Chapter Text
“I want to know more about you.”
Not the thing Amity wants to hear from her crush. Actually, no, that’s exactly the thing Amity wants to hear from her crush. Because knowing her better would entail more time spent together, and more time spent with Luz would entail eventual kisses. At least that’s what books and social media have taught her.
And yet, Amity is doomed to forever remain unkissed. Because Amity is cursed.
Yes, she, the top student at Hexside (take that, Emira!), the descendant of The Blights — one of the richest families in the Boiling Isles (her parents rotting in jail for plotting for the ex-Emperor is beside the point), the most athletic fifteen-year-old ever (excluding her friend Willow) — and she just had to be stricken with the most ancient curse of them all.
The curse of being a flustered mess around her crush, Luz Noceda, the human.
The crush in question is smiling at her, and Amity is drowning in the brown of her eyes. Yes, she knows the ocean is purple, but that’s still a fitting metaphor, seeing how Luz’s eyes are beautifully deep. Even though she herself can sometimes be very shallow. Like two months ago, just after Amity congratulated her and the Owl Crew (The Owl Gang?) on their successful coup. And Luz said “Thank you, Ames, you’re such a good friend!”
And now this extra-dense, extra-beautiful, extra-resourceful, extra-strong, extra-smart human is smiling at her and saying she wants to know more about her, Amity, the cursed witch.
What could she possibly reply?
“Thanks! I know a lot about me!” Amity boasts.
Okay, definitely NOT that.
Luz laughs, and Amity knows she would murder innocents if that meant hearing Luz laugh again. Then again, all it takes is saying ‘fart”, and Luz already laughs for half a minute. Every single time.
“Yes, but I mean, we’ve been friends for over a year, and I wanna learn more about your preferences.”
The human’s smile is intoxicating, and Amity’s mind is reeling. Now, what can she possibly say to that?!
“I prefer girls, black tea, and long walks at the beach!” Amity blurts out.
Okay, dammit, NOT that. NOT. That.
“Oh!” Luz is grinning now as she plops down on the ground next to the green-haired witch. “That’s nice to hear! I also like long walks at the beach and black tea! I like boys, but I like girls as well. But you know all of that.
“And I wanna know you. Did you dye your hair yesterday? It looks fresh and very pretty!” The human runs her fingers through Amity’s hair while the slightly-older witch is trying to register the array of words streaming from her friend’s mouth.
Amity’s parents always made her dye her hair green, so, naturally, Amity hated green. Luz loves her hair green, so, naturally, Amity loves green. She’s owning the look like the twins suggested. And she’s owning this tree that she’s sitting beneath. No one is allowed to share her little space. Of course, apart from Luz.
“You are pretty!” Amity whispers, putting her book aside.
“You’re also pretty!” Luz exclaims cheerfully as she scoots closer to beetroot-coloured Amity. “You’re the prettiest friend of all my friends!”
I should ask Lilith to prohibit using the word ‘friends’ when talking to someone who’s crushing on you. She’s the Empress now, surely she can outlaw that.
“But I really do wanna learn more about this pretty girl here!” Luz pokes Amity’s cheek, and Amity knows she’s not gonna wash this cheek tonight. Or ever. “So, since we are what we like — I think that’s how the expression goes — I wonder what you like?”
That is not how the expression goes, and Amity has no idea what to say to that.
“I like you.”
NOT THAT! Anything BUT that!!
“Aww, I like you too, Ames!” Luz throws her arms around the younger witch and wraps her into a hug. “You’re an amazing person with a great personality!”
If I die, Amity thinks, let this be my resting place. And then, I wonder if she’s growing denser by the day or by the week.
“I’m sorry if I’m being too pushy,” Luz says suddenly, breaking the embrace, and Amity feels the devastating coldness of Luz’s arms not being around her back. “It’s just that you know a lot about me because I blabber all the time—”
“No, no!” Amity waves her hand in the most fake manner imaginable and snorts out a laugh to match. “It’s okay, you don’t.”
Luz likes turtles. She likes all animals, even if they are disgusting, like sewer rats, which she calls ‘surrets’. Luz has twenty-eight apps on her scroll, and she never deletes any. She also finds it hard to use the scroll with one hand and complains when she drops it. She uses lavender shampoo and no fragrance. She likes Amity’s fragrance. She thinks that five minutes of sleep in the morning are equal to five hours of sleep at night. She is sure that avocados are supposed to be healthy, but only if you eat them in the morning. Luz is pretty. Luz is funny. Luz is gorgeous.
Amity knows all of that, not in the least because Luz does blabber all the time. Amity made a chart with all the information about Luz. And she hopes, sincerely, that it isn’t too creepy.
“I also know a lot about Willow and Gus,” the brunette continues, “but you are so shy and flustered, and while I find it sweet, I don’t really know much about you.”
“Um.” Amity legitimately doesn’t know what to say, and she only hopes to attain a coherent response. Titan, that’s all I’m asking for. “What would you like to know?” she musters. Yes! Thank you!
Luz pokes her chin. Amity loves that the human pokes her chin instead of rubbing it. “Well, what’s your favourite colour?”
“You,” the witch blurts out. “I mean, blue!”
Luz furrows her brow. “Oh, I kind of thought it was purple.”
“Yes.” Of course it’s purple, but how does Luz know about it?
“Oh, so it is purple!” Luz beams with happiness. “I knew it, because I know most of your stickers have purple in them, your favourite highlighter is purple because you use it only for the most important parts— Sorry, does that sound weird?”
“No,” Amity mouths in awe. Has Luz really been paying this much attention to her? Come on, she probably just pays about as much attention to Willow and Gus and all her friends. “It sounds wonderful.”
The bell screams and Luz springs to her feet. “Well, gotta go to my extra-curriculum. Doing all tracks is no easy task!” She grins and waves at the other girl. “I am so looking forward to spending more time with you!”
Amity can’t take it anymore. Watching the human bounce away, the witch reaches into her bag, fishes out her diary, and begins to write the next entry.
Dear Diary,
Once again, Luz and her luscious lips have rendered me a simpleton.
_______________
“Hey, guys, can I ask you a question?”
Amity realises her words fall on deaf ears, because no one calls back. The teenage witch sighs, takes off her shoes and looks in the mirror. She’s already through with the effects of the curse: no longer blushing, her face calm, her forehead no more sweaty than usual.
She walks through the corridor, picking up the sign that apparently fell off the wall. Amity fixes it up with a smile:
‘Enter at your own risk!
