Chapter Text
Hunter was tired. His bones ached from the day's gruesome events, and he overall felt like collapsing. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a bed or safe space to sleep in. Sure, he could go back to his quarters in the Emperor’s Castle, but he didn’t want to be back there so soon. Even if he wanted to hug his frog plush.
Darius put a hand on Hunter’s shoulder and he jumped. Despite knowing that Darius was safe, Hunter was still getting used to physical touch. He supposed Belos had left too big of an imprint on his mental stability to be helped at the moment.
Hunter looked up to see Darius frowning at him. They had been walking for some time now, and neither had said a word since reuniting. “Hunter,” Darius started, “I was wondering if you’d like to stay with me for the time being?”
Well that fixed his sleeping problem. Of course, Hunter couldn’t bring himself to speak at the moment, so he instead settled for a nod. Darius seemed pleased with that and looked back up, a smile settling on his lips. Hunter was glad he could please his new, temporary guardian. Impressions were always important, after all, whether they were the first or not.
They walked for another ten minutes before arriving at Darius’s home. It was large, but not a mansion like the Blight’s. The siding was dark purple and the roof was black. The front door was large and fancy, with golden swirls indented into the wood. The windows had a similar pattern, with gold painted iron swirling over the front of the glass.
Darius opened the door for Hunter, revealing a largely decorated room. The entryway had a small black fireplace between two open doors, a seating area with a purple sofa and a black loveseat, and an assortment of different awards sitting on side tables and hanging from walls. A large picture was framed above the mantle of the fireplace, it had a young-looking Darius smiling next to an older-looking Hunter. Looking around, Hunter noticed several other framed photos with the two in them. Darius looked so happy in all of them. No wonder he looked so sad when Hunter got his staff. He probably didn’t even have time to properly grieve his predecessor before Hunter came along. Now that he thought of it, Hunter couldn’t remember a time when he wasn’t the golden guard. Hunter pushed that thought aside as Darius began walking into the room left of the fireplace.
This room looked like a kitchen, complete with full-black kitchen hardware and a black and gold island. Two doors, one leading to the room right of the fireplace and the other leading to some other unknown room, stood between more awards and photos. Hunter subconsciously noted the photo of him earring his staff.
Darius cleared his throat, and Hunter looked up to find him holding open the door that led to the unknown room. Hunter quickly made his way through the door, and Darius closed it behind him. This room was no doubt the dining room. A long purple table stood in the center of multiple black chairs. Darius motioned to one of the chairs, and Hunter sat down. Darius sat down across from him.
“Well?” He said, tilting his head. Hunter blinked. What did he mean, ‘well?’ Seeing his confusion, Darius clarified, “Do you want to talk about anything that happened?”
Hunter looked down slightly. He knew he should probably open up, not just about the past few months but about his whole life up to now, but he didn’t know where to start. Not to mention how tired he was…
When Hunter didn’t respond, Darius continued, “You don’t have to now, I know you’re tired, but if you could later, that’d be helpful. I’m here to help in any ways possible, Hunter, but I can’t help if you won’t tell me anything.”
Hunter looked Darius in the eyes and shook his head. “I’ll talk tomorrow,” he decided, “but right now I’m tired.”
Darius nodded and stood up. He motioned for Hunter to follow as he brought them through multiple long hallways. Finally, they reached a black door. Opening it up, Darius revealed a bare room with light brown wooden walls and soft white carpet. Up against the far right wall was a queen-sized bed with white and gray covers. A medium sized dresser sat next to it with a simple alarm clock sitting atop it. There was a closet on the far left wall, and a wall of windows on the back wall. Large curtains swayed in front of the windows, letting only a bit of moonlight shine through.
“This is your bedroom. It’s one of the guest bedrooms, so sorry if it seems bare.” Darius cleared his throat. “There are some spare pajamas in the dresser, and the shower is just across the hall. Clean up and head to bed. We can pick up your stuff from your old room whenever you’re ready.”
Hunter nodded. “Thanks,” his voice was quiet and displayed his exhaustion, but he couldn’t bring himself to care at the moment.
Darius nodded, “My room is the last door at the end of the hall, don’t be afraid to get me if you need something. Goodnight, Hunter.”
Hunter looked back at him, “Goodnight, Darius.” With that, Darius shut the door and left Hunter to himself.
Hunter made his way over to his dresser and dug through the top drawer. He found a pair of black pajama pants that should fit him and searched through the next drawer for a shirt. When he found what he needed, he made his way across the hall to the bathroom.
The bathroom had a light purple tile floor and white walls. In the far left corner was a white shower with a sliding glass door. In the far right corner was a large light purple bath. A white toilet sat in between a partition and the wall in the front right corner. A shower and mirror sat across from it. In the center of the shower and bath was a small shelf on the wall, filled with toiletries and white towels. A bench sat against the shower’s right wall.
Hunter grabbed a towel from the shelf and set it on the bench alongside his neatly folded clothes. He grabbed a shampoo, conditioner, and body wash from the shelf and set them in the shower. He turned on the water and stripped himself in preparation. He didn’t wait for the water to warm up before getting in. Hunter sat there for a few minutes, watching the dirt and soot run off his body to the drain. A bit of blood joined it, running down from his various cuts and scrapes.
Hunter latently wondered what his friends were doing now. Were they also staring at the dirt and blood going down the drain, or were they already in bed? He bet Luz wasn’t. She always seemed to have more energy than anyone else in the group, but it had been a long day. Eda still had Owlbert, so they no doubt got home faster than Darius and Hunter did. Luz and everyone else were probably tucked away in bed already.
Hunter squirted some shampoo into his hand. He scrubbed his scalp and watched as even more dirt found its way down the drain. He proceeded on with his shower quickly. No thoughts came to his head during that time. When he finished, he got out of the shower and put on his clothes before heading to his room.
He all but sank into the soft mattress and pillows. Memories of the day and the days before swarmed his mind. One specific memory played on loop. Flapjack was in Hunter’s hand, but Hunter couldn’t control his body. His hand squeezed the poor palisman’s form until green spilled from the wood’s cracks. Flapjack let out a pained squeak as Hunter fought against the parasite controlling him. In the end he was able to gain control back, but it was in vain.
Another memory flashed through his head. Golden orbs floated up through the Collector's Palace, signifying that someone great had died. Luz had died. It was a miracle that she was able to come back. What if she hadn’t been able to? What if it had been someone else? Willow? Gus? Neither of them truly understand the Titan’s magic. Would King's father have helped them? Or would they have been lost forever, like Flapjack?
Hunter felt himself grow anxious. So many things could’ve gone wrong in the past week. What would have happened if Belos had been able to kill Flapjack? Hunter wouldn’t be here. Luz and the others may not have been able to save Hunter’s body if Flapjack had been squeezed to death. What if Hunter hadn’t even seen Belos? He and his friends would still be trapped in the human realm, and Belos probably would’ve found a way back to the demon realm and destroyed it. What would’ve happened then?
Different outcomes for every problem the group had to face in just this week alone circled Hunter’s mind, keeping him awake. Finally, as the sun began to rise, Hunter’s brain shut down and he found himself in a dreamless sleep.