She's out
Amity POV:
I woke up around noon, thanks to my siblings disabling my alarm. They left a little note scrawled out in messy writing on top of it, saying that I needed the rest. With a low groan, I crumpled up the little paper before lighting it up in a small ball of purple fire.
"Jerks." I mumbled, getting out of bed and rubbing my eyes. I didn't want to admit it, but they were right about how I needed the sleep. Not bothering to change out of my pajamas, I walked across the cold wood floor to make my way downstairs.
"Ed? Em? What are you two doing?" I called out, receiving no response. "So help me gods if you're rigging the couch again I will leave you stuck in abomination goop for a few of hours!" Peering down into the kitchen, I spotted another little note resting on the kitchen table.
Quickly making my way down the steps, I picked up the tiny note from the table. This one was written in much neater handwriting than the last, making it a lot easier to read. "Out for the day, tell Luz we say hi when you drop by!"
I gently rubbed the note between my fingers for a moment, deciding not to burn this one. Instead, I just set it back down on the table, then turning on my heel I started to make my way back upstairs.
"So, I get this place to myself?" I asked aloud, resting my hand against the handrail. "Dunno if I should be happy about that or not..." Making my way back up to my room, I closed the door behind me with a click.
Glancing around the room, my eyes caught onto my suit from last night, which I had just haphazardly threw on the floor after I changed. Sighing, I moved over to the piles and bent down to pick them up, quickly folding them.
While going to hang up the coat, I noticed how there wasn't a trace of the purple flower and that sent a sharp jab of worry to stab through my chest. My eyes darted across the floor, wondering if it had just dropped from the pocket.
"I didn't lose it, did I?" I could hear the slight panic that was rising in my voice when I couldn't see it on the floor. Wracking my memory, I knew that I was still wearing it when we got in the cart to go back to the studio after the show.
Moving to set the coat down on my bed, my eyes glanced up for a moment, then I let out a sigh of relief. There, with the stem carefully tucked behind my headboard, was the flower. "Oh... oh." A fit of nervous chuckles bubbled up as I quickly grabbed the flower from its spot.
Running my fingers along the stem, I let out another sigh when I felt no dents on it from the headboard. Moving over to my table, I gently laid the flower in its usual spot. Then, spinning back around, I finished hanging up the suit and put it back in my closet.
"Glad I finally got to wear that." I said, summoning my scroll to check the time. It was just a little before one. "I'll go visit Luz in an hour or so..." I mumbled as I rolled over the thought in my head, knowing that Eda was usually there with Luz around this time.
A part of me wanted to go to see Luz now, after the incident with the creep and then Matt, I just wanted to make sure she was safe. But, I held back on that part, after all, if Eda was there, Luz would be fine.
Slowly moving over towards my bed, I pressed a few buttons on my scroll before opening Pensta, curious if anything was new. Instantly, my feed was flooded with a mix of posts from last nights show, videos of our singing, and the occasional picture of Boscha from her account. I flopped down onto my bed with a soft chuckle, shaking my head slightly.
I scrolled through a few of the posts, half a smile on my face. A lot of the posts were talking about the new song, questioning the sudden change of tempo. Mindlessly scrolling though the posts for a bit, I got bored after the first couple of minutes.
With a low groan, I shut off my scroll and made it disappear, sitting in silence for a moment.
The silence wasn't comforting.
I started to drum my fingers against my pillow, shakily humming a tune under my breath. "Nobody else is around..." I said aloud, but I couldn't tell if I said it to ease my rising nerves, or if my mind just wanted another way to fill the silence.
Flipping over on my back, I stared at the ceiling for a moment, drumming my fingers against my stomach before sitting up. "Y'know what? Time to find a distraction." I looked around my room, my eyes landing on my shelves lined with books. "Perfect."
Standing up and moving over to the shelves, I quickly glanced over some of the titles. None of them were really catching my attention, until finally my eyes landed on a familiar title. "The sixth Azura book? I thought I left this at the hideout..." I picked it up, a soft smile finding its way to my face as I stared at the cover.
Tearing my gaze away from the book for a moment, I looked up at my door, then back down to the item in my hands. "But since I'm home alone..." I slowly made my way to my door, making sure it was shut tight. "And nobody would hear me..." The smile on my face slowly got larger as I moved over to my bed, laying down on my stomach before cracking the book open. "I can read this and do the voices!"