Hugs and kisses,
The Blights’
Only Edric could think of something this ridiculous. To think about it, Edric is nowhere to be seen. Then again, the house is pretty big, what with the four bedrooms and a giant living room with an open kitchen — which, to be fair, is the size of an average apartment in Bonesborough. Ed must be in his room.
Emira, on the other hand, is lounging on the sofa in the living room. Ever since they had moved out of the mansion which held way too many painful memories for the siblings (and way too much market value, Emira would add), the living room has become the main space where the older sister would spend her time.
The carpet is pristine, the little black table is clean, yet overfilled with scrolls, and the sofa itself is impeccable — which means that Emira is nervous. Every time her sister is nervous, Amity has noticed, she furiously cleans up every surface, then gets to work — no less furiously.
And, indeed. Emira is tapping on her scroll with such force that Amity wonders if she will break the enchanted screen.
“Um, Em? Hi, everything all right?”
Only now does Amity realise that the older witch, still in her business suit — well, sans the jacket — is nodding her head, which means she’s listening to music. I hate this new Illusion Streaming — only those with Illusions training can see the damn thing, and it’s annoying as hell.
Still, knowing what’s going on, she approaches Emira and tugs on her trousers. When that has no desired effect, she starts pulling off one of her sister’s socks.
Emira yelps and rolls around, dismantling the music-providing illusion with a swift spell. “What the— Mittens, can’t you see I’m busy?!”
However, Emira’s stern expression immediately softens as she sees Amity’s turmoil and her eyes well with sisterly understanding. “Sorry, Mittens. It’s just been a rough day, and it doesn’t help that these business people don’t take seventeen-year-olds seriously.”
“I’m sorry, Em.” Amity opens up her arms. “Hug?”
It’s a great custom between the three of them. With all the constant teasing and pranking and being generally annoying, they needed something genuine that would set the mood. Asking for hugs has turned out to be the perfect mood-changer. Every time one of them will ask their sibling for a hug, they’re in sibling-mode. Amity knows this and never abuses the power of hugs.
Breaking the embrace, the little sister looks around. “I, um, wanted to ask you a question, but if you—”
“Nah, it’s okay, just business as usual,” Emira’s grin does not look very believable. “I’m okay, what’s up, Mittens?”
Amity scans the giant living room again, as if Edric could be hiding behind one of the many lamps set against the walls for more illumination in the evenings. Actually, to think about it, Edric could very well be hiding behind a lamp. It wouldn’t be his first time doing that. Or even the tenth time.
“I wanted to talk to both of you, actually. Is Ed around?”
“Edric is in time-out,” Emira hisses with a glare at the eldest Blight’s closed door — which is a feat, considering it’s on the second floor, but Emira manages to pierce the ceiling with her gaze at the precise spot. “He’s being punished.”
“Um, Em... Mom and Dad punishing us for everything is the reason for most of our issues,” Amity tries, slightly taken aback at how simply her sister continues munching on her pop-corn (human treats are the best), without so much as a second glance.
“He was wasting money again,” Emira counters, putting her scroll aside. “It’s been a year since our parents are gone and their fortune is legally ours. And we’ve already spent three million snails just between the three of us.”
Amity shrugs, not seeing much of a problem. “Yes, but it’s to be expected. We finally have the freedom to live our lives. Of course we’re gonna spend a little here and there.”
“Out of these three million,” Emira grumbles, “two million nine hundred thousand is Ed’s expenditure.”
The older girl groans in exasperation, and Amity legitimately feels bad for her now. Without their parents, the resourceful seventeen-year-old has been managing their finances for over a year, and, honestly, she has been amazing at being the new head of the family.
“I just don’t want us to end up wasting everything!” Emira explains, her green hair dishevelled — only now does Amity notice that Emira does not exactly look well-rested. “Ed and I are about to graduate and, well, it’s gonna be a tough year for us. We were prepared for Covens, but, with the system abolished, we’ll have to find actual jobs.”
Amity sits next to her sister, putting her head on Emira’s shoulder. It calms down the older witch instantly — it always has. “Em, you two are actual billionaires. The daily allowance you give me is higher than the average monthly salary. I don’t think you need to worry about work,” she finishes with a smile that she hopes is as comforting as she wants it to be.
Emira ruffles her hair, which means the older witch is feeling better. “Ah, Mittens, you’re only fifteen, but you gotta understand that work is more about belonging, participation, and self-development. And only then it is about the money.”
Amity is pretty sure most people would disagree with that, but she doesn’t question her billionaire sister. Besides, the only belonging she wants right now is belonging in Luz’s arms, and the only participation she needs is participation in soft kisses with Luz. “I still need to ask you something, but I kinda want to ask Ed too, so maybe you can stop punishing him?”
Emira sighs and nods.
“What exactly did he splurge on?” the younger sister wonders, at the same time intrigued (it’s her brother, after all) and horrified (it’s her brother, after all).
“You know how, with the new trade links with the human realm, they started producing human stuff here?”
Amity nods. Of course she knows. Luz took part in setting up that factory. And Amity knows everything about Luz. She has a chart.
“So as you know I want to invest our family fortune to keep the three of us secure forever—”
Amity can’t help but smile. Emira has always been kind of a second Mom to her (well, the only real Mom she’s ever known), and ever since she’s been in charge of both her and Edric, her protectiveness has reached ludicrous levels.
“—so Ed and I went to the factory to see if we could maybe get into production, say, five to ten percent stake.”
Amity has no idea what her sister is talking about, but nods intently.
“That would give us an annual yield of about three percent on the invested capital,” Emira continues, glancing at her scroll, which shows a lot of numbers with peculiar notes.
“Naturally,” Amity agrees, even though she doesn’t have a clue as to what she is agreeing with.
“Which is, of course, higher than what any bonds would yield, what with the current economy.”
“Absolutely.” Amity nods fiercely. She shakes her fist angrily. “That economy!” I have no idea what’s going on.
“I wanted to go alone, but Edric, legally being the joint owner of our family estate, had to be there,” Emira grunts, shutting her eyes at the memory.
Now Amity is so much more intrigued that she almost forgets about her question for a second. And, instead, asks another one: “So what did he do?”
Emira rubs her nose with her thumb and index finger — a habit she has only developed in the past year. “He found the part where they make candy floss and tried every flavour.” Then she looks at Amity before the younger witch can open her mouth. “And he bought it, all of it.”
“Well,” Amity tries not to laugh (classic Ed!) as she imagines Edric feasting on human snacks until he has a stomachache. “I mean, it’s pretty bad for his teeth, but I’m pretty sure we can afford candy floss, even if he bought every single piece of it.”
