Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

• • •

It's a work in progress, but in the months that follow the revival of wild magic on the Boiling Isles, it's become a lot easier for him to accept what he is, especially now that all the most important people in his life know his biggest, deepest, darkest secret. That being said, Hunter still knows next to nothing about grimwalkers, and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't curious to learn more about these urban legends-turned-personal history. 

Before he can even finish vocalizing the thought, Willow is on her feet pacing and making plans, offering to help him on his fact-finding mission. So, the following weekend, Willow cancels their usual flyer derby practice, and the two of them head to the Bonesborough library. A quick crystal ball search gives them multiple results in different sections, so they agree to split up, Hunter heading toward ancient history, while Willow peruses fiction and folklore.

As she runs her fingers across the spiderwebbed spines of well-loved paperbacks and hardcovers, she comes across a title she hasn't read in years and completely forgot existed — Galdorstone Heart, a series of fantasy novels revolving around a forbidden romance between a witch and a grimwalker. She wondered why the word grimwalker sounded so familiar.

Curious to reignite an old spark, Willow snatches the first book in the series off the shelf, finds a secluded little reading nook with a big bay window overlooking the city, and settles into a worn leather armchair. The moment she begins re-reading the first chapter, it all comes flooding back to her — the pretentious prose, the melodramatically saccharine yet charmingly compelling storyline, the massive crush she used to have on the main character's love interest, Artemis Chase (hitting even harder now that she can't seem to stop imagining herself as the main character and Hunter as Artemis.)

The first book in the series is told from the perspective of Ivy Winter, a young witch whose life gets turned upside down when bad but sad boy Artemis Chase transfers to her high school and decides to join her staff racing team. The two end up spending nearly all of their time together, up late talking on crow calls until the early hours of the morning, passing notes back and forth in between classes, sunny afternoons spent flying through the surrounding forests of the Titan's ribcage as they train for upcoming races.

It's a slow burn romance, chronicling Ivy's descent from oh no he's hot to oh no, I've fallen head over heels in love with him, enamored by his cheeky wit, his prince charming smile, his piercing wine red eyes, and his devil-may-care windswept hair, dark as the depths of the Boiling Sea. But there's something different about Artemis that sets him apart from all the other witches their age, and Ivy is determined to find out his secret.

They're walking through the forest late one afternoon, magic staffs slung over their shoulders after a rousing race through the treetops, when out of nowhere, a boiling rainstorm hits, the first few droplets sending steam spiraling into the air like dragon's breath as they crash against the dew-kissed earth.

Acting on instinct, Artemis dashes forward, scooping Ivy up into his arms and carrying her to safety, using his body as a shield to protect her from the scorching heat. They find a nearby cave to wait out the storm, and when Ivy turns to thank him for rescuing her and offer to heal his injuries, she finds there's nothing to be done — though his shirt has been stripped away to cinders, revealing a plane of lean, hard-earned muscle in its wake, his skin remains perfectly unscathed.

Without thinking, Ivy moves forward to press the palm of her hand against Artemis's bare chest, needing to confirm it for herself (and perhaps fueled by other desires she's been desperately trying to keep hidden for months.) Artemis gazes down at her, his normally cocky, confident demeanor taking on an edge of trepidation.

"But I don't understand," Ivy whispers, blinking in surprise. "How did you survive the heat without so much as a protection spell?"

"Perhaps I simply got lucky," Artemis replies, but Ivy can tell that he's hiding something.

"No one is that lucky," she says, shaking her head. "In fact, there's no one quite like you. You're impossibly fast, and strong. Your skin doesn't burn in a boiling rainstorm. You don't have a bile sac like the other witches, yet you're at the top of our class…because you've found other ways to channel magic, haven't you?"

Artemis looks away, a pained expression in his eyes.

"I've known there was something different about you for a while now, and I think I've finally figured it out," she tells him, fingers curling over a chest where beneath it beats no regular pulse, but a gentle, rhythmic humming instead. "I know what you are."

"Say it, then," he sighs, resigned to his fate. "Out loud."

Ivy takes a deep breath, gaze steady as she stares into the wine red eyes of a fairy tale made flesh.

"Grimwalker."

Artemis sucks in a sharp breath, staring down at her with a fearful expression in his eyes, like he expects her to run from him at any moment, repulsed by his very existence.

"Does it scare you?" he asks softly.

"No," she answers resolutely, gazing up at him with a look of fiery determination in her bright green eyes. "But do you know what does scare me? The thought of never getting to tell you how I feel. Artemis, I—"

Artemis reaches forward to tuck a lock of light blonde hair that's come loose from one of Ivy's braids back behind her ear, fingertips lingering on the soft curve of her cheek, just beneath her gold-framed glasses. Ivy's eyes flutter closed, instinctively leaning in as Artemis sweeps forward and presses his lips against hers.

