Archive of Our Own

A sharp, high pitched ring jolted Hunter awake, years of drilled in protocol told him to launch to his feet, stand at attention and salute whatever was making that awful racket. Luckily, several more years of not having to care about protocol made his briefly flaring instincts quickly cool. With a heavy, annoyed sigh, he brought his hand up and harshly crashed his digits against the digital clock on the bedside.

When the shrill ringing continued, he attempted to silence the clock again. When the ring went off for the third time, his eyes snapped open to see why the ringing hadn’t stopped. As he peered to his side, his mistake was made obvious by the annoyingly bright light that shone from the phone beside the clock. The text that was displayed simply read ‘Front Desk’. With a tired grumble, Hunter snatched the phone off its stand and hit the answer button to cut off the ringing from piercing his previous blissful sleep any further.

“Hel-” Hunter’s throat protested him speaking with how dry his throat was, quickly clearing his throat, Hunter spoke again. “Hello!?” He groaned into the phone, making his annoyance clear to whoever was on the other end.

“Ah, wonderful to hear you answer.” Despite Hunter’s tone, the voice on the other end remained chipper and unfettered from his groggy response, their voice accented by a foreign tone, though they spoke fluently. “Is this Mister Wittebane speaking?”

That name. That awful name that Hunter despised whenever he heard it. The name that brought him too many painful memories. Yet, at the same time, it was a name that resonated with him. While it might have been the name of the man responsible for making his early years miserable, it was also the name of an innocent man. A man that Hunter never knew, but was connected too in a way he couldn’t put into words.

Taking a deep sigh, Hunter rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he hummed into the phone. While he might not have liked the name, it was difficult to go through the human realm with only a first name according to Luz, so he adopted the name.

Realizing he’d been silent for a little too long, Hunter cleared his throat again. “Yes- um, yes, this… this is Mister Wittebane.” Hunter couldn’t help but roll his eyes, as he did everytime he had to introduce himself like that.

“Wonderful to hear from you, Mister Wittebane. This is the concierge, sir, providing you with the ten o’clock wake up call you requested.” The voice on the other end spoke with a formal and proper cadence, but with an open and friendly tone, clearly practiced, but it made waking up a little more pleasant.

Still, Hunter felt the back of his mind groaning out countless regrets at his decision he made the day before, wishing to be back in dreamland.

Rubbing the last of the sleep from his eyes, Hunter sighed as he spoke again. “Yeah… I did ask for that, didn’t I?”

The question was rhetorical, but the concierge took it in stride anyway as they laughed heartily at his groggy voice. “Not a morning person I take it, sir?”

Hunter peered around the room he now laid in, far more spacious and far more luxurious than the quarters he had gotten used to during his childhood and adolescence, even if they were temporary; and with the memory of his old room, memories of countless early morning shifts at the Castle and days that stretched into one another followed.

“I used to be.” Hunter tiredly sighed into the phone, though he was more talking to himself at that point.

“Well, while I have you, sir, might I interest you and your partner in some room service? Perhaps you both would care for some breakfast in bed?” The concierge’s words brought the first smile of the day to Hunter’s face.

Peering over to his side, he saw the still resting form of Luz, her back gently rising and falling with her breathing, the messy tresses of her chocolate brown hair falling carelessly around her head, blocking her face from view.

Leaning down beside her, Hunter pressed a kiss to Luz’s shoulder and the tired, but happy groan she gave in response told Hunter that she was awake, or at the very least aware.

“That sounds good.” Hunter’s tone picked up as he took a deep breath and laid down beside Luz, his arm gently pressed against hers, the softness making his smile grow.

“What will it be today, sir?” Keeping their ever professional tone, the concierge paused as Hunter thought.

Briefly glancing at Luz, Hunter ran through the various breakfast foods he knew she liked to try and pick one for her. Of course, griffin eggs were sadly off the menu in their current location.

“Can we get… an order of pancakes, and… french toast?” Hunter turned his head away from the phone as he posed the question, turning back as he saw Luz’s head nod as she buried herself deeper into her pillow, clearly trying to reclaim her own sleep. “Can we also get a bowl of fruit to go with that?” Hunter laid his hand gently in Luz’s hair, and when she made no move to swat him away, he gently ran his finger through her mess of hair, twirling and curling the strands between his fingers and slightly massaging her scalp.

“Any preference, sir? We have a wide selection here.” The concierge spoke with no small amount of pride as they patiently guided Hunter through the simple act of ordering food.

Initially Hunter wanted to dismiss the words and get something simple, but a small hand smacked his chest as Luz’s muffled voice hummed incoherently into her pillow. Despite the muffled nonsense, Hunter understood her meaning.

“Sure, just some diced mango and pineapple.” Hunter scoffed as Luz continued to pat his chest with a hand, humming more into her pillow, not bothering to use her words. “Some watermelon too.”

