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Hoot hoot! I’m your Owl House secret Santa Rebecca_Artsy! I was so pumped to get a fellow Huntloser for this so I did my best to give you some prime fluff! I’ve been saving huntllow grom for a special occasion so I hope you like it!!!
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“I’m still in shock that Hunter actually asked you,” said Amity as she carefully ran a brush through Willow’s hair, careful to move around the flowers that grew in Willow’s hair every time her friend thought of Hunter. Once Amity had started to incorporate them into her braid, they made it look like an intricate crown. “I mean, I’m not shocked that he asked you because anyone would be lucky to go with you, I’m just… well you know how he is.”
“Boy do I ever,” Willow laughed fondly, pulling up their conversation on pentsagram. “I mean, he didn’t exactly ask me but he kind of did? In his own way?”
rulerzreachf4n: r yuo going 2 this gROM t hing?
Hello_Willow: Yeah! I go every year!
rulerzreachf4n: is th ere. A dress co de?
Hello_Willow: Well I guess you don’t have to dress up but normally everyone does. I’m wearing my favorite green dress. It’s not too fancy.
Hello_Willow : Are you going?!
rulerzreachf4n: LUZ said I sh ould
rulerzreachf4n: but i did nt want 2 if u werent GoINg
Hello_Willow: Well I am 😊
Hello_Willow: it’s so fun! I’m so glad you’re going!!💚
rulerzreachf4n: Luz said AMIty asked her 2 go. sO I DIdn t know if i had 2 b intiveted
Hello_Willow : Well you can ask someone to go with you if you want, but we were gonna go in a group together anyway!
Hello_Willow: Is there someone you wanted to ask to go with you ?
rulerzreachf4n: wELL if u r already going then nO . I just didnT want 2 you ifu werent.
“I mean, he’s got the spirit,” laughed Amity, retreading the conversation over Willow’s shoulder.
“It kind of felt more like he was taking attendance.”
“Which to him I’m sure is very romantic,” laughed Amity. “You’re not nervous are you Willow?”
“What? Me? No!” scoffed Willow playfully as another flower grew in her hair. Amity said nothing and simply added it to the hairstyle. “Oh, he’s typing again.”
It was a classic Hunter selfie, with him looking up at the camera covering his mouth by making the peace sign. He was wearing a black suit jacket and dress shirt with a golden tie.
r ulerzreachf4n: DArius picked. thiS out fo r me. Is it ok ?”
Willow blushed, looking at the picture fondly as she crafted her response.
Hello_Willow: You look so handsome!
“He’s going pretty all out for someone who didn’t ask you to the dance,” teased Amity. Her scroll buzzed. “Oh, I think Luz just sent me something too.”
She pulled it up and it was a video of Luz in the foreground sitting on the couch and Hunter was standing behind her unaware she was filming. Willow watched as he took a selfie, reviewed it and quickly took another one, clearly trying to get the perfect one to send to Willow.
“How many times do you think he tried before he sent you that one?” Amity laughed.
“Oh, at least twenty,” said Willow. “Should I send him a picture too?”
“No, I’m not done with your hair yet,” said Amity. “Besides, I want to see his face when he sees you in your dress for the first time.”
——-
About an hour later, there was a knock on the front door. Amity and Willow were in the middle of taking some classic ‘getting ready’ photos when the sound caused them to burst into a fit of laughter as they went to race down the stairs, but Ed and Em beat them to the door.
“Mittens! Your girlfriend is here!” Shouted Em.
“And so is her sad puppy!” Added Ed.
“Does he mean King?” Asked Willow
“I think he means Hunter,” said Amity. “Oh, I have an idea. You wait here until I call you down.”
“Why?”
“You’ll see,” replied Amity with a smile as she ran downstairs to greet Luz.
“Oh you look so pretty!” Gushed Luz, dressed in her usual Grom attire, taking Amity in her arms and spinning her around
“So do you!” Said Amity, kissing her on the cheek.