It's a soft, chaste kiss, and when Artemis pulls back, Ivy finds herself mourning the loss, parted from him far too soon. He gazes down at her, merlot eyes burning with unbridled passion.

"My palistrom skin was made to withstand the deepest depths of the Boiling Sea, and yet the love I feel for you burns within me like a forest fire, threatening to consume me whole," he confesses, and for a moment, Ivy wonders whether she's back out in the middle of that boiling rainstorm, heat like nothing she's ever felt before searing his words into her skin.

"My heart may be made from stone," he says, reaching up to wrap his hand around the back of hers, keeping her palm steady in the center of his chest, right over his galdorstone heart. "But it beats just the same as yours, each pulse calling out your name like a siren song."

Ivy gasps, emerald green eyes sparkling with shimmer tears as she pulls him in for another kiss, neither of them resurfacing until well after the storm has passed.

Willow sighs, a giddy giggle bubbling up inside her chest as she re-reads one of her absolute favorite scenes in the whole series, pausing to let out a satisfied sigh as she presses the open book to her chest. 

If only Hunter's grimwalker reveal had been like that, instead of the near-death nightmare that it was. Maybe, with a little more time, he'd have worked up the nerve to tell her on his own terms — some quiet little stolen moment, just the two of them. And maybe he would've still been just as nervous, and she'd have gently taken his shaking hands in her own, and gazed up into those bright red eyes of his, and told him that no matter what he is or where he comes from, he's still the same Hunter she knows and loves.

And maybe there would have been a moment where the whole world fell silent, the only sound the distant symphony of crickets and tree frogs lit up by the golden glow of fireflies dancing through the surrounding forests of Luz's backyard, followed by a soft gasp as she realized what she'd just confessed aloud, and Hunter's eyes would have filled with hope, lips curving into that charming smile of his that never fails to make her heart skip a beat. And maybe, if she was very lucky, he'd have leaned forward, scarred hands cupping the soft curve of her cheek as he pressed his lips against—

Oh.

Wow.

Books.

Okay. Okay, okay, okay.

Enough daydreaming and reading silly fantasy novels. She promised Hunter she'd help him research, so that's exactly what she's going to do. Any minute now, she's going to get up, put the book back on the shelf, and go peruse a different section.

Well, maybe just one more chapter.

Willow's heart is in her throat as she re-reads the dramatic proposal scene, closing her eyes to picture every romantic detail as Artemis gets down on one knee in a field of fragrant wildflowers and offers Ivy an engagement ring fashioned from a piece of his own galdorstone heart, face heating up a storm when she gets to the wedding night scene, heart threatening to beat right out of her chest as Artemis bridal-carries Ivy across the threshold of a cozy little cottage he built for the two of them with his bare hands, lays her down on a bed of silk sheets covered in rose petals, and worships her with kisses, starting from her lips and working his way down to her hips, pausing at the apex of her thighs just before he—

"Willow?" Hunter's voice calls out from right behind her, and Willow jumps about a foot into the air, turning around to face him with a look of mortified horror in her bright green eyes.

"Hey! I was wondering where you'd gone," he says, gazing down at her with a sunny smile, blissfully ignorant to the chaotic firestorm raging inside her head right now. "I scoured the whole history section for what feels like hours, but I still couldn't find anything."

"Oh, but it looks like you did!" he says, glancing down at the book propped open in her hands.

"What've you got there?" he asks with cheerful curiosity, and Willow's face goes up in flames as Hunter leans over her shoulder to read the infamous spicy scene. She can tell the exact moment he reads that line, because his breath comes out in a rush and then stops altogether.

"Oh," he whispers, and Willow swears she can feel the heat of his blush radiating off of him, no doubt a perfect match for her own. "Um…Willow? What is this?"

"It's nothing!" she exclaims, slamming the book shut and laughing a little maniacally. "Just some silly book series I used to read when I was younger."

Hunter plucks the book from her slackened hands and scans the front cover.

"Galdorstone Heart," he reads the title aloud, glimmering in embossed gold lettering across the front of the forest green hardcover. He flips it open and skims the first couple of pages, pausing to read a few choice lines from the very first chapter aloud, while Willow buries her face in her hands and prays for the couch cushions to swallow her whole.

"About three things I was absolutely positive: First, Artemis was a grimwalker. Second, there was a part of him — and I didn’t know how potent that part might be — that thirsted for my magic. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him."

"Is this…did someone write a romance novel about grimwalkers?" he asks, turning to see Willow peeking at him through the gap between her fingers, face flushed an adorable shade of pink. 

"And you used to read it?" he asks, lips pulling up into a smug little smile.