My bookmark fluttered out of place, falling down flat on my bed. Just by glancing at the first few words at the top of the page, I already knew I was at my favorite part of the book. With a low squeal, I quickly started to read.
"Hecate jumped in between the black sludge monster and Azura, her skirt flowing with the breeze as she held her arms out to protect the green haired witch." I started, feeling my ears softly start to flap.
"Stay away from her!" I put on my Hecate voice, tightly gripping the book in my hands. "The monster only let out a low growl before snatching the orange haired witch off of the ground, dangling her in the air in front of Azura."
"The orange haired witch glanced back at Azura, noticing the look of surprise on her face." I sat up in bed, lightly clearing my throat so that I could do my Hecate voice again.
"'I'm sorry, Azura!' The orange haired witch cried out, glancing back at her friend in an attempt to take her focus off the creature's eyes that were boring into her." I was starting to get into the acting now, standing up and holding the book slightly away from my body, putting on the voice again. "I should've fought my own battle!"
This part of the story always seemed to create a tight feeling in my chest, always making me hold my breath no matter how many times I read it. "The monster's eyes lit up a bright, pale blue as it slowly started lifting the orange haired witch higher."
"'I-' Hecate was cut off as her eyes flickered to the same blue as the monster before she fell limp in its grasp."
"Hecate no! Your..." My voice trailed off halfway through Azura's line, realizing just how scratchy my voice was for Azura. I let out a laugh, though it felt more bitter than carefree.
"That's why Luz voices Azura..." I muttered, feeling my ears slowly pin themselves down. My mind flickered with memories of our book club, making a lump form in my throat. But, before I could think about it any further, there was a sudden thud on my window.
The sound made me yelp, nearly throwing the book out of my hands. I didn't dare make a sound, wondering if maybe I had just imagined the sound. Then it happened again, making me hold my breath.
I didn't take my eyes off the window as I slowly moved back to my bed to set the book down, then I slowly stepped over to the window. I made sure to avoid all the squeaky floor boards, flinching when the sound happened again.
Bringing a shaking hand up, I slowly drew out a spell circle as I got closer, trying to keep my hand steady enough so I would be able to complete it. I reached my other hand out towards the curtain, tightly gripping it in my hand.
Taking in a shaky breath, I pulled back the curtain, my mind assuming the worst.
But, after pulling back the curtain, I was met with Eda's tiny palisman, running his head into my window to make a sound. His golden eyes met with mine, lighting up when he realized he had my attention.
Wiping away my spell, I quickly unlatched my window and pushed it open, allowing the owl to come inside. "Hey there buddy." I said as I took a seat on my window sill, my voice shaking slightly. The tiny owl hopped over to me, looking up at me before hopping up onto my knee.
Hesitantly reaching my hand out, his big eyes followed my hand until I gently rested it on top of his head. He nuzzled into my touch, letting out a soft set of hoots. "What are you doing here?" I asked, then I noticed the note he held in his foot.
Still lightly scratching the owl's head, I reached down with my other hand and took the letter from him, struggling to unfold it with only one hand. Once I managed to get most of it unfolded, I gave it a quick shake, then started to read it over. Instantly I was met with Eda's messy handwriting, luckily still legible enough for me to read.
"Hey kiddo, need you to head down to the owl house ASAP. If you can't make it, send Owlbert back with a note. I'm not gonna explain it all on here, but it's about Luz - Eda"
The last part of her letter made me tense, wondering what happened to Luz. I looked back down at the owl, who stared up at me with his bright eyes. Then, in a swift movement, I carefully scooped up the palismen, threw on a pair of shoes and quickly made my way downstairs.
My footsteps echoed off the walls as I quickly made my way to the front door. Right when I was about to open it, I paused. Owlbert let out a curious hoot, flapping his wings so that he could fly in front of me.
I quickly spun back around and went into the kitchen, summoning myself a small piece of paper and a pen. "At the owl house." I mutter aloud as I wrote it down, then set the paper down on the kitchen table. "There... so they don't think I disappeared."
Going back to the front door, I quickly pulled it open and waited for the small owl to fly out the door before closing it behind me. The owl flew a quick circle around my head, then landed on my shoulder, making my ear twitch when he let out a soft hoot.
