"He is so very head over heels," Kikimora commented as she scrolled through her tablet, looking over the webpage for the Gravesfield's Botanical Garden. "Are you certain it is a good idea to allow him to continue to see her, though?"
"Of… Of course…" Belos said with a faint frown, his brief hesitation giving away his true emotions to his assistant. He sighed, rubbing his head. "There is no harm in it, I'm sure. Willow can take care of herself, and it appears that Hunter is doing better having her in his life."
"But you have your doubts," Kikimora noted, looking over to her boss with the faintest frown.
"To be quite blunt, yes," Belos admitted, leaning back in his chair. "The rifts are becoming more unstable, and this of course means that they are starting to appear with greater frequency! To make matters worse, we have no idea as to why…!" He sighed again before pushing himself to his feet, turning to walk over to the window to look over the clouds that kept him from viewing the city lights proper. "Hunter will be getting more on his plate, and with that Luz girl unwilling to… cooperate with us… that might pile even more onto him…"
Kikimora looked over at her superior, narrowing her eyes before turning to face him. "You are thinking of picking up the fight again," she stated, knowing full-well what was going through Belos' head.
"Yes…" Belos sighed through his nose, grabbing his wrist with his hand to rub at it. He thought back on this time as a 'vigilante' and the toll it had taken on his body. He was not the young witch he once was, and though he could still cast magic it came at the expense of his curse getting harder to manage… But... "If Luz doesn't want to fight with the Golden Guard, well… someone has to."
He hadn't been to the gardens in years. The last time he was actually here hadn't been for enjoyment, either. It was when he'd saved the girl at his side from a deadly nadder. Hunter could hardly believe that he and Willow were here. They had just exited the visitor center into the garden proper, the girl excited to see the gardens in their 'Christmas lights' walk.
"This is so perfect!" Willow squealed, turning to face Hunter with a large smile. "It's even snowing! I can't believe our luck!"
"What did I tell you? I deliver." Hunter gave her a smirk, he could feel his ears flick against the tape he used to pin them down under his beanie. Willow gave a light laugh, grabbing Hunter's hand to pull him along behind her. He felt his ears moving more, almost breaking free from their bonds. The two walked hand in hand through the pathway. The gardens were quiet, save for a few other couples who had decided to spend the beginning of their night here.
Hunter knew deep down that the reason for the garden being so quiet was probably Kikimora's doing. She had an uncanny ability to make sure that typically popular and busy areas turned quiet for when he and his uncle decided to go out and act like civilians. It wasn't until after meeting Willow that he'd really realized how… unusual a lot of aspects of his civilian life actually were. He was the nephew of the richest man in the world, after all. He didn't know how that made his life a lot easier, and he was starting to feel guilt over it.
"This is my favorite tree!" Willow spoke up suddenly, stopping in front of a large trunk that sprouted into many winding branches. The tree, as a sign before it labeled a 'Southern Live Oak', had been wrapped by many LED lights that slowly changed from bright purples to gentle blues, and then to eye-catching pinks. Hunter smiled to himself before looking down at Willow.
"This type of oak actually starts growing acorns when they are around twenty years old!" Willow started. "They live for hundreds of years and are called 'living' oaks because they keep their leaves in the winter. They can grow to massive sizes, though this one is trimmed down to keep it from taking too much space in the garden."
Hunter felt his smile growing bigger as Willow talked about the tree, unable to take his eyes off of her. She spoke with such passion, clearly reflecting how much she loved her studies in plants, as well as how much time she'd spent in the gardens. Her eyes just… sparkled with energy. He adored it. Willow soon paused, her cheeks flushing as she realized the tangent she'd gone on.
"Sorry. I can really just go on about plants, huh?" Willow brushed some of her hair back, turning just a little bit away from Hunter. He felt his heart melting, giving her hand a squeeze as he faced her.
"I love your enthusiasm," he said simply, smiling as she looked back at him from the corner of her eye, her cheeks turning darker. "Please continue. Tell me everything you know."
