Chapter 14
This was going to be fine. Nothing was wrong. Really nothing was. There had to be a reasonable explanation for this. Luz tried to think. She knew the expression Hunter was wearing right before he ran. It was the one he wore when he was trying to judge if he could reach Luz before she did something stupid ( he usually could, he was ridiculously fast.)
Just because he wore the expression before trying to stop her from doing something stupid didn't mean he was going to do something stupid. Luz turned. Her friends were staring at her. She laughed awkwardly, "this has never happened before." she promised in a strained tone.
This was not good at all. She had convinced them to give him a chance but they couldn't if he wasn't there. Ok, she just had to go find him Figure out what was bothering him, and then get that thing to stop bothering him. She could do that; she just had to neutralize the situation here. "What happened?" Gus asked
She laughed awkwardly again "I don't know exactly what happened. I said that has never happened before but he probably just got nervous around kids his own age"
"We aren't his age," Amity said icily.
"We're pretty close. He doesn't hang out with teenagers like teenagers" Everyone stared at her. That hadn't made much sense.
“Sometimes he hangs out around people not too far from his age, graduates who have already joined covens but he never talks to them like they’re teens like him. He talks to them in his capacity as a"-
She cut herself off before she finished. She did not need to remind them of his job.
"He talks to them as the golden guard" Amity sneered. Luz winced she was failing spectacularly.
"Well Yes, but the important thing is he's not used to normal hum- normal witch or demon interaction."
"He has no social skills so that's probably why he freaked out" Luz concluded with a shrug
Luz mentally apologized to Hunter for throwing him under the bus. It was a bit bad now for an entire awesome future he wouldn't thank her later but he'd be happy later and that was more important.
"Why did he run now instead of earlier if that's the case?" Willow inquired although that question was getting her further from her aim Luz smiled. Willow was always asking the important questions.
"I'm not quite sure but I'm going to go find out. She started towards the door and Amity followed.
She turned. “I have to talk to him alone. He won't say a word if anyone else is there.'
"You don't know that" Amity pouted the slightest bit. Luz smiled
"I do actually if someone he doesn't trust questions him he doesn't answer. I know from experience."
She didn't need to tell them that the aforementioned experience was super outdated. It probably still held true.
Even if it didn't it would get Amity to give her some space. She frowned at that. She hoped she could get this sorted soon she didn't want to want any space from Amity.
"Give me a couple of minutes." She smiled at her friends "Everything is going to be fine" They smiled back. Willow encouragingly Gus with some strain and Amity gorgeously.
Luz walked out the door.
She followed a hunch and knocked at the bathroom door. "Hunter, may I come in"?
"No."
Luz frowned; this wasn't like him. He thought someone should have full control in their territory, so this was weird.
" I need to talk to you."
"We can talk to through the door" he stated stubbornly.
"Yes, but I need to know why you ran out like that and if I can't see you I won't know if you're making up an excuse or telling the truth."
He sighed loudly. Luz resisted the urge to grin when she saw the doorknob wobble open. It took too long to open. On a hunch, she edged open the door and slipped in.
Hunter was sitting with his back against the door. He hadn't even gotten up to open it.
Luz plopped down next to him and reached up to lock the door the same way he unlocked it. Once that was done( she took longer than he had) she glanced at him.
He was smirking slightly but trying not to. "You have no room to judge me. We did the same thing but I did it in good faith."
The smirk dropped "Sorry" he muttered.
"It's okay" She smiled at him. Do you want to talk to me about what happened?
"Nope" Luz frowned slightly he was never this cagey about things that weren't affairs of the state.
"Is it about an affair of the state?"
"Nope"
Well, there was that "You don't want to talk about it but will you talk about it?"
"Yep" he was giving way too many answers that were monosyllabic in a row she was getting a tiny bit worried but she didn't need to be worried. She needed to act.
"So I have a middle ground I'll guess and you see if I'm close or not.: He relaxed his shoulders a bit. "You'll have a set number of guesses" he declared she snorted she wasn't agreeing to that.
