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It took a little more than a week for the dust to finally settle. For the anxiety and pent-up stress to finally loosen its vice grip on the five of them, not fully gone, but enough so that they could relax and try and come up with a plan. It took a little more than a week for the realization that they all might be here for a long time to set in.
A bit more permanent arrangements were quickly made; Luz’s bedroom had been moved around and adjusted so that it was big enough for Vee, Willow, Amity, and Luz together. Hunter and Gus, on the other hand, had helped Camila clean out the small guest bedroom/storage room across the hall which was just barely big enough for two cots and the desk that was already there. Luz remembered that room previously being a cramped office but it had turned into a storage room after her father had passed away.
The house was quickly shifted to adapt to the addition of five more kids. Which was… difficult… but it was beginning to become normal. It was crowded and complicated but they were able to make it work.
The normal was beginning to become too normal once again.
Their magic still worked which was a big relief but Willow was the first to notice that it was weaker than it was in the demon realm. By a noticeable margin. Plants that she should be able to grow no worries stuttered and faltered under her magic. But it did still grow.
Luz’s glyphs, however, turned up bust when she tried to make them. The magic fizzled out and nothing would happen despite the fact that she knew she had drawn them correctly. It just refused to work now that they were in the human realm. Even Amity or Willow who had magic couldn’t get the symbols to react.
Hunter reasoned it was because she had gotten them from the demon realm and they worked with the way nature worked back there. So that meant there might’ve been glyphs that she could find that were similar to the ones she already knew. And since Luz remembered Hunter reading about that kind of stuff, she believed him.
The palismen seemed fine by the shift in dimensions but they too seemed weaker and more sluggish like the magic each witch had. Not to a worrying extent, but it was enough that they slept longer and were unable to fly for such long periods of time as they used to.
Luz figured that besides those few changes, everyone had adjusted fine. At least physically. It was still a work in progress to explain human stuff to the other witches. Luz wasn’t sure how many times she’s had to explain that no, electricity isn’t magic and that no, she doesn’t know how it works. She had a feeling that at least one of them was going to get shocked by touching the outlets since she had pulled Gus away from it too many times to reason with him. They’d have to learn the hard way.
They were beaten up and still jumpy, but things were better than when they first appeared at least.
But Luz noticed that Hunter remained cautious, barely letting his guard down and flinching whenever anyone came up behind him. He either helped Camila with chores or was reading any books that he could find that might be helpful. It was almost obsessive.
That’s why his exhaustion was a little concerning, but even so, he rarely slept. Gus had confirmed that almost every time he woke up in the night, Hunter was awake too.
With the eyebags that only got worse since Luz first met him, his lack of sleep was understandable.
That’s why Luz was so shocked to find Hunter asleep on the living room chair nearly two weeks after they had landed in the human realm.
It was after a short shopping trip with Amity, Luz had opened the door and was about to shout something to whoever was inside at the moment when she spotted Hunter. He had his legs crossed in front of himself and a heavy book he had gotten from the library resting in his lap. His one hand was resting over the open pages while the other he used to prop up his chin. His eyes were closed and each breath he took whistled through the gap in his teeth.
Even Flapjack was asleep nestled in Hunter’s hair with his beak tucked under his wing. The palisman twittered quietly in his sleep.
Both Amity and Luz froze, and despite how deep worry had wormed its way into her chest, she couldn’t bring herself to wake him. Not after everything that had happened, and not after how little sleep he had been getting. Titan knew he needed the rest.
So, very carefully, Luz pulled the blanket from the back of the couch, draping it over his shoulders and praying he wouldn’t wake up. When he didn’t even stir (another red flag), Luz took the book from his lap and put it on the coffee table. She made sure to tuck the blanket neatly so it wouldn't slip off if he shifted.
“Weird,” Luz pressed her lips into a thin line, following Amity into the kitchen, her socks slid against the tile floor after she had taken her shoes off in front of the door, “he doesn’t even sleep in the bedroom.”
Amity shrugged, her eyebrows furrowing slightly, “when you’re tired, you’re tired.”
Luz nodded in silent agreement, turning back to the bags of groceries that they had bought. Camila was at work which meant they made sure to do as many errands as they could. It was a way to keep busy.
