#emeraldtrioweek23

[loosescrewslefty]

EMERALD TRIO WEEK!

A week of prompts out of love for the relationship between Willow Park, Gus Porter, and Hunter (Insert_Family_Name_Of_Your_Choice_Here)! By popular decision, we decided to do this in a week in May since it felt appropriate for it as Emeralds are the Birthstone of May! A small vote was held to choose some of the many, MANY symbolism that are associated with Emerald to serve as prompts (you can read a little more about that HERE, if you'd like!) Which are as follows;

May 16th: Growth May 17th: Inspiration May 18th: Peace May 19th: Unconditional Love May 20th: Nature May 21st: Wit May 22nd: Royalty/Leadership

SUPER excited to see what everyone makes for this! ^^

[101flavoursofweird]

Emerald Trio Week: Day 4- Unconditional Love

Spoilers: For most of of Season 3, including the finale.

Set: After the ending of Season 3 but before the time slip. Hunter has just started attending Hexside.

Warnings: Hunter has a panic attack, minor reference to Belos’ treatment of Hunter and referenced character death.

Description:

“Do you remember my aunt?” Bonnie asked flatly.

Hunter blinked at her. “Who—?”

“She studied barde magic here!” Bonnie burst out. “She loved singing and partying— That’s all she did!— but you called her a wild witch! You locked her in the C-Conformatorium for years…!” 

Hunter takes the blame from a classmate. Willow and Gus comfort him.

-

Hunter hadn’t thought his classmates would object to a talk on the history of wild magic.

Hexside had embraced the properties of wild magic— allowing multiple tracks, adopting palismen, and letting Eda the Owl Lady back into their halls— during the Emperor’s reign.

Now, after Belos’s defeat, wild magic could be used, studied and discussed freely by everyone.

Yes, there were some who still favoured Belos’s old rules (certain former Coven Heads), but Darius, Eberwolf and the rest of the CATs would keep them in check. 

Darius had offered to throw abomination hands if anyone so much as frowned at Hunter. Hunter had told him that wouldn’t be necessary— for the most part, Hunter had been welcomed at Hexside with open arms… which was incredible, considering his past.

The students had been ( understandably ) wary of Hunter at first, but many had come around to him after he’d helped expel Graye and the Coven Scouts from the school. Particularly, the Emerald Entrails had vouched for Hunter. 

It helped that Hunter was already close with Willow, Gus, Amity and Luz— and they had saved the Boiling Isles together.

Well, Hunter couldn’t say he himself had stopped the Collector or Belos in the end, but he had been lumped in with the group of heroes, to which everyone was grateful.

People were either glad to see Hunter or they ignored him. Either option suited Hunter fine.

Now that the Boiling Isles were being rebuilt and Belos was gone, Hunter just wanted to attend Hexside as a regular student… without his own palisman. 

Those first few weeks of school were tough, even though Hunter had his friends to rely on.

He needed to take extra classes to catch up with his peers, but Hunter embraced his packed schedule. Anything to keep him busy and to keep his mind off what he had lost.

He went to class, completed his homework, helped clean up the school, attended tutoring sessions led by Amity, rounded up missing palismen with Luz, tidied Willow’s garden, read Cosmic Frontier novels with Gus, played flyer derby with the team, introduced Darius to the sewing machine, crossed over to the Human Realm, visited the zoo with Camila and Vee, discussed the wolves he had seen with Eberwolf when he got back, and generally hung out with his friends

In most of Hunter’s classes, he sat next to a friend— or a friend of a friend— so he was never really alone. He took extensive notes, which his teachers admired and his companions appreciated. (Luz and Edric especially!)

Hunter rarely drew attention to himself, so he invited little if any attention from potential detractors.

(Willow had warned him about Boscha, but Boscha had behaved herself so far.) 

If anyone was opposed to Hunter’s presence at Hexside, they didn’t voice their complaints…

That was, until the history teacher asked everyone to do a talk in front of the other students. It could be on any historical topic of their own choice— something they were passionate about.

Hunter, of course, chose to talk about wild magic.

When he had finished—  to the applause of his teacher and classmates— Hunter asked if there were any questions.

The closest friend(?) Hunter shared this class with was Emira, seated at the back of the room. She flung her hand up in the air.