"It was a really long time ago!" Willow blurts out, rushing to defend herself. "Way before I ever met you, back when everyone still thought that grimwalkers were just the stuff of fairy tales and folklore. Obviously it's completely inaccurate — I mean, grimwalkers don't feed off of witches' magic like basilisks or vampires, and they certainly couldn't craft an engagement ring out of a piece of their own—"

"Ah, bup-bup-bup! No spoilers!" Hunter exclaims, covering his ears and shaking his head.

Willow pauses mid-ramble, eyebrows arched in surprise.

"So, this book," Hunter ventures, gaze flitting between Willow and the bright blue glowing galdorstone illustrated on the front cover of the novel held in his scarred hands. "You said it's a series? As in, there's more?" he asks, sounding genuinely curious, and not at all put off like she thought he'd be.

"Well, yeah," Willow offers, still a little hesitant, but more confused than embarrassed now. "Technically there's three more. And then I guess there's also an unreleased version of the first book told entirely from Artemis's perspective, detailing the backstory of how he escaped from his evil creator and came to the Isles to start a new life, but—"

"Do you still have your old copies?" Hunter asks eagerly, a small smile forming on his lips as he looks at her. "Can I borrow them?"

"Can you—" Willow repeats, caught off guard by the question. "Um. Yeah, sure. Or, I mean, you could if I had my own copies. But I'm pretty sure this is the same one I read back when I was a kid." She glances down at the dark green cover, recognizes the faded doodle of a flower she'd graffitied in the right-hand corner the last time she'd checked it out, surrounded by the initials W.P. + A.C.

"Why, though?" she asks, glancing back up at him. "Like I said, it's completely inaccurate. You won't find any useful info on grimwalkers in there."

"That's fine," he says, ears turning pink. "I don't want them for research purposes."

"Then why would you—" Willow starts, and then a curious smile curls across her face. "Wait…did you actually like it?"

"Maybe," Hunter admits with a sheepish grin. "I like the sound of the main characters. There's something very familiar about the two of them, don't you think?" he asks, arching his eyebrows and giving her a meaningful look.

"I suppose they're a little familiar," Willow says slyly, meeting his smiling gaze with one of her own. "You'll probably tease me for this, but when I was younger, I had the biggest crush on Artemis."

Hunter pauses, blinking at her in astonishment.

"You had a crush," he says slowly, like he's afraid confirming it will jinx it. "…on the grimwalker character?"

"Oh yeah, big time," Willow says, lips curving upward in a cheeky grin.

"So, the fact that he was a grimwalker didn't put you off?" he asks softly.

"No," Willow replies, just as resolutely as Ivy had done. "Why would it?"

Hunter stares at her for a moment, utterly spellbound, a dozen different doors he'd thought were locked suddenly bursting wide open.

"I know I said no spoilers, but I've got to know…does she say yes?" he asks, and Willow could swear there's a double meaning in his hopeful gaze. "Do they end up together? Happily ever after?"

Willow smiles at him.

"I guess you'll have to read to find out," she says, slipping the rest of the series off the shelf and stacking them in his hands as the two of them make their way toward the checkout lane. "And when you're all caught up…maybe we could watch the movies together?"

Hunter turns toward her, arms wrapped carefully around his new little collection of borrowed books, smiling so wide his bright red eyes are practically half-moons.

"It's a date."

• • •

Chapter Text

• • •

At 2AM the following Saturday, less than a week after their little trip to the library, Willow's scroll lights up in the darkness of her bedroom, vibrating from where it sits underneath her pillow, startling her awake with a very ungraceful snort.

rulerzreachf4n: CAPTAIN

rulerzreachf4n: I FINISHED THE SERIES

rulerzreachf4n: ARE YOU AWAKE

rulerzreachf4n: I HAVE THOUGHTS

He's been messaging her every single day since he started reading Galdorstone Heart, feverishly tearing his way through the series in a matter of days, and has made something of a habit of live-texting her his reactions to every major plot twist and subtextual detail. She can tell he's been reading them before he goes to sleep every night, staying up later and later as he undoubtedly tells himself the same lie we all do whenever we get invested in a multi-chapter series right before bedtime: just one more chapter and then I swear I'll go to bed.

If it were anyone else, Willow would have glared daggers at her scroll as she put her notifications on mute — but Hunter, it would seem, is the exception to every rule. So even though he's been keeping her up all week long, so exhausted she keeps nearly nodding off in all her morning classes, startled awake every night at 2AM like clockwork, grumbling as she shoves her hand under her pillow and pulls out her scroll, blinking blearily down at the too-bright screen, Willow can't help the giddy smile that curls across her face every time she sees his username, accompanied by an utterly ridiculous number of unread messages.