Speed walking in the direction of the owl house, I couldn't help but fidget my hands as my mind raced. "Nothing bad happened to Luz, right?" I asked aloud, turning to face Owlbert. He hooted in response, making me groan. Even though my mind was assuming the worst, I tried to keep the thoughts quiet. I knew if I didn't, I wouldn't be able to make it to the owl house.
Once the two of us made it to the forest line, the tiny palisman decided he was done perching on my shoulder and wanted to fly ahead of me, making me pick up my pace. He wasn't going much faster than we were before, which made it easy to keep up.
By the time the owl house came into view, I was lightly panting. Owlbert let out a hoot and finally slowed down, circling around above me before landing on the top of my head. "Really?" He didn't make a sound, instead, he just spun around in a circle before getting comfortable, making me roll my eyes.
I started jogging to the door, a little surprised that the owl on my head didn't move or fly off. When I was a little ways away, I noticed how the other owl perked up. "Look who it is hoot hoot!" Hooty greeted in that obnoxious tone.
"Now's not the time." I rasped out, trying to catch my breath. "Let me in." I held my hands down to my sides, balling them into loose fists. The door owl spun in circles, closing his eyes.
"Sorry, but Eda told me not to let anyone in." A growl rose up from my throat as I glared at the tube owl, who only opened one eye to look at me. "You can go away now."
"Hooty, I am not dealing with your stupidity right now." I told him, reaching for the door handle. He instantly stretched out, blocking my hand with his body. I gritted my teeth together, digging my nails into my palm. "Let. Me. In."
"Eda said no one's aloud!" Hooty said, stretching up so that he was close to my face. I let out a loud groan of frustration, reaching up to wrap my hands around him to strangle him only to clench them in tight fists again.
"She's the one who sent me here!" I yelled, my voice holding an exasperated tone. "I have her palisman on my head for gods sake!" The door owl stretched up slightly, humming for a moment before he moved back down to my level.
"Looks like a fake to me, hoot hoot." He said, dragging out his words as he twirled into a corkscrew. I could feel my face flushing red in anger, my ears pinned down as far as they could go.
"So help me... I won't hesitate to rip you out of the door!" Hooty laughed, the sound making my ears twitch at how annoying it was. He twisted out of his corkscrew and moved a little closer to my face, his brown eyes giving me a blank stare.
"You won't be able to because I don't have an end!" He twisted into another corkscrew, this time moving slowly. "No one's been able to prove if I do or not, so that means I just stretch forever!"
Before I was able to retort that I would make him end, the door flew open, making the door owl yelp. "What in the Isles name are you talking to? Another bug?" Eda furrowed her eyebrows at her door, clutching her staff in one hand while she rested the other on the door.
"No! Just her!" Hooty chirped, making Eda look in my direction, her eyes widening slightly before letting out a huff directed at the tube owl.
"Why didn't you let her in?" The owl lady asked in a snarky tone, snapping her fingers. Instantly, I felt Owlbert shift before the small weight was lifted off of my head. He flew over to the staff and took his place at the top, transforming back into wood.
"You told me not to let anyone in remember?" Hooty stretched away from the door before wrapping around me. "You told me to keep on a lookout, so that meant not to let anyone in, hoot hoot." Eda rolled her eyes, then grabbed me by the shoulder and pulled me inside.
Before Hooty could say anything, Eda whacked the middle of his body with her staff, making him retreat back into the door before she slammed it closed. "And that reminds me on why I think he's a thorn in my side." I heard her mutter.
I turned my gaze from the owl lady for a moment, glancing around the living room of the owl house until my gaze landed on the couch. My eyes widened when I saw a familiar figure lying on the couch, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Luz let out a soft giggle, raising her arm above her head to let it hang off of the arm of the couch. "Look at me, I'm the king of New York~" She said in a singsong tone before giggling again, barely able to mumble a string of words that sounded like lyrics. I furrowed my eyebrows together, then turned back to Eda.
"What's going on?" I asked, not bothering to hide the bit of frantic tone in my voice. Eda blinked in confusion, her eyes darting over to Luz for a moment before letting out a snort and softly shaking her head.
"Right right, didn't fill you in. Sorry kid, shouldn't have scared you like that but I figured that'd get you down here faster." She laughed again before eyeing me up and down, smirking. "Nice outfit by the way." She gestured to my clothes, reminding me I was still in my pajamas.
