#hooty is very excited to have some mysterious potion

[pepperdee]

im a simple pepper. i receive potion bottle sticker from @ashen-crest, i add it to the hoard

[toh-writings]

Fortunes of Love Pt 1 (Eda x OC)

Summary:

When King needs his most loyal soldier fixed, Eda decides to take them to an old acquaintance of hers to get it patched. What starts as a visit turns into another visit, then another, then another. Eda begins to wonder why they were never friends before.

Warnings: None

It was a surprisingly quiet afternoon. Luz was still at school, Hooty was taking a nap, and King was off somewhere playing. And Eda had every intention of taking advantage of the break in the chaos. She slumped onto the couch with a sigh, a steaming mug of tea in her hands. She took a sip of her drink, closing her eyes and relaxing, a lazy smile on her face. This was the stuff.

Eda’s peace was shattered when a screech rang out through the house. She sighed, putting her mug down on the coffee table. Looks like her tea would go cold. She crossed her arms, scowling at King as he dashed into the room, but her face softened when she saw him. He looked like he was on the verge of tears, his little stuffed rabbit clutched tightly in his arms.

“Eda!” he screeched, running into her legs and toppling over. He was quick to get back to his feet.

“I’m right here, King, you don’t need to screech.”

“Eda, Eda, The worst thing ever has happened!” He continued to screech, not bothering to lower his voice a bit. “Francoise’s been injured!”

He shoved the rabbit in her face, showing the arm hanging on by a thread, the stuffing spilling out.

“He needs immediate attention or I fear he’ll lose his life!” The little demon insisted, looking quite devastated at the turn of events. Eda sighed, a soft smile on her face.

“Alright, alright, let me see.”

She gently took the rabbit from him and took a closer look. The thread attaching the arm to the body was in pieces, bits poking out of the worn fabric. It had probably just gotten too old, played with too much, something like that. She wasn’t the best at sewing, but it looked easy enough to fix.

“Guess I can fix it. Just let me get some things.”

She handed the rabbit back to King and gave him a little pat on his head. She had a bunch of junk in the closet to look through.

It was tougher than she thought it would be just to find a needle and thread. Luz had returned from school before she had even found anything.

“Eda? What are you doing?”

The witch huffed from her pile of stuff, the shelves of the closet empty. She grumbled, wading through her pile and standing by Luz.

“Looking for a needle and thread. King broke his doll.” She said dismissively, idly drawing a circle in the air. All the junk on the floor jumped to attention and flew back to their spots. “Clearly, I didn’t find anything.”

“Awww, that’s why King looks so depressed.”

They looked back to the couch where King sat, still clutching his broken rabbit with big crocodile tears in his eyes. He sniffed.

“Yeah. We need to fix that thing.”

Eda went quiet as she thought, pacing the living room. Okay, maybe she couldn’t fix the damn thing herself. That meant she would have to find someone else to do it. She went through all the people she knew in her mind. Half of them hated her, so it was easy to cut the list down. None of the first people she thought of actually knew anything about sewing or stuffed animals. She had to dig deep before she remembered someone who might be able to help. It was a long shot, but they had to try.

“Alright you two, I have an idea.”

She turned to them with her signature cocky smile.

“We’re going to the market.”

--------------------------

The Market was busy this time of day, the witchlings who just got out of school running around through the crowd. Eda hated being at the market when it was like this, but desperate times they say. The market was large and there were many stalls, but only one of them was the one they needed. She wished she remembered where it was better. She had never actually been there before, she just passed it every once in a while. After several wrong turns and irritated mumbles, she finally spotted the familiar stall.

“Ah, here we are! Told ya I’d find it.”

She crossed her arms, a prideful smile on her face, but Luz and King looked doubtful.

“It looks like a … fortune-teller?” Luz said, cocking her head to one side.

And so it did. The dark blue stall was decorated with white glittering stars and a crystal ball sat on the counter alongside various other tools. A group of teenagers were clustered around it, giggling and squealing at each other.

“How is some palm reading supposed to help Francoise?” King shouted, looking irritated.

“Just come on, ya little demon. Trust me.”

King continued to grumble his doubts as the approached the stall. The group of teenagers dispersed as they approached, talking amongst each other and staring at their hands in wonder. As they left they could see the witch waving goodbye. She looked friendly enough, her black curls tied back and what looked like a snake hanging on her shoulders. She smiled at them as they approached, though she looked a bit hesitant when she saw Eda.

“Hello! How can I help you?” Her voice was small and quiet.

“There you are! What was it again? Nila or something?” Eda’s voice boomed in contrast to the other witch. She leaned against the counter, a hand on her hip.

“Niliana.”

Eda gave a dismissive wave.

“Whatever, close enough. Listen, Nily, we have a bit of a problem here and need your help.”

She nodded to King. He still looked doubtful, but jumped on the counter and showed the witch his rabbit. She focused on it instantly, brows furrowed as she inspected the damage, humming thoughtfully.

“You want me to fix it?”

Eda nodded.

“It’s desperate! We must heal Francoie immediately!” King shouted, waving his arms around. “I don’t want to lose my best buddy!”

The woman smiled at him, giving his head a few pats.

“He’ll be fine. I can fix him. Come on then, my supplies are in the back.”

She left her stall, leading them into a tent behind it. Luz gazed around it in wonder. It was dark, little balls of light floating around the ceiling giving all the light they needed to see. There shelves upon shelves of stuff surrounding them, crystal balls, crystals, various jars of herbs, and other mysterious substances. Even more dried herbs were hanging from the ceiling alongside various fabrics. In the middle of the room were several comfy looking chairs and a love seat surrounding a round coffee table with a few unlit candles.

“Take a seat, I’ll get working on this.” Niliana told them in her soft voice, motioning to the chairs. Luz hopped into a chair, giggling as she bounced slightly. Eda sat with a sigh, sprawling out over the love seat, but King couldn’t sit. He followed the witch, right on her heals as she walked to what looked like a work table. The shelf above it was lined with various stuffed animals in various rates of decay and mismanagement. King crawled onto the table, watching anxiously as she got to work. The snake on her shoulders slithered away due to some unspoken command, curling around a nearby staff and turning to wood.

“This is a nice place ya got here!” Luz said, still staring around in wonder. “I haven’t meant anyone who was really good at oracle magic before! Can you tell the future? How? What’s your favorite way to do it? What’s all the herbs and crystals for? How…?”

“Slow down, kid!” Eda said, laughing. “Not everyone can talk as fast as you.”

“Oh, right sorry.” Luz said, looking a bit sheepish and shrugging.

“No, dear, I can’t tell the future. Not exactly. Oracle magic is actually quite complicated. It’s more like I see pieces what could happen. I do it by connecting to others magic. I like reading tea leaves the most. The herbs are for the tea. The crystals can be used to focus someones magic so I can read it and use it to tell the future.”

She answered easily, not missing a beat as she worked. The rabbit was empty of all stuffing now, the broken thread removed and the arm sitting next to it. She got herself a bucket and filled it with water, adding an herb here and an herb there. Once the concoction was completed she put the pieces of the rabbit in to soak.

King stared into the bucket, then looked up at her, confused.

“What are you doing?” He asked, the nervousness creeping into his voice. She smiled at him again.

“He’s just taking a bath is all. It’ll make his fur soft and stronger.”

King nodded, keeping a close eye on the bucket.

“What do you mean you see pieces? What does that mean? And what does tea have to do with telling the future?”

Niliana sighed.

“Why don’t I just … show you? Would that appease you?”

Luz’s eyes went wide and she nodded, almost bouncing with excitement. So, she started putting together a pot of tea, heating the water with a magical floating fire. With nothing left to do but wait, she finally sat with a sigh, grabbing a deck of cards to fiddle with.

Luz never stopped talking, but once the witch had settled the girl went oddly silent. Niliana looked over to her to find the girl watching her with intent, curious eyes.

“Sooooo…” She started, a smirk on her face. “How do you and Eda know each otherrrrrrr.”

“We went to school together,” Eda spoke up before Niliana could, but she didn’t seem to mind. She just nodded.

“We were both in the potions track, at least for a short time.”

“Ugh, those classes were so booooring.” Eda groaned, slouching even further in the love seat at the very memory of them. “It was nothing but stirring and stirring. I don’t know how you managed it.”

“Clearly, I didn’t.” She said, twirling a card between her fingers. “I transferred to the oracle track shortly after you left.”

Eda snorted.

“I’m amazed anyone's making potions these days with a class like that.”

Niliana shrugged.

“I didn’t think it was all that bad. The monotony was calming, especially when I was having a bad day.”

Eda waved her hand aimlessly, clearly unimpressed.

“Awww, you guys were friends?” Luz asked, but Eda shook her head, confusing the girl.

“Not really. We were more like … Aquaintances. We knew of each other, but we didn’t hang out or anything.”

“We only really talked when we were paired up for a project.” Niliana added.

“Yeah, I remember that! I always got a passing grade with you watching my back!”

“You made me do all the work.”

“Not like I was learning anything anyway. I still did some of the stirring, didn’t I?”

“Mmmm, I suppose. Not much. You were too busy getting into trouble releasing spirits in the locker room or something.”

Eda snickered, remembering all her troublesome pranks.

“They never could get rid of those spirits. They made me do it!”

Niliana looked doubtful.

“And how exactly did they manage that?”

Eda just smiled, sitting up so she could ruffle Luz’s hair.

“I had to get Luz here into that school somehow.”

They spent a while retelling some of there adventures from school. Well, Eda retold some of her adventures. NIlly occasionally would add something here or that, mentioning something she herself remembered. Otherwise, she busied herself with other things. The tea needed to be finished and handed out and the rabbit needed dried off after soak and restuffed. The tent was filled with laughter. Even King was laughing at some points, though he kept his attention mostly on his rabbit.

“I finished my tea!” Luz piped up. “Do you read the leaves now?”

“In a bit, hun, let me just finish this real quick.”

King bounced anxiously, watching her carefully as pulled the needle through the fabric. Finally, the string was tied off and snipped.

