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Hunter wasn't stupid. He'd never been stupid, he had to be smart since he was young, he had to be a prodigy. But recently he'd been acting stupid... around a certain someone.
He walked the halls of Hexside, hand dragging against the walls as he thought. It'd been three months. Four months since he'd run away, since he'd ended up on the Owl Lady's doorstep, begging for forgiveness and a place to stay. Four months since he moved in and became a part of the odd family that resided in the house. Since he'd became Luz and King's brother, Eda's... son. Four months since Belos... ugh.
And yet everything still felt new. School, friends, the Owl House, his family. All of it.
He stopped at a locker, a quick wave of his hand over it confirmed it to be his as it opened. He set the books he was holding into it, pausing to think about if he needed anything out if it. He glanced to his palisman, who was resting in his shoulder, she chirped quietly. Oh. Right. He thought, I don't have any classes next period. He looked to his left, then to his right, eyes scanning through the groups of people in the halls. He tried to find his sister, maybe even her- their friends. He was friends with them too, Willow and Gus.
When he didn't see anyone he recognized he sighed, closing his locker. Not that it would've mattered if he did, Luz didn't have a free period during the day, and neither did Gus. He wasn't sure on Willow. Willow. He pursed his lips in thought. Rascal chirped from his shoulder. He laughed quietly, rubbing her head with his finger. "Okay, okay," he said to the bird, "we can go to the greenhouse. I need to check on the roses anyway."
He began his journey through the halls, trying his hardest to remember the way to the back of the school. He turned past classroom after classroom, until he spotted the double doors with [Exit] above them that lead to the back of the school. He jumped a little in place excitedly. He, admittedly, really did love visiting the greenhouse. He walked to the doors, leaning against them to open them, they were quite heavy... or maybe he was just scrawny, who knows.
He didn't pause to look around, he knew his way from there by heart. He was there every other day, sometimes he even showed up on the weekends, he really loved gardening. He didn't know why; it was certainly unexpected. He started with just a small flower in a pot at the owl house, then he started planting more and more until his room had about a dozen roses in each corner. At that point Luz suggested asking Bump if he could move his little garden to the greenhouse that was recently installed out back of the school.
He reached the small shack made of tarp with a glass roof, opened the door softly and stepped inside. He immediately paused, though. There was someone already in there. He was ready to turn around and leave without and word until Rascal flew off of his shoulder and to the other witchling, who turned. It was Willow. Hunter's shoulders untensed and his eyes softened.
"Oh! Hello, Hunter!" Willow greeted softly, she held out her hand to wave, pausing and holding it still when Rascal landed on it. She giggled a bit; Hunter felt his face heat up.
"Hi. Uhm- I'm just here to check my roses. I didn't mean to intrude, I- I can go sorry-" he turned, ready to bolt back outside and get himself to calm down. He heard Willow giggle again. "No, no, it's alright! I'm just practicing spells, you don't gotta go." She patted Rascal's head as she spoke, the cardinal chirping happily. Hunter turned back around.
He held his hands together awkwardly, a crooked smile on his face. Why did he always get like this around her? Agh!
"Are those ones yours?" Willow asked, pointing over to an area in the corner of the greenhouse where a rose garden laid. She knew they were his- they were the only the roses in the shack, and also had a little piece of tape on the front that read 'Hunter C.'
"Yeah- ah. Have you been looking at them? I'm trying my best to keep them presentable." Hunter started, moving over to the small garden, picking up the gloves that were placed next to it and putting them on. He didn't plan on digging but just in case.
"Oh, yes. They're very nice, I think you're doing a great job!" Willow followed after him, still holding his bird. "Though if I could offer some advice?" She started, glancing to him. Hunter nodded a little, signaling she could, he began wondering what he could be doing wrong. He read up on plant care often... but then again Willow would be the one to notice something off, no matter how little.
"The place you have them sitting isn't very good. Part of the garden is more shaded than the others, they aren't getting the same amount of sunlight. You might wanna move them?" She offered, then panicked a bit, seeing the slightly saddened look on Hunter's face. "N-not that it's hurting them! They're growing just fine, I just- uh-" She stopped hearing Hunter laugh a little.
"Thanks, Willow. Nah you're right, don't worry. You wanna help me move 'em somewhere better?" He picked up the extra pair of gloves he had, offering them to her. She took them, "Yeah! Of course, I'm happy to help!" She said, putting them on and looking around for a moment, humming.
