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"Hunter, hurry up! I know we're meeting Edalyn and Luz, but an hour late would be too much even for them."
As soon as Hunter came down running, finishing stuffing his scroll into his pocket, Darius shook his head.
"Little Prince, you can't just put it in your pockets. It's the Night Market, not a school fair. I doubt even my former Coven Head status would be able to prevent someone from grabbing it! Edalyn might, but I would rather not risk it."
"Fine," Hunter replied, playfully huffing, and grabbed the pouch Darius was extending him. It was small enough it wouldn't seem like much, with enough pockets any pickpocket would have a hard time searching them all to find what they wanted, but big enough for Hunter's scroll and some emergency money in case they got separated.
"That's better," Darius said as he ruffled Hunter's hair. "Now, grab a coat and we're good to go."
"It's warm outside, it rained earlier this morning."
"Yes, but the night breeze might not sit well wil you."
"I'm gonna end up all sweaty!"
"You can take a shower, then. If you get really warm, you can always take it off."
"Who knows, if I'm not wearing it I might drop it and lose it."
"We could always get you another one. Besides, where is Waffles going to stay? I doubt walking around wih a bird perched on your head can be comfortable."
"She can fly around or snuggle in my bag, I'm sure there is plenty of space there.
"Are you sure?" Darius said as a snail fell out of the bag.
"Fine. I'll bring my thinnest one, though. Just for Waffles. That one has nice pockets and a hood, she can choose where to rest."
"As long as you bring one and it makes you comfortable it's fine with me. I just don't want you to fall ill, Little Prince. Are you sure you're feeling well, no fever? It's rather cool."
"Don't worry, I have a great immune system anyways. Haven't caught a debilitating cold since before I was the Golden Guard!
Darius smiled. "If you say so... Well, let's go!"
It was a relatively short trip to the Owl House, even faster now that Hunter had Waffles to fly on and could use his flashstep. While it didn't work for distances as long as Darius' abomination teleportation, Hunter was still not used to the feeling, and Darius had no objection to flying, which worked fine for both.
After barely more than a few minutes, Darius' prediction had turned true. The night air was turning cooler with every second that went by, turning stong enough there was no way Hunter's so-called sweater could offer any protection against it. They were almost at their destination, fortunately, so hopefully it would mean Hunter was not as exposed to the air as he could be, at least not for long.
"Hunter, are you sure you don't want me to teleport you a good sweater? If you can't remember where one is we're still close enough for me to find one with an abomination."
"Nope, I'm very much fine!", Hunter replied with a playful shrug.
And another.
That was definitely turning into more of a grimace than a shrug.
And then...
Hunter had sneezed so hard Waffles was visibly upset in her staff form. How it was possible for a wooden staff to look surprised, it was a mystery to Darius. By some miracle, the boy hadn't fallen off his palisman with the sheer impact of the movement.
A few seconds later, he sneezed again.
This time, the motion made him sway slightly, making Darius have to push him a little to the side so he wouldn't loose his course.
And again.
Darius used an abomination to drag him behind his own staff while Hunter searched his pockets for any spare paper he could use as a tissue.
"Looking for one of these?" Darius asked, reaching for his own pocket and pulling out a lavender-colored paper tissue. Hunter took it, visibly embarrassed, and did his best to clean his nose without letting go of Waffles.
"...thanks."
Darius chuckled lightly. "Hold on to your staff, I'm going to call off the abomination so none of us crashes as we land!"
The landing was, in fact, mostly smooth, now that Hunter was in control of his own palisman and flight trajectory, except for the few seconds after he sneezed tremendously again. Eda was already waiting at door, muttering to King something along the lines of Raine will teach you all the boring politics of power if you stay, and Luz hurried outside excitedly, eagerly pulling Hunter into a hug.
"Careful there, you do not want to catch whatever he caught too," Darius called out from a few steps behind. " Sorry about the delay, Hunter wouldn't wear a sweater. Then, he sneezed once on the way here and hasn't stopped since."
"That explains your red nose," Luz commented, much to Hunter's annoyance. "You look like one of the kittens Mamá saw at the clinic the other day. Same sickly look, same droopy ears, even the same weird shrug."
"A cat," Hunter said flatly.
"He does look like a cat," Eda joined. "I just managed to convince King to stay, he might be a Titan and all but I don't want him near all that in the Market for a while, so, are we leaving?"
Just as he was about to speak, Hunter interrupted himself and grimaced again.
A few seconds had gone by, and he wasn't stopping.
"Hunter, I already saw you sneeze enough on the way here. There's frankly no use in hiding it."
He shook his head, but let go a moment after, the sneeze visibly gone already, but not without some... leftover dripping.
"See? It's gone."
"Mhm. Come here, let me clean that if you're sure enough you're not going to."
Hunter stepped closer, mildly reluctantly.
"Come on, someone could stick a fairy on your face if you go to the Market like that! Plus, Mamá only let me come if I was back at the Owl House before sunrise, I would have to wait until next weekend to go and at this pace we're going to be leaving by that time!"
"You heard her, blondie. I don't want to have to convince Camila I have a sense of time again. Hard enough one time."
"...Fine"
As soon as Darius touched his face, he realized.
"What happened to your phenomenal immune system? No debilitating fevers since before when?"
"I said debilitating? Please, let's just go!" Hunter pleaded with an awkward smile.
"I'm worried the night air will in fact make you get worse."
"But Luz has to be back early! Can we just... skip this?"
"Little Prince, I don't know how else to keep you warm if not inside. If it's the mold, night air will make it worse."
"Maybe I can wear a sweater?"
"Can you repeat that?"
Eda and Luz were snickering behind Darius' back.
Hunter sighed with defeat. "Luz, can I borrow one of your sweaters? Or a jacket, or something?"
Darius grinned.