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Amity hummed quietly to herself as she flipped another page of her book. The sun was warm on her legs, as was Luz’s head lying prone in her lap as they sat beneath a large blood-oak tree outside the owl house.
Despite being the dead of Winter, the day was rather warm, not as warm as it had been over the scorching Summer months. The warm winds blowing off the Boiling Sea added to the season and made Summers in the Isles more than a little warm.
Luz stirred in her lap and Amity peered over the top of her book down at her girlfriend. Her eyes were closed and she looked serene, the sunlight streaming across her face in dappled specks between the dark red leaves rustling gently overhead.
“I can’t believe how warm it is for the middle of Winter…” she finally mumbled quietly. Just as keen not to break the serenity of this moment as Amity.
“Mhmm” Amity hummed and ran a hand through Luz’s hair, touseling the brown locks gently between her fingers. Luz hummed back, a smile stretching across her face and a single eye peeking open, brown meeting gold.
“Just wait till spring when the mosquitoes come out,” she warned and Luz snorted.
“We have mosquitoes in the human world.” Her other eye opened as Amity moved her book aside to look at her.
“The size of slither-beasts?” she asked with a knowing grin, watching the smile fall off Luz’s face like a stone sinking into the sea. “I didn’t think so,” she snickered to herself, turning her attention back to her book.
They lapsed back into quiet but Amity knew it was not to last as Luz started to fidget all the more. She knew the other girl well enough to know there were thoughts racing in her head, just trying to find the words to express them.
She waited and sure enough, after a few more fidgety minutes, she finally spoke.
“Are there any winter holidays in the Boiling Isles besides the Winter solstice?” she asked, making Amity lower her book once more and purse her lips thoughtfully.
“Coven joining day… but I don’t think that’s the kind of thing you meant,” she said as she glimpsed the sour look on Luz’s face.
“Not really.”
“Well, are there any winter holidays in the human world?” She dog-eared the page she was on before setting the book in the grass beside her. She knew she was in for another long rant on the amazing ways of the human world by the way Luz’s eyes lit up and she flew upward, sitting up so fast she nearly slammed her forehead into Amity’s chin.
The witchling knew well enough to get out of the way of the unstoppable object that was her girlfriend.
“Oh, where to start?! Halloween is my favorite holiday, though I guess that's a fall holiday…,” Luz pursed her lips, tapping a finger to her chin thoughtfully.
“Well, just tell me about all of them,” Amity told her. Partial, genuine interest and partial desire to listen to Luz talk about the things she obviously loved.
“Okay, Halloween….!” She threw up her hands before launching into a long speech about the joys of the horrors of Halloween and slowly segueing into Thanksgiving, which Amity didn’t really understand and then understood even less as she explained the relationship between these “settlers” and “natives”.
“Why didn’t they just kill the ‘settlers’?”
“Uh, well…” Luz scratched the back of her head, not sure how much of the history of humankind, colonization and manifest destiny she really wanted to get into. “Don’t worry about it,” she quickly moved onto Christmas, which only brought about more questions that set Luz to balking as to how to explain such things to someone who literally grew up in another world.
New year’s at least was an easy to understand concept that didn’t require any background really on human culture.
“Oh, we have something like that. Crowning day. The day the Emperor came to power and started speaking for the Titan,” Amity piped up and Luz held her tongue about that.
“Then it’s pretty empty for a while…” Luz trailed off before a sudden thought had her beaming. “Oh! There’s Valentine's day!” she said, suddenly, making Amity jerk back.
“Valentine’s day…?” she repeated, testing the word in her mouth. Luz only smiled harder, nodding her head.
“Yeah! It’s all about showing people you love you care, usually couples but people give them to their friends too!”
Amity paid special attention as Luz outlined the entire love based holiday from its origins to intentions.
“…And you give special gifts and call them valentine’s to show people you care about them.”
“So, did you ever give anyone a valentine before, or get any?” the young witch finally asked when Luz had finished her explanation, dying of curiosity.
“Oh… uh, I tried once or twice but…” she shrugged helplessly, eyes skittering off toward the owl house, refusing to meet Amity’s gaze. “Most people don’t want to get one from the ‘weird kid’ in class.” She held up her fingers and air quoted. She had a half smile on her face, trying to play it off but Amity knew better. Could see the flicker of pain in Luz’s eyes. “I didn’t get any either, no…”
With that , Luz quickly jumped to the next holiday on her list and whatever “St. Patricks day’ was but Amity’s mind was still fully focussed on Valentine’s day and that, according to Luz, it would be coming up in just a few short days.
She needed a plan.
~ ~ ~ ~
She spent the entirety of that evening and the next morning racking her brain for ideas and wishing that on this particular holiday she had asked more follow up questions. Luz hadn’t wanted to linger on it though. She knew that you gave that special person a ‘valentine’ but she didn’t know what that even was.
Was it a specific kind of a gift? A plant, an animal? The more she learned about the human world the more bizarre it sounded and she wouldn’t put it past humans to give eachother even the most bizzare things.
What was wrong with a good ‘ol fairy pie?!
