Chapter Text
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Part Two
• • •
At 2AM the following Saturday, less than a week after their little trip to the library, Willow's scroll lights up in the darkness of her bedroom, vibrating from where it sits underneath her pillow, startling her awake with a very ungraceful snort.
rulerzreachf4n: CAPTAIN
rulerzreachf4n: I FINISHED THE SERIES
rulerzreachf4n: ARE YOU AWAKE
rulerzreachf4n: I HAVE THOUGHTS
He's been messaging her every single day since he started reading Galdorstone Heart, feverishly tearing his way through the series in a matter of days, and has made something of a habit of live-texting her his reactions to every major plot twist and subtextual detail. She can tell he's been reading them before he goes to sleep every night, staying up later and later as he undoubtedly tells himself the same lie we all do whenever we get invested in a multi-chapter series right before bedtime: just one more chapter and then I swear I'll go to bed.
If it were anyone else, Willow would have glared daggers at her scroll as she put her notifications on mute — but Hunter, it would seem, is the exception to every rule. So even though he's been keeping her up all week long, so exhausted she keeps nearly nodding off in all her morning classes, startled awake every night at 2AM like clockwork, grumbling as she shoves her hand under her pillow and pulls out her scroll, blinking blearily down at the too-bright screen, Willow can't help the giddy smile that curls across her face every time she sees his username, accompanied by an utterly ridiculous number of unread messages.
The first time, she wakes up to no less than 57 new text messages from rulerzreachf4n (though, most of them are Hunter apologizing for texting too much, followed almost immediately by one more thing and I'll stop talking I swear.) Willow reads them all with a huge smile on her face as she gets ready for school that morning.
His grammar has been improving, and he types a whole lot faster now. Although, everything he writes is in all caps — partially because he's excited to share his thoughts about the series, but mostly because his capslock key got stuck a little while back and he can't seem to figure out how to undo it.
SUNDAY 11:00PM
rulerzreachf4n: OKAY SO IT DEFINITELY CONFUSED GRIMWALKERS WITH BASILISKS WHEN IT COMES TO THE WHOLE ABSORBING WITCHES MAGIC THING
rulerzreachf4n: BUT IT DID GET ONE THING RIGHT
rulerzreachf4n: I ACTUALLY CAN WITHSTAND LOTS OF HEAT
rulerzreachf4n: BACK WHEN I WAS THE GOLDEN GUARD BELOS USED TO SEND ME ON MISSIONS TO THE BOTTOM OF THE BOILING SEA AND I NEVER NEEDED ANY KIND OF PROTECTION SPELLS OR ANYTHING
rulerzreachf4n: SO IF WE EVER GOT CAUGHT IN A BOILING RAINSTORM I COULD PROTECT YOU CAPTAIN
MONDAY 12:00AM
rulerzreachf4n: OKAY SO I JUST GOT TO THE PART WHERE IVY TELLS ARTEMIS THAT IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT HE IS OR WHERE HE CAME FROM BECAUSE SHE LOVES HIM FOR WHO HE IS AND THAT'S JUST REALLY
rulerzreachf4n: IT'S JUST REALLY NICE THAT THIS BOOK EXISTS
rulerzreachf4n: AND THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE OUT THERE WHO DON'T THINK THAT GRIMWALKERS ARE BAD
rulerzreachf4n: AND I JUST
rulerzreachf4n: THANK YOU FOR INTRODUCING ME TO THIS SERIES
rulerzreachf4n: I KNOW IT'S SILLY BUT
rulerzreachf4n: YEAH
rulerzreachf4n: IT'S JUST
rulerzreachf4n: REALLY NICE
MONDAY 1:00AM