“He bought the factory, Mittens!” Emira yells, and suddenly Amity understands that Ed is maybe, probably, definitely safer locked up in his room. “The whole factory!”
It’s obvious that Emira wants to say more, but she follows up on her promise to let Edric out and draws a circle in the air with her finger. “Ed, you can come out now!”
A few moments pass, and Edric rushes down the stairs, ridiculously dressed in blue sweatpants and a pink polo shirt, looking sweaty and very flustered. “You can’t keep me locked up, I’m a soft boy who—”
As soon as he notices Amity, his gaze shifts to the little sister. “Oh, hi Amity.”
Emira crosses her arms, looking over her big brother head to toe. “Have you been running around your room? Or— actually, you know what, I don’t want to know.”
“Are you ready to apologise?” Emira then questions the older Blight sternly, her arms crossed, her expression cross as ever.
“Em, come on!” Edric immediately whines. “Have mercy on me! My parents disowned me, I had to live on a tiny allowance for two years, unable to even buy snacks!”
Amity feels a pang of pain at that. It was only a few months ago that she learned about how Mom and Dad had really treated the twins. Thankfully, she didn’t have to go through the same predicament, since she only came out to her siblings. And since their parents are rotting in jail like the horrible garbage they are.
Emira groans, but her expression softens instantly. “That’s because I was saving up our allowance so we wouldn’t die when we graduated and they kicked us out,” she explains kindly, as if Edric were five. “I went through the same thing, Ed.”
Actually, Amity thinks, Edric does act like a five-year-old a lot. And definitely has the humour of one.
“Well, they didn’t kick us out!” Edric beams, visibly pleased to be off the hook. “In fact, Amity’s crush—”
“Hey!” Amity interrupts. “She has a name — Luz!”
“—and her Owl Gang kicked our parents out instead,” Edric proceeds. “So please let me splurge!” He actually falls on his knees on the carpet, right in the middle of the living room, blocking the human-made TV that Emira has taken a liking to. “Pleeeeeeease, sis, I beg you!”
“Why,” Emira asks, and Amity immediately knows that: a) it’s going to be a rhetoric question, and b) she’s already forgiven Ed and will let him spend at least more than she planned. “Why do you have this compulsive need to waste money?”
The boy immediately gets to his feet — which is impressive, because he isn’t even using hands — and grins with his signature grin. “Because I’m Baaaatmaaaa—”
“No, you’re not.” Emira gets up from the sofa. “And it’s a pretty stupid—”
Edric gasps. “Don’t you dare call Batman stupid! It’s the best human character ever! And I’m so much like him: an orphan billionaire who lives in a mansion and has a secret cave.”
“You’re not an orphan, we live in a house so that I can rent out our mansion, and our parents are in jail for being the worst people ever.” Emira counters, counting on her fingers, then blinks. “Wait, how come I don’t know about your secret cave?”
“Because it’s a secret!” Edric huffs, crossing his arms as Emira steps closer to look him in the eye. “Also because you would tease me endlessly,” he admits.
“Does Jerbo know about the secret cave?” Emira immediately teases, proving his point, and Edric blushes — which always brings joy to Amity’s heart. There’s nothing more pleasant than an embarrassed sibling. Well, maybe two embarrassed siblings.
“W-why would Jerbo know about the secret cave?” Edric stutters, his whole face reddening comically.
“Maybe because Jerbo is your boyfriend?” Emira provides softly.
“Haaa- haaa- How do you know that?” Edric manages. Barely.
“Because you’re my brother.”
Amity has rarely seen such pure, unfiltered warmth coming from her older sister, so she just watches in awe as Emira’s kind, supportive eyes look at Edric, whose breath is calming.
“You’re my siblings,” she continues, looking over the two of them now, “and it’s my job to know things about you. So that later, when you need my help, I can be there for you and drag you out of any mess.”
Amity’s eyes are stinging a little, and she’s genuinely grateful for such an amazing sister. She doesn’t think this often — and she’d rather burn alive than admit it out loud — but she is truly blessed with her siblings.
Apparently, Edric feels the same, because he starts bawling his eyes out. “I’m so sorry, Em, I love you so much, I won’t spend any more money, I promise, I will live like a hermit if you ask me to—”
“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Emira pats his back and lets the scene play out. “I love you too, bro, just please try to spend a bit… less? Or you know what, any time you wanna make a big purchase, just ask me first, okay?”
“Okay,” Edric sniffs, pushing back from his sister. “Um, what exactly is a ‘big purchase’?”
Emira thinks for a moment. “Hmm, let’s say anything bigger than ten thousand snails?” Ten thousand snails in just one day?! “Ten thousand on a single purchase, and, say, twenty-five thousand a day?”
Amity coughs up thin air, because she can barely imagine the possibility of spending so much money so fast. The new Scroll Max is, like, a thousand and a half. And it’s overpriced garbage anyway.
Edric nods slowly. “Very difficult, but manageable. Anything for my sister.” He smiles warmly. “You know, Em, it really touched me when you said you learn stuff about us so that you can protect us in the future. It’s really wonderful of you.”
“Of course.” Emira tosses her still-dishevelled hair. “I’m truly a wonderful sister.” She grins. “But mostly I learn stuff about you so I can blackmail you in the future.”
“Aaaaand I hate you again,” Edric smiles through tears, wiping off his nose with his sleeve. Even though he literally has a handkerchief sticking out of his polo pocket.
“I never stopped hating you both for a second,” Amity mumbles, “but I do need your advice, and it’s kind of important.”
“Is it about your crush on Luz?”
“Yes, of course it’s about my crush on Luz. Doesn’t everybody know that by now?” Amity moans in exasperation.
“Yeah.” Ed nods, pulling out his scroll. “#Lumity is my favourite hashtag on Penstagram.”
“Wait.” Amity blinks, then blood rushes to her cheeks. “Luz is on Penstagram!” If she’s seen any of the posts..!
“Oh yes,” Emira nods and takes her scroll from the sofa, mirroring her brother’s actions precisely. “And she’s subscribed to it. Guess that speaks volumes about her skull density.”
“That’s exactly my problem.” Amity sits down on the carpet next to the little black table and buries her face in her forearms. Which, in turn, grow pretty numb from the coldness of the obsidian.
“Seems to me it’s more of a Luz problem,” she hears Edric’s voice and then the familiar dull sound of a smack.
“How can we help, Mittens?” she hears Emira’s voice now, laced with concern and compassion.