The first time, she wakes up to no less than 57 new text messages from rulerzreachf4n (though, most of them are Hunter apologizing for texting too much, followed almost immediately by one more thing and I'll stop talking I swear.) Willow reads them all with a huge smile on her face as she gets ready for school that morning.

His grammar has been improving, and he types a whole lot faster now. Although, everything he writes is in all caps — partially because he's excited to share his thoughts about the series, but mostly because his capslock key got stuck a little while back and he can't seem to figure out how to undo it.

SUNDAY 11:00PM

rulerzreachf4n: OKAY SO IT DEFINITELY CONFUSED GRIMWALKERS WITH BASILISKS WHEN IT COMES TO THE WHOLE ABSORBING WITCHES MAGIC THING

rulerzreachf4n: BUT IT DID GET ONE THING RIGHT

rulerzreachf4n: I ACTUALLY CAN WITHSTAND LOTS OF HEAT

rulerzreachf4n: BACK WHEN I WAS THE GOLDEN GUARD BELOS USED TO SEND ME ON MISSIONS TO THE BOTTOM OF THE BOILING SEA AND I NEVER NEEDED ANY KIND OF PROTECTION SPELLS OR ANYTHING

rulerzreachf4n: SO IF WE EVER GOT CAUGHT IN A BOILING RAINSTORM I COULD PROTECT YOU CAPTAIN

MONDAY 12:00AM

rulerzreachf4n: OKAY SO I JUST GOT TO THE PART WHERE IVY TELLS ARTEMIS THAT IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT HE IS OR WHERE HE CAME FROM BECAUSE SHE LOVES HIM FOR WHO HE IS AND THAT'S JUST REALLY

rulerzreachf4n: IT'S JUST REALLY NICE THAT THIS BOOK EXISTS

rulerzreachf4n: AND THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE OUT THERE WHO DON'T THINK THAT GRIMWALKERS ARE BAD

rulerzreachf4n: AND I JUST

rulerzreachf4n: THANK YOU FOR INTRODUCING ME TO THIS SERIES

rulerzreachf4n: I KNOW IT'S SILLY BUT

rulerzreachf4n: YEAH

rulerzreachf4n: IT'S JUST 

rulerzreachf4n: REALLY NICE

MONDAY 1:00AM

rulerzreachf4n: I JUST GOT TO THE PART WHERE ARTEMIS SEES WILLOW IN HER WEDDING DRESS FOR THE FIRST TIME AND THE WAY HE JUST GETS THIS BIG SMILE ON HIS FACE AND STARTS CRYING BECAUSE SHE'S JUST SO BEAUTIFUL WITH ALL THOSE FLOWERS IN HER HAIR

rulerzreachf4n: HE LOVES HER SO MUCH

rulerzreachf4n: OH FUCK SORRY I MEANT IVY

rulerzreachf4n: I DIDN'T MEAN TO TYPE YOUR NAME I SWEAR HAHAHAHA

MONDAY 2:00AM

rulerzreachf4n: OH HEY I THINK I JUST GOT TO THE PART I WAS READING OVER YOUR SHOULDER AT THE LIBRARY WHEN I

rulerzreachf4n: SORRY I DIDN'T MEAN TO SEND YOU MY FACE

rulerzreachf4n: I'M GONNA GO TO BED NOW

rulerzreachf4n: NOT UM

rulerzreachf4n: NOT THAT I'M THINKING ABOUT THAT SCENE WHILE I'M IN BED OR ANYTHING

rulerzreachf4n: I'M JUST ANNOUNCING THAT I'M GOING TO BED

rulerzreachf4n: FOR SLEEP REASONS

rulerzreachf4n: OH TITAN PLEASE IGNORE EVERYTHING I'VE JUST SAID

rulerzreachf4n: HOW TO UNSEND EMBARRASSING MESSAGES

rulerzreachf4n: SORRY THAT WAS MEANT FOR CTHUUGLE

rulerzreachf4n: GOODNIGHT CAPTAIN

rulerzreachf4n: SORRY

Willow presses a hand over her mouth to stifle a bout of giggles, immediately saving the impromptu snapshot (a close-up of Hunter's face, bright red and wide-eyed, mouth hanging open in a comically shocked O) to her camera roll, imagining him re-reading the infamous spicy wedding night scene and getting so flustered his hands slipped, accidentally snapping a photo of himself and sending it to their chat.

That's okay, I like your face :) she writes back, and Hunter smashes face-first into his locker when he sees her at school later that morning. He apologizes about a dozen more times for texting too much during lunch later that afternoon, but Willow just keeps reassuring him that she doesn't mind one bit, that he's free to text her whenever he wants, as often as he wants, that she likes listening to him talk, and Hunter gets so flustered he accidentally sticks his elbow in Gus's spaghetti.

