Work Text:
Luz’s bee-blade slammed against Gus’s three times in a row. They both shot off in opposite directions, only to ram into each other again a moment later.
Come on, come on… Amity urged it.
Gus’s tipped Luz’s over.
“WHOO!” Gus raised his fists before jabbing a finger at Luz. “Suck it!”
He and Hunter high-fived, laughing, even as Gus’s bee-blade fell over too.
Luz buried her head in her hands. “Noooooooooo.”
Amity rubbed her arm. “You’ll get him next time.”
Her girlfriend clenched her fist, pointing a finger at Gus. “I demand a rematch!”
“You’re on!”
Luz loaded her bee-blade and held it over the arena.
Gus turned to Hunter. “Do you wanna try, Hunter?”
He shook his head. “No, that’s okay. I can watch.”
“Okay!” Gus loaded his as well. “Ready?”
Luz nodded, a competitive fire lighting in her eyes. “Three, two, one…”
They shot them into the plastic arena. The two circled each other, hitting each other once and then spinning some more.
“Hey, kids,” Mrs. Camila--no, just Camila--said, walking into the room and leaning over the back of the couch. “It sounds like you’re having fun in here.”
The bee-blades kept circling each other.
“Human toys are the best!” Gus agreed.
She laughed. “I’m glad to hear that. I hate to break it up, but would one of you mind setting the table for me?”
“I can,” Amity offered, at the same time Hunter said, “I will!”
They looked at each other, making eye contact for a moment before they both averted their gaze.
“Thank you, that means a lot.” Luz’s mom headed back into the kitchen. Amity stood and followed, Hunter behind her.
Camila opened one of the cabinets, gesturing to a stack of plates. “The plates are there.” She walked over to a drawer, opening it as well. “And here’s the utensils. The cups are still drying.” She pointed to a row of cups from lunch lined up by the sink. “Just put everything on the table at everybody’s usual place.”
Amity nodded, hands clasped in front of her. “Of course.”
Hunter bowed his head. “It’ll be done soon.”
Camila gave them both an uneasy smile. “Thank you. I’ll back in a jiffy, I just have a quick call I need to make.”
Amity retrieved a stack of seven plates from the cabinet, leaving just one behind. Hunter started to gather up the appropriate amount of cutlery. Neither of them spoke, and he didn’t look at her.
She walked over to the table and started putting the plates down before he could figure out how to hold twenty-one utensils in his gloved hands. It would probably be easier if he just grabbed seven of each kind at a time, but she figured he didn’t want her advice.
Hunter managed to carry them all over in both hands, but then just stood there staring at the first plate she’d put down.
Amity put down a plate in front of Hunter’s usual spot. “The knife and spoon go on the right and the fork goes on the left,” she offered.
“Oh. Thanks.” He dumped them all on the table and then began to organise them, setting them out accordingly.
Amity just kind of nodded awkwardly.
Ghost padded into the room, meowing for her attention. Amity smiled down at her as she moved to set Gus’s place. The little cutie rubbed up against her leg, purring.
“Awwww.” She set the plate down on the edge of the table and leaned down to pet her palisman. She bumped the chair behind her, which bumped the table.
The plate tipped over, shattering as it hit the floor.
She froze, and for what felt like an eternity, all she could hear was her heart pounding in her ears.
Ghost darted out of the room, leaving behind the broken pieces of the plate. They lay at Amity’s feet, three large pieces and several smaller ones all that was left.
Oh Titan. She’d broken it. Oh Titan, oh Titan, she’d broken Mrs. Camila’s dish. How could she have been so careless? Oh Titan, oh Titan, oh Titan-
Footsteps approached the room. “Did I hear something break?” Mrs. Camila asked.
Amity tried to swallow, but her pounding heart was stuck in her throat.
Hunter’s arm reached in front of her--when had he gotten next to her?--and tried to push her back.
Mrs. Camila rounded the corner, a fone like Luz’s in one hand. She looked at Amity, who was so frozen in place she couldn’t breathing, then down at the shattered dish at her feet. “Oh, gosh.”
Amity managed to take a few short breaths, gripping the hem of her tunic so tightly she was sure her knuckles were right. Titan, she had to apologise but she couldn’t form any words.
“I broke it,” Hunter said, bowing his head. “I apologise, it won’t happen again.”
“W- What?” The lie pulled her out of her shock. “No- No, I broke it. It was me.”
“I bumped her. It was my fault.”
