Chapter 41

Amity finished up her personal studying for the day and got up to stretch, thinking that she'd send a message to Luz to ask how she was. Luz had seemed a little distant ever since the jailbreak. Not distant distant, but clearly preoccupied about something. Amity didn't want to pry, she knew that Luz knew she could come to Amity if she needed anything, but that didn't mean part of her didn't worry.

She was roused from her thoughts by tapping at her bedroom window. Given that she was on the second floor and there was no way to get up to her balcony from the outside, this was somewhat concerning.

Turning to approach the window, she saw... Hooty. This prompted blinking even as she approached the window to try and find out what the creepy bird tube wanted.

As she opened the balcony window, she was immediately greeted with a high-pitched "Hiya, Amity!" as the demon stretched and undulated into her room. A brief glance outside showed that his body had burst up through the ground which would probably annoy her mother.

Backing back into her room, Amity was compelled to ask "Why are you here?"

"Oh it's about Luz," Hooty began. "Ever since the thing that happened the last time you slept over she's been trying really hard to stay focused and productive so she doesn't do something 'stupid and impulsive' again. Right now she's trying to get more info out of her echo mouse in hopes that she can get to work on replacing the portal key but she's not having much luck."

"...Really? Why doesn't she just ask me if she's having trouble with it?"

Hooty undulated in a manner reminiscent of a shrug. "Anyway, she's really, really stressing herself out and could probably use a break so as her friend I made an executive decision: She needs to take a break and relax, and as her GF you're the best equipped to convince her to do that. Will you accept this most important mission?"

"Of course, anything for Luz," Amity agreed.

"Good." Hooty then started retching and Amity was hit by a terrifying revelation as the house demon deposited a large owl pellet on her carpet. "I'll leave you to it: I've gotta get back before Eda wakes up, she's been up all night working on ways to help Raine and only just got some shutye, and King's bloodwork should be done soon." He then pulled back from her room and into the earth with the speed of someone releasing a stressed elastic band.

Just as she left, the owl pellet burst open to reveal a rather traumatized-looking Luz, who rolled around in a panic before her eyes locked onto Amity.

With wide wet eyes and outstretched hands, her Luz who was radiating fear begged "Hugs?"

Amity, of course, obliged. "It's going to be okay, Luz."

"It was so cold," Luz said weakly.

"I know," Amity replied.

"And so dark."

"I know."

"And... There are no bones or organs in there, Amity. It's just rows and rows of teeth."

"I know."

"Disturbingly human-like teeth organized like they're on shelves, but there are no shelves. Just, just floating there in rows in the void."

"It's gonna be okay, Luz."

"And I saw the face of God," Luz finished. "They were an axolotl for some reason."

"...Okay. That one's new," Amity admitted.

That admission seemed to snap Luz out of it as she started laughing at the absurdity of the situation. Amity just continued to hug Luz while she laughed it out and kept hugging her when she stopped laughing.

"Okay," Luz said after a few moments. "I think I'm okay."

"You sure?" Amity asked.

"Yeah," Luz replied.

"Okay," Amity said as she released Luz and helped her up.

"Sorry for going to pieces on you like that," Luz said sheepishly. "I know you handled it better than I did."

"Not as much as you'd think" Amity admitted. "And even if I had handled being... Owl pelleted better than you, who cares? Remember, I went to pieces because I thought you were going to say no when I gave you my note. You've done things I never could, Luz, you don't have to feel bad about having trouble coping with something like... That."

"Thanks, Amity," Luz said. She breathed in and out. "Did Hooty say why he dropped me off here?"

"He said you were working too hard," Amity explained, "and stressing yourself out. He asked me to try to convince you to take a break and relax."

"I'm not..." Luz began before trailing off... "Okay, I just... I don't want to upset Eda again so I've been trying to focus all my energy on productive stuff so I don't just decide to do something stupid again, but I have to be careful about that because If I'm not that's how you get bringing fireworks to school, so when all my homework was done I turned to the journal and I can't get the echo mouse to show me anything else and..."

"Luz," Amity began, "I... I don't think Eda meant for you to completely change your behavior. Just... When you get an impulse to do something dangerous, stop and think it through."

"Are you sure?" Luz asked.

"I'm positive," Amity continued. "And if that's not enough, you can just ask her... I'll help you talk to her if you want."

"...Okay," Luz agreed.

"No, if you're having trouble with the echo mouse why didn't you just... Ask me?" Amity asked next. "I know plenty of tricks to get info out of an echo mouse."

Luz's expression became blank for a moment, then she smacked her own forehead. "Ah, geez, maybe I do need a break."

Amity giggled and then leaned in to give her girlfriend a comforting kiss...