"Oh, hey! You could move them over next to my group of sunflowers! There's a big empty stop next to them." She turned back to him, smiling. Hunter nodded, reaching down to pick up one of the large plastic containers that held a portion of his garden.
He moved over to where Willow's sunflowers resided, setting his roses down next to them, adjusting the plastic bin just a bit until it looked okay next to them. Willow followed after quickly, holding two of the plastic containers, one in each hand, it seemed effortless. She's so strong...
Hunter felt himself blush again. Agh! He looked away, holding his arm to his face for a moment, to hide his face or maybe to calm himself. He felt Rascal land on his shoulder, chirping rather loudly. " What? No. " He whispered back to the bird, defensively.
She chirped again, he waved her off his shoulder softly. She hovered him for a moment before flying back to sit on Willow's shoulder again as she set down the containers next to where Hunter had put his.
Rascal chirped; Willow hummed. She chirped again, and Willow mumbled something like "oh, really?" Back. Hunter tensed, face dropping. "Wait, can- can you understand her?" He asked, staring in awe, shocked by the thought that anyone other than him could understand his palisman.
Willow chuckled, though. "No, no. I was just pretending to." Hunter stared for a moment. "Why... would you pretend to talk to a bird?" He questioned as he stood back up, moving to pick up another section of his garden. "I dunno, sometimes I just do." Willow offered, following him and picking up another two plastic containers. "Don't you talk to her?"
Hunter watched as Willow set down the last of his roses, he pursed his lips. "Well, yeah, but I.." he stopped. Maybe talking to his bird was normal, but he knew for certain actually understanding her was not. He waved his hand dismissively, mumbling a "Never mind.."
He picked up the watering can next to the door of the greenhouse, taking it to the water faucet nearby. He silently filled it up and returned to his roses. He made sure to water them evenly, he usually wouldn't care as much but with Willow there he got nervous and wanted to be perfect. She quietly watched him, still petting Rascal's head.
Said Cardinal began chirping to her owner again, who simply ignored her. She chirped a bit louder, he looked away. "What's the matter, girl?" Willow offered, but the bird wasn't talking to her. Hunter knew she was taking to him, but at the moment he chose not pay any mind to her.
She flew up to him, landing on the back of his school uniform. She grabbed at the hood of his shawl, tugging at it gently at first. Hunter turned, trying to wave her off, she tugged harder. He almost fell back but caught himself.
"Gah! Rascal! Stop it!" He pointed at her, scowling. The bird chirped and flew around him again, landing on Willow's head for just a moment and taunting him with another chirp. He got ready to lunge forward and grab her, gently, obviously, and turn her back to her staff form. As much as he hated to.
But before he could jump at her she flew directly up, landing on one of the bars at the very top of the greenhouse. She continued chirping rather loudly.
"Rascal! Get down!" Hunter called after her, reaching his hand up and whistling, hoping she'd fly back down and perch on him. She chirped. She wasn't doing that.
His hands fell to his sides, he groaned. "Fine! Stay up there! See if I care!" He turned back to his roses, double checking to make sure he'd watered them all evenly, or at least pretending to.
Willow giggled, watching the little scene play out. She came up behind Hunter and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Do you need help getting her down?" She asked, Hunter nodded. "Yeah, but how're you going to-" he was cut short as he watched her draw a spell circle in the air, sprouting a large root from the ground, she lifted her hand and it rose up to where to bird was. Rascal chirped and hopped on the root. Hunter watched as she was slowly lowered.
"Phew! There ya go little guy." Willow picked up the cardinal slowly, setting her on the ground next to Hunter, who stared in awe. Rascal nudged his arm and chirped.
He lifted up his hand to pat her on the head, "I'm sorry I yelled at you..." he mumbled. The bird hopped up on his shoulder and snuggled against him, seemingly accepting his apology. Willow sat next to the both of them.
"Hey uh- how'd you do that?" Hunter asked, not looking away from his palisman. Willow hummed in confusion. "The... growing stuff at will... thing. You did..." he elaborated, making hand gestures to try and get his point across better.
"OH, it's easy- here," she reached over to grab an empty flower pot from under one of the tables near them. "Watch." She drew a spell circle in the air, sticking her tounge out slightly as she concentrated. A flower sprouted from the dirt quickly- not just a flower. A rose. Hunter blushed just slightly.