—
Hunter falling asleep in the living room wasn’t the last bit of strange activity from the boy. When he had woken up afterward he was sluggish and disoriented like he was surprised that he had fallen asleep and confused about where he had ended up. Camila had accidentally woken him up with the noise of making dinner and he had tiredly shuffled into the kitchen to help.
Luz thought it might’ve just been his body crashing from exhaustion or overexertion. But the next morning presented her with a whole new basket of red flags.
The past week or so, Hunter had usually been the first one up after Camila. He helped her make breakfast and set the table or did whatever he could to keep his hands busy and his mind quiet. And even despite Camila’s protests that he needed to get some sleep and that she could handle breakfast, that didn’t deter him from trying to help.
But when Luz came downstairs the next morning, she noticed the significant lack of any blond boys named Hunter in the kitchen.
“Where’s Hunter?” She asked, stepping up next to her mom to see what she was making. She yawned, bringing a hand up to her face to cover her mouth just to be polite.
“He hasn’t come down, he’s probably sleeping,” Camila said, pressing her lips into a thin line, “he’s been tired since yesterday. Almost dropped a few plates helping with dinner.”
Luz frowned, she had noticed that too but hadn’t wanted to say anything at the time. It only would have caused him to get embarrassed. But if Hunter was gonna sleep in this morning, she wasn’t going to bother him. After all, she slept in all the time. At least she used to… when nightmares weren’t as common.
But when Gus came downstairs after taking a shower and getting dressed, he reported that, yes, Hunter was still sleeping. Which was weird for him.
“I went to bed before him so maybe he stayed up late,” Gus shrugged, kicking his heel against the leg of his chair as they sat at the table.
“I’ll go wake him,” Luz pushed her chair back, palms pressing against the edge of the table. She chewed on the inside of her mouth, glancing at her mom who just nodded with a small smile.
“Good luck,” Gus said with a small laugh, “he’s been hard to wake up the past few days.”
Luz just sighed, knowing exactly what he had meant. It was a surprise that he hadn’t woken up when she and Amity returned home yesterday, but he hadn’t woken even when Willow and Gus were watching tv in the living room.
Quietly, Luz climbed the staircase, one hand smoothing against the railing. The house was quiet upstairs since everyone had already gathered at the table for breakfast. The hallway light was off but with the light streaming in through the bedroom windows, she didn’t need to turn them on to see.
Deciding to be polite, Luz knocked on the door first before she entered the makeshift bedroom just in case Hunter had woken up. But since she heard nothing on the other side of the door, she figured he was still asleep.
Hunter had chosen the cot on the other side of the room which faced the door as she walked in. So Luz immediately saw the lump buried underneath the covers. Flapjack, as usual, nestled nearby. This time he had perched on the window sill right next to Hunter’s cot. The palisman never went too far from Hunter unless there was something wrong.
Since the room was small, it took only a few steps for Luz to reach the side of the bed. She could see Hunter’s face scrunched up just behind the blanket, his eyes closed tightly. He didn’t seem like he was having a nightmare or anything of the sort, but his sleep didn’t seem too restless either. He didn’t even relax when he was unconscious.
“Hey,” she reached over, shaking his shoulder gently to try and wake him, “Hunter.”
Flapjack, suddenly roused by Luz’s voice, twittered softly as he untucked his beak. He blinked at Luz with his one good eye as he groggily hopped back and forth. She shook Hunter’s shoulder again with a little more force.
He made a noise from the back of his throat, scrunching his face up as he very weakly cracked his eyes open. There was a slight flush that spread to the tips of his ears as he brought a hand up to rub his eyes.
“Luz?” He mumbled, voice slightly hoarse from lack of use.
“It’s time for breakfast sleepy head,” she rocked back and forth on her heels, taking a step back to give Hunter some room. Hunter wedged his arm underneath himself and used it to push him up to a half-sitting position. The one long strand of hair fell over his eyes which he didn’t even bother to fuss with as he sometimes did.
A yawn pulled itself from his throat and he seemed sluggish to wake. His ears were droopy and he almost seemed to tremble.
“Are you doing okay?” Luz asked, the words spilling from her mouth before she could even think about it.
“Huh?” He blinked, “I’m… yeah… sorry…” Another yawn, “I’m just tired.”
“You never usually sleep in this late,” Luz commented, stuffing her hands into her pockets, “You better not be getting sick.”