And just as their lips touched, the door to Amity's bedroom was thrown open and Amity's face began to burn... As did Luz's, as Amity could see in the corner of her eye.

"Hey, Mittens I heard a commotion earlier is everything alright...?" Emira asked only to trail off as she saw that Amity wasn't alone. "Oh, okay... Next time lock your door."

"It's not what you think," Amity said quickly as she, still blushing furiously, turned to face her older sister directly. "Uh, Hooty, dropped Luz off here, he um..."

Luz picked "He thinks I've been working too hard lately and uh,"

"He thought I could convince her to relax for a little bit," Amity finished.

"...Look, you don't have to justify it to me," Emira said with a hint of amusement. "You don't have to make excuses. You two are adorable, you clearly care about each other a lot, and if you're as good for Luz as she is for you then you're clearly meant to be together. Just... The next time she sneaks over, let me know ahead of time and I'll cover for you... What is that?" Emira said pointing to the remains of the owl pellet.

"That's a giant owl pellet," Luz said. "From when Hooty ate me alive and threw me back up. Because that's how he forced me to take a break and dropped me off here."

"...Speaking of changing the subject," Emira deflected with clear discomfort, "Um... Have you two had your first real date yet?"

"Not yet," Luz admitted while gears turned in Amity's head.

"...Why don't we do that now?" she asked.

"Huh?"

"You need a break so... You and me, we'll just go out somewhere and have fun together for a bit," Amity explained. "Us, together, on a date. Our first date. What do you think."

"I don't know," Luz replied, "shouldn't our first real date be something... Um..."

"It doesn't have to be perfect," Amity declared and found herself only slightly surprised that she meant it completely. "We don't have anything to prove to each other, ourselves, or anyone else. As long as we're together and enjoying ourselves then it'll be more than perfect."

"Okay, our first date... Yeah, let's do it," Luz agreed. "What'd you have in mind?"

"I have no idea," Amity admitted enthusiastically. "I haven't gotten to that part yet... Em!" She declared while turning to her sister, "You and Ed are both a lot more experienced with this kind of thing. Any suggestions?"

Emira hummed for a moment. "You two like dancing, right?" At their confirmation, the older teen continued, "Well there's this outdoor... Pavilion I guess? Or maybe a yard? In the evening in town, some people play classical style music and others slow dance. There's no cover charge or dress code or anything, if you behave yourself and like music and dancing then you're welcome there. There are also some tables to sit at and a bar where you can buy like... Not hard drinks but like, juices blended up with club soda or the like. I've been there with a couple of dates, it's nice."

"That sounds amazing," Amity said.

"Yeah!" Luz added.

"I'll write down the address for you," Emira said with a smirk.

After being given the location, and cleaning up the remains of the owl pellet, the couple left. It was a bit of a walk, but they elected to go on foot anyway to enjoy each other's company more. Amity asked Luz if there were other human books like Azura, ones that were meant to introduce kids to fantastical worlds and stuff... This led to a rant about a story about a neglected orphaned boy who was whisked away to a magical boarding school after learning that his deceased parents were magical only to find out that their murderer was still out there and wanted to go three for three. The story was apprently somewhat... Problematic, but...

"Anyway, despite the narrative flaws and the really... The awkward situation with the elves," Luz finished, "it's still a good story with a very uplifting message about how love is stronger than death, the inherent immorality of bigotry, and how what matters most are your choices, not the circumstances of your birth or the labels other people stick on you... And then the author went on social media and started saying a bunch of transphobic garbage."

"...That's uh... The one where...?"

"Where you hate people who don't identify with their gender assigned at birth," Luz explained. "There are all kinds of conspiracy theories, the dangerous ones not the fun ones, about trans people and... How do you write something that says 'being a bigot is wrong' and then turn around and be a bigot?" Luz asked rhetorically. "It ticks me off... But I have to wonder at the people who grew up with those books. That's gotta be like, some kind of betrayal, right? Imagine being a trans kid, finding the courage to be your real self because your favorite childhood story said it was okay to make your own choices about who you are and then it turns out the author hates you and everyone like you."

Amity shook her head. "I can't even wrap my head around that. Hating someone because of... No one cares about that sort of thing here. Your gender is your business, no one else's."

"Anyway, the author went into a massive jerk credit deficit on that first comment and has been digging herself deeper and deeper ever since," Luz finished, "the only people who still like her are other bigots, and most people who still like the books are just sort of ignoring that she exists."

"Jerk credit?"

