Chapter Text
After defeating Belos and subduing the collector, the group of kids go back to school, Luz living in the boiling isles with visits from Camilla and Vee during the school year, and coming home for summer time, bringing the whole gang with her. Gus never tires of all the human realm has to offer, Amity wants to be with Luz, Hunter would never leave his new found sister, and Willow wouldn’t want to be left behind. So, they all come to stay at the Noceda house for the 3 months of break.
Common activities include gardening, roller skating, bike riding, visiting the pool, and of course, shopping. Hunter got a summer job as a lifeguard to fuel their shopping addiction, not minding the work because it brought some structure into his life. He struggled with aimless days after being raised as a soldier, schedule drilled into his bones.
School remedied that, however, during the summer, a job was the best option. It also brought him a sense of pride to bring money home, and take some of the burden off of Camilla's shoulders. Every week he brought home a paycheck of roughly $700. This was split 6 ways, between all the kids. Roughly $115 to spend on whatever they wanted during the week.
Now that Luz was sixteen, she began to drive. And drive she did, ferrying the gaggle of teens all across town in her mother’s minivan. Currently, everyone was dressed to go to the mall, except Hunter, who had just gotten off from work and was in a tank top, flip flops, and his swim trunks. Thankfully, this pair was a subtle dark red instead of a horrendous neon.
He cut quite the dashing figure, scarred arms exposed, tan from hours spent in the sun. He had grown his hair long to keep his ears hidden, and it had gone so blonde it was practically white at the ends. He also sported a red cap with a white cross, to mark his life guard status.
Unaware of the recent changes, Hunter remained rather oblivious to the human girls that’s heads turned whenever he passed by. He was even more unobservant when it came to girls he was close to. He had never been the target of someone’s affections, especially someone he believed was so out of his league, he couldn’t even begin to imagine her sparing an intention laced glance his way.
Currently, said girl was sneaking surreptitious looks from underneath her lashes, pretending to be enraptured with whatever was outside the window. Willow had put her hair into a claw clip, leaving enough down to cover her ears. She peeked around her glasses, gaze trained on the boy in the passenger’s seat. She had only recently come to terms with her crush on the blonde, and couldn’t quite bring herself to make a move.
As the car pulled to a stop in the parking lot of the gravesfield mall, Hunter passed out the wallets stored in the glove compartment.
“Try not to blow all your money in one store okay? I’m not giving you some of mine, and we’re gonna be here for a while.” said Hunter, sending a pointed look Gus’s way. He had a reputation. After a chorus of affirmatives, Hunter and the rest stepped out of the car and broke off into groups to shop.
“Alright, meet in the food court at noon so we can have lunch, funded by my mom!” said Luz with an excited grin. A round of nods, and then everyone set off to their own stores. Hunter, Gus, and Willow set off to the comic store, Luz and Amity to the clothing shops, and Vee to the mall’s fountains to go meet up with a few of her friends.
Hunter and Gus had recently gotten Willow hooked on sci-fi, but since she needed a bit of time to catch up on Cosmic Frontier, they decided that they needed to find a series to enjoy together. As they walked through the mall’s large halls, Willow began to notice stares. Her hand’s raised to her head to check if her ears were exposed, as slip ups like those were what tended to draw the most attention. However, her ears were covered, as well as both of her companions. So what was it?
Their audience was comprised of mostly adolescent girls, eyes trained on the boy walking to her left. Glancing at him, she wondered if something was wrong with his outfit. As she looked him over, she was quickly pulled into admiring the definition of his arms. Realization dawned on her. She had been stupid in the belief that she was the only person to recognize Hunter’s allure, as at a first glance he appeared to fit the bad boy aesthetic, at least before you have a conversation with him and he talks your ear off about salamanders.
The girl’s stares had not gone unnoticed by the boys however, as Gus had started frantically whispering to Hunter, looking over his clothes self consciously. Blushing, Hunter began to worry, was it wrong to wear working clothes to the mall? Was there some strange human custom about flip flops he’d forgotten? Desperate, he looked to Willow pleadingly, needing support. As he turned to her, he noticed her arms crossed, and a scowl crossing her face. She wouldn’t make eye contact. He could feel his ears lowering. He’d definitely messed something up.
Before he could begin to spiral, a human girl came up to him. He began to internally panic, thinking she was going to reprimand him for breaking some human rule he was unaware of.
“Hey!” she began, a flush spreading across her cheeks. “If you’re not busy, I was wondering if I could treat you to lunch?” She said, bashfully averting her eyes. Confused, Hunter tilted his head.
“Isn’t it a bit early for lunch? Also-” before he could finish, she interrupted him, “W-well, we could do something else, l-like a movie, or…” She trailed off, taking note of the green haired girl shooting daggers at her from over Hunter’s shoulder. She paled, letting out a high pitched noise. “Nevermind! Sorrytobotheryou!” She rushed out, scurrying away.
“That was…odd.” Hunter mused. “I wonder what she left for…I kinda wanted to see where she was going with that.”
“No you didn't.” Said Willow with a frown, pushing forward to pace ahead.
“Geez…what's her problem?” whispered Hunter to Gus.
“Oh you naive hunk of a man.” Said Gus, patting his shoulder with a knowing look. He followed after Willow, leaving Hunter standing alone in the corridor, no less confused.