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Hunter allowed himself very few good things.
His new companions in the owl house are attempting to remedy that, Eda the Owl Lady most notably, but he still didn’t allow himself very much.
One of the few things he did allow himself was… Odd, most definitely. Embarrassing too. He’d only ever told one person, Raine, after the bard had explained their previous interest in becoming a therapist.
Even if Hunter was hesitant at best (and could be mistaken for a scared dog at his worst), he had made a fast friend with Mx. Whispers, and soon found himself explaining some of the weirder things he found his brain doing to ‘cope’ with the things going on around him.
This was the ‘coping mechanism’ (as Whispers had called it) he was most embarrassed by, even if he wasn’t… Wasn’t fully aware of how horribly he was acting while he did it.
‘I start feeling- helpless? Not in a bad way though!’ It had been so hard to explain at first, trying to find the words for the fuzzy space he retreated into on quiet nights. ‘Everything just feels softer. It helps me sleep.’
‘Age regression’ is what Raine had called it. They told him it wasn’t a bad thing, even if he barely believed them. That his brain was making him think like a child again to help him relax.
He was horribly embarrassed by the entire situation.
Despite it being humiliating, he just couldn't bring himself to stop. Even when you disregarded how difficult it could be to get back to ‘big’ Hunter once he’d already started regressing, the entire situation provided him with comfort that he very rarely found back home.
He excused it by saying it was just to sleep. Only something he did late at night, with no watchful eyes to see him giggle to himself in a way no witch in the emperor's coven should.
Despite Whispers' explanation that it was to cope with the things around him, it didn't stop after he moved into the owl house.
It made sense if he really thought about it. It helped him hide from scary thoughts when he was left alone, and even if Belos couldn’t hurt him anymore there was no lack of thinking about him in the dark of night.
That didn’t mean he had to like it.
At the very least, it was easy to hide. He would lay in bed until he slipped into the soft fuzz he’d grown so used to, usually tired enough to curl around his blankets and cuddle with Flapjack or babble to the bird palismen until he was able to fall asleep. Some nights he even found himself falling so far he couldn’t move much or produce much noise, less like a child or toddler and more like a baby.
On this night,or- more very early morning, he found himself longing for the comfort of another person more than he usually did. He wanted his mom.
Hunter had faced the embarrassment of the fuzz in his head labeling the owl lady ‘mama’ only a bit ago, keeping quiet about the maternal bond that steadily grew harder and harder to ignore.
Fuzzy, small Hunter wasn’t nearly as embarrassed by his desperate need for near constant comfort . And Flapjack, the little menace , wasn’t going to stop his bad decision-making skills now was he?
He held his breath as he made his way down the hall, cheeks puffed up as he motioned for Flapjack to stay quiet. The attempt to make his way down the hall silently was most definitely a failure (not that Hunter noticed), but he seemed content with his skills anyways.
The constant reminders that no need of his would be a chore or annoyance rang in his ears as his hand made contact with the owl lady’s bedroom door.
Eda really, really missed the days when she could be a heavy sleeper.
She used to sleep like a rock, making poor Lily drag her out of bed before school every day. Even back when she first moved in she could sleep until noon with Hooty and King screaming.
Luz is convinced it’s the early wake ups for school that broke her ‘not waking up before 11’ streak, but it’s the first time she got sick that really did it. She couldn’t sleep through anything after waking up to her own kid hurting so bad.
Parenting had trained her to be an even lighter sleeper than her dear rainstorm, who would forever be mocked for routinely being woken up by the wind. It probably had something to do with the fact her children would rather hide in their rooms than wake her to help.
For once though, instead of being woken up by the trademark sobs that came with Hunter's nightmares, or the crash of whatever the hell Luz had dropped now (something she could wake up to at least three times before she went to see what was going on), she was woken up to soft knocking on her bedroom (nestroom?) door.
She sat up, careful not to wake Raine as she slipped out of their nest, and made her way to the door. It was probably Hunter if he actually knocked. The kid was too polite for this house, Luz or King would’ve shaken her awake without a second thought. Scratch that, have shaken her awake without a second thought.
She’d expected him to be standing there about to tell her someone got sick, or there's a new bloody teen at her door, not a blond child standing at her door in his PJs, Flapjack on his shoulder as he smiled up at her. Hunter waking her up smiling was unusual all on its own. Hunter waking her up was a lot for Titans sake…
“Kid? Oh-” Suddenly the kids arms were wrapped around her, his face shoved into her night shirt and- Wow. Something’s either very wrong or very, very messed up.
Getting Hunter to initiate a hug was just about impossible. Even if he was brave enough to admit he wanted one he’d ask someone to start, never just.. Do it. Never like this. He was far too scared of someone reacting badly to just hug them for no reason at all, no quiet ‘Can I..?’ before the simplest things.
Maybe this was a body swap situation-? Titan she hopes not, that was.. Not fun last time! Was it possible for a palisman to possess their owner?? She didn’t even know if that could happen and it still seemed more plausible that this was flapjacks doing.
The kid spoke into her shirt, breaking her out of her own head and keeping her from figuring out what in the world could be wrong.
Pulling him away softly (not too far, she’s not trying to convince him she didn’t want the hug. Titan she would never tell the kid he couldn’t get a hug with how hard it was for him to ask), she very gently lifted his head. “What was that kiddo-? Something wrong?”
It didn’t look like it. The kid was still grinning. And the usual hesitance behind his eyes was gone, he even pushed himself back into Eda’s arms before shaking his head against her. The boy was giggling into her shirt like a little kid and Eda was starting to believe someone had actually cursed this child.
