"So... How did it go?" Luz's hands shovelled into the pockets of her jacket, and she tilted her head slightly towards the Witch walking next to her. "You and Boscha haven't exactly talked much... In months, now that I think about it. Did anything happen?"
"Nothing happened." Amity assured her. "We just talked. It was..."
For a moment, Amity considered, replaying the encounter in her head, and comparing it to all the previous interactions that she had had with her former friend. Unquestioningly, it had been a vast improvement, that wasn't even up for debate. But still, that didn't mean that she fully knew how she felt about the whole affair, or what she thought about Boscha now.
"...Better than I expected." She said, eventually. "I... I think I'd need to speak to her more to really say one way or the other."
Just because she was undeniably better than she was in the past didn't mean Amity was convinced that she was suddenly a decent person. But it didn't mean she could, or was going to, dismiss the entire idea outright. Especially given the nature, and one of the causes of that change.
She and Boscha had both gone down almost the exact same route, just for different people, and had ended up at similar places. It would be hypocritical to not at least give her the opportunity now.
Or rather, let Willow give her the opportunity, since that was what it came down to at the end of the day.
"...What about her and Willow?" Luz asked, tentatively, her mind apparently in the same place. "D'you think those two are, y'know..."
"...That depends on Willow."
The terms 'Awkward' and 'Comfortable' were usually in direct contradiction to one another. They meant completely different things, and were extremely distinct feelings from one another. Luz had felt both of them plenty of times before, especially ever since arriving on the Boiling Isles, and hadn't thought that it was possible for anything to feel both comfortable and awkward at the same time.
But that was how it felt now, talking, and walking next to Amity, passing trees, and the occasional other person as they made their way down the path between Hexside and Bonesborough. A slightly awkward, but comfortable walk.
Really, it shouldn't have been comfortable in any way, and maybe comfortable wasn't the right word - It was difficult for Luz to describe. Given what she knew about Amity's feelings towards her though, there was a part of her brain that was telling her that she shouldn't be as relaxed and comfortable around her as she had been for the last week, or as comfortable as she was right now. Pretty much everything that she had grown up seeing, from books, to films, to how the people she went to school with back on Earth acted around people that even she could tell had crushes on one another, or knew someone else had a crush on them, told her that she shouldn't be comfortable in this situation.
But it didn't change the fact that she just... Was. She just was comfortable around Amity.
Maybe it was because it wasn't like the last time this had happened when people had done this for a prank, and she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Amity was telling the truth. Maybe she had finally gotten used to the idea of people even liking her as a person - If not necessarily in a romantic sense. Maybe it was how much she valued Amity's friendship, and how she knew that because of that, because of how close they were irrespective of all of this, she could trust Amity. She didn't know - But make sense or not, Luz simply was comfortable around her, even knowing what she did.
Both of them walked down the path from Hexside headed towards Bonesborough, down the same path that they would normally take whenever they left the school for the day. Given that for the last couple of weeks, the school had been closed to prepare for Valeween, and allow people to recover from the aftermath of it, walking down said path again was almost comforting in and of itself - Something familiar among a sea of uprooted routines and feelings. No matter how small it was, that little bit of familiarity did bring a feeling of comfort to the pair of them. One small bit of consistency in a sea of confusion.
Over the course of the past week, uprooted feelings were all that Luz had been dealing with, as she tried to figure out what her feelings were towards Amity. It had been practically the only thing that had been on her mind, and every other train of thought always returned to it. Amity's forced confession had forced the Human to reconsider practically everything that she had thought that she knew about their relationship, and she'd been doing that constantly.
Without really thinking about it, Luz glanced towards Amity from the corner of her eye as the two of them walked down the path together. Her eyes met with Amity's - She was also stealing a glance at the Human. They both paused for a second, and then looked away from one another, their faces feeling warmer than before.
Instances like this were where the awkwardness had come from. Lots of small things, like the way that Luz noticed Amity looked at her now, or the way she would act, or the things that she would say. Things like that which just a couple of weeks ago, Luz wouldn't have thought anything of. Now she understood them perfectly.
And yet Luz still never felt uncomfortable. Slightly embarrassed, sure, but never uncomfortable.