“Well,” Amity begins, lifting her face, carefully choosing her words, so as not to give the twins any opportunities for jokes. “Today Luz approached me and told me, in detail, that she wants to, uh, learn more about me.”
Edric whistles, but does not follow up. Immediately, Emira smacks him on the head again. “Ed, stop whistling inside the house! It makes you lose money!”
“Yeah, so does a million other stupid human superstitions,” the oldest witch mumbles, but ceases his antics, sitting on the carpet next to Amity. He looks no less ridiculous in sweatpants and a polo, but at least he’s comfortable, Amity muses.
“So, Mittens, isn’t that good news?” he asks without touching Amity, which she appreciates at the moment, embarrassed as she is. “I mean, your crush wants to know you better.”
“Um, that’s not exactly the problem,” Amity begins, knowing how much she wants to say, and yet not knowing how to get her point across.
“Thing is, I’ve been in love with Luz for so long that I kind of just accepted that she’ll never know about my feelings, and, well, that’s the dynamic. But she kind of changed the dynamic today. I think she needs to know.” Amity pauses. “I was always afraid she would learn about my feelings and break off our friendship.
“But now,” Amity sighs, “not being clear is way more of a lie. Luz getting to know more about me would lead me to blatantly lying to her about my feelings, and lying to her like that and betraying her trust is worse than losing her as a friend.”
The twins are silent throughout the monologue, and Emira, now, is also sitting next to Amity, her siblings now shielding her both sides.
“What do you have in mind, Mittens?” Edric asks finally. When it comes down to interpersonal problems, he’s, surprisingly, the more capable of the two.
“And how can we help?” Emira supplies.
Amity is thankful for this, because, seeing this support, she can finally lay out her plan.
“Well, you know how I model my Azura fanfiction after Luz?” she begins, still slightly ashamed of confessing this to the twins a while ago.
But now the siblings merely nod with not a sign of teasing, so Amity carries on. “So I wonder what would happen… if someone were to tell Luz about that? Without mentioning her name?” she adds quickly.
“Then Luz, the wonderful, excited goofball of cuteness that she is, will try to figure out my crush and, well…” Amity chuckles sheepishly. “She’ll figure it out. Since I cannot confess properly, and Luz cannot take even the most blatant hints or clues, it seems this is the only way. If she likes me back, well, best thing ever. If not…
“We’ll still be there for you,” Edric immediately says, this time actually putting his arm around his little sister.
It doesn’t take long for Emira to mirror the motion. “We’ll still be there for you,” she repeats word for word, probably without realising — that’s how in sync the twins are.
Suddenly, Edric chuckles. “Damn, that’s actually a very solid and mature plan. Mittens, you are unusually wise. Are you sure you’re not adopted?”
“I wish,” Amity mumbles without really meaning it.
Edric grows a bit more serious. “Remember — of course we will help — but when Luz figures it out, you’re the one who’s gotta have to talk to her. “
“I know, I’ll try but I’m, I’m… I’m cursed!” Amity blurts out desperately, clenching her fists and shutting her eyes.
There is a moment of silence before she opens her eyes again, slowly lifting her gaze to face her siblings.
To her surprise, the twins don’t laugh at her, don’t make fun in their usual manner. But neither do they seem worried: the two witches just exchange knowing looks.
“Ah, the infamous Blight curse.” Edric nods solemnly. “The Curse of The Flustered Mess. Runs in the family. I hoped it would skip a generation.”
Emira slaps her face with a palm. Then slaps Edric for good measure. “Mittens is the same generation, you idiot.”
“Ah, right.” Edric rubs his cheek. “Makes sense.”
“You guys know it?” Amity gasps. She’s never really been sure if she’s truly cursed, but now that the twins are so adamant about it, maybe the curse is a real thing! Or, maybe, Ed and Em are just messing with me.
“Of course we know it!” Emira assures, closing the already tiny distance to embrace Amity. “We have it, sis.”
“What?” Amity mumbles into Emira’s shoulder. Well, into her armpit. She is pretty short compared to the twins, even sitting down. No way someone as collected as Em and Ed have this curse!
“It’s true,” Edric supplies, joining the hug. “Now that you guys know that Jerbo and I recently started dating, I can be honest with you. When I’m around him, I act like my brain is a liquid.”
“You always act like your brain is a liquid, Ed,” Emira says, but there’s no malice to her words. The siblings break the embrace, and Emira smiles the warmest sister smile at Amity. “To be honest, I lose my cool around Viney very fast too, even though we’ve been together for half a year.”
“Yes,” Edric chimes in, “Like when you wanted to tell Viney ‘I think this sweater looks good on you’, but you said ‘I think I’m sweaty and gay for you’. Which is the truth, but—”
“Well, at least it got me dating her,” Emira interrupts with the tiniest blush on her cheeks. “And remember, when Jerbo kissed you for the first time, you said ‘Wow, thank you’, cried, and ran away.”
“Well, I’m emotional!” Edric mumbles sheepishly. Then he scrunches his forehead. “Wait, how do you know that?”
“Well,” Emira counters with a victorious smile, “I just so happen to be dating Viney, who just happens to be Jerbo’s best friend and confidant.”
“Touché,” Edric admits, then turns to Amity with a wink. “See how cringeworthy we are?”
He ruffles the little sister’s hair. “So don’t worry, Mittens, it’s highly unlikely you’re gonna screw up worse than us.”
_______________
It is extremely likely Amity is going to screw up worse than them.
“Look, Amity, I painted my nails purple!”
Amity is going to screw up so much worse than anyone has ever screwed up in the history of screw-ups.
“I can paint your nails too and we’re gonna be purple buddies!” Luz babbles in her usual chipper and bubbly manner, and Amity is dying inside in her usual dying-inside manner.
“So,” Luz grins, and Amity crawls from the world of the dead for a second just to see that beautiful grin. “What do you think?”
Amity thinks, I want to glue my lips to yours with a perma-glue spell, but out loud she says, “Purple.”
Less coherent than I hoped, but more eloquent than I feared.
“Yes,” Luz nods seriously. “Purple. Now, thanks so much for chatting with me the whole weekend! I already feel like I know you so much better!”
With that, the human throws her arms around Amity, and Amity decides that red is her favourite colour now, because, apparently, she’s going to stay red forever.
“So how is your crush?” Luz asks kindly, wrapping her arm around Amity’s shoulder.
“Worse than ever,” Amity whispers as she secretly wishes for Luz’s arm to get permanently glued to her. I do need to learn that perma-glue spell…
“Aww…” Luz pouts (adorably). “You told me you’ve been giving her hints for more than a year! Can’t that dense girl just take a hint?”