Hunter smiled at her, but he decided to answer someone else’s query first— to try branching out. He picked a pale red-haired girl in the front row of desks. (Bonnie, he thought her name was.)

“Do you remember my aunt?” Bonnie asked flatly.

Hunter blinked at her. “ Who—?”

“ My aunt,” Bonnie repeated, “ Arianna Barb?”

Hunter swallowed. He didn’t recognise the name, but he recognised the barely-concealed rage in Bonnie’s voice.

What should he do? Ignore the question and act like the callous, unrepentant Golden Guard she so obviously believed him to be?

Or should Hunter apologise? Should he accept responsibility for a wrongdoing he he couldn’t even remember?

He settled on an uncertain apology. “Sorry, I don’t—“

“She studied barde magic here!” Bonnie burst out, banging her fists on the desk. “She loved singing and partying— That’s all she did!— but you called her a wild witch! You locked her in the C-Conformatorium for years…!” 

Did Bonnie mean Hunter, specifically, or the Emperor’s Coven as a whole? Did it matter?

Hunter forced himself to meet Bonnie’s bitter, tearful blue eyes. He felt rooted to his spot at the front of the class. He spluttered, “I’m sorry—!” 

“Hey— hey, Bonnie!” The history teacher tried to intervene, putting himself between Hunter and Bonnie’s desk. “That’s quite enough…!”

“ Y -you made her get a sigil for the Healing Coven!” Bonnie cried. “She h- hates blood…!” She hiccuped and covered her face with her hands, quivering.

“I’m sorry,” Hunter breathed again.

Then he bolted from the room. He heard voices (Emira,  the teacher ) calling after him, but he couldn’t stop. 

Corridors, lockers and faces flew past him— until he bumped into someone and they both went sprawling across the floor.

“What the— Hunter?” Amity reached for him.

Hunter was already on his feet, rushing away.

He didn’t want to talk to Amity (who he knew liked him least of all their friends). He didn’t want to talk to anyone. He couldn’t take their concerned, disturbed, scathing looks.

Everyone knew Hunter was different— as the former Golden Guard, as Belos’ nephew, as a non-witch— and they didn’t know how to accept him.

How could they, after everything Hunter had done?

Maybe he had ordered for Bonnie’s aunt to be sent to the Conformatorium— or maybe he’d approved it— or maybe he’d had nothing to do with it— Hunter couldn’t remember!

He should have done more to help the citizens who were suffering during his uncle’s reign!

Too late now; everyone he’d failed had been scarred, branded with sigils, or worse.

Who knew how many people Hunter had hurt— directly or indirectly? How many of them were family members of his classmates? They had every right to loathe him.

Hunter had felt the exact same way— that burning need to lash out and scream at someone— after Belos crushed— when he…!

Finally— mercifully — Hunter found an empty room. (A class room that would probably be occupied at some point today, but right now, Hunter didn’t care.)

Hunter shut the door behind him and stumbled behind a desk. Panting, he slid down to the floor and folded in on himself.

He was definitely alone now, but there was a downside to that; nothing could distract him from his own thoughts. 

Look at yourself, a cold, slimy voice whispered inside his mind. You’re acting like a child…

Gripping his head in his hands, Hunter reminded himself for the gazillionth timethat Belos was gone.

Luz had told Hunter— she’d promised— that Belos had dissolved in the boiling rain, before he was stomped out of existence. Every last drop of Belos.

There wasn’t some surviving part of him that had slithered back into Hunter’s body… 

Was there?

Hunter hadn’t seen Belos die. He only had Luz, King, Eda and Raine as witnesses. What if they were lying to make Hunter feel better? What if everyone was lying—?

Breathe, Hunter, a different, warmer voice reassured him. It sounded a lot like Gus or Willow.

Amidst his fear, Hunter tried to breathe , just as they had taught him; inhale through the nose, count to five, and exhale through the mouth.

Hunter kept this up, until his chest felt lighter and his heart rate decreased.

Sit up slowly, Camila had said gently to him, after she’d rescued him from the lake. Hunter felt a bit like that now— emerging from the depths of his panic and despair…

He unfurled from his fetal position, closed his eyes and rested his head back against the desk. It felt solid and stable. Hunter was safe. 

You are only sixteen, Darius would chuckle at him, whenever Hunter was acting too seriously.