Luz’s mother held up her free hand. “Okay, okay, it’s nobody’s fault. These things happen.” She turned to her fone. “No, no, everything’s fine- I just got distracted for a moment.” She held it away from her ear, putting one hand over it. “It’s no biggie. Just clean it up so nobody hurts themselves, alright? The broom is in the corner of the bathroom.”
She turned and left, her voice fading into the background.
Amity stared after her, still frozen in place. She forced herself to take a few breaths. It was fine. Everything was fine. Camila wasn’t even mad.
Titan, Amity was so out of it. That shouldn’t have scared her so badly; the whole being-stranded-in-the-human-realm thing must be getting to her.
Hunter hurried out of the room, returning a moment later with the broom and dustpan in hand. He immediately went to work at her feet.
She took a step back, putting the stack of plates down on the table--farther from the edge this time. “No, no, I can get it.”
He worked so quickly she could barely keep up. “I’ve got it.”
“I’m the one who broke it, I should-”
“I’ve got gloves. It won’t hurt me.”
Right. That was smart. Titan, she must sound so annoying.
Amity tugged at her tunic, turning toward the table and staring at the last plate she’d put down.
It was fine. She was fine, everything was fine. Mrs. Camila had said it was fine. The stress of this whole… ordeal just had her on edge.
Hunter got all the pieces up, swept over the spot again, and then stood.
“Thanks,” she said, quieter than she'd intended.
“Uh, sure.” He stared down at the dustpan.
“Just put it on the counter. Maybe we can fix it.”
He nodded. “Right. Yeah.” He set the dustpan down and then hurried to put the broom back.
Ghost popped her head back into the room, questioning if the unexpected loud noises were over. Amity just nodded, and her palisman took that as an opportunity to walk over and rub her leg again. She backed away. “Not right now.”
Hunter returned, and they both stood in silence for a few moments while Amity’s heart slowly but surely returned to beating at its normal rate.
“I guess we need another plate,” he said finally.
“Right.” Obviously. Come on, Amity, get it together. She grabbed the last plate in the cabinet, Ghost trailing behind her. Hunter was already putting the cutlery by the other plates.
She couldn’t help but notice his hands were shaking, just a little. It made her feel a bit better when her own did the same while putting down the new plate.
Amity put down the next plate, unsure whether or not she should say something. Ugh, she hated being in a room alone with him. At least when they were with the others she didn’t notice how weird it was.
“You didn’t need to lie for me,” she said finally, hoping it didn’t sound ungrateful.
He hesitated before setting out a knife and spoon on the proper side. “I didn’t want you to get in trouble.”
“It was my own fault.”
He shrugged.
“What if she’d gotten mad?”
“I can handle it.”
Amity pursed her lips.
“If- If she brings it up again, you can say it’s my fault.” He finally met her eyes, imploringly.
Oh Titan. Maybe Camila would be mad when she got back. She had been busy, maybe she just hadn’t been ready to deal with it yet… “No, that’s not fair,” Amity said, trying to hide her nerves. “I was careless. You didn’t do anything.”
“You can just say I bumped you. Really, I don’t mind.”
She shook her head as she put down the last plate. Ghost whined, and she scooped her up, petting her palisman absentmindedly. Her soft fur and purrs soothed Amity’s nerves.
“She won’t be mad at you if you blame me.”
“She’s probably not even mad at all.” Hopefully. Amity swallowed a lump in her throat; the thought of Luz’s mom getting mad at her, so soon after they met, kind of made her want to hide somewhere. But it had been her stupid mistake, not Hunter’s.
“Just- If she gets mad at you later. Tell her I did it.”
Amity shook her head. “No, I can handle it.”
He put down the last of the cutlery, avoiding her gaze.
“But, thank you.”
Their eyes met for a moment, and she offered him a small smile. He looked away.
Right. It wasn’t like they were friends. Was she being pushy? “Sorry. I just- I appreciate it, is all. But I can handle it.”
He nodded, finishing putting down the last fork. “Okay. If you’re sure…”
She turned the nearest knife so the blade faced inwards, one of her hands still holding Ghost. What else should she say? It was kind of him to offer, but she really couldn’t let him take the fall for her carelessness. Especially when they didn’t know how long they’d be staying with Camila.
Amity fiddled with the cutlery, lining them up so they were all angled the same.
“Oh, sorry.” He began to straighten the rest it.
Crap, she’d made him think he’d done it wrong. “No, no, it’s not a big deal.”