“These are for you,” laughed Luz, handing her a small bouquet of flowers.
“Awww!” Amity blushed, taking them and bringing them to her face to smell them. Willow had obviously provided tips. Amity looked behind her girlfriend and saw Hunter still standing in the doorway, clutching his own bouquet of flowers as his eyes darted around the house in anticipation. “Aw Hunter, did you bring me flowers too?”
“Huh? Oh no uh these are for uh someone else,” he replied nervously, scratching his face.
“I see,” said Amity, exchanging a knowing look with Luz. “I bet I can guess who. Willow!” She shouted up the stairs,
Willow took that as her cue as she slowly descended the staircase and had Hunters' attention the moment she had touched the railing. As she walked down, the light captured her and followed her down as Hunter forgot how to breathe. Amity had done a lovely job on her hair, sitting like a halo dictated with her flowers shining through to form a crown. She had updated her dress from last year, adding a few more gold embellishments along the hem and allowed a few vines to spiral down from her shoulders to the end.
“Woah,” Hunter whispered, hoping only he could hear. She walked straight to him as though no one else was in the room.
“Hi,” said Willow when she finished her grand entrance.
“Hi,” replied Hunter, exhaling for the first time in what felt like hours. “You look really... you...um these are for you.” he said, practically shoving the bouquet in her face. "I-if you want them."
“Oh, thank you,” said Willow, happily taking them.
“You probably don’t need them though,” said Hunter, suddenly self conscious. “You have plenty of flowers, probably better flowers, and these, well they’re not as good as yours. They’re from glyphs and-.”
“You made these for me?” Willow asked, her eyes wide.
“Uh yeah, well-.”
“Don’t be so modest!” Interrupted Luz. “He was up all night reading about flower language.”
“Floriography,” said Hunter and Willow at the same time.
Willow looked at the flowers in her hand: white angelica which meant inspiration, blue salvia which meant someone thought of you often, sunflower for adoration, yellow daffodil for respect, blue hydraulics for gratuity and red gardenias which often meant-
“These must’ve taken you forever to make,” said Willow. Before he even knew if she was going he had spent all this time making her something special for Grom? Willow blushed at the thought of what he would do if they were going together together. “Thank you.”
“Yeah, of course,” sputtered Hunter. “I saw Luz was making Amity a bouquet and I didn't wanna come empty handed so I just kind of copied her.”
“Yeah, but I just made purple flowers because that's Amity's favorite,” said Luz, happy the flowers matched the bright lavender of Amity’s hair and the dark purple of her new dress.
“Aw you’re my favorite.” Said Amity sweetly. “I’ll put these in some water and then we can go. Want me to take yours to Willow?”
“Sure,” said Willow, handing her flowers to Amity, but first carefully removing one of the red gardenias from the bunch and placing it in Hunter’s jacket pocket. “There; now we match.”
Hunter gulped, he had gone back and forth on whether he should include the red gardenia, knowing Willow would know their meaning. But they balanced out the bouquet and when he was making the glyph to summon flowers for the bouquet, it was the one that came forth the most often when he thought about her.
“Yeah,” was all he managed to say. “Um, so where is Gus? Isn’t he coming?”
“He’s already there,” said Willow, absentmindedly adjusting his tie. “He’s the emcee again this year. We’ll get to see him, don’t worry.”
“Speaking of which, we’d better get going,” said Luz, offering her arm for Amity to take as she led her out the door. Hunter turned to Willow and did the same. Willow happily took it and the pair walked behind Amity and Luz who observed them in secret.
“Gus messaged me,” whispered Amity. “He wants to know if we got a picture of Hunter’s reaction when he saw Willow
“I’m sending him the video now.” said Luz. “Should I put it to music? I feel like there was music playing.”
---
“Wow it’s weird being at the school at night,” said Hunter. “It’s looks so… colorful
“Yeah, they did a good job this year,” said Willow. “Look there’s Gus! Let’s go say hi!”
