does anyone else get the irrational fear that they'll die before they can finish their current project
anyways, new longest chapter, this one ended up being 5,448 words
enjoy :) and thank you to everyone who comments on this, huge motivator i love you guys
As Hunter's meltdown started to wind down, Darius kept his worried gaze trained on his face.
Titan, this kid was being dragged back to hell. And he'd tried to manage it all by himself.
"Hunter."
He looked up, ears pinned back.
"Hey, this is going to be over soon, okay? I promise."
The boy nodded. "Okay," he sounded exhausted already. "Okay."
"I'm sorry."
"Why?"
"Whatever I did to make you feel like you couldn't tell me about this, I'm sorry. Whatever I did to make you feel like you couldn't tell me about anything that's been going on, the bullying, your bad dreams-"
"You... wanted to hear about it?"
"Well- if you're comfortable telling me, of course, I'll listen. I want to help you."
Hunter let his shoulders slump and his head fell forward onto Darius's shoulder. "Everybody wants to help me," he muttered as if he couldn't believe it. "Well, he told me that you wouldn't react well. He told me I couldn't say anything. Maybe it was stupid to believe him."
"Don't be too hard on yourself, you're used to listening to him. And it must have been a scary experience."
"He's yelling at me right now. I can hardly hear anyone else. It hurts."
Darius reached up to run his fingers through Hunter's hair. He missed doing this. It was stupid. He'd gone years trying not to give a single fuck about what happened to the kid (to no avail but still) and now Hunter isolated himself for a few weeks and he missed the kid like crazy. He really had gone soft. Hunter sighed, relaxing into the contact. "Edalyn and her mother will have everything under control. This won't last for much longer."
"I hope not," Hunter's voice shook. "I can't keep doing this. It sounds like he's at my door at night. He doesn't like it when I lock the doors but it keeps him from getting in." He sounded like a crazy person. His uncle raged at him, telling him to stop, stop, Darius wouldn't believe any of this crazy shit.
"Is it like a hallucination?" Darius asked.
"It must be. It seems so real, but you never hear it. You're not that heavy of a sleeper, all that noise would wake you up if it was real."
A pang of guilt made Darius's heart ache. Hunter had suffered through the nights that he'd slept through with no problem. He thought the kid was getting better since he wasn't getting sick, but he was confined to his room out of fear instead.
"I'm so sick of this," Hunter groaned, kicking his feet in frustration.
"I know. I know it's a lot to deal with."
"Maybe I don't wanna deal with it anymore. I just wanna go to sleep for like a year."
"You can sleep as long as you want, but only after we're done with you," Eda appeared by Darius's shoulder. "C'mere, kid, Mom is going to take a look at you."
Hunter reluctantly pulled away from Darius's embrace and was led over to the couch where Mrs. Clawthorne had set up her equipment on the coffee table.
"Now dear, sit sit, I need you to describe to me all of your symptoms."
"Didn't I already tell you guys?" Hunter said, his voice edging dangerously close to a whine.
"If you would just tell Mother, walk us through it one more time, that would help," Lillith said.
Hunter sighed and plodded through the whole story again in halting sentence fragments. He screwed up his face in a scowl. "Shut up!" Darius caught his hand before he could hit himself again. "I want him to shut up in there, it makes it so hard to talk when he's pitching a fit."
"Do you still feel nauseous often?" Mrs. Clawthorne asked.
"Yeah, all the time. Usually after a bad dream. But I can't- nothing comes out anymore since I stopped eating, I just dry heave."
"I think your body has been trying to expel this... matter. It knows there's something wrong with it. But Belos is a little more stubborn than that. Fever and nausea won't get him out that easily. We need something stronger, to make your body too unbearable to inhabit."
"Whoa, at what point are we drawing a line here?" Darius held up a hand. "Because at some point, Hunter's body might become too unbearable for Hunter to inhabit, then we would have a serious problem."
"Don't worry, we'll go slowly. We won't cross that line."
"Your kid will be fine, Darius, don't worry. Our mom is an expert," Eda said.
"He'd better be fine," Darius muttered. "If you kill my kid, Edalyn-"
"We won't! We won't."
His kid? Hunter stared in mute shock. His nervousness softened for a moment into something else. He was someone's kid.
After that thought, the stomach cramps started.
Luz was going to pace a hole through the floor and into the basement at this rate.
"Mija, I'm sure Eda has this handled. How about you sit down, you can choose something to watch on TV," Camila said, trying to steer her daughter to the couch.
