La Fin
Amity’s POV
Amity poured two glasses of lemonade before bringing them to the kitchen table where Luz was still practicing with the glyph launching crossbow they’d won from the heart of the red mountain not two hours prior.
“It’s just so cool that they introduced crossbows as an artificer’s tool, I’ve been seeing other players walking around with this but wanted to figure out where they got them without spoilers.” Luz’s tongue poked through her teeth as she clicked around the screen, “Oh, cool! If you kill someone with a bolt combined with the invisibility glyph it makes them invisible permanently since they don’t have the breathing mechanic anymore.” She cocked her head to the side in thought, “I wonder what that would mean for undead npcs.”
The two of them sipped at their lemonade in silence for a few minutes while Luz continued to test her new prize. One of the chairs had been moved to the table from the living room to be ‘Amity’s’. The last few months had been different to say the least. Emira and Edric had dropped off what they could during the first week of Amity’s residency with the Noceda’s and Amity had picked up an after school job at the cafe across the street from The Owl house to help with the extra expenses. Camilla had tried to refuse at first due to Amity’s circumstances but she didn’t say anything when her grocery budget dropped and the overdue utility bills started getting paid down.
At first Amity had been terrified of overstaying her welcome and made herself as invisible as possible while doing as many chores as she could, but Camilia had sensed how on guard she was and had a talk reassuring her that she was welcome there always. The only time Amity had even seen her angry was when she’d caught them both taking a nap on Luz’s bed instead of taking turns in the sleeping bag like they had been doing. Camilia had dragged Luz out of the room by the ear and had a very terse conversation with her in Spanish that Amity only understood a few words of, though she was getting better every day, one of which being ‘la chancla’. Afterwards Camilia had reassured her that everything was fine, she wouldn’t be kicked out, but she had boundaries to what Luz could do in her home with anyone she was dating regardless of the situation.
Speaking of dating, she and Luz had been enjoying their time together outside of the virtual world. They’d go on walks through the park and get milkshakes at the diner. Eda was a little less strict with public displays of affection than Camilia so they were always happy to dogsit King at the shop when Eda would visit Rain for the weekend. Luz had also been taking time to walk Amity through the basics of tech repair in preparation for… well.
Amity leaned forward and kissed Luz on the mouth. Camilia’s shift hadn’t ended yet so they could at least do that without worrying about a warning eyebrow arch. Luz, as she always did when they kissed, got a dopey tooth filled smile before shutting her laptop. “What was that for?”
“Just being you.” Amity said, smiling equally dopey. She looked down at her lemonade, there was already condensation on the glass. “I’m gonna miss you.”
Luz’s smile faded to just a grin as she retook Amity’s hand. “It’s only gonna be for the summer, we can play online every night and I’ll hitch a ride with Rain when they come to visit Eda.” Her thumb brushed over Amity’s knuckles.
The summer internship at Titan Development had been an incredible opportunity for Luz. It was a paid internship usually offered to college students and the pay was a fair bit more than Eda could afford to give her so that was good, along with Rain being willing to house her in a spare bedroom as a favor to Eda. It had taken Camilia a bit of convincing, but after several discussions with Raine in person about opportunities and college applications as well several threats from Camilia should anything go wrong, she relented. Luz was going to spend the summer developing The Artificer’s Mansion into a full level in The Boiling Isles.
College was another thing Luz had started talking about after receiving the internship offer. She mentioned to Amity her research into different game design programs and scholarships she could apply, also how she’d need to get her grades up next year but that that shouldn’t be too hard. Luz had mentioned once during a late night talk how she’d been afraid of thinking about her future for awhile, but after everything that’s happened she was finally feeling good enough to think that far ahead.
Amity herself had never doubted whether she’d go to college before but now that she was out from under her parents thumb she really wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with her life anymore. She no longer felt inclined to become the doctor/lawyer/senator that she always thought she’d become. That her parents always thought she’d become. However, Luz had been teaching her the basics of tech repair in preparation for Amity taking over Luz’s part time job at Eda’s shop over the summer and she was really enjoying it, maybe she could do something with that.
“I know, I just can’t believe you’re already leaving tomorrow.” Amity sighed as she balanced her chin in the hand that wasn’t holding Luz’s.
Luz leaned forward and met Amity with another kiss before pulling her in for a tight hug. “I know it’s a lot, but it’s gonna be okay.”
“And you’re sure your mom is okay with me staying here?”
Luz chuckled, “Absolutely! She claims otherwise but she hates it when the house is too empty. Besides, you’re way tidier than I am, pretty sure she wouldn’t mind the trade off.”
Amity grinned into Luz’s shoulder. “I love you. I’m going to miss you so much though.”
“I love you too, I won’t be gone for long. There isn’t a single thing in this world that could keep me away from you.”
Amity pulled back and placed a hand on Luz’s cheek. Luz nuzzled into her palm and gave that cheeky grin she knew tied Amity’s heart into knots.
Outside the stars were bright in the sky and the crickets were chirping. A warm summer breeze wafted in through the window. Luz gazed at Amity as though she’d hung the moon itself, and Amity would have done just that if it meant she could stay in that moment forever.
This summer was going to be a long one, but that was going to be tomorrow’s problem. For right now though, all that mattered was that they were here and together, and everything is and is going to be okay.
La Fin