“Shall I add guava and papaya to your exotic fruits, sir?” The concierge helpfully offered as they continued their back and forth with Hunter.

“Yeah, sure.” Hunter nodded as he affirmed the hotel worker’s offer. A far firmer smack and a grunt pulled Hunter’s attention as realization struck him. “Oh! Also can you send up some bird seed please?”

“Ah yes, you and your partner’s avian friends. We have a selection of foods suitable to the dietary needs of a variety of birds. What were their species again?” For the first time since the call began, the concierge’s confidence faltered as they enquired after Flapjack and Blueberry.

Looking over to the small corner of the room where the hotel had set up a padded perch for the two palisman to rest, Hunter smirked as the idea of stating their species as being magically animated animals carved from magical wood crossed his mind. He quickly shot down the thought as he knew the concierge would see it as a poor joke, and they had been courteous enough to not be teased.

“They are a cardinal and a blue jay.” As if hearing his witch for the first time, Flapjack raised his head as Hunter spoke about the cardinal.

Giving his palisman a small smile, Hunter waved at the crimson cardinal and as the bird stared back at him, it raised a single wing before nuzzling back next to the blue jay.

“Oh, one other thing, make sure there’s no lactose in anything, like the milk in the pancake batter.” Hunter peered down as he felt his hand being entwined with Luz’s as she shook his hand and let out a muffled coo.

“So that’s an order of lactose-free pancakes and french toast, an assortment of diced exotic fruit and some bird seed for breakfast. Anything else Mister Wittebane?” As the concierge listed off his order, Hunter briefly pondered over it to see if anything else came to mind.

As Luz grabbed his attention again, this time with small pokes, she let out a series of muffled words into her pillow that made Hunter’s smile turn into a smirk as he turned back to the phone.

“So, we’re not being charged for any of this, right?” Hunter’s smirk grew as he enquired to the concierge.

“Not at all, sir, you and Miss Noceda are here at the expense of a Mister… Deammone. All expenses paid on their behalf.” The concierge spoke with a small pep to their voice, clearly pleased that, whatever Hunter and Luz asked for, the payment was assured.

“Then… do you have anything… expensive we could add? Any recommendations?” Hunter smiled as he heard Luz’s laugh being muffled by the pillow.

“We have an on-site vineyard, and produce a number of high-class wines and spirits, for the sole consumption of our guests.” Again, the concierge’s voice took on a note of pride, though their inflexions made the pride seem more personal than professional.

Clearly more awake now, Luz groaned at the mention of alcohol, and Hunter had to stop himself from doing the same. While they had both drank before, Luz with Eda and himself with Darius, neither of them took to the inebriating drinks.

Not wanting to be rude, Hunter hummed in curiosity as he spoke. “Perhaps later, anything else?”

“Ah yes, forgive my forwardness, the time does not quite suit such beverages. If you and the Miss would prefer, we have a selection of high quality cakes, made by our team of chefs and bakers.” Not missing a beat, the concierge swiftly guided the conversation along.

“Cake?” Finally speaking for the first time, Luz whipped her head up from the pillow, her disheveled hair falling into her face and making her adorably entangled in her tresses, making Hunter giggle.

“Shall I take that tone to be a yes, Miss Noceda?” The concierge raised their voice slightly to be heard through the phone by Luz.

“Yes please, and remember-”

“No lactose. I shall ensure your dietary needs are met personally, Miss Noceda, you needn’t worry.” The concierge finished Luz’s sentence eloquently, remembering the brief snippet of information.

“Thank you for the call!” Despite her own grogginess, Luz’s cheerful mood shone as brightly as ever as she called back to the faceless voice.

“Thank you for choosing us to accommodate you both. Now, when would you like your order sent to your room?” Hunter could almost hear the concierge on the other end of the line readying themselves to hurry to the kitchen to make their order.

“Twenty-” Hunter’s words were cut off by a small smack. “Thirt-” Another smack, as he turned to Luz with raised brows she rolled her hand to indicate her intent. “Six...” Turning to Luz, Hunter sighed as she gave him a thumbs up. “Sixty minutes, please.”

“Very well, then, your brunch will arrive at eleven o’clock. Take care Mister Wittebane.” Despite technically ending the call, the concierge stayed on the line, most likely from their own drilled in protocol.

“And you. Thank you.” Hanging up the phone, Hunter sighed as he let himself flop back into the bed beside Luz, who happily cuddled up beside him.

Turning to his girlfriend, Hunter chuckled again as he saw the state of her. Her hair had fallen into her mouth in the night, and despite being spat out, the strands stuck to her cheeks and over her eyes. Snickering into his hands as Luz watched him, confused by what he found so amusing, Hunter stifled his laughter to brush the hair aside.

