Hello and welcone back to another chapter. Luz and Hunter get to talk a little

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KaliAnn: Hooty probably knows a few ways to keep HUnter in place

Hunter was…..not amused to say it in a polite way. While he had been a bit surprised by Luz when she said that they would share the room, this was not how he expected it to go. The bold statement of the human that she wasn't afraid to share her room was one thing, the night…was another.

When Luz pulled out another mattress for him to sleep on and dragged it into the small room, Hunter trying to convince her that he could help, he felt the glare of Eda and King. But the human insisted that it wasn't a problem.

Sure, mattresses weren't really heavy, but he still felt bad that she did all the work. Hunter wasn't sure though, if this was the reason, he received those glares. Maybe it was more because they were sharing the room. A boy and a girl. Teenagers. Yeah…..

After hours of running around, finding clothes for him to wear during the night and searching for more and more blankets, Luz had finally stopped. It was Eda who forced her to sit down and take a break, forcing a cup of tea in her hands.

This was a lot. Hunter wasn't even sure what to do now. He could go back and face the consequences or enjoy a few more days of peace. Belos was no fool. By now he probably knew what really happened. That he ran away from home. More or less.

Thinking about it, he didn't even know if he could call it home. Sure, Belos had been there for him, but also meant a lot of trouble for him. Among other things.

After hours of doing what felt like nothing, they sat in the small room up the stairs in silence. Hunter was ready to just lay down and sleep, but of course that wasn't going to happen. Mostly because….

"Does that thing really have to watch us?" he asked, looking at the owl-tube that was staring through the window.

"Hooty? Don't worry, he'll leave the moment we fall asleep. He does that a lot" luz waved him off.

She laid down on her mattress, pulling the covers up to her chest. Hunter followed her movements. He hadn't stayed up this long on his own accord for a long time. He usually stayed up late because of other soldiers. And if he didn't, then he was too tired to keep himself awake past nine.

Standing up around five or six in the morning was normal for him. And for a long time, he thought that everyone did that. At least the people in the coven did. Naps weren't really a thing either.

But now? There was no way he was going to fall asleep.

"Hey" Luz suddenly started, grabbing his attention. "What do you think is better? The wailing star or the Bonesborough brawl?"

"What?" the turned towards her.

"What event do you like more?"

Hunter looked at her with utter confusion. He had no idea what she was talking about. He never heard of those things.

"No? Okay. Then how about this: what place is better? The knee or the looking glass ruins?"

Again, he had never really been to that place. The knee? Sure. For missions. But only a few people had the luck to even find the looking glass ruins. How did she even know about them. Flapjack tweeted beside him, having made himself a nest from his coat.

What was she getting at?

"Or how about this? The most dangerous monster. I'd say Grom but the Slitherbeast was bad as well and then there was a Basilisk once and-"

"What are you doing?" he cut her off.

"What do you mean? I'm just asking questions" she said.

"Yeah, but why?" Hunter sat up and pushed himself against the wall. One knee up and his arm resting on it. He was still calm but on the edge. He had no desire to share any secrets with her.

"I just wanna get to know you more. The real you, not the Golden Guard. Just Hunter. You're staying with us now after all" she smiled, sitting up as well.

The real him? Hunter wasn't sure he knew much about himself. About who he actually was. Since he could think he had been helping his uncle. To train and fight for him. To complete missions in his name. To hurt others…

The teen clenched his fists. This was the Golden Guard, not Hunter. He had yet to find out who he was. Who he wanted to be.

"I honestly don't know" he confessed.

"You don't?" Luz leaned forward on her hands, sitting on her knees. She got curious.

"I mean, all I ever did was as the Golden Guard, y'know? I never thought about who I was other than that" he shrugged.

"Okay" she nodded. "That makes sense. Maybe we can find out together" she suggested.

Hunter nodded silently. Maybe they could. finding out who you are. Isn't that what everybody wants? Today could be his chance to find out.

"Let's start with something easy. What's your favorite color?" she asked.

The teen hummed in thought. A color he liked most? That wasn't very hard. "Red" he said without hesitation.

Luz chuckled she could tell why. Even if Hunter wasn't wearing a lot of red, it was definitely because of his cardinal friend.

"What about you?" he asked.

"Purple" Luz smiled. "And blue too. I like the mix they make when set next to each other" she explained.

"You read a lot too, right? Just like me. But I'm sure that you like other kind of books" Luz rambled.

"I do" Hunter nodded. "Apart from me secretly reading books about wild magic I like books with action. Like Rulers Reach."

"You read Kings book?" Luz raised an eyebrow.

"Kings book?" the witch repeated. He didn't realize that the little demon wrote that book. It was one of his favorites.

"Yeah, we wrote it a while ago. It started as a partner project and kinda ended weirdly" she chuckled. "But if you tell him you liked it, then you will definitely gain his favor."

"I'll think about it" Hunter said.

He wasn't sure if he wanted the demon to follow him around and expect praise every two seconds. Because Hunter was sure that this would happen if he wasn't careful.

"Anything you would like to know about me?" Luz asked innocently.

The witch thought about it for a moment. There were a lot of things he was curious about. From the life of the human realm to the reason she even entered the demon realm. But there was one thing that was bugging him most.

