Author Note: It's Grom time. I had this all finished and then I had to change large parts of it because I saw the tweet from Dana that says the twins were stood up for Grom. Based on the episode I thought the twins went together, but no. Whoever stood them up is awful. Also, the season 1 finale airs tomorrow and I am not ready.
Every year Hexside held a huge Grom dance to celebrate Grometheus being defeated and banished back under the school. It was one of the biggest events of the school year; all students 14 and older went to watch the fight and party. Emira wondered why they didn't permanently seal the monster and throw the party to celebrate being rid of it, but when she asked Principal Bump he dodged the question.
A few posters had been up since the start of the school year, but about week before the event the number greatly multiplied. Some decorations were also put up in order to start preparing, and gossip of who would be chosen as Grom queen began floating around. A lost of the whispers claimed it would be Amity, but Emira didn't buy into that. Usually an upperclassman was chosen, since they had to fight the creature. It would be decided a few days before the event, so she could only wait and see.
It was a nice coincidence that the day before Grom was the final day of Emira and Ed's punishment. They would be able to attend Grom as free witches.
Unfortunately, there was still a week until that day. This meant Emira was again, or as usual, trapped inside the Blight house.
She was sitting at the table the kitchen, debating if she wanted a snack while doing homework. That's right, homework. There was literally nothing else to do. The assignment was to write about the foundation of duplication spells, including information about the witch inventor behind the spell and the theories she created. It was, in two words, mind numbing.
When Mittens arrived home and came into the kitchen in a hurry, that was a great excuse for Emira to abandon the tedious task.
"How was school?" Emira put down her pencil as she asked.
Mittens dropped her bag on the table, a sharp frown already present on her face. "It was fine." She said in a tone that did not match her words, moving to scrounge the cabinets for a snack.
"You sure about that?" Emira prodded for more information, not believing her at all.
"Yes." Was the only response she got.
"Alright." Emira shifted in her chair so she could see Mittens easier. Her sister was behaving quite oddly today. The other girl had taken a fairly large box of cookies out of the cabinet. "Don't eat too much, Mom will get mad at you."
"Don't tell me what to do." Mittens snapped at her, putting the box on the counter roughly.
Emira was honestly taken aback. She thought her relationship with Mittens had improved, at least slightly. Her sister had been in a decent mood for the last few days too, which seemed to have all but vanished now. "Wow, already getting into those teenage rebellion years? You've grown so fast." She teased to try and lighten the mood.
Mittens didn't reply, instead she started taking cookies out of the box and putting them on a napkin.
"Seriously though, what's up?" Emira refocused on the topic, her eyes locked on the back of Mittens' head.
Mittens stopped at 5 cookies in total, putting the box back in the cabinet. "I don't want to talk about it." She muttered, not turning to look at Emira.
"Just sit with me then." Emira pat the chair next to her and pulled it out slightly in invitation. "You can eat your cookies while I work on my assignment."
"You're actually doing homework?" This piqued Mittens' interest, drawing her eyes and a slightly softer frown back to Emira.
"Not by choice." Emira put on an exaggerated grimace and shook her head. "If you join me, I won't tell Mom about the cookies." That would get her for sure.
"Fine you win." Mittens rolled her eyes and then picked up her cookies to bring them over to the table. "Just for a few minutes." She sat down in the chair, sighing as she settled.
Emira cracked a smile, watching as Mittens picked up the first treat to take a bite. While she was chewing, that was Emira's chance to strike. She had thought about getting a snack and now was her chance.
She didn't even need illusion magic; her hands were fast enough to steal the next cookie from the pile. It only took a moment.
"Hey!" Mittens swatted the offending arm ineffectually. It wasn't enough to stop Emira from claiming her prize. "Get your own!" She protested, pulling the remaining cookies farther away from Emira's reach.
"This one is so good though." Emira took a big bite out of the cookie for emphasis. It was chocolate chip, a great flavor. "Delicious."
Mittens wasn't quite smiling, but she wasn't frowning so deeply anymore either. "Whatever, just do your homework."
"Aye aye." Emira said before taking another bite out of her stolen reward. She turned back to her homework, which astonishingly had not completed itself while she talked to Mittens. One more bite and the cookie was gone, so she picked up her pencil to resume the assignment.
Emira started writing the next line on her work, keeping an eye on Mittens in her peripheral vision. Her sister was staring straight ahead, that troubled frown back in full force. She had finished the first cookie, but wasn't eating the next one.