Amity sighs. “You have no idea.”
Over the weekend, Amity has found it simpler to confide in Luz for three reasons:
One, they were chatting on their scrolls, which provided more time to think (and breathe!) than video calls or real-life meetings.
Two, Amity had already decided she would be earnest with Luz, so she didn’t hide anything, and even asked a few questions herself. Not that she didn’t know everything about the wonderful human already… Well, apart from her middle name, ridiculously enough.
And three, Amity knew her siblings were working their magic (metaphorically and maybe literally) to nudge Luz on the agreed-upon path.
So now, Amity is feeling slightly more agitated, being face-to-face with her crush again. With the crush in question asking her about, well, her crush. Ludicrous.
“So, how’s your middle name?” Amity decides to change the subject.
For some reason, this is the only thing that keeps her calm around Luz. As ridiculous as it sounds, every time she got flustered over the weekend, she would just try and guess Luz’s middle name — the girl had told her in her culture people had two names and two surnames, but in the place she came from people just had one surname, like on the Boiling Isles. But two names still!
And, while Amity can’t really grasp at why this particular exchange has been so therapeutic, but nagging Luz about her middle name, and Luz saying ‘no’ to each guess with a bunch of smileys, was the most calm and collected she’d ever been around the cheerful human.
It might be, Amity muses as her embarrassment fades away, even more effective than making a chart — as sacrilegious as it sounds.
“Still a big secret!” Luz shows Amity her tongue and pokes Amity’s belly. “Wow, those are some rock-hard abs! I’d love to see your workout!”
“Is it Amalia?” Amity blurts out, lest she physically melt in front of the way-more-well-toned girl in front of her. And, as stupid as it is, the middle-name cure seems to keep the curse at bay. At least for a while.
“Nope. Amity.”
“A-amity?” For a second, the green-haired witch forgets how to breathe. “Y-you mean, your middle name is Amity?” I am really unsure how to feel right now.
“No, silly,” Luz giggles. “I mean, ‘Amity’, as in, ‘Amity, look, there’s something I wanna tell you’.”
You’re the one who’s silly, Amity thinks as she remembers how to breathe again. And I want to kiss the silly out of you. And if it doesn't work, well, I’ll just have to kiss harder.
Out loud, she says, “Why didn’t you just say so?”
“Well,” Luz rubs the back of her head sheepishly, “frankly, it’s about your siblings.”
Oh is it? “Oh is it?” Dammit, Amity, ever so eloquent.
“Yeah, they kinda… Well, you know how you have a crush?”
Amity blinks. Did she just— “Yes,” she replies. “Yes, I do know that.”
“So,” Luz carries on without any second thoughts, “they told me a way to figure out who it might be.”
“Oh.” Yes! Ed and Em, I love you!
“You know, I pride myself on my investigative skills,” the human boasts, rocking back and forth on the bench. This might not be an ideal place for the truth, but it’s a great place to be alone: just them, the old, worn-out wooden bench, and a few still-blooming trees that weren’t told it was the middle of summer.
“I’m great at figuring out even the smallest clues,” Luz puffs out her chest, and Amity actually manages not to deadpan. Which is a huge achievement at this point.
“But I wouldn’t ever start an investigation like this without your permission,” Luz wraps up. “I care about you too much. I just…” Did she blush? I can sweat she blushed! I mean, swear!
The human straightens herself on the bench, looking in Amity’s eyes. “I just figured out, it could be our thing, you know? You guessing my middle name, me guessing the name of your crush? And who knows—” Luz starts rocking back and forth. “Maybe if I can guess who she is, I can help you two get together! I really want you to be happy.”
You stupid, ridiculous, chivalrous, selfless idiot. I love you so much you can’t imagine.
“So, uh, um!” Amity collects herself, clenching the bench with her hands, hoping she doesn’t get splinters. “What did Em and Ed tell you?”
“Well,” Luz takes out her scroll and turns it on. “They told me you model your Azura fanfiction on your crush. Like in Chapter 3, when she asks Hecate out to Grom in a flashback — kind of like you wanted to ask your crush out until I, uh, ruined it.”
Aha. “Ruined it”. You have no idea, Luz.
Wait a minute. “Chapter 3?” Amity slowly looks at the maybe-blushing human. “You… You read my stories?”
Is this a blush on Luz’s cheeks? Because Amity can swear Luz is blushing!
“Um, yeah, I read everything you post,” definitely-blushing Luz says, barely above a whisper, which is unusual for the human. “Sorry if it’s creepy.”
“No,” Amity whispers back. “That’s… endearing.”
“So, um, the twins told me to look closer at Chapter 5…”
Yes, because I told them to tell you.
“Emira said that even a half-wit with skull density of a rock can figure this out.”
Yes, definitely something that Emira would say. Also sounds like you, you beautiful impossible genius imbecile.
“So let’s see…” Luz gulps. “Again, you sure it’s okay if I do this?”
“Yes,” Amity replies, just now realising she didn’t really give her express permission the first time. “I think it’s high time you figured out my crush…” Her stomach begins to do curls and flips and other assorted acrobatics. “Luz Amelia Noceda.”
And, just like that, the pirouettes are done and the stomach is back to its main job — digesting her breakfast. Huh, it’s so weird. Seems like Luz’s middle name is some kind of antidote.
“Nope, not Amelia.” Luz is scrolling and humming to herself, rocking back and forth once again. It seems the human just can’t sit still. It’s either rocking or pacing on tapping her foot against the ground — which Amity finds infuriating. And appealing.
“Aha. So in Chapter 5, Azura, escaping the Mind-Gnawing demon, changes her appearance… And the twins said it’s based on your crush!”
Amity is slowly preparing for rejection. Her heart is racing, she’s been looking forward to this day for over a year, and yet she knows Luz will reject her. We will still be friends, Amity tries to remind herself. She will not abandon me. Yet, she finds it hard to believe at the moment.
“Uhuh, her skin gets darker… ‘Gorgeous tan shade…’ Yay for Latino representation!” Luz chants. “Or is Azura Latin-American? Is she Dominican like me or maybe Mexican? My Mom told me about a girl from her school who was—”
I have no idea what any of that means, you mesmerising dimwit, I was modelling Azura on you.
“Her eyes are now brown, so is her ‘short and smooth dark chestnut hair’...” Luz mumbles, absent-mindedly running her fingers through her own short and smooth dark chestnut hair.
The human’s smile fades, and she keeps reading under her breath, but Amity knows every word: she wrote those words.