Flapjack would have on tugged at Hunter’s hair with his beak.

Hunter opened his eyes. He sighed with relief. He’d done it; he’d calmed himself down and he could continue through the day as if nothing had happened. If anyone asked, he would tell them—

The classroom door creaked open. 

“Hunter…?” Gus poked his head inside, with Willow right above him.

Hunter’s heart leapt at the sight of them, but in a happy kind of way.

“Hey, guys,” he mumbled.

“Are you okay?” Willow asked softly. She and Gus held back— gaging whether or not he wanted space— until Hunter nodded.

“I am now…”

The two of them joined him; Gus sitting cross-legged on his right and Willow kneeling on his left.

Hunter wondered, “How did you… know where I was?” (Did his friends just have some way of sensing whenever he was in trouble?)

“Amity sent us,” Gus explained, much to Hunter’s surprise. He made a mental note to thank Amity later.

“Gus and I used to hide in here too,” Willow added, “when we were little…”

“Really?” Hunter smiled slightly. He pictured a smaller Willow and an even smaller Gus huddled behind a desk.

Had Willow started bottling up her worries back then? Maybe… Still, she would have done her best to comfort Gus.

“Really.” Willow smiled wistfully at Hunter.

Gus said, “Actually— this is where Willow and I met!” and started to tell Hunter the story of their first meeting. 

Though Hunter listened eagerly, he wondered in the back of his mind how Gus and Willow would describe their first encounter with him. (Back then, they hadn’t even know his real name…) 

At the Club Fair, Hunter had made a passable first impression on Willow with his flying skills, but Gus had been more sceptical.

Gus’s suspicions had proved correct when Hunter… accidentally got the team thrown into a cell…

Had Bonnie been right? 

Hunter shuddered.

Willow noticed. She squeezed Hunter’s shoulder with her hand. 

“Emira told Amity what Bonnie said— and Amity told us… That wasn’t fair of Bonnie to blame you—“

“It wasn’t fair what happened to Bonnie’s aunt,” Hunter muttered.

“No, it wasn’t,” Willow said. “But that doesn’t make it your fault.” 

Gus opened his mouth, looking like he wanted to add something, but he must have thought better of it. He simply nodded in agreement. 

“Thanks…” Hunter sniffed. He wasn’t sure if he could believe Willow’s words— if he could believe in himself yet— but having his best friends’ support was enough, for now.

[101flavoursofweird]

Emerald Trio Week: Day 3 - Peace

Spoilers: None specifically

Set: A vague AU universe based on the original pilot episode for the show and beta concepts. Some characters didn’t exist in the beta concepts, that’s all I’ll say.

Warnings: This is the most angsty oneshot so far… One character is trapped, Belos (the emperor here) is a bad uncle, and there are mentions Huntlow (Paulina/William in this universe). I’m not sure what else to tag without spoiling anything.

Note: Again, thanks to @loosescrewslefty for the prompts… and for some helpful info on the Owl House beta concepts on a preview post I made for this fic.

Description: The Boiling Isles are at peace… and so is Paulina, but she can’t helping feeling like something is missing.

The Boiling Isles were at peace… and so was Paulina.

Finally, she had reached a point where she felt safe and happy and capable in her abilities. This was who she was meant to be.

Gone was the meek girl with the broken wand and the misbehaving plants. She’d come a long way since she first met Luz at the academy!

Luz was the instigator of it all— the change in Paulina, absolving Eda the Owl Lady, and saving the Boiling Isles for good. Thanks to Luz, they were able to overthrow the emperor… and cast a spell so that no one would remember his name, his rules or the identities of his most loyal followers.

Paulina couldn’t think of worst fate; not only death, but being forgotten in death.

If Paulina had perished in the final battle, her family would have been overcome with grief… Although, as much as Paulina hated to imagine her loved ones suffering, wouldn’t it be better for them to remember her?

Erasing the pain would mean erasing the love they had shared…

Out of sight and out of mind—

But Paulina was being hypothetical!

Her family and friends had survived along with her. The future looked big and bright for all of them!

With his uncle’s defeat, Sir William would accept the throne when he came of age. Would William miss his uncle…?