In fact, even that little interaction normally wouldn't have made Luz's face heat up just a few hours ago. It was the question that had risen in her mind while she spoke with Willow that made her react the way she had.
The question of if she was in love with Amity.
Both of them walked in silence for a couple of minutes, a bit too awkward to say anything to the other. They passed by a couple of Witches who were headed up to Hexside, for whatever reason. Once they were past, Luz found her voice, slightly quieter than normal. "Hey, er... Good job, with the Grudgby stuff. I know I said that already, but it was cool to see you playing again."
"O - Oh." Amity's cheeks went a bit redder, and Luz could see her ear twitch lightly at the compliment, though she didn't look towards the Human. "Thank you... And... Thanks for encouraging me to play, too. I... I had fun."
Luz smiled, happy that when Amity mentioned Boscha's offer earlier in the week, she had encouraged the Witch to go for it. It had been a change of pace that it was clear Amity had needed, if only to give her something else to focus on for a while. She was glad her friend had had fun.
"I'm glad." She said aloud, accompanied with a nod. Another pause followed, and then, another question did. "How are Emira and Edric doing?"
"Emira is fine." Amity answered more or less immediately. "So is Viney. She didn't say anything that hadn't already been said." A pause. "Apparently."
"Did you have any idea?"
"I didn't even know who Viney was until a week ago, nevermind that you knew her."
"I didn't even know they knew each other. Small Isles, I guess" Luz shrugged. The fact that Emira was with Viney throughout the entirety of Valeween at least explained why she hadn't been in Blight Manor at the time of the attack. And the revelation of their relationship had been... A surprise, to say the least. Still, Luz chose to stay on topic. "What about Edric?"
Amity paused slightly before she answered this time. "He's... Okay, I guess." Her face scrunched up, like she was trying to find the right words for what she wanted to say. She was less sure about her brother. "He's... I think he's taking a couple of the comments he got a bit hard, but aside from that I think he's okay."
Again, Luz nodded. Being in a group was safer, but it came with risks when it came to the Cherubim. Apparently Edric had been with a group of friends, and a few of them had gotten hit by their beams, and revealed that there were issues they had with Edric - What those were, Amity hadn't said, and Luz didn't think it was a good idea to ask. It wasn't her business anyway. But she understood how it most likely bothered the older Blight.
"He says he'll figure it out." Amity added on, sounding more certain about that. "He'll be fine. It'll just... Take a while."
Once more, Luz nodded.
A lot had happened, a lot had been revealed since Valeween, and it seemed like even a week later, everyone was still figuring out how to deal with all the fallout - Even people Luz knew had been directly affected while she wasn't there. Some were a lot more fortunate, like Emira and Viney were - Although the fact those two had been seeing one another for months and that absolutely no one had noticed had been quite the surprise to everyone. And apparently, that explained why Luz had seen her in one of the wounded tents during the event - and some who were less fortunate, like Edric, and the experiences he had had throughout the invasion.
Compared to them, Amity and Luz seemed to be caught in a weird middle ground, and were still figuring out what that meant to each of them. And where to go from there.
The reason that Luz had asked though hadn't been born out of concern for the Blight siblings - Though she was, of course, concerned about them. The primary reason that she had asked though was to fill the silence. Because after that glance at one another, and the thoughts bouncing around in the Humans head, the silence would have been a bit too awkward for her.
It should have been the first question thing that she considered - If her feelings for Amity ran that deep. Her feelings weren't just that of friendship - There was something more there, and she had said as much - But putting a name on it, or even figuring out where it was on the scale between friendship and romantic interest - That was hard. That was nearly impossible.
Maybe that was why Luz had just... Not even allowed that thought to seep into her mind.
Even if that... Really wasn't fair to Amity, now that she really thought about it.
But the issue was again, she didn't know - She didn't have anything else to compare it to. She'd never been the subject of someone's crush before. She'd never once been told that she was someone's crush before. She'd had - She'd had some crushes herself, but Amity was different. So was it that? Or was it something else?
Luz didn't know.
She did know though, that since the thought had snuck into her head - And for the thought sneaking into her head, she was absolutely going to blame Boscha and Willow, and the way they were acting towards one another - That when she looked at Amity, and Amity looked back at her?