"If I get to a point where you genuinely think I'll never guess I'll stop and we'll talk it out without specifics." "Deal" he nodded.
She shot off a hext to her friends and a trio of hearts to Amity detailing the deal. Hunter's eyes narrowed "What was that"? "I told them I was going to try and guess and they didn't need to worry if it was a couple of minutes"
He looked about to protest but he paused seemed to come to a decision and settled back "Guess your first guess"
"Well did you run because you were nervous" Hunter scoffed suspiciously loudly.
" I spend time around the most exalted people in the boiling isles I'm the golden guard and the leader of the emperor's coven I wouldn't be scared around a couple of teenagers."
His voice broke on the last word like he had lost his confidence at the last word Luz didn't laugh
That was a heavy denial but was it true?
"It's okay if you are-"
"I'm not nervous to meet them" Hunter snapped, then his voice softened, "Really I'm not lying."
She looked at him. She wasn't quite as good at reading him as he was at reading her but she was fairly sure he was being honest.
"I believe you but if I figure out you were lying I'm going to be annoyed." She tried to think of other things it could be. Why would he run if not nerves?
A horrible idea hit her did you for some reason decide you didn't want to meet them?
"No," Hunter said quickly Luz tried to stop the expression that had to have been on her face after the thought.
I mean I'm not too happy that it's Blight and the Illusions kid but I've accepted it. I'm going to have to try and get along with them.
What else could it be? Bee! Maybe it was Clover she was very huge.
"Clover doesn't sting if that's "
Hunter snorted "I'm not scared of Clover. She's a paliman, not a regular bee anyway I've gotten worse even if she was a real bee. Why would I be scared of her"
Hunter cringed when I said be I meant the b-e be not the b-e-e bee
Luz ignored the worse comment. She knew Hunter hated it when he made an accidental pun. She needed a quick distraction.
"You'd be surprised how many people are scared of her. This one time-"
"No one time remember?"
Oops, she'd forgotten Hunter hated it when she explained things that happened like that he thought any sentence that began with something like that one time usually ended up being a story with spectacle, and any story with spectacle usually ended up being somewhat illegal even if only by the boiling isle's very strict illegality rules.
"Sorry," Luz said in her most apologetic tone
"It's okay I don't want to have to arrest you"
Instead of rolling her eyes Luz just smiled he was always saying things like that but he had stopped her from getting arrested countless times.
His expression brightened he bolted up "None of your guesses were close I'm a bit calmer. We can leave!"
"Wait!" Even if he was calmer he still needed to talk whatever it was out. "I want another guess to get close."
He looked smug like he already won he sat back down. "Go"
Okay, she needs to focus and figure out what it was and what were the context clues. It wasn't about Clover and it wasn't nerves to meet them all. So what could it be? Willow's voice drifted into her head maybe it did have something to do with Willow? Did he recognize her name or something? Could they have met when they were way younger?
"Did you meet Willow before somewhere when you were younger?"?
His shoulder tensed for a second then relaxed he looked her in the eye and stated "I never met Willow anywhere on the boiling isles before." He tried to stand up
"Now let's go!"
Luz grabbed his sleeve and pulled him back down he said that wasn't in a normal way he said it in the way he did where he could say it because it was true but it was barely true.
"It does have to do with Willow though. Right?"
It was a long shot. She kept very still until he moved.
He nodded his head the most minuscule nod like he thought he could get away with it without her seeing if he just nodded small enough.
"Okay so Willow is involved," Luz thought out loud. He had to know that he was caught.
"How close am I"?
He kept his mouth tightly shut. She was probably pretty close. "You meet her nowhere on the boiling isles. Did you meet her somewhere off the boiling isles?"
"No, now let's go" he squeaked
"You aren't going anywhere."
A sudden thought occurred to her. He had a scroll. He met her nowhere on the boiling isles.
Did you meet her online? He froze. Well, she figured it out now she had to talk him down.