Luz stops and looks at the other girl, and the girl in question thinks it was all a bad, bad, bad idea and tries to find any sort of mind-erasing spell that wouldn’t cause permanent damage.
“She looks a lot like… me,” Luz mumbles with a serious face.
Okay, who cares about permanent damage? Mind-erasing spell! Need one! Now!
Luz chuckles nervously. “Well, that can only mean one thing.”
Finally. Instead of panic, a wave of relief washes over the youngest Blight. After all this time, finally, the suffering is over, Luz knows, she knows now, and whatever happens…
Luz takes a breath, and Amity, who was about to faint some seconds ago, is now smiling at her crush, her smart, attentive crush who has finally figured it out.
— “It’s because it’s you, Luz.”
— “I have a twin sister on the Boiling Isles and you have a crush on her!”
For a moment the two girls just stare at each other. Actually, way more than a moment, but Amity doesn’t understand what Time is anymore, not after they say those things at the same time. She is trying to process what’s going on, and so is Luz, it seems, because the human’s mouth is slightly open, revealing those wonderful human teeth that Amity wouldn’t mind biting her—
“It’s me?!” Luz shrieks, crawling towards Amity, closing the distance between them so much that Amity is pretty sure her face will permanently be red from now on.
“Of course it’s you!” Amity defends. “It’s always been you. You’re the one I asked to Grom, you’re the one I’ve been gushing around for over a year!” She still can’t believe this is happening.
“It can’t be me.” Luz frowns.
“I’m sorry…” Amity signs, her mind going blank, rejection poisoning her, travelling through her veins and up to her very heart. It was still worth it, she tells herself despite the numbing fear in her stomach. At least now she knows, and I can… what do the humans say? Face the music?
“I mean, I think I was very obvious… Ed and Em have noticed, of course…” Amity gulps and folds her fingers, trying to hold back tears. “Willow, naturally. Gus, obviously… Even Boscha.”
Now she’s holding a fist, having folded all five fingers. “I’m really sorry, if you haven’t noticed, that just probably means you never saw me that way so…”
“It can’t be me,” Luz repeats dumbly, staring at the green-haired witch from a tiny distance of maybe ten centimeters.
Amity lowers her gaze. “I understand, Luz. I, I hope, I h-” She feels sobs gathering up in her throat. “I hope your rejection doesn’t mean we h-have to s-stop being… friends…” She is crying now, and everything is terrible, and why is Luz lifting her face by the chin?
“It can’t be me,” Luz says for the third time, very seriously, “because the people I like usually don’t like me back.”
Amity doesn’t register anything now. Well, maybe the urge to cast a spell to go back in time to avoid this mess.
“What.”
“You are the most brilliant young witch I’ve known,” Luz says, still holding Amity’s chin between her thumb and index finger. “You are smart, and you are brave, and you are the most gorgeous girl in both realms. And…”
Luz suddenly smiles very softly, and Amity thinks she’s going to burn the floor with the fire in her body. “And the smartest, most beautiful person in the universe chose me?”
“Of course I chose you!” Amity pretty much screams. “The way you deal with life, how you never lose courage, how you’re steadfast, unwavering, and Titan you’re infuriatingly pretty and every time you speak I wanna die and kiss you at the same time and—”
And Amity understands she might have gone too far, because Luz’s mouth opens and her eyes widen. She shifts a little back, but doesn’t drop the witch’s chin from her fingers.
“I-I’m sorry,” Amity whispers, realising that she still hasn’t been accepted. “I thought—”
“You thought I could reject you?” Luz whispers too, the whole conversation dropping in volume, to the point where Amity’s ears begin to ring. “How could I reject you when I never thought my feelings for you could be reci-” She licks her lips. “Recip- GAH! Returned?”
A small giggle escapes the witch’s lips, then another one, and suddenly she finds herself laughing, her chin pushing into Luz’s fingers still clutching her face.
Luz starts to laugh as well, somehow getting even closer to the girl across her. “Well, leave it to me to mess up something like this!”
“So…” Amity wonders, once the two of them have stopped laughing. “What… is ‘this’? If it’s not a rejection…”
“Here.” Luz grins, letting Amity’s chin go. “Let’s try to put it in simple words, so we both get it. Amity—”
Amity’s pulse goes up.
“Amity, I really like you—”
Amity forgets how to breathe once again.
“—and, if you really like me back…”
“I do!” Amity blurts out and immediately chides herself mentally.
Luz grins even wider. “Then would you like to be my girlfriend?”
“YES!” Amity roars, crawling towards Luz in the same position, their knees pressed into one another, the distance between their faces down to mere centimetres. Yes, the wooden bench hurts, and she probably got a million splinters, but who cares?!
Luz is not taken aback, and Amity loves her even more for that. “Well, then, uhm…”
“Can you please put your fingers back where they belong?” Amity whispers boldly, her breath falling onto Luz’s lips. If she’s gonna die here, at least she’s gonna die like this — having confessed and…
The human blushes slightly, but this time the blush lingers as her eyes dart to Amity’s lips. “W-would you like me to kiss you like Azura kissed Hecate in Chapter 6?”
“But there’s no Chapter 6 yet— Oh.” Oh. Oh! “Yes.” Amity feels the human’s fingers on her chin and she really thinks nothing can top that. “Like in Chapter 6.”
So Luz drags her in by the chin and kisses her.
Turns out, Amity thinks as she blacks out, there is something that can top that.
_______________
“No waaaaay!”
“You literally fainted during your first kiss?!”
“Mittens, you are adorable!”
Amity is almost too happy to hate her siblings right now. She is dating Luz — even though it’s still hard to believe — and nothing else matters. She can stand the constant gushing, and the over-the-top teasing, and yes, she can even stand Edric and Emira pinching her cheeks from both sides.
“I, uh, didn’t faint during the second one,” Amity mumbles, and the twins ‘aww’ in unison.
“I’m gonna tell everyone till the day I die!” Edric squeals, and no, Amity was wrong, she can not stand that.
Yet, before she can start a fight with the eldest Blight, Emira smiles with her brand ‘this is poison’ smile, only reserved for her worst enemies — and her beloved siblings.
“No, you won’t, Ed.”
“And why is that?” Edric huffs, still walking to the other side of the living room, which is at least fifteen steps away from the tall witch. Titan, we do have a giant living room, don’t we.
“Because then I can tell everyone about you and Jerbo.” Emira takes a few steps forth, and Edric is pressing himself further into the wall.