Her face felt red and her heart felt tight.
It felt more like fear than it did anything else.
And that didn't make any sense. What was it that could be making her afraid? It couldn't be rejection - She knew how Amity felt about her.
So what the heck was even going on with her?
When the girls arrived in Bonesborough, Luz couldn't help but be reminded of the end-of-the-month street markets back on Earth. At least, in terms of the aesthetics that the town was going for.
With the usual Boiling Isles spin on it, naturally.
Stalls were being set up, scattered on either side of the streets to maximise space, and banners of various sorts were hung from buildings, walls, and magical streetlights. Some of them were brightly coloured, but more in theme with the Boiling Isles, many more were using darker colours like purple and turquoise, nearly half of them had eyes, and Luz could have sworn that half of those were alive.
One of them absolutely was.
"Prepare, one-and-all!" It yelled as it was laid out on the side of the pavement, as though it were a vendor itself. "For the Passover Festivus of the Valeween Menace has arrived! Prepare yourselves for an evening of celebration and - Ow!" It yelped as the vendor who owned it tossed other belongings on top of it, leaving its sentences muffled as the vendor began to set up their stall.
Luz winced slightly as she and Amity walked past it, but by now, she was used to all the many oddities that the Isles threw in front of her. A talking banner barely even registered as odd to her anymore.
This morning, there hadn't been any of this going on - When Luz had walked through Bonesborough to go to Hexside, it had seemed like everyone was going about their usual post-Valeween business - Staying as far away from those whom they now had awkward experiences with as possible, and just getting through the day. Now though, there were dozens of people on every corner, trying to get the town ready for the upcoming event, and there was a weird atmosphere that merged a feeling of anticipation with the tension that had hung over the Isles.
People were looking forward to the Passover Festivus. And Luz felt like she could understand why. After all of this, things on the Isles would begin to return to normal.
Or at least feel like they were normal.
"Oh, wow." Luz breathed as she and Amity passed by some of the banners being hung up - They were far more colourful than much of what she had seen on the Isles before. Like tapestries that were printed for flags. "Wow, those are cool." As simple as it sounded, that was really all Luz could say about them.
All the bright colours stood out against the darker tones that Bonesborough architecture was made from. It brought a feeling of vibrancy to the place. They were cool.
"They're traditional." Amity explained, scanning over a few of them herself. "The colours are supposed to help put people in a good mood."
"Does it work?"
"I think so."
As they walked, Luz took note of Amity's reaction to the new decorations that were being put up - And there was a smile on her lips as she observed and walked past the new decor.
Evidently, it was doing its job.
"You been to one of these before?" Luz asked.
"Just once." Amity's head fell slightly. "Last Valeween."
"Oh." Luz blinked, knowingly, remembering what amity had told her about her parents, and the experience she had had last Valeween - She was too young to remember her first Valeween, her second was a nightmare scenario, and her third and final one had just passed.
In hindsight, it had been a stupid question to ask.
"S - Sorry." She quickly tried to apologise. "I - I didn't mean to - "
"It's fine." Amity quickly assured her with a soft smile. "You don't need to tip-toe around that for my sake. Things are..."
A slight pause.
"...Things now are different from when I told you about that." Her cheeks reddened.
Luz's did too. She understood what Amity meant perfectly.
Turning away from Luz, Amity re-focused on the nearest colourful banner, trying to manage her blush. "A - Anyway, my parents were here doing... Something. I don't remember what it was exactly. I think they'd been asked here personally because of the contributions they'd made to keep themselves away from the defenders line, but I don't remember what they were here for exactly."
Somehow, Luz had a feeling that Amity hadn't felt the need to commit the reason to memory, for obvious reasons.
"They didn't really spend any time around me, so I just explored the Festivus and looked at what was happening."
"...What's the Festivus like?" The Human asked, choosing her words carefully, both curious about the celebration, and eager to steer the topic away from Amity's parents - Amity dealt with that topic enough as it was.
"It... Depends a lot on where you go." The Witch said, slowly. "It's split up into two different areas, and the smaller one is where people who have grievances go to... Deal with that."
