Festive Times at Gravesfield Mall

Disclaimer: I do not own The Owl House and do not make profit of any kind from this story.

The front door to the Noceda residence opened and six teenagers stepped outside. Vee was leading the group, currently dressed in a red sweater with black jeans. On her sweater were three gingerbread people, all of which had bite marks taken out of them and in gold font above them were the words 'Season's Eatings.' She rushed towards the dark green SUV in the driveway, putting some distance between herself and the others.

"I call shotgun!" She exclaimed.

"Dang, she beat me to it." Gus grumbled, adorned in a light blue Santa suit, including the hat. "But I'm still calling a window seat!"

The others all followed, Luz closing the door behind them. She was dressed in a dark blue turtleneck with matching leggings and a formal looking black skirt. Her hair, which she had grown out in recent months, was in a half bun, half down style with her bangs held up by a purple, plastic hairclip. Beside her was Amity, wearing a dark lilac tunic dress with three-quarter length bell sleeves. This was paired with black leggings and her winter boots which she had adorned with holly on the buckles. She also had on just a touch of make-up too. Some eyeshadow to match her hair and an ever so subtle bit of mascara.

"Do you mind if Amity and I sit in the very back?" Luz asked. "We want to discuss our plans before we need to go to the competition we're entering tonight."

"Oh, do you mean the two of you are going to be sweet talking each other?" Willow joked.

"Guilty!" Luz replied with a giggle. "But really, we want to get as much together-time as we can since we'll only have so much time to go around the mall. You and Hunter can have backseat on the way home."

"Deal." Willow said, taking Hunter's arm in her own. "That will be a nice way to end the night, don't you think?"

"Um… I guess." Hunter replied. "Is sitting in the backseat supposed to be romantic?"

Willow giggled and clung closer to him, making him blush a bit. Hunter had on a pair of beige slacks and a red cardigan over a white button-up shirt. Willow had on a semi-formal, light green, sleeveless dress with a darker green shawl over her shoulders. Her hair was in the usual braided style and she had on a pair of earrings shaped like little pine trees. She also had a blush to match Hunter's on her face.

Luz stepped into the van and held her hand out for Amity. After they got settled in the back, Willow got in the center seat of the middle row, holding her hand out for Hunter just like Luz had done for Amity. Gus got in on the other side, his eyes locking with Vee's as she gave him a smug look from the front. He simply narrowed his eyes at her in return as he buckled his seatbelt.

A few minutes later, Camila stepped out of the house adorned in her winter coat and hat, to which she had affixed her rainbow heart pin. She shut and locked the door behind her before getting into the driver's seat. After she started up the engine, Camila cranked up the heat and allowed it a minute to fill the vehicle before backing out of the driveway.

Camila put on some music for them to enjoy on the trip. She started to sing along with the song, Gus and Vee joining her. Hunter stayed quiet, as did Willow, but she hummed while looking out the window at the scenery as they passed by. Meanwhile, Luz and Amity were enjoying their spot in the back of the van, the lovebirds leaning close together, Amity resting her head on Luz's shoulder for the entire drive.

They arrived at the Gravesfield mall, Camila starting to navigate slowly through the crowded parking lot. She drove down row after row and through the parking garage, but there were no spots available, save for one of the handicap spaces. After making her way back down to the ground level of the garage, she had the good fortune of seeing a family leaving the mall. They went to a car not too far away and Camila got ready to move in once the space was available.

The family's car backed out and turned, heading for the exit of the garage. Camila headed for the space, but then stopped short when she saw another car coming around the corner. Despite being much closer to the space, Camila opted to let the other vehicle take it as she noticed it was occupied by an elderly couple. They waved to her in thanks and she returned the gesture before continuing her search.

Eventually Camila decided that it would be more practical to drop the kids off and then go find someplace to park. She pulled up by the nearest entrance to the mall so they could get out and told them to meet her at the food court. Luz informed her they would, after they looked around a bit first and then started to lead the group to the doors. She waited until her mom was out of sight before gesturing for them to hurry.

"Okay, this kinda works out better than I planned." She told the group once they were inside. "If we're lucky, we can go to the studio and make it to the food court before Mom joins us."

"Are you sure we'll have the time for that?" Vee asked. "What if we need to wait for our turn? Isn't it going to be busy?"

"That had better not be the case." Amity stated cooly. "Luz made our appointment over a month ago! It's not like it's that time consuming to take some pictures. There is no reason we should have to wait longer than necessary."

