Twenty or so Adventures from The Owl House - Darkest Before the Dawn

Chapter 1 ~ Paincakes

Chapter 1 - Paincakes

The bug was making its odious way along the ground, right in front of his mud puddle.

The utter audacity!

As the Owl House, Hooty couldn't - nay, wouldn't - stand for it.

Luz Noceada opened her eyes to the very early morning struggles of the house demon.

The house shook a little as Hooty went about his morning. The hissing and spitting and the crashing of wood and earth from outside, told her that Hooty was being protective of his puddle again. It had rained last night.

Sighing and closing her eyes, Luz tried to go back to sleep, but her rapidly branching thoughts and anxieties made it hard.

That was when she noticed the soft weight on her stomach. She smiled to herself as her fingers ran into King's fur, focusing on the sensation of the dense coat - corse but not rough, and much softer under the outer layer...

But it wasn't this long. And - Luz ran a couple of strands through her fingers - it wasn't this soft all the way through. In fact, it wasn't just soft, but silky.

Facets of last night came flooding back to her all at once.

She and Amity under the Grometheus tree, watching the flowers floating away on the wind. Rain clouds blowing up from the southern-most ankle. Eda taking her and Amity back to the Owl House.

She and Amity setting up blankets in her tiny room.

Amity reading Azura to her.

Amity...

Luz pulled her hand away, looking down at the purple-haired witch who lay, sound asleep, with her head on Luz's stomach, curled into her side, wrapped in a thick fuzzy fur blanket.

Amity turned, a small frown on her face, still asleep. She murmured, head moving, searching for Luz's hand.

Luz returned to running her fingers through Amity's hair, feeling guilty and happy all at once. She didn't feel like she deserved such an amazing girlfriend. Yesterday had been... complicated to say the least.

She'd never told her mom, but the day after dad's death anniversary was always harder than the day itself. She usually had to go back to school - it always fell on a Sunday, or Mom pulled her out of school for the day - and deal with the usual stuff. She had to stuff it all down and just be happy Luz again, just to make it through the day.

But as she lay there, letting the overactive part of her brain focus on the texture of Amity's hair, she began to realize that last night, under the tree where the two of them had shared their first dance, wasn't some weird dream.

-

"Luz," Amity had said. "Are you okay?"

"...I'll be fine," Luz had said. It wasn't a lie if you wanted to believe it, right?

"Luz, I've never seen you this vulnerable before."

Bad girlfriend, bad. Don't make her worry.

Guilt had wormed its way up her throat, a choking, acrid feeling.

But the look on Amity's face had made her open her mouth and words just sort of fell out.

"I feel bad, making you worry."

"Come on, Luz." Amity had pulled her in, wrapping Luz in a firm, comforting hug. "I admire how strong you can be. But that doesn't mean you have to bottle up your feelings. At least, not in front of your loved ones..."