Willow had mentioned that earlier, Luz noted. It was still weird to her that the Isles essentially had a 'Beat each other up to get it out of your system' corner of what was supposed to be a celebration... But then again, people on Earth couldn't set each other on fire with a flick of their wrists, so it made a degree of sense, she supposed. Better than the alternative.
"It's... Honestly kind of terrifying. Everyone looks like they want to kill each other. There's usually a bunch of Emperor's Coven there to make sure it doesn't get too out of hand, but, yeah. It's not pleasant around there."
"Yikes." Was all Luz could say in response. Then she blinked. "Wait, they let an eight year old in that part of the Festivus?"
"I'm... Almost certain that there was someone younger than me actually fighting by the time I got there."
Luz just blinked again, several times. "...Man, this place is wild sometimes."
Thankfully, no one that she knew had gotten affected in such a way the Cherubim Rays. So it wasn't like she was going to have to go to that side of the Festivus anyway. But it was interesting to note.
For some reason, her mind went back to those two guys she had seen fighting back when she and Boscha had been running to Willow's house to find them - Hegio and Letca, if she remembered right. She wondered if they would be there, doing... That entire thing. She wouldn't know though.
Frankly, she was glad that she wouldn't know.
"A - As for the other side..." Amity stammered out, her cheeks getting redder and redder. "That was - "
"Ms. Blight?" From just behind them, a polite, masculine voice addressed Amity directly.
Turning around to face the source of it, both Luz and Amity's eyes fell upon Beckham - The butler that Luz recognised had been trapped underneath that support beam when she arrived at the aflame Blight Manor on Valeween itself. Luz hadn't seen him once since then, and had only heard from Amity that he was apparently okay, but when Luz asked, Amity had said she hadn't seen him since either.
Meaning that this had the first time that the two of them had run into one another since. Amity's reaction was proof enough of that.
Around his forehead were a few bandages from an injury that apparently hadn't been bothered to be healed in favour of those with more serious injuries, and his clothing was far more casual than what Luz had seen him in last, sporting a typical Boiling Isles leather and cloth amalgamation, but his handsome face, his masculine voice, and even the way he simply addressed Amity made him unmistakable.
For just a moment, neither the butler, nor Amity moved, and just registered one another's presences. A moment where they just sort of stared at one another and didn't know what else they were supposed to do.
Amity broke the stalemate after that moment passed, quickly closing the gap between the two of them, and hugging Beckham as tightly as she was able to.
The act seemed to surprise Beckham for a few seconds, and his hands raised up just in front of his chest, like he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do with them. But after those seconds passed, he allowed himself to smile, and return the gesture.
Luz knew next to nothing about the relationship that these two shared - She barely even knew Beckham - But there was a certain kind of closeness present between the two that made the Human smile. One that Amity valued.
"...I haven't heard from you since Valeween." Amity said, as she ended the hug and let go of the man.
"...I heard that you had been hit by a Cherubim." Beckham said, nodding as she let go. "I wanted to check up on you, Ms. Blight, and make sure that you were okay, but I wasn't told where you were residing after what happened at the manor."
"My parents didn't tell you?" Amity asked, but she didn't sound surprised in the slightest. It would amaze her if her parents even remembered the faces of half the people they hired.
"Given my position, I was contacted, but only to inform me that my services would still be required upon the restoration of the manor." There was a formality in his voice that Luz couldn't help but feel was odd, given the clothes he wore. But it made a certain level of sense - Amity was the child of the people who employed him, after all. "It was a message sent on their behalf rather than by them themselves, I assume. Very few of us have heard from them since Valeween, I'm afraid."
"Yeah... That sounds like them." Amity nodded, her voice disturbingly neutral. "...I'm guessing that they'll be hiring people to have a proper investigation when they get back to figure out the cause of the fire."
A slight shiver ran down Amity's spine at that, that made the rest of her body shake slightly. Luz only noticed because she had all her attention on the conversation between the two. That was... Something that she hadn't actually considered.
Given that Amity was the cause of said fire... What her parents would do when they figured that out...
It made Luz take a step forward, with the intention of hugging Amity to try to comfort her.