"Easy, Sweet Potato." Luz said, placing her hand onto her girlfriend's shoulder. "We'll get our picture taken on time and get to the food court no trouble. But to be safe, we should probably still have Gus leave a lookout for us, just in case it doesn't take long until Mom finds a space."

"On it."

Gus discretely twirled his finger and conjured a tiny illusion of himself on a planter by the doors. The group set out for the studio, working their way through the crowds. They arrived at the studio with time to spare. Luz checked in with someone working there, informing them she made an appointment. There was already another group with the photographer, but they would be finished soon.

While they waited, Luz found some shorts for them to watch on MewTube. The time passed quickly while they amused themselves with the holiday themed animal clips. A family of three passed by them and they were then ushered over to start their own session by the photographer, a woman in her late twenties with dark skin and wavy black hair.

Luz peeked at her messages, checking for anything from her mom. Seeing nothing, she stepped alongside Gus and gave him a gentle tap with her elbow. He responded with a slight shake of his head, indicating his illusion had not seen Camila on the way in yet. She checked the time and tried to estimate how much longer they would have before she put her phone away. If her guess was right, they would have just enough time to get through the shoot and move onto the food court.

The photoshoot went quickly and smoothly. They started with individual photos of each of them, following the photographer's instructions as she had them pose. Then they did some couples photos for Luz and Amity, followed by Willow and Hunter. The latter only did a couple as Hunter was unable to manage more than that, given how closely Willow was sitting next to him. Luz and Amity on the other hand got in over a dozen photos with them in different lovey-dovey poses. If not for Vee tapping her wrist to remind them that they were on a time limit, they would have likely done at least a dozen more.

For the group photo, they were seated on a sofa near a fake fireplace. A decorated tree was to one side and a festive floor rug placed in front of the sofa. The photographer had the girls all squeeze together on the sofa, Amity seating herself on Luz's lap in the center. Hunter stood to the side by Willow, one hand on her shoulder and Gus sat on the arm rest on the opposite side beside Vee. After taking a minute to adjust everyone's positions slightly, the photographer took the last of the photos.

After thanking the photographer and slipping her a little extra for a tip, Luz went with everyone to get their photos. She knew the gratuity wasn't necessary given they were in a studio, but it was the holidays and she wanted to be generous. They collected their photos, Luz immediately checking the group one and smiling at the sight. She then held it up for the others all to see.

"I'd say we're a pretty good-looking group." She noted.

"Mom is going to love it!" Vee agreed. "We just need to get a really nice frame for it now."

"That will be on the to-do list tonight." Luz said, turning to Gus and handing him the envelope with all the photos. "I'm trusting you'll keep these out of sight until we get back to the house."

"You can count on me!" Gus replied with a wink and twirl of his finger. "Camila will have no idea."

The envelope vanished from sight, Gus pretending to hide it behind his back to avoid suspicion. Luz pulled out her phone and checked her messages again, finding one from her mom. She read it and waved her arm to get the attention of the others.

"Okay, so she's on her way into the mall now." She told everyone. "But, good news, she ran into a friend from work and says she'll meet us in a bit. We should be able to get to the food court without her seeing us leave this studio. Let's go."

They took a slightly longer route to get to the food court on the second floor. It was incredibly crowded there, with long lines at all the restaurants and not a single seat available among the tables. Luz grimaced at the sight of the horde of shoppers, fearing that getting a bite to eat would take far longer than she could handle.

Regardless of the immense crowd, Luz started to venture forth in hope of finding a short line. After weaving her way through countless people, she spotted a restaurant with no one waiting for service. But before she could hurry over, she also noticed a sign informing people that they had closed early for the holiday.

Her search brought her a full circuit around the food court with little success. Even the shortest lines would be a long wait for them. But in the interest of saving however much time she could, Luz reviewed their best options and went over them with the group. After a minute long discussion, they separated into pairs and went to separate lines.

Luz and Vee circled around the food court to get in line at a shawarma place that Vee liked. Amity had gone with Willow to a Taiwanese restaurant that served boba tea just a short distance away. Meanwhile, the boys went to get their food at the seafood place across the court, informing Luz they'd grab dinner for Camila as well.

After enduring their respective lines and obtaining their meals, the teens reunited near the edge of the food court. Luz looked around for her mother while everyone else scanned the are in the miniscule chance a table was available. Vee heard her name being called, the voice making a light blush coming to her cheeks. She looked over and spotted a familiar face, splitting off from the group a second later.