“He’s done! Ya fixed him!” King shouted, eagerly grabbing for the rabbit, but the woman pulled it away.

“One last thing.” She said, opening one of her drawers to pull out a black ribbon. She tied it around the rabbit’s neck, forming a cute little bowtie. Only when that was done did she hand it to the little demon. He snatched it from her hands, giving it a big hug.

“Francoise! You’re all fixed!” He cheered. “Thank you, lady!”

He jumped off the counter, dashing over to Eda to show her his newly fixed rabbit. She whistled.

“Dang, it almost looks brand new! I knew you did this sort of stuff but I didn’t know you were good at it.”

Niliana shook her head.

“How did you even know? I don’t remember telling you about it.”

Eda shrugged, moving to the side so King could sit next to her, Francoise in his lap.

“I don’t know, you mentioned something about fixing stuffed animals during one of our projects.”

“And you remembered?”

“Yeah, I know. I even shock myself sometimes.” She smirked smugly, crossing her legs and putting her hands behind her head.

Niliana rolled her eyes, sitting down and putting a hand out to Luz. The girl eeped gleefully, rushing to give her the tea cup.

“Now, what do you want me to focus on?”

“Uh, what?” Luz asked.

“I need something to focus on. So, what do you want to know?”

Luz thought for a moment, then beamed.

“Oh, oh, I know! Will I ever fall in love?”

Eda rolled her eyes, mumbling something about teenagers and love. Niliana smirked at that before gazing into the cup. A moment later her eyes started glowing teal. Luz watched, fascinated. Several moments passed in silence before Luz got too impatient.

“Well? What do you see?”

Niliana closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again. They were no longer glowing, returned to their usual golden brown. She thought for a moment, Luz staring at her intently, slowly inching closer to the witch.

“You will fall in love. In fact, you’ll fall in love with someone you already know and who you’re already close with.” She finally said, placing the cup down on the coffee table.

“Whoa, really? How do you know?”

“When I read your tea leaves, I focus intently on you and whatever you want to know, in this case, love. When I go into my trance, I don’t really see things, I feel things. They're more like impressions. I felt love, that’s how I know you will fall in love with someone. But I also felt a sense of familiarity, which is how I know it’s someone close to you. I’d advise you to figure out if any of your friends like you.”

“Whoa…” Luz whispered, looking amazed. Eda chuckled. It was amazing that her face didn’t freeze like that.

“Alright, hotshot. If you’re so good at this then read my stupid leaves.” She said, leaning forward, her teacup hanging off a finger. Niliana snatched it before it could fall and shatter. She shot the other witch a hard look.

“What do you want to know?”

“I don’t know, just tell me something about my love life or whatever.”

The witch stared into the teacup for a moment before her eyes lit up once more.

“This is all nonsense anyway,” Eda added, sitting back and crossing her arms. Luz looked taken aback.

“What? Why?”

“Simple. There’s no such thing as a set future. It hasn’t happened yet! Sure, you can be told what might happen and give all sorts of random advice or whatever, but it’s you’re own actions that determine what really happens. That’s not something she can control.”

Luz looked a little downtrodden by her mentors' words, but brightened almost instantly.

“So she can’t tell exactly what’ll happen, but she can point me in the right direction! It’s like well-informed advice.”

Eda waved a hand dismissively.

“Whatever you say, kid. Personally, I don’t let this stuff get to me.”

Niliana blinked, her eyes returning to normal once more.

“... alright, there’s a lot more to go through here.” She commented, looking rather thoughtful.

Eda frowned, just a bit irritated.

“What’s that supposed to mean.”

The woman didn’t seem affected by Eda’s steely tone, continuing with her even, soft voice.

“You have a pretty crazy love life already, it can be hard to sift through. You feel a lot of love for the people around you, so it's hard to say if there’s anything new there … There will be others that’ll come into your life and join your little family, that’s for sure. For a wanted criminal, you really draw them in.”

Eda huffed, her irritation fading as a soft smile spread on her face.

“I suppose so... “

She tried not to react to the look Luz was giving her.

It was a few more seconds before Niliana spoke up again.

“For someone who’s dated a lot, you haven’t felt a who lot of romantic love before. But there will be someone someday. Probably someone from your past. You may be nervous about it, it’ll be odd and new, but It’ll be worth it. My advice would be to not go searching for anything, but don’t shove anyone away who might want to get close to you. You may never find love if you stay closed off. But make sure they’re making an effort, too.”

She gave a little nod, satisfied with her reading, and put the teacup next to the other.

“My turn! I want a reading too!” King piped up. Niliana nodded and made him a cup. He snatched it out of her hands with a “nyeh’ and gulped it down. He shoved the now empty cup into her face. “Do your magic, Lady!”

Niliana chuckled, taking the cup from him and reading it.

“You, dear, are going to live a very happy life surrounded by the ones you love. You’ll be very pampered like you are now.”

“Yes! Only the best for the King of Demons!” King said, puffing his chest out. Eda pat his head, nearly knocking him over.

“Whatever you say, tiny.”

They left shortly after that, all waving as the left. Niliana waved back from her tent.

“I liked her. We should visit again sometime!” Luz said, looking up at Eda expectantly. King did the same from Luz’s arms, tail wagging. Eda sighed, a smirk crawling onto her face.

“Fine, if you want.”

The two cheered, running ahead a bit. Eda smiled at them.

[rohad93]

Moonlit Masquerade: Read All About It! Pt 3 (Final)

Saturday morning Luz runs out of the house towards town. She's meeting Willow and Gus to hang out for the day and shop for some clothes. She’d tried on her clothes from the masquerade and realized with horror that her growth spurt over the last six months had grown her out of them, leaving the pants hanging a good almost two inches up her ankle, the same for her shirt, which now sat an inch above her wrist bone. There was no way she could go to dinner at Blight Manor like this; at least the vest and shoes still fit.  

She needs to talk to her friends about tomorrow night’s dinner, maybe they can offer her some kind of pointers and help her shop.

The market is busy as it always is on Saturday, filled with the varied denizens of the Isles doing their shopping. Gus and Willow are waiting for her at the fountain at the center of the market. They see her coming and wave.

"Hey, guys!" She grins brightly at them and the two smile back, they can already tell that she is in a much better mood than the last few days.

"You look chipper, did something happen?" Willow asks.

"Amity's parents found out last night," she says and shocked looks replace her friend’s smiles.

"What?!" Gus yelps.

"And you're… happy?" Willow questions.

"Yeah, they didn't forbid her from seeing me! Her dad wants to meet me, I'm having dinner there tomorrow night," she explains.

"That's great, Luz!" She smiles.

"Hopefully, Lilith is gonna start giving me etiquette lessons when I get home, also I need to get some new clothes. I’ve grown out of the only nice ones I had, maybe you guys could help me pick out some new pants and a shirt?” she asks.

“Oh, shopping!” Gus grins. Willow laughs.

“Sure we can.” She nods.

“Great, let’s go!” She grins, taking off with the two witches hot on her heels.

They spend the morning poking their heads into different shops and suggesting clothes to Luz.

“What colors were you thinking of?” Willow asks as they wander through a fancy dress clothes store. The scaly, winged clerk watches them carefully, they are three teenagers in an upscale store.

“Well, I know Amity really likes dark reddish-pink colors…,” she says, looking at some pants.

“You’re trying to impress her parents, Luz. Amity couldn’t be any more enamored with you if you tried. If this wasn’t dinner with her parents, you could show up in that otter onesie and she’d still be happy to see you,” Willow chuckled.

“I still wanna look nice for my girlfriend…,” she pouts with a huff, making Willow roll her eyes.

“Well, I think you’d look really good in red then…,” Willow hums, sorting through some dress shirts hanging in a display.

“Yeah, like a dark, blood-red,” Gus agrees. “Something fancy and mysterious.” He wiggles his fingers. “Oh, what about a cloak?” he turns to Luz who brightens at the idea.

"Yeah!"

“Well, it is in fashion to wear a cloak…,” Willow concedes upon seeing their excitement. Normally she’d veto the cloak, but it is the fashion for formal events and gatherings, and if dinner at Blight manor isn’t a formal event, Willow doesn’t know what is.

Gus and Luz high five.

Willow makes a pleased sound as she pulls a shirt off the rack and holds it for the two to inspect.

“How’s this?” She holds up a deep, wine red button-down shirt.

“Ohhh, I like it. Let me try it on.” She takes it and disappears into the dressing room along with a pair of pants.

Gus and Willow wait for her to reappear.

"What do you think?" she asks as she steps out and spins in a little circle for them.

It fits her perfectly in all the right places across her shoulders and chest. The black pants go with the deep color.

"Lookin' fancy." Gus grins.

"Looks great, Luz," Willow agrees.

"Great, just need to get me a cloak and we can get out of here," she says before disappearing back inside the dressing room.

Gus and Willow wander over to the section where those particular garments are kept and begin browsing while they wait for Luz.

When she comes back they browse a little while, they're all manner of cloaks hung up on the racks in the most outlandish colors and styles. Some with feathers or scales sewn in, and even some with built-in shoulder armor that makes her grin. True, she still has the cloak Eda made for her out of witch's wool, but it is a little short on her now, and definitely won't go with her clothes. She's also not expecting any powerful spells to be thrown her way during dinner.

As much as her dramatic heart wants to go big, she knows that this is not the occasion for it. She's going for something a little more... respectable, than what she would normally choose.

Then something catches her eye. It's a plain black cloak, lined in a deep purple, and without a hood, it has a collar instead. What grabs her attention though is the little gold owl clasps attached to the chain that holds it closed. She pulls it off the rack and swings it across her back. It’s silky to the touch and sits comfortably heavy on her shoulders, and hits her in the back of the calves.

"Whaddaya guys think?" she calls to Gus and Willow.

"Oh, that's perfect, Luz," Willow says.

"Sharp," Gus agrees.

"Great, I think we're all done here then." She takes it off and bundles her items together as they walk up to the counter. The clerk hums, looking less suspicious of them now that they're actually buying something.