"Those of us that were there realize that." Beckham agreed. As he spoke though, his now folded arms unfolded, and his hands rested themselves upon Amity's shoulders, gently. "And we've also agreed that they won't learn anything from us."
"What?" Amity's eyes widened. "Beckham, you can't be - If anyone figured out that you were there and didn't tell them everything that you know, you'd be arrested!"
"And had you not fought for all of us the way you did, there is a very good chance some of us could have died." Beckham responded, calmly. "There is a very good chance that I could have died."
"But you - "
"Ms. Blight." Beckham's voice became just that small bit firmer. "You had no real obligation to fight for us the way that you did. All of us were hired to serve the Blight family, and part of that would involve protecting you. And throughout the course of my employment, and throughout the course of everyone's employment, you've had no reason to treat us as kindly as you have either. And perhaps to you, that seems like common decency, but to us, it's a rarity. It's something that we're not used to in this line of work, and... Particularly within your family - But you made it a much more pleasant experience."
He smiled.
"None of us are willing those acts of kindness to be punished. So, please do not fight us on this, Ms. Blight. We have all already agreed on this."
It took a few seconds for Amity to react to that, and when she did react, it was to hug Beckham again.
A smile that Luz couldn't even begin to try to hide spread itself across her lips. For some reason, her mind went back to Valeween, how she and Amity had fought the Cherubim together, ended up trapped together, and the things that Amity had said to her while she was under the influence of the Cherubim's Beams. How she had said that she thought that she wasn't capable of changing from the person she saw herself as. And Luz wondered if that referred to how she treated the people her parents employed too.
Luz didn't know how Amity treated them before she arrived on the Isles - If Beckham statements were anything to go by, either she had changed in how she treated them, or she had always treated them with that level of respect - And that was something Luz didn't want her to change about herself.
The smile just grew.
But only for a few seconds.
Amity and Beckham spoke with one another, catching up and exchanging experiences and stories over what had happened since they had seen one another last, and as they did, Luz zoned out slightly, and looked around at the various decorations going up again. The decorations really were incredible, and the artist inside her could have admired them for hours. Her mind wandered, though.
In a couple of days, this Passover Festivus - This festival, in whatever form it would take, would arrive. And then everything on the Isles would return to a semblance of normalcy. And according to Willow, it was an informal tradition for those who gave a confession of love while affected by the Cherubim to ask those they confessed to to said festival. And Amity hadn't done that to Luz. And Luz felt like she knew why.
There was something... Overwhelmingly frustrating about that, that almost made Luz want to yell at something - She understood how Amity felt perfectly well, without any possibility of doubt, but didn't have a clue how she herself felt.
Or she just couldn't put a name on it. Or she was focusing on the wrong feelings. Or she was convincing herself something was there when there wasn't anything.
Or maybe she was trying to convince herself there was nothing there when something was.
Something big. But that was the problem.
She didn't know!
This wasn't how feelings were supposed to work - There was no possible way that what was happening to her could have happened on Earth! The more that Luz looked around, and saw the ways that the Witches of the Isles had built a system that worked for them, accounted for their circumstances and needs, even if it was just as difficult for them as it was for her, they at least seemed to understand it all better.
But she was a Human, and a Human who had lived on earth her entire life - She didn't know the first thing about any of this - But it was now what she was faced with figuring out!
Calling it frustrating was an understatement - Though if a better word for it existed, Luz didn't know what it would be.
Luz wanted answers to these feelings that she had, that she couldn't word properly, or really interpret. She wanted to know why this feeling was so impossible to describe, why it felt like this bizarre mix of fondness and fear. Why she hadn't been able to make any headway on figuring out what it meant in over a week. She wanted to be able to explain it to herself. She wanted to be able to explain it to Amity.
All of it was just a mess in her head, but...
She wanted to go to this Festivus.
Maybe her reasons and her logic didn't make any sense, if she even had any coherent reasons to begin with. She didn't know if it would help or not. She didn't even know what exactly to expect. But she wanted to go.
With Amity.
"...So her father made her quit the position." As Luz returned her attention back to Amity and Beckham's conversation, she caught the end of a situation that Beckham had been describing to Amity. "Ms. Bo's safety was far more important to him than his own well-being. Ms. Bo said that he opposed her working at the manor in the first place."
