Work Text:
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Amity jolted awake from her sleep. Huh. She must have dozed off while waiting for a certain someone. She threw off her covers and walked over to the glass doors of her balcony.
A girl with a round face and unruly curls was crouched low to the ground to avoid being seen. Any remaining sleepiness was gone as Amity cracked open one of the glass doors. She was met with warm, brown eyes and her heart skipped a beat. In a whisper, she teased, “Took you long enough, Noceda.”
The human rolled her eyes playfully and retorted, “Your family does not make it easy to trespass without getting caught. I had to use at least five invisibility glyphs on the way here.”
Alador and Odalia and their prejudices. When they found out Amity had befriended a human - the Owl Lady’s apprentice, no less - they’d gone into a furious tangent. Reiterating what it meant to be a Blight for the nth time, and hammering in how disappointed they were. At first Amity found ways to avoid their inside eyes at Hexside, and she and Luz cautiously continued like normal. It was exhilarating at first. She’d never directly disobeyed her parents before, and acting all sneaky with her favorite person made her heart flutter.
The secrecy didn’t last, though. It was when the Grom fiasco happened that her parents found out that she was actively going against them. They yelled, chastised, scolded; everything she’d long since grown numb to. Odalia hadn’t appreciated her reaction - or lack thereof - and forbade her from being friends with the human. Threatening to get her expelled from Hexside and the Owl Lady turned in. That was one of the worst nights of her life. She had spent the next few hours curled up in a heap on her bed, tears staining the cover of her pillows as she hugged herself and sobbed silently. But that didn’t dissuade Luz from trying to maintain their friendship.
After about three days of misery and ignoring Luz, the human witch had pulled her into a locker when no one was looking. Amity found herself in a towering room with dozens of doors, and Luz begged Amity to tell her what was wrong, that whatever was happening they could go through it together. After the young witch gave a tearful explanation, Luz gazed at her thoughtfully. Amity thought she looked cute like that, the seriousness on her face a stark contrast to her normally bubbly disposition. It was there that Luz had proposed they could meet secretly in the dead of night once everyone had gone to sleep. At first Amity was unsure of it. The Boiling Isles was infinitely more dangerous at night than it was in the day, but Luz reassured her that they would be all right. Eda knew a multitude of warding spells, and she was confident she could master their glyph patterns. Amity agreed. Between Luz’s determination and the puppy eyes she was giving her, Amity couldn’t refuse her.
They’d meet up in secret, nightly escapades that would sometimes last until the early hours of the morning. They provided not only an opportunity to hang out, but to escape from the pressures of the Blight Manor, Hexside, and the chaos of the Owl House. And it quickly became a routine.
Luz would tap on her window three times, and they’d sneak off into the forests surrounding Bonesborough. They had their regular spots, but Luz loved spontaneity and Amity loved Luz, so often they found themselves exploring the deep recesses of a cave or trekking through some long-overgrown part of the forest. Amity treasured every second of these outings.
Slipping into her boots, Amity padded back over the balcony, where Luz had made herself comfortable leaning against the balustrade. The human stood up as she slipped between the doors and immediately enveloped her in a hug. “I missed you,” she confessed softly, breath tickling the shell of Amity’s pointy ears as she rested her chin on her shoulder.
Amity felt her cheeks warm with a blush as she easily relaxed into the hug. “I missed you, too, Luz.”
They stayed like that for a minute. Only reluctantly letting each other go when Amity reminded Luz that they should go before the next round of Abomiton 2.0s began their patrol. Hand in hand, they jumped off the balcony, landing safely thanks to Luz’s slow falling glyph. It took significantly less time to sneak out than it took Luz to sneak in, and within minutes they were wandering under the sanctuary the forest canopy. They walked in silence for a while before Luz stole a glance at her lavender-haired friend. She let out a tuneless whistle, and asked, “Sooo... how’s life?”
Amity was unable to stifle her laughter at the ludicrous question.
Luz had a silly smile on her face, and she rolled her eyes. “We haven’t seen each other in two weeks! I was having ‘Amity withdrawals’,” she whined as she bumped shoulders with the other girl.
Amity bumped her back, and tittered, “Guess you just can’t get enough of me, huh?”
Luz leaned towards her and said teasingly, eyes filled with something Amity couldn’t quite name, “Nope. You’re just that irresistible.”
“Luz!” She laughed and playfully shoved the other girl’s shoulder, trying to ignore the way Luz’s words made her heart race. The human had grown strong in her time on the Isles, magically and physically. It showed in her glyphs and the way her shoulder flexed under Amity’s palm. And suddenly she was grateful that it was dark because she knew without a doubt that her cheeks were dusted a bright pink.
Luz giggled, making her hands into claws, and wiggling her fingers, a mischievous gleam in her eyes. Amity knew what was coming. “Luz,” she warned, but her giggles gave away her lack of seriousness, “you better not.”
A low, and almost downright evil chuckle was her only warning before Luz launched herself at her. Amity squealed and jumped out of the way. “No one gets away with pushing me around! C’mere you!” Luz cackled as she turned to chase after Amity.
It quickly turned into a game of cat and mouse, Amity ducking and weaving behind trees to avoid Luz’s deadly tickles. They raced through the forest, laughs and exclamations and retorts cutting through the night like stray wailing stars.
