Work Text:
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. A repetitive rhythm, a symphonic beat, clicked overhead in a classroom, which had been dead silent besides the clock’s tick. At the end of the classroom, past several desks sporting students with tired, droopy eyes, lay a blackboard, with only a handful of words left upon it in a white, grainy chalk.
“The Art of Abominations: Final Test.”
The words that a certain lavender-haired girl had dreaded for over two weeks. After going over the lengthy tome: “The Art of Abominations,” over and over and over again in her head, this was to be the ultimate test, to remember every minute detail and ace her test. Well, to her mind, she needed to do it, lest her parents scold her again, as they did when they found out about her hair. She’d been focusing too much on other things, well, perhaps not to a bad degree, since she was glad she had been spending so much time with Luz, but the girl still had too much to fret over. And she’d spent a few too many hours of studying as being little. So, finally, she’d have to make sure she could fix things and ace the test. Though there was little hope in her heart, she had to do it.
So, Amity sat at her desk, nervously clicking the end of her pen, looking up at the board as she struggled to get her bearings, to remember all she could of the textbook she’d read just before now. She was at least somewhat confident that she could do this. But, the more the clock ticked and tocked and the longer the teacher spent filing through papers before he handed out the test left her nervousness spiking in her chest. She knew she couldn’t fail any of the questions, she was sure of it. And, the longer and longer she sat there, the more dreadful the test got, the more her nervousness creeped in, insecurities beginning to cause her to panic. Had she studied enough? Would she do well? Would her parents be furious if she didn’t ace her test?
But before she could worry any longer, she saw the test before her. She’d nearly spaced out as she had glanced down at her desk, but as soon as she saw the test laid before her, she jolted upright in her seat. “Oh, finally back into your senses, Ms. Blight?” the teacher, being a short, fanged man with green, balding hair, who was carried by a pale pink abomination, asked with a deep tone.
“Oh, y- yes sir,” Amity stammered.
“Good, you looked as if you were daydreaming more than an oracle coven student,” he snickered before heading to the other students to hand out more of the tests, with Amity whimpering a little as the rest of the class had a near-silent chuckle at the comment.
But, Amity could not focus on that. She glanced down at the test before her and it seemed to almost gaze back as she shivered, anxious to begin. She quickly signed her name at the top, the date, and began to look over the questions, but as she did so, her pen shook in her hand. To be truthful, she was shivering a bit, biting her lip anxiously as she looked at the test again and again, her eyes darting across the page as she tried to find where to start. All of the questions’ words blurred together, holding little meaning to the girl as she mulled over it again and again, trying to make sense of what was before her as she was starting to become frantic.
Yet still, as she clung to her pen, a comforting thought washed over her. ‘Come on, Luz said I could do this,’ she reminded herself, taking in an, admittedly shaky, breath in as she steeled herself to write the test. ‘If Ma- no, Luz, said I can do this, then I can do it.’ she concluded, her thoughts still anxious as she slipped up a bit, yet still, she was determined that she could stay big and get the test done.
So, with hesitance, she began the test.
At first, the questions weren’t so hard. Just simple queries. ‘Who was the main author of the textbook,’ ‘What is the definition of abomination,’ nothing Amity couldn’t handle. But, as it went on, the questions got more and more specific, and the girl got more frantic.
The teacher really expected her to remember such minute details as the average foot size of a six foot tall abomination? She scarcely remembered that even being mentioned in the slightest, and yet as she went on the questions got more and more specified, all beginning to snowball into a heap of stress large enough that she could probably make an abomination out of it.
Besides her and her fellow students’ sounds of pens scratching across paper, the room was still and nearly silent, with the obvious exception of the clock.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
The sounds seemed to get louder and louder as she kept going, a grim reminder that she had only so much time to finish her test.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
With every chime, her anxiety overflowed, her confidence slipping away as she kept hastily trying to keep up on the questions.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
Her pen hastily scratched across the page, ink bleeding over it as she answered another question, desperately hoping to answer the question at all, correct or not, for her fretting was far too overpowering to let her focus. As she looked to answer the next question, her pen gently hovering over the page, she saw something she didn’t expect. It couldn’t be right, could it? Did she…?
Before another thought could pass through her head, a loud ringing/screaming of the bell bashed through the classroom, with the bell signalling that class had ended and lunch had started marking the finish line. As she took in a breath, she saw that she had finished it. With barely any time left, she’d gotten the last question done. Sure, she was one of the last people to get it finished, since most of her fellow students had been lounging about by the time the class ended, she was at least satisfied to finish the test.