"That doesn't answer the question." I said stiffly, turning my gaze back over to Luz. She was still staring up at the ceiling, almost as if she didn't know we were there. Eda clicked her tongue, lightly tapping one of her fingers against her staff.
"Well, I wanted you down here cause Luz is out... in more ways than one." Luz seemed to perk up at the sound of her name, turning her head in our direction. Her eyes were glazed over, but they lit up at the sight of the two of us.
"Pretty witch..." I could hear her say with a smile, making my cheeks flush pink. She started to roll over on her side, making Eda quickly tap her staff and activate Owlbert. The tiny owl quickly flew over to Luz, pulling on her shirt to keep her on her back.
"You are not ruining your stitches or whatever they did to you on the first day you get back." Eda told Luz, who probably didn't hear a word she said because she was too distracted by the palisman, the tiny owl now nuzzling against her cheek. "Yeesh, let's hope this wears off quickly."
Luz continued to babble, moving one of her hands around in circles while the other drummed her fingers on her good side. "So, is she okay?" I asked softly, once again making the owl lady snort.
"About as okay as she's gonna be." Eda gave her staff a light tap, calling Owlbert back over to her. The palisman carefully hopped up to the arm of the couch, then flew over and landed on top of her staff. "Kid's gonna be up in the clouds for a few hours."
"She's loopy?" Eda did a half and half symbol with her free hand, her ears twitching slightly.
"Not as bad as before. Healers said it was 'mandatory' to numb her up before sending her off, which is why I needed you." Luz struggled to sit up a little, turning to look over in our direction. "Luz stay down."
"Loopy would be the word to describe you." Luz pointed in my direction, then chuckled. "And Owlbert when he's in the air, hey can we go do loops on the staff?"
Eda let out a snort, rolling her eyes. "Not now." Luz put on a pout, then laid back down, staring at the ceiling. "Anyways, back to business." Eda turned to face me, her eyes lingering on Luz for a moment.
"So what exactly did you need me for?" I asked, not looking at the witch. Instead, my gaze remained focused on Luz, watching as she stuck out her tongue and laughed.
"Well besides the fact that I figured you want to see her now that she was out, I need you to keep an eye on her." The silver haired witch popped her neck before running a hand through her hair.
"Ah. Makes sense." I folded my arms over my chest, my ears twitching when I heard footsteps behind me. Resisting the urge to turn around, I watched as King came into view, doing circles around Eda's feet for a moment before standing up on two legs.
"What are you doing here?" He asked, his eyes slanting downward slightly. Eda bent down and picked up the little demon, who surprisingly didn't squirm in her grasp.
"She's here to keep an eye on Luz-" Eda started, only to be quickly cut off.
"I don't need a babysitter!" Luz suddenly said and she pointed a finger up to the ceiling, making me furrow my eyebrows. Then, I could hear her mumble something else, but her voice was too soft for me to understand what she was saying.
"Right..." Eda said, slightly dragging out the word as she gave Luz a look questioning what she meant before turning her attention back to me and King. "Anyways, she's here since I have to go back to the stand and can't leave you alone with Luz, and her other two dork friends are still in class at Hexside." I could see Eda shudder at the mention of the school, her ears twitching.
King's eyes slanted down even further, shooting the witch a glare. "And what about the other green haired ones?" He asked, his voice holding a bit of offence at her previous statement.
"Because as much as I love those two, leaving those two here alone would only leave me with a mess to clean." She then flicked the middle of King's skull, making him squirm as he let out a little sound. "And by me, I mean you."
"Hey! The King of demons could manage just fine!" The demon pointed a finger in the air, only making the two of us chuckle. I could hear Luz start to chuckle as well, once again trying to turn on her side.
"You're a cute baby." She told King, making a high pitched squeal start to rise from his throat. Eda tapped him on the back with her foot, getting him to be quiet.
"Alright you little teakettle, as much as I find that sound hilarious, you can stop." King glared at the witch again, then trotted off into a different room, mumbling something under his breath as he left. "Let's hope you know how to handle Luz kid, cause she's about two times as dorky as usual."
"Fine by me." I muttered under my breath, feeling my ears go down as my face slowly burned pink. Eda let out a barking laugh, then ruffled my hair, making me groan.
"I'll be back in a few hours." Eda said over her shoulder, moving over before pulling the door open. Hooty's dark eyes lit up at the sight of the silver haired witch.