"It's understandable." Amity nodded, slowly. "But isn't he still sick with Ivory fever? How're they supposed to afford food if he's not well?"
"You needn't worry on that front, Ms. Blight. We're all going to make sure that Ms. Bo is looked after. That's why I'm here in the first place." Beckham explained. "Warren - My husband - He's with the Healing Coven, and he's seeing if there's anything that he can do to help, and me and the wife, Saoirse, we're here to acquire foodstuffs for them. And Mr. Elliot will be seeing to their needs tomorrow."
It looked like a weight had been lifted off Amity's shoulders to hear that. "I'm... I'm glad that all the staff look after one another."
"Of course. Ms. Bo performed her duties with grace and efficiency, and she was a joy to be around. It's only natural that we try to return that favour to her however we can."
"I'm sure she appreciates it."
"Did your parents not think it would be like... Super weird to hire someone you go to school with?" Luz stepped forward and asked - It was a question that she had actually been wondering about since she first learned that Bo had been under the Blight family's employ.
She was also slightly alarmed that such a hire wasn't illegal here but that was beside the point right now.
"I seriously doubt that they cared all that much." Amity answered, simply. "It probably didn't even cross their minds that it might make things more awkward for me at Hexside."
"I... Seriously hate your parents, Amity."
Amity had to actually suppress a single, half-bitter, half genuinely amused laugh at the bluntness of that statement.
"Begging your pardon," Beckham said suddenly, polite as ever, and reaching his hand out for Luz to shake, "I'm terribly sorry, I barely recognized you - You were the one who was with Ms. Blight at the manor, correct? It was such a hectic moment, I don't think I recall your name."
Accepting the handshake, Luz smiled. "I'm Luz! I'm one of Amity's..." A slight pause, as Luz considered what exactly their relationship even was right now. "...Friends."
That answer seemed to spark something in Beckham's eyes either way. Another, less polite, and more knowing smile spread across his lips. "Aaah! So you're the famous Human Ms. Blight speaks so highly of."
Luz's cheeks reddened. "Wait, she does what now?"
"Okay yep we're leaving right now." A now crimson -red Amity quickly said, grabbing hold of Luz's wrist and doing everything in her power to pull the Human away from the man. "Come on Luz we have places to be which are exactly anywhere that aren't here!"
"Wait, hold on Amity! What've you been saying about me to this - "
"It's been great seeing you Beckham but we have to go now, goodbye!" A flustered Amity said with a minimal wave of farewell, before pulling her crush as far away from the man who had heard more of her rambles about Luz from Amity than she was comfortable with anyone hearing - Which was exactly no one.
Amused and holding back a laugh, Beckham gave the two of them a gentle, but knowing wave. "I shall hope to see the pair of you again soon!" He called after, knowing exactly what words he was choosing as he bid them his own farewell.
And being the man of moderate faith he was, sent a small, humble prayer to the Titan that the young Witch's experience in the romance before her would end in her favour.
Even fluster-based silences between Luz and Amity at this point were this weird combination of comfortable and awkward.
Granted, Amity hadn't really stopped blushing since the two of them had split off from Beckham, but there was a sort of mutual understanding that she and Luz had wordlessly shared - Amity's feelings were in the open now, and Luz didn't make light of them, or tease Amity for them in any way. It didn't make it less embarrassing, but it did at least give Amity the sense of comfort to not just run as far away as possible from Luz while making up some extremely vague excuse.
When it became obvious that the subject embarrassed Amity way too much, Luz decided to not ask what, exactly, Beckham had meant. She could hazard a few guesses, but if Amity wasn't comfortable telling her, she wouldn't push it.
Amity was thankful for that.
As they walked through the town though, passing by more people setting up the various Festivus decorations, and got closer and closer to Amity's temporary house, Luz couldn't help but at the very least comment, "That Beckham guy seems nice."
For a second, Amity paused, like she was expecting a joke or a punchline of some sort. When none came, she relaxed, and nodded. "He is."
A quiet then fell between the two of them again, and Luz found herself lost in her thoughts, and within her internal contradictions once more.
She still had no answers.