Later that night, Willow wakes to a flurry of new messages, Hunter eager to share his theories and reactions as he makes his way through the second book in the series.

rulerzreachf4n: I THINK I KNOW WHO ARTEMIS'S EVIL CREATOR IS

rulerzreachf4n: IT'S SORCERER BELLOWS ISN'T IT

hello_willow is typing…

rulerzreachf4n: WAIT NO DON'T TELL ME I WANT TO FIND OUT ON MY OWN

And again the following night.

rulerzreachf4n: AUGUST, LUNA, AND AMELIE ARE REALLY COOL

rulerzreachf4n: I'M GLAD ARTEMIS AND IVY HAVE SUCH GOOD FRIENDS

rulerzreachf4n: KINDA GETTING SOME FLIRTY VIBES FROM LUNA AND AMELIE THOUGH

rulerzreachf4n: DO THEY END UP TOGETHER?

hello_willow is typing…

rulerzreachf4n: WAIT DON'T TELL ME I WANNA SEE IT PLAY OUT

And then again on Wednesday.

rulerzreachf4n: IVY SAID SHE STARTED FEELING SICK IN THE MORNINGS

rulerzreachf4n: ARE THEY GONNA HAVE A BABY?

hello_willow is typing…

rulerzreachf4n: WAIT NEVERMIND NO SPOILERS

And again on Thursday.

rulerzreachf4n: OH TITAN THEY'RE ABOUT TO GO TO WAR WITH SORCERER BELLOWS AND THE TRICKSTER GOD

rulerzreachf4n: PLZ TELL ME NONE OF MY FAVES DIE

hello_willow is typing…

rulerzreachf4n: NO DON'T TELL ME I WANT TO BE SURPRISED

rulerzreachf4n: OKAY MAYBE JUST ONE

rulerzreachf4n: I JUST NEED TO KNOW THAT ARTEMIS AND IVY ARE GONNA BE OKAY

hello_willow is typing…

rulerzreachf4n: NO I CHANGED MY MIND I'M ALMOST AT THE END I'LL FIND OUT SOON ENOUGH

Which brings us back to Friday night (or rather, Saturday morning) signaling the end of their middle-of-the-night chats, because less than a week after checking all the books out of the library, Hunter has finally reached the end of Galdorstone Heart. Hmm. Willow wonders what other book series she can get him into.

SATURDAY 2:00AM

hello_willow: hey hunter :)

rulerzreachf4n: OH CAPTAIN HI

rulerzreachf4n: I DIDN'T WAKE YOU DID I???

rulerzreachf4n: I'M SORRY I KEEP TEXTING YOU SO MUCH

rulerzreachf4n: PLZ LET ME KNOW IF I'M ANNOYING YOU AND I'LL STOP

hello_willow: all good

hello_willow: you could never annoy me

rulerzreachf4n: PROMISE?

hello_willow: promise :)

hello_willow: so, what did you think of the ending?

rulerzreachf4n: OKAY

rulerzreachf4n: SO

rulerzreachf4n is typing…

SATURDAY 3:00AM

rulerzreachf4n: SO WHAT WAS IT EXACTLY THAT YOU LIKED ABOUT ARTEMIS

rulerzreachf4n: YOU SAID YOU HAD A CRUSH

hello_willow: hmm

hello_willow: well

hello_willow: he's got a good heart

hello_willow: he always tries to do the right thing, even if it goes against everything he was taught to believe

hello_willow: he's clever, and witty, and incredibly book smart

rulerzreachf4n: I LIKE BOOKS

hello_willow: I know :)

hello_willow: you actually remind me of him a lot

rulerzreachf4n: I DO?

hello_willow: you do :)

rulerzreachf4n: YOU REMIND ME A LOT OF IVY

hello_willow: yeah? :)

rulerzreachf4n: YEAH

rulerzreachf4n: SHE'S THE PERFECT BALANCE OF SWEET AND SMART AND STRONG

rulerzreachf4n: LIKE SHE HAS NO PROBLEM KICKING THE BAD GUY'S ASS

rulerzreachf4n: BUT SHE'LL APOLOGIZE IF SHE STEPS ON A FLOWER

rulerzreachf4n: AND SHE ALWAYS KNOWS WHAT TO SAY WHENEVER HER FRIENDS ARE FEELING SAD

rulerzreachf4n: NOT ONLY IS SHE INCREDIBLY BOOK SMART, SHE'S ALSO VERY EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT

rulerzreachf4n: JUST LIKE YOU

Willow buries her face in her pillow and makes a noise that's half-giggle, half-scream, kicking her feet in a little flail before typing back, thank you Hunter :) that's very sweet of you to say.

