back, clutching at her chest as if deeply wounded.
"I can't believe this! Betrayed by my friend and my girlfriend? How could you!" She gasped dramatically. Gus looked between the giggling girls in exasperation, his face dropping into a flat stare.
"I need more guy friends," he deadpanned. Luz turned to him with a grin and pulled him under her arm, rubbing her knuckles into the top of his head.
"Et tu, Augustus? Don't be like that, you goober. You know you love us. Come on, admit it!" Gus laughed, flailing his arms in protest.
"Alright, alright! Fine!" He scrambled away from her, grinning. "I guess I can deal with the girly stuff, as long as it's not all you talk about now. It's gonna be weird seeing you two being all lovey dovey though." Amity shrugged and slipped her arm around Luz's shoulders, who squealed happily at the open display of affection.
"You're gonna have to get used to it," she said with a smirk and, feeling bold, she pressed a quick kiss to her blushing girlfriend's cheek. Gus let out an "eep", rushing to cover his eyes with an arm.
"My innocence!" He yelped, making the girls laugh. The group was forced to part ways until lunch when the bell screamed loudly through the hallways, signalling the start of classes. Walking down the hallways with her hand fit snugly in Luz's was another delightfully new experience for Amity.
People were still staring and whispering but it seemed different than the day before. She even spotted a few students smiling at them encouragingly, which made her flush. There didn't seem to be any ill intent or snide remarks, just students interested in the latest romantic gossip, so she allowed herself to relax.
The rest of the day went surprisingly smoothly. There were no confrontations in the cafeteria, no awkward pep talks or weepy encounters in classrooms. They briefly caught sight of the twins between classes but Ed and Em didn't approach them, choosing instead to yell very obvious, very embarrassing congratulations from across the hall when they saw her holding hands with Luz. Luz flashing them both a huge grin and a thumbs-up did not help. The twins' matching wolfish grins promised tons of teasing in her future. All in all, it was a good day. One where she got to be a regular teenager, enjoying new lessons and taking terribly inefficient notes thanks to her adorably distracting girlfriend.
She particularly enjoyed the healing class they had at the end of the day, even if they hadn't learned a spell for it yet. She found herself drawn in by the subject somehow. The professor promised they would be learning a basic healing spell the following week and Amity was excited to try it. In the meantime they'd been given the theory on the spell so that they could study its casting method and effects for homework.
"Knowing you, I'm pretty sure it'll come in handy," Amity said, as she and Luz left the class. Luz leaned in close to flutter her eyes at her playfully.
"Awe, you wanna take care of your boo-boo buddy?" Amity rolled her eyes at her and reached up to flick one of her rounded ears.
"More like patch you up the next time you do something reckless," she replied snarkily.
They'd promised Willow and Gus they would spend the afternoon together, so it was fairly late when the young couple finally walked into the Owl House, the sun having already set. It was strangely quiet in the normally chaotic house. There was no arguing, no witty banter, no bubbling cauldrons or squealing demons. Just eerie silence. A faint rustling sound caught their attention and the girls followed it into the kitchen, where they discovered King rooting around the cupboards in search of food.
"King, has Eda come home yet?" Luz asked hesitantly. King popped his head out of the cupboard to glare up at her in clear annoyance.
"No and the King of Demons is hungry! I demand sustenance!" He snapped irritably, scrambling up Luz legs to hang off her shoulder. "Make me dinner before I eat one of you instead!" Luz pulled him down into her arms and held him close.
"That's weird, she said she'd be back by now…" She said worriedly. She glanced over at Amity before putting on a forced smile. "I guess I can make us some dinner instead. I'm sure she's just late." They ate in silence that night. Amity missed the boisterous energy immediately. She hadn't been a part of this little found family for very long, but Eda had done so much for her. The thought of something awful happening to her was more than she could bear.
When they were done, they tried to do a little homework but it was clear they were both too distracted. Even King seemed upset. He'd curled himself up beside Luz and was watching the door with anxious eyes. Eda could very well just be held up somewhere. She could have decided to stay on her trip another night because she'd found some good ingredients. She could have been about to walk through the door at any second. But something felt off and it gnawed at Amity's gut. She could tell Luz felt the same.
Eda still hadn't returned when they eventually decided to go to bed. They'd stayed up late into the night waiting for her but there was still one more school day left in the week so they needed to get some sleep. Their goodnight kiss felt forced and when Luz drew back, the apprehension was obvious in her eyes. Before she could slip into her room, Amity grabbed hold of her to pull her into a tight hug.
"I'm sure she's ok," she murmured into Luz's shoulder. She'd wanted to sound comforting but the slight quiver in her voice made Luz clutch onto her tightly.
"Yeah… Eda is tough. She's probably fine," she replied quietly. Neither of them quite believed her.