The emperor had kept William trapped in an enchanted sleep for aeons. Consequently, William hadn’t witnessed the oppressive system and the tyrannical control his uncle had brought to the Boiling Isles.

It was only after Luz roused William— with a slap to the face and some enlightening discussions— that William realised how terrible his uncle truly was.

William had vowed to never be anything like his uncle when he took the throne.

During the after-battle party, Luz had teasingly asked if William intended to share the throne with someone special.

William had gone as red as a poppy and avoided Paulina’s gaze for the rest of the evening.

Although she… liked William, Paulina couldn’t imagine herself being queen or empress(?) of the Boiling Isles.

That would be a lot of responsibility— and all the power could go to Paulina’s head!

Amity had assured Paulina that she didn’t need to worry. It would still be a few years until William’s coronation, anyway.

For now, they could all just enjoy this period of peace, rebuilding the Boiling Isles together…

It wasn’t perfect, but then— was anything?

That night after the party, Paulina returned home (which was, thankfully, still standing!) with her parents and settled into bed.

She tossed and turned for hours, but sleep eluded her. There was a little voice inside her head she just couldn’t ignore.

Her dads had taught her a trick for times like this— a trick Paulina had passed on to Amity— but right now, no matter how much she calmed her breathing, it wasn’t working.

Maybe it was because Paulina wasn’t panicking? She didn’t feel compelled to run and hide.

The voice wasn’t screaming; it was more like a mutter. A tiny doubt nibbling at her mind…

Sighing, Paulina sat up in bed. Why did she feel like she’d forgotten something? Something important…

(Not the emperor’s name! This must have been something she actually cared about…)

She used to feel like this everyday at the academy, fearing she had misplaced her wand, her cauldron, her homework…

An unshakable feeling that she had made a mistake and she was going to be mocked or punished for it.

Now, it was probably just lingering doubts,   ingrained in her.

Paulina shook her head, trying to dispel these insecure thoughts.

She picked up her glasses from the bedside table, put them on, and glanced around her dark room, wondering what could possibly be missing…

Her gaze passed the mirror— but then, something caught her eye. A glimmer of movement.

Paulina gasped. What was that?

Paulina froze, but then she frowned. She had helped defeat the emperor— surely she could handle an intruder in her mirror!

She pushed her bed covers aside, grabbed her wand from under her pillow, and crept towards the mirror.

Murmuring a light spell, she pointed her wand at the glass.

Paulina’s own reflection (hesitant but determined) stared back at her.

“Is someone there?” Paulina asked firmly. She spoke loudly enough that she might wake her parents, and they could come to investigate…

No one answered… but then, Paulina caught sight of the figure within the glass.

Peering closer, Paulina realised it was a boy. Her eyes widened.

He had his back to her and he looked very small— not just from Paulina’s perspective— but she could discern he had dark brown hair and he was wearing red.

“H-hello?” Paulina exclaimed. The boy stiffened. He could hear her!

“Who are you? What are you… doing in my mirror?”

Paulina swore she heard a whimper. The boy dropped to the floor of… the mirror-world(?) and drew his knees up to his chest.

Lowering her wand slightly, Paulina placed her free hand against the glass. “It’s okay … I’m not— madthat you’re in there! I’m just confused… Are you trapped…?”

Paulina had heard rumours about the mirror world; of people’s reflections springing to life to take their place, like a doppelgänger. Luz had apparently experienced this and she’d lived to tell the tale!

But this boy hadn’t disguised himself as Paulina’s reflection. It was like he wanted to hide. He won’t even look at her!

“Can you at least tell me your name?” she tried to coax him. “I’m Paulina—“ She stopped when the boy shook his head.

“Maybe I can free you?” Paulina suggested. She lifted the tip of her wand to glass again. She uttered a few spells.

The mirror didn’t seem to be affected, but the boy was.

“Don’t!” he cried, whipping around to face her. He had dark blue eyes. He looked young— younger than Paulina…

(Why did he seem so familiar?)

Paulina gasped, “I’m trying to help you!”

“Well, stop trying!” The boy stumbled to his feet. “You’re going to— mess everything up…!”

“I’m sorry!” Paulina frowned. “I… I might not be able to free you on my own, but my friends could—“

“No— you can’t tell them! They can’t see me! You weren’t even meant to see me…” He waved his finger in the air— in a circle— but nothing happened. The boy groaned with frustration.