rulerzreachf4n: OF COURSE CAPTAIN :)

rulerzreachf4n: IT'S JUST THE TRUTH

rulerzreachf4n: THANK YOU FOR BEING YOU

Willow's hand might slip and send him a couple little pink and red hearts in response. She's not exactly proving his point of incredibly book smart and emotionally intelligent at the moment, but sometimes he just says things and her whole brain turns to mush. She glances up in time to see every single brightly colored heart in the emoji bank plastered across the screen under his username, and giggles so loudly she worries she'll wake her dads.

rulerzreachf4n: SO

rulerzreachf4n: WHAT OTHER THINGS DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A

rulerzreachf4n: WHAT ELSE DO YOU LIKE ABOUT ARTEMIS

Willow smiles to herself, wondering whether this is his idea of flirting and fishing for hints.

hello_willow: I love how much he loves his friends and family

hello_willow: he's fiercely protective and would do anything to keep them safe

hello_willow: the way he's always looking out for August like a big brother

hello_willow: the way he fought side by side with Luna and Amelie in the final battle against his evil creator and that celestial trickster god

hello_willow: how sweet and loving he is with Ivy and their daughter

rulerzreachf4n: YEAH THAT TIME SKIP WHERE THE TWO OF THEM WERE HAPPILY MARRIED AND NEW PARENTS WAS REALLY SATISFYING

hello_willow: it was!

hello_willow: I'm really glad they got a happy ending

hello_willow: after everything they went through, they deserve it

rulerzreachf4n: YEAH THEY REALLY DO

Willow holds her breath as she types out the one question she's been waiting to ask him all week, the giddy anticipation of getting to spend another whole Saturday with him threatening to set all her nerve endings on fire.

hello_willow: so

hello_willow: now that you're all caught up… 

hello_willow: want to come over later today and watch the movies with me?

His response is immediate.

rulerzreachf4n: YES

rulerzreachf4n: DEFINITELY

rulerzreachf4n: ABSOLUTELY

hello_willow: okay then

hello_willow: it's a date :)

Willow giggles, burying her face in her pillow and kicking her feet.

On the other end of the line, Hunter does the very same.

• • •

The following afternoon, Hunter shows up to her house sporting that same nervous-excited jaw-clenching grin memorialized in most of the photos Willow took of him back in the human realm (now plastered all over the wall above her bed) with a bevy of all her favorite snacks tucked under his arms.

"Hey!" she says brightly, smoothing out nonexistent wrinkles in the pretty floral sundress she absolutely did not pick out special just for the occasion, smiling when she notices him doing the exact same thing with his hair.

"Captain!" he greets her, lifting his arm in a little wave and sending half a dozen boxes of candy tumbling to the floor.

The two of them immediately swoop down to pick them up, freezing the moment their hands meet over the same box of blood orange chocolates, only to glance up and realize just how close their faces are to one another's. Willow blinks up at him, watching with a kind of giddy fascination as he stares down at her with an awestruck look on his face, wordlessly offering her his hand to help her to her feet.

"You look—" he falters, Adam's apple straining against his throat as he takes in the sight of her, all dolled up in a cheerful yellow sundress. "Wow."

"So do you," Willow giggles, eyes roving appreciatively over the freshly-pressed button-down shirt rolled up to his elbows that she knows for a fact he only breaks out for special occasions.

He's still holding her hand. Without thinking, she takes a step closer. He mirrors her. She gazes up at him. He gazes back. She lifts up onto her toes. He inclines his head. Her eyes flutter closed. He leans in, and then—

"Hunter!" one of her dads calls out from the doorframe leading from the living room into the kitchen. Oh. Right. Her parents are in the next room. Spell broken, the two of them jump about a mile back from one another, Willow's facing burning as she stares a hard line into the floorboards, one of Hunter's hands coming up to nervously smooth back his hair again, path intercepted as Gilbert steps forward into the foyer and shakes it in a hearty greeting.

"Good to see you, son!" he says with a cheerful smile (almost a little too cheerful, like he knows exactly what he just interrupted and finds the whole thing terribly amusing.) "I hear the two of you have a movie marathon planned for today?"

"Yes sir," Hunter manages, nodding toward the mountain of snacks clutched in both his and Willow's arms.

"Well I won't keep you, then. Have fun, you two!" he says, striding back into the living room with his hands stuffed into the pockets of his Kiss The Chef apron, whistling a jaunty tune.

"Remember to keep the door open!" Harvey's disembodied voice calls from the living room couch, where he's all settled in by the fireplace doing his usual weekend crosswords.

"Harvey, don't embarrass them!" Gilbert hisses, swiping his husband's newspaper and playfully swatting him across the shoulder with it.