"Okay, so that's the thing." "I'm gonna ask you to nod occasionally to see if you're following. She tried to think of her first question and added. Also occasionally you're going to have to say words.
"Okay how long have you been-" she cut herself off. He was very against saying he was friends with her since she was a giant Belos antifan. If he just learned Willow was anti-Belos he'd say he wasn't friends with her even if he was. "How long have you known Willow?"
"Two years."
"Two years"?! Luz squeaked. He gave her a look.
"You know we never talk about- things"
Luz considered "That's fair"
" Okay, why did you run?"
"What do you mean"?
"Why did you I don't know go up to her and hug her"?
She turned and spotted his expression of abject horror
"Okayyyy so no hugs."
She tried to think of something to say. Then she thought of it.
"How didn't you recognize her immediately"?
"We never exchanged photos." Luz winced as little as possible and made a mental note to tell him not to say anything like that again (the list was too long.)
"Then how did you recognize her"
"When you said her name all of the clues clicked."
"Okay." Something occurred to her "Wait what do you mean all the clues clicked?
"Her plant knowledge and entire vibe aligned with her user name when you said her name it all made sense."
"What do you mean username?"
He groaned and put his face on his knees he mumbled "I thought hello Willow was just a cutesy plant pun I didn't realize Willow was her real name."
Luckily she didn't laugh instead she just thought of the stupidest thing "If you never knew her name what did you call her the last two years"?
"Uggg" she looked over at him. His face was pushed firmly into his knees. He mumbled again this time it sounded more like a real-world "cap-mumpf"
"what? I think I caught the first part but I missed the second." He bolted up suddenly "Captain" he spat "I called her captain" His face was incredibly red.
She tore her eyes away. It's rude to stare. "Why" Was it his weird authority thing?
He looked at her oddly "She wants to be a Flyer Derby Captain it's only a matter of time. I didn't know her name" he turned red again "So I decided to call her Captain"
"So why did you run away from her instead of to her"?
He stared at her like she was completely ridiculous. She was clearly missing something. Hopefully, he'd tell her. If he wouldn't… well she'd cross that bridge if she came to it.
"Okay, explain the situation. Why did you choose to run away"
He scoffed again "It was hardly a choice at all"
She stared at him for a moment. After she realized no more info was forthcoming she questioned "Why is it hardly a choice at all"?
He deflated at that. Almost a scary amount he put his face in his knees again and mumbled some more.
" I don't understand what you're saying." Luz prompted calmly
"I just had to okay" Hunter snapped
Luz stared and he elaborated "
"We know each other online we've never met in real life".
"I figured" Luz drawled attempting glibness.
This time he hardly seemed to notice. He didn't even glare. He barreled on. "people are never as good in real life as they seem through text.
Luz was so confused what was he saying about Willow? Was he saying he thought she'd be different in person was there something about her he perceived as bad? She clenched her fists and reminded herself that his upbringing was not his fault whatever it was she wouldn’t let it ruin her friend's friendship
"Tell me what you mean by that."
"She won't like me in real life" his words were half shouted. They were packed with so much emotion they would have blown her back a step if she wasn't sitting against the door. The addition of so much more emotion than she was used to into Hunter's voice meant it took her a second to realize the meaning of what he just said.
Hunter was proud.
Hunter was fairly confident (for a teen).
Hunter had no major appearance defects (there was no way she was going to try and dig into the can of worms of objective attractiveness that was gross.)
Hunter thought the fact he was the golden guard was something to be proud of.
Hunter was loyal, tough, and not super vulnerable most of the time.
Hunter was scared to meet Willow because he thought she wouldn't like him.
Luz tried for a manual reset. "Hunter" she coaxed attempting steadiness. "Why do think Willow wouldn't like you in person?"
"Over text if I need to I can sensor what I say" he held up a finger with his first reason. So they were doing that. "I can plan in advance. My expressions don't show. I can read over texts and delete stupid things. I can better categorize things she likes and doesn't like.