rulerzreachf4n: I JUST GOT TO THE PART WHERE ARTEMIS SEES WILLOW IN HER WEDDING DRESS FOR THE FIRST TIME AND THE WAY HE JUST GETS THIS BIG SMILE ON HIS FACE AND STARTS CRYING BECAUSE SHE'S JUST SO BEAUTIFUL WITH ALL THOSE FLOWERS IN HER HAIR
rulerzreachf4n: HE LOVES HER SO MUCH
rulerzreachf4n: OH FUCK SORRY I MEANT IVY
rulerzreachf4n: I DIDN'T MEAN TO TYPE YOUR NAME I SWEAR HAHAHAHA
MONDAY 2:00AM
rulerzreachf4n: OH HEY I THINK I JUST GOT TO THE PART I WAS READING OVER YOUR SHOULDER AT THE LIBRARY WHEN I
rulerzreachf4n: SORRY I DIDN'T MEAN TO SEND YOU MY FACE
rulerzreachf4n: I'M GONNA GO TO BED NOW
rulerzreachf4n: NOT UM
rulerzreachf4n: NOT THAT I'M THINKING ABOUT THAT SCENE WHILE I'M IN BED OR ANYTHING
rulerzreachf4n: I'M JUST ANNOUNCING THAT I'M GOING TO BED
rulerzreachf4n: FOR SLEEP REASONS
rulerzreachf4n: OH TITAN PLEASE IGNORE EVERYTHING I'VE JUST SAID
rulerzreachf4n: HOW TO UNSEND EMBARRASSING MESSAGES
rulerzreachf4n: SORRY THAT WAS MEANT FOR CTHUUGLE
rulerzreachf4n: GOODNIGHT CAPTAIN
rulerzreachf4n: SORRY
Willow presses a hand over her mouth to stifle a bout of giggles, immediately saving the impromptu snapshot (a close-up of Hunter's face, bright red and wide-eyed, mouth hanging open in a comically shocked O) to her camera roll, imagining him re-reading the infamous spicy wedding night scene and getting so flustered his hands slipped, accidentally snapping a photo of himself and sending it to their chat.
That's okay, I like your face :) she writes back, and Hunter smashes face-first into his locker when he sees her at school later that morning. He apologizes about a dozen more times for texting too much during lunch later that afternoon, but Willow just keeps reassuring him that she doesn't mind one bit, that he's free to text her whenever he wants, as often as he wants, that she likes listening to him talk, and Hunter gets so flustered he accidentally sticks his elbow in Gus's spaghetti.
Later that night, Willow wakes to a flurry of new messages, Hunter eager to share his theories and reactions as he makes his way through the second book in the series.
rulerzreachf4n: I THINK I KNOW WHO ARTEMIS'S EVIL CREATOR IS
rulerzreachf4n: IT'S SORCERER BELLOWS ISN'T IT
hello_willow is typing…
rulerzreachf4n: WAIT NO DON'T TELL ME I WANT TO FIND OUT ON MY OWN
And again the following night.
rulerzreachf4n: AUGUST, LUNA, AND AMELIE ARE REALLY COOL
rulerzreachf4n: I'M GLAD ARTEMIS AND IVY HAVE SUCH GOOD FRIENDS
rulerzreachf4n: KINDA GETTING SOME FLIRTY VIBES FROM LUNA AND AMELIE THOUGH
rulerzreachf4n: DO THEY END UP TOGETHER?
hello_willow is typing…
rulerzreachf4n: WAIT DON'T TELL ME I WANNA SEE IT PLAY OUT
And then again on Wednesday.
rulerzreachf4n: IVY SAID SHE STARTED FEELING SICK IN THE MORNINGS
rulerzreachf4n: ARE THEY GONNA HAVE A BABY?
hello_willow is typing…
rulerzreachf4n: WAIT NEVERMIND NO SPOILERS
And again on Thursday.
rulerzreachf4n: OH TITAN THEY'RE ABOUT TO GO TO WAR WITH SORCERER BELLOWS AND THE TRICKSTER GOD
rulerzreachf4n: PLZ TELL ME NONE OF MY FAVES DIE
hello_willow is typing…
rulerzreachf4n: NO DON'T TELL ME I WANT TO BE SURPRISED
rulerzreachf4n: OKAY MAYBE JUST ONE
rulerzreachf4n: I JUST NEED TO KNOW THAT ARTEMIS AND IVY ARE GONNA BE OKAY
hello_willow is typing…
rulerzreachf4n: NO I CHANGED MY MIND I'M ALMOST AT THE END I'LL FIND OUT SOON ENOUGH
Which brings us back to Friday night (or rather, Saturday morning) signaling the end of their middle-of-the-night chats, because less than a week after checking all the books out of the library, Hunter has finally reached the end of Galdorstone Heart. Hmm. Willow wonders what other book series she can get him into.