And then everything went silent. Amity froze from her spot behind a thorny bush, ears twitching as she tried to listen for Luz. The soft puffs of her breath and the heartbeat in her ears were the only thing she could hear. She suddenly grew worried. Luz, while capable and well-rounded in the magic of glyphs, was rather clumsy, so not hearing her anymore sent alarm bells ringing in Amity’s mind.
Suddenly, there was the sound of leaves crunching and a heavy exhale, and Amity could feel Luz’s presence behind her. “Ha! You thought!” She quipped as she sprinted around the bush. She couldn’t help but laugh as she heard Luz curse under her breath.
Spotting a clearing up ahead, she left the sanctuary of the forest and once again made herself at home under the light of the moon. A ginormous tree was growing smack dab in the middle of it, and she realized that this was where she and Luz had defeated Grom.
“You cannot escape me, Amity!” Luz called out from somewhere in the forest, sounding close.
Amity smiled, and with a chuckle jogged behind the Grom tree before Luz made her way out of the overgrown forest. Not a moment later, a crash and a dull thump rang out into the clearing.
“Ow.”
Amity peaked from behind the tree worriedly, “Are you okay, Luz?”
“Yep! Just tripped a bit.”
“Goofball,” Amity rolled her eyes fondly, and pulled herself back behind the tree.
Silence, not unlike earlier, befell the clearing. Amity’s muscles thrummed with anticipation, ready to jump out from behind the tree and scare her human friend. She waited for what felt like eternity but was only a few short minutes before she peaked out from behind the tree again. Luz was nowhere to be found, and the clearing was still except for the leaves and grass swaying with the breeze.
“...Huh.”
Her ears shot up as a twig snapped from behind her, and she whirled around. And suddenly the only thing Amity could see was Luz. Luz, who had somehow managed to creep up behind her, froze in her tracks as Amity stared up at her. Wide, brown eyes met gold, and suddenly they both became hyper aware of how close they were. Amity could feel Luz’s warmth from where she was standing, and her mind turned to mush.
Luz looked ethereal underneath the moonlight. It highlighted the scar on her eyebrow, her adorable button nose, her round, human ears, and her lips. Amity’s eyes flickered to them for a moment, and she knew Luz saw her. But the human was no better, eyes roaming her face in wide eyed wonder. Amity looked like the most beautiful girl in the world right now, and Luz's heart felt like it was going to leap out of her chest.
“You’re really pretty,” she confessed softly, earnestly.
Amity could feel Luz’s breath on her cheek, and a bright red blush spread from her face to her ears. This thing that she was feeling, had been feeling ever since she met Luz, swelled in her chest as they stood together. She knew what it was. She's always known, really. And knowing that Luz might share those same feelings made her feel like she was floating.
She blinked rapidly, wondering if this was all a dream. Luz smiled, tender and lovely and so, so beautiful, and suddenly Amity found herself leaning closer. And Luz followed; an inexplicable force pulling them together.
And then they were a breath apart, lips barely brushing. Eyes fluttered close, and then there was no space between them.
Luz couldn’t help her shaky exhale as she felt Amity cup the sides of her face, rubbing her thumb affectionately over the apples of her cheeks. She felt Amity smile into the kiss, and Luz felt herself smiling dopily back.
It was over in an instant, but it felt like they had shared something eternal.
Amity was the first to pull back, and Luz followed her movement, already missing the feeling of her lips. Amity stopped her, placing a gentle finger over the latter’s own, ears lowered bashfully and face red as a tomato. She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could get any words out Luz blurted, “I love you!”
Amity jumped, startled by Luz’s sudden revelation.
“And not in an I-love-my-best-friend way,” Luz clarified quickly, intertwining her hands with Amity’s, “I love you romantically. And I think I have for a while.”
“Oh,” Amity croaked. “Am I dreaming?”
Luz laughed and pulled Amity into her, hands still connected, “This feels a little too real to be a dream, Ams.”
Amity squeaked and buried her face in Luz’s shirt. The reality of what just happened finally started to sink in. She felt the human’s chest rumble with a chuckle and felt Luz’s hand rub gentle circles across her back; waiting patiently for Amity to recover. Luz began to hum, swaying them from side to side, and Amity – thank Titan – was finally able to control her blush.
She pulled her face away and took a deep breath, hyping herself up. Luz gazed at her, patient and lovely.
“I love you, too, Luz.” She cupped the other girl’s face in her hands and almost died of happiness when she felt her lean into her touch. “If it’s okay with you, I think I’d like to be something more than friends.”
A giddy smile spread across Luz’s face, and she turned her head to kiss each of Amity’s palms. It made the witch’s breath hitch; Luz thought it was the cutest thing. “I’d like that, a lot.” She said, heart full of affection.
They stayed under the Grom tree for the rest of the night, resting comfortably against each other as they talked about anything and everything. It was almost like nothing had changed. But it was the way Amity rested her head on Luz’s chest, the way Luz carded her fingers through the witch’s lavender hair, the way they looked at each other, with so much adoration, that made it certain everything had changed. And that was okay. Because they could get through anything, even something as nerve wracking as navigating their way through their new relationship, so long as they were together.