Work Text:
Willow walks into Amity’s office, finding her in the exact position she left her boss twenty minutes ago. Amity taps a finger on her desk, staring down at her phone. She has a slight frown and her forehead scrunches in concentration. She’s grumbling to herself.
“Are you still obsessing over your date with Luz?” Willow asks as she places a mug of hot tea next to the businesswoman.
Amity takes the mug and brings it to her lips. She takes a few tentative sips before replying. “I’m not obsessing, I just wanna be prepared.”
Willow looks over at her phone. A video of ice skaters is paused on the screen. She can tell from the outfits that it’s from a show of sorts. She frowns. “Amity, it’s just ice skating at the local park. I highly doubt Luz can skate at this skill level.”
Amity takes her phone and locks it, placing it in her blazer pocket. “I know, but I just thought I’d get a few pointers.”
Willow scoffs. “You know you don’t have to be the best at everything, right? Just tell her you don’t know how to skate.”
“I know,” She says shyly. “I just wanna impress her, that’s all.”
Willow laughs and pats her shoulder. “Trust me, she’s already impressed. She won’t stop talking about this Saturday.”
Amity blushes at her comment. After trying to fit into each other’s hectic schedules, their date wasn’t happening until two weeks after their first meeting at the bar. Though between those two weeks they had texted each other non-stop and even had a few late night calls that ended with one or both of them falling asleep without hanging up. Willow finds it adorable and takes every opportunity to fluster her oldest friend.
“Besides,” Willow continues with a knowing smirk, heading towards the door to go back to her desk. “Not knowing how to ice skate just means more hand holding and her pressed against you to hold you up.”
Amity’s face turns scarlet. She narrows her eyes at her assistant’s back. “You’re fired.”
Willow cackles as the door closes.
Amity notices Luz sitting on a bench scrolling through her phone. She’s wearing a light blue plaid coat with a matching bomber hat and jeans. Amity looks down at her own light-purple peacoat that covers her maroon sweater and thinks she may have overdressed.
Luz looks up from her phone and spots her, waving her hand enthusiastically. “Amity! Over here!”
Amity smiles and heads on over. Luz stands and wraps her in an unexpected hug. She’s initially caught off guard, but soon returns the embrace.
“Sorry,” Luz mumbles next to ear. “I just really wanted to do that since our last call. I can’t believe how slow two weeks can drag.”
Amity groans. “For me it’s flown by. I can’t wait for this month to be over.”
Luz immediately grabs her gloved hand and starts heading over to the little shack stationed near the man-made ice rink. Amity blushes at the casual affection, but follows her without hesitation.
“I guess I can understand that, what with everything you’ve told me going on with work.” Luz sympathizes. “But, I am determined to show you some fun winter activities.”
“About that,” Amity starts.
Luz pauses mid-step and looks over with a sad expression. “You’re not canceling, are you?”
Amity’s eyes widen at the hurt tone. “No! No, not that.” Luz’s face instantly brightens and Amity feels her heart flutter. “I just...I don’t know how to ice skate. I’ve never been.”
Now it’s Luz’s turn for her eyes to widen. “Never? Not even as a kid?”
Amity shrugs indifferently. “The opportunity never presented itself. And honestly, I never had an interest.” She sends Luz a smirk. “Until now.”
The remark and look have the desired effect, sending Luz into a stuttering mess as her cheeks heat up. Amity takes the lead toward the booth, an overwhelmed Luz trailing behind, their hands still intertwined.
They approach the stand and give their respective sizes. Amity goes to grab her wallet from her purse, but Luz beats her to it and produces a twenty from her pocket. She hands it over, not letting Amity object, and once her change is handed to her, grabs both pairs of skates and turns to head back over to the bench.
“Thanks.” Amity grins as she walks beside Luz.
“Of course! I am the one who asked you out after all.” She justifies proudly.
Amity rolls her eyes. “After my prompting.” She retorts.
“Then you can cover the next date.” Luz compromises.
“So, there’s a second date?” Amity asks with an amusing tone.
Luz starts and avoids her gaze, her face turning red. “I-If you want.”
Her tone is light but Amity notices the slight hesitation and stops walking. Luz pauses as well and smiles shyly at her. The Blight smiles softly and grabs her skates from Luz, lacing their fingers together with her now empty hand.
“I’m game if you are.”
Luz smiles so wide that Amity wonders how her cheeks don’t hurt. “Absolutely!”
She chuckles and places a kiss on the Latina’s cheek. “Come on, you dork. Let’s put these deathtraps on.”
“I changed my mind.” Amity declares as she wobbles onto the ice.
She flails as she tries to steady herself. Meanwhile, Luz has already taken an experimental lap around the small rink. The size is nowhere near big enough for an official hockey match, but is just the right size for amateur skaters who just want to stretch their legs.