"Hoot! Hey there!" He started, but Eda placed a hand over his face before he could get out another word, Hooty only able to make a muffled sound of surprise.
"Now, normally I wouldn't say this, but you two keep it PG here. I don't want to come back to you two making out on the couch or whatever." Her statement nearly made me choke, my face flushing a darker shade.
Eda snorted, which quickly turned into a groan as she pulled her hand away from the door owl, finding her hand wet with saliva. With a look of disgust, she quickly wiped her hand on her dress, then gave me a short wave goodbye before closing the door behind her.
I stood frozen in place for a few moments, trying to stifle the burning feeling that remained stuck on my face. Shaking my head a few times, I turned my gaze over to Luz, who was now fiddling with the fabric of her shirt.
Moving closer to the couch, I could see the design on Luz's baggy t-shirt, looking like a handmade Azura shirt. The sight made me smile, a low chuckle rising from my throat. The sound caught Luz's attention, her gaze landing on me.
"Ammy!" She exclaimed excitedly, bringing her arms down to her sides in an effort to push herself up. I quickly moved over to her side, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I missed you!" Her voice held the same amount of excitement as before as she completely ignored me trying to stop her.
She somehow successfully managed to sit up and position herself so that she was leaning halfway on the arm of the chair and halfway on the back of it, then patted the seat next to her. "I missed you too, how you feeling?" I asked, slowly sitting down on the couch, noticing how squishy it was.
"Better now that you're here." She chuckled, bring her hands up to my ears to mimic mine as they went down. I rolled my eyes, smiling at the sound of her laughter.
"Eda wasn't wrong when she said you're dorkier than usual." I chuckled, watching as Luz leaned her head on the back of the couch, a dopey smile plastered on her face.
"The big silver owl is never wrong about her owlet!" She said, nearly falling forward. I quickly placed both hands on her shoulders, giving them a squeeze as I held her in place. "Woah, look at you being all speedy."
"Didn't want to let you fall." I muttered, hesitantly moving my hands away. Luz chuckled, then brought both of her hands up to my face cupping my cheeks. I let out a soft squeak, nearly pulling away at the contact.
Luz let out a little laugh, her fingertips barely scratching the space between the bottom of my ears and my jawline. "Ammy look, I can hold the world in my hands!" She chuckled again, making a red blush rise up to my cheeks. "Just a pretty witch kitty."
I didn't dare try and move away, but at the same time I worried that she'd try to make me purr. "Uh...Luz?" I started, and she moved one of her hands away, leaving the other on the side of my face. Slowly, her thumb started stroking my cheek. "What are you doing?"
"Your face is soft..." She mumbled, just barely loud enough for me to hear her. She let out another one of her loopy giggles, her hand slowly trailing down from my face to my neck, then my shoulder, sending shivers down my spine even though her hand was leaving hot trails wherever they touched. "You're really pretty Ammy." Luz said after a moment, her voice even softer than before.
Her hand trailed down from my shoulder towards my upper arm, giving it a light squeeze. She brought her free hand up to mimic the other's actions, making my breathing speed up. "Luz?" I asked again in a high voice, feeling my throat start to tighten.
Then, I noticed Luz was starting to lean in.
My brain seemed to fizzle out, overriding into panic mode. But instead of trying to wrack my brain for what to do, I started to follow what she was doing. We were slowly getting closer, I could feel my hands shaking and my ears flapping, but I ignored that, instead, I just focused with half lidded eyes on the girl in front of me.
We weren't far apart now, maybe an inch away from each other's lips
But, right when it was about to happen, the door swung open.
"Mittens!" Both my siblings called out, making me yelp loudly in surprise and pull away from Luz, nearly falling off the couch. I knew my face was bright red, but I struggled to push it down.
"What do you two want?" I asked, struggling to cover up my shaky voice with a cold tone. Both my siblings laughed, moving over towards the couch.
"Found your note at home and figured we'd see what you're doing." Edric said, leaning down slightly as he placed a hand under his chin in its signature pose. "And now we know why!"
"Geez Mittens, you didn't think to fill Ed and I in that Luz was out?" Luz suddenly perked up at Edric's name, her face lighting up as she snapped her fingers.
"Edric that reminds me!" She said, reaching out towards my brother. He raised an eyebrow, watching as Luz leaned back onto the couch. "You're nickname reminds me of a show on Earth! Except you don't act like Ed, you act more like Eddy..." She mumbled the last part, my brother softly nodding his head before leaning towards me and Emira.