She looked worried, like the weight of the world was on her shoulders.
A few minutes later, after Emira had written a few more painful sentences, Mittens broke the silence.
"I um," She started to speak, then stopped and cleared her throat. She was still looking straight ahead. "Are you going to Grom with anyone?" Ah, Emira thought, that's what this whole bad mood was about. Mittens was finally old enough to attend Grom this year.
"I might." Emira admitted, dropping her pencil to focus on the conversation. "Not sure yet though." There was still a week to figure it out.
Mittens' expression didn't change. "I see." She said quietly. "Are you planning to ask someone?" With these words she turned her body slightly towards Emira, eyes coming up to meet hers.
That was quite a personal question. Emira did have someone in mind to ask, another witch in the illusion track, but she wasn't that close to them so she was still debating it. She also thought about asking that detention track girl, Viney, to go with her. Unfortunately, she was 1000 percent off limits due to her time in the detention track and habit of mixing magic. Emira had never spoken to her and still liked to admire her from afar, but the other witch she was considering was a far safer option.
"I've thought about it." Was what Emira settled on saying, "But I haven't made any plans yet." She could feel her cheeks were warmer than usual at this line of conversation.
Now Mittens looked more thoughtful, her brow scrunched up in that little thinking face she often made. "How would you plan to do it, if you were?"
Interesting question. It almost sounded like Mittens wanted to ask someone to Grom. That was the only conclusion Emira could come to. Was it Luz? It had to be Luz.
"Hmm, let me think about it." Emira tried to keep her voice level, she didn't want to spook Mittens. It took a lot of effort to get her to even sit and talk, she would probably leave if Emira seemed too excited or crazy. "I would probably just take the plunge and ask if they wanted to go with me." Despite being a trickster, Emira could also be straight forward sometimes. If she ever got around to inviting the person she wanted to go with, that would be how she did it.
"That takes a lot of courage." Mittens mused, fidgeting with the edges of the napkin her cookies were on. That was probably too forward for her, Emira thought. Mittens was brave in danger, but could actually be quite withdrawn socially. Especially if she had a crush on Luz, Emira was still pretty sure it was Luz.
"Well, a note is another option." Was her next idea. "I could leave it in their locker or hand it to them." She had to say it as if it was from her perspective still to keep up the image that this was about her, even though she was just giving advice to Mittens.
Mittens perked up at that one. "A note, huh." There was a spark in her eyes. "That's a good idea."
"Why thank you." Emira replied with a smile. "It wouldn't have to be long, just the invitation is enough I think."
"Yeah," Mittens nodded, probably running the idea through her mind. "That could work." She muttered, before clearing her throat. "What would you do if they say no?"
That was another hard hitting question, one Emira wasn't sure how to respond to. Mittens had distinctly ventured from just asking about Emira's plans to worrying about her own potential Gromposal. Interesting that she wanted to know how to react if it went poorly, rather than if it went well.
"I'm not sure." Emira was confident that Luz, or whoever Mittens planned to ask, would say yes, but she still wanted to answer the question properly. "Cry and move on I suppose. Keep looking until I find someone who returns my feelings." That was the goal wasn't it, to find someone who liked her in return.
"Okay." Mittens looked somber as she turned her gaze back towards her snack. "Thanks, Em."
"Anytime." Emira couldn't keep from grinning as she replied.
A few seconds passed and Emira waited as her sister thought things through. It was silent, with nothing but their thoughts between the two. Mittens gave one last sigh before seeming to gather her composure.
"I guess I should leave you to your homework." Mittens face snapped back up to Emira's, the previous stress in her expression replaced with a small playful smirk. "You're never going to get it done while I'm here."
"You're probably right." Emira admitted with a frown. She didn't want to get it done in the first place.
Mittens nodded in agreement. "I'll leave you to it then." She rose from the chair, slinging her bag back over her shoulder. She took one cookie off the top of the stack, then pushed the last two towards Emira. "You should have them." She said, not looking back before vacating the kitchen.
Emira pulled the cookies closer to her, picking up the top one as she mentally wished Mittens and herself luck in asking someone to Grom. She was certain that her sister would not be rejected. A moment later Emira resumed work on the awful homework assignment.
She had just bitten into the cookie when heeled footsteps sounded behind her. Her mother's voice came next.
"You shouldn't be eating this close to dinner."
Sometimes, Emira thought, she needed to take her own advice.