Feeling the damp hair detach from her face, Luz groaned as she went to fix her hair as well. As he brushed the hair back behind her ears, Hunter held his hands on the sides of her face and pulled her close. As their lips connected, Hunter felt the small aches that had built in him during the night come undone, as the kiss was no less passionate or intense feeling than their first. Slowly leaning back, Hunter let himself fall fully back onto the luxury bed of their hotel room with Luz on top of him.

“Buenos días, mi corazón.” Hunter spoke the words softly as Luz gently pressed a few extra kisses to him before pushing herself up.

“Buenos días, mi cielo.” Luz replied, her Spanish still enchanting to Hunter as he peppered kisses down her jaw.

“We’re meeeeeaaaan.” Luz dragged out the word in an almost juvenile tone as she chuckled against Hunter.

“Hey, in all fairness, Darius was kind of a jerk back during the Empire, so we’re allowed to be a little mean.” Hunter rolled them both over, putting Luz under him, making her squeak then chuckle at the sudden shift. “Besides, if he didn’t want us to treat ourselves, he wouldn’t have offered to pay for everything.” Hunter reasoned as he recalled the very generous offer from the tall and dark abomination witch.

“Still… the only reason he offered to pay is because me and you haven’t taken time for ourselves in ages.” Luz tried to defend the abomination witch as she cuddled into Hunter above her.

“We spend literally everyday together, just because we’re working at the same time doesn’t change anything.” Hunter sighed as he rolled himself off of Luz and to her side.

“So what you’re saying is, we could literally go years without holidays, or breaks and you wouldn’t complain?” Though Luz’s tone was teasing, there was underlying curiosity.

“Luz, my worst days with you, are infinitely better than whatever my best days without you were.” Hunter’s words made Luz’s eyes narrow affectionately as she kissed him again.

“When did you become such a sweet talker? Did Darius give you that one too?” Luz’s teasing returned and Hunter chuckled as he lightly smacked her with a pillow.

“That was one time, and nearly four years ago.” Hunter grunted as a pillow smacked his face in retaliation.

“And it was so sweet how you were so worried about your pick-up lines that you went to Darius~” Luz squealed as she rolled off the bed and away from Hunter’s continued assault with his pillow.

“That’s rich coming from miss flashcards!” Hurling the pillow at Luz, Hunter smirked as it hit her directly, making her laugh as her eye widened in surprise.

“How do you know that?” Narrowing her eyes at Hunter, Luz raised the previously thrown pillow, now with two as she circled Hunter still on the bed.

“Hooty told me.” Hunter poked his tongue out at Luz as she gasped, as if betrayed.

“That weirdly long traitor!” Luz grumbled under her breath before letting out a small cheer as she threw the pillow’s at Hunter.

Tactically rolling across the bed and to the floor, Hunter rolled under the bed, blocking him from Luz’s view. Peering back and forth across the bed’s sides, Luz paced around the bed curiously, dropping down, Luz was surprised to not see Hunter under the bed. Approaching the empty underside, Luz let out a yelp as he suddenly dropped from holding himself up by the planks of the bed frame and grabbed hold of her and pulled her forward, chuckling as he did.

“Well, look at what I caught.” Hunter’s teasing voice crept into her ear as Luz giggled in his grasp.

“Oh no the Golden Guard got me, whatever will I do?” Sarcasm dripped off each of Luz’s words as she matched Hunter’s teasing tone.

“Don’t mock me, Human~ ” The slight shift in tone made a shiver run up Luz’s spine as Hunter nearly perfectly replicated his distorted voice she remembered hearing so often from behind his golden mask.

Rolling out of his grasp and out from the bed, Luz dusted herself off, but hummed happily as she found herself to be as clean as she was before, a testament to how tidy the hotel kept their rooms.

“Well that was certainly one of the more fun ways you’ve woken me up. But I’m gonna go take a shower. See what difference there really is between a five-star hotel’s shower and the one at the Owl House.” Giggling to herself, Luz began to walk towards the ensuite.

Poking his head out from under the bed, Hunter watched as Luz sauntered across the room. “You know, I could-”

“No.”

“But I-”

“No.”

“It would conserve water.”

“Goodbye, Hunter.” With a click, Luz shut the bathroom door, leaving Hunter alone in the room as the sound of running water began to grow in the background.

“Worth a shot.” Hunter muttered to himself as he pulled himself out from under the bed and stretched himself out, groaning in contentment as the various pops and clicks undid the tension in his joints.

Stepping across the plush carpeted floor, Hunter grabbed the curtains that had kept the room in a pleasant darkness, and pulled them open slightly, letting a thin line of light fill the room, so he didn’t immediately blind himself, or the palismen who still rested.

As the light flooded the room, Flapjack raised his head again, and tweeted softly at Hunter. “It’s morning buddy, rise and shine, et cetera.” Hunter softly responded to the tweets as he walked over to the two palisman and began stroking their feathers.