Vee returned with Masha at one side and Camila on the other. Camila had bumped into Masha while making her way to the food court and invited them to come to get food with everyone. However, between the fact that the lines were still long and that everyone else had already gotten food, Masha simply opted to steal a few bites of Vee's food. Something which was not met with any objection by Vee.

The group departed the food court in search of a less crowded place to eat. Masha led them down to one of the far ends of the mall and up to the next floor. The crowd thinned out as they arrived at the location where an old videogame store had once been in the corner. A bench was nearby, set beside a pillar and unoccupied.

Moving swiftly, Luz got to the bench and secured it before anyone else could. She waited for the others to join her, relinquishing her spot for her mom. Amity got the spot beside Camila and the remaining space to Masha at Vee's insistence. Masha complied, but pulled Vee into their lap the moment they had sat down, making Vee blush fiercely in surprise.

"Comfy?" Masha asked slyly.

All Vee could do was nod, a tiny squeak sounding from her throat. She started to eat her food, Masha stealing a bite at the same time she went for one. Vee's face went a shade redder and she stared at her meal, slowly chewing the bite she had taken. Masha stole another bite and then left the rest for Vee, but did take the wrap from her so they could feed her the rest.

The teens and mother spent their meal chatting and sharing their food. Amity allowed Luz a taste the gua bao she had gotten and in exchange, she sampled some of the falafel Luz was enjoying. Willow traded one of her spring rolls for some catfish nuggets that Hunter was eating, and then another for a sample of the falafel from Luz as well.

After they all finished eating and disposed of their trash, the group moved back out into the crowds. Luz checked the time on her phone again, noting that there was over an hour before the competition would begin. She let herself fall to the back of the group, tapping Willow on the shoulder and gesturing for her to follow. Once they had a little distance between themselves and everyone else, Luz leaned over and cupped one hand over the side of her mouth.

"Amity and me are going to head off for our date now." She whispered. "Are you sure you don't mind trying to find a nice frame for the big picture of all of us?"

"Not at all." Willow softly replied. "I want to get something nice for her and it just makes sense to find a frame to go with our photo for her. Besides, I know you and Amity have been looking forward to tonight and I want to do what I can to let you have as much time together as possible."

"Thanks! Remember, it's a twelve by sixteen. Have Gus hide it once you've found one."

Willow nodded and they rejoined the rest of the group. Luz took Amity's hand and gave her a subtle wink. Amity returned the gesture, needing to keep herself from smirking as well. She was well aware of what Luz had discussed with Willow, but for the sake of keeping things secret, she feigned ignorance.

"What were you and Willow talking about just now?" She inquired, sounding sincere.

"Nothing. We totally weren't talking about any plans." Luz replied, talking a bit hastily. "And if we were, they definitely weren't about you or getting anything for you or anything like that."

Amity giggled. "Really? Well, that's a shame. I guess I shouldn't expect any surprises from you tonight then."

"Lo siento, Hermosa. Not today." Luz told her. "But we can window shop for a bit if you like."

"I guess that will have to do." Amity said, faking a sigh. "Let's get going then. The sooner we head off, the sooner Willow can get around to not getting anything for you to give to me."

The two shared a quick laugh and then split off from the group. They waved to everyone as they went to enjoy some time together before their competition was due to start. Shortly after they left, Masha took Vee's hand and they started to go off on their own as well.

"We'll see you all later when that competition starts." Masha told Camila. "Don't worry, Señora Noceda, I'll take good care of your pumpkin over here."

"I know that you will. See in you a little while." Camila replied, turning to the remaining three teens after Masha and Vee left. "So, how about we go look around in some stores for a while? Unless of course, another couple would like to go and enjoy some time together."

She looked toward Willow and Hunter. Willow blushed a bit and shyly looked to her boyfriend somewhat expectantly. She held out her hand for him and to her surprise, he didn't reach out with his own. He instead rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and gave her an apologetic look.

"Actually, Gus and I already had plans."

"We did?" Gus asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Yes, we did." Hunter said through clenched teeth. "Remember? You wanted to do that thing? We should get going before it gets too late."

Hunter put his hands onto Gus's shoulders and started to push him along. Gus let his heels drag along the floor for a second before he caved and went along with Hunter on his own. Willow watched the boys go, hardly able to keep herself from giggling at Hunter.

"He is not subtle at all." She noted.

"Just like Luz." Camila added with a chuckle. "Well, it looks like it's just you and me. What would you like to do?"

Willow took a moment to ponder their options. "Since I'm pretty sure Hunter is having Gus help him find something for me, do you think you could help me find something for him?"

Camila smiled. "I can. And I know a nice place where we can start looking."

To be continued.