The building that Amity and the other Blight siblings were staying in while the Construction Coven went about their work around Bonesborough before attending to Blight Manor, was on the outskirts of the town - A newer building, compared to the ones in the centre of the town. It was fairly large, easily making up at least three stories, but it's exterior wasn't even anything coming close to the sheer levels of complexity that Blight Manor had had. Mostly it was just plain stone, with extremely utilitarian architecture. What exactly the Blight Family got out of owning a place like this under normal circumstances was honestly a mystery, but right now, neither Amity nor Luz questioned it. It was a place to stay, and right now, that was the only thing that mattered.
Both girls stood there for a moment, silently acknowledging that this was where they would part ways for today, but not making a step to separate yet.
"Do... Do you want to come in and see Emira and Edric?" Amity asked, slightly awkwardly. "You haven't seen them in a while. They um... Asked about you yesterday. They heard you were injured."
"I'd like to, but... I promised Eda I'd run some errands for her when the Grudgby game was finished." Luz said, shrugging her shoulders, so the potion bottles within her bag hit one another to indicate their presence. "I should probably get on with that before it gets dark."
"Right, right..."
A few seconds passed. And in those few seconds, Luz's mind wandered again.
Was Amity going to ask?
"...Thanks, Luz." Amity said, quietly. "For showing up for the game today. And for convincing me to actually play..." A slight pause. "...And for walking me back here."
"N - No problem." Luz answered, quickly pulling herself back. "It was - It was fun to watch. I'm - I'm glad you had fun."
"It was... A good change of pace."
Luz nodded. Both of them looked up at Amity's temporary home for a few moments, before Amity let out a small sigh, though Luz couldn't tell if it was from exhaustion, or from something else.
"...I'll let you know when I get back to the Owl House, okay?" Luz promised, giving her friend a small smile.
Amity nodded back, gently. "Right."
With that, she began to walk towards the front door, and Luz couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment herself. Wasn't Amity going to ask her about the Festivus?
It was a weird feeling, being caught between the confusion of not knowing what she felt, but also knowing that she wanted to go to this festival with Amity, regardless of what the implications of that may or may not be. It felt like two different gangs of butterflies were fighting one another inside her stomach. Like she had drunk spoiled milk, and decided the best solution for a lactose-intolerant would be to drink half a bottle of soda. Only she didn't feel sick.
If for no other reason, she wanted to figure this all out so her own internal dialogue would start making some kind of sense.
A small sigh escaped her, and she turned around, and took a few steps away from the building.
And then she stopped.
What was it that she had thought in the past? Back when she first saw Willow with Boscha after Valeween?
That traditions were dumb anyway. Formal or informal. Traditions changed. They died. They became something else if left alone for enough time. They didn't remain the same over time. And Luz had broken plenty of traditions in her life, both back on Earth, and on the Isles.
So why in the world was she going along with this one?
Why didn't she just ask Amity to the Festivus?
What in the world was stopping her from doing that?
In her head, she quickly came to the conclusion that her contradictory feelings had stopped her from seeing basic sense, but shook her head - She could dwell more about that later on if she wanted to. Instead, she took a deep breath, and turned around.
"Amity - "
"Luz - "
" - Do you wanna go to the Festivus together?"
" - Will you go to the Passover with me?"
"Huh?"
"What?"
Both had turned around at the same moment, and spoken with both conviction and speed that they hadn't realised the other had done the same until they had finished.
When they both registered what had happened, they both just froze for a few seconds, trying to make sure that they had heard the other person correctly. Once it fully registered, both of them felt a blush spreading across their cheeks.
"S - Sorry!" Of the two of them, Luz was the one who ended up breaking the silence first, and suddenly feeling like she was being hit by a wave of awkwardness. "I just - I didn't - I know it's supposed to be a - A... Thing that... People who get hit by Cherubim are supposed to do but I - I didn't know if you wanted to ask or if you didn't feel like even going to the Festivus a - and I didn't even know that this was a thing until like, a couple of hours ago, I - "
"I - I didn't think you'd want to go." Amity said, a lot quieter, but it was enough for Luz to stop her rambling. Her eyes darted to the side, trying to avoid looking at Luz's directly. "I... I didn't want to put you in a situation that you weren't comfortable with. This... " Her hands joined, and her fingers began to prod and poke at one another. "...I know this whole mess is... Awkward."