"What? You remember how we were at their age," Harvey defends, and Willow could almost swear she hears her father giggle.

"Oh my Titan," she groans under her breath, grabbing Hunter by the hand and marching him up the stairs before her parents can embarrass her any further. "Okay, love you both! We're gonna go watch the movie now! Byeeeeeee!"

Hunter can't help but snort with laughter, knowing full well where she picked up that little habit from, all too happy to be tugged along behind her if it means he gets to hold her hand for just a little bit longer.

"How come he always says that when it's just the two of us hanging out?" Hunter asks once they're safely ensconced behind her closed bedroom door. "He never says that when it's you, me, and Gus."

Willow's shoulders stiffen, hand still curled around the doorknob. 

"Oh, well…you know," she says, turning to face him with one of those smiles that tells him she's nervous about something and trying to play it off. "He just…he just gets a little extra protective whenever there's boys involved."

She lets her shoulders fall back against the doorframe, huffing out a laugh that sends a lock of hair that's come loose from one of her braids gently floating into the air, before landing with an adorable little curl on the curve of her cheekbone.

"Gus is a boy," Hunter points out, eyebrows arched in amusement.

"Yeah, but Gus is like my little brother," she says, wrinkling her nose.

"I see," Hunter replies, trying to school his features into a casual smile. "So, what am I?"

"You're—" Willow falters, breath catching in her throat as she realizes just how close he's standing, caught between him and the doorframe. Sometimes she forgets just how tall he is. "You're my friend. You're my— Hunter."

"I'm your Hunter," he repeats in a low voice that really should be illegal, smoother than the rich dark chocolates still clutched in one of her hands.

Hunter's fingertips twitch at his sides, eager to reach forward and brush back that loose lock of hair so perfectly framed around a small dusting of sun-kissed freckles scattered across her cheekbones from all those afternoons spent working in her garden.

"Yes," she says, still a little breathless, heart racing like the wings of her palisman. The box of chocolates slips from her hand, rattling like gunfire in the soft silence of her bedroom. The two of them glance down to glare at the offending thing.

"So, um…movie?" she asks, voice coming out an octave higher than its usual register.

"Oh," Hunter says, shaking his head like he forgot why he was there, absentmindedly taking a few steps back. "Yeah, let's, um…do that."

With a nervous chuckle, Willow brushes past him and climbs onto her bed, lace edges of her pretty floral sundress draped across her knees as she crosses her legs and leans back against the wall. 

She conjures her scroll from thin air, tongue stuck between her teeth in concentration as she searches up the movie on one those streaming sites Belos used to ban, pausing to look up at him expectantly, patting the space beside her. 

Hunter doesn't need telling twice, tripping over his feet as he scrambles in next to her, emptying out his pockets into a small mountain of snacks between them.

"Thanks for the chocolates, by the way," she says, opening the little box of blood orange truffles and popping one into her mouth. "They're my favorite."

"I know," he says, smiling back at her as he takes the one offered in her hand. "That's why I got them."

Willow beams at him, reaching out to press play on the little screen floating between them in the semi-darkness. They end up having to scoot in fairly close so they can both watch the movie on her tiny little scroll, and Willow spends most of the first film hyper aware of the fact that their shoulders and thighs are pressed right up against one another's, stealing glances at him out of the corner of her eye to see whether Hunter is enjoying himself, only to catch him doing the very same thing, the both of them quickly looking away, hoping the darkness of the room will hide their blushing faces.

Once the second movie starts rolling, however, Hunter is enthralled, and Willow has to bite her lip to hold back laughter as he repeatedly points out all the inconsistencies between the books and the movies, absentmindedly shoving handfuls of Hex Mix into his mouth as he scoffs at the screen and throws his hands into the air, vexed by the fact that the iconic boiling rainstorm confession scene was so rushed and out of character, and how the writers drew out the characters' courtship and eventual wedding until the very last film, making it this big dramatic will-they, won't-they, and adding in a stupid love triangle just to stir up trouble. Willow can't help but find it all utterly endearing, remembering how she reacted the very same way back when she and Amity first watched the series together.

The two of them watch with baited breath as Artemis and Ivy's on-screen counterparts share a fairy tale kiss at the altar, screen fading to black as he carries her across the threshold of their cozy little woodland cottage, and Hunter lets out a long, slow breath as some sappy lyrical rendition of the main theme plays over the end credits.

"Huh," he says, sounding equal parts disappointed and relieved.

"What's up?" Willow prompts, turning to look at him as she pauses the screen.

"Hmm?" Hunter asks, snapping out of his little reverie to look at her, unaware that he'd said anything out loud. "Oh, nothing. It's just…the movies are a lot…uh, tamer…than the books," he says, the tips of his ears burning a brilliant shade of red. "Some of the scenes in the book are quite…um…detailed."

