Darius and Raine visit the Owl House the following day to get to know the teens better outside of their rebellious rebuilding. They walk into the living room while Gus is animatedly sharing a Cosmic Frontier story with Lilith and Steve, the others chiming in when they have something to add, either because they read the book, or because he's talked about it enough they know when he's leaving something out. Darius and Raine settle in to listen to the story, Hunter sliding over to fill them in on who the characters are so Gus doesn't have to break his flow.
When Gus has finished, he looks to his audience and says, "So...who wants to go pretend to be humans in space and aliens and stuff outside?"
From the door, they hear, "Hoot hoot, I do!"
"OK, so we have an alien," Gus says. "Anybody else?"
Hunter stands up, "I will! I'll go get my jacket." He hurries out of the room.
Gus beams, "Good for you, Hunter!" He turns to the others, "You all figure out if you're playing or not. I've got my own uniform, too!"
Willow shrugs, "Why not? Let's all play together. And that includes the adults."
Raine shakes their head, "I'm not so sure I know the story well enough for this game."
"You know about as much as I do," Amity says, "I've never read it. I've just heard Gus talk about it. A lot."
Darius shrugs, "I mean, why not? Come on, Raine, we came here to play. Let's see what this is about."
"I find the 'humans in space' plot a little ridiculous," they say.
Luz giggles, "We've actually been to space multiple times. Well, not me, and not most people, but humans sent up rockets and then space shuttles and then back to rockets again. Want to see?" A little stunned, Raine nods, and Luz brings out her phone to show them some of the videos and pictures she has saved on it. "It took a little while for them to believe me, too, but it's real – humans have even landed on the moon!"
"Well I'll be...." Raine says, voice trailing off in awe.
"It's pretty nifty. I want to be there for a rocket launch some day – just watching, not in it or anything. I think it would be neat to see. I've heard it's so loud."
Camila nods, "I used to watch the shuttle launches on the television when I was a child. I saw every one of them they broadcast, including the tragedy."
Raine looks up from the pictures, "Tragedy?"
She nods, "About six years into the shuttle program, one of them exploded during launch. All seven people in it were killed. There was a second, nearly twenty years later, that broke up coming back to Earth. And before I was born, there was a fire on the launchpad during testing of a capsule that killed three men. But there have been dozens of successful launches and studies in space and several moon landings as well."
Raine stares at the photos on Luz's phone, "I've got a lot to learn about the human realm."
"You should visit sometime," Luz offers, "once we get a portal door stable that we can just go back and forth with. Like what Eda had when I first got here."
"I miss that suitcase door," Eda replies, "What a neat find...."
"Maybe we can figure out who built it and make another," Willow says, "I mean, we tried to build one in the human realm, and that didn't work, but if Belos could figure out how to do it, it's not impossible. We're just kids right now, but...well, if we could sneak into the castle and rifle around a bit, I'm sure we could find notes and research. He had to write it down somewhere."
Darius shrugs, "I mean, you're not wrong. But I'm not sure where we'd start."
"We can worry about that once we've handled Belos and the Collector," Camila says, "Right now...we're playing Cosmic Frontier."
Raine shakes their head, "Sure, why not? Can't hurt to play, right?"
Darius shifts his hand into his fluid abomination material, "Well, I can probably make a pretty good alien, so...let's go with this."
He stands up and the others join him, stretching, as Hunter and Gus bound into the room with their costumes, "To space!" Gus shouts, dragging Hunter after him. Hunter can't stop laughing as they tumble out of the house, giddy for the game with the entire group of friends, adults and teens.
The morning passes quickly and it takes effort for Lilith and Steve to tear themselves away from the game to make lunch. They call everyone inside. There is a jostling for the bathroom sink as they clean the dirt and grass stains from their hands and some of the kids go to change their clothes. Hunter and Gus head to the bedroom and take off their now-grimy uniforms.
"We should wash these before too long," Hunter says, "We don't want the stains to set."
Gus shrugs, "You really haven't done the laundry since we got back, have you?" Hunter shakes his head, "And you didn't ever do laundry in the castle, did you?"
"No...."
"You only ever did laundry in the human realm?" Gus asks.