"You know how sometimes celebrities or other famous people get a pass for bad behavior?" Luz replied. "And how it tends to vary: a normal famous person only gets a couple of faux pas or heat-of-the-moment things excused but someone who is known to be a cool dude who does good things and generally behaves themselves can get away with some outrageous stuff when they finally have to cash out. This author was just a normal famous person with the normal amount of credit so she sort of tanked herself by admitting her hate. Meanwhile, someone like... If you read a headline that said Captain America punched a cop, your first instinct is gonna be to wonder what that cop did to tick off Captain America."

Amity laughed. "I'll take your word on all of that."

They continued walking and then a young voice called out, "Ms. Amity!"

One of the children she read to at the library was rushing towards her. A blonde, pigtailed witchling.

"Oh, who's this?" Luz asked playfully as the girl approached

"This is Lydia," Amity introduced. "Lydia, this is my girlfriend, Luz."

"She's pretty," the small child said.

"Thank you," Luz said.

"And how are you, Lydia?" Amity asked.

"Mommy says I'm not old enough to summon the Dark Lord," the girl said sadly.

"Ahh, that's too bad," Amity consoled. "Speaking of which, where is your mommy?"

As if on cue, a haggard-looking woman approached, seemingly an adult version of the witchling in question.

"Liddy, I told you to stop running off like that," the woman chastised.

"Sorry, Mommy," replied the child.

"She wasn't bothering you, was she?" The woman asked Amity and Luz.

"No," was Luz's response.

"Not at all," was Amity's.

"Alright, I'll get her out of your hair then," and then the witch led her child away.

Just before they got out of earshot, the little witchling could be heard to say "Mommy, I want uppies."

Amity chuckled to herself. She loved children. She was about to take Luz's hand to keep walking when she noticed that Luz was spaced out a bit, almost wistful looking, and radiating just a bit of sadness.

"Luz? Are you alright?"

"Uh, yeah," Luz replied. "Just got lost in thought for a bit. C'mon, we should be almost there."

They were, in fact, almost there and Luz seemed to be feeling better as they arrived. The area wasn't fenced off or anything but there was a clear boundary line with a proper pavilion under which tables sat, which was also the entryway. Going in, another such pavilion, though much smaller, was visible a short walk away and off to the side, and under that one was what appeared to be the juice bar Emira mentioned. The rest of the area was mostly open, save the strung lights overhead and that filled with slow-dancing couples, but at the far end of the yard was a stage upon which stood a string courtet and, playing the harp...

"Huh, I didn't know Tiny Nose was a musician," Luz observed.

"Fair, to be honest until Eda called her over to help with the special project I didn't know she graduated from medical school," Amity countered.

The couple was about to join the dancers when for the second time that evening someone called out "Hey, Amity."

Turning, Amity saw Boscha approaching... Only for the three-eyed witch to stop when she noticed Luz. "Oh, you're here with... Luz."

"Yeah," Luz replied. "Our first real date. Are you here with a date?"

"No," Boscha said evenly. "I... I'm meeting my parents here. To celebrate winning the Grudgby game last week."

"Oh?"

"Yeah um... I like this kind of music. Mom and Ren like this kind of music. They like to dance, this place makes the best bloody temples in town. Probably the only place in town where we can all enjoy ourselves, so..."

Luz gave Amity a side glance, so Amity explained: "A bloody temple is a virgin cocktail made with cinder ale and concentrated pomegranate blood that has been flavored with sugar and lemon juice."

"Huh," Luz replied. "I think we have a drink like that back in the Human Realm."

"Well uh... I'll leave you two to your date then," Boscha said awkwardly before walking off.

With that exchange done, the couple went out to dance. As always when they danced together they immediately fell into perfect synch with each other, stepping to the rhythm without much need for one to lead the other. When leadership was needed, they each knew when to take the role and when to cede it. Amity could feel almost intuitively when Luz wanted to twirl, to be spun, or to be dipped, and based on Luz's movements she knew the same of Amity.

Amity loved this. Dancing with Luz... It was like everything else in the world, all the problems, faded away. It was an almost intimate means of communicating their purest emotions and, when they were together like this, that they were together was all that mattered.

They danced together for nearly an hour, occasionally receiving compliments on the harmony of their movements before they had to take a break.

"Would you like a drink?" Amity asked.

"...Yeah, I could probably use one after that," Luz admitted.

"Okay, you find a place to sit and I'll meet you with drinks," Amity instructed.

"Alright. And um..."

"Don't worry," Amity said with a smile. "I have thoroughly memorized the list of food that you can and can't eat." She was currently in the process of going through all her favorite recipes to see what she could adapt to be both Luz-safe and suitable for a human palette.

There was a short line at the bar and, while Amity was waiting she got an alert on her scroll. Checking, she'd received a DM on Pensta from Boscha.

