Chapter Text
“Weeeeh!” King cried as he woke up. He looked around wildly for Luz, only to remember that she was back in the Human Realm because it was a school night. When he looked outside, it was still the middle of the night. He probably hadn’t been sleeping all that long at all.
That dream… It was a brand-new nightmare. It wasn’t as bad as the nightmares he’d had in the first month and a half of being with the Collector, when he’d still been constantly afraid for his life. Those still happened, but they were a lot less common now. They were still scary when they were happening, but once he woke up and actually remembered that the Collector didn’t actually want to hurt him, he felt better about it.
Thankfully, this one wasn’t about Titan Trapper Island, either – he hated those because he knew those fears were rational, that there really was a creepy cult out there that wanted to rip his face off and make a costume out of him. There’d been a particularly bad one of those within the week of Luz saving the isles, where he’d had to watch Bill parade his skull around while he somehow remained alive even without most of his head.
No, this one wasn’t about him dying. There wasn’t even anything trying to hurt him in this latest nightmare. Nothing had actually even happened, really. He’d just been sitting still in what he’d initially assumed was the shallows of the boiling sea, until he’d noticed that he was sitting next to a skeleton. That he was sitting next to the Boiling Isles. He’d been so big that he could’ve swept away his entire world just by wagging his tail, and he’d been sitting as still as possible, trying to spot Luz and Eda. But they were too small – he couldn’t see them, or hear them, couldn’t do anything but sit still and hope he didn’t hurt anyone. He’d started crying because he knew he’d never see them again, even if they were still there, and his tears had fallen on the Isles – washing away forests, houses, towns…
… He didn’t think he’d be able to get back to sleep alone after that. He didn’t really think that could actually happen, not really, at least not anytime soon, but… he needed Luz. It took roughly ten seconds for him to form a plan that was probably really dumb, but he had never actually let that stop him before, so why would he let that stop him now?
With the new portal door being in the front door of the Owl House, it wasn’t exactly difficult to sneak his way into the Human Realm. He’d been to Luz’s house several times now – if Luz wasn’t spending her weekend in the Isles, King was usually spending his there – and it was really close, so it only took him a minute or two to reach Luz’s yard. He went on all fours to pretend to be a dog wearing a Halloween costume, though there wasn’t exactly anyone around to see him anyway. Once there, he found that the door was locked, and he’d forgotten the house key Camila had given him. That wasn’t actually going to stop him, though. He was a very good climber, so all he had to do was climb up the side of the house, hope his claws didn’t do too much damage to the wall, go in through Luz’s window.
He could see Vee’s tail poking out over the top bunk – he had no idea why the basilisk had decided she wanted the top bunk, but, well, that was fine by him. The ladder was way more slippery than the walls outside and the rungs were too far apart for him, so he was perfectly happy just scrambling into the bottom bunk to curl up and go to sleep.
It was a lot easier to get to sleep with Luz there.
When Luz woke up on Monday morning, she was surprised to find a warm weight on top of her stomach. A few moments of blearily blinking the sleep out of her eyes later, she realized that it was actually King. Well, that was a problem. Luz was pretty sure that King followed cat rules. If he decides you’re a good place to sleep, you don’t get up. On the other hand, though, as appealing as lying in bed with her baby brother all day was, she really had to get ready for school. And she wasn’t actually sure why he was here, either.
After debating it for a few minutes, Luz decided to try and shake King awake. It didn’t take long before he was blinking sleep out of his eyes, too.
“Hey, sleepyhead,” Luz said, sitting up and giving her baby brother a quick scratch on the chin (which he was very appreciative of). “What brings you here?”
“Bad dream,” King admitted, as he crawled into Luz’s lap.
“… Do you want to talk about it?” Luz asked.
“I dunno,” King said. “It’s kind of silly.”
“If it’s something you’re scared of, it’s not silly, buddy,” Luz gave King a hug. “I have nightmares too, you know.”
“You do?” King sounded surprised.
… With as smart and mature as King was in a lot of ways, it was easy to forget just how young he really was.
“Yeah. It’s easier when you’re there, but…” Luz thought a bit about which ones to share with him. “Sometimes I dream that I never went through the door in the first place, that I just went to Reality Check summer camp instead, and only find out about the Demon Realm after Belos shows up.” She left out how Belos managed that in those dreams, King did not need that image. “Other times, your dad isn’t able to send me back, and I just have to watch and wait and try to stop you from going under when… you know. And then – then there’s the times where I can’t save you, or Eda, or anyone, or when I mess up on one of our adventures and we… don’t make it.”
“… That’s way worse than mine,” King said. “I just… dreamed that I got bigger, and I accidentally broke a bunch of stuff, and I couldn’t see you and Eda because you were too small, and… sometimes I don’t want to be a titan,” Tears were welling up in King’s eyes. “I don’t want to be alone.”
Luz hugged King close. “King, that’s not silly at all. Growing up is scary even when you know what to expect. But, remember when I had your dad’s powers for a bit?”
King nodded.
“I felt like I could do anything. Once you’ve got your own powers, I bet I can figure out a spell you can use to turn yourself smaller. There’s gotta be a way, how else would titans take care of their kids?” Luz thought for a moment. “… Or we could try and convince Tibbles to teach us how to brew a shrinking potion.”
King brightened up. “Oh yeah, I forgot about that! Ooh, are we going to break into his house to find the recipe? Sneak into his mindscape to learn how he did it? Or-”
“Settle down, buddy,” Luz said. “I was going to ask nicely first and offer him some snails if he refuses.”
“… Can we do my idea if he tries to scam us?” King asked hopefully.
“Oh, definitely,” Luz said.
“Thanks, Luz,” King said. “… I guess I was worried about nothing.”
“Hey, what are big sisters for?” Luz asked. “Nightmares, fears, they don’t always make sense. Whenever you need help getting through one, I’ll be here for you, okay?” Luz rubbed King’s head.
“As long as you let me be there for you, too,” King said.
“Always,” Luz agreed. “But now I’ve gotta get to school, buddy.”
“Okay. And, uh, can you maybe text Eda to let her know I’ll be here today?” King asked sheepishly. “I maybe, sort of… kind of snuck out last night and I don’t want her to worry.”
“Oh, I can imagine her reaction now…” Luz said. She began imitating Eda’s voice. “King, how could you? My own little boy, sneaking out in the middle of the night? Get in here!” Luz snatched King up in a hug. “Aw, you’re a chip off the old block! I’m so proud! Did you get any loot?”
King laughed as Luz set him down.
“I’ll see you this afternoon, buddy,” Luz said, as she left the room. “Bye!”
King waved, and curled up to settle down for the moment.