Luz giggles as she stops in front of the fumbling girl. “Too late now, Blight.” She holds out both hands to the woman. “Come on, I’ll help you.”
Amity grabs both her hands, her legs going in separate directions. She grunts as she tries to right herself, but just ends up switching the two legs before Luz tugs to help steady her. Amity releases a small "oop" before gliding over to Luz, their faces inches apart. Both laugh before Amity yelps as her foot slips yet again.
“Okay, so two things.” Luz observes as she holds Amity up by her forearms. “One, you’re leaning over too much. It’s okay to bend your knees slightly for balance, but if you keep hunching over like that, you’re gonna have way too much weight on one side. And two, instead of trying to keep your feet straight, you may wanna try pointing your toes towards each other.”
Amity positions herself the way Luz instructed and is eventually able to stand upright for more than a few seconds. She looks down at her date’s feet and frowns quizzically.
“You’re straight.” She comments.
“Well, half-straight.” Luz snorts.
Amity gapes and then lightly shoves her shoulder. The soft push causes Luz to glide backwards a few inches before Amity grabs her forearm for balance once again. “I meant your feet, you little shit! God, that was truly awful, Noceda.”
Luz smiles cheekily. “Aw, come on, that was great and you know it.”
Amity rolls her eyes and shakes her head slowly. “You are too cute for your own good.” She mutters to herself.
Luz blushes at the flirty compliment and plants a kiss on Amity’s cheek. The woman's eyes widen and her cheeks turn a rosy tint. Her knees wobble and before she knows it, she’s flat on her ass looking up at Luz whose hands are covering up her muffled laughs.
“Whoops,” She giggles. “Sorry.”
Luz grabs both of her hands and pulls her up. “To answer your question, the reason I can stand like this is because I’m used to this. You just gotta get your ice legs, that’s all.”
“Ice legs?”
“Yeah, like sea legs but on ice.”
Amity laughs. “But of course, what was I thinking? Makes perfect sense.”
The Latina chuckles and guides her date around the rink, patiently going her pace and staying by her side. Amity, to her credit, picks it up rather quickly, but still manages to trip whenever the ice gets uneven. Luz’s hand is grabbing her side each time it happens and if she notices that Amity is fumbling on purpose sometimes, she doesn’t say anything.
After about half an hour, Amity decides to call a time out. “I need a break. That okay?”
Luz shoots her a wide smile. “Yeah! Let’s go sit down and I can get us some hot chocolate!”
“You know, if you wanna take some time without babysitting me, I understand. You sure you don’t want to take a few laps?”
Luz waves away Amity’s offer and scoffs. “Are you kidding? I can come here and skate anytime, I only get this time with you.” She says with finality.
Amity feels her mouth drop and is positive her face resembles a tomato. She’s blown away by this woman’s ability to say things with such conviction. No hesitation, no embarrassment. She looks over and notices that Luz is avoiding her gaze. Okay, some embarrassment. So, Amity decides it’s only fair to wear her heart on her sleeve as well.
“You are very sweet, Luz. I can see why Willow says she thinks you would be good for me.”
Luz simply cocks her head in curiosity. Amity grabs her hand and shuffles them towards the edge to get off the ice. She waits until they’re both securely on the bench before explaining further.
She sighs heavily and looks ahead. “Growing up with influential parents was...difficult.” She begins hesitantly. “My siblings and I had to be perfect children. Obedient, straight A’s, the whole nine yards. Hell, I’m still under their microscope, especially being vice president of their company with plans to take over.”
Luz grabs her hand, not saying anything but shooting her a comforting smile. Amity can see in her eyes she has a million questions, but restrains herself from asking them, allowing Amity to continue. “Anyways, growing up in that environment, you learn early on to hide your feelings and put on a mask. Thank God for Willow. She was my only friend growing up, and I stupidly pushed her away when we were younger. Through circumstances I can only call fate, we reconciled and since then she’s the only person, other than my siblings, I could ever be myself with,” Amity looks over at Luz and gives her a small grin. “Until you.”
Luz’s eyes widen at the confession and her mouth flops open. Her eyes begin to flicker around the park in contemplation. Amity raises an eyebrow, panicking internally as she continues to remain silent.
Luz finally notices the distress in her eyes and clears her throat. “Sorry, I’m just very overwhelmed right now.”
“I know it’s a lot for a first date, I’m sorry.” Amity apologizes lowly.
“No!” Luz shouts, causing Amity to jump. Luz grins sheepishly and grabs her hand. “That’s not what I meant. What I’m trying to say is, after telling me all that, I wanna do a multitude of things. I have so many questions, but don’t wanna push too hard, but also want to hug and console you and kiss you and also I remembered I have to get the hot chocolate and - ”
“Luz.” Amity interrupts kindly.