So, with it all done, she finally relaxed as the teacher came over and took away the paper, for finally, it was finished. She then scooped up her books she’d left under her seat and got up from her desk, along with her palisman, Ghost, who was in it’s staff form, leaning on the desk, so that she didn’t distract Amity while she did the test, feeling a well of pride as she had managed to barely get it done. So, with a bit of pep in her step, she sauntered over to her locker, for she’d finally managed to calm down. For now, she had a chance to relax. Since, thankfully enough, Luz had promised Amity some little time over the lunch hour to help her relax after the test, and she was looking forward to it with a well of joy.
So, she went over to her locker, opening it up by tickling it so that it’s large maw opened, (since it was Hexside, so of course the lockers were sentient), and she went to get her cute bunny-themed pink lunchbag and the bag full of little supplies she had kept at her home and at school. But, as she went to reach for her supplies, her hand slipped as she heard a familiar voice next to her.
“So, how’s it like, being the least popular girl in school?” Boscha sneered, the grudgby team captain flanked by two of the goons she called friends, along with the little crab palisman that perched itself on Boscha’s shoulder.
Amity, as she had normally would do with Boscha, tried to let out some monotone, rude remark to get her off her back, but, since she had been reaching for her little bag and was thinking of all the fun she could have while little, lead to her not having nearly enough courage to do so. Yet still, Boscha continued.
“Since I heard you aren’t even doing good in classes anymore, with you skipping and all that,” she chuckled, crossing her arms as a mischievous grin fell over her face. “What, too scared to say anything to me?”
Amity shivered a bit, unsure exactly what to do. Normally she was strong and tough, willing to take anything from anyone, but now, she had no courage in her. She was too little, and too nervous. Even as she held her staff in her arms, she felt powerless. “I… I’m not s- scared of you, Boscha,” she tried to fire back with her normal animosity towards the captain, but Boscha swooped in as soon as she saw a weakness.
“Sure you are, Ms. Stutters,” she giggled, with her goons behind her laughing alongside her. “Why, it’s not like you just failed a test,” she remarked, looking down at her scroll absentmindedly with her two main eyes, with her top one glaring down Amity. “Or did you?”
With that, her entourage let out another chuckle as Amity’s face reddened, “I didn’t fail anything…” she murmured, but Boscha was still ready to pounce.
“Sure, sure, then why were you the last one to finish that abomination test Penelope just told me about?” she remarked, motioning to one of her goons, who was clad in the pink hues of the abomination coven. Since of course Boscha had goons in most every class and coven.
As Amity heard that, her blush of embarrassment heightened and she tried to simply walk away with her bag slung over her shoulder, but Boscha wasn’t just going to let her go. So, as soon as Amity turned to walk away, Boscha lit up a spell circle and a levitation spell caused the girl’s bag to swing over her shoulder, causing some of its contents to spill loose. Thankfully she’d zipped up the bag so that not all of it spilled, but Amity’s face went pale as she saw what spilled onto the floor. She went to reach for it, but before she could, Boscha drew another spell circle and the object flung into her hands.
And with that, Amity was done for.
What had fallen out of her bag was her beloved Otabin plush.
As soon as Boscha saw the soft stuffed bunny, she let out a hearty laugh, with Amity trying to reach for it, but she pushed away the girl and held it up with her opposite hand. “Wow, I knew you were going soft, but what, are you planning to go to the baby class?” she mused, with Amity letting out whimpers as she blushed heavily, some students beginning to gather around Amity and Boscha’s entourage.
At that, Amity nearly froze as she began to slip. In front of Boscha. Terror shook her to the core as she was humiliated, as she, the former top student to end all top students, ‘Little Miss Perfect’ herself, was shown off to the school as a person who still cuddled stuffed animals. Before, she commanded fear and respect, and no one would dare make her mad. Now, she was a laughing stock. For better or worse, she now understood Boscha’s wrath as well as anyone else. At this display, Ghost turned to her animal form, hopping down and circling Amity’s feet before hissing at Boscha and her palisman, with the crab glaring down at the cat as the cat glared back.
As the crowd around her began to laugh at the display, of the former top student now desperately reaching for a plushie held aloft by the grudgby team captain, with tears beginning to stain her cheeks, someone called out.
“That’s enough, Boscha!” a voice bellowed, catching the attention of the crowd. Before anyone could react, a bee palisman flew out into the scene, snatching the plushie from Boscha with it’s tiny little beak and fluttering back to the one who sent it: Willow, with Gus at her side.
