Cool Me Down [The Owl House]

Mason: System Shutdown

Note: Hunter has a shutdown in this chapter, just a heads up in case anyone wants/needs to skip it!

Mason had never experienced the construction site so quiet.

Don't get him wrong, there was still noise; and at deafening decibels, too. The earth groaned as raw materials were grafted from it for buildings, pieces of metal and stone clashed together, the incessant whir of tools and pumps ripped through the air, and spell circles drawn in the earth boomed as they took effect. It was just, the chatter of the Golden Guard next to him was nonexistent.

Mason looked at him every so often. Just sparing glances, it wasn't like he cared much. If anything this made the site examination easier, he really wasn't looking forward to answering a thousand questions that anyone versed in construction magic would already know the key to. But that didn't make him feel any less tense. It was like waiting for a ticking time bomb, waiting for the slow and limping walk of the Guard to turn into maybe a pounce or a slash.

"Here's one of the excavators we've been working on." Mason knocked his elbow against one of the towering digging machines behind him. "We've been working on, uh, adding drill and crane mechanics based on designs from an old human book that washed up-shore."

The Golden Guard stood still. His eyes appeared vacant, not even staring at the ground. He was hardly moving, even neglecting the beating of a hand against his side or the twitching of a leg. Mason pressed his lips into a thin line. "Golden Guard?" He asked tentatively. He reached out a hand, and the Golden Guard scrunched up his face. "Golden Guard," he said again, thinking maybe he'd shaken him from whatever he'd been wrapped up in. Instead, Hunter slumped down, breathing heavily and closing his eyes. His lip was bleeding slightly under his teeth, and Mason felt sweat drip down his neck. Shit, was this normal for kids? He didn't remember doing it, but, maybe?

He scouted the area, and then quickly raised the hard earth around them into thick walls and a shallow ceiling. Certainly he could do better than a dark dirt hut, but the objective was quick, not pretty. He lightly touched his shoulders again to sit him down, then backed up. The deafening noise of the construction outside melted away, leaving them in the cool and quiet dark. He could barely see, but granted Hunter's slowing heaves, he figured more sensory input of any kind would just about kill him.

He didn't say anything, instead sat cross-legged in front of him. It wasn't like Mason wasn't used to sitting like this; at the site, you could hardly hear each other talking, so you never bothered. Hunter eventually did move, but when Mason saw it was to tug on his hair and further drive his teeth into his lip, he rummaged through his tool belt for a better distraction.

"Here." He put a pen in front of him. Hunter stopped and Mason said softly, "That might be better to fidget with."

Hunter didn't seem to register his words much beyond a 'heard' nod, but he did loosen his fingers and eventually begin clicking the end of the pen. Then gnawing on the rubber grip in the middle. The movements became less and less intense until they just about melted away, and Hunter took a deep breath. "Better?" Mason asked.

"Yes. I apologize, Head-Witch Mason," he said, standing up and brushing himself off. "That was...entirely, unprofessional of me. I don't mean to waste your time, I'm sorry."

He extended his palms, face up. Mason stared for a second, then looked at Hunter's screwed up face and froze. He waved them back and shook his head. "It's alright, kiddo. I should apologize to you. Let's just get you back to the castle, I'll ask Belos to have someone else do the examination."

Hunter paled and shook his head. "Th— That's okay, I can do this, if I could just—"

"Kid," Mason said, "Neither one of us is going to be happy if I have to help you through another one of those every five minutes." He paused. "If you don't want the Emperor to know, how about I send you video footage of the site? Then we both go even. Deal?"

Hunter looked at his hand, then nodded. "Deal."

The next week, Hunter found what appeared to be a soft cut of rubber on a string. He unfolded the note beside it and kept himself from smiling as he read it.

'Item from night market. Called 'chewable jewelry'. Steve said may help with your biting. -H.W. Mason'