Flapjack nuzzled into the touch, while the blue jay simply curled further into itself, trying to pretend it was still asleep. Hunter chuckled at Blueberry, the palisman that Luz had carved several years ago, though it didn’t show it at the moment, when it was awake, the blue jay was as alive and energetic as the human witch, and just as prone to accidentally getting itself into trouble before getting itself out of said trouble.

As Flapjack nuzzled into the blue jay, it slowly raised its head from the folds of its wings and let out a trill similar to a yawn as it blinked and looked around the room, before turning to Hunter and letting out a single tweet that Hunter could translate as simply “Luz?” Without actually understanding the palisman.

“She’s in the bathroom, we’ve got breakfast coming too. Lots of fruit and bird seed too.” As Hunter leaned towards the two palisman they both let out excited chirps and flapped their wings, fluttering around him in excitement at the prospect of breakfast. As the two whizzed around him he smiled at them as he let his gaze fall to the door that he could still hear the water coming from, and through the noise, he could make out Luz softly singing an old dominican song to herself.

The afternoon sun beat down on Hunter as he strolled out onto the large open patio of their penthouse room. His smile grew as he looked out to the crystal clear water of the pool, and he really began to wonder just how much this was going to cost Darius and how much it would drain whatever was left of the imperial coffers. The pool and patio were surrounded by a large net that acted as a pseudo wall and ceiling without blocking out the sun.

Leaving his shirt and towel on a nearby sunbed, Hunter let himself stand by the rim of the pool and simply leaned forward. Allowing gravity to take him and his balance to fail, he let himself crash into the cool water that contrasted nicely against the burning sun from before.

Luz had told Hunter about swimming in the human realm before, how humans would just lay on the water and float. But as Hunter felt himself continuing to sink into the water, until he hit the bottom of the pool, the impact against the floor sent a thought through him that rocked his body, that he wasn’t human, he wasn’t even a witch. He closed his eyes briefly and the darkness was familiar, similar to the darkness he and Luz had found in the depths of Belos’ mind. No, in the depths of Philip Wittebane’s mind. Hunter could still see it clearly, no matter what therapist he went to, or how many times he talked about it with Luz, those trees covered in cobwebs, acting like gravestones of the grimwalkers who came before him still haunted him.

A distorted crash from above pulled Hunter’s attention back to where he was. Looking up, he saw Luz beaming down at him as the water above her settled from her dive, as she swam down she held her hand out to him, and the memories retreated to the back of his mind again as he pushed off the pool floor and grabbed her hand.

The two took deep breaths as they surfaced from the pool. Hunter felt a slight pressure tap against the back of his head, turning his head, he saw a pool ring floating in the water and saw Luz swimming over to its side. Smirking at the sight, Hunter dived under the water again and surfaced in the gap of the pool ring, pulling himself up, Hunter settled in the rubber hoop, much to Luz’s chagrin.

“Hunter! I’m the one who had the staff bring that up!” Luz chastised the grimwalker, though he saw her grinning through one of his opened eyes.

“Yeah, but… I’m just so much faster than you, Luz.” Hunter grinned at his own teasing reasoning, his grin faltering as he saw Luz match his smirk, undeterred.

As Luz dived back under the water, Hunter peered over the sides of the pool ring, confused as he saw no sign of her. With a yelp of his own, he felt thin arms squeeze in through the gaps of the ring’s center and pull. As he slipped through the ring’s middle, his body folded uncomfortably before relaxing in the water. Turning to Luz, he saw her waving cheekily to him, before blowing him a kiss under water and swimming into the ring’s middle, taking his place.

Hunter surfaced again, enjoying the back and forth as he stared up at Luz who hummed innocently to herself. Grinning again, Hunter gripped the pool ring tight and forced himself to dive down. Using his extra weight and his lack of buoyancy, he heard a muffled yelp underwater as he felt the pool ring flip, tossing Luz into the water once more.

As the two went back and forth they eventually settled, with Hunter laying in the pool ring, and Luz laying on him. Their relaxation was interrupted only occasionally by their chuckles as they bathed in the sun. Leaning his face into hers, Hunter placed a kiss on Luz's cheek, which she happily returned, kissing the scar that had adorned his cheek for years, and was as much a feature of his as his tooth gap and ever hanging forelock.

Small tweets pulled Hunter’s attention, and he couldn’t stop his coo at the adorable sight of Flapjack and Blueberry sitting in their own miniature pool rings, bobbing and floating on the water as they pecked at the pool water before shaking their beaks, obviously disliking the chlorine taste.

Letting out a small whistle, Luz called for her palisman, and the blue jay happily flapped its wings and flew towards Luz, and settled on her stomach. Running her hands over the feathers and downy hair of her palisman, casually grooming the bird affectionately, and Hunter could see a small glow in Luz’s eyes, a glow she always had when marveling at her palisman.

“I can’t believe I’m really a witch.” Luz muttered to herself as she caressed Blueberry, the blue jay nuzzling into its human witch’s touch.