"Mami, you don't understand! It's Belos. That's what's making Hunter sick, he's been- feeding off of him or something, he's really scared!" Luz's voice shook. "And I'm not even allowed to be there for him."
"You've done so much to help already, he knows you're there for him. He knows."
Luz flopped onto the couch, and Camila sat down next to her, twirling a strand of her daughter's hair.
"We'll see him when he's better."
"I just feel like I could have done more."
"It's not your responsibility to fix everything, remember? We're not going to beat ourselves up about things beyond our control."
Luz scooted over so her head was in her mom's lap. "I want him to be okay."
"He will be, eventually. He will be."
"It's getting worse," Hunter groaned, one arm wrapped around his middle and the other clutching the edge of the table. "Are you guys almost done?"
"Almost, it's cooling," Lillith said. An hour and a half had gone by in a flash for the three making the potion, not so much for the suffering kid and Darius, who was trying to keep him calm.
"Now, we're going to need you to take this like a shot-"
"Edalyn! My kid does not know how to do shots, are you out of your mind?"
"Just drink it all at once," Gwen spoke over the squabbling in the background, pressing the cup into Hunter's hands. " And pinch your nose. One dose should drive him out. I hope."
Hunter only hesitated for a few seconds before pinching his nose, tipping his head back, and swallowing the potion. "Blegh," his nose wrinkled. "That was awful."
"Yeah, it's pretty bad," Eda agreed. She grabbed a bucket from under the table. "Alright, when you start feeling something, just tell us which end you think it's going to come out of."
Hunter stiffened. "What do you mean which-"
He coughed and covered his mouth with one hand. Eda thrust the bucket in front of him but nothing happened. He stayed deathly still, eyes screwed shut. Darius stepped closer, breaking the eerie silence. "Little Prince?"
Hunter's eyes opened, glowing an even brighter blue, and he slumped back onto the kitchen table.
The Emerald Entrails and Amity waited in the Park house for news. Skara was pacing back and forth across the carpet. Viney and Gus tried to distract themselves by talking to Harvey and Gilbert. Harvey kept glancing over to the window seat, where Willow sat chewing her nails.
Everyone's scrolls buzzed and suddenly all the kids were panicking.
"Titan, someone read it out loud for me I can't take it!" Skara buried her face in a couch cushion.
"Luz says Eda told her they finished the potion," Amity read out loud.
"He's going to take it. More updates later." Gus sighed and flopped backward, kicking his legs.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" Harvey sat down on the edge of the window seat. Willow pulled her legs closer to give him more room. She shrugged. "I know you've been worried about your friend. Do you want to talk about it?"
"I feel like this is partially my fault," Willow sighed, resting her forehead against the window. "I thought he needed space after... the whole Grom thing. But I was wrong."
"You were doing all you could-"
"And it wasn't enough! He's still... hurting."
Harvey sighed, pulling his daughter closer. She let her head rest on his shoulder. Her bottom lip was trembling.
"I just- I don't know what's going on anymore. I thought he was going to get better. We used to be- sorta close, but now we haven't even talked to each other in so long. Maybe he hates me."
"I find it hard to believe that he would hate you, Sapling," Harvey said, offering a tissue.
"He stopped coming to Flyer Derby practice. He hasn't been the same since Grom and if I just went down there, then maybe none of this would have ever happened," Willow sniffled, hiding her face.
"Uh, I find that hard to believe," Gus interjected from the couch. "Belos would still be possessing him. None of what's happening tonight is your fault by a long shot."
"And about Grom, when this is over, maybe the two of you can talk about it?" Harvey suggested. "Then you can stop worrying about hypotheticals, and know for sure how each other feels?"
Willow nodded, wiping her eyes. "You guys are right."
"It's getting late," Gilbert said. "I think it would be wise to try and get some rest, hm? Who here is staying the night?"
Four tentative hands went up.
"Alright, we can work with that. Now, let's all get into pajamas and we'll have some tea. Watching Penstagram for messages won't make the night go by any faster."
"What's happening to him?" Darius asked hesitantly.
"Kid?" Eda shook Hunter's shoulder gently. He was still staring blankly at the ceiling.