“Why can I see you?” Paulina wondered. For the third time, she asked, “Who are you?”

The boy sighed. He stepped a little closer to her— to the surface of the mirror.

“I’m…” He bit his lip. (Shoot — it had sounded like he was about to reveal his name!) “I’m not going to hurt you— or haunt you!” he stammered, instead.

Paulina snorted. “So, you’re not a ghost?”

“N-no…” The boy cracked a smile.

“Are you a witch, then?” Paulina hummed.

His smile faded. Paulina deduced that he either was a witch, he wanted to be one, or he had been trapped by a witch.

“Did someone trap you in the mirror?” Paulina tapped the glass with her wand. (Maybe this was the emperor’s doing…?)

She must have touched a nerve or crossed a line, because the boy took a step back. “I know that you want to help me,” he sighed, “and you… care…”

Should she care? Paulina didn’t know anything about this boy…

He might not be a boy at all, but a monster attempting to deceive her!

It could be one last ditch-effort from the emperor; he could be trying to trick Paulina to get to Luz or William…

Why, then, hadn’t the boy leapt out of the mirror to attack Paulina yet? He’d had plenty of chances while Paulina was trying to sleep…

Why was he so determined to get away from her?

“But you can’t,” the boy continued. He crossed his arms, hugging himself. “I put myself in here, and I… I’m never getting out. If I do… the Demon Realm will implode— or something…”

“What?” Paulina breathed. Her heart felt like it was about to implode in her chest.

“It’s better this way,” the boy bit out, lie he was struggling to convince himself as well as her. “This is the best possible outcome.”

“Outcome…?”

It wasn’t an outcome Paulina liked; how could she happily go about her life, knowing a poor, miserable child was imprisoned for eternity in her mirror?

“Bye,” the boy whispered. He turned away from her and began to retreat.

“Wait…!” Paulina protested. She knocked her fists against the glass, wishing she could reach in and pull him out…

His voice was getting fainter. “Thank you f-for looking out for me. I won’t bother you again…”

“Come back here!” Paulina yelled, her face pressed against the glass now. She watched as the boy became smaller and smaller in her view. “I will find a way to save you…!”

Once more, the boy halted. His shoulders shook. He released a choked sob. “ Please, Will—“

“Please, what?” Paulina gasped. For a second, she felt like the whole world had been flipped upside down.

He took several deep breaths. Was he—? Paulina blinked when she realised he was counting on his fingers against his leg.

When he had composed himself, the boy started again. “Please, will you just let me go—?”

“No.” She pounded on the glass. “Not until you tell me who you are and how you know that— that breathing trick!”

“Goodbye.” He kept walking and didn’t look back.

“Wait!” Paulina punched the glass again.

He knew her, and she knew him, but she had forgotten how…

Think! Think! Think!

She raised her wand again— firing off every spell she knew.

Maybe the boy had been affected by the same magic that erased the emperor’s name— but he was just a child! How could a child have been in league with the emperor, unless he’d been manipulated, like William?

He was no more guilty than William had been!

It wasn’t fair. The boy didn’t deserve this! He was… He was her…

By the time Paulina noticed the dent she had made, it was too late. The cracks spread along the glass like cobwebs… until the mirror shattered.

The boy was gone.

In the morning, Paulina’s parents found her slumped against the ruined mirror. She had spent hours— in vain— trying to repair the shards of glass.

When she tearfully tried to explain what had happened, her dads assumed she’d had a nightmare, induced by the trauma she had suffered.

Thankfully, Paulina’s friends believed her when she told them.

Luz said she’d caught a glimpse of somebody watching her through the window of the Owl House. When Eda went outside to check for her, no one had been there.

William swore he had seen a pair of sad blue eyes in the reflection of his sword.

When Amity was using a crystal ball in the library, she’d been startled by the sound of a child crying.

It wasn’t just Paulina’s imagination; they had all seen him. He was real, but none of them knew who he was.

So, Paulina and her friends had a new mission:

The four of them would find a way to release the boy and maybe then, they would remember.

Paulina wouldn’t rest until they did… until the boy was standing right beside her in their world.

He might resent Paulina for disrespecting his wishes… or he might decide to be her friend.

And if the Demon Realm did implode, as he had feared…?