“You’ve been a witch since you made that first glyph, Luz, you know that, right?” Hunter peered down as he felt something bump against his hand and tweet.

Looking down, he saw Flapjack still happily floating in his pool ring, and chirping up at the boy. Smiling down at his own palisman, Hunter turned his hand up, and Flapjack happily hopped out of the ring and into his palm, quickly settling into Hunter’s hand like a nest.

Bringing the cardinal up, Hunter felt Flapjack’s small feet press against his face, as Flapjack hopped around his head before settling near his hair and pecking at his forelock, tugging the stray lock of hair in several directions to amuse itself.

Luz cradled Blueberry in her hands, her smile never fading as she held the palisman up. “Yeah, I know, but still, this is- Blueberry is-” Sputtering to herself Luz chuckled as she couldn’t find the words to describe it as she continued to adore her partner.

Hunter didn’t need Luz to explain further than her sputtering though, he remembered the quiet nights in the castle when he would abandon his paperwork for hours at a time to simply hold and spend empty, silent time with his new palisman, which consequently added to his poor sleep schedule and the bags under his eyes at the time.

Peering over the pool ring’s edge, he pulled at his eyelids, and grinned to himself as he saw no sign of any bags under his eyes, though he paused at the wine colored eyes that stared back at him. Grimwalker eyes, specially made for each grim, he had studied Belos’ book on the subject cover to cover so many times he could repeat each page word for word by heart. The only small pleasure Hunter took in regards to grimwalkers was that, him repeating the book aloud would be the only way anyone would be able to learn how to make a grimwalker again, as he had long ago thrown the book into a pyre in a fit of rage and defiance.

Like now, Luz had been with him then, with a shoulder to cry on and an ear to listen. But he didn’t have much to say at the time. Shaking the troubled thoughts from his head, he forced his mind to be quiet as he let himself lose himself in the sensation of feeling Luz on top of him, and Flapjack pecking him.

His brief peace was disturbed as he felt a small droplet splash against his face, then another, and another, cool, soothing droplets trickled down and he blinked his eyes open as he saw the skies above quickly darkening.

Scoffing indignantly, Luz sat up. “Stupid weather channel, sunny all day my-” Luz’s words were cut off as she dove into the water again as the rain increased and swam to the pool’s edge and pulled herself out. “Come on, Hunter.”

“Why?” Hunter called back to her as he continued to lie in the pool ring, both he and Flapjack enjoying how the cold rain of Earth contrasted so much with the boiling rain of the Boiling Isles.

“You’ll catch a cold! Get inside.” Wrapping her towel around herself, Luz hurried back inside their room as Blueberry tweeted before retreating inside.

Tweeting in response, Flapjack fluttered up and off of Hunter, chirping at the boy before retreating inside, attempting to avoid as much of the ever increasing downpour. Sighing at the sudden shift, Hunter let himself roll off the pool ring and swam to the pool’s edge. As the wind picked up, the pool ring threatened to fly away, only to be caught by the wall and ceiling net.

Grabbing his towel, Hunter wrapped it around himself, and was silently thankful for Luz’s words as he felt a shiver run through him as he stepped inside. His shivers quickly ceased as he felt a wave of heat wash over him, and smiled as he saw Blueberry stood on the dial of the heater for their suite, and was hopping as it constantly twisted under the palisman’s weight, raising the temperature, and getting rid of the cold.

Rushing behind Luz, Hunter wrapped his arms around her, making her squeal in delight as he spun her slightly before setting her down and nuzzling into her shoulder. She pressed her face to his again and kissed him as they stood, drying each other in the quiet of their warm room. Ruffling her hair, Hunter chuckled as it became a shaggy mess and Luz punched him lightly for tussling her hair.

“So… it’s cold, it’s raining, and we’ve got all the time in the world… movie night?” Hunter quirked a brow at Luz who grinned, wide-eyed at his suggestion.

Nodding rapidly, she ran to their bedroom, to finish drying herself as Hunter went through the various parts of the suite to prepare. First to the suite’s pantry, despite the room service, they were still stocked with plenty of food and snacks to enjoy for themselves. Grabbing a bag of popcorn, Hunter briefly skimmed over the instructions before throwing the bag into the microwave and turning on the machine, listening to the small pops as the bag began to slowly inflate.

Entering the room behind Luz, Hunter saw her buried in her suitcase, flicking through the various clothes she’d brought for their trip. They had booked the room for about two weeks, and they planned to use that time to the fullest. Quickly stepping over to his own suitcase, Hunter peered down at the various clothes he’d brought. He’d expected to go out and see the sights of the Human Realm a lot, so his bag mostly consisted of formal shirts and pants, but he did pack a few sweatpants and plain shirts. Smiling down at a vibrant purple shirt with neon writing and a crudely drawn image of Eda on a skateboard, Hunter grabbed his Bad Girls Coven shirt and slid it on before stepping back out of the bedroom.