"Y... Yeah." That was... An understatement, to be sure.
"But..." She looked back at Luz.
There was an awkward, wavering smile on her now red face.
"...I... I do want to go with you."
Luz felt herself gulp. That... Was that then. They didn't really need to exchange any more words.
They would go together.
"..Why do you want to go, though?"
That made Luz blink. "Huh?"
"I - I'm just.... Surprised." The Witch explained. "I thought that you might have been uncomfortable going with me, given... Everything."
For a moment, Luz thought about the best way to put it. Her eyes diverted in the same way Amity's had just a few seconds ago. The words came to her slowly.
"...I want to know how I feel about you." She eventually said, carefully. To be honest, she didn't fully understand herself. "And I... Don't know how to explain it... But this feels important to me..."
She made her eyes return to look at Amity, even though they wanted to look away in fluster.
"...Because it feels important to you."
Quickly, and fairly quietly, Luz went about Bonesborough, dropping off the packages for Eda that she had promised to do. She barely spoke a word to anyone who she delivered to. Her mind was full of thoughts and her chest was full of anticipation.
The Festivus was the day after tomorrow. And it was already getting fairly late as she went about her deliveries. So that translated to basically having one day to actually... Figure out what she was supposed to do for this thing.
Was she supposed to wear something in particular? What was she going to find when she got there? What would she feel when she was there?
What did she even feel now? Did she expect that going to this festival would just... Make everything make sense to her? She couldn't even properly explain why it was important to her to go. Why she wanted to go with Amity.
It wasn't that she felt some sort of obligation to Amity - Not in that way, at least. Amity had stressed that point more times than Luz could count, and even if she hadn't, doing that to Amity wouldn't be fair. It wouldn't be right. She wanted to make sure her feelings - Whatever they were - Were genuine.
Difficult when she didn't know what they were.
With the last package delivered, Luz let out a sigh, and looked around her. More decorations. More stalls. After tomorrow, the streets would be alive, with all manner of people, all facing similar problems to her. But she knew they would be more like Willow - Facing a problem that they struggled with emotionally and mentally, but knowing how to proceed. Having an idea of how to proceed. Knowing what was in front of them.
Simultaneously, Luz was both looking forward to it, and was dreading it. The butterflies in her stomach stirred up again.
Whatever these feelings were, they were contradictory. Circulatory. And Luz wasn't sure how much more of it she would be able to take.
She needed to figure out what she felt.
Quickly.
Heyo, everyone! It's been a bit since I updated this fic huh? Apologies for that, my Uni workbook up a lot more time than I thought it did and it stressed me out a fair bit, so I took a bit of a break, played through the entire Wolfenstein Trilogy (We don't talk about Youngblood, stop asking), and just chilled out a bit. And now, I'm back, hopefully to wrap this story up soon!
The last couple of chapters have been tricky, and I do worry this chapter feels a bit samey, especially with Luz's confusion, but I hope that with the next chapter, you'll see why this one was necessary - Feedback I've gotten from the friends I've shared my plans with has been pretty positive, so I'm looking forward to getting that one out!
For those of you who might be a bit confused regarding Beckham's family- He's a pansexual man who is in a polyamorous relationship, where all three members are married to one another. I didn't just forget I gave him a Husband and a Wife in the exact same sentence twice now, this is a very deliberate choice. People seem to really like Beckham, which amuses me to no end, so, there you go - Some nice lore about him for ya'll.
Also wanna thank everyone for their feedback on the "Passover" name from last chapter - I got a lot of responses, and as you can see, I've changed it to the Passover Festivus, and if you go back to the last chapter (as of the 21st of January, for future readers) I've changed the chapter around slightly to accommodate the new name of the Festivus. I kind of forgot Passover was an actual holiday - Woops.
Also, once again - And this time with genuine hatred - Fuck MAGA's.
Hopefully the next chapter will come out sooner than the wait between this chapter and the last - BUT I hope that you all enjoyed! And I'll see you next time! See ya!