“Hey Gus! Looking good!” Said Willow brightly.
“Not looking too bad yourself,” Gus said back, giving his friend finger guns. “Look at you Hunter, you clean up good!”
“Thank you, I’m able to bathe more frequently since I’ve started staying at the owl house,” replied Hunter with a smile.
“Okay,” said Gus, not wanting to explain what he actually meant. “Sooo… did you two come together?”
Willow nodded, about to point out Amity and Luz who also came with them but Gus continued.
“See Hunter? I told you she’d say yes.”
“I uh, actually-.” Hunter started to say but couldn’t cut Gus off in time.
“All he’s been talking about the whole week is you and Grom, you and Grom.” Gus told Willow. “I really thought he was gonna chicken out, I’ve never seen him so nervous.”
Willow turned to him with wide eyes, still hanging onto his arm. “You were nervous about asking me?” She asked, her voice light and sweet.
“Well no,” he said. “Um, maybe a little. I didn’t know asking was a part of it and by the time I realized that I just figured I waited too long and someone else would have asked you and I didn’t wanna make you feel bad for saying no-.”
“I wouldn’t have said no,” Willow cut him off quickly.
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Oh.”
“I mean, I was actually gonna ask you, but you just seemed so busy this week so I didn’t get a chance to-.”
“I’m gonna get some punch,” said Hunter quickly. “Do you want some punch? Lemme get you some punch.”
He teleported away to the punch bowl and Gus just shook his head and laughed.
“You know what he was busy with all week, right?” Gus asked as they watched Hunter approach the refreshment table like it was a battlefield. “Luz was giving him dance lessons.”
“Really?”
“Yeah,” he said. “You didn’t hear it from me, but apparently there’s someone here he really wants to impress.”
“Really?” sighed Willow, watching Hunter measure the amount of punch he put in a cup to ensure it was the perfect amount, careful not to spill a drop. He turned back to her and gave a wide smile of success as he made his way back to her. Another flower sprouted atop her head. Seemed he was off to a great start.
---
As much as Willow believed Hunter had no issue dedicating time to perfect a new skill, he made little indication of his progress in the art of dance. He never got above a timid sway and every time Willow went to take his hand or move closer to him, he excused himself to the punch table.
“Dude, just ask her already,” said Gus as Hunter made his way to the punch table for the second time during one song.
“I’m gonna!” Said Hunter in a harsh whisper. “I just don’t know this song.”
“Neither does Willow,” said Gus as he followed Hunter’s gaze across the room. “But that’s never stopped her from dancing.”
Sure enough Willow was on the dance floor effortlessly adjusting to the music. She twirled and jumped in a circle with Viney and Skara, the girls singing along trying to guess the words, unafraid to look foolish in the name of a good time. Hunter hesitated to step into the dance floor, becoming a wall flower in the name of observation. He didn’t know what songs had steps and upon review, it seemed like everybody was doing their own thing. When his eyes found the couples on the dance floor he marveled that they were in sync so effortlessly. Each time he developed a safe set of steps for the song it would change and he had to start all over.
“She wants to dance with you, she keeps waving you over,” assured Gus. Hunter knew it was true, but people were just drawn to Willow so he was surrounded by a large group and laughing and spinning and Hunter didn’t know how he fit in.
“I just… none of these songs are the ones I practiced to,” said Hunter, his chest tight at the thought of Willow calling him over and him possibly letting her down. “But that doesn’t really matter because none of the songs are special enough. N-no offense to your playlist or anything!”
“What do you mean ‘not special enough?’” asked Gus, raising an eyebrow.
“I wanna ask Willow to dance with me,” he said. “Like… just with me.”
“Ohhhh I see,” said Gus with a smirk.
“And so I guess I want the first song that we dance to together then it should be the perfect song. Like what if it was a song she doesn’t really like and then it’s our song or what if it's a song she really likes and I step on her foot and ruin it and then she-.”