Grabbing the cooked popcorn, Hunter munched at a handful of the snack, it was soft and crunchy, just the way the four of them liked it, as was made evident as Flapjack and Blueberry quickly landed on the brim of the bowl he put the snack in and began pecking at the popcorn.

Slowly working the tv and the remote to figure out how to access the dvd player, Hunter popped open the nearby cabinet, and as he browsed the movies, one in particular caught his eye. Or to be more specific, one series of movies caught his eyes, grabbing them in his hands with a mischievous chuckle Hunter set them down on the floor and popped in the first of the series and hit play.

As the orchestral soundtrack for the movie began to play, the music was interrupted by the click of the bedroom door. “You have got to be kidding me.” With a sarcastic droll to her voice, Luz let her arms hang by her side as she stared at the screen.

She was wearing the letterman jacket Eda had given her years ago. Though recent growth spurts had made it far smaller on her than it was before, it still fit her, even if the jacket itself only stopped halfway down her torso, and the sleeves didn’t even reach her wrists anymore. Underneath the jacket was a plain, dull purple shirt, and a pair of galaxy print sweatpants. Her hair had been fixed from her case of bedhead and the pool, now back to the style she usually wore these days, which was clearly inspired by a certain owl themed witch. The back of Luz’s hair grew out enough to make a long, but thick ponytail, while the sides of her hair hung loosely in front of her ears and framed her face.

‘The Good Witch Azura’ in bold, stylistic font announced the movie. Smirking at his girlfriend, Hunter beckoned her over to the couch as he settled in, popcorn ready.

“Give me the remote.” Quickly approaching Hunter, Luz held her hand out, and was forced to stretch out across the couch as Hunter leaned back and stretched the remote out of her reach.

“Oh come on Luz, you kept trying to get me to watch these years ago.” Dipping and diving back and forth in the limited space, Hunter laughed as Luz tried to get the remote more and more.

“Yeah when I was like, fifteen, come on, Hunter.” Luz groaned as Hunter curled himself around the remote and wrapped an arm around Luz and pulled her into his lap.

“Oh come on Luz, don’t tell me you’re suddenly too old for… The Good Witch Azura, and her adventures with Hecate.” Hunter chuckled against Luz as she groaned.

Running her hands down her face, Luz let out a sigh as she stared at the screen. “It’s… it’s not that I’m too old, it’s just… the rose-tinted glasses are gone and… well I can see a lot of its flaws now.” Burying her head in her hands, she groaned again at her childhood memories. “I mean, the books were bad enough, but the movies change so much too.”

“Well, maybe you can find some enjoyment in laughing at its flaws? It doesn’t have to be perfect.” Hunter offered the small encouragement and could see Luz mentally mulling it over.

With a defeated sigh, Luz nodded her head. “Fine.” Hunter and the palismen let out small cheers, Hunter’s were more teasing than genuine, but they brought a smile to Luz’s face as she poked Hunter. “But only the first movie.”

“Only the first movie.” Peering down at Flapjack, Hunter winked at his palisman, who winked back knowingly at the boy.

As the orchestral theme picked up again, Hunter could feel the vibrations through his chest as Luz quietly hummed the clearly nostalgic theme to herself, and nuzzled into her miniature mane of hair.

Within a few minutes of the film starting, Luz began pointing out and teasing the parts of the film that broke away from the books as well as simple technical mistakes on the film maker’s part, such as scene where the movie staff could be seen at the very edge of the screen, or boom mics could be seen lowering before rapidly shooting up and out of frame, the audio shifting due to the movement of the equipment. Despite her critiques, she had just as many compliments for the movie, how the actors portrayed their characters in ways she didn’t envision when she read the books, the sets and scenery for the various dialogue exchanges and the effects added to the fights. As Hunter expected, when the first film ended, Luz didn’t have nearly enough, and immediately leapt up to make more popcorn while Hunter set up the second film. The second film almost immediately won Luz over as the production budget and by extension, quality, had clearly increased from the first. Hunter had to pause the movie for a solid half an hour as Luz explained a lot of background controversy of the constant change in directors for the second movie until the one who did the first settled back into the role after a long, boring, legal discourse had been taken onto internet forums, which apparently, she had been a part of at the time. The film had to be reset, but Hunter was happy to enjoy this piece of Luz’s life with her in this small, encompassing, peaceful moment. As the film ended, Luz began quoting the ending dialogue, and Hunter had to suppress his chuckles as she perfectly matched what the actors said and how they said it.

With the second film done, and a handful of hours passed, Hunter stretched his limbs, as Flapjack and Blueberry settled in for a brief nap after gorging themselves on so much of Luz and Hunter’s popcorn.

“So, how are you enjoying our vacation so far, Hunter?” Luz asked as she stretched away from him briefly before letting herself fall back into him with a soft thud.