SATURDAY 2:00AM
hello_willow: hey hunter :)
rulerzreachf4n: OH CAPTAIN HI
rulerzreachf4n: I DIDN'T WAKE YOU DID I???
rulerzreachf4n: I'M SORRY I KEEP TEXTING YOU SO MUCH
rulerzreachf4n: PLZ LET ME KNOW IF I'M ANNOYING YOU AND I'LL STOP
hello_willow: all good
hello_willow: you could never annoy me
rulerzreachf4n: PROMISE?
hello_willow: promise :)
hello_willow: so, what did you think of the ending?
rulerzreachf4n: OKAY
rulerzreachf4n: SO
rulerzreachf4n is typing…
SATURDAY 3:00AM
rulerzreachf4n: SO WHAT WAS IT EXACTLY THAT YOU LIKED ABOUT ARTEMIS
rulerzreachf4n: YOU SAID YOU HAD A CRUSH
hello_willow: hmm
hello_willow: well
hello_willow: he's got a good heart
hello_willow: he always tries to do the right thing, even if it goes against everything he was taught to believe
hello_willow: he's clever, and witty, and incredibly book smart
rulerzreachf4n: I LIKE BOOKS
hello_willow: I know :)
hello_willow: you actually remind me of him a lot
rulerzreachf4n: I DO?
hello_willow: you do :)
rulerzreachf4n: YOU REMIND ME A LOT OF IVY
hello_willow: yeah? :)
rulerzreachf4n: YEAH
rulerzreachf4n: SHE'S THE PERFECT BALANCE OF SWEET AND SMART AND STRONG
rulerzreachf4n: LIKE SHE HAS NO PROBLEM KICKING THE BAD GUY'S ASS
rulerzreachf4n: BUT SHE'LL APOLOGIZE IF SHE STEPS ON A FLOWER
rulerzreachf4n: AND SHE ALWAYS KNOWS WHAT TO SAY WHENEVER HER FRIENDS ARE FEELING SAD
rulerzreachf4n: NOT ONLY IS SHE INCREDIBLY BOOK SMART, SHE'S ALSO VERY EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT
rulerzreachf4n: JUST LIKE YOU
Willow buries her face in her pillow and makes a noise that's half-giggle, half-scream, kicking her feet in a little flail before typing back, thank you Hunter :) that's very sweet of you to say.
rulerzreachf4n: OF COURSE CAPTAIN :)
rulerzreachf4n: IT'S JUST THE TRUTH
rulerzreachf4n: THANK YOU FOR BEING YOU
Willow's hand might slip and send him a couple little pink and red hearts in response. She's not exactly proving his point of incredibly book smart and emotionally intelligent at the moment, but sometimes he just says things and her whole brain turns to mush. She glances up in time to see every single brightly colored heart in the emoji bank plastered across the screen under his username, and giggles so loudly she worries she'll wake her dads.
rulerzreachf4n: SO
rulerzreachf4n: WHAT OTHER THINGS DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A
rulerzreachf4n: WHAT ELSE DO YOU LIKE ABOUT ARTEMIS
Willow smiles to herself, wondering whether this is his idea of flirting and fishing for hints.
hello_willow: I love how much he loves his friends and family
hello_willow: he's fiercely protective and would do anything to keep them safe
hello_willow: the way he's always looking out for August like a big brother
hello_willow: the way he fought side by side with Luna and Amelie in the final battle against his evil creator and that celestial trickster god
hello_willow: how sweet and loving he is with Ivy and their daughter
rulerzreachf4n: YEAH THAT TIME SKIP WHERE THE TWO OF THEM WERE HAPPILY MARRIED AND NEW PARENTS WAS REALLY SATISFYING
hello_willow: it was!
hello_willow: I'm really glad they got a happy ending
hello_willow: after everything they went through, they deserve it
rulerzreachf4n: YEAH THEY REALLY DO
Willow holds her breath as she types out the one question she's been waiting to ask him all week, the giddy anticipation of getting to spend another whole Saturday with him threatening to set all her nerve endings on fire.
hello_willow: so
hello_willow: now that you're all caught up…
hello_willow: want to come over later today and watch the movies with me?