“Hunter, I think you’re majorly overthinking this,” said Gus, placing his hand on the older boy’s shoulder. “Look, you’re a pretty coordinated dude, and Luz told me how much you’ve been practicing. It’s normal to be a little nervous, but I promise Willow doesn’t care if you step on her toes or what song is playing. She just wants to spend time with you.”
“It’s just that… I spent so much time getting ready for Grom and trying to impress Willow, I kind of forgot that I had to… ask Willow,” he said, swirling his punch in his cup. “Gus, I didn’t even remember to ask her to go with me. How am I supposed to ask her to dance with me?”
“Here, why don’t you practice what you wanna say,” said Gus. “I’ll bring up an illusion of Willow and you can ask her that way.”
“What are you, crazy? You can’t just summon an illusion of the Captain here,” said Hunter frantically. “She’ll see and she’ll wonder why I’m talking to an illusion of her and she’ll just think I’m weird.”
“She already thinks you’re weird,” said Gus smugly, which did nothing to improve Hunter’s panicked state. “Okay fine, let’s go outside by the flyer derby field away from everyone and I’ll bring up the illusion there. Total privacy.”
“But won’t Willow wonder where I am?”
“Dude, you’ve had like twelve cups of punch, she’ll probably just think you’re in the bathroom.”
---
Hunter ran ahead to the building just outside the flyer derby field as Gus turned over his emcee duties to King. He paced back and forth as he tried to decide what to say.
“Hunter?” came a voice from the night. He looked up and saw the likeness of Willow approaching him. It was not the first time Gus had created an illusion of Willow. He often did it to tease Hunter, all in good fun, but he had gotten scarily good at it. Even an illusion of her took his breath away.
“Why hello Captain,” he greeted with suaveness. “Have I mentioned how radiant you look tonight?”
“You could stand to mention it more,” the illusion said, tucking her hair behind her ear just as Willow would. “You don’t look too bad yourself.”
“Thanks,” he said, running his hand through his hair just like O’Bailey did in one of his favorite chapters. “I try to dress to impress.”
“Oh, if only Darius had let you wear your Cosmic Frontier suit,” Illusion Willow sighed. “But I suppose he didn’t want you to draw too much attention.”
“Oh, don’t worry I found a loophole,” he said with a smirk, as he opened his jacket to reveal a custom liner obviously stitched by him. The golden pattern had O’Bailey’s signature logo, hidden as though Hunter was undercover just like the character often was. “But shh, Darius has no idea.”
“Wow Hunter, I had no idea you were such a rebel,” said Willow in a voice both serious and playful. When the real Willow spoke like that, he felt like something in his chest did a flip. But usually he could navigate illusions better and the flip was there again now.
“Yeah, I’ve been called a ‘bad boy’ more than a few times,” he felt so bold as to wink at her and the illusion giggled. Wow, Gus had really nailed her laugh. It was airy and genuine just like the real thing. And just like the real thing, the sound made the tips of Hunter’s ears turn red.
“So I’ve heard,” said Willow, rocking on the balls of her feet. “So Gus said you wanted to talk to me?”
“Always,” said Hunter suavely, leaning against the wall on bender elbow so he could rest his hand on his fist as he looked at her.
“What’s up? Why’d you wanna come all the way out here?” she asked with a small laugh, leaning against the wall to look up at him.
“Do I really need a reason to want to talk to such a pretty witch in the moonlight?” Hunter said with a cockiness he had only ever known under a mask. Usually when he got carried away like this, Gus would end the illusion knowing that this confidence would never make it to the real Willow.
“Well, I guess not,” she admitted, twirling in place trying to hold back her giddiness. “I was kind of hoping we could talk on the dance floor, to be honest.”
“Well, I suppose great minds think alike because I was hoping the same thing,” he said simply and Willow raised an eyebrow, impressed by his boldness. He offered her his hand and she took much to his surprise. He was surprised it didn’t go through him or have her vanish like an illusion would. No, the hand in hand surely was not that of any illusion. It was real.