Amity sighed as she set her book in her locker after the bell, it’s jaws snapping shut as she stepped back.
She only had one day left and she still hadn’t been able to figure out what a ‘valentine’ was. The books in the library had been totally useless on human culture outside their anatomy. She also made a mental note to ask Luz about her fire-glands.
Later though! Time was quickly slipping between her fingers and she was no closer to an idea then she had been yesterday. She shouldered her bag a little higher as she walked down the mostly deserted corridors, brows furrowed in thought.
She could very clearly picture the look on Luz’s face in her mind's eye.
Luz was good at pretending, at making it seem like she was fine when she really wasn’t. Putting on a brave face when she was hurt.
Maybe she could fool most people but she couldn’t fool Amity, who had a lot of experience herself with wearing that mask. She could see that pain and disappointment in her girlfriend's vibrant eyes.
Maybe she could never make up for the things before, but she could at least let Luz know she was cared about now.
….she just wished she knew how to do that in human tradition.
She sighed to herself as she walked down the hall.
“And that is how humans molt on the night of a full moon!”
Amity stopped and looked up at the voice. She knew that voice.
She took a few more steps and peered into an open classroom door.
Sure enough, standing at the front of the room in front of a small gaggle of other students, was Gus.
“Do they molt every full moon?” A student piped up and Gus shook his head as he crossed his arms.
“No, it’s entirely dependent on the season and the human’s stage of growth. Our own resident human should be close to a molt of her own soon, she has grown taller in the last few months. Her fragile outer skin is at its limits and anytime now she’ll shed it for a glossy new one.”
The human appreciation club all oohed and ahhed at that.
“That’s all the time we have for today though, same time next week everyone!” He called and the other students all stood and gathered their things before shuffling out past Amity.
“Where do you even get all that information?” Amity stepped into the room after the rest of the human appreciation society had disappeared down the halls.
“Oh, hey, Amity! Research!” He grinned, planting his hands on his hips proudly.
“I’ve been all through the library and haven’t found much of anything…”
Gus shook his head and rummaged through a pile of papers on the table before turning back and holding something up to Amity. A magazine, slightly stained and torn in places. It had definitely seen better days and It looked like it had been in a pile of trash.
It probably had been.
“If you want to learn about humans, you have to go right to the source. I know Luz doesn’t mind me asking her questions but I prefer to research on my own and then double check with her.”
“Maybe you can help me then, with a human thing?” She barely got the question out before Gus’s face lit up.
“What do you need to know?” he asked.
“Do you know about Valentine’s day?” She asked.
Gus hummed, steepling his fingers in front of his face as he went into what Luz called his ‘human thinking’ face.
“I have heard of such a thing, yes. A human holiday of romantic gift giving.”
“Yeah, but am I supposed to give a specific gift? How is this different then the human holiday that came right before it. Chris-mas?” she asked, the foriegn word not exactly rolling off her tongue.
“Hmm, it’s my understanding that a specific gift is often traded between the closest of friends and couples for Valentine’s day. A sign of deepest affection….” He tapped his fingers together thoughtfully. “I can teach you, but we don’t have the same technology like they do. It will require illusion magic…,” he warned.
Amity grimaced. Illusions were not her strong suit. That was her brother and sister’s preferred track. She was decent enough. Though nothing less than perfect was acceptable as far as her mother was concerned, which may as well have meant she was bad at it.
“You up for it?” Gus asked and Amity didn’t hesitate for more than a moment before that look in Luz’s eyes flashed through her mind and her hand tightened into a fist.
“I’m up for it.”
“Excellent!”
~ ~ ~
Luz was not sure what was going on today.
She had not seen Amity all day, save for a quick glimpsing in the hall before she saw her bright pink hair disappear around the corner as she walked to class and then nothing.
She sent a few messages through her repurposed tamagotchi and received replies like normal.
“Guess she’s just busy…” She shrugged and shoved it back in her pocket before hurrying on to class.
Then when she walked into the cafeteria at lunch time, she was just in time to see Aity jump up and speed walk away before she could even get her food. She frowned as she watched the witch turn the corner and disappear.
Her girlfriend's bizarre behavior aside, the day went by rather uneventfully, except how disappointed Luz was with a certain lack of pink haired witch.
Amity wasn’t waiting for her outside the school like she usually did and she felt her shoulders slump even farther. True, she didn’t always, she sometimes had things to do after school.
As far as Valentine’s days went, she had sort of expected this one to go differently, seeing as she actually had a girlfriend to celebrate it with this year. Once she found herself walking alone down the dirt path toward the owl house after school, she was resigned to this one being like all the others.
A little box sat undisturbed in her bag.
She couldn’t fault Amity here. This wasn’t a holiday that she had grown up with and she probably had forgotten about it already after their talk a few days ago. She didn’t know what it meant to Luz to finally actually have someone to celebrate it with.
She would still give her the gift she’d made tomorrow.
For now, she walked home, head hung. Even if she staunchly refused to blame her girlfriend, it still stung.
She had just turned the corner, the house coming into view when she heard the quick sound of steps pounding on the dirt behind her.