He rings it up and Luz balks at the price, but forks over the amount of snails begrudgingly. That was a heavy hit to her personal funds. If her parents allow them to keep dating, Amity is going to have to fund their dates for a while.

They spend the rest of the morning wandering around the market.

"Should I bring a gift? You're supposed to bring a gift for your host right? Or is that just a human tradition?" Luz asks.

"Yeah, but what would you even take?" Gus scratches his chin.

"Flowers are always a good choice," Willow suggests.

"I'll ask Lilith, she'd know…"

They part ways soon after, Luz scurrying home with her purchases.

She puts the bag in her closet, where Hooty can't get to it and hurries downstairs where Lilith is waiting, standing at the counter.

"Ready to get started?" she asks.

"I was born ready!" Luz grins and Lilith smiles.

"Very well, for this, pretend I'm the host and we're about to sit down to dinner," she says.

Luz walks up to the table and starts pulling out a chair, but stops when Lilith tuts at her.

"The first rule is to wait until the host has sat, or indicated that you may seat yourself."

"Oh… okay." She steps back and Lilith sits at the chair opposite from her and then gestures to it.

There is an array of silverware sitting in front of her, all mismatched since it is Eda's, but it was the best they could do on short notice. They still manage to scramble together a halfway decent example setup.

"Now… your meat fork?" Lilith asks.

Luz glances at the three forks for a long moment. They aren't labeled in any capacity and she hums before picking one at random and holding it up.

"No, that is your dessert fork," Lilith says before showing her the right fork.

This is going to be harder than Luz anticipated.

They spend the rest of Saturday carefully going over etiquette and which fork and knife are which.

~

Luz hums looking thoughtfully at the table for a second before picking up a fork and holding it up. She looks up at Lilith for approval, who nods.

"Yes, very good, Luz, that is your salad fork."

"Yes!" She grins and sets the cutlery back onto the table among the other forks, knives, and various place settings.

They've been at this all day and most of last night. It's Sunday afternoon and they're having a last run through. Luz will not stop until she gets it right every time. Her relationship with Amity hinges on making a good first impression, and not making an absolute fool of herself at this dinner.

"Now, when passing foods or condiments, which side do you pass to?"

"Offer to the left and pass everything to the right?" she says, unsure, but Lilith smiles and nods.

"Very good. Used silverware?" She asks, cocking a brow.

"Should never touch the table, keep it on your plate," she answers almost automatically. That had been her biggest problem when they started, constantly setting her fork back on the table.

"Correct," she says, walking around and tapping Luz under the chin. The girl sits up straight at the slight touch. "Remember, sit up straight, always."

"Right." She nods.

Eda watches the display from the kitchen island where she's mixing potions.

"This seems like an awful lot of work to eat…," she gripes.

"Be that as it may, this is what Luz needs to know if she is to make a good impression at this dinner. She's already going in looking unfavorable as a human, being associated with the two of us, you especially doesn't do her any favors either. The best she can do is be a picture-perfect dinner guest."

Eda sticks her tongue out but doesn't argue the point. Her reputation probably isn't going to help Luz.

They keep at it for a while until Luz has a perfect mock run of dinner.

"I believe you are as ready as you're ever going to be," Lilith declares by late afternoon and Luz grins and jumps up to hug the older Clawthorne.

"Thank you, Lilith. I gotta iron my clothes now," she says before running upstairs.

"So, what do you think?" Eda asks once Luz has gone upstairs.

"I think if she stays calm she will be okay." She nods, sitting at the table.

"Unfortunately that's a big 'if'...," she mumbles.

"We must have faith, for her sake."

A few hours later, she's freshly showered and dressed in her clean, pressed clothes and she's standing in front of the bathroom mirror carefully combing her hair back, it's really the only way she knows how to style it that looks decent at its current awkward length. She knows without her having to say it that Amity likes it like this and doesn't want her to cut it, and it's growing on her too, literally and figuratively.

She runs into her room and slips on her shoes and grabs her cloak, stuffing her glyph book, pad and pen into her pocket. She doesn't anticipate needing it, but once bitten twice shy. She feels better with its heavyweight in her pocket. She throws on her cloak pinning the small owl clasps so it hangs across her shoulders and hurries down the stairs where the sisters are waiting.

"How do I look?" she asks as they walk over to inspect her.

"Very nice, you wouldn’t be out of place at any formal event on the Isles." Lilith smiles, reaching out to straighten the skinny black tie around Luz’s neck, fussily.

"Pretty fancy, Kid." Eda grins, then notices the gold clasps on her cloak and reaches up to finger one of the detailed birds.

"Gotta represent the owl house and my owl mom." Luz grins.

Eda snorts but there's a distinct glaze welling up in her eyes.

"Pfft, get out of here already…" She gives Luz a gentle shove, trying to push down the emotions welling up in her voice as she shoves her staff into the kid’s hands. Lilith gives her a knowing look.

"Wish me luck, love you!" she calls and runs out the front door.

"Don't set your fork on the table!" Lilith calls as she flies off and they watch her go from the doorway.

She’s a little ahead of schedule, but she has to make a quick stop in town before she heads to Blight Manor.

~

Amity is so nervous she might throw up.

She anxiously smooths down any imaginary wrinkles in her burgundy and black material of her ombre, sleeveless dress before pinning her brooch to her chest.

She hasn't heard from Luz at all today, which is worrying, but she hopes Lilith was able to instill the basics of formal dining in her girlfriend over a short two days.

She sits in front of her vanity mirror, smoothing out her loose hair when a pair of green-haired heads pop in her door.

"Hey, Mittens, how are you doing?" Edric asks as they step inside to stand behind her

"Nervous," she admits, looking at them in the mirror.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine. Luz can be pretty suave when she wants to be,” Edric assures.

“I don’t think her charms are gonna work on mom and dad the same way they do on Amity…,” Emira mumbles.

"Have some faith in our future sister-in-law.” He grins teasingly at Amity, who scowls. She’s not in the mood. “As I recall, you thought she was pretty cute when we first met too." Edric grins wickedly, eyes sliding to his twin, and Emira's cheeks pink.

Amity's eyes widened as she whips around to look at them.

"What?!"

"What? That was like nine months ago! And you hated her at the time!" she reminds, pointing at Amity. "And that was before I started dating Viney."

"I didn't hate her… I just... didn't know what her deal was yet," she mumbled. Amity should probably be more annoyed that her sister thought her girlfriend was cute but fair, Luz is cute, and at the time they were barely acquaintances, and it had been a while. Emira would never try to take Luz from her.

She sighs and stands, smoothing her dress out once more.

"I need to get downstairs, I want to make sure I'm the one who answers the door…"

"Ah, right. She might turn tail and run if it's mom," Edric snickers and Emira elbows him as Amity makes a distressed sound in her throat.

“It’s gonna be okay. Luz knows how important this is, and we both know that girl would never run,” Emira soothes.

Amity makes an agreeing sound.

The three hurry downstairs, their father is sitting in the living room, while the sounds of one of the few house staff they keep cooking in the kitchen echoes in the room.

Her father is sitting in his armchair reading from a thick leather tome. Their mother is probably in their bedroom, deciding not to grace them with her presence until their guest arrives.

He glances up as they walk down the stairs, sharp gold eyes appraising the three of them.

Edric in his dark green shirt and black vest and pants, while his twin wears a knee-length dress the same color as his shirt.

Their father nods in greeting to them as he stands, laying his book on the arm of his chair, and walks over.

"You both look beautiful this evening,” he says to his daughter's before turning to Edric and reaching up to straighten his tie. "Very dashing, Edric." He nods.

"Thank you, father." The three echo with smiles.

Of their parents, their father has always been more sincere in his compliments. They certainly came more often than from their mother, who's breath was often spent criticizing and correcting more than anything. He wasn't around as often as her though, when he wasn’t at work he was holed up in his study, doing work.

He spies the brooch his youngest is wearing and can't recall ever seeing it before. He knows it isn't something he gifted to her, and Amity has never been one to buy such things for herself. It's a very pretty little bauble, he can spy its quality at a glance in the fine detail of the thorns and the cut of the tear-shaped gemstone.

He reaches out and gently touches the metal with his fingertips.

"Where did you get this, Amity?" he asks. She's surprised by the question.

"Luz gave it to me when we started dating," she said, smiling a little to herself. Alador does not miss this and hums.

A knock on the door makes Amity jump.

"I'll get it!" she says a little louder than is necessary, and rushes to the front door and takes a breath before opening it.

She's struck speechless by the young woman standing on the other side.

"Good evening, Miss Blight, you look beautiful as ever." Luz smiles at her and gives a little bow, staff in one hand.

"Oh," is all Amity can say, cheeks reddening as she's struck by just how attractive her girlfriend looks tonight in her wine-colored shirt and fitted black vest, pants, and tie, with the cloak hanging off her shoulders. She's struck by the sudden urge to run her fingers through the smooth, shiny, slicked-back hair.

Luz seems to notice the effect she has and her smile turns into a grin as she winks, snapping her out of it.

She then notices the bouquet of lavender flowers Luz is holding in one hand, but among them is a bright red Blood-blossom.

"What are the flowers for?" she asks, stepping aside to allow Luz to walk into the entryway and hang her staff on the hooks by the door.

"You're supposed to bring a gift for your host right? I got these for your mom," she explains. Amity tries not to be disappointed by that, Luz is right, and she's glad that Lilith seems to have taught her some things, how dinner will go remains to be seen.

Luz is an expert in reading Amity though, and smiles, pulling the single Blood-blossom away from the other flowers and holding it out to her.

"As if I would ever come to you empty-handed, mi amor." She smiles coyly, but the quiet words are almost a purr and Amity thinks she might die at the violent shivers it sends down her spine.

Edric was right. Sometimes Luz is too suave; usually without even trying, when she is trying the effect is lethal.

Now is so, NOT the time for this, but she doesn't let that stop her from taking hold of the single stem being offered to her and leaning forward to plant a firm kiss on Luz's lips; she has to force herself to pull back. An effort she isn’t sure how she manages.