You can't have a verbal record unless you want to invade someone's privacy and I don't want to invade her privacy.
Five fingers and he was still going. "Over text, there is no perceived acceptable limit so I can take time if I need it. Over text, I can imagine the best outcome for every message unless she states differently.
I can convey things through wording that I couldn't in real life. Over text, I can stretch out all the smart things I know instead of exhausting them all at once. Like you say I 'info dump.'"
He put it in finger quotes but since he was doing something similar now she declined to comment. 8 fingers
Over text, she can't see ridiculous gestures when I'm trying to convey things over text. In real life, she is going to lose interest in talking to me because I'll be available, and therefore by the rules of supply and demand, I am not as valuable.
She was never going to know that I know so much because of my uncle and not because I'm as smart as her. She'll see I'm not as smart."
He went to put up another finger but all of them were already up he looked at his hands distraught, threw them up, and groaned. He settled his face in his hands
This was bad but the most fixable it had been.
"So you think Willow won't like you when she meets you"?
" I know she won't" Then he went red. Luz decided to pretend she didn't catch his definite statement. He didn't love making those.
"Well, I know that you know her pretty well but I've known her longer" She didn't want to play that card but she'd do it for his peace of mind.
Hunter's expression was asking 'So what'?
Luz continued "Hunter I don't think any of the things you talked about are going to matter to her she isn't going to judge you for being socially awkward. You don't always need to say the right thing to her. "
"She won't care if you say stupid things sometimes and she's patient so you can take some time to think about what you're going to say occasionally"
"She isn't the type of person who would want you to just say stuff she likes, she won't mind if you don't know as much as you think you need to know. I mean you already know more than most of the boiling isles."
"She won't get bored of you she's been friends with us for like 7 years and you won't need to imagine the best outcome because it'll probably happen."
Luz bumped his shoulder. "You're kinda great hunter. She'll like you."
He still looked nervous. Luz decided. "You don't have to tell her but I hope you will. She'll be happy she finally gets to meet you. Now let's head back down they're probably waiting for us."
Hunter was still tense then he blinked then relaxed. "Okay," he squeaked slightly. He jumped up and turned to the door.
Luz blinked. She had missed something, hadn't she?
"Sit back down" Luz stated in her best imitation of a mix between a Camila and Eda mom voice.
Hunter sighed resigned and sat back down. "You were nervous a moment ago why are you so eager now? "
"Your great speech convinced me," Hunter said unconvincingly.
"I wish that was the case but I'm not dumb enough to believe that. "
Hunter rolled his eyes "I know you're not dumb enough to believe that I thought you were optimistic enough to believe that."
Luz considered pointing out that he considered overly optimistic the equivalent of dumb but she decided not to fight him on it. He was very stubborn about not calling her dumb.
"Okay, what is it?" He looked away. "Look at me."
He kept looking away. She rolled her eyes. What could it be why would he be so eager to go back down now had she missed something?
What would he consider something he really didn't want her to figure out? Was there another reason why he ran? Probably not what else could be worse than figuring out he was friends with Willow?
Well, probably a lot that wasn't that bad but something that he'd never let her know.
It hit her all at once. It couldn't be! But it could. She had on occasion wondered if he was aro other times she thought he was just good at hiding things.
"Hunter, do you have a crush on Willow?"
He spun toward her so fast she almost got whiplash. " what- I- its-" he slumped then seeming to have given up. "Don't say it so loud he muttered."
He was so red. Luz clamped a hand over her mouth to smother a squeal. She bounced slightly.
"Hunter that's great" she whispered "You'll be so sweet together" One of her favorite people liked one of her other favorite people.
He rolled his eyes but it looked forced. "Just because I like her doesn't mean she likes me. I'll get rid of the crush any day now."
She decided to gloss over how disturbing it was that he considered a crush something to get rid of.
Something about that statement was rather messed up but she ignored it. She was pretty sure she knew where this was going. "How long have you had a crush on her." He mumbled something.