"Yeah. I mean, I repaired some things...badly, and did little stuff, but...I didn't really take care of things in the castle. I was just told what to do and where to go and told where to put things...." Hunter says, "So yeah. I only know the human way to do some of these things. Just one more way I'm not sure how I'm going to make things work here." He sighs. "Just one more way I'm half-a-witch."
Gus takes their laundry and tosses it on the bed, "We'll deal with this later. Let's get clean duds on and then I'll give you a hug." Gus brings them matching swishing paisley pants and some sweaters, "There. This'll be comfy." They dress, then Gus sits down on the bed and pats beside him, "Sit for a sec."
Hunter does as he's asked, "Yeah?"
"You do know you don't have to, right? Whenever I ask you to do something, you just...do it. It's not an order, just a friendship."
Hunter nods, "I know. And that's why I'm OK with it – it isn't an order. You're my friend and so I want to."
Gus smiles, "And that's why I want to give my friend a hug. You're not just 'half-a-witch'. I heard that from Willow for years when people talked down to her. But she's the strongest witch our age – heck, she's stronger than several of the adults I know. So I don't want to hear you cutting yourself down. Willow wasn't that great when she was trying to force herself into the abomination track, but when she switched to plants, she was phenomenal." He puts his arm around Hunter's shoulders, "You're doing great. You've learned a lot, even just in the time I've known you. You're fun, you're nice, and you're my friend. I'm super proud of you. You even wore your Cosmic Frontier uniform today without it feeling uncomfortable."
Hunter slowly smiles, "Yeah, you're right. I did."
"See? You're getting there. You've been through a lot, but you keep going. And that's what's important."
"Thanks, Gus," Hunter says, giving him a hug, "I'm glad I've got a brother like you."
"Same, Hunter. I'm so glad you're my big brother." He sits back when Hunter lets him go, "But it's also time for lunch and I'm hungry after wrestling with Amity over that stick we were calling a laser knife."
Hunter laughs, "Yeah, it was a good morning. Let's go get see what Lilith made us."
They rejoin the others in the kitchen where Lilith and Steve have created a breakfast-for-lunch buffet and the rest of the family is already serving themselves, meandering into the living room to settle in for a little while before whatever shenanigans they'll come up with after lunch.
Games, illusions, abomination storytelling, and laughter follow lunch, with the group splitting up for different activities. Raine creates a world in the kitchen with their music along with Gus' illusions while Luz chases music-note butterflies and Lilith requests illusions from the human realm. Willow and Amity show off their combined strengths to Darius, Eda and Steve egging them on by suggesting monsters they can fight, begging Darius to shapeshift into them so the girls can take him down. He begrudgingly complies, but ends up laughing with them as they defeat him. Camila drifts between the groups, talking to Hooty and admiring the skills of the members of her family.
As dinner approaches, people calm down and drift in different directions. Gus, Lilith, and Raine take to the kitchen to start on dinner while Amity, Luz, and Steve race in the yard, flight vs. the motorcycle. Eda, Camila, and Hooty have tea and watch the chaos while Willow and Gus play cards in the living room. Hunter has retreated to the sewing machine, the quiet hum a nice reprieve from the day's activities. A few minutes after he's started working on his latest project, Darius knocks on the doorframe.
"Come on in, if you're OK with the quiet." Darius enters the room and Hunter nods toward the bed. "You can sit there, if you want. Sorry, I don't have another chair."
Darius forms one from abomination matter and sits next to Hunter, "It's alright, I can make one of my own."
He laughs, "Well, I suppose that's useful."
"So this is the sewing machine from the human realm?"
"Yep. And even though Luz showed me a video of how the thread loops work down in the bobbin, I still don't quite get how it can take two threads and lock them together to make these chains." He walks Darius through the parts of the machine, showing him how the bobbin inserts, how to thread it, and what parts move what other parts. Darius is fascinated and eager to see how it sews, so Hunter grabs a skirt from his pile of projects and shows him how to hem it.
Darius is enchanted, "It's brilliant. It makes the straight stitches so much faster."
"Yeah, I use it for all the long straight-aways and the stuff that would feel like it dragged on forever if I tried to do it by hand. My hand stitching's gotten really good, too. I even know how to embroider."
Darius looks impressed, "That's great, Hunter. Did you practice a lot in the human realm?"
"Yeah. Camila set up her sewing machine and I had it right in Gus and I's room. I started out with easy things, like my wolf shirt. Then I moved on to other stuff and sewed patches on jackets, fixed things that were broken, all that. It's calming, and it gets me out of my head."
