Luz woke, her heart thumping loudly in her chest, and it wasn’t just because of the pretty witch sleeping next to them. Her lip trembled along with his shaky breath, his hands curling and uncurling in an attempt to regulate their feelings. But, are they shaking from? From fear? From anger? From shock? She didn’t know.
The bed eerily creaked under him as he shifted to leave the bed and try to get some water. They just didn’t want to wake Amity. They’re all coming up on 4 years since the Collector’s defeat, but nightmares still plague her. The feeling of Belos seeping under his nails as a way to enter his skin, the way his consciousness felt pushing against their own, the way their blue eye left over from the attack still affected her, occasionally blinding them.
The sound of his feet slapping on the wooden floors is the only sound in the house, feeling far too loud for 2 a.m. Luz shakily readjusted her bonnet, the tie of the protective covering falling to his eyes. Their breathing is somehow accelerating, tears threatening to run down her face.
Fuck water, just reach the couch.
Luz vaguely registers that Stringbean was rubbing her currently otter-like face on their cheek in an attempt to ground him, but the attempts were to no avail. Finally after what felt like years but was only about two minutes of uncertain and slow walking, she reaches their baby blue couch with the gradient dark to light purple blanket on it.
They crash on the couch, grab the fluffy white throw pillow to his right, and clutch it as whimpers leave their mouth and tears fall from his eyes. Stringbean now curls on his lap as a dog, trying to provide a stable breathing pattern, and try as she might, their shaking, his nerves, his pounding heart demand he continues to hyperventilate.
Their grip tightens on the pillow and tears continue to fall at a faster rate, as the sound of his heart beating against his ribcage becomes all he can hear.
It’s so loud in fact, he doesn’t even notice the purple haired witch’s cane thudding against the floor as she draws nearer to her partner in distress. Amity rounds the corner to see her shudding girlfriend on the couch, and somehow her already heavy heart gets heavier.
Amity lets out a weary sigh, wishing she could take Luz’ pain away so she could always see his radiant smile. The feeling of the couch shifting to adjust to accommodate another body hardly phases Luz, and Amity doesn’t try to pull the pillow away from Luz because after years of this, she knows that it would be horrible to try to pull anything away from them at this stage.
“Luz? Luzzie honey? I’m here,” Amity whispers, gently putting her arm on Luz’s back and rubbing circles. Luz’s pounding heart is all they can hear at the moment, but the comfortable feeling of Amity’s weight by his side makes him feel a bit better. Her words ripple through the sound of her loud heartbeat.
Amity’s okay . . .
Luz suddenly throws her arms around her girlfriend sitting next to her, Amity immediately responds by hugging Luz’s waist, Stringbean leaping off his lap and onto her shoulder. His head meets his knees as he snakes into a ball in her lap. Whenever Luz does this, Amity recognizes the type of nightmare that probably occurred.
“It’s okay Batata, it’s going to be okay, I promise. I’m right here, okay? Can you feel my heartbeat?” Amity takes Luz’s right hand and guides it to her heart, so the human can feel the witch’s steady heartbeat. Lifting his throbbing head, they look at Amity in her gorgeous golden eyes. Amity can only wait for her girlfriend to calm down as she looks into her amber and glowing blue eyes.
Amity keeps on murmuring sweet nothings and rubbing his back in circles, reaffirming that she is okay, and is in fact there. After about another 15 minutes of this, Luz’s tear slowly eb to nothing, and her breathing readjusts to Amity’s controlled breathing.
“There we go. Do you wanna talk about it Batata?” Amity quietly asks, gazing at Luz with nothing but love in her eyes. Luz is always there for her dark days, and Luz needs someone too. Their grip on her sleep shirt eased slightly, and Luz lifts his head to meet her eyes.
“Ammy . . . Ammy I thought I lost you. You were laying there and-and-and you weren’t moving, and-” Luz’s hiccuping voice breaks off again into soft sobs as she hugs her girlfriend tight.
“Oh Luz,” Amity brokenly whispers, holding them tight. “I’m not going anywhere Luzzie, I swear on the Titan to that,” Amity reassures Luz again, slowly rocking the two.
“Promise?” Luz softly asks.
“I promise,” Amity swears, holding Luz’s smaller frame tight.
Luz’s tears subside eventually, but they still sit on the couch, holding each other. Stringbean and Ghost are sitting on the cushions lining the couch, and Amity grins at them. “I hope you didn’t think I wouldn’t notice that you got up immediately by the way. It just took me a second because someone was taking a cat nap,” Amity laughs, petting Ghost’s soft head as the palisman looks on with content.
Luz shifts and rests her head on Amity’s collarbone and simply enjoys the vision of Amity laughing. “I didn’t think that. Although speaking of cat nap, we should probably head back to bed. I know this can’t be good for your back,” Luz wistfully admits, shifting to get off the comfortable witch’s lap. Amity’s strong arms pull Luz back down, and they crash onto the couch with Luz laying atop of Amity.
“No, stay. You’re warm,” Amity gruffly demands, smiling into Luz’s neck. Still, she knew the witch would regret doing that the next day, no matter what she protests.
Well, he could do that . . .
Unbeknownst to Amity, Luz’s mischievous mind conjures up a grand plan as she enjoys his warmth. Luz quickly gets off of Amity, and just as a protest is about to leave Amity’s mouth, Luz exclaims, “Anddddddddd, SCOOP!”
Amity squeals as she’s suddenly lifted off the couch and into her amazing girlfriend’s arms. Without thinking, Amity leans forward, grabs Luz’s face with her hands, and gives her a joyful, love-filled kiss. Luz’s blush may as well be seen from outer space as she starts to carry Amity back to their bed, but Amity happily shakes her hands and leans into her girlfriend’s shoulder.
Stringbean and Ghost trail behind them, and Luz can only imagine the two of them going, Jeez these two are dorks. Once they reach their room, Luz carefully places Amity on her side of the bed, being gentle so as to not aggravate her already aching scar, but then he walks to the bed’s edge, and jumps on. The aftermath causes giggles, and small kisses wherever, and cuddling each other.
Amity’s curls into Luz’s body, and Luz wraps a protective arm around her. Both of their breathing is calm, his heart beat no longer consuming his thought, but rather the slight snore of Amity’s nearly sleeping form. Just as Luz drifted off to sleep, Amity murmurs, “I’m here. And I’m okay.”
That’s almost as good as any ‘I love you’.