“I could go without the concierge calling me, Mister Wittebane, but aside from that, it’s been fantastic.” Hunter wrapped his arms around Luz as she leaned into him.

“Yeah, I’m still sorry about that.” She apologetically sighed into the hug as she ran her hand up and down his arm in a soothing motion.

“Don’t be sorry, I’m the one who chose the name. Besides, nothing else really felt right.” It was true, he and Luz had gone over so many names, both from the Boiling Isles and from the Human Realm. It got to the point that she had involved her mother Camila, Eda and Darius to try and figure out something for him to have as a family name, but he just kept gravitating towards the one he was legally registered as now. “But what about you?” Luz hummed curiously at his question as he continued. “You’ve been just as busy as me with our new job. This must be nice, coming home I mean.”

“Well, I can do that whenever I want.” Putting her hand down her top, Luz pulled a familiar key with a large yellow eye at its base.

Pressing the eye down, a click resonated from the key as the Titan’s Blood activated and a briefcase with an identical eye materialized from the floor. Clicking the eye again, the briefcase faded, waiting to be called upon again.

“But, I get what you mean, and, yeah. The Boiling Isles are still way more fun than it is here, but I guess I can’t deny that I’m more comfortable here.” As if to prove her point, Luz snuggled into Hunter’s chest more, settling into their shared body warmth.

“How do you think your mom’s enjoying her clinic in the Boiling Isles?” Talking about the different realms and how much of the previous difficulty of travel had been eased reminded Hunter of the Noceda matriarch.

“She’s actually been messaging me today, this new scroll prototype is still a little funky, but as long as it’s close to the key, I can get a signal.” Pulling out a modified version of a usual scroll, Luz began swiping through various messages with her friends and family, all of them asking after the two of them and her mother gushing over new discoveries about whatever animal came into her clinic that day.

After a solid year of going back and forth between the Human Realm and the Boiling Isles, Camila soon found herself comfortable enough in the Isles to go without Luz’s company to take in the sights and sounds of the foreign world. Her veterinary work soon made her very popular with witches who specialized in the beast-keeping and healing magics, especially since she was able to do advanced medical practices on animals that only the most powerful, complicated spells could match. 

Of course she didn’t abandon her work or life on Earth, like how Hunter and Luz went back and forth between the two worlds, Camila was slowly enjoying living two lives, the change of scenery making a good way to wind down whenever Earth got to be too much.

Of course, during her trips through the Boiling Isles, none were more interested in the Noceda matriarch than Viney from Hexside and Eberworlf, who, despite no longer being a Coven Head, still held great sway among the public, along with Darius, after Belos’ empire collapsed several years ago.

Thoughts of the witches working with Camila turned Hunter’s mind to another witch in particular. “I still can’t believe they’re letting Hettie Cutburn work with them.” The thought of the Healing Coven Head working so closely to Luz’s mom made Hunter uneasy.

“Oh relax, sure I still don’t trust her as far as I can throw her.” Luz began as she turned so she was chest to chest with Hunter. “But she freely offered to heal everyone after the Day of Unity, willingly served her time, and now she’s trying to make amends. We should at least give her a chance.” Hunter could hear a little tick of doubt in Luz’s voice, but he knew that Camila insisted on Hettie’s good nature, so her daughter went along with the arrangement.

After everything Luz did for the Isles, even if she didn’t want it to be that way, if she gave someone a second chance, then everyone else on the Isles followed her example, or tried to, at the very least.

“Yeah, I guess, we should visit everyone for a month or so when we get back.” Hunter mulled over his thoughts as he recalled everyone waiting for them at the end of their vacation.

“Absolutely, and we can invite them out to eat with us if we ever get lonely here.” Pulling the key out again, she tapped it against Hunter’s chest several times.

“Then when we’re ready…” Hunter let a smirk climb onto his face as Luz sat up on him.

“We’re back out to sea!” Luz spoke with elation as she ruffled through her jacket pockets.

“You brought our work with us on our vacation?” Hunter tilted his head at Luz, his eyes lidded at her decision. "Doesn't that defeat the purpose of literally everyone we know basically shoving us through the door to make us take a vacation?"

“Are you saying you didn’t bring our work with you too?” Luz chuckled as she began pulling out various pieces of paper and unfolding them.

Sighing as he let his head fall against the couch he nodded towards their bedroom. “The work’s all in my briefcase.”

“Knew it.” Poking her tongue out at Hunter, Luz finished unfolding the papers and handed them to Hunter.

They were maps, cartographic displays of the Boiling Isles. More specifically, the sea and even land outside the Boiling Isles that the two had spearheaded into slowly but surely discovering.

“I can’t believe it’s taken us nearly three years just to get to the equator on your planet.” Luz turned one of the maps in her hand several times as she oriented herself with it.

“Well our seas are a lot more dangerous than yours, the ships need to get repaired more often and food doesn’t last as long.” Hunter poured over some more of the sea charts, his eyes scanning the various points of interest they’d found.