As Clover, the palisman, sat atop Willow’s shoulder, gently holding the plushie with her beak, Boscha scoffed. “Oh, you two are really the ones to come to Amity’s aid, are you?” she snarled, pushing back some of her hair as she took a step towards Willow. “I guess the social structure of the school really is dead.”
At that, Willow glared, with her and Gus standing beside Amity. “Well, you’re right, your stupid social structure is dead.” Gus declared, glaring down the grudgby captain.
As Willow and Gus stood at Amity’s side, staying steadfast to her, Boscha’s glare went back to Amity, and she shook under the gaze. “Well, I see you’ve made your decision then.” she hissed, leaning in close as her toxic voice spilled from her mouth.
“Good luck, Blight.” she whispered, venom lacing her tone as her unblinking gaze caused Amity to, again, shiver in fright. “You and your stupid toy aren’t going to last long.”
With that, Willow took a step forward, bumping into Boscha who scoffed at the contact, making one last glare at Willow before her gaze returned to Amity. “Whatever,” she finalised, taking her and her entourage away, with the crowd slowly dissipating as she did so.
After all of that, Amity let loose a shaky breath she’d been holding in and the two friends she had left there turned to her, with Ghost gently nuzzling it’s head against Amity’s leg to help her calm down a tad. “Are you feeling ok, Amity?” Willow gently pressed, since though it was obvious that things were not alright, she wanted to comfort Amity.
As she did so, Amity managed a tiny nod, “Yeah, just, uh, nervous, you know,” she stammered, her high pitch going unnoticed by the two.
“Well, don’t worry, we’ll make sure Boscha doesn’t hurt you,” Gus assured, smiling at Amity, who smiled back nervously.
“Plus, I think your plushie is cute,” Willow grinned, plucking the Otabin plush from her palisman’s beak and gently handing it to the girl. In response, Amity’s face went to a soft pink and she hid her face behind the plush, with just her eyes peeking out from behind the pink rabbit.
“Th… thank you,” she mumbled, with Gus and Willow smiling at her again.
“Any time!” Gus assured, “Now, Luz said you and her were gonna hang out for lunch today, but she got a bit hung up in her last class so she told us to come get you!”
As soon as Gus finished his explanation, the quick footfalls of said girl came jogging down the hallway. As the three turned, they saw Luz, in her normal Hexside outfit, but her colourful sleeves and part of her face were covered in soot. Amity giggled a slight bit at the sight before Luz finally skidded to a stop in front of the trio.
“Hey, sorry I’m late, I got a bit-” she coughed a tiny bit before continuing, “hung up in potions class…” she explained, wiping some of the soot from her face.
“No worries, it’s all good,” Willow assured, waving her hand downwards as she did so.
“The worst that happened was just a bit of Boscha,” Gus explained, causing Luz to do a double take.
“Boscha? Again?” she groaned, wiping more soot off of herself, “I swear, the next time I see her-” she started, but she quickly cut herself off as she noticed something, being Amity. Well, not only did she have Otabin out, but she was hiding her face behind the plushie, was noticeably silent, and Boscha was arou-
Oh.
Oh she was going to pay.
As Luz started to get an understanding of what happened, being that her little one had probably been made fun of by that bully, she softened her voice, despite the anger that was rising the more she thought about how Boscha might have made fun of Amity. Still, her little one came first. “Are you guys alright?” she gently asked, with Gus and Willow nodding, though Amity stayed silent and just looked away nervously. Seems she was a bit too tiny for her words.
“Well,” she then gently reached for Amity’s hand, gently putting her hand over the girls’ where she held the plushie, “Do you wanna go have lunch?” she pondered, to which Amity happily nodded.
At that, Gus and Willow smiled. “Well, you two have fun!” Willow beamed, to which Amity looked over to her and Gus.
“Um, what a… are you guys gon’a do?” she softly babbled, hoping her babyish tone would go unnoticed, which it mostly did, with the exception of a small eyebrow raise from the two.
“Well, Willow’s gonna teach me some plant magic, so I can make all the cool human plants!” Gus cheered, to which Willow replied,
“And Gus’ll teach me some illusions, so that I can get people to not bother me without, well…” she winced, remembering how her plant magic would go wildly out of control if she got too emotional.
“Well, either way, it’s good to learn from each other!” Luz assured, smiling at the two as she held Amity’s hand. The duo then proceeded to head off outside, with Luz gently holding Amity’s hand all the while, gently rubbing her thumb over the back of the little one’s hand. “How are you feeling, cariño?” she softly pondered.