His hand twitched, and Eda jumped back. Hunter blinked a few times, then sat up. His eyes were magenta again. "I'm still me. I'm still me, so far everything seems- shit!" He grabbed his head, keeling over. His knees hit the floor but he barely registered that over the splitting pain in his head. He heard howling, unbearably loud howling and he couldn't tell if it was just in his head or if it was coming out of his mouth too. He grabbed the bucket Eda had set by the table leg and retched. Hardly anything came up, he'd hardly eaten that day.
"Stop it," he groaned, clutching at his hair. "Stop- stop it, I feel like I'm dying!"
Mrs. Clawthorne cursed under her breath. "Get another dose ready," she muttered to Lillith. "Belos is one stubborn son of a..."
"Wait, is that really a good idea?" Darius asked, eyes wide and fearful. "The line, remember? We aren't crossing the line-"
"Belos is a clinger," Mrs. Clawthorne said. "If we want him out, we need to double down. He'll survive it."
"Darius, we won't let anything happen to your kid," Eda grabbed his arm.
"Promise?"
They could've been in school again. I am not closing my eyes.
Pretty please? It's a nice surprise.
No!
Come on, just for a few seconds, close your eyes.
Don't let this be another dumb prank.
I'm not going to dump any slugs in your lap this time.
Promise?
"I promise," Eda said, and she meant it that time. Not like the time when she had totally dumped slugs on him, in his hair that time instead of his lap.
A chilling scream rang through the house and Hunter clutched his hair, pulling hard. Darius knelt to pry his fingers away, trying to shush the boy but he couldn't hear him over his own babbling and the voice inside that he was responding to.
"Go away, that's not true. You're hurting- you're hurting me please stop, why won't you leave me alone?" His voice began to shift during the last few words, and a frightening shudder ran through his entire body.
"Sweet mother of Titan," Lillith mumbled, her hands shaking as she prepared the next dose.
Hunter's electric blue eyes rolled up in his head. "You can't get rid of me," a voice growled from the back of his throat that was not his at all. "I MADE this body, brought it forth from dust and it is at my disposal until back to dust it returns."
"No no no no," Darius mumbled frantically, gripping Hunter's shoulders. "Hunter, you're still in there, right?"
All the boy was doing now was panting. Beads of sweat rolled down his face and neck. He groaned again, in two distinct voices.
His arm reached out toward Darius and started to stretch, longer. Darius gasped, stumbling backward. The veins and tendons in Hunter's arm were turning sickly green, twisting and twitching. The curse. Belos brought his damned curse along with him.
Hunter's other hand grabbed the arm and pinned it to the ground. "No," he said. His pupils were visible again. "Don't, please."
You are powerless to stop me, Hunter.
I gave you this life, this body, and I can take it away goddammit!
"No, you can't! Go away," Hunter flexed his arm, trying to establish control, and the green began to recede.
"That's it, drive him back, kid," Eda encouraged. Hunter nodded.
"Breathe, remember to breathe," Darius murmured, and he tried to obey.
I just want to go to sleep, I just want to see Flapjack again he's at home I'm glad I left him there I don't want to hurt him when I'm like this. I want to sleep for a long, long time, I want to sleep in Darius's room and lay by him while he reads again I just want to go home-
"Tip your head back, try to swallow it all," Mrs. Clawthorne was talking to him, tilting his chin up and the cup was pressed to his lips again. The awful potion was harder to swallow this time but he managed it with a grimace and it burned as it went down.
Suddenly it felt like a huge fist gripped Hunter's stomach and he gasped, crumpling all the way to the floor. The waves of pain were so intense, that all he could do was lay there in a pathetic curled-up ball.
Eda wouldn't have been surprised if these screams could be heard all the way down at the Knee.
"I don't want another song!"
Raine bit back a sigh. "Okay, then do you want to play one of these games?"
"No, you keep winning and it's borrrrriiiiiiiiing!" The Collector whined, draping themselves over the back of the couch.
"Maybe we can draw. You like drawing, right?"
The kid considered it, then heaved a huge sigh, seeming to melt into the floor. "You're boring. I want the Owl Lady or the Purple Man."
"Well, they're busy right now." Raine wasn't exactly sure what was happening, but the group chat was blowing up.
"What about King?" The Collector asked. "I wanna play with the Titan baby."
"Maybe tomorrow. But not today. It's past his bedtime."
"Then what about Belos's little plaything? The grimwalker?"
Raine cringed. They hated when the Collector referred to Hunter in that way. "His name is Hunter."