"Luz is acting weird." He whispered while Luz continued to ramble on, making my sister nod.
"Weirder than usual." Emira added, only making me sigh in response.
"It's just from the healers. I assume some kind of numbing potion or anesthesia. She's loopy." Both of my siblings tensed up a little, eyeing one another before looking back at me.
"So you're here, with her, alone? While she's loopy?" Emira asked, only making me roll my eyes in response.
"Is that why you want to be alone with her Mittens?" Edric asking in a teasing tone, making a low growl rise up from my throat.
"Edric, keep pushing my buttons and I won't hesitate to push you down the next flight of stairs." I threatened, watching his eyes widen slightly in alarm. He let out a nervous laugh, then gave Emira a quick nudge, motioning towards the door.
"Well alright sis, you two have fun." Emira said as she moved over towards Luz, carefully ruffling her hair and making her laugh. "You make sure to be careful, okay? Give us a call when you aren't as loopy." Emira chuckled.
Luz snapped her a quick set of finger guns, shooting my sister a wink. "See you around then cutie!" She told my sister, using the nickname that Emira would always use on her.
I could see a smirk rising on my sister's lips as she shook her head, ruffling Luz's hair again. "Bye guys!" They called over their shoulders, opening the front door, which surprisingly didn't make any noise until after they closed it, Hooty's muffled voice piping up as he tried to talk to my siblings.
Once I was sure they were gone, I let out a sigh in relief. Luz started to lean forward again, and I quickly reached out to stop her from falling. She let out a low whine, then moved my hands away, moving to lean her head to my shoulder.
"What are you doing?" I managed to ask, trying not to stammer. Luz only hummed in response, carefully managing to scoot closer to me.
"You're comfortable." She mumbled, moving her head towards the crook of my neck. I could feel myself tense up at her movements, not wanting to move and hurt her.
"Luz..." I started, my voice suddenly barely louder than a whisper. She didn't say anything in response, rather she just laid a little more weight on my body. With a low sigh, I gave her shoulder a tap, knowing there was no point in trying to argue. "Luz. Readjust real quick, that can't be comfortable. Besides, one wrong move and you'll be leaning on your bad side."
"I can make it work. I don't feel a thing." She mumbled, sounding a lot more tired than before. Rolling my eyes, I carefully placed a hand on her shoulder, then moved her so that she would be leaning on my other shoulder, halfway on my lap.
The drummer let out a content sigh in response, her hot breath barely hitting my neck and sending shivers down my spine. "Comfortable?" I asked, my voice still quiet. Somehow that managed to mask how shaky my voice should have been.
Luz gave half a nod, then I slowly leaned back until my back hit the couch, making my position a lot more comfortable. The drummer let out a little hum, nuzzling a little closer to me. I sat there, a little stiff at first before I slowly let myself relax.
Mulling it over in my head for a minute, I slowly brought one of my arms up around her shoulders, the other resting on her knee, where I started rubbing soft circles.
The two of us didn't say anything, just relaxing in the comfortable silence together. "Luz?" I finally asked after a bit, getting no reaction. A small pang of worry struck my chest, but I quickly shook it away when I heard Luz's even breathing, telling me she was asleep.
I let out another low sigh, slowly resting my head on top of her's and closing my eyes, feeling the warmth of her body and letting my mind relax. I must've dozed off, then jolted back awake when I felt Luz shifting in my grasp.
Blinking a few times, I glanced out the window, noticing the sky seemed more orange than before. "What time is it?" I croaked out, tensing up when Luz shifted again.
She stretched out her arms before going limp again, nuzzling closer to my neck and letting out a soft squeak like sound. I could feel my cheeks flush at the sound she made, my ears flapping softly.
"Your heart rate's speeding up." Luz suddenly murmured, startling me. I blinked a few times, noticing her voice sounded clearer than it did before.
"How you feeling now?" I asked her, gently starting to run my fingers through her hair. Luz let out a sigh, wrapping her arms around my waist.
"Sore. My side's throbbing." I could hear the hint of misery in her husky voice, making me wince. "These bandages are itchy too." She chuckled a little bit, but it didn't last long.