"Thank you," she mumbles against them, before standing back up straight. "Are you ready?" she whispers.

"Gosh, I hope…," she mumbles, her confident persona falling away to show just how nervous she really is now that the moment is at hand.

"I believe in you, querida." Amity smiles at her with a confidence she does not feel. She knows her parents, and while she knows Luz, her girlfriend has a tendency to be a wild card at the worst of times. She kisses her cheek and Luz squares her shoulders.

She leads her back into the living room where the twins and Alador are waiting, Odalia has now joined them and Luz swallows thickly at the sight of the Blight parents. They stop in front of them, and gosh is Amity's dad tall.

"Father, Mother, this is Luz Noceda. Luz, this is my father, Alador Blight, and my mother, Odalia Blight," Amity introduces.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Noceda," Alador is the first to speak, holding out his hand. Luz quickly and discreetly wipes her clammy hand on the back of her pants under her cloak before reaching out to shake the much larger hand.

"It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Blight," she says, trying to project confidence. That's what Eda told her to do.

Actually, her adoptive mother's exact words were 'be confident, but take no shit.' Luz is pretty sure that's not the approach she wants to take tonight if she wants to keep the love of her, relatively short, life. In fact, she's pretty sure she'll take whatever shit she has to and smile while doing it.

"Welcome to our home," Odalia says, it's noticeably a little stiffer than Alador's greeting, but Luz soldiers on. She already knows enough about the Blight family matriarch to know that this was where she needed to watch herself.

"Thank you for having me; these are for you." She holds out the flowers.

There's a flash of surprise in the older woman's eyes, but it vanishes almost as quickly as it appears as she takes the flowers from you.

"How kind, thank you."

Someone clears their throat and Amity only just manages to keep from rolling her eyes.

"And you of course already know my brother and sister, Edric and Emira." Amity introduces the twins with a bit of bite.

"Hey!" They both say, grinning.

Luz smiles and waves.

"Thank you for joining us tonight, Miss Noceda, Amity has told us relatively little, but I have heard some of you, I hope you can enlighten me somewhat this evening," Alador says, folding his hands behind his back as he looks down at her with stern, but curious gold eyes.

"Oh, well, I'll try." Luz smiles, unsure. She isn't sure what he's heard, hopefully, nothing too bad.

He nods, seemingly satisfied with her answer, for now.

A woman chose that moment to walk out of the kitchen and announce dinner was ready. Odalia nods.

"Sia, please take Miss Noceda's cloak, and put these in some water," The Blight matriarch tells the woman, handing her the flowers. She nods and walks over. Luz unclasps it and hands it to her.

"Thanks" she smiles at her. She looks at Luz curiously but gives a little nod.

With that, Alador and Odalia walk toward the dining room, and the twins both give her a thumbs-up as they follow.

She looks at Amity who smiles at her before they follow.

Alador sits at the head of the table, Odalia at the other and the twins on the left, Edric next to their father, and Amity and Luz sit next to each other on the right, with Luz sitting to the patriarchs right.

Luz wipes her hands on the legs of her pants as she glances at the table settings, it looks just like how Lilith had it set up at home, but the plates are a clean, shiny white, lacking and chips or worn away paint like Eda’s, and all the silverware matches. She follows Amity’s lead and takes the dark green napkin off her plate and sets it in her lap. She keeps them there nervously as she glances around at the dining hall. She’s been to Blight Manor twice now, but really only the living room and Amity’s room. The dining room is large and spacious, decorated in dark woods and gold embellishments that Luz can only guess is the current fashion of the Isles, or maybe it’s just Blight style; questions to ask Amity later.

She can feel Odalia’s eyes on her and tenses up as those olive-colored eyes judge her silently, but then there are fingers prodding gently at her hand in her lap, and without looking, turns it over to lace her fingers with her girlfriends under the table. Amity squeezes it comfortingly, for her and for herself, thumb running over her knuckles.

The same house staff from before comes out of the kitchen and sets the trays of food in the middle of the table and anxiety shoots through Luz.

She had been so busy thinking about the people at the dinner she hadn't thought about the food itself, she doesn't recognize anything on the table and is suddenly very worried about it.

After her incident with the numberries, she doesn't trust strange foods, and if ever there was a horrible place for her to have some kind of reaction it's here, having dinner with her girlfriend's parents for the first time.

Luckily she's never had any kind of reaction to meats, only plants, but she knows enough to know that it would be rude to only eat the meat, so she just has to hope, hope that at least if something happens it's something she can hide, like a rash. A trip out like the one had on the mountain would be the end of their relationship for certain.

The serving of food goes rather smoothly, the stuff Lilith had taught her about which way to pass and to offer things actually coming in handy. She’s actually thought that silly, but as she discreetly watches the Blights, that’s exactly what they’re doing.

It's only after they start eating that the oppressive, to Luz anyway, silence is broken by Alador.

"Miss. Noceda, Amity tells us you take all nine tracks at Hexside," he starts, looking at Luz, who looks back up with a mouthful and quickly swallows her barely chewed food and wipes her face like Lilith instructed.

"Yes, sir." Luz nods.

"Traditionally, students take one track to focus on so they may join that coven upon graduation. What coven would you be planning to join?" He looks at her curiously.

Luz knows to not say she doesn't plan to join one, since it's against the law not to, so she decides on another route, lying. Eda would be proud.

"Probably potions, since it’s my strongest subject,” she says and he nods.

“Amity mentioned you were the top student in the potions track, an impressive feat, especially for someone lacking a traditional aptitude for magic,” he says, carefully cutting his meat.

“Thank you.” Luz thinks this conversation is going well if the way Amity is squeezing her hand gently is anything to go by.

'you're doing great'  is the silent message.

“From where on the Isles are you from? I find it strange that it’s only recently that we’ve heard of you.” It’s Odalia’s turn to ask a question. it has a certain edge to it that Luz can’t pinpoint, and she can’t decipher her girlfriends' suddenly harder squeezing or the twin’s glances, so she simply answers truthfully. She’s just going to have to roll the dice some tonight.

“I don’t, I came from the human realm, through a portal for the summer.”

“Summer has been over for some time, surely by now, your own family must be missing you?” Odalia asks, Luz is sure the question does not come from any kind of concern. It has a fake syrupiness to it that, had she not been paying attention, she would have missed, but she’s heard enough about Amity’s mother to know to be on edge and listen for the double meaning in everything.  

“I’m sure my mom misses me, but the portal was destroyed in a… accident, so now I live with my mentor, near Bonesburough,” she explains, glossing over the whole, fighting the Emperor and destroying the portal bit. Odalia hums but offers nothing else.

“And how do you find life in the Isles compared to the human realm?” Alador asks curiously.

“Exciting, there’s no magic in the human realm, but dangerous, mostly.” She can’t help but chuckle.

“Yes, the Isles certainly have their fair share of dangers, and potions don’t offer much in the way of offensive magic.”

“No, but I’ve learned a lot of spells I can fight with, I’ve probably done too much fighting with them,” she admits and Amity gently pinches her leg under the table, a warning to not say much more about her far too frequent battles. None of them would help them here.

Aladror sets his fork gently on his empty plate and regards her.

“Amity showed us some of your magic. A light spell, I was unaware you possessed any for more, offensive purposes.”  

“A few, yeah.”

“We used some at Grom, to defeat Grometheus,” Amity speaks up and her father looks at her, eyebrows ticking upward at that.

“Splattered him into little chunks,” Edric speaks up and Emira nods.

Grometheus could be a rather formidable opponent, Alador was even more intrigued now.

“I’m rather curious about the capability of these glyphs, perhaps you would indulge me with a demonstration?” he asks, ignoring the pointed look his wife is sending him.

Like Luz could say no.

“Sure, I can show you some, what did you have in mind?”

“A witch’s duel,” he says, and had she been chewing, she would have choked. Edric is and does, while Emira looks at their father with wide eyes. Odalia is giving him a surreptitiously annoyed look behind her wine glass, seeming to know exactly what he’s thinking, and maybe she does.

Amity’s, eyes are wide and her hand is squeezing her thigh in a death grip, the message crystal clear.

‘DON’T’  it begs.

But Luz is no coward, and she came here with a mission objective, to impress the parents, and she isn’t going to do that by turning down the challenge. If she can impress Alador Blight with her magic then she’s going to seize the opportunity.

“Sure.” she nods.

Now Emira and Edric are looking at her from across the table like she’s lost her mind. Maybe, she has. Maybe, she’s just that crazy in love with Amity, and she’ll do anything to keep her, even at the risk of being killed by their dad. Odalia is also looking at her curiously, maybe trying to decide if she’s really that dumb or just ignorant.

“Splendid, come.” Alador smiles and stands from the table. Luz squeezes Amity’s hand under the table before she stands.  

‘Don’t worry’

Dinner was over anyway as she followed him, along with the rest of the Blight family to the backyard.

He holds up a finger and a deep magenta spell circle appears and the backyard is lit up.

“This, of course, will be a mock battle. I’d like to see how your glyph magic works in practice against one of my abominations,” he tells her as they walk into the middle of the yard, the family remaining on the stone porch, and Luz relaxes some at that, so he wasn’t just trying to murder her. She knows she probably wouldn’t stand a chance against him in a real duel

“Ah, yeah, let's do it!” She grins, holding up a fist, and Alador smiles at her. Luz's grin does not last, as he spins a finger and a nine-foot-tall abomination rises from the ground to tower over her.

'Mierda'

“Okay then...” Luz turns serious, rolling up her sleeves, and pulls a few of her cards from her pocket.

“Are you prepared?” he asks.

“Ready.” Luz nods shoulders tense and knees bent.

The abomination dashed forward, and it’s much faster than Amity’s, where her girlfriends are sluggish, his runs. She barely manages to jump back out of the way as its fist crashed into the dirt, leaving a divot in the yard.

‘Okay, don’t get hit!’ is Luz’s prevailing thought.

Odalia sighs from the porch.

“I’m going to have to call the gardener back tomorrow…,” she mumbles to herself.

