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Song: Overwhelmed by Royal & the Serpent

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"Oh I Should be Fine,

But it's All Too Much…

My Anxiety, Creeps Inside of Me, Makes it Hard to Breathe…

Feels like I'm Somebody Else…"

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After leaving the twins, Hunter trudged back to the Owl House. He knew he should try to pretend everything was fine, act like he had the best day ever, but he didn't have the energy to muster up that kind of façade. He'd already spent the whole day worrying about messing things up and dealing with people, and the Blight twins' attempts to drag him into such a stupid prank was the last straw.

Of course, this meant that Eda caught on to his mood pretty quickly.

"Hey, Kiddo, how'd it go- oh, nuts," she said, her greeting quickly turning sour. "What happened?"

"Nothing," Hunter sighed.

As stressful as the day had been, he didn't want Eda to think he couldn't even handle going to school. It was only the first day- he couldn't fail at this, especially not so quickly.

"Not buying it," Eda denied. "If it's just finding out that school sucks, that's fine, I get it. But if something happened, I want to know if you're okay."

Hunter huffed out a breath of air. He could be stubborn if he wanted to, but so could Eda. Now, he could just yell at her and storm off without telling her, but he didn't really want to. His bad mood wasn't really her fault, after all. Maybe he didn't have to get into the details.

"I met Amity's siblings."

There. Short and to the point.

Eda blinked.

"And?"

"They're annoying. And crazy."

"Hm," Eda hummed, giving him a calculating look. "Did they do something to you? Those two are pretty harmless most of the time, but they can be jerks sometimes, too."

He didn't want to tell her about running into the Coven guards. She'd be worried, right? And honestly, Hunter didn't really want her to be worried.

"Like I said, they're just annoying," he insisted. "Everything was fine besides that."

He also decided to leave out the sudden anxiety that going to school entailed. He probably just had to get used to it- after all, going from private tutors and secret missions to going to classes like a normal teenager was a big adjustment, right? He'd be fine in a day or two, and Eda never even had to know about it.

"Well, why don't you tell me about it, then?" Eda requested. "Learn any nerd stuff?"

This was fine. He was okay. He just needed to tell Eda about what he learned, maybe show her his potion. Maybe he'd show King while he was doing his homework so the little demon could see it in action- unless he wasn't interested. But that was fine.

And so, he opened his mouth and started talking.

XXX

Eda had, despite her best efforts, been incredibly worried about sending Hunter to school. She knew that he wasn't really in much more danger from the Emperor's Coven there than here, but if he was here, at least she'd be around. It's not like he couldn't fight- after all, she'd been on the receiving end of his training- but he was at a disadvantage without his artificial staff. Not to mention the fact that he seemed much more likely to freeze rather than fight when it came to going against the Emperor's Coven. For him, it was easy (or, it used to be at least) to fight against criminals because they were criminals- he was supposed to fight them, and for the most part, there wasn't any baggage or conflict to stop him. But now, things were more complicated, and he might have to fight against people who had, until recently, been his allies and authority figures.

And then there was the secondary danger of Hunter trying to hurt himself, rather than someone else trying to hurt him. He could run off and do who knew what before anyone could find him. And even if he decided to just hurt himself, despite being warned, he might bleed out accidentally. And Eda might not even know until it was too late. Sure, Luz would get her as soon as possible, but it's not like Luz could (or should) spend the entire day watching him.

So, she was worried, as she had reason to be, but she just had to wait for him to come home and see how the day went. Most likely, everything would be fine. Hell, considering how much the kid liked to study on his own, he would probably come home gushing about all sorts of things that would normally bore her. The thought made her smile a bit, relieving some of the worry.

Unfortunately, that worry just returned with a vengeance once Hunter returned home.

The first thing she noticed was the tense shoulders, looking like he expected something to attack him at any second. He definitely wasn't smiling, either, and he certainly wasn't gushing about anything. In fact, he looked miserable and anxious, and Eda was already considering whether sending him to school was a good idea or not.

"Hey, Kiddo, how'd it go- oh, nuts," she said, cutting off her own greeting. "What happened?"

