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Luz didn’t seem to understand why Hunter was panicking. Which was fair enough, Hunter supposed. He didn’t get why she wasn’t .
Also, Luz seemed pretty out of it in general, on account of a (by Hunter’s admittedly inexpert reckoning) pretty blazing fever. Which was the problem Hunter was panicking about in the first place.
Because first of all; Luz was a human, and humans were an unfortunate blind spot in his studies, so he had no idea what she needed. If it weren’t for her clear discomfort and disorientation, Hunter wouldn’t even be able to say with certainty that her overheated state was a bad sign at all. And even if he’d known for certain what would help alleviate Luz’s symptoms, he hadn’t even been in the Owl House for a week at this point. He had no idea where to look for supplies, or information for that matter.
All of which led directly to the second problem; Hunter was going to have to ask Eda for help. And Eda, for all she’d been remarkably merciful and tolerant of his presence thus far, was still Luz’s… Coven Head? Commander? Regardless, she was in charge of the ailing human, and in all his time in the Emperor’s Coven, Hunter had never received a particularly… Supportive response to reporting an illness.
Sure, Hunter bargained with himself, nervously pacing as Luz feverishly dozed in her bed; the lower ranked scouts were permitted time off to recover. More was expected of the Coven Heads, of course, but even they were afforded the respect of a few undisturbed recovery days here and there.
But Luz wasn’t really a low-level scout, or a Coven head for that matter, to Eda. She was more like… Well, more like Hunter.
Thus leading back to the source of his initial reservations; Hunter had never received a supportive response to requesting a sick day. The last time he’d tried had been quite painful, in fact.
Hunter paused his pacing long enough to stop Luz from drooping off the side of the bed, propping her back up against her pillows. She mumbled some vague apology, and Hunter took a step back, fidgeting nervously. There was nothing for it, Luz needed help and Hunter was useless in this regard. He’d have to inform Eda and just hope her inexplicable mercy extended to this as well.
Steeling his resolve, Hunter quietly asked Flapjack to keep an eye on Luz, and cautiously tread upstairs. Worst case scenario, he’d take the blame. Say he kept Luz up all night, or brought her out in the cold snap the other day, or poisoned her… Okay, maybe not that last one. Just, get Eda’s attention off Luz long enough for any anger/disappointment to dissipate, and hope that worked. Hunter’d had to bear too many punishments when already miserable to let that happen to Luz too.
After all, if it weren’t for her, Hunter never would have known what Belos--
He winced as his mind skittered away from that corner. Fortunately, an opportune distraction arose in the form of his imminent arrival at the Owl Lady’s bedroom door. Despite her name, she did endeavor to remain diurnal, if only because that’s when everyone else largely decided things should happen. Still, that just made her even more discontent when disturbed at night, as Luz had informed him, rolling her eyes fondly. Hunter couldn’t help but marvel at her nonchalance in the face of whatever punishment she’d surely received in payment for that particular lesson. Hunter still got jittery whenever his thoughts strayed too close to failed missions and hard-bought lessons.
Drawing up in front of the door, Hunter hesitated, eyes lingering on some roughly sanded-over, yet unmistakable, claw marks in the nearby wall. But the memory of Luz’s unhappy, feverish mumbling spurred him onwards; it was for Luz. And he owed her far, far too much at this point to give in to cowardice.
The door creaked more than Hunter would’ve liked as it opened, but Eda merely snored slightly and rolled over in her nest. Gulping down rising dread, Hunter crept forward, stopping just outside of immediate slashing range (for all the good it’d do him; he’d seen the Owl Lady in action, and it’s not like he could afford to risk fighting back) before clearing his throat.
“E-Eda? Ms. Owl Lady?”
Hunter jumped as Eda shot upright, but scrambled back into what he hoped to be an appropriately deferential kneel when he realized she hadn’t actually seen him yet, eyes wide and dark in the dim starlight pouring through the window. Those huge eyes slowly swiveled towards him, and Hunter couldn’t quite repress a shiver.
Then Eda blinked, twice, irises becoming clearer with each one. Her jaw practically unhinged in a wide, gaping yawn as she stretched her arms behind her.
“Ugh, this better be good, kid.” She finally grumbled, before taking in Hunter’s poorly-suppressed nerves and softening slightly. “Hey, it may be late but I won’t actually bite. What’s up?”
Hunter couldn’t find his voice at first, but when Eda eventually prompted him further with a raised eyebrow, he managed to stammer out; “I-It’s Luz--but it’s not her fault, I swear--!”
At that, Eda moaned, running a hand down her face. “Oh, great. What is it this time?”
Not a promising start, Hunter noticed with growing dread. But he’d come this far.
“No no, really, it was probably my fault, actually, I-I mean--” He lost his train of thought as Eda’s gaze turned skeptical, panic rising slightly. “It-it wasn’t, she didn’t mean to, I’m sure, and--”
“Okay, spit it out kid, whatever it is, we’ll deal with it.”
Hunter took a shuddering breath. Here goes. “Luz is sick, she has a fever, a-and I don’t know what to do.”
He braced himself for the inevitable reprisal, eyes fixed on the base of the Owl Lady’s nest, flinching slightly when she finally responded; “Oh.”
“O-oh?” Hunter chanced a glance up and found Eda to be… Confused. Not angry. Not upset. Not even disappointed. Huh.