"Whatever. It's so hard to tell them apart after you see the first five or so come and go. The Purple Man keeps saying I can play with him someday, but he hasn't let me yet. Is he a liar? Liar liar pants on fire?"
"No, of course he isn't."
The Collector huffed and crossed their arms. "Well, I wish he'd prove it."
Hunter and Belos were in the middle of a huge argument.
At least, Darius thought that was what was happening. They were both yelling so loudly over each other that it was impossible to tell what either was saying. The veins in Hunter's arms were twisting and turning green again, and it was obviously causing him immense pain. Tears ran down his face, mingling with the sweat. He started clawing at his ears again and Darius grabbed his hands.
"Hunter, Hunter can you hear me?"
"I don't think he can, Dar," Eda said. "Mom, is it any closer to working?"
Mrs. Clawthorne had turned rather pale. "It- it should have. I can't see how Belos can stand being in there. He has to let go soon, the conditions are awful."
"What's our Plan B?" Lillith asked.
"There was- you guys were the only plan!" Darius yelled. "I'm useless, you three were the only-" he broke off, too close to tears to continue. Hunter's arm twisted out of his grip and came dangerously close to striking him. Darius gasped, dodging.
Hunter slammed his arm into the floor, tucking it under his back. "Don't! Don't hurt my dad please!" He wrenched his other arm out of Darius's grasp and laid over that one too. "Go away go away go away," he sobbed through gritted teeth. "Stop showing me this stuff, I don't like it."
"Can he withstand another dose?" Lillith asked.
"Even if he could, this isn't working." Darius stood. "We need something else. If only we could just pull it out..." He stopped, conflicting emotions cascading across his face. "I'll be back," he said, turning on his heel.
"Wait, where are you going?" Mrs. Clawthorne asked.
"Give me less than a minute, I'm coming right back," Darius said, drawing the spell circle and vanishing into the ground.
"You're stupid!" The Collector pouted, and the foundations of the building shook.
"H- hey! That's no way to talk to a grown-up!" Raine tried to stand their ground.
"Stupid! Ppppppt!" The Collector stuck their tongue out.
Raine opened their mouth to speak again, but abomination matter suddenly rose up between the two and a frantic Darius appeared.
"Darius, what-"
"Listen, we're going on a field trip!" Darius clapped his hands together, a painfully forced smile on his face. "Does that sound good? A field trip!"
"Field trip! Where?" The Collector looked thrilled all of the sudden, turning a somersault in midair.
"A field trip to play Owl House, it's a very important part of the game. Remember the little grimwalker that you want to play with so bad?"
"Yes. Do I get to play with him today?"
"For a little bit. And if you play the game right, you get to play with him again later. But if we get it wrong, then we won't get to play with him ever again, so once we get there, you need to listen to the rules of the game very, very carefully, okay?" Darius explained.
"Okay!" The Collector hopped onto his shoulders. "Let's go!"
Darius grabbed Raine's arm and pulled them into the spell circle. The three sunk into the ground once more, reappearing in the Owl House. "Ugh, a warning, please? You know this method of travel makes me nauseous... what the fuck is that?" Raine gasped, taking in the scene before them.
"Rainestorm?" Eda looked up from where she was currently helping to pin down Hunter, who looked as if he was... cursed? In insane amounts of pain?
"The Collector?" Lillith looked uneasy. She was holding down Hunter's legs. Under his skin, muscle and bone were writhing. Ew, that didn't look even remotely fun.
"Okay, this is like that Doctor game that the human brought over, remember that?" Darius said, scooping up the Collector and setting him on the kitchen table next to Hunter.
"Yeah, I remember."
"Now you need to find the bad thing and pull it out. Can you do that?"
"Yeah, I can do that," The Collector said. Then he fixed Darius with an odd stare. "Wait, this doesn't sound like a game, it sounds like a chore. Are you trying to make me do your chores, like Phillip?"
"N- no, of course not!"
"I don't believe you," they huffed. "Liar, liar, pants on fire, liar, liar..."
"You know, sometimes games seem like chores, but really they aren't," Raine chimed in.
"Yeah, and sometimes, you can do a chore-like thing because it lets you have fun later," Eda added.
"Well, what kind of fun can I have with the grimwalker that I can't have without him?"
"Um... a birthday party," Darius blurted. "He's turning seventeen soon. And it's going to be the best party ever!"
"Yeah," Eda said, then sighed. "But jeez, if he dies here, then he can't turn seventeen, can he? And then you can't get invited to the party."