She gave him a look. After a moment he answers "One year 9 months give or take two months."
Luz imagined helping Hunter set up for his and Willow's first date. It would be a cute picnic in the wilderness followed by a palisman flight. She'd recruit Clover and Flapjack to help make it as romantic as possible.
"Wipe that look off your face." Luz snapped out of it. "Cap- Willow only likes me as a friend if even that much."
"But-"
"She only likes me as a friend. That's all."
Luz slumped "Okay." Luz brightened maybe he had missed signals he was oblivious. "Are you sure? How do you know? "
Hunter snorted "It's obvious" Luz gave him her most uncomprehending stare.
He grinned brightly. "She's calm and brave if she liked me like that she would have made her feelings clear a long time ago."
Luz blinked. That was a very good point. Willow was awesome and fearless. She was the type to make her feelings known. Luz's heart sank.
Then she brightened. Luz knew for a fact Willow didn't have plans to ask anyone out now and Hunter was awesome. If Willow spent enough time with Hunter (as long as Hunter didn't say too many things pro-emperor) Willow would probably grow to like Hunter.
Hunter was sweet smart and loyal. So was Willow. If they were already friends maybe Hunter could become more than that to her if she saw him in action.
Luz grinned it wasn't a guarantee but when he was in guard mode (which he probably would be in with Eda around) he actually looked kind of cool. This could work.
"Don't give up hope. If you like her then things might work out". Luz hoped they would. Both Willow and Hunter were awesome. Hunter clearly thought the world of Willow and that would be great in the moments Willow thought less of herself.
Hunter had issues with believing the wrong things and being over the top and Willow might be able to calm that energy in a way Luz could never manage to.
Something occurred to Luz. "How did you get a crush on her"? It had always sounded like he had avoided his feelings.
He smiled a slightly soft smile. Luz was lowkey shocked at that expression. "How could I not? She's so smart. She knows so much about multiple covens I don't know how since she made it clear she wasn't multi-coven."
"She sort of hoped that learning about other types of magic could connect to her own and make it stronger," Luz explained.
Willow had hoped that researching other types of magic would help her be less bad with abominations when it didn't work she still kept studying.
"I read something on where different coven's magic intersect. It's just like her to do something smart like that!" Hunter beamed
"She's confident and has clear goals. If she wanted to she could probably become plant coven head someday. Before now I was almost hoping she would because then we could meet."
He looked like he was pondering something. "It's probably good I met her like this instead of like that. There are too many backstabbings among the coven heads."
Luz decided not to be alarmed it was probably just an expression. She frowned there had been far too many times in this conversation she had to try not to be alarmed.
"She stands up for righteous causes. That's how we met. She was chewing someone out online."
Then he groaned "And now I know on top of all of those awesome things she's also a loyal friend and-" he groaned "she's also pretty."
"She's also pretty Luz" he grabbed he shoulders and shook her "Why is she so many awesome things at this rate I'm never going to get rid of this crush."
"She keeps getting more awesome as time goes on it's hopeless." He crossed his arms
"That settles it. I'm not leaving this room"
Luz tried not to laugh he was smitten. It was kind of amazing.
She didn't like to trick him but it was necessary at the moment. She really needed to convince him to leave this room. "Maybe" she drew the word out "exposure to her will work."
"What" he scoffed but he looked intrigued.
"Maybe if you're around her enough she'll lose a bit of her mystique and you be able to be more normal around her."
She nudged him, "Maybe you can tell her you
like her then"
He moved away. "That's not happening" he scoffed but then he smiled at her "But thanks anyway."
He stood and offered a hand to her "I'm ready to head down."
She grinned and grabbed his hand "Let's go hang with my friends."
Hunter gulped but steadied himself he breathed in and out and then settled into his serious face she winced slightly but he needed it right now so she let it slide.
"Let's go."
Luz decided this was good news. He already liked one of her friends so he could become friends with the others. She had this in the bag. As long as nothing went too wrong they'd be good.