Chapter Text
Something Willow has noticed rather early on in her time in the Human Realm is that Boiling Isles media may be stranger than she ever realized. Human movies are a lot different than Gus and Luz led them on to be. Their themes have so much variety that it makes her head spin, and seeing so many people with Luz’s round ears never gets any less surreal.
Watching them with the others is always fun, though. Even if she doesn’t have any real investment in the plots sometimes, she can still get joy from Gus’s thrilled reactions to each and every scene. Seeing him happy lightens the weight the Day of Unity permanently pressed down upon her shoulders.
It’s also really funny to see Hunter blush whenever their hands touch in the bucket of popcorn they’re sharing.
Willow has thought Hunter is cute since the day they first met, and that only gets emphasized whenever she watches his eyes turn into sparkling magenta stars at the sight of old sci-fi movies. He practically shouts along to the dialogue he’s already memorized with Gus, and he insists on rewatching the same films over and over again as much as possible.
Naturally, like the lovestruck fool she is, she’s willing to join him every time he asks her to.
On this particular night, Amity’s vote for a cheesy teen drama that was released a couple decades prior won. The Noceda girls and Amity have their eyes glued to the television screen, but Hunter is occupied with Willow’s camera. He fiddles with its buttons that are already getting worn out, scrolling through her gallery of the day with great interest.
“What does this part do?” he asks her, gesturing at the device like it’s a puzzle he’s trying to solve. Willow has long noticed that he seems to approach everything in life this way.
She leans against his arm, partially to get a closer look and partially just to tease him, and squints down at where he’s pointing.
“You move that to adjust the focus. Half the pictures I take still turn out blurry, though…” Willow explains. “I’ve been working on it, but it’s tricky to get the settings just right. I’m not used to how Human Realm cameras work yet.”
Hunter tenses up, but it’s the kind of stiffness that she knows comes from being flustered instead of anxiety. She learned how to pick up on these minor differences quite quickly. He forces out a slightly too loud laugh, one that makes Gus and Vee glance over at him from a few feet away and whisper something to each other.
“That’s really interesting! Tell me more!”
It’s incredibly apparent that Hunter would make that request for anything Willow cares about. The specific topic doesn’t matter; he just wants to talk to her.
Willow giggles and lets her head fall onto his shoulder. Hunter, meanwhile, practically explodes right there on the living room floor.
“Maybe when we’re not watching a movie. Aren’t you supposed to be paying attention?” she says in a quiet voice. “Luz told us she’s gonna quiz us this time if we get too distracted, and I don’t want to imagine debating with her about a movie she likes. That sounds terrifying.”
Hunter mumbles something frantic in agreement, and he shoves a handful of popcorn into his mouth to kill the conversation.
A few minutes later, a bright light wakes Willow up from the nap she’s accidentally been drifting off into. Everyone in the room turns to look at Hunter, and he quickly sets down Willow’s camera. His eyes are huge and humiliated, like a child who’s just been caught doing something he shouldn’t be.
“You forgot to turn the flash off, man!” Gus calls out. He’s barely containing his laughter.
With matching warm cheeks, Willow and Hunter sit together in silence for the rest of the film.
The newest picture in Willow’s camera gallery is blurry and far more out of focus than her own photos ever are, but her heart pounds a little faster when she looks at it the next day. Viewing herself through Hunter’s eyes is even stranger than these Human Realm movies they’ve been watching…but not in a bad way at all.