But he didn't really answer.

"Nothing."

He shuffled a bit, clenching his fists as if he was trying to keep them from moving. Rascal, meanwhile, sat quietly on his shoulder and shot him a look the boy didn't seem to notice.

"Not buying it," Eda denied. "If it's just finding out that school sucks, that's fine, I get it. But if something happened, I want to know if you're okay."

She really hoped that he just thought school sucked- that was something she understood. She'd always hated school, and there was a chance that Hunter didn't like more traditional learning environments, either, now that he'd had the chance to experience them first-hand. Despite what she hoped, though, she knew that something had probably happened.

After a minute, it seemed like Hunter decided to give her an actual answer.

"I met Amity's siblings."

Eda blinked. It's not what she expected to hear but it was a lot better than something like 'The Emperor's Coven attacked the school' or something. Even still, though, he was going to need to elaborate a little.

"And?"

He crossed his arms.

"They're annoying. And crazy."

"Hm."

Was he really just annoyed? Maybe he was, but he looked anxious, too, so whatever happened with them was probably a little more than just not liking them.

"Did they do something to you? Those two are pretty harmless most of the time, but they can be jerks sometimes, too."

But Hunter doubled down on his story.

"Like I said, they're just annoying," he insisted. "Everything was fine besides that."

Eda didn't entirely buy that was all, but it didn't seem like anyone was in danger, so she could let it slide.

"Well, why don't you tell me about it, then?" Eda requested. "Learn any nerd stuff?"

Maybe it would help to distract him from the bad things and direct his attention to something good. If most of his day was 'fine', perhaps it wasn't an overall terrible experience for his first day of normal school. And thankfully, Hunter started telling her about the rest of his day, eventually looking more animated as he started talking about his potions classes.

This was okay, right?

XXX

Hunter had managed to dodge Edric for the next two days, but on the third, he found the boy in front of him suddenly, as if he'd just appeared out of nowhere. Glancing at the colors adorning the boy's uniform, though, there was a pretty good chance he'd used some kind of illusion magic to sneak up on him. Either that, or Hunter had gotten lost in his own head again and just hadn't noticed. He really hoped it was the former, seeing as him just not noticing didn't bode well for his ability to defend himself from possible attacks.

"Heya, Hunter."

For some reason, he was smiling at him. Oh Titan, he didn't come to try to convince Hunter to join him in another ill-advised prank did he?

"Hi. What do you want?" Hunter asked, hoping to get right to the point so he could finish the interaction as soon as possible without getting dragged into something stupid. "I'm not joining you and your sister's shenanigans."

"Aw, you don't have to be like that," Edric half-whined. "We're not gonna prank anyone today. Besides, Emira is busy."

Hunter's eyes narrowed.

"No pranks?"

"Nope," Edric denied, shaking his head. "I was gonna ask if you wanted to study with me."

Hunter blinked, surprised.

"Study? You want to study with me?" he asked.

"Yeah, I do actually study, you know," Edric replied. "I mean, I get it, I probably seem cool and fun, but that doesn't mean I have to be an idiot."

Hunter gave him a deadpan stare.

"… Cool…?"

"Hey, I am cool!" Edric gasped. "And seriously, I figured we could work on some of our potions homework. I haven't been in potions track classes very long, but I kinda have a knack for it, you know?"

Hunter stared at him for a long minute before speaking again.

"… Are we really just going to study?" he asked. "Because you better not be trying to trick me."

"I'm not, geez," Edric insisted. "We're just going to study. Is that okay?"

Hunter considered it for a moment. He could just do the homework himself, but he knew that missions were oftentimes easier when he had backup. The same was probably true for homework too, right?

"Okay, fine."

"What, really? I thought I was gonna have to pester you a little more."

Hunter shot him a glare.

"Actually, I changed my mind," Hunter declared, turning away.

"No, wait-!"

