A/N:
Happy pride month, el jibbitys!
Chapter ten! I can't believe I've gotten this far, and in only…4 days, or so. That's 2.5k words a day, roughly. I don't know. I'm just…Amazed, at my ability to write this much. I feel great! I'm so excited.
I am so hyperfixated on TOH right now I feel like I've ascended hyperfixation into the mythical Gigafixation.
"Here you go!" Luz smiled, as she handed over a manilla envelope full of pictures. She'd been asked by her girlfriend to draw a depiction of Caleb, and- she delivered. Over-delivered, in fact. Amity decided to take a quiiiick peak, and- inside was actually several drawings of Caleb. Ranging from doodles, to sketches, to full-color illustrations.
Luz smiled and shrugged. "I was bored."
Amity gave a soft knock on Phillip's door, and he replied "Come in." He had spent all evening reading a book, the first step in the curriculum Bump put together. It was a book titled 'Magic and You,' obviously all about magic. Though, it was written for…ahem, general audiences. and thusly was pretty surface-level and talked up magic's wonder highly. But it gave a good overview of the topic, and gave threads they could follow up on.
She walked in the room, and handed over the folder. Taking a quick flick through, he gave a small chortle and said "Luz was certainly busy."
"She was bored." Amity shrugged.
"Tell her she's a very talented artist." He said, as he placed the folder down on his desk, beginning to scrounge around for a bookmark.
"I will." She said, before being caught off guard by the buzz of the scroll in her pocket. Like any modern teenager, she went to check what it was, expecting a Penstagram notification. Damn things, even if you turn them off they somehow turn themselves back on constantly.
'TELL BELLOWS IMCOMING TO SEE HIM'
'sirry caps'
When she unfurled it, she saw a duo of messages from Hunter. Reading them gave her a small, if brief smile. Not for the meaning of the messages, but from how even after all this time - he still texted like a grandma. She almost hoped he never got it down pat. She simply texted back, 'When will you be over?'
'tonight' He texted back, after a minute of typing.
'Would you like me to accompany you?' She replied, a few seconds later.
'no'
She took a deep breath, and looked back at Phillip. "Hunter's on his way."
Phillip had found a bookmark, or- more accurately, a scrap of paper that was able to serve as one in the pinch he was in. He simply grunted an "Alright.", as he mentally tried to prepare himself for their meeting.
On the under end of the phone, Hunter was nervously pacing around his bedroom after he sent that text. Truth be told, he already was having second thoughts about meeting with his 'Uncle.' He'd spent all day thinking, but now he was realizing he never actually come to a solid conclusion about what he was going to do.
Instead of that, he came up with solutions for other things…Like what to wear! He settled on something casual, but not TOO casual. Black jeans, and a black t-shirt with a silver foil print of a wolf.
An attire that he purposely made as far away as possible from his old Golden Guard color scheme.
His Golden Guard robes lay at a box at the bottom of his closet. He hated them. He often thought of using them as kindling. But some part of him refused. Some part of him, in fact, briefly considered wearing it once again.
'It was just a brief, momentary thought though, right? Just…A little intrusive thought. Perfectly normal!' is what he thought to himself.
His girlfriend, Willow, popped her head into his room. She hadn't checked up on him all day, he said he needed space, but…She was concerned.. "Hey, Sunflower, whatcha doin? Got plans?~" Though for the moment, she hid those concerns under a gentle tease, attempting to make him laugh.
"I'm going to go talk to Belos." He said, before immediately covering his mouth in shame.
Willow's face soured, immediately dropping the comedy angle. "Are you sure about this?"
"No!" He replied, with zero hesitation. "I mean… Yes! Yes, perfectly sure, never been more sure of anything in my life."
She raised an eyebrow. "Uh-huh."
"Willow…" He said with a sigh, as he walked over. "I don't know what to do…I don't know if I should ignore his letter, if I should go talk to him, or what…What do you think?"
"What I think, is, well…" She grabbed her boyfriend's hands, looking into his midnight blue eyes. "I think…That it's a decision I can't make for you. But, in my opinion, While it may be hard, I think you should forgive him…for your sake. I know it's hard to let it go, but you're holding on to so much pain…I want you to live life without an anchor around your ankle."
Hunter stepped back, turning around. "But, but Willow, this is the man who- who raised me. Doesn't he deserve another chance?"
"No, Hunter. You don't owe him a titan damn thing. If you want to keep him in your life, that's a valid choice. But it's an equally valid choice to tell him to get stuffed." She stepped forward and put her hand on his shoulder.
This made his eyes go wide with realization. She was right! It all just suddenly, clicked. He knew what he was going to do.
But first…
He looked down, and scooped the small bluejay palisman sleeping in his shirt pocket. Sighing, "You stay here, Waffles."
To which, Waffles responded with a whistle, a chirp, and puppy dog eyes.
"No, Waffles. I don't want you seeing me like this."
Another chirp. He was concerned about his owner, and was trying his hardest to calm him down.
"Oh, alright, you know I can't say no to that face." Hunter said, as the Palisman once again cuddled up in his shirt pocket.
