Chapter Text
Sometimes people forgot how good Raine was at observations.
They forgot that the bard was the head of their own coven for a few years before everything went down.
That, among the Coven Heads, Riane had been the first to note that Belos seemed off.
And that Raine was good with children, and identifying how they were feeling at the moment, or even if they needed more space or room.
It was quiet .
And not just quiet as in lazy afternoon quiet, it was quiet as in, we are waiting for the worst happen quiet. It was the same quiet that would occupy the space where noise should be, and fill it with made up noises, and random creaking that shouldn’t even happen.
Silence like this, wasn’t normal, Raine had come to realize. The talons were always in motion, constantly on the lookout, shifting changing never staying still.
Their survival depended on it.
They had to be watching with sharp eyes for the next assassin, for the next hoard, for other survivors who want to harm them.
Raine watched quietly as Hunter and Conner interacted, Hunter holding Conner on his hip, looking at the boy like he was the most important thing alive. Raine could feel their own competitive streak coming through as they watched Darius carefully, because by all means, this boy was technically Hunter’s brother. And Darius could be directly challenging their claim on the young grimwalker. Something that they would not be taking laying down.
Before Raine could go down that war path, the door was opened, ad Eda nad Luz stepped in. Luz, now that Raine got a better look, probably had her growth stunted,the lack fo nutrients, and the competition for food, plus being on the run constantly, and sharing what she could with her little family, Luz was probably borderline starved .
Much like how Masha had crumpled into the hammock, Luz, set down a small box that held a load of cans and various food items, and walked over to the nearest wolf, Jerobic if they had hear Conner tell the group right, and collapsed down onto it, groaning in relief as she fell asleep. Raine watched ehr for a moment more, waiting for the inevitable jump when Eda set down the box, watching her tense when Hunter walked by her to grab his bag.
They felt a sharp pang in their heart when Luz flinched away from Amity as she settled beside Luz, only for Luz to melt into a hug, at some point, tehy had probably talked things out, Riane noted dully, or they were just going to keep doing what they used to do, or ignore what could have happened.
Possibly both.
Eda sat down her own box, slinking over to Raine and plopping ehr head down dramatically on their lap.
“How did that conversation go?” Raine inquired in a hushed whisper. Eda let out a low sigh.
“She has so much trauma and mental health issues that I think she might put Hunter’s 12 therapist record to shame.”
Riane chuckled mirthlessly.
“That bad Calamity?”
“Hmm.” Eda muttered as Raine began to work their fingers through her scalp, watching the window carefully as Zombies limped by and thunder clashed against the black of the stormy sky, they watched as birds flew by, ignoring the mess below, and shuddered slightly when a mauled and infected deer stepped out into broad daylight.
Raine was beginning to noticet he small things that pointed to a full world collapses, the way that the three country’s left seemd dead set on snagging Luz, and they way that they were against any other way that was not their own.
The way that everyone who lived somewhat normally still had to deal with the constant threat of a body killing parasite, Luz’s loss of her arm, Clare’s over all very bad mental health and Masha’s exhaustion.
Raine was good at observations yes, sometimes they wished they weren’t.
“You’re thinking to much Rainestorm.” Eda hummed as they leaned back against the window seal they were sitting in. They chuckled and ressued looking back out.
“I can’t help it.” they muttered right back, their eyes drifted over to Luz and Amity, they let sleep overtake them and they had many things they wanted to do.
Perhaps, the top and most important one to date, was to drag the kids back to the Demon Realm soon rather than later.
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Luz was at one point use to curling up next to Amity on colder days, snuggling against the witch and exchanging small tid bits of random information that they might think the other found interesting.
But after a year and a half of constant fear and anxiety, and voilent touch, it was nice, if not a bit strange to have Amity curl around her again.
She didn’t fight it, Titan knows that it was probably a terrible idea to being with, but fighting Amity while she had her mind set was like tring to fight a bull who wanted to stay where it was, which was to say, impossible.
She let her head rest on Amity’s collarbone, curling up as small as her body would allow, soaking in what ever warmth she could, winters in Gracesfield were long and cold, and that was already nipping at her ears.
Plus, Amity didn’t blame here for shutting and burning that door, she didn’t blame her form ehr mama’s death, or her subsequent murdering of Arnold, she understood when she had taken Luz aside about three hours before Luz had gone to sulk on the roof, asking if Luz was still interested in her, expressing freely just how much she had missed her and loved her.
It brought back the old Luz for a small, minut, almost not existing moments.
They had laughed for a moment, laughing and snorting like they had when they were 14, AMity had initated the hug that had first brough Luz to ehr knees.
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“Luz?”
“Yes sweet potato?”
“It’s not your fault.”
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She hadn’t known how much she had needed to hear those words from Amity, the reassurance that even as she was drowning under the stress and responsibility, it wasn’t her fault, that she had done everything she could to save her mama. She had sobbed for about half an hour after Amity had told her that, Amity had stood there, quietly rocking her side to side, muttering reassurances to her now shorter girlfriend.
Luz loved her girlfriend, she loved her to death and would do anything to keep her safe and warm, anything . Fighting a hoard of a thousand zombies check, fighting off survivors who had less than pure intent, check.
Luz just wanted a home by this point, she didn’t care where, as long as the smell and taste of death weren’t lingering on her tongue.