…don’t heal scars
Amity, Willow, Gus, and Hunter were sitting in the living room again when Camila and Luz came downstairs. Vee wasn’t there, Luz didn’t know where she had gone. Amity and Willow were talking together, but stopped suddenly. Hunter was sitting on the couch with his legs pulled up to his chest, speaking quietly only to Flapjack, who was perched on his knees. Gus was sitting next to Hunter. He seemed more energetic and happy while he inspected the lamp on the side table, pulling the cord to make it turn on and off.
They all looked towards Camila and Luz when they walked in.
“Do you kids want something to eat?” Camila asked sweetly. “I’m about to make dinner.”
The kids glanced around at each other. They didn’t know what human food was like, since they had been eating Boiling Isles food their whole lives, but they were pretty hungry after everything that had happened.
“Yes please,” Willow replied.
Camila smiled at them. “Do quesadillas sound okay or would just like soup?”
“I don’t know what quesadillas are, but they sound good!” Gus said.
“Of course! It will only take a little bit to get it prepared.”
Camila headed to the kitchen to get the meal ready, while Luz sat down on the couch next to Amity.
“So..” Amity remarked. “Your mother seems nice.”
“She is,” Luz responded. “She’s really great. She helped me save Vee.”
“Vee is the basilisk, right?” Willow asked. “I remember you told us a little bit about her a while ago.”
“Yup! Vee has officially moved in after I visited through that unstable portal that one time before the Coven Day Parade. And she doesn’t have to pretend to be me anymore.”
“You made a portal?” Hunter finally spoke up. “Out of what?”
“Oh, just some junk that Eda had and a little bit of the Titan Blood,” Luz replied.
“Interesting,” Hunter mused, a weird look passing across his face for a split second, then leaving as quickly as it had come.
“But it wasn’t really a real portal,” Luz continued. “It didn’t let me fully go through, like it kinda just trapped me in reflections in windows and mirrors and stuff.”
The kids were all quiet for several more moments after Luz finished talking, glancing around a little awkwardly. Amity and Willow didn’t seem to want to continue their conversation now that Luz was here, and the rest of them didn’t know what to say either.
Then, Luz spoke again.
“I don’t know if I’ve told you guys before, but I got wrapped in this whole Demon Realm thing because my mom was going to send me to a ‘think inside the box’ camp,” she put air-quotes around the words. “I didn’t want to go, but apparently I was acting too weird during school. It wasn’t her fault, though. It was the principal’s idea, and I could tell that my mom was a little hesitant. But she was just trying to do what she thought was best for me.”
Amity and the others listened quietly as she talked. She had never mentioned how she had gotten to the Demon Realm much before this.
“Then Eda’s Palisman, Owlbert, stole my book, so I followed him, and accidentally ended up going through the portal.” Luz finished.
They continued to stay quiet, until Camila came back to the living room.
“The quesadillas are heating up right now, they’ll be ready real quick,” she said. She spotted the first aid kit lying on the side table by the couch as she walked by. “Oh, Hunter, Gus, I forgot to patch up your injuries last night.”
Camila grabbed the roll of bandages from the bag and went over to where they were sitting. Hunter instinctively drew back, flinching, and put his arm up to cover Gus. But Camila didn’t reach towards them or approach them closer, she just stood in front of them, smiling warmly.
Flapjack chirped at Hunter and pulled gently on his hair noodle. When Hunter realized that Camila wasn’t going to touch him, he slowly pulled his arm back and tried to relax his shoulders. He looked down at his lap, a little ashamed. Luz had told him that Camila was nice, that he was safe in her house. And she had seemed nice and friendly. He was ashamed for that part of his thoughts that was still wary and worried, even though she hadn’t done anything to make him think she would do anything bad.
“I can help you, or you can do it yourselves if you want,” she told them.
“I-I can do it,” Hunter responded quietly.
Camila set down the bandages on the coffee table and let him pick them up himself. Then she went back to the kitchen to continue preparing dinner.
Gus was looking at Hunter with his head tilted as the older boy unrolled a length of bandages. He held out his arm and Hunter wrapped up the scrapes and cuts on his elbow.
Camila watched out of the corner of her eye from the kitchen. She had noticed how Hunter had shrunk back when she had approached. She felt bad for him, but she knew that he just needed time and patience. Now she saw Hunter apply the bandages with gentle expertise, like he had done it many times before. He folded them properly so it didn’t feel weird on Gus’ arm, and made it so it didn’t wrap too tight, but also tight enough so it wouldn’t fall off. She also saw that Hunter didn’t care for any of his own injuries, more concerned for the well-being off the younger boy. She noted those things, smiling sadly.