XXX

Somehow, Hunter still found himself walking with Edric on his way back to the Owl House. Apparently, they were going to study there because Edric just followed him when he tried to leave. Hunter wasn't sure whether he was annoyed or not. He wasn't really mad about an offer to study- he was mostly just suspicious about whether those were Edric's true intentions. And he wasn't really going to leave because Edric joked about pestering him. It was… a little funny, maybe? And him pretending to leave was also a joke, right? Was he actually making jokes with Amity's brother?

Regardless, he and Edric were walking to the Owl house together, alone. Luz was on some kind of date with Amity, and though part of him wasn't sure he wanted to be alone with the other boy, a bigger part of him was glad she wasn't there to tease him about making friends.

That didn't mean Eda wasn't able to do it in her stead, though.

"Welcome back, kid- wait, you brought Edric?" she questioned with a snort. "I thought you said he was annoying."

At this, Hunter's cheeks immediately colored red. Of course Eda just had to say that.

"Sh-Shut up!" he shouted, not really having anything else he could say, considering that he had actually called Edric annoying.

It's not his fault! Edric was annoying.

"Pfft!" Edric laughed beside him. "Wow, great to know I made a good first impression. I must have changed your mind with my coolness!"

Hunter's face only grew redder, and he crossed his arms. He didn't really know what else to say, and he was seriously considering running into his room and hiding there until Edric went away.

Eda just snorted again.

"Awe, ya don't have to be embarrassed," she chuckled. "I hang out with annoying people all the time."

Yeah, running away seemed like the best option.

Thus, he quickly dashed past Eda and stomped up the stairs.

XXX

And for some reason, he and Edric were sitting in Hunter's room and doing their homework, despite Hunter's last-minute attempt to get rid of the other boy.

"Okay, so I think we need to add some Sharkgrub Slime next…," Edric muttered, reaching for the small bottle of the substance.

"What?" Hunter exclaimed. "You can't put that in a cleaning potion!"

Edric paused.

"Huh? Why?"

"Because it's going to react with the Sealery Root!" Hunter explained. "It makes a really sticky goop! Do you have any idea how hard it is to get that stuff out of fabric?"

"Yeah, but you need it to be sticky to pick up the bigger dirt particles," Edric argued. "Besides, you aren't supposed to use this potion on fabric."

"Yes y- oh."

"… Have you been using it on fabric?" Edric questioned incredulously. "Dude, this is for like. Tile floors."

He glared at the boy, not liking that he was being embarrassed yet again. He wasn't stupid. He learned how to make countless potions back in the Emperor's Coven, and he'd used this potion to clean his clothes plenty of times. Granted, he couldn't quite remember ever being told that that's what it was for, and maybe he'd been taught a huge number of potions within a short amount of time, but that didn't mean he didn't know what he was talking about.

"… It works on fabric if you don't add the Sharkgrub Slime…," he grumbled.

"I mean, I guess, but I don't know if that's the same potion…," Edric replied. "I guess we should probably check the textbook?"

"Whatever, just add it in."

"It only takes a minute to check, dude," Edric pointed out. "I mean, it's not like I have every potion memorized."

Hunter just sighed and grabbed his textbook, flipping through the pages to find the right one.

"Aw, shit," he hissed after a minute.

"What?"

"We were supposed to add the Slitherleaves first," Hunter sighed. "We have to start over."

XXX

"Hey, Eda, I'm home!" Luz called out. "And I brought Amity!"

"Hi, Luz!" King waved before going back to whatever war his stuffed animals were currently having.

The two teenagers dropped their backpacks next to the couch. Distantly, they could hear a conversation happening upstairs, though they couldn't make out any of the words.

"… Does Hunter have a friend over?" Luz asked, somewhat surprised.

"Yup," Eda confirmed. "They're studying."

"Huh. I wonder who pestered him enough for that to happen."

Suddenly, the voices upstairs raised in volume.

"WHY DID YOU ADD SKINAMON?!"

"IT'S ON THE INGREDIENTS LIST!"

"IT SAYS SHINAMON, DAMN IT!"

"I DIDN'T BRING MY GLASSES!"

For a moment, everyone downstairs was quiet, and then Amity spoke:

"Was that my brother…?"

XXX