The Collector considered that. They stuck their bottom lip out. "Will there be cake?"
"Of course!" Darius snapped, trying to sound upbeat. "There will be cake, of course, there will be, just please take- I mean, finish the game. And you can expect an invitation to the party as the guest of honor."
"Alrighty!" The Collector reached out and put a small hand on Hunter's stomach. "Ew, that's a big bad thing. And he's stubborn too. Sorry, little guy, I have to win a game. Out you go!" He pushed down, and Hunter's eyes went wide. He gagged, and Eda grabbed the bucket again. The Collector smacked the middle of his back and must have packed quite the magical punch, because Hunter was soon retching again, and this time something was coming up. When he was done, he promptly passed out.
"Ew, look at him, he's wiggling around," the Collector giggled, peeking into the bucket. "He looks familiar."
"Gross gross gross, he is alive!" Lillith whined. "What do we do with him?"
"I don't know, should we burn him?" Mrs. Clawthorne suggested.
"Shit!" Eda exclaimed. "Shit shit shit, he jumped out!"
"Well, catch him! Somebody catch him!" Darius yelled, grabbing a bag from off the table, and chasing after the goop that was scooting shockingly quickly across the floor. The entire room descended into madness, Raine jumped onto a chair.
"He's over there, he's right there!"
"Don't let him back near Hunter!"
"Shit, fuck!"
"Oh my god, I touched him this is so gross-"
Hooty looked up from his snack of fire bees and decided to peek in through the window. "Hey guys, how's it going- oh!" In a flash, before anyone knew what was going on or could stop him, he darted in.
crunch.
The kitchen fell silent.
swallow.
The adults stared. Raine's mouth fell open, and Darius's face twisted in disgust.
"Oh. My. Titan. Did you just..."
"What? Was I not supposed to eat that?"
"I..." Eda looked at her mother, who shrugged. "I don't know. Do you feel okay?"
"Yeah, I feel fine. Why?"
"Is this... is this okay? Or are we going to have to exorcise your... thing too, Eda?" Darius asked hesitantly.
Mrs. Clawthorne grabbed a stethoscope from her bag and pressed it to Hooty's side. She moved down, down, listening intently. "I can't hear anything. Can you feel anything... alive in there?"
"Just that Coven Scout, but he's been in there for months."
"What?"
"What?"
It was nearing one in the morning. At the Owl House, Hunter was tucked in on the couch. He hadn't been awake for long before passing out again. Being possessed was no picnic. A confused and scarred Coven Scout was sent on his way. Grandma Gwen decided she would stay to keep an eye on him and Hooty. In the Noceda household, Luz got a text that said, all good, I think. You can see him in the morning. She would see it when she woke up. In the Park household, most of the kids were piled on the couch together. Puddles slept, belly up, on the carpet in front of the fireplace. Gilbert's head rested in his arms on the kitchen table. Harvey draped a blanket over his shoulders.
Willow's scroll, which rested on the table beside the couch, buzzed. None of the others' did. He moved forward to check on it.
RULERZREACHF4N: ok
RULERZREACHF4N: so sore
RULERZREACHF4N: i'ms orry,, for EverYTHing. talk toYOu tomorrOW?/
He set the scroll back down, breathing a sigh of relief.
When Hunter next opened his eyes, he felt worse than he did after Grom. He tried to move his arm to block the sun coming in through the windows and groaned. Someone stirred nearby.
Darius had been sitting on the floor, head resting on the couch cushions. He blinked awake and turned to look at Hunter.
"You good, kid?" he asked, voice somewhat raspy.
"Alive," Hunter said, voice more gravelly than it had ever been. He waited for Belos to chime in.
But he didn't.
"It's quiet in there again. It's just me." A smile crept onto his face. "It's just me in here. The potion worked?"
Darius shook his head. "A deal with the Collector."
"What? But I thought they were dangerous. Deals with them are like... last resort, aren't they?" Hunter pulled his aching body up into a sitting position. "What did you have to do?"
"It's no big deal, really," Darius shrugged. "I would've done worse. You're definitely having a birthday party is all."
"Huh?"
"We promised it would be the best party ever, and they're invited. Guest of honor or something. You'll have to tell me which flavor of cake you liked best."
Hunter wasn't sure why he felt overwhelmed. Planning a birthday party was the worst they had to do? It seemed too good to be true. He didn't realize the tears were falling until Darius was wiping them away.