“I’m not, I’m fine,” Hunter stood up, and now that he was fully facing Luz, she noticed that his skin was even paler than usual and the flush of his cheeks hadn’t gone away. Luz squinted at him suspiciously, worry nagging in the pit of her chest.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m fine ,” he said, voice sharp with a warning that if Luz continued to push the subject he would close off. She was lucky she even got to see him asleep like that.
Luz held her hands up in front of herself in a placating gesture, taking a step back towards the door, “okay, right. Let’s go get some breakfast and then I think Gus wanted to go to the library if you want to come with.”
Hunter nodded, swallowing thickly as he blinked tiredly. Luz expected him to follow her out of the room, but almost as soon as he had taken a step, his knees seemed to give out and he fell with a startled gasp. Luz whipped around, eyes wide as she quickly dropped down to the floor with him.
“Hunter,” Luz’s hands hovered just a few inches away from Hunter’s arms. He seemed just as surprised at the predicament as she was, his pupils contracted to tiny dots as he trembled. His breathing was a bit shaky and each exhale whistled.
Flapjack flew over, flapping his wings with alarm as he hopped onto Hunter’s head.
“Are you okay?” Luz asked again, her heart hammering in her chest. This wasn’t good.
“I’m…” Hunter licked his lips, looking down at his gloved hands and how they shook. He had very rarely taken them off, only when Camila asked him to wash his hands before helping prepare food.
“What happened?”
“I… I don’t know…” Hunter’s breathing picked up and he pressed the heel of his palm against his eye, “I don’t know… I got dizzy all of a sudden.”
Flapjack chirped louder and flapped his wings causing Hunter to startle.
“Hey, it’s okay,” Luz was quick to try and reassure him, Hunter looked up at her with wide, fearful eyes, “you might’ve stood up too fast, I know that happens to me sometimes.”
Hunter nodded slowly, scrubbing at his face. He nodded again as if to reassure himself, “yeah… you’re right. That’s probably it.”
There might’ve been something that Hunter wasn’t mentioning and by the look on his face, it looked like there was still something he was worried about. But if Luz tried to pry anymore about what was going on inside his head, she feared he might snap. Hunter was not good at talking about emotional things, it was better to do things slowly even though Luz wanted nothing more than to know what was going on so that she could help.
“Here,” Luz extended her hand to Hunter as she stood up, letting him take it if he wanted. There was a long moment of hesitation as he stared at her offered hand for a while.
After having what seemed like an internal battle with himself, he placed his hand in her open palm and allowed Luz to carefully pull him to his feet. He stumbled for a second, leaning against Luz’s side but his legs didn’t seem like they were going to give out.
Until they got to the door when Hunter stumbled again and he seemed to almost collapse if it weren’t for Luz standing there next to him. His grip tightened around Luz’s arm and he sucked in a sharp breath. His body tensed as his trembling seemed to increase.
“Hunter, maybe you should lay down and rest for a while longer,” Luz advised, holding him up just to keep him on his feet. He was surprisingly and concerningly light.
Hunter’s shoulders slumped and it took a while before he gave any sort of response. Finally, he nodded slowly, seeming to give up on any protests that he wanted to give. His ears drooped the way they did when he was upset and he avoided looking Luz in the face. But he followed Luz back the few steps towards his cot.
“I don’t know why I’m feeling so weak… I’m shaky…” Hunter mumbled, allowing Luz to help him to sit back on his cot, the sheets rumpled underneath his weight, “and tired…”
“You’re probably overexerting yourself, you haven’t been sleeping well and it’s been a stressful two weeks,” Luz suggested, her lips twitching into a frown as she looked at Hunter. He stared at his lap sadly, swaying slightly on the bed.
Flapjack twittered, nudging Hunter’s face. The palisman chirped again with a bit more conviction and Hunter suddenly looked up at him. If it was possible, Hunter seemed to get paler and he looked like he had swallowed a live fish.
“What’s wrong?” Luz asked upon seeing Hunter’s shift in expression. He flinched at her words and looked over as if he had forgotten she was there in the first place.
“Sorry… I…” Hunter shook his head, bringing his hand up to scrub at his face again, “Flapjack is tired too.”
Flapjack did seem to be a bit sluggish as well, all of their palismen had been due to the weakened magic. But there must have been more to what the palisman had said to Hunter. Something that he didn’t want to tell Luz.