His response is immediate.
rulerzreachf4n: YES
rulerzreachf4n: DEFINITELY
rulerzreachf4n: ABSOLUTELY
hello_willow: okay then
hello_willow: it's a date :)
Willow giggles, burying her face in her pillow and kicking her feet.
On the other end of the line, Hunter does the very same.
• • •
The following afternoon, Hunter shows up to her house sporting that same nervous-excited jaw-clenching grin memorialized in most of the photos Willow took of him back in the human realm (now plastered all over the wall above her bed) with a bevy of all her favorite snacks tucked under his arms.
"Hey!" she says brightly, smoothing out nonexistent wrinkles in the pretty floral sundress she absolutely did not pick out special just for the occasion, smiling when she notices him doing the exact same thing with his hair.
"Captain!" he greets her, lifting his arm in a little wave and sending half a dozen boxes of candy tumbling to the floor.
The two of them immediately swoop down to pick them up, freezing the moment their hands meet over the same box of blood orange chocolates, only to glance up and realize just how close their faces are to one another's. Willow blinks up at him, watching with a kind of giddy fascination as he stares down at her with an awestruck look on his face, wordlessly offering her his hand to help her to her feet.
"You look—" he falters, Adam's apple straining against his throat as he takes in the sight of her, all dolled up in a cheerful yellow sundress. "Wow."
"So do you," Willow giggles, eyes roving appreciatively over the freshly-pressed button-down shirt rolled up to his elbows that she knows for a fact he only breaks out for special occasions.
He's still holding her hand. Without thinking, she takes a step closer. He mirrors her. She gazes up at him. He gazes back. She lifts up onto her toes. He inclines his head. Her eyes flutter closed. He leans in, and then—
"Hunter!" one of her dads calls out from the doorframe leading from the living room into the kitchen. Oh. Right. Her parents are in the next room. Spell broken, the two of them jump about a mile back from one another, Willow's facing burning as she stares a hard line into the floorboards, one of Hunter's hands coming up to nervously smooth back his hair again, path intercepted as Gilbert steps forward into the foyer and shakes it in a hearty greeting.
"Good to see you, son!" he says with a cheerful smile (almost a little too cheerful, like he knows exactly what he just interrupted and finds the whole thing terribly amusing.) "I hear the two of you have a movie marathon planned for today?"
"Yes sir," Hunter manages, nodding toward the mountain of snacks clutched in both his and Willow's arms.
"Well I won't keep you, then. Have fun, you two!" he says, striding back into the living room with his hands stuffed into the pockets of his Kiss The Chef apron, whistling a jaunty tune.
"Remember to keep the door open!" Harvey's disembodied voice calls from the living room couch, where he's all settled in by the fireplace doing his usual weekend crosswords.
"Harvey, don't embarrass them!" Gilbert hisses, swiping his husband's newspaper and playfully swatting him across the shoulder with it.
"What? You remember how we were at their age," Harvey defends, and Willow could almost swear she hears her father giggle.
"Oh my titan," she groans under her breath, grabbing Hunter by the hand and marching him up the stairs before her parents can embarrass her any further. "Okay, love you both! We're gonna go watch the movie now! Byeeeeeee!"
Hunter can't help but snort with laughter, knowing full well where she picked up that little habit from, all too happy to be tugged along behind her if it means he gets to hold her hand for just a little bit longer.
"How come he always says that when it's just the two of us hanging out?" Hunter asks once they're safely ensconced behind her closed bedroom door. "He never says that when it's you, me, and Gus."
Willow's shoulders stiffen, hand still curled around the doorknob.
"Oh, well…you know," she says, turning to face him with one of those smiles that tells him she's nervous about something and trying to play it off. "He just…he just gets a little extra protective whenever there's boys involved."
She lets her shoulders fall back against the doorframe, huffing out a laugh that sends a lock of hair that's come loose from one of her braids gently floating into the air, before landing with an adorable little curl on the curve of her cheekbone.