“Willow?”
“Yeah?”
“No I mean you’re really Willow, like for real.”
“Yup, have been my whole life.”
“No I just didn’t realize...I thought that you were… so the whole time I was… wait that means you really wanna dance with me?”
“I mean, that is what I came out here to ask you,” she said.
“Did… Gus tell you I was out here?”
She nodded.
“Ah ha, of course he did,” said Hunter between clenched teeth, mortified that his first draft was the one she heard.
“It’s nice out here,” she said, tightening her grip on his hand. “It’s less crowded. Seems more… romantic.”
“You wanna dance… out here?”
“I just wanna dance with you, I don’t really care where it is,” said Willow with a shrug. “Is that… okay?”
“Yeah! Yeah t-t-that’s great! That would be great!” stuttered Hunter. They could faintly hear the music playing from the gym out here. Without a crowd, Hunter should find it easier to show off what he had learned. But he should’ve known Willow’s was the only opinion he cared about, which was why he still found himself frozen. Willow just smiled and used their linked hands to bring him closer to her as she took the lead. She placed his hands around her waist and then raised her arms around his neck, interlocking her fingers and bringing him closer. She took a small step to the side as they started to swat, her eyes locked on Hunter as his face turned a red that envied the gardenia in his pocket as his eyes tried to decide where to land.
“This, uh, this is how people dance huh?” said Hunter nervously, immediately regretting his awkward phrasing.
“Yup, not so scary right?” Smiled Willow.
“I mean, I wasn’t scared,” scoffed Hunter. " Dancing isn't scary."
“So why didn’t you ask me to dance earlier? Were you afraid I’d upstage you?”
“I guess I was afraid you’d say no.”
“Hmm, that doesn’t sound like me. I would never say no at the chance to upstage someone.”
“Heh. Well, I guess I was just worried I’d embarrass you,” admitted Hunter.
“You could never embarrass me,” assured Willow with a laugh. “Honestly, I think Amity is probably my most embarrassing friend.”
“Well, at least Amity doesn’t need to practice talking to illusions to ask a pretty girl to dance.” Hunter was instantly frozen by his own boldness. He didn’t know what would be his cause of death: calling her pretty or admitting he practiced saying it to an illusion.
“Hmm do you often flirt with illusions of me?”
“F-f-flirt?” Sputter Hunter. “I wouldn’t say that, exactly. Not that I wouldn’t, I mean that I couldn’t because I wouldn’t know how. It’s… complicated.”
“Hunter, do you… find it hard to talk to me?”
“What? No! I er,” he said unconvincingly as he struggled to talk to her. He took a deep breath. “No, I just… get in my head, I guess. I know how important Grom is to you and you’re important to me and I just didn’t… wanna mess this up because I’ve messed up a lot of other normal teenager things and I wanted it to be perfect because you deserve perfect. Because you’re perfect.``
“Aw, Hunter,” she said, resting her head on his chest. “You’re right, I am perfect. And don’t worry, you’re doing great. Those dance lessons are really paying off.”
“How did you know about the-?” Hunter started, but the way she tilted her head to the side and grinned at him was the only answer he needed. He cleared his throat as he went to continue. “Thanks, uh y-you too. It’s just that… this doesn’t seem like dancing. There’s not really any steps, I guess.”
“Yeah, I think slow dancing was invented so people would have an excuse to look into someone’s eyes and kiss in public without it being awkward.”
“I mean, that’s not why I wanted to ask you,” said Hunter quickly. “I mean, not that I don’t want to look into your eyes. Or ya know…”
“Well, I was gonna ask you, remember?” Said Willow, raising her eyebrow and tightening her grip on him. Hunter just chuckled nervously.
“I uh, actually watched some tutorials on the line,” said Hunter quietly. “None of them had any dancing like this.”