The message read "thought you might want this," and attached was a candid photo of her and Luz mid-dance. Luz was leaning back while Amity held her up by one arm. They each had a slight blush as they looked up at each other with huge smiles and loving expressions. Boscha had used a filter that darkened out the background and surrounded them with sparkles in orange and pink and blue and purple and white.

...Amity knew that Boscha didn't care for Luz. She could feel some kind of... Jealousy, from the three-eyed witch, but despite that she was still so supportive of Amity's relationship with the human. Coming from Boscha, this was a big deal. She'd have to come up with some way to thank her.

...Well, a "thank you" message back was the place to start.

Once Amity was at the front of the line and saw what they had to offer, she quickly made an order and, upon receiving it and paying for the drinks, went off to find Luz.

Luz had found an empty table, but when Amity approached to join her she found that Luz had that wistful expression and aura of sadness about her again. A quick glance revealed that Luz was looking at the table where Boscha was sitting with a pink-haired three-eyed female witch, her mother, and an androgynous red-haired witch, her other parent.

Amity sat down and passed a drink over to Luz. "I ended up getting you the bloody temple that Boscha mentioned earlier. Seemed like the safest bet," she said, trying to play it cool. As Luz tried the drink and seemed to find it satisfactory, Amity sipped her own, a blend of equal parts black tea and diluted and sweetened lemon blood served on ice. Invented by a skullf player by the name of Arn Wald when he was living out in Palm Strings, the appropriately named Arn Wald's palmer was a rather refreshing beverage. "So how are you enjoying our date so far?"

"It's everything I could want," Luz said with a genuine smile.

"So is there anything on your mind?" Amity asked.

"Nope, nothing at all," Luz replied but the tone of her voice betrayed that she was lying. Amity's look must have given away that she wasn't convinced. So Luz sighed. "Yeah. But, it's nothing you need to concern yourself with."

Amity sighed herself. "Luz, you've done so much for me. I wish you were a little more willing to lean on me."

"Don't give me that," Luz replied. "You've done plenty for me, too. I know I can come to you if I need help, but... This isn't something you can help me with."

"Tell me anyway," Amity said. "Even if I can't help you, I still want to know what the problem is. If nothing else I can give you some emotional support."

Luz took another sip from her drink. "Okay. You see, what... What's happening is that... I... want to go home."

"Oh... Okay. We can finish our drinks and then I'll walk you back to the Owl House," Amity agreed. Cutting their first date short wasn't what Amity expected but if Luz wasn't feeling it anymore then it would be best to end it on a high note.

"No, not that," Luz denied. "I mean... I miss my Mom. It's... It's the other reason I spent so much time with the echo mouse the last couple of days and... And Doctor Strange is taking a while to get back in touch with her and..." Luz took a deep breath. "And the trouble I had with getting information on Phillip's portal from the mouse, and... I guess, the thought got into my head that... What if I... Never get the portal open again?"

"Oh, Luz, don't say that," Amity reassured. "Well figure this out. I know it."

"I know, but I can't help it... I just... I know I can just call my Mom but that's not the same as seeing her in person, you know?" Luz asked rhetorically. "And... This was a good idea. The date. I always enjoy spending time with you but... My mind keeps wandering back to this stupid intrusive thought and..."

Amity reached out to take Luz's hand, to offer her a bit of comfort. "Do you want to call it here?"

"No," Luz said. "I'd hate it if our first date ended on a low note."

That decided, they finished their drinks and went back to dance some more. This time they danced closer together, almost hugging, and the increased contact seemed to do Luz some good as her spirits were certainly lifted by the time they decided to call it a night for real.

As they walked the path through the woods from town to the Owl House, however, Luz's emotions turned slightly melancholy once more. Before Amity could reach, however, Luz spoke up. "Amity... I don't know what my future's going to be like. If I'll ever get to see my Mom in person again or if I'll be stuck on only this side for the rest of my life but... I know one that."

"Oh?"

"I know that whatever my future holds," Luz finished, "it is so cool that you're going to be part of it."

Amity blushed and giggled. "I love you too, Batata." Then she leaned in to kiss Luz and could feel the contact of their lips chase away what remained of Luz's sadness, at least for now.

Upon arrival at the Owl House, they found the most peculiar sight. Hooty was stretched out and crying ugly tears, while being hugged and comforted by Eda who, as it seemed, had transformed into some kind of red-feathered harpy woman. Her voice echoed as she voiced platitudes to the demon.

"...Did I miss something?" Amity heard Luz whisper to herself.

King scrambled about the yard till he found a decent-sized piece of rock and then shouted "Weh!" This resulted in a multicolored shockwave that shattered the rock completely.

"I missed a lot!"