Then they would face it together.

[101flavoursofweird]

Emerald Trio Week: Day 2 - Inspiration

Spoilers: Minor spoilers for Watching and Dreaming regarding Hunter’s new…talent.

Set: After Watching and Dreaming. Hunter is attending Hexside with the others.

Warnings: A reference to the Titanic movie is made… Gus doubts his artistic skills… Contains more Huntlow and Gustholomule— glad I can tag them now!

Note: Again, thanks to @loosescrewslefty for the prompts.

Resting on his stomach above his bedroom rug, Gus squinted at the sketchpad in front him. He gnawed on the end of his pencil like a hungry echo mouse.

Legend had it that human pencils used to contain lead , which was poisonous for humans—

Stop getting distracted!

Gus shook his head and returned to the issue at hand: Matt’s birthday— tomorrow.

Gus could have (should have) gone out and purchased Matt a gift, but, never one to pass up a challenge, Gus had decided to create something instead.

Illusions were too easy. Matt had received plenty of illusions from Gus, and by this point, Matt was proficient at casting his own illusions.

Matt would be expecting something better from Gus. Something Gus had worked hard on. A challenge!

So, Gus had decided to take a page of out of Matt’s book. Gus was going to draw him a picture…

It sounded childish when Gus put it like that. No— he was going to produce a portrait. Paint the canvas. Compose an artistic masterpiece!

…As soon as he could figure out what to draw.

Think, Augustus, think…

No thoughts manifested. His brain was completely empty.

“Uuuuuugh!” Gus groaned and dropped his pencil. “Guys, what should I draw for Matt?”

So engrossed was he in his art that he’d almost forgotten Willow and Hunter were there with him.

They had come over an hour ago to start work on a project for History class, which only Hunter was still invested in now.

“Not sure…” Hunter replied without looking up from his books on Gus’s desk.

Willow made an ‘ I dunno’ noise from Gus’s bed, where she was watching a professional flyer derby match on her scroll.

“Thanks, you two!” Gus said flatly. “Such helpful, reliable friends I have—“ Willow tossed a pillow in his direction.

Gus gasped and moved his sketchpad aside. “Willow! You’re gonna wreck my canvas!” He chucked the pillow right back at her.

“Ha!” Willow caught the pillow. She placed the pillow at the end of his bed and planted her elbows on it.

“You can draw me!” she suggested with a smirk. She held her chin in her hand. “Draw me like one of your French girls!”

That made Hunter’s head turn. Willow pursed her lips at him.

“Ew! No!” Gus protested, poking his tongue out. (Why had he insisted on watching Titanic with them in the Human Realm? He’d thought it was a documentary…! ) “You two can just leave if you’re going to be all lovey-dovey!”

“Very well…” Willow sniffed loudly. She rolled to the left side of the bed and slowly slipped off. “But I promise I will… never… let go—“

Hunter snorted. When Willow’s hand sank weakly out of view, Gus wheezed with laughter too. Hunter joined him, clutching his sides as he rocked back in Gus’s chair. Willow popped up from behind the bed, chortling.

“This really… isn’t funny!” Gus gasped, after a minute. “The Titanic sinking was a real disaster in human history—“

“Kind of like our History project?” Hunter hummed.

“—and so is this!” Gus thrust a hand at his blank sketchbook. “How am I going to impress Matt? How?!”

“Why don’t you draw a beach?” Willow supplied, actually being helpful this time.

“Not a beach in the Boiling Isles… ” Hunter mumbled. Gus glanced at him. Hunter glanced away, rubbing his lip.

Willow said, “Maybe a beach from the Human Realm would be better?”

“Yeah…” Gus agreed. “ Yeah—  that could work!”

One sunny day during their stay in the Human Realm, Camila had driven them all to a beach, where the sand was soft and the sea didn’t boil. They could actually swim in the water, without fear of burning…

Witches still had to wear sunblock. (Amity, especially…) But it was definitely worth it for that beautiful sunset.

Gus pictured it in his mind— the sand, the sea, the sunset— and he projected it as an illusion the size of a crystal ball.

“It was great,” Hunter said, smiling at the memory.

“Who needs photos,” Willow quipped, “when we’ve got Gus’ power?”