“Luz!”
She whipped around just in time to see Amity come sliding around the bend in the road.
“Amity! What are you doing here, I figured you were busy today.” She blinked as Amity slowed to a stop in front of her.
“Hey… no, I’ve just… I have a… traditional valentine gift for you.” she finally said and watched as Luz’s expression turned into one of mystified awe.
“For me?” She pointed at herself and Amity snorted.
“Of course for you,” she smiled, all the more pleased with herself as Luz’s cheeks turned pink. “I had to get some help from Gus but…”
She held out a folded red card.
“This is for you.”
“Oooh!” Luz was quick to take the card and open it.
The telltale sparkle of pale blue illusion magic lit up the paper.
‘Happy Valentine’s Day, Luz.’
It vanished from the page and for a moment before music notes popped into existence on the paper.
A familiar drumline made Luz jerk.
‘She couldn’t have…’ Luz thought.
“We’re no strangers to loooove, you know the rules and so do I!”
Luz balked as the little card played on, mouth hanging open and card held loosely in her hands.
Amity didn’t know what to make of the flabbergasted look on her girlfriend's face as they stood there in the middle of the woods outside the owl house as the song played on. Besides the singer, the only other thing she could hear was her heartbeat in her ears.
When the final notes faded out into the air, Luz stood there, looking just as shocked as before.
There was a tight, sinking feeling in the pit of Amity’s stomach as they stood there in silence, Luz still not saying anything.
She swallowed thickly, her tongue felt heavy in her mouth as she stood there, unsure what to say or do.
She finally managed to open her mouth to say something when the silence was popped like a balloon as Luz wheezed, snorting and choking on her laughter.
She was bent over at the waist, inhaling so sharply Amity’s confusion was partially abated with worry for the lack of air her girlfriend seemed to be taking in.
“Oh my gosh!” Luz cackled, tears gathering in the corner of her eyes. “I can’t believe you rick-rolled me for Valentine’s day!” she howled.
“I what?” Amity blinked, frowning as Luz laughed herself breathless.She could barely stay standing she was laughing so hard.
Finally, when she could breathe again, she stood back up, wiping at her eyes and grinning like mad when Luz finally took notice of the look on Amity’s face.
“You didn’t mean to rick-roll me?” She cocked her head, still smirking.
“What is a… rick-roll?” she asked, and Luz chuckled. She took Amity’s hand and led them over to sit on the thick roots of a nearby tree.
“It's kinda hard to explain but okay…”
Luz spent a good half hour explaining the intricacies of memes to Amity, who she wasn’t sure totally understood but she seemed to get enough to understand what she had done.
“Ugh… why did I ask Gus for help?” she groaned, pressing the heels of her palms against her eyes and letting her head thump back against the tree.
“Hey, it’s okay! This was great!” Luz grinned and Amity peeked at her from between her hands.
“Really?”
“Yeah! Maybe it wasn’t the romantic valentine I always envisioned but it was real and thoughtful and you tried and that’s all I could have ever asked for.” She smiled and Amity felt those familiar dreadflies in her stomach that always made her stomach flutter when Luz said or did something sweet.
“I’m glad…”
“Oh, I have something for you too!” Luz grinned and went rummaging through her bag. Amity peeked over her shoulder curiously before she turned back around to face her, a little box held in her hands.
“It’s not much but it was the best I could do.” She sat it in Amity’s open hands.
“Thank you, Luz,” she mumbled, looking up at her girlfriend from beneath her lashes.
“Well go on, open it!” she urged.
Amity wasted no more time, pulling away the ribbon and popping over the little hinge.
Sitting inside was a necklace, much like the one already hanging from her neck, bearing a crescent moon.
“It’s a locket.” Luz couldn’t contain herself.
Amity pulled it out of the box and could feel the slight heft to it. Her thumb ran along the little hinge on the side and it popped open.
Luz and herself from Grom stared back at her from the little, circular, golden frame. The late afternoon sun bounced off the glass.
“I know it’s not a thing you celebrate, but happy Valentine’s day, Amity.”
She looked up at Luz, smiling at her and the dread flies gave another flutter.
“It’s beautiful, Luz. Thank you…” She slipped the locket over her head with a soft smile but it quickly dimmed.
“What’s wrong?”
“I just feel kind of bad that I didn’t give you a real gift…”
Luz blew a raspberry, waving her hand.
“I told you, I loved it, Amity, really.” She assured her but Amity still didn’t seem entirely consoled. “Hey, you know what we could do together?” she asked. Amity looked at her curiously. “We could rick-roll Gus…” She grinned and Amity snorted, trying to stifle her laughter behind a hand, eyes alight. Luz just beamed at her.
“Let’s do it.”
“Yes!” Luz pumped a fist as she flung herself back to her feet and held out a hand. Amity slid hers into Luz’s larger one and let herself be hauled to her feet.
“Let’s go, I know exactly where he’ll be and I know just what to do!” Amity followed along behind, hand still wrapped in Luz’s as they ran back down the path toward Bonesburough. The locket swinging from around her neck.