“Okay, uh…” Luz thought for a moment, she had a feeling that Hunter wouldn’t like the idea of sitting and resting longer, he was too restless for that, but she didn’t want him to get hurt if he already wasn’t feeling well. Knowing him, he would just try and power through it and pretend like nothing was wrong, even if so far today he could barely stand.
“You stay here and get some more rest,” Luz grimaced slightly at the distressed look that Hunter gave her, “I am going to go tell my mom, and then hopefully if you relax and maybe get some more sleep, it’ll pass.”
Hunter opened his mouth to protest but Flapjack’s chirp caused him to hesitate, “okay… just… Please don’t make them worry.”
Luz wanted to make a joke about how it was impossible to say something that her mom wouldn’t worry about, but she felt like now wasn’t the time for jokes. Hunter looked uncomfortable with this entire situation and she felt like bringing attention to it would only make it worse. She just had to hope that the rest of the group would be calm about it, their reaction was nowhere near in her control.
“Okay… I’ll try not to,” she squeezed his hand reassuringly and Hunter gave an almost pained smile.
Hunter pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs as Luz left the room. She took a glance over her shoulder as she shut the door, her eyebrows furrowing with worry. She honestly expected him to put up more of a fight, which caused her even more worry about what Flapjack had said to him.
Luz could hear a quiet conversation from the kitchen table as she descended the stairs, using the banister to take a sharp turn. She rounded the corner into the kitchen and everyone at the table looked over, making her suddenly a bit self-conscious, especially since she hadn’t returned with Hunter like she said she was going to.
“Everything okay up there?” Amity asked, noticing the concerned look on Luz’s face. Her ears twitched and she looked ready to get out of her seat.
“Uh… well… Hunter isn’t feeling well,” Luz informed them, rubbing the back of her neck, “I don’t know if he’s sick or if he’s just working himself too hard but he’s tired and can’t stand very well.”
“Oh dear,” Camila wrung her hands in front of herself, her eyebrows furrowing, “okay. Luz, sit down and eat, I’ll bring him some food to see if he can eat.”
Camila took the empty plate that had been set in front of where Hunter normally sat and loaded it with some of the food that had been set out at the table. Luz took her normal place as she watched her mom climb up the stairs towards where Hunter was.
“He’s not feeling well?” Willow asked, worrying at her lower lip.
“I don’t know what’s wrong,” Luz shrugged, putting some food on her plate, “he was out in the rain a few days ago, it could be that.”
Luz was human, she didn’t know how witch biology worked or if they even got sick the same way she did. Or how things in the human realm affected them.
But Hunter wasn’t a witch, no more than he was human. Hunter was a grimwalker which didn’t help the fact that she had no idea what could possibly be wrong with him. He could just be tired or stressed and his body wasn’t keeping up with it all.
Luz picked at her food, staring at the vase sitting in the center of the table. It was a small arrangement of some daisies that Willow had done her best to grow. Some of the petals were starting to wilt and fall off, much to Willow’s distress. They all had been working hard to try and get some of their previous magic strength back, but it was hard with the limitations of the human realm.
That’s when Luz had a small moment of realization as she stared at the desperate display of magic, unsure if it was connected at all.
Hunter was made of magic, wasn’t he? Just as the palismen were.
Luz's eyes widened and she looked up from her plate of food. She noticed Amity looking at her and it took all of her willpower to not immediately spill all of her thoughts to the table. The rest of them didn't know what Hunter was, and Luz didn't want to be the one to tell them. He had to do that on his own when he was ready.
But anxiety began to eat at Luz's stomach, immediately ruining her appetite. But she forced herself to finish at least most of what was on her plate, not bothering to take seconds. Her mom hadn't returned downstairs after she had gone to give Hunter some food.
A part of Luz figured that Hunter was going to be okay, if their palismen were fine and in pretty good shape besides the fatigue and weakened powers, Hunter would probably be fine as well. That didn't reassure her very much though.
After finishing eating, Luz pushed away from the table, dropping her plate off in the sink (she could help wash the dishes in a bit), she began to make her way towards the stairs.
But just as she turned the corner into the living room, a hand grabbed her arm, pulling her off to the side.
"Are you okay?" Amity asked, her eyebrows furrowed with worry as she held onto Luz's arms, "you're not getting sick too are you?"