Amity bites her lip, fists clenched so hard her knuckles are turning white. Of all the different ways she had envisioned dinner going, this had never been one of them. Luz was going to get herself killed! Even if this was a mock battle for her father, he was still much more powerful than Luz.

Luz slaps a glyph to the ground and vines erupt from the ground, a few impaling the abomination and another growing up beneath her feet and lifting her out of its reach. The vines slow it, but then gelatinous body parts around them and reforms. It’s trying to climb up the vines toward her. She flings several fire spells at it, and it blows into a few large chunks.

“Whoo”

“Go, Luz!”

The twins cheer for her from the porch, despite their mother’s withering look.

Before she can even think to celebrate, the chunks slide across the yard and congeal back into a solid creature. It grabs the vine she’s perched on and starts violently shaking it, trying to fling Luz from them. She just barely hangs on while activating another plant glyph that snakes to the ground, letting her slide down to the grass, but she’s not any safer, back within the creature’s range, but she knows now what she needs to do.

She fires off another round of fire spells, blowing it back apart. She just needs a second. She pulls her pen from her pocket and starts rapidly drawing across the exposed skin of her arm. She manages to finish and tap it just as the creature is on her again.

Then, she’s gone.

The illusion glyph on her arm, turning her invisible. The glyph itself is still visible, but she knows for a fact that abomination’s don’t have the keenest sight, and it certainly can’t see the thin black lines that seem to float in the air. The creature looks around, groaning as she runs across the yard to put some distance between herself and it. Once she’s far enough away she pulls a folded sheet of paper from her pocket and quickly opens it, laying it in the grass, the paper is very much visible, so she breaks the circle on her arm and becomes visible once more.

It sees her and is quickly crossing the yard toward her. She waits till it’s nearly on her and slams a hand to the glyph and a portal blazes to life across the ground and she jumps in.

The abomination stops, looking down at the portal, confused, then a second portal opens above its head and Luz falls out with a loud battle cry, papers in hand.

She lands on its head and starts plastering as many glyphs as she can to it, it reaches up to grab her but before it can wrap a slimy hand around her, ice erupts from the many glyphs as Luz jumps off, hitting the ground with a thump, and rolling across the dirt, but quickly popping back up in time to watch as ice encase the abomination solid, becoming the world's ugliest ice sculpture.

Alador raised an arm, fingers twitching, but his abomination can’t move, it’s frozen solid.

Luz is victorious.

“That was so cool!”

“That was awesome, Luz!” The twins jog over along with Amity.

“Are you okay?” Amity is suddenly next to her, looking her over and she grins, some of her hair has fallen in her face but she quickly slicks it back into place.

“I’m fine, Amity.” She smiles reassuringly as her girlfriend pats away the grass and dirt from her clothes.

“You’re so reckless,” she hisses under her breath, glaring at her, but Luz can see the worry shining in her eyes. She grabs the hands brushing the dust from her clothes and gives a brief squeeze before dropping them.

“Very impressive, Miss. Noceda, truly,” Alador says as he walks over, spinning a finger and the abomination melts away along with the ice.

"Thanks!" She grins, standing proudly.

Mrs. Blight watches with a frown from the porch.

"I have a book in my study about ancient magics that I have personally never been able to glean much from, perhaps you would like to have a look?" he asks, Amity is surprised by this, few people are ever invited into her father's study.

"Oh, yes, please!" She grins, excited and he nods.

He turns, but pauses and looks at his daughter, who hasn't moved. "You as well, Amity, I certainly wouldn't wish to monopolize our guest, least of all from you," he says and heads toward the house. She looks up, blinking before she smiles and Luz grins at her.

"Come on, I don't think we're supposed to keep him waiting," Luz says and Amity chuckles, shaking her head as they follow her father to his study.

The twins and Odalia don't come to the study with them. Luz can sense there's some kind of dynamic going on here, but she hasn't quite figured it out. Alador clearly is in charge of the family, but Amity talks about him the least of her parents.

When they enter the room, she looks around at the tall bookshelves, filled to bursting.

"Quiet space filled with books…, you are a lot like your dad," Luz chuckles quietly, making Amity's cheeks pink. If Alador hears this he gives no indication, other than the twitching of his mouth.

He pulls a book off a shelf and it looks positively ancient as he holds it out to Luz.

“The chapter I’ve marked in particular is about abomination magic, it offers very little in terms of theory as it is taught today, it only speaks of the magics of the wilds and learning from the Isles.”

She opened it up and it’s filled with the same, indistinguishable writing from the other book Amity gave her that she’s been oh so slowly learning to decipher with Lilith’s help.

She carefully flips through the pages and spots some drawings that look very glyph like. She sets the book on his desk and digs her pad out of her pocket and carefully copies it down.

‘Please don’t let me blow up his office…’ Luz thinks as she taps it. It glows a dark purple and then a tiny abomination is looking up at her from the desktop.

“Abomination summoning glyph!” Luz breathed, grinning down at the tiny abomination that looked back at her with it’s tiny, glowing, yellow eyes. “Umm, how do I make it… do stuff?” She glanced at her girlfriend over her shoulder as she stepped up to the desk, still looking at the tiny abomination with wide eyes.

“It should be connected to your consciousness by magic… but since you don’t have a bile sac, I’m not sure,” she admits.

“You are its summoner,” Aladror says, and they look up, almost forgetting he was there. “Assert your will over it,” he says.

Luz hums, and blinks back at her little summoned creature and holds out a hand to it and does as she’s been told, she wills it to climb into her hand, and after a second, it does, albeit a little shakily at first.

Luz squeals, holding it up to her face.

“It’s so cute… for a goop monster, I mean.” she grins, turning to Amity.

“You finally made your first, complete abomination.” She grinned back excitedly.  

“A tad on the small side, but Amity’s first abomination barely reached her knee.” Alador stroked his beard as he observed the six-inch tall muck creature standing in Luz’s hand. Amity blushed at that.

Alador seems to be much more openly curious about her magic after she summons the tiny abomination from the book in the glyph and asks her some questions she is only too happy to answer and she talks animatedly about some of her adventures in discovering glyphs, carefully omitting the parts that paint her in a bad light, like the part about borrowing Amity’s wand and accidentally shooting a Slitherbeast with a fire spell and almost getting her mentor and his two oldest children eaten by said monster.

It feels like she talks for a long time, but Alador seems to be listening intently, occasionally asking questions she can sometimes answer and sometimes can’t, while Amity adds her own bits and commentary, as well as groaning or rolling her eyes at her at all the appropriate times, and then the clock on the study wall chimed ten times, making Alador look up.

“I was unaware it had grown so late.” Alador stood from his desk chair. “You both have classes tomorrow and Miss. Noceda’s mentor is probably waiting for her.” He walked around the desk, shutting the several books he had and the two girls had been going through.

“Ah, right. I should get home.”

He leads them back out into the living room where the twins have been sitting with their mother, who rises when they reappear.”

“Sia, please bring our guests' cloak,” he calls into the kitchen and a moment later the woman returns with the black material, and Luz thanks her and wraps it around her shoulders as the Blight parents and Amity walk her to the door, where she collects her staff

She steps out onto the porch before turning to smile at them. Remembering what Lilith told her to do when she left.

“Thank you for having me, Mr. and Mrs. Blight, dinner was great.”

“A pleasure, Miss. Noceda.” Alador gives a curt nod.

“Have a pleasant evening,” Odalia says.

“Goodnight, Luz.” Amity smiles at her in that soft adoring way that always makes Luz’s stomach turn to knots and she smiled as Owlbert’s wings flapped open.

“See you tomorrow, Amity.” She hops off the porch, onto the staff, and then is flying across the yard and over the gate.

"An interesting girl," Alador finally says after Luz has disappeared from sight and she and her parents moved back into the living room where her siblings are sitting on the couch, whispering to each other until they reappear. They sit up and look at them.

The suspense is killing her and she speaks up.

"So, can I... keep seeing, Luz?" Amity asks tentatively, drawing her father's gaze.

She and the twins wait on bated breath.

"Blight's only associate with the strongest of witchlings…, " he says as he looks at her, and Amity feels sick. She's heard those words before.

"... and humans," he adds. Amity sucks in a breath. "Your girlfriend is rather formidable for one so young, and knowledgeable in ancient magics, I'm impressed." He runs a hand through his beard thoughtfully. "If you wish, you may continue to see her," he says, not at all missing the way her face lights up with joy before she closes the short distance to hug him. He blinks, surprised for a moment before smiling gently at her and patting the top of her head.

Alador glances at his wife, who looks less than pleased, but he doubts she will protest, she fully believes that this romance of their daughters is a fleeting, doomed, affair already that will absolve itself in due time.

Time will tell.

Amity pulls back, trying to school her features into something calmer, but cannot for the life of her keep the smile off her face.

"Thank you, father."

He nods and turns towards the hall.

"I will be in my study, Miss Noceda gave me much to think about," he says before walking away. Her mother glances at her before sighing silently to herself and follows him.

Amity lets a smile break out across her face and then her siblings are wrapped around her, squishing their faces against hers, both grinning madly.

"Alright, Mittens!"

"Luz did it!"

Her smile breaks into a giddy grin. She did, she really did. Luz did what she thought impossible, she impressed her father and they were now free to openly date.

"I have to tell her!" She spells her scroll into existence, but Emira stops her.

"She's probably still flying home, give it a little bit so she doesn't fall off her staff mid-flight," she laughs.

Her sister is right. She'll wait a little bit, she's just so happy.

~ Luz is exhausted when she gets home, both from playing dinner party and her tumble off papa Blight’s abomination.

Eda is sprawled out across the couch, snoring when she walks in.” She smiles and twists Owlbert off the top of the staff, he hoots happily at her and nuzzles her cheek before he joins her, while Luz sets the staff in the corner and goes quickly and quietly upstairs.

She hangs her cloak back on its hanger and kicks off her shoes but instead of getting in bed, she opens the window and sets herself on the sill.

She sighs and loosens her tie, popping the top button that’s been sitting snug across her throat.