"Sometimes that's necessary – the world's messed up."
"Yeah," Hunter replies, "it really is. Especially my world...well, my history. It's not as messed up right now, like, when I'm with the family. But if I think too hard about what I've been, what I am, how I was raised, who raised me, and the fact that I've nearly died something like three times, and the everything...well, getting out of my head makes a lot of sense."
Darius nods, "Is that why you're wearing the concealment stone at home? It's too much to not?"
Hunter self-consciously brushes his fingers over the stone and sighs, pausing his stitch line, "Yeah, kinda."
"Want to talk about it?" Darius offers.
Hunter shrugs, "I don't know."
"You don't have to."
"I feel like maybe I do, though. I owe you an explanation."
"You don't owe me anything," Darius says, "I'd like to know, but...this is up to you, not me." He pauses for a moment, watching the indecision flicker across Hunter's face, "It's alright if you don't want to say anything. I'm not Belos. I'm not going to demand an answer and hurt you if you can't give me the one I want."
Hunter's shoulders drop and he stares blankly at the sewing machine, "You knew about that?"
"I had my suspicions."
"Then why didn't you say anything?" Hunter says, a quiet anger sneaking into his voice.
Darius sighs, "I know I should have. I just never knew how to tell the most powerful person in the Isles that I wanted him to stop threatening you. I was afraid, and that's not a good excuse. I'm sorry, Hunter. I know all the coven heads should have paid closer attention and tried to make things better for you."
Hunter shrugs, "You did more than most, honestly. Even when you didn't know you did. When you told me I hadn't earned the cape, I set out to prove myself and found my real friends. You gave me the chance to keep connected to them. And when I found out what Belos really is, his history, all of it...the only reason I felt like I might have someplace safe to be is because of the messages I sent those friends on the scroll you gave me. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for that ." He quietly laughs, "I guess you never really think about how the little things turn out to be really big things...."
Darius nods, "I guess I never did, either."
"I don't blame you for not saying anything to Belos. I mean, I'm hurt that nobody stepped in, but I get why. Belos was scary when he was angry and everyone saw that. It was worse when we were alone, so how could any of you know?"
"I heard him yelling more than once," Darius says, "And I always felt bad for whomever he was yelling at. Too often, you'd come out looking disheveled and sad after."
"And you were one of the only people who ever asked if I was OK, even though I never answered," Hunter says, "I know it probably seemed useless to you, but it meant a lot to me."
"Why didn't you ever say anything?"
"Because what good would it have done?" Hunter asks, "I could have told you the truth and then Belos would have been even more angry when he found out I said anything. I could have lied, but you would have seen right through that. But as long as you were asking, I knew somebody noticed something was wrong, even if I couldn't tell." He shrugs, "So yeah, sometimes, everything is too much and I need to hide behind this." He taps the concealment stone. "Sometimes, I don't want to look in the mirror and see scars on my face that he left there. Other days, it's fine, that's me, and I'm OK with that. But it's been a busy day and I've already done one hard thing today. I need to be able to not do this hard thing."
Darius nods, taking a quiet moment to think on how he wants to respond, "OK. I understand. Both about why you never answered me and why you're wearing the stone. I don't know what else I can say, but I'm proud of you and I hope you know I'm trying to do better."
"I do."
"Would you like to tell me what hard thing you already did today?" Darius asks. "And again, you can say 'no' and I won't be mad."
"It's OK. You know that yellow outfit I was wearing when we were playing Cosmic Frontier?"
"Yeah."
"I was wearing it when Belos took over. It's been hard to wear it since. Gus has had me try it on for a little bit once in a while, just to try to remind me that we've made some great memories in it, too, but...it's been rough. Today was the first time I put it on and it didn't matter what he did to me, because it's not about that, it's about all the other times Gus and I were playing around in the basement, reading those books, telling our own stories, all that. And I'm really proud of myself for that."
Darius smiles, "That's a big step. I'm proud of you, too."
Hunter beams, "Really?"
"Yes. Really."
"It's so weird to me how you and Raine are nice to me...coven heads aren't nice to me. They call me a brat and tell me I have a grating and annoying voice or they say I try too hard, or I'm just the Emperor's useless magicless ward," Hunter says. "It's still a surprise, sometimes, even though I know you two aren't like that."