"I'm fine, Amity," Luz chuckled weakly, giving a small sigh as she stared at Amity, "Just worried is all."
"About Hunter?" Amity pressed her lips into a thin line, tilting her head to one side.
"About everything," Luz shrugged, "Hunter, yeah. But I've been worried about how we're going to get you guys home too. We've all been worried about that."
Amity glanced at Luz's expression, looking her up and down, "you can talk to me if there's something going on, you know."
"I know, and I will," Luz nodded, "I just want to make sure everyone is alright and safe for now."
Amity nodded with understanding, her eyes slipping shut for a second before she opened them again to stare at Luz. "Do you think your mom is still with Hunter?"
"Probably, she doesn't take lightly to sickness," Luz rubbed the back of her neck and laughed, "she's probably scarred for life from how I was as a child. I was sick all the time."
"You were?" Amity's eyes widened.
"Eh, it made me stronger so now I don't get sick much," Luz insisted, pressing her lips into a thin line, "I'm gonna go see what's going on upstairs, I'll be back down in a bit to help wash dishes don't worry."
"Oh, I'm not worried about that, you go do your Luz things," Amity squeezed Luz's arm, leaning over to press a small kiss to Luz's cheek.
Luz smiled at her, taking her hand and giving it a short squeeze before she pulled away and made her way towards the stairs. The wooden boards creaked under her footsteps even despite her attempts at being quiet. She didn't necessarily want to sneak up on Hunter and her mom, but she didn't want to bust in either.
She had no idea how Hunter had learned how to walk quietly in their house already, it hadn't even been two full weeks yet and he could navigate the entire house without stepping on any creaky boards. Luz didn't know if she wanted to know the reason why he could do that. A part of her felt like it would hurt more than it should.
As Luz approached the door to Hunter and Gus' room, she could hear her mom talking quietly behind the door. Luz rapped her knuckles against it just to be polite before she opened the door.
"Hey, how's it going?" Luz asked, slipping inside and shutting the door behind her with a quiet click.
Hunter was sitting cross-legged on the bed, the plate of food that Camila had brought sitting in his lap. It didn't look like he had eaten much of it, but a few things had been picked at. Camila sat on the cot next to him, her hands clasped in her lap as she talked to him quietly.
"Oh, Luz," Hunter looked up as she entered. He somehow looked even more exhausted than when Luz had woken him up.
"You doing any better?" Luz asked, taking a seat on Gus' cot across from Hunter's.
Hunter just shrugged.
"I try and get him to eat but he just says he's not hungry," Camila huffed playfully, shaking her head, "I've been keeping him company."
"it would be good for you to eat," Luz agreed with a small nod, gesturing to the plate. Hunter seemed to blush, looking away from the two of them as his ears twitched. He still looked pale which didn't do much more to ease Luz's worry.
Hunter pressed his lips into a thin line and shrugged, refusing to look at them. Flapjack twittered from his perch on the top of Hunter's head and plucked at his hair. Hunter brought his hand up, waving it in Flapjack's direction with a playfully annoyed huff to get the bird to stop.
"I might be getting a..." Hunter hesitated, turning to Luz, "what did you call it?"
"A cold?" Luz asked, licking her lips. Hunter nodded at her, making an attempt to snap his fingers which didn't work so well with the thick gloves he wore.
"Yes, that," there was a hint of hesitation in his voice and Luz desperately wanted to know what was going on in his mind, "It's a human thing, right?"
"You aren't human though," Luz added, "I don't know if you can get sick like that."
"You got sick on the boiling isles, right?" he asked, tilting his head to the side. Luz noticed that Flapjack also tilted his head to the side and she thought that was incredibly cute.
"Mama, can I talk to Hunter for a second," Luz asked, turning to her mom who had been sitting silently as she watched the two of them interact. Camila gave a short nod, a small but worried smile crossing her face.
"Of course, I'll be back in a second to take your temperature to see if you have a fever," Camila said and Hunter grimaced, watching her leave and shut the door behind herself. Luz waited a few moments until she heard Camila's footsteps descending the stairs.
"Hunter... you're... a grimwalker... right?" Luz asked slowly, knowing this was a sensitive topic. She didn't think that Hunter would be too keen on talking about it, especially if he wasn't feeling well.