"If… you're sure," Willow said, smiling at him properly now. Her heart felt like it was skipping as she stared up at his gaze. His smile was showing the adorable gap in his front teeth, and the lights from the tree were reflecting so beautifully in his almond-brown eyes. She longed to see his true eye color, unable to stop herself from imagining how the striking magenta color would make him appear even more… ethereal? She cleared her throat, feeling her cheeks burning as she realized the moment they were caught in, turning to guide Hunter further down the path. "W-Well, uh… Not many people know this, but the garden is actually set up in a very particular way to make sure the plants' needs are best met."
Soon the two had established a pattern, walking slowly to plants that survived the start of winter where Willow would talk about them, Hunter asking the occasional question. The two would keep discussing the flora as they moved on to the next specimen. For her part, Willow was trying to keep her eyes off of Hunter, acting not only as guide to make sure the two didn't accidentally stumble off the trail but remembering the reason they were there in the first place was to actually see how the gardens where decorated for the Christmas season with their many striking, color-changing lights and ice sculptures that felt even more amazing as the light snow drifted around them.
Hunter, however, found he couldn't keep his eyes off of his companion. He knew he should be enjoying the lights with her, but how could he even try when she was the most beautiful creature in the gardens? He was trying to dig around his brain for a good comment about her arboreal name, one based on a tree. 'You are the prettiest plant in the garden.' No… that wasn't good enough… 'Such a lovely Willow; you really make the other trees in here jealous, don't you?' Ehh… maybe not. Why was this so hard?!
" Oh!" Willow turned to smile up at Hunter. "We're close to the coffee stand. Want to get hot chocolate and sit for a while?"
"Huh? Oh! Yeah!" Hunter finally forced his eyes off her, looking up to said stand. It was a very small cart-stand, probably only in the garden this time of year to offer warm drinks to guests. They'd picked a perfect place to set up shop, however, with the nearest benches surrounding a large tree covered in blue light. The LEDs were set up to hang from the branches, making the tree appear like some sort of magical willow tree… How fitting.
Willow smiled as she led Hunter to the stand. The line was nonexistent, given how few people were in the garden. Hunter forced himself to push past the fact that the hot chocolate was just boiling water and powder from a packet; really it was just a reminder how much of a spoiled brat he could be… ugh… Soon the two had claimed a bench under the tree. Hunter smiled as he watched Willow trying to blow into the lid of her cup, coaxing the heat from the cocoa so she wouldn't burn her tongue.
"So, enjoying yourself?" Hunter asked, smiling as Willow looked over to him and nodded, her smile sparkling so beautifully under the blue lights.
"Thank you so much for bringing me here!" Willow started, before looking away from him a bit bashfully, rubbing her thumb over the lip of the lid. "I know I said I come here a lot… but, it's really nice to have company."
"Of course!" Hunter smiled at Willow, shifting slightly to face her more. "Honestly," he whispered to her, drawing her eyes back to him. "I'm so relieved that the… incident from those years ago didn't stop you from coming."
"Well…" Willow shrugged. "It did for a while," she admitted, frowning as she remembered how scared she'd been to even look at the garden. "But after a certain Golden Guard started to get more media attention, the fear slowly started to fade away." Willow smiled knowingly back at Hunter. She could see his beanie move as his ears attempted to flick under them.
"And now you come every weekend," Hunter finished, smiling at the girl who giggled and sipped her drink.
"I try to, at least," Willow nodded, lifting her cup up. "It can be hard to make the time between school and working at the Owl House."
"How come you started working there, if I may ask?" Hunter shifted again, trying to make himself more comfortable as he watched Willow, who finally took a sip from her cocoa.
"Well, the simplest answer is that I needed to make money," Willow began. "My fathers still provide for me for the most part, but there are some things that they can't afford. If I can lighten their load even a little by having my own income, then of course I would do it."
"Things really do boil down to money, don't they?" Hunter noted, frowning to himself as he looked down at his cocoa. He had been sitting in the lap of luxury for all of his life, never having to know discomfort or even knowing how to work for his income. Belos always did his best to teach him, though, that other people were not as lucky as him and to always treat people at their workplace with respect and dignity. And to always leave a very generous tip, even if the service they provided was not up to par.