Amity remembers the wall is freshly painted from yesterday’s Incident With the Crayons, so she celebrates a small victory against her brother. Surely his ridiculous pink-and-yellow T-shirt will get stained.
Okay, the T-shirt is 100% cool, but the fact Edric is wearing it makes it 95% lame. Also why in the world is he wearing a scarf? It’s so clear he’s sweating. Sometimes Ed’s fashion statements make Amity wonder if her brother is indeed a rebel or just someone with no sense of wearing matching outfits.
“No idea what you’re talking about.” Edric looks around, but then again, he can’t really hide in his own house, can he.
“I saw Jerbo exit your bedroom in the morning.” Emira waits for her words to take effect.
But they don’t. Instead, Edric visibly relaxes. “So? We’re dating. You guys know that now.”
“He stayed overnight~” Emira coos, and Ed does manage to turn a slight shade of pink, tugging on his scarf nervously.
People aren’t actually supposed to blush this often, Amity thinks. Apparently, in addition to The Curse, the Blights also seem to have weird blood-circulation issues. Thinking back to herself pining after Luz, she realises she did blush more than a healthy amount. More than a healthy number of times.
“It was a sleepover!”
“He had a hickey and you’ve been wearing a scarf all day.” Emira points out with an innocent (not) smile.
“It’s… cold?” Edric tries.
“It’s July, Ed.”
“So what?” Edric snaps defensively. “Okay, look! We’re dating, I’m seventeen, I am allowed to, uh, cuddle, and, um, kiss…” His index finger flies up. “A-and maybe even sex my boyfriend!”
“Oh my Titan you use it as a verb~” Emira coos, closing the distance in a second and pinching her brother’s cheek. “You and Mittens are both sooooo innocent~”
“No we’re not!” The eldest and the youngest Blights say in unison. Amity groans. I’m just further proving her point.
“So, Ed,” Emira starts, smiling with the sweetness of an enchanted candy cone, “wouldn’t be it a shame if your boyfriend knew how you asked him out?”
Amity just blinks. What is she getting at?
“What do you mean?” The green-haired boy huffs, and yet his cheeks grow rose-ish again, ever so slightly. “O-of course he knows how I asked him out! I mean, he was there!”
“Oh yes.” Emira nods. “But you weren’t.”
Amity gasps and sits down on a nearby chair, putting her hands over her mouth. A tiny Luz appears in her head, screaming: Top Ten Anime Betrayals!! Whatever it means.
Edric grows pale, apart from his cheeks, which still retain some of that rosy colour. “Look, I—”
“Cut the crap, bro.” Emira puts her hand on the boy’s shoulder. “I know that when you were asking him out, it was your illusion. And you,” she pokes his chest, “were in the bushes, watching and stress-eating ice-cream.” The girl radiates brilliance as she takes a step back. “Because you were too scared that he’d reject you.”
Amity blushes, looking away. She has always loved Edric, even when he’s being obnoxious, but never thought he could be so similar to her. He was scared of rejection too… she thinks with compassion. Then she remembers him using (stealing!) her make-up, fragrances and nail polish — and the compassion fades into oblivion.
“How do you know?” Edric whispers, somehow backing down even deeper into the wall.
“Because,” Emira winks at Amity while turning her back to the eldest sibling, “I was in the tree making out with Viney, right above the bushes. And I just couldn’t resist taking a video of you mumbling with ice-cream in your mouth.”
Ew, Amity thinks. Ed talking with his mouth full or Em making out with someone. I don’t even know which makes for a worse image.
Edric gasps, and Emira stars mimicking him:
“Oh — nom nom — what if he — nom nom — sees through the — nom nom — illusion?” She laughs. “I’m so — nom — screwed!”
“Come on, Em, that’s cruel!” Amity tries to chide her sister, but finds herself laughing too.
Emira grins. “Come on, Ed. You can’t blackmail a blackmailer.”
Edric opens his mouth, then closes it again. Then he points his finger at his twin with accusation. Then retracts it. Then merely sighs, accepting his fate. “I wasn’t planning on telling anyone about Mittens’s first kiss anyway,” he mumbles.
Then — just like that — he is grinning again. “Not until your wedding at least.”
That’s it. Amity stands up. Edric is so gonna get it.
Thankfully, the eldest sibling senses the change of mood and, escaping Emira’s grasp, runs towards the door. “I’ll be at Jerbo’s please don’t look for me okay see you bye!”
As soon as the door swings shut, the two sisters exchange glances. “Isn’t it Monday?” Amity wonders innocently.
“Oh, yes,” Emira replies with the same innocence.
“Isn’t Monday the day when Jerbo hangs out with Viney and Barcus?” Amity grins very innocently.
“Oh, yes~” Emira sing-songs very, very innocently.
“Doesn’t Viney usually take videos of Edric messing up when he’s flustered?”
“Absolutely,” Emira grins, typing on her scroll — no doubt texting her girlfriend.
“Doesn’t Edric seem very flustered?” Amity rubs her chin way too innocently.
“Flustered enough for at least an hour of blackmail-worthy material.” Emira seems happier than the day their parents got sentenced to life in prison. “And the best part?”
Amity looks up.
“I just asked Viney if I could come see her at Jerbo’s.”
“Aww,” Amity tries to keep up the fakeness. “Just because you miss your girlfriend so much!”
“Yes,” Emira sniffs dramatically, wiping off a non-existent tear. “I get to see my lovely girlfriend, hang around my friends Jerbo and Barcus, and witness my brother embarrassing himself all evening.” She sighs dreamily. “Truly a night to remember.”
Amity smiles, getting up from the chair to go to her room and text Luz — her first official text to her girlfriend!
“Oh, and if Edric drops something on himself or misuses words, I’m gonna send you the videos,” Emira calls out.
Amity laughs with joy. I love this family.
_______________
Stargazing with Luz is the best thing ever. Cuddled under the same blanket in front of the Owl House, enjoying this soft summer night, their hands entwined, Luz gazing into her eyes lovingly. And, every time The Curse hits Amity, she can just keep guessing Luz’s middle name and get better. Or, well, more coherent.
“Is it Boscha? Please don’t tell me it’s Boscha.”
Like she does right now, when Luz takes out their hands and starts kissing Amity’s knuckles and Amity thinks, once again, that breathing is too complicated, so, instead of dying or casting a perma-glue spell to her knuckles and Luz’s lips, she starts to guess.
“It’s not Boscha! Why would it be Boscha?” Luz takes away her lips from Amity’s knuckles. Which is probably for the better. Amity did practise the perma-glue spell a lot.
“Just going through all the letters of the alphabet, Luz.”
