Season 3 My Version

Hunting for the Truth

As Camila walked into the house, she noticed Hunter dusting the furniture and bookshelves. When Hunter took notice of her, Hunter bowed and said, "Ah, welcome back, Mrs. Noceda."

She laughed a bit and told him, "Hunter, I told you, you don't have to bow like that."

He started rubbing the back of his head, "Sorry, force of habit."

"It's alright. But what are you doing?"

"Well, the others are trying to help by getting jobs on the weekends. Amity works at the library, Willow at the flower shop, and Gus at the novelty shop. But I haven't had any luck, I just got fired from Chimichurri Sandwiches. And I have to be useful somehow while we're here, so I just started cleaning, I don't want to not support our causes."

Camila sighed a bit and told him, "Hunter, you're not in the Emperor's Coven anymore, you don't have to constantly be useful to stay here. We're not going to kick you out, we all care about you and want to help you."

Hunter looked a bit relieved, "I appreciate that Mrs. Noceda, but still, I think it's important to do my part and keep busy. It helps to keep your mind focused on other things." Just then a ding sound was heard, "Oh the laundry is done." Hunter headed to the laundry room after that, leaving a somewhat concerned-looking Camila in the living room.

Later at night, everyone currently living in the Noceda household was just finishing up dinner, in the living room since the kitchen table wasn't big enough for everyone. When they were done, Hunter began collecting the plates and told them, "I'll do the dishes." Before anyone could protest he had already rushed into the kitchen.

The group looked confused, with Camila concerny stating, "I think something is bothering Hunter. He's trying to do everything around here."

Amity commented while she petted Ghost, "It could still be part of the Emperor Coven mentality where he thinks he has to keep proving himself."

Camila nodded, "Maybe, but he seems like he's trying to keep busy to avoid talking about something." Upon hearing that, Luz, who was cradling and making sweet noise to her Pailsmen Egg, looked up with eyes of realization, which the rest of the group noticed. Her mother soon asked, "Mija, do you know something about this?"

Luz looked a bit nervous, as her eyes darted around a bit, "Um, I may have an idea of something that could be bothering him. But it's kind of personal and I promised I wouldn't tell until he was ready to talk about it."

Amity smiled at her, "That's very kind and considerate of you, Luz. But you should also know from personal experience how dangerous it is to hold something in for too long."

Gus added, "Yeah, Hunter's got to know where all here for him if he needs help." He turned to Emmiline on his shoulder who nodded in agreement.

Vee pointed out, "Being alone with your own dark thoughts for too long can be very dangerous. I should know." Camila was quick to give her adoptive daughter a reassuring hug.

Willow finally joined the conversation, "But still, we shouldn't force him to tell us if he really doesn't want to."

Putting his fingers to his chin, Gus pondered, "Maybe, but we have to do something. We're all getting worried about him."

Flapjack flew onto the table and added a few worried chirps to the conversation, with Luz saying, "And we're not the only ones. Even Flapjack here is concerned." She knelt down to the Pailsman, "You want to make sure Hunter is okay too, right?" The little bird nodded his head.

As the group began to ponder what to do, Clover flew off of Willow's head and started buzzing around her, causing Willow to smile and say, "Good idea, Clover. I think I should talk to him and tell him that no matter what we're here for him when he's ready, and if he's comfortable talking about it I'll listen."