Hunter spent the whole ride back to the castle trying to figure out Penstagram. Willow somehow found his account almost as soon as he created it, and the two of them were currenting texting each other. His typing was painfully slow, as Darius commented, but to be fair, he'd never had a use for using one of these scrolls before! It was only natural he was a slow typer at first.
Once they reached the castle, Hunter quickly retreated to his room, hiding both his scroll and Flapjack as he walked through the long hallways. Maybe none of the scouts or other coven heads would care that he had a scroll now, but Belos would most likely be upset about it if he knew. He didn't like Hunter getting distracted by such trivial things as this.
Hunter was…surprised at Darius. He seemed to have pegged Darius all wrong, though of course, all of his reservations about him didn't just instantly go away. He'd always thought of Darius as a jerk who had a high ego, and up till now, he frankly thought that the man straight out hated him (as many others seemed to), but now…
Well, Darius had always treated him as nothing but a pest. He only put up with him because of his direct relation to Belos, but he knew he never had Darius' respect. The abomination coven head only saw him as the kid he was, which used to annoy Hunter to no end, but now, Hunter was actually kind of grateful for that. Hunter's little act of rebellion today seemed to impress Darius.
This whole day was just…Crazy. Many of his missions lately have been a little crazy, but not like this. Today was crazy in a good way. He-he made friends…Could they be considered friends? Hunter did kinda betray them back there…It was entirely possible that they held a grudge against him for almost getting them branded by the Emperor's Coven.
Yet, here Willow Park was, Captain of the Emerald Entrails, texting him on Penstagram. She wouldn't do that if she held a grudge against him, right? She did start their conversation off by mentioning that she couldn't wait till his next day off, after all.
Hello_Willow: Did you make it back to the castle?
RULERZREACHF4N is typing…
RULERZREACHF4N: YeS.
Hello_Willow: Caleb you
Hello_Willow: HUNTER WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
RULERZREACHF4N is typing…
RULERZREACHF4N is typing…
RULERZREACHF4N is typing…
RULERZREACHF4N: .?
Hello_Willow: Sorry Luz and Amity got ahold of my scroll
Hello_Willow: They were surprised when they saw our team photo
Hello_Willow: Don't worry about them, I'll explain everything
Hunter set his scroll down for a moment as he read Willow's last few messages. The human and…Amity was that Blight girl, right? They found out about this, huh? Seeing their previous enemy's face in a photo alongside their friend must have come across as a bit of a shock.
He…If he was honest with himself, he still felt bad about turning on Amity back in Eclipse Lake. He only did what he had to do, what he thought was necessary. He had to take the key for his own survival, but…She offered to help him back there. Even though the Blight girl and the Owl Lady knew who he was, she still offered to help him, offered him another chance.
As someone who had to earn even a first chance, he really shouldn't have brushed her off like that. Someone like him almost never got second chances, and yet, Willow gave him one today.
Odd, wasn't it? That those affiliated with the Owl Lady were the only ones who seemed to want to give him a second chance?
Especially after his interaction with the Emerald Entrails today, Hunter was wondering if maybe, just maybe being in the Emperor's coven wasn't what he wanted…Okay, okay, woah, that was a huge thought he really shouldn't have (it felt like a betrayal to his uncle to even think about leaving), but he was thinking that at least, it would be nice to try to live like a normal teenager a little more. He couldn't skip out on his duties, of course, but maybe once and a while he could watch his team practice for a minute while on patrol, or he could keep learning to use his new scroll, or…Well, he didn't know. Besides flier derby and this scroll, he wasn't sure what normal teenagers did.
Hunter turned his attention back to the scroll.
RULERZREACHF4N: . Upset?
Hello_Willow: They're just a little confused :)
Hello_Willow: You have to wake up at 6am right?
RULERZREACHF4N: yss.
RULERZREACHF4N: SorRy.,yes.
Hello_Willow: It's late shouldn't you get to bed then?
Hello_Willow: I wake up later than you do and I still go to bed around now
RULERZREACHF4N is typing…
RULERZREACHF4N is typing…
RULERZREACHF4N: , I to do befo.e bed
RULERZREACHF4N: I still have do befOre beD.
Hunter sighed after sending that last text. "How is she typing so quickly?" He glanced over at Flapjack, who was perched on his knee. "Everytime I try, I just end up with a bunch of typos."
Flapjack chirped at him in encouragement. Hunter waved his hand at the bird. "Yeah, yeah, I'll keep trying." He looked back at the scroll. "It is… weirdly fun to text people…I think I'm starting to see why everyone's using their scrolls all the time."
To be able to hold a conversation long distance without having to call-it really was amazing. Not to mention being able to see people's…posts, was it called? Now Hunter could look at the picture Willow posted of their team anytime he wanted to. Especially because he probably wouldn't be able to hang out with them again for quite a while, it was nice to be able to look at that picture to remember the great day he had.
It was probably one of the best days he'd ever had, really.
Hello_Willow: Make sure you don't stay up too late! The Golden Guard needs his sleep ;)
Hello_Willow: Seriously Caleb, please try to get enough sleep
Hello_Willow: You looked really tired today
Hunter stared at those three messages. Other than Raine Whispers, no one had ever really cared about his sleeping habits before. It was kind of…nice…to have someone care about him.
Well, not care. He doubted Willow really cared that much; she'd just met him after all.
But to have someone be a little, just a little concerned about his well being-as unfamiliar as it was, it felt good.
RULERZREACHF4N: im alwya.s
RULERZREACHF4N: IknowWH.T im .doING.
Somehow, Willow replied only seconds after he sent that-seriously, how did she type so fast?!
Hello_Willow: Just…Not too late, okay?
RULERZREACHF4N is typing…
RULERZREACHF4N: okAY.
Okay? He wasn't sure if he meant it, but…Well, maybe he should try going to bed a little earlier. Just a little. For his captain. You know, so he didn't end up lying to her or anything-for some reason, he really didn't want to have to lie to her.
Flapjack moved from his knee to his shoulder, and chirped at him as if to agree with Willow that he should go to bed earlier. Hunter rolled his eyes and his lips curled into a slight smile. "Okay, okay, I get it, I'll try to not stay up all night again."
If Hunter didn't know better, he would have thought his palisman was frowning at him.
"Fine, fine! I will go to bed earlier, happy?"
Flapjack's little head nodded and chirped again.
Hunter's smile grew, and he ran his hand through his palisman's feathers, before turning his attention back to his conversation with Willow.
Hello_Willow: I have to go now, Gnight!
RULERZREACHF4N is typing…
RULERZREACHF4N: WhAts. Gnight MEan?
Hello_Willow: It means goodnight :)
RULERZREACHF4N: . .
Willow stopped responding after that, so Hunter put his scroll away and laid back on his bed, staring up at his ceiling like he often did when lost in thought. Yep, this was definitely one of the weirdest days he'd ever had, and that was saying a LOT. But…It was also one of the best days he'd ever had, if not the best day.
Not that he had a lot of days that could be considered 'good' though.
As he laid on his bed with his golden guard uniform still on and lights still ablaze, he hoped that he would be able to have more days like this one. More days that made him feel like a normal teenager instead of the authority figure he really was.
More days with fun.