“Yeah, oh.” Eda laughed slightly. “It’s just, the way you were winding me up, I thought whatever it was actually was her fault. Like, she’d gotten into something I told her a thousand times not to. Or ate one of Amity’s very sweet but not human safe tokens of affection. Got wrangled up in some scheme with King? That’s what it usually is.”
“Oh.” Hunter echoed again, panic giving way to confusion of his own.
When Hunter didn’t say anything further, Eda gave him a difficult to decipher look, then stood up, ruffling his hair as she passed. “Welp, nothing that hasn’t cropped up before. Lucky you, I’ve got the human illness procedure down pat by now. C’mon, she’s holed up in her room, right?”
Hunter wordlessly followed her, bemused, as Eda led the way back to Luz’s room. He hovered silently by the doorway as Eda knelt next to Luz’s bed, gently shaking her awake and speaking softly as she took stock of her charge’s symptoms. Hunter’s heartrate momentarily spiked again as Luz got teary, but Eda just pulled the human in for a hug, shushing and comforting her like… Well, like a mom.
Not like a Coven Head, certainly not like any commander Hunter had ever known.
Nothing like Belos.
Oh .
Luz was less like him than he thought.
Or maybe it was more that Eda was less like Belos than he’d feared.
That realization brought up some feelings that Hunter really didn’t have the energy to process at the moment, so he was very grateful when Eda gave him a task, even if it was just going down to the kitchen to start the cauldron boiling and bring up some damp rags. Nothing distracted him quite as well as chores.
Luz had dozed off again by the time Hunter had accomplished his tasks and practically sprinted back upstairs. Eda, perched at the sick human’s bedside, glanced up with a grateful smile as she accepted the damp rags from Hunter. “You work quick kid. One note though.”
Hunter’s heartbeat spiked again. “Yes?”
“I know you were trying to be respectful, probably, but next time? Please, please don’t kneel to me. Even if you’re waking me up in the middle of the night. It makes me feel…” She made a face, laying one of the damp cloths across Luz’s forehead. “Eh… Icky?”
“Oh.” Hunter really needed to stop saying that word. “Uh, right. Of course, Ms. Eda. Owl Lady. Ma’am.”
“Eda will do.” She corrected gently. “Why don’t you get back to sleep, huh? Take the couch if it’s too noisy in here.”
“I-I don’t mind!” Hunter quickly scrambled over to his cot on the other end of the bedroom. Flapjack fluttered up from their perch on his pillow, then resettled as soon as Hunter lay down.
“That wasn’t an order, kid, just a suggestion.” Eda scrutinized him as Hunter mumbled an apology, then glanced down at Luz. Finding her thoroughly asleep (and snoring slightly) Eda turned to face Hunter properly. “Hunter, I’m gonna tell you something, and I want you to listen, and try your best to believe what I say. Can you do that?”
Hunter pushed himself up slightly, nodding. Eda hesitated for another moment regardless, before sighing and saying, “You know I’m not gonna hit you, right?”
Hunter blinked. “What?”
“I’m not gonna hit you. I’m not gonna shoot spells at you, or claw at you, or poison your food, or take your things, or do anything else to harm you or Luz.” Hunter shrunk down a bit under his blanket, equal parts confused and ashamed. Eda continued, “I can only imagine what Belos’s methods were like, and I know Luz likes to talk about me ‘freaking out’ when she does something stupid, but what she’s referring to is me complaining and yelling and generally making a spectacle of myself. I’ve never hurt her.”
“Now, I make no allowances for the Owl Beast,” She continued, leaning forward with a conspiratorial grin. Hunter knew she was probably just trying to make him more comfortable, but he couldn’t help it if it worked, just a bit. “But that’s a problem I have well in hand these days, and if you’re worried, I can fill you in on the procedure for if I lose control.”
At that, Hunter sat up fully, alarmed at the idea that he’d made Eda, who’d been nothing but kind and welcoming, feel anything close to shame. “Oh, no, I wouldn’t--I’m not scared of, I mean--the curse, that’s not what I--” Fortunately Eda’s expression seemed ruled by amusement as Hunter forced himself to stop stammering, taking a deep breath before trying again. “I apologize for any insult I may have unwittingly issued against your character or person. It was not my intention to convey anything but respect for you.”
Much to Hunter’s chagrin, though not his surprise, his phrasing seemed to bemuse Eda more than anything. “I know, Hunter. I also know the Emperor’s Coven has some pretty wacky ideas about what it means to convey respect. So that’s why I’m telling you that, around here at least, it doesn’t involve any bowing or kneeling or…” She made a vague hand motion. “Anything else of the like. Got it?”
“Got it.” Hunter offered a hesitant smile, and was rewarded with a fond huff and another ruffling of his hair. Disturbed from their perch by the motion, Flapjack twittered disgruntledly, then settled back at Hunter’s crown, glaring at Eda in admonition.
“Damn, the mouth on that palisman of yours, kid.” Eda chuckled, checking one last time that Luz was asleep before heading out the door. “Soup should be ready closer to dawn. I’d tell you to sleep in, but something tells me that’s a habit that’ll take some time to shake. You’re welcome to some soup when it’s ready.”
“Thank you, Eda. For… Um, for everything.” Hunter got out before he could rethink it. Again he was rewarded, with a surprised but fond glance over her shoulder.
“No need to thank me, kid. Really.”