Luz stops gesturing and looks over to the woman next to her with a small squeak. “Yes?”
Amity rolls her eyes fondly. “Just kiss me.”
Her face brightens as if Amity had just granted her dearest wish, which honestly wasn't too far off. Amity snorts at her reaction before leaning in and capturing her lips. Luz returns the kiss, but can’t contain her giddy laughter. The kiss breaks when Amity starts giggling as well, but their foreheads remain touching as they chuckle together.
“I’m gonna get those drinks I promised.” Luz whispers before planting a peck to her lips and goes to stand.
She forgets she's wearing skates and flails comically before righting herself and sending Amity a thumbs up before heading over to the concession stand. Amity shakes her head at Luz’s retreating form, a fond smile planted on her face.
She returns with two styrofoam cups and hands Amity one before plopping herself down on the bench. Amity blows gently on the hot liquid while Luz just starts taking big gulps. Amity’s eyes bulge, but aside from a small wince, the temperature doesn’t seem to bother Luz. After some silence, Amity speaks up.
“Okay, now I definitely feel like I’m at a disadvantage here.” Luz looks over and raises an eyebrow in question. “You knew about me through Willow and the twins and I just shared some very personal stuff. It’s only fair.”
Luz smiles. “What do you wanna know? I’m an open book.”
“I got that early on.” Amity teases. “Willow told me you’re an artist. May I see some of your work?”
Luz digs around her jeans for her phone and pulls it out. She scoots closer and unlocks her screen, bringing up her photo gallery. She hands the phone over with pride. Amity removes one of her gloves and scrolls through the pictures, focusing on each individual piece of art.
“Wow, Luz, these are amazing.” She says with wonder.
“Aw, thanks. The first few are from when I first started out, the more recent ones are further down.” Luz reaches over and swipes left before stopping on a specific picture. “This one I just finished for a client who wanted a mountain sunset. I specialize in landscapes, but really will draw anything and everything.”
Amity is drawn to the painting. It was beautiful in every sense of the word. The colors were vibrant and it looked as if it was a still photo rather than a painting done by hand. Luz let the woman continue to peruse her artwork before she stops at a photo of a small, dark grey dog with an upper half white head. She turns the phone in Luz’s direction.
“Who’s this cutie?”
Luz coos and takes the phone, searching for another picture. “That’s King. He belongs to my mentor from college, Eda.” She finds a picture of the three of them and shows Amity.
Amity’s eyebrows raise in recognition as she looks at the photo. “Your mentor’s last name wouldn’t by chance be Clawthorne, would it?”
“How’d you know?” Luz asks, her tone surprised.
“Lilith Clawthorne, Eda’s older sister, was my advisor at my school. She’s actually one of my parents’ associates.”
“Whoa, freaky.”
“Very.”
Luz continues to show Amity more of her photo gallery. She stops at a picture of her and an older woman, presumably her mother based on the resemblance, when she was younger, about a teenager. They were hugging each other enthusiastically, wide smiles on both their faces.
“This was taken when I was fourteen. That’s my mom. We took that photo before she sent me off to summer camp. It’s one of my favorites.”
Amity nods, envying the close relationship the two clearly share when compared to her own mother. “You must love her a lot.”
Luz smiles fondly at the photo. “Yeah, we had a rocky relationship at that time though. She actually sent me to Reality Check Summer Camp that year.”
“That sounds dreadfully dull.”
Luz moans. “Oh, it was. She had the best intentions, my imagination was absolutely wild back then, but I was miserable. I finally broke down one month in and ran away. I caused a huge uproar. Mami was furious, but it finally gave us a chance to lay everything out on the table and it worked out in the end.”
“Why’d she send you in the first place?” Amity asks softly.
Luz’s face turns sad for a moment before answering. “When I was young, I had no friends. Nobody really wanted to hang out with the weird girl. I liked fantasy novels, still do actually, and dressing up as my favorite fictional characters. My mom thought the camp would help me be more normal so I would fit in and not be alone. Again, her intentions were good, but she was essentially asking me to change who I was.”
Amity stares for a long time in silence, taking in everything Luz had just divulged. She grabs her hand and squeezes, causing the girl to look up at her. “That sounds very lonely.”
Luz nods solemnly. “It was. But after finally telling her how I felt, how her actions were hurting me, she listened and tried to understand me better. She even took me to my first convention, where I met a lot of other like-minded people and Gus. He went off to the college where he met Willow and introduced us when she was looking for a roommate.” Her face turns gleeful as she kisses Amity’s cheek. “And Willow introduced me to you, so as far as I’m concerned, totally worth it.”
Amity blushes. “So you’re not only sweet, but really sappy as well.” She teases.
Luz wraps an arm around Amity’s shoulders, pulling her closer to her side. “Oh, you ain't seen nothing yet, Blight!”