She’s exhausted and has school tomorrow, but more importantly, still has no idea how dinner went and whether or not she can still see her girlfriend. She closed her eyes, leaning her head back, she did her best, the rest was out of her hands.

A few minutes later her scroll began to ring inside her pocket.

She dug it out and saw her contact photo of a smiling Amity on the front, wanting to video chat.

She quickly hit the button and she can see her girlfriend’s absolutely giddy face, smiling back at her from her bed.

“Luz, you are amazing!” is the first thing Amity says to her. “My dad said we can keep dating!”  Luz grins broadly at the news, some of her exhaustion melting away to make room for elation.

“Yes!” Luz is grinning stupidly into her scroll. “I was afraid I got carried away there for a while, telling him stories,” she admitted.  

“I think he really liked you. I can’t remember the last time he invited a guest into his study,” she tells her. “That being said, I don’t think my mom did…I don’t think she can see anything other then that you’re human.” she frowned, and Luz shrugged.

“Can’t win em’ all, right?” She didn’t need Amity to tell her Odalia Blight didn’t like her, she was an expert at telling when she was not liked.

“Right, the important thing is we can be together.” Amity smiled. So long as her father was on board, her mother wouldn’t say anything, not outwardly anyway.

“Yeah,” Luz smiled back.

“I need to go to bed, and so do you,” she said in a scolding voice that made Luz chuckle.

“I’m going, I’m going,” she laughed. “Goodnight, Amity. I love you,” she said, watching as Amity smiled at her in that certain way, gold eyes soft and warm, lids low.

“Good night, Luz, I love you too.” She blows her a kiss and Luz grins.

The call ended and Luz smiled to herself as she looked out her window as the moonlight bounced off the sea.

“Totally worth it,” she mumbled, hopping out of the window and shutting it.

[k7l4d4]

Midnight Striga: Fairy Tail/Owl House Cross Fic Episode 6 Part 3

Hello, and once again, welcome to the exciting world of Midnight Striga! Everybody Clap Your Hands!!

Eda easily slipped through the crowd, one of the benefits of being a skilled pickpocket, scanning the faces around her. Her eyes brightened when she finally spotted the girl she was looking for. “Luz!” She called out, signalling the girl over. As Luz spotted Eda in turn, she grinned, sauntering over.

“Hey Eda! How’d your conversation go?” Luz asked casually, hands tucked in her pockets.

Eda gave a confident smirk, expertly holding in the awkwardness she knew was trying to peek through. “Eh, as well as it was gonna go. Still, I think me and Gwen are gonna be fine.” She replied, giving an easy shrug. Things between her and her mother may still be rough, but they now had a starting point to build something healthy. Together.

Luz gave a wistful smile. “Man, that must be nice.” She said, an almost dreamy look to her face, much to Eda’s confusion. Shaking her head, Luz cleared her thoughts. “Anyway, I got to ask something.”

“Fire away.” Eda prompted.

Luz smirked, laughing lightly. “I overheard some kids talking, do you know what this whole Moonlight Conjuring thing is?” She asked, slightly cocking her head.

“Moonlight Conjuring? Pfft! It’s some baby magic ceremony where kids hold hands and try to use the power of the moon to bring something to life.” Eda said dismissively. She had honestly forgotten that it was around that time of year for it. Ugh. She raised an eyebrow at the look of shock Luz had. “What’s with the look?”

“Are you saying that parents WILLINGLY let their kids attempt a Lunar Ritual!? Annually!?” She demanded, a wild look in her eyes.

Eda reeled back at the intensity. “Whoa, kid! You’re gonna have to explain a little. What’s the big deal, the ritual never works!” She should know, all those times she and… anway, all those times she’d tried to do it as a kid, and it never worked, not even once!

“I can think of a few reasons why if my hunch is right.” Luz dryly stated, though Eda was mostly certain that wasn’t a jab at her. This time at least. Luz grew serious. “Eda, this is big stuff. Lunar Rituals, even minor ones, are insanely powerful, and can cause all kinds of chaos!” She huffed. “Man, this job just got tougher.”

That instantly caught Eda’s attention. “What job?” She asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion. If this was a trap…

Luz snorted. “That Blight girl from the Covention is holding a Conjuring for her and some of her friends, and asked me to run Bodyguard duty so that they feel safe.” She shrugged. “I mean, usually I’m the one getting PAST bodyguards, not acting as one, but it seemed like something to do, you know?”

Eda paused, mulling it over. She knew the Blights, the parents that is, and she didn’t trust either of them, not really. Al was deceptively absent-minded, but was brilliant when it came to playing the game and getting the best results for him and his, whereas Dolly was… an experience in patience testing, even by Eda’s lofty standards of weaponized annoyance. Still, if it came from the kid, it probably wasn’t a trap. “Eh, I got no problem with it.” She finally said. “Just keep your eyes peeled around her parents. Al and Dolly aren’t the kind of people you should trust. Like, at all.” She finished, voice growing grave.

Luz lightly bit her lip, softly kicking at the ground. “Yeah, I understand.” She was intimately familiar with adults of those types. Eyes brightening, she added, “But hey, it’s still a party, right? I bet I can sneak out some snacks for you, King and Hooty after I’m done!” She winked, a cheeky grin on her face. Eda laughed at that. Chuckling, the two made their way home, Eda chugging the potion before she forgot about it again. When they got back, they encountered the honestly hilarious sight of King tied up to a pole over a pile of leaves, Hooty reading off a list of charges before a court of stuffed animals. After they finished laughing, and King stopped screaming in embarrassment, the group went inside, gathering supplies.

“I don’t care what you say, I AM GOING WITH YOU TO THE NIGHT MARKET!!” King shouted, stomping his foot. It almost looked bratty, were it not for the fact he was also stuffing supplies into a fanny pack from Eda’s junk piles. For all his attitude, he was serious about going with her.

“Ugh! Fine, fine! Just settle down already!” Eda groaned, relenting to his (annoying) insistence. She looked sideways at Luz’s chuckle. “Oh, like you’d be able to stand up to him when he’s like this, either!” She retorted.

Luz snorted. “Aw heck no! I am well aware when to fold’em, but that’s not gonna stop me from finding this hilarious!” She laughed, her stuff packed and ready for the trip. She calmed down, focusing. “But for real, this should be a good way to relax, you know?” She said, a soft smile on her face, one that Kind and Eda returned. A sharp knocking sounded at the door. “Coming!” Luz called out. As she walked up to the door, she was unsurprised to see Willow and Gus standing before her, wearing a mix of formal and casual clothing. What did surprise her, however, was their expressions. Willow had a look of stoic control, as if she was about to do something she really didn’t want to, but was resigned to it. Gus seemed to be oscillating between barely contained panic, and unfettered excitement.

“Uuuhh… you guys okay?” Luz hesitantly asked. She knew that they didn’t have the best history with Blight, but wasn’t this reaction a little much?

“Who, us!? Yeah! Totally fine! Definitely not panicking over going to the most popular girl in school’s Conjuring after she sent us a message over Penstagram and are totally freaking out over the idea of it being a horrible, awful, evil prank to humiliate and degrade us!! Nope, we are totally fine!” Gus rambled, eyes flicking around the area, visibly sweating. Luz cocked an eyebrow.

“Let’s just get this over with, can we?” Willow stoically stated, already moving to leave, and motioning for them to follow. Gus quickly followed suit. With a shrug, Luz gave one last wave goodbye to Eda and King, and followed them.

“The guard I acquired to supervise the safety of myself and my guests for the conjuring, along with the first of my guests, will be arriving shortly.” Amity informed her parents. Alador was still working on his latest Abomination experiment, almost obsessed with it ever since he had examined Willow’s from the incident as Amity thought of it. Her mother, Odalia, was frantically pacing, sipping at a cup of tea to try and settle her nerves. Amity admittedly derived some level of almost sadistic enjoyment from her mother’s current discomfort. For reasons unknown, Odalia had been in something of a tizzy all day, her normal paranoia kicked up a few notches.

“I don’t like it!” Odalia announced, stopping in front of Amity. “This entire venture is far too risky, with too little benefit! While a boost to public morale and that of the social links you’ve formed would most definitely be beneficial, we have no idea if those Oroboros Cravens would attempt to attack us! We ARE the Boiling Isles premiere source of Home Security equipment, after all!” She turned to Alador. “Is it too late to cancel?”

“I believe so.” Alador added his absent-minded consideration to the conversation. “If I recall correctly, the guests should all be currently in transit, and if Amity’s preparations are accurate, our first two guests and her mysterious guard should be arriving at any moment.” He concluded, never once glancing up from the Abomination before him, his arms buried deep in its inner workings.

“Curses!” Odalia bit out, glancing at the clock in frustration. Ultimately, she sighed. “Ugh, very well, I suppose this nonsensical event can continue.” Amity tacitly held her tongue on the fact that Odalia was the one who regularly encouraged her to hold them at all.

“Thank you, mother.” Amity said diplomatically. The doorbell screamed, signalling someone’s arrival. “I believe that would be my guard and two of the guests. Would you like to accompany me in greeting them?” She asked, internally begging for her mother not to, to make up some bull excuse about it being beneath her, that she had work to do, anything!

“Hmm, very well, I suppose.” Odalia replied, dashing Amity’s hopes. As the two walked toward the door, she once again internally begged, pleaded, for her mother not to make a scene, to just accept Amity’s decisions. Surprisingly, her hopes were answered! ...Though, the reason was in itself rather chilling.

Outside the door stood three figures, Willow, Augustus, and Luz, all ready for the night to begin. Seeing who was at the door, Amity expected a few different reactions from her mother: Shouting, summoning Abominations, derogatory remarks, and a few others. What she got was, in itself, surprising. A wide, intimately familiar smile appeared across Odalia’s face, the look she got when she made a highly advantageous deal. “Welcome, honored guests!” Odalia cried, ushering the bewildered group inside. “It is my pleasure, as Matriarch of the Blight Family, to welcome you to our humble home for my darling daughter’s Moonlight Conjuring!” Humble, right. Amity felt like scoffing at her mother’s hammy antics, but held her tongue, both to maintain her image, and to see why her mother was reacting as anticipated.