"Gus is a boy," Hunter points out, eyebrows arched in amusement.
"Yeah, but Gus is like my little brother," she says, wrinkling her nose.
"I see," Hunter replies, trying to school his features into a casual smile. "So, what am I?"
"You're—" Willow falters, breath catching in her throat as she realizes just how close he's standing, caught between him and the doorframe. Sometimes she forgets just how tall he is. "You're my friend. You're my— Hunter."
"I'm your Hunter," he repeats in a low voice that really should be illegal, smoother than the rich dark chocolates still clutched in one of her hands.
Hunter's fingertips twitch at his sides, eager to reach forward and brush back that loose lock of hair so perfectly framed around a small dusting of sun-kissed freckles scattered across her cheekbones from all those afternoons spent working in her garden.
"Yes," she says, still a little breathless, heart racing like the wings of her palisman. The box of chocolates slips from her hand, rattling like gunfire in the soft silence of her bedroom. The two of them glance down to glare at the offending thing.
"So, um…movie?" she asks, voice coming out an octave higher than its usual register.
"Oh," Hunter says, shaking his head like he forgot why he was there, absentmindedly taking a few steps back. "Yeah, let's, um…do that."
With a nervous chuckle, Willow brushes past him and climbs onto her bed, lace edges of her pretty floral sundress draped across her knees as she crosses her legs and leans back against the wall.
She conjures her scroll from thin air, tongue stuck between her teeth in concentration as she searches up the movie on one those streaming sites Belos used to ban, pausing to look up at him expectantly, patting the space beside her.
Hunter doesn't need telling twice, tripping over his feet as he scrambles in next to her, emptying out his pockets into a small mountain of snacks between them.
"Thanks for the chocolates, by the way," she says, opening the little box of blood orange truffles and popping one into her mouth. "They're my favorite."
"I know," he says, smiling back at her as he takes the one offered in her hand. "That's why I got them."
Willow beams at him, reaching out to press play on the little screen floating between them in the semi-darkness. They end up having to scoot in fairly close so they can both watch the movie on her tiny little scroll, and Willow spends most of the first film hyper aware of the fact that their shoulders and thighs are pressed right up against one another's, stealing glances at him out of the corner of her eye to see whether Hunter is enjoying himself, only to catch him doing the very same thing, the both of them quickly looking away, hoping the darkness of the room will hide their blushing faces.
Once the second movie starts rolling, however, Hunter is enthralled, and Willow has to bite her lip to hold back laughter as he repeatedly points out all the inconsistencies between the books and the movies, absentmindedly shoving handfuls of Hex Mix into his mouth as he scoffs at the screen and throws his hands into the air, vexed by the fact that the iconic boiling rainstorm confession scene was so rushed and out of character, and how the writers drew out the characters' courtship and eventual wedding until the very last film, making it this big dramatic will-they, won't-they, and adding in a stupid love triangle just to stir up trouble. Willow can't help but find it all utterly endearing, remembering how she reacted the very same way back when she and Amity first watched the series together.
The two of them watch with baited breath as Artemis and Ivy's on-screen counterparts share a fairy tale kiss at the altar, screen fading to black as he carries her across the threshold of their cozy little woodland cottage, and Hunter lets out a long, slow breath as some sappy lyrical rendition of the main theme plays over the end credits.
"Huh," he says, sounding equal parts disappointed and relieved.
"What's up?" Willow prompts, turning to look at him as she pauses the screen.
"Hmm?" Hunter asks, snapping out of his little reverie to look at her, unaware that he'd said anything out loud. "Oh, nothing. It's just…the movies are a lot…uh, tamer…than the books," he says, the tips of his ears burning a brilliant shade of red. "Some of the scenes in the book are quite…um…detailed."
"Oh," Willow huffs out a laugh, heat creeping up the back of her neck. "Yeah, they kinda had to tone it down to keep the rating PG-13."
"Which reminds me…weren't you reading this back when you were in middle school?" Hunter asks, quirking an amused eyebrow.
"Yeah, but don't tell my dads because I definitely wasn't supposed to. Me and Amity used to sneak into the older teen section all the time and dare each other to find the spiciest scenes," Willow giggles, thinking back to all the times the two of them used to tease each other for their crushes on Artemis and Malingale the Mysterious Soothsayer.