"Unfortunately…" Willow sighed in response, before giving another shrug. "It is what it is, though. Eda's a great boss, and I'm honestly glad I took her up on her job offer."
"Right," Hunter recalled, "you told me she approached you first."
"She's been a family friend for a while," Willow said. "When she heard that I was living in the Hexside dorms, she came to visit." Willow shrugged with a fond smile. "She offered me a job at the Owl House stocking inventory, cleaning up, and that sort of thing. Flexible hours for school, a decent paycheck; really it was just a way she could help take care of me without me worrying that I was mooching off of her."
"Eda really is a wild card," Hunter muttered, making Willow snort.
"She can be," Willow agreed. "But when it comes to people she cares about, she'd do anything for them." Willow smiled, lifting her cocoa to her lips again to take a sip. Hunter felt his ears flicking, remembering Belos saying the same thing about the 'Owl Lady'. Hunter hummed in thought before lifting his own hot cocoa with the faintest hesitation before taking a sip of his own. "Sooo? How is it?"
"Huh?" Hunter looked up from his cocoa to his companion, seeing her smirking at him. He felt his ears wiggle. "What's with the smirk?"
"You know why," Willow teased, making Hunter's ears wiggle again as he felt his cheeks flush. He really was not hiding the fact that he was hesitating on the hot cocoa. Titan, he really hoped that she didn't think he was a spoiled brat rich boy.
"It's… good." Hunter looked away from her, puffing his cheeks a bit. Willow giggled, making his ears flick more. Titan, what does she do to him to make them do that so often?! After some idle chatter, followed by the occasional comfortable silence as the two observed the area, the lights of the tree they sat under sparkling with white flows through the blue LEDS, Willow cleared her throat.
"Mind if I ask you something a bit… personal?" She looked back over to Hunter, who turned his head to meet her gaze. Seeing the look in her eye, he knew it was going to be on something deeper than what they had been discussing. Hunter glanced around the area before moving his hand to his side, drawing a small spell circle to cast a discrete illusion spell over the two to make it appear that they were just silently sitting and enjoying the night.
"Go ahead," Hunter said, swirling the contents of his cup; he was almost out of hot chocolate.
"Why… did you want to become the Golden Guard?" Willow asked. She seemed hesitant, but the curiosity of why he would want to be a superhero was getting the best of her.
"Well…" Hunter took a moment to think over his answer; he'd never had to explain this to… anyone, really. Because everyone who needed to know why already knew. If things were going to work between him and Willow, though… she at least deserved to know. "To tell you the truth, I didn't."
"You-You didn't want to become a superhero?" Willow looked baffled as Hunter gave a nod.
"Something a lot of people don't know," Hunter continued, moving his thumb across the cup in his hand as he stared down at it, "is… why I exist in the first place. He winced. "I wasn't born in the demon realm like Luz. I was… created. Here on Earth."
"… Created?" Willow raised her brow, finding his choice of wording strange.
"Created…" Hunter repeated before sighing through his nose. "You know Belos is… a lot older than he lets on."
"Older than three hundred, from what he said," Willow confirmed, remembering Belos saying as much to Luz when they'd first met.
"Well… my father wasn't so lucky to live a long life like him." Hunter thinned his lips, watching as Willow's look of confusion turned to slow realization as she started to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. "Technically speaking… I'm a clone of my father."
"I'm… trying really hard not to shout 'What?!' right now," Willow said blankly, staring at him, "because I don't know how this illusion spell works." Hunter could only chuckle.
"I know it's… kind of shocking, I suppose." Hunter rubbed his neck. "That's why I call Belos by his name or 'Uncle' when, really, he was the one who raised me like he was my dad. He named me 'Hunter' because that's the name my actual father would have wanted a son to be named."
"So… If I understand this right…" Willow said slowly, tilting her head in concentration, "you're not so much like a clone as you are but just the child of a long dead man?"
"Yeah, more or less!" Hunter agreed. "But that's really just the start of it… Belos didn't just one day wake up and decide he wanted a nephew, after all." Hunter leaned back on the bench.
"He made you become the Golden Guard?" Willow asked, though more stated. Hunter nodded in turn, looking back to the baffled girl.