"I'm sorry." I muttered, hesitating before giving her a quick kiss on the forehead. "I know that's probably not gonna help, but maybe it'll take your mind off of it for a minute or something." I quickly said, my voice holding a slightly nervous tone.
I could see Luz's lips were curved up into a smile as she closed her eyes again. "Nah, it helps a ton." There was a bit more pep in her tone this time, which made a smile appear on my face as well.
Then, there was a sudden loud crash that came from the other room, something going off with a loud pop, making me jump and making Luz flinch. I could feel her tense up in my grasp, suddenly holding her breath.
"King?" I called, waiting for an answer. There wasn't one, and I considered calling for the tiny demon again. "I'm gonna go check that out." I said, but I could feel Luz squeeze me a little tighter.
"Don't." Her voice was soft, wavering slightly. "Please don't go check it out." I looked down at her, noticing her pale face and the fear in her eyes. I blinked a couple of times, then it hit me.
The pop.
My ears went down and I swallowed as I realized why she didn't want me to see what happened, then I slowly wrapped my arms around Luz, making sure to avoid contact with her side.
I didn't say anything for a minute, feeling Luz trembling slightly in my grasp. "King?" I called out again, this time my tone was stern. I couldn't help but silently hope it was something to do with the tiny demon rather than someone trying to break in.
"I didn't break anything!" The demon finally called back, his voice sounding nervous. I could hear Luz a shaky sigh, her grip around my waist loosening a little. "At least, I don't think I did..." I could barely hear him say.
"What did you knock over?" Luz asked him, his head quickly popping out from around the corner. He moved out from around the corner, tapping his little claws together.
"Maybe one of Eda's piles..." He mumbled, looking down at the floor. Luz sighed again, shifting in my lap again.
"Alborotador." I heard her say as she started to get up, but I was quick to stop her.
"Nope, you aren't moving. I'll go help him pick it up." I helped her move off of my lap, making sure she was comfortable before I started to follow after King.
"Don't be too long!" She called after me in a cheery tone, followed by a nervous laugh. I gave her a smile, then disappeared around the corner with the tiny demon.
The demon lead me to a room, which its floor was now covered in a bunch of scattered human objects. "What were you even trying to do?" I asked the demon with a smirk, bending down and picking up a few of the items off the ground.
"Hey! It's your fault! I wanted to nap in my window spot but I couldn't stand going out there with your two being lovey dovey!" I felt my cheeks warm up slightly, but I only scoffed and started piling the things up.
"So in a fit of rage you knocked over a pile?" I asked over my shoulder. King lifted up a hand, ready to argue with me, but all that came out was a choked squeak.
He fell silent for a minute, then folded his arms over his chest. "Maybe." He finally said, making me roll my eyes and turn back to the pile, stacking up more of the items.
It only took a couple of minutes to pick up all the human artifacts, with me doing most of the work because King couldn't reach high enough to stack the items. Once we were done, I went to leave but was suddenly stopped when King ran in front of me.
"Wait! Here, it's Luz's. I found it buzzing up in her room." He handed me a rectangle, and I realized it was Luz's human scroll. I tried to wrack my brain for what she called it, but I couldn't remember. I gave the demon a nod as thanks, then went back to the living room with Luz.
Luz was drumming her fingers against her thigh until she saw me walk into the room. I could see her relax, a big smile forming on her face. "There you are!"
"Sorry it took so long, I was left with most of the work." Luz snorted, adjusting herself so that she was sitting up a bit more. "By the way, here's your human scroll thingy." I held the rectangle out to her, watching as her eyes lit up.
"Was King too busy pouting to help?" Luz asked as I sat back down next to her on the couch, but I only shook my head.
"No, he was just too short to pile thing up." I couldn't help but chuckle, scooting a little closer to Luz. She noticed me moving, then, leaned over until her head rested on my shoulder, the two of us sitting side by side.
We went quiet again for a moment, then Luz suddenly gasped. "Oh, I should show you this song! I used to listen to it all the time!" She said excitedly, sitting up.
"What song?" I asked, curiosity taking a hold of my voice. I could see the excitement in Luz's eyes as she quickly started typing something on her human scroll. She didn't even have to look down at the screen to see what she was typing.
"It's called Darte Un Beso! I used to listen to it all the time... back at home..." Her voice suddenly trailed off as she looked down at her human scroll, her eyes widening.
"Luz? What's the matter?" I asked softly, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Amity, we have a problem."