"Oh," Willow huffs out a laugh, heat creeping up the back of her neck. "Yeah, they kinda had to tone it down to keep the rating PG-13."

"Which reminds me…weren't you reading this back when you were in middle school?" Hunter asks, quirking an amused eyebrow.

"Yeah, but don't tell my dads because I definitely wasn't supposed to. Me and Amity used to sneak into the older teen section all the time and dare each other to find the spiciest scenes," Willow giggles, thinking back to all the times the two of them used to tease each other for their crushes on Artemis and Malingale the Mysterious Soothsayer.

Willow glances up at Hunter, and can't help but think how much he reminds her of Artemis. Fitting, she supposes, that her very first real life crush would be such a close match to her first fictional crush. She has a type, and it's bad but sad boys.

Just then, Willow's scroll buzzes, glowing bright white in the hazy twilit blue of her bedroom, a vivid purple banner notification dropping down across the top of her screen.

illusion_master: soooooo how's your big date going? :P

Willow scrambles to dismiss the message before Hunter can see it, but judging by the perplexed look on his face, she's too late.

"Is that Gus? What did he mean by big date? Do you…do you have plans with someone else later tonight?" he asks, looking for a moment like someone punched him in the gut.

"Oh! No, he means us," Willow is quick to reassure him, heart skyrocketing into her throat as Hunter's eyebrows jump to meet his hairline. "But he's just joking. He thinks he's being funny, teasing me all because I told him you said 'it's a date' when I asked if you wanted to watch the movies together sometime."

Willow huffs out a little laugh that's just on the side of hysterical, a delicate blush tinging her cheeks pink as she glances up at him with hopeful eyes, almost like she's daring him to confirm it.

"Oh," he says softly. "Well, good. Because this isn't a date."

Willow's heart sinks into the pit of her stomach.

"Oh," she whispers, trying desperately to keep the subtle quaver out of her voice as she casually brushes off the rejection, tears stinging the corners of her eyes. "Yeah, no. Of course. After all, we're just fr—"

"You deserve something way more, you know, big romantic grand gesture for a first date," he says, and Willow's breath catches in her throat. "Like a home-cooked candlelit dinner, or an airship ride over the Isles at sunset, or a trip to the botanical gardens in the forests of the Titan's ribcage."

"I've…been working up the nerve to ask you out for a while now, I just…don't know how to cook without setting Eda's kitchen on fire, and I can't exactly ask Darius to borrow his airship after we crashed the last one, and I'm not even sure the gardens are open this time of year. Hell, I'd make you a ring out of my own heart if I could, like when Artemis proposed to Ivy, but I'm pretty sure I'd die," he says around a small, nervous chuckle, reaching up to attack a phantom itch on the back of his neck.

Willow stares at him, brain going haywire as it tries to decide which part of his statement to process first. He's been wanting to ask her out? For a while now? He wants to cook for her, fly her out over the city on a romantic airship ride, take her out to one of her all-time favorite places on the Isles? Willow only mentioned the botanical gardens once in passing, but he'd clearly been listening and taking note. He wants to give her a…wait, like when Artemis proposed to Ivy???

"You…want to get me an engagement ring?" she blurts out, short-circuited brain zeroing in on that very last detail.

"I—" Hunter falters, a blush redder than all the tomatoes in her garden spreading across his face. "Well, not right now. I can't ask you to marry me before I've even asked you out on a first date."

Willow blinks at him in surprise. They haven't even gone out on one date and he's already decided he wants to marry her?

Oh. Oh wow.

Weren't her dads just telling her a similar story about the first time Gilbert asked out Harvey? And didn't they also meet on a flyer derby field?

Funny how history repeats itself.

"So ask me, then," she says, at a loss to explain where the sudden rush of confidence came from, given how badly her hands are shaking.

Hunter lets out a startled euphoric laugh.

"Okay," he breathes. "Um. Willow Park? Do you want to go out with me?"

Willow's eyes sparkle with mischief, lips curling into a radiant smirk. In lieu of an answer, she tugs him toward her by the collar of his button-down shirt and kisses him, soft and slow. When she pulls back, Hunter is looking at her like she hung all the stars in the night sky, big dopey grin spreading across his tomato red face.

"So, is that a yes, or—" Hunter chuckles, the rest of his words snuffed out as Willow draws him back in for another kiss.

"Yes," she says, punctuating each affirmation with a kiss. First, on the tip of his nose.

"Definitely."

Then, on the soft curve of his cheek.

"Absolutely."

And finally, his lips, marveling at the way they taste like her favorite candy that he brought over just for her.

• • •