"Why do you hate my uncle?"

"Your uncle? Dude, I don't think I even know him" Luz said, completely confused.

"Oh right. I haven't told you" he realized. "Belos is my uncle."

"He is?" she asked with surprise. Hunter just nodded.

"Well then. I didn't hate him in the beginning. It was mostly because he wanted to petrify Eda. And I'm not sure if he can really talk with the Titan" she said.

"Of course he can" the teen insisted.

"Really? Where is the proof? No one has ever gotten any proof. He just says that it is the will of the Titan" Luz shook her head.

"He is the only one who can hear him. How could he proof anything?" Hunter shot back.

"Exactly" Luz nodded. "How can he proof what only he can hear? How will anyone ever know if he is telling the truth of if he is just making things up?"

Hunter scowled. Of course his uncle is telling the truth. There was no reason for him to lie. No reason to make things up. No reason…..

"He is not lying" he spat out. If only to convince himself.

"I don't want you to think badly of him" she said. "But I want you to think and remember what he intended to do with me" she held a hand to her chest. "And then think about what he would do to achieve his goals."

He hated that thought. That feeling. But she was right. He had been ready to potentially risk her life just to get his way. And Belos left him in the dark about a lot of things. Told him that the Titan had big plans for him.

"The day of unity" Luz whispered. "What do you know about it?"

Hunter shook his head. "Nothing."

And that was the truth. All he knew was that his uncle made another portal. Out of the crumbled pieces of the old one. But what he wanted there; Hunter had no idea.

"I really wish I knew" he said, mostly to himself. But Luz heard him.

"I need to know if I want to stop it" she said.

"Well- well what if it isn't even bad? What if it's really what he says it is? The day where we can finally live in peace" he said.

"Hunter" Luz sighed.

"I can go back and find out" he offered with way too much enthusiasm. So much that it scared her.

"Hunter-"

"I can help!" he insisted. To her, it sounded desperate.

"You can" she nodded. "But not by endangering yourself. Because you're right. By now everyone in the castle knows what happened. Belos knows it was you. He's smart."

Taking a deep breath, the witch nodded. He didn't have to be scared of anything as long as he stayed here. The Owl House was a save place. The Owl Lady hadn't been caught for years.

And if he was honest with himself, he didn't want to go back there with the knowledge he had. Maybe it was better like this.

"But what can I do?" he asked.

"I don't know" she shrugged. "Maybe you can help Eda around the house while I'm in school. She wouldn't mind the company."

Luz slid back down under her covers. She gave a pleasant sigh at the warmth that covered her once more. Hunter followed her movements.

"So, I have to do basically nothing?" he asked.

"Yep! Eda doesn't do much when I'm gone. Maybe you can work out more spells with- don't give me that look!" she immediately noticed that look.

That 'I don't do wild magic' look.

"We both know you love it" she pointed a finger at him, a grin on her face.

"When do I have to get up though? Six? Five?" he leaned closer, maybe a bit to close.

"What the hell? NO! Get up whenever you feel like it. And if that is ten or eleven, maybe even later, who cares? There's nothing worth getting up early for."

Now Luz was really disturbed. Why would he get up that early? Yeah, it was in the middle of the week and Saturday was still two days away, but what the actual heck? That was way too much. What did he do in the castle that he had to get up this early?

"Whenever I want?" he repeated.

"Not used to that, eh?" she smiled sadly.

Hunter shook his head. "Usually, I get up at sunrise."

Luz groaned, running a hand down her face. "I can't believe he makes you do that. "

"I train early" he shrugged.

"Train, if you want. But do me the favor and sleep until you wake up on your own. Not until sunrise, not until I get up. Wait until YOU are ready, okay?" she begged.

With some resistance, the witch nodded. He could to that. Probably….maybe….

"Good" Luz beamed with happiness and Hunter found himself liking it. A lot.

"Now come closer" she held her arms out.

"Wh-what?" Hunter stuttered.

Come closer? For what?

"It's cold dummy. I wanna cuddle" she whined.

"Cuddle?" he said dumbly.

"Yeah, share body-heat, y'know?" she shuffled a bit closer, waiting for Hunter to do the same.

"I-uhm.."

"I CAN HEAT YOU UP LUZ!" Hooty shot through the window, shattering the glass. Again.

"Hooty!" she groaned, shoving the tube-demon back outside.

"Now it'll be even colder" she shivered.

Hunter sighed, lifting his own blanket for Luz to crawl under. She immediately did, Shuffling closer to the heat of the witch. He covered both of them, making sure that Luz was covered up to her shoulders.

He didn't get cold that easily. Her feet were freezing against his. And it took some time for her to stop shivering. By the time she did, Luz was already asleep. Her head was nestled against his neck. He could feel and hear her heartbeat. It was calming.

Maybe it was a bit weird of them to share a bed like this, but he was fine with it. Somehow.

And maybe it was weird for him to watch her sleep. But it was calming. She wasn't restless or stressed like him. She was soft and patient. She wasn't bad looking either when he thought about it. Her light brown skin matched with the brown of her hair and eye color was perfect.

Hunter closed his eyes, letting the calm sounds around him lull him to sleep.

Maybe, just maybe, there had been more than one reason for him to help her.