“It! Was! So! Cool when we found another Titan! I mean, I always thought the Boiling Isles were The Titan, not a Titan.” Luz gushed over the artistic sketch she’d drawn of the Titanic landmass the two and their ship’s crew had taken port at for several weeks to explore and document as much of it as possible.

Luz’s wild imagination about what new secret of magic the new Titan might hold, and Hunter’s fascination with the sub-species of flora and fauna they found on the Titan made it almost impossible for their crew to drag them back onto the ship to take them back to the Isles, but the amount of information they found in that journey was invaluable.

“We’ve been doing this for years, we’ve barely mapped out anything, just found the planet’s equator, and only found one other Titan, we could be doing this for the rest of our lives.” Hunter muttered the words as he looked over the maps, though he knew Luz heard him.

As he peered up, his blank face turned up into an excited smile as Luz began to giggle gleefully. “I know! It’s great, right!? Luz and Hunter! Witches! Cartographers! Explorers! Adventurers!”

Wrapping his arms around the human girl, as if expecting to be able to contain her energy, the two briefly rolled back and forth on the couch before they both yelped as they fell off the edge of the couch into a pile of limbs and scattered maps, laughing ecstatically to each other.

“Never change, Luz Noceda.” Caressing Luz’s cheek, Hunter held her head as he stared into her brilliant brown eyes. “Promise me?”

Luz’s smile became less ecstatic, but never became any less loving as she mirrored Hunter’s hand and caressed his face. “Promise me?” Repeating the question to Hunter, she stared into his own magenta eyes and held the gaze.

Relaxing into each other, the two kissed tenderly and passionately as they enjoyed each other’s embrace.

Soon the two disentangled from their own limbs and began their viewing again, though now the floor was littered with their work, though they left the idea of cleaning up the maps for themselves in the future. As the third movie began, Luz quickly fell into quoting the characters off by heart, and even jumped away from the couch to match the poses during various scenes she proclaimed were ‘iconic’ to the series. Despite hearing Luz’s early dismissal of the movies, Hunter simply let her enjoy them again, laughing as she grabbed him and pulled him to his feet to help her play out her favorite scenes between two characters as they came and went, even improvising some of the lines and actions.

As each film came and went, and the narrative twists and turns played out, Luz and Hunter kept their hunger at bay with more room service, but continued to enjoy losing themselves in the fantasy world that humans had created, never knowing that behind a specific door, a fantasy world wilder than their imaginations could make was waiting.

Eventually, the last credit roll to the last film in the series rolled across the screen, and Hunter smiled as he saw Luz’s eyes watering slightly at the sight, as if the credits were taking Azura away from her. Bringing a hand up, Hunter wiped any stray tears away and pecked her cheek. Chuckling at her own nostalgic tears, Luz grasped Hunter’s hand and kissed him back.

“So, what do you wanna do now?” Luz asked innocently.

“Go to bed, I’m exhausted.” Hunter groaned as he stretched up and began to shift himself and Luz off the couch.

“What? But we’ve barely done anything, there’s plenty of time left.” Luz protested as she stood to her feet.

“Luz, it’s the middle of the night.” Pointing a thumb over to the window, Hunter indicated how the sun’s light had faded long ago.

“What!? How!?” Luz’s voice was responded to by Flapjack and Blueberry who chirped tiredly at her.

“Five movies each being two hours long or more, is how, come on.” Placing the bowl to the side, again, something for the him of the future to deal with.

“But I can keep- nope, there it is…” As Luz spoke she began to wobble on her feet before a yawn escaped her and she swayed slightly.

Holding open his arms, Hunter happily let Luz fall into his arms and scooped her up. Gently gliding his palm under Flapjack and Blueberry, he picked up the two tired palismen, and brought the four of them to the bedroom again.

Setting the cardinal and blue jay onto their perch, Hunter whistled quietly to the two and the bird palismen let out small whistles in response. Quietly bringing Luz over to the bed, he gently laid her down and she slowly disconnected from Hunter as she fell onto the mattress with a tired but content groan. Climbing into bed beside her, Hunter soon felt her arms wrap around him as she cuddled into him, and Hunter soon entwined his arms around Luz’s body as they tucked themselves into each other.

“Have I told you, I love you, today?” Luz asked quietly into Hunter’s neck as her breathing slowed and her eyes fluttered shut.

“I can’t remember.” Hunter’s tired mind slowly began to drift off, his hold on Luz, the only thing keeping him awake.

“Well then, I love you, mi corazón.” Each word came out slower than the last as Luz spoke and slowly began to drift.

“I love you too, mi cielo.” Hunter felt Luz’s heartbeat slow, and her breathing became quiet as she fell asleep before she could hear the words. Pressing a kiss to her head, Hunter wrapped his arms tighter around Luz as he slowly felt himself start to drift, following her into sleep, and hoping to see her in his dreams.