"Hey, you're okay. I'm pretty sure whatever was in there is gone now. That scary thing Eda keeps here ate it."
"He fucking what?"
"I know. I'm not going to question it. She says it's fine."
"Darius, isn't this a little more trouble than it's worth?" Hunter croaked. "You've kept me around and it's been awful for you."
"It's not at all awful, what makes you think that?"
"It's just that you've had to deal with so much, and sometimes I'm not the nicest or the easiest to deal with-"
"Neither am I."
"But are you sure you still want me around? I mean, I'm snarky and rude sometimes, and I eat too much-"
"Teens eat a lot. Teens are snarky. You're more normal than you think, Hunter," Darius said. He stood up, groaning slightly. "Titan, my back... I'm getting old."
That earned a shaky laugh from Hunter. "Are you sure? I mean, if I get to be too much then I can always... I mean, I'm almost an adult at this point-"
"Your brain is nowhere near fully developed, you're sixteen," Darius said. "I'm not letting some teenager just leave to be on their own. I want you to stay, okay? I mean, if you want to stay with me. And not move out to live with Camila again. I'd understand that. But you can't be on your own."
"Why would I want to do that?" Hunter asked, confused.
Darius shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not the best... guardian. Parent. I never imagined I'd have any kids, I don't think I'm very good with them. And... I hurt you. Back when we were working under Belos, I was not a very good person to you. And I understand if you hate me for it, if you do then you don't have to hide it you can go ahead and take it out on me, I'd deserve it-"
"I don't- I don't want to do that," Hunter shook his head. "I wasn't very nice to you either. It feels like we were two entirely different people back then. I mean, I still thought I was a real person. I was still loyal to Belos. I didn't know you were working in the rebellion, we didn't really- we didn't really know each other. And everyone was mean to each other there, it doesn't really matter. I think I deserved all that back then, to some degree."
"No you didn't, you were just some stupid kid. And I should have known better."
"Well, you're nice to me now," Hunter shrugged.
"I don't think it makes up for what I did."
"Maybe it doesn't have to. Maybe we can just not think about back then." Hunter laid back down with a sigh. He watched leaves fall from the trees out the window. Darius sat back down, on the edge of the couch this time.
"Hunter?"
"Yeah?"
"I know you didn't react very well when I asked you this the first time, but will you go to therapy with me?"
Hunter froze. "Wait, with you?"
Darius nodded. "I went in for a session, shortly before all of... this happened. I just wanted to let you know it's not scary. Okay, maybe it is a little scary at first, but it isn't bad. And Mr. Valdez seems to really know what he's talking about. Maybe not all therapists are hacks."
"You actually went?"
"Yeah."
"And... do you feel better?"
"Not all the way. But a little bit. And I plan on going again. You don't have to come with me, I can't force you. But your friends recommended this man, and I think... maybe it's worth a shot."
Hunter thought about it. Finally, Darius heard a small, "Sure."
He smiled. "Okay. The next session is next week, I'll tell Mr. Valdez you're coming with."
Luz was so relieved to see a pair of tired, magenta eyes when she ran through the portal door. She leaped onto the couch and crushed Hunter in an enthusiastic hug.
"Ow," Hunter laughed, patting her back. "It's good to see you, human."
"We were so worried," Luz said, squeezing the life out of him. "Mama made me set the scroll down and go to sleep and I felt so bad, I mean what if you died?"
"Belos has tried like three times already, maybe I'm just unkillable," Hunter joked.
Luz laughed and stopped when it threatened to turn into tears. She finally pulled back and sat down next to Hunter. He saw Camila standing in the living room.
"Hi, Mrs. Noceda," Hunter waved awkwardly. "I'm sorry I kinda avoided everyone for a while."
"You can make it up to us later," she winked. "For now, I heard that possession takes it out of you." She set a plate of food on Hunter's lap.
"Breakfast!" Luz grinned.
"You guys made french toast," Hunter sounded choked up, staring at the stack of french toast with strawberries on top. "For me?"
"Yes, we did. Now eat, you look shaky. Next time don't try to starve the parasite out."
"Hopefully there are no more parasites," Hunter said, his mouth full already.
"Slow down and chew it, we don't need to lose you to choking after we went through all that trouble," Darius said, coming back from the kitchen with two chipped mugs full of tea. He set one down for Hunter, and took a sip out of the one that said '30 and Flirty'. Hunter rolled his eyes, but took smaller bites and took his time.