"Power brings out the worst in people," Darius replies, "Add jealousy on top of it and you were bound to be a target. That there wasn't any recognition that you were just a child when that started makes it all worse. And I can't say I did enough to step in or that I never said anything. I did. And I'm sorry."
"Thanks," he says, then he shrugs, "It's OK – that stuff is over now. And I really appreciate all you've done for me since we got back." He smiles, "So...want to learn how to use a sewing machine? Kinda as a way I can say 'thanks for everything'?"
Darius' eyes widen, "Really?" he almost squeaks.
Hunter laughs, "I'll take that as a yes." He stands and offers Darius the chair before digging through is fabric basket for some scraps he can use to teach Darius with. "We'll start out small. Just some straight lines on two layers of fabric. But first, you're going to thread the machine." Darius stares at it a second as Hunter pulls the spool of thread off and pops out the bobbin, "So...first step. Do you remember where to put this?" He offers Darius the spool. Darius nods, takes it from Hunter, and their first sewing lesson begins.
***
After dinner, Raine and Darius say their goodbyes and head back to Latissa. After everything is tidied up and the friends are ready for bed, they gather in the bedroom to decompress from the day while Eda, Camila, Steve, and Lilith have tea in the living room.
"Well...I'm exhausted now," Gus says, "Fun day, but I think I'm going to sleep well tonight."
Willow nods, "Yeah, same here." She yawns, "It's been good, folks, but I might fall asleep talking."
"It's kinda weird being friends with two coven heads like this," Amity says, "Growing up, the people leading the covens were kind of untouchable. Like, they were barely considered people like us. Mom was always aspiring to be better than them, and I think there was a rivalry between my dad and Darius when they were in school. But the way I was taught to see the coven heads would have never allowed for this." She laughs a little to herself, "Kinda have to wonder what Mom would think of me now."
"Probably nothing too great," Luz says, "She'd say you were still a failure and always getting Ed and Em in trouble, despite the fact they got into plenty of it when you were in the human realm for months. She'd make some excuse about your influence being bad, even when you weren't there. Then she'd be mad because I'm a human and a troublemaker. Then she'd get pissed about Willow and Gus not being from high status families, and something about Raine and Darius being the 'wrong' kinds of coven heads. Eda's...well, Eda. Lilith failed out of her job, Hunter left the coven, Steve rides a motorcycle, Mom's a human...she'd find a problem with all of us. So we might as well make sure if we ever see her again that you're happy so she's got to face the fact that you're better off with the misfits she hates than with her miserable butt."
Amity snorts, "Say what you really feel, Luz!"
"Testify!" Gus shouts. "Did I say that right? I saw it on the television in the human realm."
Willow giggles, "Good enough, Gus."
Amity nods, "I mean, it's true. My mom's got to be pretty miserable if she's only thinking about power. I wouldn't be surprised if she's in one of the Belos cults. Or if she started one."
"I'm glad you still have your dad, though," Hunter says, "I didn't have a lot of time to talk to him before the Day of Unity, and really not much since, but he seems like he's trying."
"Yeah. I'm glad we got to keep him, too. I was so scared when we had to leave him behind in the woods during the draining spell...."
"That day sucked," Luz says, "For every reason it could possibly suck."
Hunter nods, "Yeah, I'll agree to that."
Amity looks toward Hunter, "You know, you can talk to him on your own if you want. I'm not going to stop you."
"Nah, I'd feel kinda weird just deciding I want to be friends with your dad."
She shakes her head, "No, it's fine. He's actually offered – he said this week to make sure you knew you could talk to him. He understands what it means to be on the wrong side and have to figure out how to live like that. We've had some long talks about everything since I've been home. Once it sank in that the Golden Guard really is just a kid named Hunter, not some minion of the Emperor, I think it hit him that you were just like me – a kid who trusted a parent who ended up really really wrong. And after he's had to help Ed and Em sort out their thoughts about Mom, he has a lot better understanding of what that's like, too."
Hunter nods, "I'll think about it. Thank him for me, OK?"
"I will," Amity says, "But I think it would be good for you to meet him. I mean, we're all together so often. We did live together in the human realm, and I'm gonna say that it seems like while we're here, we're going to be spending a lot of time together, too. We're a family, so maybe we should bring our dads in, too."