He didn’t listen, going around the table and straightening all of them like she had. Amity stood by, holding Ghost to her chest and watching uselessly.
She really should apologise. For being a perfectionist, and for dropping a plate in the first place, and for barely talking to him since the Day of Unity, and barely talking to him at all and making everything so awkward and not helping him out at Eclipse Lake--but how? Why would he even want to listen? He was avoiding her anyway. They were basically strangers who happened to have a couple friends in common.
“Thank you! Of course. Goodbye.” Amity jumped as Camila entered the room, sliding her fone into her pocket. “Are you kids done? Did we still have enough plates?”
Amity looked away, guilt churning in her stomach.
Hunter stood at attention. “Yes ma’am, everything’s set up as you requested.”
“That’s great, Hunter. Could you go get Vee and Willow from out back and tell them dinner’s about to be ready?”
He saluted and darted out.
“I’m really, really sorry-” Amity began, but Camila waved a hand dismissively.
“It’s not a big deal. You’re not hurt, are you?”
“No, I’m fine.” She stroked Ghost, forcing her breathing to stay even. “It was a really stupid mistake, I just wasn’t paying attention and I should have been.”
“Accidents happen.” Camila walked toward the counter. “Would you mind helping me put out the food?”
Amity nodded and dropped Ghost, who landed perfectly fine on all fours but hissed at her anyway.
Camila picked up the dustpan, frowning. “Is this the plate?”
“Uh, yes. We thought maybe we could find a way to fix it.”
“Oh, that’s okay. You can just throw it out.” She handed it to Amity.
Amity took it. “Are you sure? We could fix it, I promise-”
“It’s alright. We still have seven plates, and I don’t think we’ll need any more. Unless you have any more friends you’re hiding?” she joked.
“Ha…” Amity reluctantly dumped the dustpan into the garbage, defeat weighing heavy on her. How could she make up for her careless screwup now? Was she just supposed to pretend like it hadn’t happened?
“Carry this to the table?” Camila handed her a large plate full of human food.
“Of course.” Amity set it down in the middle, carefully, while stubbornly ignoring Ghost whining at her feet. She was going to have a talk with that palisman when they were done.
Camila carried over two plates, one in each hand, and set them down on the table. “Could you grab cups, too?”
Amity’s eyes widened. “Oh, my Titan, we completely forgot, I’m so sorry-”
Camila put a hand on her shoulder, immediately shutting Amity up. “Amity, it’s okay. Really.”
“Right.” Her face burned. “Sorry. I just- I think, um, everything is kind of getting to me.”
“That’s okay.” Camila’s smile held more warmth than the Boiling Sea. “Just grab the cups, alright, cariño?”
Amity wasn’t sure what that meant, but just the tone made her face flush harder. “Okay.” She grabbed seven cups as fast as she could--they weren’t breakable, not that she intended on dropping one ever again--and filled them all with water before setting them out. She was still careful to make sure they all lined up with the plates perfectly.
“Vee and Willow have been informed,” Hunter said, poking his head back into the room. “They’re on their way.”
“Thank you. Amity, could you grab Luz and Gus?”
She nodded.
Hunted perked up. “Oh! I could-”
“No, no, you’ve done plenty.” Camila waved a hand at him, putting a down pitcher of water in the middle of the table. “You can take a seat.”
“Oh.” He looked down, obediently making his way to the table. Amity hesitated--should she let him go instead?--but before she could decide, he sat down and stared at his empty place.
She hurried into the living room. “Luz, Gus, it’s time to eat!”
“Took you a while to set the table, huh?” Luz said, turning toward her. “You totally missed my epic victory!”
“I still have four out of seven!” Gus protested.
“Not for long, you don’t!”
Amity laughed, the rest of her nerves seeping out of her. “Just come on.”
They passed Vee and Willow on their way to deposit their shoes by the front door. Gus hopped into his chair, eyeing the human food with interest. Amity sat next to Luz, who put her chin in her hand and leaned in toward Gus and Hunter.
Vee and Willow sat down, giggling about something. Gus started to detail his epic bee-blade battles to Hunter, who listened with interest. Luz argued with his points, correcting him but only in ways that made herself look better.
Camila served everyone food, heaping their plates with the strange substances humans ate. Amity clasped her hands in her lap, Ghost still nuzzling her legs, and waited for her turn.
This wasn’t so bad, she thought. The human realm was an… adjustment, but at the end of the day they were all in it together. Even through some awkwardness and her silly mistakes, she had her friends.