Gus grinned, grabbed his pencil and his sketchpad, and started to draw the scene. It was much easier when he had the memory in front of him.

The beach had been bustling and bright with colour: The sapphire waves, the golden sand, the pink and purple sky…

Gus had the outlines of the beach, but it was bland and grey with pencil.

Gus frowned. Should he try shading? He gently rubbed a pencil mark with his fingertip and winced at the mess he made. “I need colours— right now!”

“Paints or crayons?” Willow asked, shooting to her feet

Paints would be too messy… “Crayons!”

“You’re a witch,” Hunter reminded Gus. “Why don’t you just—? ”

“‘’S’cuse me!” Willow shoved past Hunter to reach the desk. She pulled a pack of colouring crayons out of a blue pencil pot, and passed them to Gus. “Here you go!”

“Thanks…”

Gus coloured in the lines he’d drawn, but when he was finished, it still looked… wrong. The crayons were too waxy, too artificial, and they didn’t blend together.

A baby could have done better than this!

“I’ve ruined it!” Gus moaned. His illusion-bubble popped. He threw his sketchbook away and flopped facedown on the rug.

“No, you haven’t!” Willow went to pick up his sketchbook

Still on the rug, Gus turned his head to Willow as she crouched beside him. She held the picture up to him, hoping he would see it in a different light.

“See? It’s fine, way better than my doodles—“

“Fine isn’t good enough,” Gus huffed.

Hunter said, “Why not?”

Rubbing his wrist, Gus sat up. “Because… Matt’s a really, really good artist. I just wanted to draw him something— something I put a lot of effort into…!”

“You did put a lot of effort in, Gus,” Willow assured him. “Of course Matt will see that, but if anyone doesn’t, who cares?”

“You can’t please everyone,” Hunter muttered, sympathetically. Willow offered him a reassuring smile.

Gus looked between the two of them. He took the sketchbook back from Willow, staring at his picture .

“But,” Hunter added, with surprising optimism, “do you know what would jazz it up even more…?” He stood up and pulled a small carving knife out of his apron pocket.

“A… palisman?” Gus guessed. “But Matt already has…”

Gus trailed off as Willow made a rectangle with her thumbs and index fingers. Closing one eye, Willow moved the rectangle over to Gus, as if she was snapping a photo of him.

“Oh!” Gus gasped.

-

Matt ripped the wrapping paper off the box. “You got me… a hunk of wood?”

“No !” Gus sighed. Carefully, Gus removed the hand-carved panel of wood and flipped it over, revealing his picture inside the frame.

Matt’s eyes widened. “Wait— you made this?”

Gus wasn’t sure if Matt was referring to the picture of the beach or the frame or both, but he nodded shyly.

Matt snatched the gift off him. For a horrible second, Gus thought Matt was going to throw the framed picture away, but then, Matt held it up for all of his party guests to see.

“Everyone— look at this! Look at THIS! The first of many masterpieces from Augustus Porter! And it’s all MINE…!”

Gus blushed and beamed at Matt’s adulation.

He glanced back at Willow and Hunter, who were both watching behind him. Willow gave him a thumbs-up. Though Hunter looked a little tired, he was smiling.

Gus mouthed, “Thank you—“ but he was cut off as Matt caught him in a one-armed hug.

-

Hunter smiled at Gus and Mattholomule.

He hadn’t gotten much sleep last night— between woodcarving and their history project— but it was worth it to see Gus and his friend/rival/crush(?) so happy together.

Rubbing his eyes, Hunter wondered how much longer he would have to stay at the party…

Mattholomule wouldn’t mind if Hunter left, would he? He and Hunter weren’t really close (Hunter was more familiar with Matt’s brother, Steve), and Hunter didn’t have a present with him…

An arm wrapped around Hunter’s shoulder. Willow pulled him down so her mouth was level with his burning ear.

“You can take credit for the frame,” she whispered. “Gus won’t mind…”

“Nah…” Hunter chuckled. “I’ll let him have this one—“

“That’s sweet of you…” Willow hummed hopefully. “Could you make me a photo frame— when it’s my birthday?”

“S-sure…”

To make sure it was absolutely perfect he’d have to start preparations immediately— finding the right wood, marking the measurements…

Willow pecked him on the cheek, interrupting Hunter’s plans.

“Thanks, Hunter.”