"Speaking of..." Gus says, "My dad wants to meet everybody. He knows Willow and Amity, but he keeps asking about Luz, Hunter, Vee, and Camila. I told him Vee's in the human realm, so that's not going to work out right now, but he's really eager to meet the rest of my family."
"Mine, too," Willow says, "My dads say I talk about everyone a lot so you must be pretty special. And they're starting to get pretty curious about the boy who keeps making me clothes."
Hunter freezes, "Not sure I'm ready for that."
"We can do it here," Willow says, "Then you're on your own territory, it's safe, and if you need a break, you can make an excuse to go to the bathroom or go find one of our grown-ups. We could even set up a question for them to each ask throughout the time our parents are here and if you answer one way, it means they need to come up with an excuse to have you leave the room."
"Probably not buying cars, though," Luz says. Gus giggles.
Hunter sighs, "It's still...I don't know. A lot."
"I know, but we'll also be here," Amity replies, "And they're not going to stop asking until they get to meet everybody."
"I kinda already mentioned it to Eda," Gus says, "and she's willing to host tea for our dads and the Owl House gang. You won't have to do anything and we can help you stay safe."
"And you can use your concealment stone," Luz suggests, "They've only seen you a few times at headquarters. They probably won't ask questions."
Hunter nods, "So...we need to get this over with. How soon can we do it?"
"Eda said tomorrow's possible," Gus answers, "She said she could do it right after school, but she might not have time to make snacks. Otherwise, she said after dinner, or we could wait for another day."
"Let's do it when we have snacks," Hunter says, "If people have food in their mouths, they can't ask me as many questions."
"True, that," Luz says. "I like the way you think"
"Can we snuggle for a little bit?" Hunter says, "I think I'm going to need that if I'm meeting dads tomorrow."
Gus creeps over and tickles behind Hunter's ear, "Stonesleeper sneak attack!"
Hunter starts laughing; Willow looks to Amity and shrugs, "Guess we're having a tickle fight," she says before diving for Luz.
In the living room, Camila and Eda hear the giggling and turn to Lilith and Steve, "So...are you going to remind them they're getting up early tomorrow so they can get to school on time, or shall I?" Eda asks.
"I will," Steve says, "I think my scout training prepared me for whatever I'm going to see in there."
Camila chuckles and shakes her head as he leaves, "Good luck. Don't let them drag you into whatever they're doing."
They hear him call as he walks down the hall, "Kids! It's your weird friend, Motorcycle Steve, coming to tell you that you'd better get your butts to bed so you can get up for school in the morning!"
They hear some shouts from the teens and then there's a thud and an "Oof, hey!" from Steve before he yells, "I'm keeping these and you have to pay tribute to get them back!" He jogs back down the hall and plops down on the couch with an armload of pillows. "They threw them at me when I stepped in the room. They're mine now."
The five friends burst into the living room and tackle him, shouting for vengeance. Hunter slips out with his pillow and darts back to the bedroom.
"I win – victory for Hunter and byyyeee!" he says as he flees.
Gus soon follows, vanishing from under Luz, who shrieks and tumbles off the couch.
"See ya!" he shouts as he once again disappears, startling Hunter as he appears in the bedroom.
Steve gives up as Amity, Luz, and Willow all team up to tie him in a bundle on the couch. When they leave, he has vines around his legs, abomination matter around his midsection and arms, and a large block of ice pins him in place.
Eda stares at him a moment, "Well...I mean, that was effective. But it's also getting the couch wet."
"Well of all of us, he's the one who doesn't have a curse messing with their magic, so..." Lilith's voice trails off before she sighs, "I guess we have to do this the old fashioned way. Camila, will you help me roll this thing off him and out the door?"
"Sure. Let me find a pair of mittens."
"Thanks. Really appreciate it, ladies," Steve croaks, the weight of the ice uncomfortable on his chest, "Would love to not die crushed by an ice cube."
"While you do that, I'm going to go convince the kids to go to bed. Wish me luck, and hope I don't turn out like that."
Lilith rolls her eyes as Eda leaves the room. By the time she gets to the bedroom, it's already quiet. The kids are cuddled together in their blanket nest, using one another as pillows and snuggling under their blankets. She turns out the lights, says goodnight, and returns to see what she can do to help free Steve.