"Pretty much. Belos's health isn't like it once was, so… he needed an heir. Someone to take over being the city's 'protector' and to keep the demon realm at bay." Hunter shifted on the bench, facing Willow again. "So that's why I'm the Golden Guard. Well at least, that's the least complicated version of why."
"Even so, that's… heavy," Willow said, rubbing her neck.
"I hope that it doesn't dissuade you from wanting to keep seeing me?" Hunter felt a spike of irrational fear slash through him as he asked that, but he was confident that he knew Willow would stay.
"Oh, no no no!" Willow looked back to him, her eyes wide and a light blush on her cheeks. "I-I very much want to keep seeing you! I-I just- I-" Hunter moved to put a finger over her lips, making her cheeks turn more red as he gave her a wink and stood with a chuckle, dispelling the illusion while he was at it.
"So, ready to see the rest of the gardens now?" Hunter smiled down at her, offering his hand out to her. Willow grinned in turn, taking his offered hand and standing.
" Absolutely."
The night felt like it went by too fast for Hunter's taste. They'd already found themselves standing outside of the botanical gardens, the snow growing heavier as they departed. Willow glanced around, trying to find a nearby clock before reaching into her pocket.
" So, uh … what would you like to do now?" Hunter prompted, knowing that it was probably getting pretty late into the night but unwilling to let it end. "See a movie or something?"
"I don't know… it's getting pretty late," Willow confirmed as she held up her phone to show him the clock. 10:41, darn it. Hunter could feel his lips wanting to turn into a frown before Willow shrugged. "We could go hang out somewhere, though," she suggested, in the same boat he was in. "Just a bit longer."
"Y-you know we have a guest room at home!" Hunter blurted, his thoughts rushing up. "We can just head there and you can have it for the night!" Was it inappropriate to suggest it? Hunter was sure it was… he should alert Kikimora first, at least. Willow gave a small smile, looking unsure.
"I don't want to impose… I've been spending a lot of time at your home lately, after all." Willow honestly felt… better staying at Titan's Enterprise than the dorm rooms. She hated to admit it, but being away from there was a strange lift from her shoulders.
"You know you're not imposing," Hunter assured with a smile, taking her hand and pulling her in close to him. Willow grinned back, feeling her cheeks flushing again. He really had a strange effect on her, one she was still trying to get used to after these few short months of knowing him.
"Well… if you're sure." Willow rubbed her neck with her free hand as Hunter gave her a few rapid nods. He pulled his phone out, unlocking the screen before pausing as his brow furrowed. "Is something wrong?"
"N-No…" He posed his response as more of a question as he slowly flipped through his phone screen. "I think… someone messed with my phone."
" How can you tell?" Willow asked, moving to look at Hunter's phone and quirking her brow before seeing what he was. When he flipped open a new app, a small flash of pink-purple electricity shot through the screen. Hunter glanced around quickly before squeezing Willow's hand and turning to lead her away from the garden. The two rounded a street corner; Hunter was getting ready to get them out of sight, Willow knew that for sure."Do you think someone is-?"
"My apologies, Hunter, Willow," Kikimora interjected. Hunter jumped, turning quickly to look at the disguised demon. She always preferred her human form to reflect her height, which meant often she was overlooked, even more so when the trashcan next to her hid her perfectly despite the bright-red hair she adorned herself with. "I decided to intercept a few communications to your phone, Hunter. I assume you two are ready to head home?"
"…Kiki, what did I tell you about-?" Hunter started before Kikimora turned to open the door of the car behind her.
"Do not forget what my job is, Hunter," Kikimora interrupted again as she looked back expectantly to the two. Hunter thinned his lips before sighing through his nose. He pulled Willow to the car, smiling back at her as he waited for her to climb in before following. "To Titan's Enterprise?"
"Yeah," Hunter confirmed to Kikimora as she closed the door. "To Titan's Enterprise."
AN: Posting REALLY EARLY because the servers for FFXIV go live in like, an hour...and once I start playing I will not stop. More Superhero AU! I actually have decided to write a whole series for it! I'll be reposting the first meeting as its first chapter, then go into the story after! I hope you guys will enjoy it! Please leave a review telling me your thoughts!