Willow glances up at Hunter, and can't help but think how much he reminds her of Artemis. Fitting, she supposes, that her very first real life crush would be such a close match to her first fictional crush. She has a type, and it's bad but sad boys.
Just then, Willow's scroll buzzes, glowing bright white in the hazy twilit blue of her bedroom, a vivid purple banner notification dropping down across the top of her screen.
illusion_master: soooooo how's your big date going? :P
Willow scrambles to dismiss the message before Hunter can see it, but judging by the perplexed look on his face, she's too late.
"Is that Gus? What did he mean by big date? Do you…do you have plans with someone else later tonight?" he asks, looking for a moment like someone punched him in the gut.
"Oh! No, he means us," Willow is quick to reassure him, heart skyrocketing into her throat as Hunter's eyebrows jump to meet his hairline. "But he's just joking. He thinks he's being funny, teasing me all because I told him you said 'it's a date' when I asked if you wanted to watch the movies together sometime."
Willow huffs out a little laugh that's just on the side of hysterical, a delicate blush tinging her cheeks pink as she glances up at him with hopeful eyes, almost like she's daring him to confirm it.
"Oh," he says softly. "Well, good. Because this isn't a date."
Willow's heart sinks into the pit of her stomach.
"Oh," she whispers, trying desperately to keep the subtle quaver out of her voice as she casually brushes off the rejection, tears stinging the corners of her eyes. "Yeah, no. Of course. After all, we're just fr—"
"You deserve something way more, you know, big romantic grand gesture for a first date," he says, and Willow's breath catches in her throat. "Like a home-cooked candlelit dinner, or an airship ride over the Isles at sunset, or a trip to the botanical gardens in the forests of the Titan's ribcage."
"I've…been working up the nerve to ask you out for a while now, I just…don't know how to cook without setting Eda's kitchen on fire, and I can't exactly ask Darius to borrow his airship after we crashed the last one, and I'm not even sure the gardens are open this time of year. Hell, I'd make you a ring out of my own heart if I could, like when Artemis proposed to Ivy, but I'm pretty sure I'd die," he says around a small, nervous chuckle, reaching up to attack a phantom itch on the back of his neck.
Willow stares at him, brain going haywire as it tries to decide which part of his statement to process first. He's been wanting to ask her out? For a while now? He wants to cook for her, fly her out over the city on a romantic airship ride, take her out to one of her all-time favorite places on the Isles? Willow only mentioned the botanical gardens once in passing, but he'd clearly been listening and taking note. He wants to give her a…wait, like when Artemis proposed to Ivy???
"You…want to get me an engagement ring?" she blurts out, short-circuited brain zeroing in on that very last detail.
"I—" Hunter falters, a blush redder than all the tomatoes in her garden spreading across his face. "Well, not right now. I can't ask you to marry me before I've even asked you out on a first date."
Willow blinks at him in surprise. They haven't even gone out on one date and he's already decided he wants to marry her?
Oh. Oh wow.
Weren't her dads just telling her a similar story about the first time Gilbert asked out Harvey? And didn't they also meet on a flyer derby field?
Funny how history repeats itself.
"So ask me, then," she says, at a loss to explain where the sudden rush of confidence came from, given how badly her hands are shaking.
Hunter lets out a startled euphoric laugh.
"Okay," he breathes. "Um. Willow Park? Do you want to go out with me?"
Willow's eyes sparkle with mischief, lips curling into a radiant smirk. In lieu of an answer, she tugs him toward her by the collar of his button-down shirt and kisses him, soft and slow. When she pulls back, Hunter is looking at her like she hung all the stars in the night sky, big dopey grin spreading across his tomato red face.
"So, is that a yes, or—" Hunter chuckles, the rest of his words snuffed out as Willow draws him back in for another kiss.
"Yes," she says, punctuating each affirmation with a kiss. First, on the tip of his nose.
"Definitely."
Then, on the soft curve of his cheek.
"Absolutely."
And finally, his lips, marveling at the way they taste like her favorite candy that he brought over just for her.
• • •