“Well, it’s a pleasure to be here, Miss Blight.” Luz cordially stated, a neutral look on her face.

“Oh, call me Odalia dear! You played quite the role in protecting my darling Mittens from harm!” She all but gushed, ruffling Amity’s hair, much to her frustration. She could see the three silently mouthing her nickname. Oh no. Odalia’s eyes sharpened, focusing on Luz’s face. “Judging by your presence here, I believe it’s safe to assume you are the guard my daughter acquired, is it not?”

“Uh, yeah.” Luz nodded, a little baffled at Odalia’s antics at the moment. “Pardon my confusion, but you are taking me being here a lot better than I expected.”

“Hmm? Oh, you mean about your association with those ruffians, don’t you?” Odalia rhetorically stated, chuckling lightly. “My dear, you swore an Unbreakable Vow on a live broadcast, someone would have to be a fool to find you suspect after that, you even pledged to fight against Oroboros while under it for Titan’s sake! No, you being here eliminates most of my worries about how this night will turn out.” She said, a pleased look on her face.

“Oh! Well, thank you, ma’am.” Luz said, a faint blush on her face at the praise. Amity resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow. While that was certainly a revelation as to her mother’s motives, in part, it still didn’t answer the biggest question as to why she hasn’t blown her top.

“And who might you be?” Odalia cordially stated, turning to Augustus.

“OH, uh, Augustus Porter, Miss Odalia Blight, Ma’am!! I’m in the same year as your daughter, in the Illusion Track at Hexside!” He quickly stated, standing stock still in nervousness. Amity almost face-palmed at his antics. “Most people call me Gus.” He rapidly added.

“Hmm, Gus Porter, son of Perry Porter, conductor of the interview and one of the Boiling Isles most acclaimed reporters, holding a great deal of public sway due to his accuracy, honesty, and minimal bias in his field.” Odalia rattled off, as if by memory. Amity assumed it was, as her mother did enjoy memorizing details of people with influence, even if only peripherally, like Mr. Porter. “Going by your age, I find it intriguing that you’re in the same year as my daughter. Did you skip a grade?” She mused.

“Uh, two actually.” Gus said, bashfully rubbing his shoulder.

“Well, well, well! Aren’t you the accomplished little intellectual!” She said enthusiastically. “My boy, if you ever desire, I believe I could find you quite a lucrative position at Blight Industries upon your graduation.” She said, pulling out one of her business cards, handing it to the now star-struck boy.

“Oh, wow! Uh, thank you?” He said, both excited and confused at the offer, tucking the card into his pocket.

“Oh, think nothing of it.” Odalia dismissed, turning to Willow, an assessing look in her eyes. “And you?”

“Willow Park, ma’am.” Willow said, her face a careful mask of iron-clad politeness.

“Willow Park, recent transfer to Hexside’s Plant Track, considered their rising star, and possessing a level of power and skill typically found only in adults.” Odalia once again rattled off, a calculating look in her eyes. “Miss Park, I daresay I owe you an apology for my daughter’s conduct.” Amity and Willow both went very still at that, certain theories sliding into place in both their minds.

“While I am unaware as to why, exactly, my daughter felt the need to distract herself with something as gauche as bullying of all things, I am pleased to inform you that she was appropriately reprimanded for her conduct.” Odalia continued, blissfully unaware of the thoughts raging through the minds of the two involved. “If you ever feel the need for further discussion on this topic, or if my daughter slips back into such… unsavory habits, feel free to contact me. But for the moment, I must bid the three of you farewell.” And with that, she turned on her heel, swiftly making her way back to her husband, hoping he was either finished… or hadn’t killed himself.

Amity felt sick. Her mind could only find one simple conclusion as to why, exactly, that had occurred, and by the look of mixed disgust and near-volcanic rage on Willow’s face, she had reached it as well. “She didn’t even remember me.” Willow breathed out, burning heat coloring her voice. “She didn’t even know who I was!”

Unbeknownst to the group, a figure was watching from the shadows outside, a group arrayed protectively around her. “I never expected to see you here, LuLu.” A childish voice giggled, a small pointed object glinting in their hands.

[adoraami97]

A Night to Remember

Part 1

“Ah I’m so excited! I can’t believe we’re doing another Moonlight Conjuring tonight” Luz exclaimed with her usual abundance of energy. The young witch in training did a twirl at the thought of another Conjuring with her best friends.

“Me too! But uh, let’s try not to animate the Owl House this time” Willow chipped in with a blush. The last time the trio of witches, Luz, Willow, and Gus had gotten together to perform a Moonlight Conjuring they had managed to accidentally possess the house demon, Hooty, and brought Luz’s home to life.

“Oh don’t worry about it, I’m sure after a year of proper witch training, and actually learning the incantation, there won’t be any trouble animating our actual target this time.” Gus had an abundance of confidence in the trio of friends, believing that after a year of learning and practicing witchcraft that there was no way Luz wouldn’t be able to focus her magic this time.

Just as the three of them were discussing the evening’s plans, snacks, what to animate, Luz noticed a lone witch strolling towards them.

“AH! Amity!! Hey Amity! Come over here!!” Luz waved with excitement at the brilliant green-haired witch, a hint of something more than her usual enthusiasm peeped through her cheerful tone. Gus and Willow looked at each other and exchanged a quick smirk, they knew more than either Luz or Amity did about the budding relationship between the two witches.

“O-oh hi Luz! How are you? You seem really excited about something, is something happening? Wow I lov-I MEAN never mind, I’ve been talking for too long, what’s up?” Amity, the top student at Hexside and normally the most composed person in the group found herself tripping over her words unable to form a proper sentence.

“Oh for titan’s sake Amity!” she thought to herself trying to regain her composure “If you turn into a blushing and stuttering mess every time you see Luz she’ll start to think something is wrong with you!”

Luz didn’t seem to notice or mind very much, she found it endearing when Amity got this way around her, though she wasn’t quite sure why it happened.

“Hiya there partner! Are you going to join us for tonight’s Moonlight Conjuring? We’re hoping it’ll go smoother than last year’s, it’d be much less stressful for us to not accidentally possess Hooty.”

“‘Howdy partner’??” Luz did a mental face-palm. “Come on Noceda that was so lame, if you say stuff like that every time you see this cutie pie she’s going to think you’re too weird!”

“Oh a Moonlight Conjuring? With you? Sitting next to you to combine powers to animate an object?? Holding your hand???” Amity felt her face starting to warm, she knows she turns a bright pink every time she thinks about anything that might bring her to some kind of intimacy with Luz, she starts focusing on her breathing to help her calm down.

“Of course, I’d enjoy that. Doing the Conjuring that is!! Nothing more!” Her face started to warm again, realizing she was coming dangerously close to admitting her feelings to the witch from the human world.

“Okay Luz, here’s your chance, you’re all set up to knock this out of the park” Luz was hyping herself to make a casual and hopefully smooth move.

“Awe come on Blight, you’re not excited to hold my hand? I mean we did have an entire moon-lit dance together at Grom” 

“I-well I uh… I gotta go!” Amity spat out the words as she turned around and scurried briskly away to her next class, going the wrong direction.

“Oh… Shoot. I want to hold her hand…” Luz said, under her breath a tinge of pain coming through as she contemplated what she did wrong.

“Hm? What was that Luz?” Willow said mischievously eyeing Luz, well aware of her true feelings towards Amity.

“Oh! Uuuuhhhhh…. I said I wanted toooo… hold her books! Yeah that was it, I wanted to hold her books” Luz described nervously with an uncharacteristic lack of confidence, She knew she had done a poor job covering up but Gus seemed at least convinced, and she hoped he could talk Willow in to believing her.

“Anyway, I’ll see you guys tonight after class! Have a good day pals” and with that, she strolled as nonchalantly as she could to her next class, feeling her face grow warmer as she thought of her convo with Amity and how she could tell the young girl about her feelings.

Part 2: Amity

“Okay Amity, you can do this. It’s just a conjuring, it’s nothing amazing. Although, this could be a great opportunity to tell Luz… no! What am I thinking? It’s too soon, what if she doesn’t like girls? I don’t know if that’s weird for humans or not, or worse, what if she doesn’t like me? How could I handle the rejection? Ugh! It’s okay, just have a good time tonight and stay calm.”

As Amity approached the door to the mysterious lair of Eda the Owl Lady, known as the Owl House, she could feel her cheeks growing hot and flushed. They seemed to glow against the backdrop of the purple sky as the sun sunk below the horizon. By focusing on her breathing and taking the time to clear her head, she managed to get her rosy complexion back to its normal porcelain mien before finishing the last few steps of the path.

Caught up in getting herself composed she had completely missed the demon of the Owl House.

“HOOT HOOT AMITY!! You looked awfully pink there, are you feeling okay? Were you thinking about something emmbbaaarrraaassiiinnngggg? You can tell me of course hoot hoot. I’m great at keeping secrets” Hooty pressed his tubular face against hers. He was quite overbearing and loved to snoop. Amity felt her cheeks flushing again but this time not with spectacled embarrassment.

“Hooty, do you remember the last time you touched me?” she growled, eyeing Hooty with a glare that could slay a dragon.

“Okay yeesh I get it, hoot.” Hooty dejected as he retracted back into the front door of the Owl House.

Luz was pacing back and forth in front of the couch in the living room of the Owl House, muttering to herself as Gus and Willow watched with worried expressions.

Part 2: Luz

“Oh man when is she going to get here? Should I pull her aside and tell her tonight? If I do, should I do it before, or after the conjuring? Is it even okay for girls to like each other here? What if everyone thinks I’m weird like they do back in the human realm? What if she doesn’t like me the way I like her??” a million thoughts flew through Luz’s mind as she furrowed her brow and continued pacing, back and forth, back and forth.