Her suspicions were proved correct when Hunter immediately tensed. He looked at her suspiciously with an air of caution to his expression even despite the clear exhaustion that weighed him down.
"I don't really want to talk about this right now..." Hunter spoke quickly, his voice slightly rising in pitch but quiet enough that no one else would be able to hear if they happened to be trying to eavesdrop.
"I know you don't but just... hold on," Hunter held her hands up in a placating gesture, "Grimwalkers are made of magic right?"
"I guess so," Hunter rubbed his arm, avoiding eye contact.
"Do you think that you not feeling well might have some correlation between you being made of magic and magic being weaker in the human realm?" Luz tapped her foot on the ground nervously, wringing her hands. Hunter frowned, a heavy sigh spilling from his lips.
"Flapjack mentioned something like that earlier," Hunter muttered, "I don't know... I don't want the others to worry."
Luz leaned over, putting her hand on Hunter’s arm. He tensed and looked uncomfortable, but didn’t look away. Even though his face was flushed and in every sense of human biology Luz knew, it looked like he had a fever. But despite that, his skin was cold in complete contrast to how he looked.
“You don’t have to tell them anything you don’t want to and we can stop talking about this right away, but they won’t see you any differently,” Luz tried to reassure him.
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” Hunter mumbled, swallowing thickly, he rubbed his eyes, staring down at his lap and the mostly untouched plate.
“Okay, conversation over,” Luz took her hand off of Hunter’s arm, holding her hands up in front of herself palms outward, “we can talk about something else.”
Hunter let out a slow breath, shifting slightly to extend one of his legs in front of himself. Luz looked over towards the desk that had been wedged in the corner of the room, it was small and cramped and completely covered in books and papers. Luz had no idea who had taken it over the most between Gus and Hunter, both of who enjoyed books a lot.
“Do you want me to try and find some books for you at the library today?” Luz asked, pulling her attention away from the desk to look at Hunter. His eyes widened slightly and he seemed confused.
“I am going with you?”
“ You’re not going anywhere,” Luz insisted, staring him down with little waver in her expression, “you need to rest.”
“I’m fine.”
“You can barely stand.”
Luz realized that she probably shouldn’t have said that because now Hunter’s eyes were shining with that typical stubborn challenge.
“I can stand just fine,” he moved the plate off his lap, already trying to get out of bed before Luz could push him back down.
Thankfully, saved by her mother’s worry and impatience, Camila knocked on the door before she entered just as Hunter was about to wrestle his way out of Luz’s grasp. He fell back instantly, holding his hands up in a placating gesture which caused Luz to back off as well.
“I brought the thermometer,” Camila sat back down on the edge of the bed, displaying the object to Hunter who seemed confused, “it’s to see if you have a fever.”
“You put it in your mouth,” Luz added, sticking her tongue out and pointing to her mouth. Hunter looked incredibly suspicious of the entire ordeal, but he allowed Camila to take his temperature with only a little fuss. Flapjack chirped and flapped his wings in response to the prodding.
“You… seem to be fine, no fever,” Camila glanced at the small screen on the thermometer, “some rest and some water should do it then, if you feel any worse give a shout if no one’s in here. But you should be fine.”
Hunter nodded minutely, wringing his hands in his lap.
“I’ll go get you some water and then Luz, you should let him sleep,” Camila put her hand on Luz’s head, ruffling her hair. Luz huffed out a small laugh, rolling her eyes.
“Of course.”
Hunter watched Camila leave the room before turning back to Luz.
“I’ll get you some books at the library,” Luz said, “we’re gonna have to return some of them soon otherwise we’re gonna get cut off. Between you and Gus I don’t know how many more books the library will let me check out.”
Hunter looked away and shrugged, “thank you.”
“Yeah, you do me a favor though, and get some rest, okay?” Luz tilted her head to the side, raising an eyebrow, “let your body heal.”
Hunter sighed for the umpteenth time in the short while they had been talking, but he nodded again.
“I’ll try.”
Luz smiled faintly, pushing herself up to her feet as she ran her fingers through her bangs, “I better go get ready, the library is a big deal here now, we might be gone a while. I’m sure my mom will stay back so… you won’t be alone.”
“Have fun,” Hunter pulled one of his knees up to his chest, leaning his chin on his leg. Luz gave him a half-wave as she made her way towards the door, not wanting to worry everyone else by taking so long.