"That's... fascinating." He reached out slowly, cupping his hands under hers and drawing the flower pot closer to him. He tilted his head slightly.
"Oh, it's really nothing. Anyone could do a simple plant spell like that..." Willow looked away; cheeks tinted a light pink. She would retract her hands, but Hunter's own held them in place on the bottom of the flower pot as he examined it.
Hunter hummed. "Well, I can't. I can't do any magic; I think this is really cool." He smiled; Willow smiled back. He removed his hands, allowing willow to lower the flower pot back to the floor of the greenhouse.
"You really can't do any magic?" Willow questioned, hoping it wasn't too personal a question. Hunter just shrugged. "Nah, never have been able to, probably never will. 'S okay though, I don't need magic. Actually-" his face seemed to light up a bit. "Luz has been helping me learn glyphs for a while, it's really interesting! There're only four individual ones- they're all the basic elements- but when you combine them there's almost no limit to what you can do! Like, like-" he stopped himself, face heating up. "Sorry! Sorry, I got excited. I didn't mean to ramble!"
Willow giggled, "No, it's okay! I like listening to you ramble, you seem really interested in it." She smiled, so genuinely it made Hunter's face get redder.
"What's the plant one look like?" She questioned, scooting just a bit closer. "Oh!" He perked up, reaching into his pocket for a quick moment, pulling out a small notepad with a pencil. "It's like this." Willow watched as he drew out a symbol on the paper. She already knew what the plant glyph looked like, she had been friends with Luz for almost a year now, she'd listened to her info-dump more than once. But it seemed to make Hunter happy to ramble, and she loved to see him happy, so she'd listen.
Hunter finished drawing the symbol out, he tapped to center gently. The paper glowed for a moment before a small flower grew from it.
"Ooo.." Willow reached out, plucking to flower from its place on that paper. "Look at that! You did magic, Hunter!" She gestured the flower to him, he smiled his crooked smile, he looked so proud. "Yeah! It's really cool how all this works... I'm glad I have Luz to teach me about them." He glanced up at her, "and uh- thanks for listening." Willow smiled. "Of course! You can talk to me anytime."
A few minutes passed, Hunter rambling about different types of wild magic, Willow listening intently and asking follow-up questions to keep him going. They were having fun enjoying each other's company- until Willows stood up suddenly, cutting Hunter off mid-sentence. "Oh, thorns! I've gotta go, I completely forgot I told Gus I'd meet him for lunch! I'm sorry, Hunter- ah, you can join us if you'd like!"
Lunch? Was it lunch time already? "U-uhm- no, it's okay! You go, I'll be okay!" He laughed awkwardly, waving off his embarrassment. "Okay! Sorry to cut this short, uh- we can hang out later if you want!" Willow rushed to the door, picking up her bag and palisman quickly, "bye, Hunter!" And with that she was gone.
Hunter sat for a moment, thinking. Why did he always act so stupid around Willow? She wasn't any different from his other friends. Well- no, that was a lie. Willow was always much more patient with him then others, she always went out of her way to make sure you knew she was listening and interested in any conversation. She was forgiving and kind and so, so sweet.
He sighed, standing up. He dusted off his knees quickly, then took off his gardening gloves and set them back next to his garden. He stared at the roses for a second. What was he going to do with all of them...
He reached down slowly; he had an idea.
-
Willow giggled happily as she waved goodbye to Gus, who ran off in the opposite direction of her, in search of their Human friend to rant to her about his latest illusion he'd mastered. She knew because that's what he'd spent all of lunch doing.
She turned down the hall, humming to herself contently, until she reached her locker. There was a note on the front-
'Hey willow ! I may have helped my brother brake break into your locker - we didn't take anything, promise ! pleasedontbemadiloveyouokbye - luz'
She raised an eyebrow, reaching up to open her locker. Why would they need to get in my locker? Why wouldn't they just ask m- she stopped, a little "oh." Slipping from her lips.
In her locker laid a small bouquet of flowers- roses- on top of her books. Just like the note said, nothing appeared to be missing or damaged. The only change was the flowers. She laughed, picking them up gently. A golden ribbon tied the flowers together, a small tag hung off the end.
' to: Willow ,
from: Hunter '