“Mm-mm! Jus-” He stumbled over his tongue for a second, clearly struggling to find the words he wanted. “Jus- Wan’ed mama.”
Welp. Does it really matter what's going on when her kid is that damn cute-?
Well she knows it matters, but still! How could she be concerned about the reason Hunter called her mama when Hunter just called her mama. The parental bird brain inside her was going wild.
Come on Eda. Be the adult here. You can coo at him after you wake Raine up and make sure the kid isn't on drugs or something.
“Awwww.. Okay- Can I pick you up kid?” He’s still fighting to snuggle as far into her shirt as he possibly can, she doesn’t think he’d really enjoy being let go of so she could wake Raine up. Thank the Titan, he nodded and she was able to scoop the child up into her arms.
Sometimes how painfully light Hunter was did come in handy. She’d always been able to carry him with ease, and when he wasn’t unconscious he seemed to really enjoy it. She was able to avoid whatever she’d left on her floor (She’s doing a lot of thanking the Titan tonight huh?) and get to the nest without tripping and throwing the kid. Not that she’s ever done that.
Sorry king.
She’s able to put the kid down in the nest, even if he still had a weak grip on her Bad Girl Coven nightshirt, and lean over to shake Raine awake by their shoulder. They lift their head, muttering a little “Wh’s wr’ng..?” as they rub their eyes and try to push away the need for more sleep.
Hunter seemed somehow happier, quickly releasing Eda’s shirt to go cling to Raine. The bard blinked once, twice, and then seemed to recognize what was going on.
“Yeah I- I have no clue what’s up with him.” Eda wasn’t going to lie to them, she had no clue what was making Hunter so clingy and.. Giggly?
“I think I do?” Raine smiled down at the teenager hiding his face in their chest, fondly patting him on the head before they spoke to him so gently. “How old are you feeling, buddy..?”
Hunter only whined a small “nooooo”, causing Raine to laugh a bit and pull him away from their shirt. “Shhhh. S’sposed to be a secret. So mama doesn’t know.”
Hunter pushed a finger up against Raine’s mouth to shush them, clearly forgetting ‘mama’ was sitting right behind him. Raine only smiled and glanced up at Eda, who was lost as ever but enjoying how absolutely adorable her kid was being. “Oh, of course. Can I know though?”
Hunter hummed, considering, before taking his hand away from Raine’s mouth. “Okayy.. Hmm…” he held up four fingers, hiding them from Eda (though she doubted it was purposeful). Raine, smart as ever, says “Four?” out loud so Eda is still in the loop.
The kid giggles and nods, reaching over (his movements are a good bit less coordinated than they usually are) and patting Raine on the head oh-so-gently. “Ren’s so smart. Smart ren.”
It’s precious. All of it. Raine can see Eda fighting the urge to coo, and risk Hunter remembering she’s still in the room.
Raine leans forwards a little, “whispering” to Hunter (barely lowering their voice).
“I have a secret.” they say. Hunter tilts his head at first, rocking back and forth in excitement when Raine doesn’t tell him immediately. “Wha? What is it?” Raine only grins and points up at Eda. Hunter turns, immediately going back to clinging to her.
“Mama! Hi!” Eda catches him, thank the Titan, so they don’t both go tumbling to the floor. She’s able to lift him up and hold him again, seeing Raine get up and go to pull a sweater on from over Hunter's shoulder.
“Well, aren't you energetic? I’m assuming we’re not sleeping in?” Worth it. Eda may love sleeping in more than she loves crime, but hanging out with baby Hunter? That’s above everything else. Always. Or at least until she complains about being tired later.
Hunter shook his head, grinning, and Eda couldn’t help but grin back.
“Hmm.. What should we do, then..” She quickly looked back to Raine, who must’ve gotten a little stuck because their head only now popped out of the sweater to stare back at Eda. It took a few seconds to process that Eda was asking them for ideas .
“Uhh..” They blankly stared at their partner for a moment, trying to think, before an idea hit them. “Why don’t we make breakfast? Luz and King are bound to be up soon, it’ll be a nice surprise.”
Eda would normally call them boring for that idea, because waking up early should be an excuse to do chaos before you have to be a functioning witch, but Hunter seemed very excited by the idea (at least she assumed he was based on the excited bouncing and smiling) so it would be alright. She didn’t mind cooking anyways.
Eda was able to comfortably sit Hunter on the kitchen counter, palisman curling up on the top of his head once he was settled, while Raine searched through the records Eda had collected over the years of collecting human things (because they simply refused to do anything without music playing behind it).
Eda held her arms above her head, stretching real good. “Alright kiddo, what’re we making?”
“Pancakes?” Flapjack chirped above Hunter in approval, obviously on board for pancakes as Flapjack usually was. The little bird had taste and Hunter, as it was the first “human” food he’d eaten, had grown to see it as comfort food.
“Pancakes sound great.” Raine agreed, stepping into the room as the music finally started to play from the old record player in the living room. A cover of “fly me to the moon”, as Luz informed them. One of Raine’s favorites.
Raine hummed along, twirling around as Eda got ready to start making the pancakes. She was stirring the water into the box mix as her partner leaned their forehead against Hunter’s, whispering along with the lyrics.
“Fill my heart with song, and let me sing forever more..” They sang, almost angelic, at least to Eda. “You are all I long for, all I worship and adore.”
“In other words, please be true.” She could hear Hunter giggling, being lifted off of the counter. The cardinal palisman flew off of his head, planting itself on Eda’s shoulder instead as Hunter was moving far too much to be comfortable. “In other words, I love you.”
Eda turned her head, seeing Raine twirling a giggly, happy Hunter around the kitchen.
Oh, yeah.
That’s
her family. That’s worth waking up early for.