Said little, being rather nervous after everything that happened, tried to speak but only let out a tiny whimper. The poor girl was partly frightened and clinging to her Otabin plush like a lifering with her free hand, anxious as could be despite Luz’s soothing tone and Ghost nuzzling her face up against the nervous girl’s feet.
“Oh, you’re really tiny, aren’t you?” Luz concluded, using her opposite hand to gently pat Amity’s head, to which Amity let out a tiny hum of confirmation. “Well then, do you wanna head outside for lunch, maybe have a little picnic?” At that offer, Amity hummed again, smiling from behind where she held her plushie. “Alrighty!”
Luz then gently scooped up Amity’s little bag and lunch bag from where they had fallen on the floor, (of course, still making sure to hold Amity’s hand as she did so,) before leading the girl over to a peculiar set of bricks on one of the less populated hallways of the school. She then knocked on them in a particular order, from largest to smallest in a circular motion, before the bricks went to the side like a furled curtain. Amity was wowed at the display and let out an adorable babble of surprise, causing Luz to chuckle.
“Aww, do you like the secret door, nena?” she pondered, causing Amity to nod before going to reach out her hand to touch the brick-curtain-door. But, as she did so, she let out a whimper. “Oh, what’s wrong, sweetheart?” Luz then saw as Amity looked down at Otabin, her other hand, which was intertwined with Luz’s, and then at the curtains, before letting out another whimper. Thankfully for Amity, Luz was able to catch on.
“Oh, you don’t have enough hands to reach out and grab it, don’t you?” Luz realised, causing Amity to happily hum, glad she was understood. “Well, I could carry Otabin for a second, that way you can still hold Mamí’s hand, mmkay?” At that offer, Amity nodded, handing over Otabin before going over to the curtain. She cutely and inquisitively poked at it, sticking out her tongue in contemplation as she did so. She then pulled back and forth the curtain, giggling all the while. Luz beamed at the sight and chuckled. “Aww… nena, have I told you how precious you are?”
Amity then blushed softly, smiling up at her caregiver as she finished playing with the curtain. She then, with her free hand, made a grabby motion for Otabin. “Do you want him, baby?” Luz pondered, to which Amity did a joyful, quick nod, and Luz happily returned the little one her beloved plush.
Amity then let out a cheery babble as Luz cooed at the girl, with Luz leading the girl to the Secret Room of Shortcuts, which was just through the secret door. Amity was, again, wowed at the sight, but didn’t focus on it too much as Luz led her to a secret trap door that led out of the school through a fake window near the back of the school. Luz guided the way through and they ended up outside. “Alright, now, are you fine with having our picnic out here?”
Amity happily nodded, to which Luz started to set down some blankets and get some food out for the two to eat. As she did so, Amity whimpered slightly, since she was no longer able to hold her mamí’s hand, but still, Luz being around at all was enough to keep the little calm, after what had happened just before.
Luz then smiled at Amity, gently patting her head as she did so. “All ready to start eating, princess?” she questioned, causing the little one to joyfully nod and let out a happy little squeal. Luz cooed at the noise before going over to where she had laid out Amity’s food, sitting down on the blanket, to which Amity followed. She then pulled out a sandwich that Amity had packed in her lunch, taking out a butter knife to split up the sandwich into smaller, bite-size pieces, with Amity getting happier and happier as Luz did so. “Aww, someone’s excited for her lunch, I see,”
Amity let out a happy babble, sitting criss-cross-apple-sauce as she looked up at her caregiver without a worry in her mind. After all that happened earlier, she was able to simply be little. To relax, unwind, to just be. No tests, nothing. Just a moment of quaint calm.
Luz then smiled at her little, patting her on the head as she picked up a piece of the sandwich, gently feeding the girl the bite sized pieces, to which Amity let out many a happy babble in response.
After finishing the sandwich, Luz then went to scoop up Amity and sit her in her lap, but Ghost had already sat down on the little one’s lap, and Luz knew not to disturb the palisman. Besides, Amity seemed happy Ghost was with her, since she was softly petting the palisman, with Ghost gently nuzzling her head into the girl’s hand. To Luz, the sight was more precious than diamonds. Her sweet, adorable, strong girlfriend was finally able to relax. She was often worried about her, since Amity spent most of her time studying or working, due to her mom’s incessant demands for the girl to get more classes, and Amity often felt she was too busy to be little. Whenever Amity should be little, she’d always insist she had another project or didn’t want to stress out Luz. But now, Amity was able to let her fears slip away, which Luz was forever grateful for. Now, she was able to rest easy knowing that her little girl was finally able to relax after all of the stresses of being big.
Luz was just able to have a sweet afternoon with her little one.