Hooty opened the door, and Luz saw her crush. As Amity walked in Luz stopped dead in her tracks, she found herself blushing at Amity’s outfit. A simple ensemble consisting of a t-shirt like dress, what Luz would have described as Vans, and a simple necklace crowned with a purple stone medallion, something akin to amethyst.

“Amity! Oh wow I’m so glad you came tonight, I thought maybe you weren’t going to after we talked at school today. You look great by the way, I mean seriously you just look ready to animate an inanimate object you know?” she barely managed to get her words out cohesively as her cheeks started to turn a warm shade of pink

“Oh, thank you Luz, I.. suppose I know what you mean?” Amity had no idea what Luz was trying to say but understood she meant it as a compliment, and compliments from Luz always made her feel warm and joyous. She had been looking down at the floor as she walked in and as she looked up, her eyes met Luz’s, they locked their gaze for what felt like an eternity but was simply no more than a fleeting second.

As if on queue the owner of the home descended down the stairs with her pet demon in tow. Eda the Owl Lady and King. She shot a knowing glance in the pair’s direction. She couldn’t be certain, but she had enough experience to know a crush when she saw one.

“Okay kids I’m going out for tonight, I need to restock on some supplies for my potion brewing. Try not to animate the house again, and if anything happens or you run into any trouble just give me a call, I’ll have my magic scroll on me and be ready to come back at a moments’ notice, also I’m bringing King with me because I need to keep an eye on his snacking.” With that she scooped the little demon dog into her arms and left the house, magical staff and suspiciously full basket in arm.

“So, who wants to play some games until it’s time to perform the Conjuring?” Luz spoke as soon as Eda left, trying her best to be nonchalant and upbeat as ever, to not reveal anything to Amity.

Part 3

Some time after the conjuring, well into the waning hours of the night the quad of witches were just laying around chatting.

“Oh wow, it’s getting really late, we should probably head home” Willow said checking the time. 

“Yeah, my parents want me home tonight because we’re leaving for vacation in the morning” Gus agreed. It wasn’t true, however. There was no vacation, Willow and Gus had discussed setting up a situation for Luz and Amity to be alone tonight, knowing someone had to push the pair of wistful witches to make a move with each other, otherwise it may never happen.

“O-oh! Are you two sure??? Eda wouldn’t mind you spending the night here and we’ve been having so much fun. Who wants to break up a good party??” Luz stammered thinking quickly, she didn’t want to be alone with Amity. She was afraid of making a mistake if the two were left alone and she really didn’t want to ruin the bond she shared with her best friend.

“No no we have to go. We’ll see you at school on Monday though have a good night Luz!!” Willow waved as she pushed Gus out the door and quickly followed behind, leaving Luz and Amity on their own.

“Oh no oh no oh no! What do I do now? I can’t mess things up, I guess I better say goodbye to Amity for the night too” as Luz was turning to tell her friend goodnight, she noticed Amity had fallen fast asleep. She had been laying across the couch with her feet in Luz’s lap, but Luz hadn’t realized how tired she was.

“Wow, she’s so cute when she’s asleep! Her ears are twitching and even her little snores make my heart flutter!” she knew she could have left Amity laying there, but it felt wrong to not try and wake her up.

“Pst, Amity, hey Amity. Come on sleepyhead wake up” Luz murmured gently as she put her hand on Amity’s shoulder, gently rocking the witch to wake her up.

“Mmm.. aahh… Luz…? Wait. Luz?!” Amity shot up like she had been fired from a canon, her cheeks turning an intense shade of red as she realized what happened.

“Where are Willow and Gus??? How long was I out for?? Oh no I’m so sorry I-I..” her voice trailed off as she realized that she hadn’t moved her feet off Luz’s lap, and as she looked Luz in the face she saw, grief? Pain? Either way the sight of her quickly snapped Amity to composure.

“Luz, are you okay? Did I say something wrong? I’m so sorry..”

“No! No don’t worry Amity, you didn’t do anything wrong. I’m sorry I woke you up, Gus and Willow went home. I thought you might want to as well, but you look so tired. Would you like to spend the night here? I’m sure Eda wouldn’t mind, I-I could call and ask her if you’re worried about being a burden” Luz knew she could confess her feelings to Amity tonight, but really she was just worried about keeping her friend as safe as possible. Her intentions were pure, and she felt her cheeks getting warmer.

“Oh Luz thank you, that’s such a kind thought. But I don’t have any pajamas here, and do you have space where I can sleep?” Amity of course knew the answer, as she was currently laying on the couch, but she hoped Luz was too tired to catch it. 

“Oh well you could sleep on the couch or uh.. You know you could sleep in my bed, not with me of course! But it would probably be a lot more comfortable, and eda has comfy shirts you can wear and I have an extra pair of pj shorts you could borrow..” Luz felt her face growing hotter at the thought of Amity in a cute oversized t-shirt, wearing her pajama shorts.

Amity’s face turned a bright red again, having the exact same thought. And thinking about sleeping in Luz’s bed, surrounded with her warm smell. 

“Oh, well in that case sure. Ask Eda though, if she says ‘no’ I can get my parents to pick me up” this was her last line of defense, though she very obviously hoped Eda would say “yes”.

“Okay, I’ll call her now.” Luz gave Amity a reassuring smile before trotting up the stairs to grab her phone. She took a deep breath then called Eda”

“Hey kid, what’s up? You didn’t bring the house to life without me again did you?” the older witch said with a tone that was as loving as it was teasing.

“No, Eda, listen. This is an emergency. Amity is extremely tired and I don’t think she should walk home, can she spend the night here?” Luz said quietly enough to guarantee that Amity wouldn’t be able to hear it from downstairs.

“Sure thing kid, but uhm, what’s the emergency?” 

“Oh… uh… I guess… there isn’t one per se?” Luz stammered out, thanking the fact 

Eda couldn’t see how red her face was on the other side of the receiver.

“Okay, well since there’s no emergency, have fun! I rolled out a second sleeping bag next to yours in your room. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” She hung up with a knowing chuckle, leaving Luz to wonder if Eda knew how she felt about Amity.

“Hey Amity, Eda okayed the sleepover!” then muttering under her breath “and apparently thought this would happen”

“Oh! Good, don’t worry about my parents. I told them and they said as long as I’m back tomorrow there’s no issues” Amity lied, knowing she wouldn’t be able to tell her parents she was spending the night at the Owl House, they would lecture her about the family’s status if they knew and the reprimanding would be endless.

“Great! I mean good, let’s get ready for bed then right? I know you’re exhausted. We can read the new Azura book before we go to sleep!” with that Luz led Amity up the stairs, handing her one of Eda’s shirts and a pair of pyjama shorts.

“Here, you can wear these tonight, I’ll let you change in here and I’ll go back down to the bathroom. See you in a bit!”

Part 4

“Okay, Luz, deep breaths. You’re just having a sleepover with your best friend, who you happen to think is really cute and smoochable. Totally normal, nothing to see here!”

The two witches laid by each other's side, the book suspended by magic and turning the page whenever they had both finished it. They had needed to push their sleeping rolls right against each other so they could both read the words on the pages, making them painfully aware of the other’s presence.

“Wow, I can’t believe Hecate and Azura might be getting together in this book, I mean who would have guessed? They hated each other so much in the first two.” Luz said excitedly, incapable of holding back her excitement. She turned her head to look at Amity and realized that the witch had also been looking at her. In that moment their faces were so close, Luz felt a pull to Amity. Instead, she chuckled nervously and scooted further away on her bed roll.

“What do you think, Ami?” she asked, trying to ease the seemingly awkward tension. Amity only let Luz call her “Ami”, it only felt right when she did it. Not with anyone else.

“I think you’re the most beautiful person in all the Boiling Isles” Amity dreamily said, she shot up. Looking in fear at Luz’s face as she cupped a hand over her mouth.

“Oh my titan! Luz I’m so sorry I can leave now if you want me to, oh no that was so ridiculous of me how could I-” she stopped suddenly. Luz had put her hand on Amity, and as Amity turned to really look at Luz she realized that Luz didn’t look at all angry, and her panic turned to nervous butterflies.

“Did… did you mean that, Amity? Do… you like me?” Luz whispered, barely audible. She couldn’t believe what she had just heard come from the striking witch’s lips.

“I-I did Luz. I’m sorry. I’ve had these feelings for you, for a long time now. I’ve had this feeling that I want to be more than friends with you, that I want to be… a partner for you.” Amity couldn’t peel her gaze away from the wall behind Luz, she knew that if she looked at Luz she wouldn’t be able to finish the thoughts she had, that she would back out and take everything back.

“Oh, Ami... “ Luz started to laugh, the sound of her bubbly laughter startling and confusing Amity.

“What, did you find something I said particularly funny?” her pointed ears had started to glow red at this point from the amount of sheer embarrassment she was feeling.

“No! Not at all! It’s just that I’ve felt the same about you and had no idea how I was going to tell you, or if I even should! I was so worried you wouldn’t like me back and want to stop being friends with me for good. In my world, it’s less common for girls to like each other that way. I got bullied for being bisexual at my old school, and thought it might be the same here” as her laughter turned to a solemn chuckle, Amity wrapped her arms around her in an embrace.

“I’m so sorry to hear that Luz, that’s unacceptable. We don’t bully people for who they love here, but if anyone bullies you at Hexside, you let me know. And they WILL bear my wrath.” She let go of Luz to gently hold her face and look her in the eyes as she spoke.

“Amity, thank you. So, would you… like to be my girlfriend then?” she spoke softly but kept her eye contact, a gentle spark brighter than the luminous orbs she had cast starting to shine in her eyes.

“Yes, I would love that Luz.” Amity found herself breathless, her blushiness suddenly gone but a warm feeling throughout her body had taken its place.

“It’s almost morning, I think we should get to sleep.” Luz chuckled and closed the shutters to the large round circular window on the far wall. As the witches laid down to fall asleep, Luz reached out and grabbed Amity’s hand, gently stroking the back of it with her thumb as the newly found couple drifted off to sleep.

Thanks for reading everyone! This was 100% meant to be a fluff piece, but I have a more serious one in the works right now! Let me know how you liked it <3