“English or Spanish alphabet?”
Amity feels like she is about to face her first tough choice as Luz’s girlfriend. And she cannot fail.
Armies of tiny Amities assemble in her head, wearing war paint and waving… sticks? Okay, subconscious, sure, whatever works.
“What do we do?” the Amity-general asks as the other Amities line up in front.
“We say English!” one tiny Amity shouts, and countless others join her.
“No, we say Spanish!” another tiny Amity contradicts and gathers no less support.
“Do we know what either of these words mean?” the Amity-general wonders.
“No idea, ma’am!” all the other Amities respond in unison.
“Can we find out fast enough to reply?”
“That’s a negative, ma’am?”
“Is it possible to make a chart?” the Amity-general tries one last approach.
The other Amities just shake their heads miserably and start running around, throwing their sticks at each other.
Okay. That wasn’t the weirdest thing ever for sure.
“Haaaa…” Amity replies. “Spanglish?”
“Ames,” Luz says, and the slightly-older witch sees the affection in the human’s eyes and can’t keep herself sane without kissing those lips. And so she does.
“Wow,” Luz pants after the kiss, her eyes slightly wide, her face a bit red. Now Luz is always blushing just the right amount. “Now I can actually see we’re dating. Cause you finally initiated a kiss and I totally forgot what I was going to say.”
Amity just smiles softly at her girlfriend (calling Luz ‘girlfriend’ will never get old), while the tiny Amities in her head celebrate their first victory.
“Oh yes, I remembered!”
The tiny Amities run away while the Amity-general is trying to shoot herself with a stick.
“¿Hablas Español? De verdad?” Luz looks at Amity in awe, and Amity, in turn, is lost in Luz’s eyes and the beautiful words coming out of her mouth. Except she doesn’t understand what those words mean. “You really speak Spanish?”
I’ll just tell her the truth and not be a flustered mess for once in my life.
“Oh, I’m good at Spanish, I’m great at Spanish, I’m the queen of Spanish!”
Nope, not the way it works.
Luz only laughs — a jingling, enticing sound that Amity loves more than the sweetest music. “I’m pretty sure the Spanish have a king, but sure, why not.”
“I have no idea what ‘Spanish’ means,” Amity admits.
“I know,” Luz smiles and rubs her girlfriend’s cheek. “Though it’s very cute how you get flustered trying to impress me.”
Amity is very warm. It’s an unusually warm summer this year. Must be the horrors of global warming somehow transferring from the human realm.
“You don’t have to impress me, Ames,” Luz says, placing a small kiss on Amity’s burning cheek. “You’re already the most impressive person in the world, and I love you for that.”
L-love?
Global warming is approaching way too fast for Amity to regain her composure.
“Sorry, too soon?” Luz chuckles. “I know usually it takes a bit of dating to say that, but considering we’ve been mutually pining for over a year, it seems fitting.”
Amity can barely hear her girlfriend over the sound of approaching global warming, but does notice her nerdy reference to Azura/Hecate fanfiction. And she loves that about Luz.
No. Not only that. She loves Luz. She has been referring to the human with that word for so long it has become mundane. But she has never thought that yes, all this time, she has been in love with Luz, and, in the recent half-a-year of bonding, the feeling has evolved to pure, unadulterated romantic love.
“You know I’m pretty impulsive,” Luz looks away with a — perfectly healthy — blush. “But that’s just how I feel about you. I love you. You don’t have to say it back yet — or ever.”
“I impulse you too!” Amity blurts out. “I mean, love. I mean, too, I, you, love.” Gah! Confound this curse! “I too you love.” Try again. “I love you too!”
Yes!
The Amity-general is jumping up and down in her head while her troops cheer and throw their sticks in the air. We have achieved peace without waging a war! The best kind of victory!
“Aww, that’s so sweet, Ames!” Luz reaches in for another kiss — apparently, she is now as addicted to them as Amity. “And you even remembered how to English!”
“I have no idea what ‘English’ or ‘Spanish’ means,” Amity admits as soon as she retraces the concept of breathing step-by-step. I will make a chart for breathing as soon as I come home, she promises herself.
“Well, Spanish is the language my Mom and I speak at home sometimes,” Luz explains. “Where my Mom comes from, it’s the main language people speak, and we want to preserve our culture — mainly through food, music, and language.”
“I want to learn all about your culture,” Amity blurts out and— and it’s okay. She doesn’t have to chide herself, there is no shame or embarrassment. She is Luz’s girlfriend now, and it’s a perfectly understandable desire. Wow, I didn’t even have to guess her middle name to calm down.
“That’s great!” Luz’s eyes shine with admiration. “I’ll tell you all about it, well, I mean, what I know — for now, in English. Oh,” she adds, “and ‘English’ is the language we’re speaking right now, I thought you should know.”
“Why is it called… ‘English?’”
“Well,” Luz shrugs, pushing Amity under the blanket. “We call it ‘English’ because in the human realm there are people called ‘the English’ who invented the language. Though,” she rubs her chin, “where I live, most people also speak English, but when they hear the English speak English, they say the English can’t speak English. Or was it the Irish? The Irish are a different people, but they also speak English. But they also speak Irish…”
Luz is rambling, and Amity just looks at her, marvelling once again at how her left brow furrows in thought, how the barrage of words escapes her lips and yet she doesn’t make a single mistake, doesn’t misspeak, doesn’t get lost in her own words. Now Amity can enjoy watching Luz without it looking weird, and it’s the best feeling ever. After kissing Luz, of course.
“What do you call it then, if not ‘English’?” Luz asks, drawing the witch out of her reverie.
“...‘Language’.”
“Hey!” Luz frowns. “I’m not swearing!”
“No, I mean, we call it ‘language’,” Amity clarifies. “We don’t really have any other, uh, languages. And it’s so cool you speak two languages. I love you, Luz,” Amity says suddenly, just because she can.
“For speaking two languages?” Luz teases, and Amity blushes — though, this time it’s a healthy amount. Hopefully.
“Just for who you are.”
“I also love you, my wonderful sappy girlfriend,” Luz reaches out to kiss Amity on the cheek again, but meets her lips instead. She grins. “A win-win.”
“It feels so good to just be able to say I love you,” Amity muses, content. “I love you, Luz.” She giggles. “I love you, Luz Camila Noceda.”
“You do realise Camila is my mother’s name.”
“Yes.”
“It’s both weird and cute,” Luz admits with a laugh as a star winks at them from the sky. “Hey, Ames, would you like me to teach you un poco Español?”
“I have no idea what that means but yes.”