“Oh?” said Willow, glad she was the first one to show him dancing like this. “What kinds of dances did you learn?”
“Well Luz was showing me these dances for something called ‘k-pop’ but those were pretty complicated. So most of them were lessons with partners and so I learned half the dance but it probably seems silly to know half a dance.”
“Well then you should lead!”
“Me? I-I probably couldn’t-.”
“Yeah! I’m a fast learner, teach me your sick moves!” Willow exclaimed. “Please?”
“It’s just… I still have to count the steps and it’s kind of embarrassing,” he said. “I was hoping the music would be loud enough where you couldn’t hear me.”
“You’ve thought about this a lot, huh?”
“Well, not a lot a lot like a normal amount I think,” he said. Willow looked at him in anticipation patiently waiting for him to show her what he learned. He shook his head to try and focus as he recalled what the couples did on the videos. This was it! This was why he practiced! This was the moment! “Okay so, uh, first I put my hand out and you take it, if you want to.”
Willow put her left hand in Hunter’s right hand and happily awaited the next steps.
“Okay and uh then we kind of move out,” he said as he leaned and she followed suit. “And then I stand here and I pull you in and you spin in on yourself so my arm kind of um…”
Willow spun in so Hunter’s arm was around her and then took hers other hand in hers as it scolded her chest. Hunter suddenly realized he had trapped her in a hug, usually this move went much faster and he wouldn’t have time to think about it but he started to panic as he thought of the next step. Willow didn’t seem to mind.
“Then what?” She whispered, looking over her shoulder to him.
“Then uh we like sway for a second, it would make more sense with the music. Sorry and then take your other hand I spin you back out,” he did as he spoke. “And then I raise my arm in the air and I spin you under it and then I pull you down real fast and catch you.”
He swiftly brought Willow down into a dip as though they were effortlessly in tune. Willow brought her hand up to grip his bicep though she had no fear he would drop her. She wondered if he could hear her heart racing.
“What comes next?” Willow said breathlessly, looking up at him at the stars surrounding his face.
“I uh I don’t remember,” Hunter said, equally as breathlessly. But as far as he was concerned, all the stars were in her eyes.
“That’s okay,” she softly assured. “I think this part is my favorite.”
“Mine too.”
The next thing Hunter knew, they were on the ground. His knees had turned to jelly and his balance failed him. He should've known to tell Willow to adjust her feet the way the videos recommended and when he looked up to her to apologize, he realized in horror that in the fall he had landed on top of Willow. Her hair braid had started to unravel and her glasses were askew but she somehow looked unbothered.
“Oh my Titan I’m so sorry,” he said, adjusting her glasses. “I-I guess I must’ve skipped a step. It's a lot different doing it with someone you see I usually use like a mop or a broom but they’re not as pretty as- well, not that you being pretty is a reason to drop you that’s not why I-.”
“Hunter, it’s okay.”
“Are you sure? I mean I don’t think I-oh!” Hunter realized the position they were in and leapt onto his feet like a frightened cat. “Sorry! Sorry, I uh… let me help you up.”
Hunter reached down for Willow to take and swiftly brought her back up on her feet. As he did, he noticed her face winced in pain as she stood back up and his heart sank.
“You’re hurt.” Hunter said, knowing that she wouldn’t.
“No! No, not really. I think my ankle is a little sprained, it’s not a big deal,” she insisted. “I’ll be fine, I promise.”
“No, you’re hurt and it’s all my fault,” groaned Hunter as he moved to her side so she could lean on him.
“Hunter, it's probably just a sprain,” she laughed, leaning down to adjust her shoe. “I’ve definitely had worse injuries.”
“Yeah, but you’re not supposed to get injured dancing!” Said Hunter distraught and embarrassed. “Let me take you to Viney so she can look at it.”
“Hunter, I promise you that’s not-,” Willow started but was cut off by Hunter placing one arm behind her back as the other under her knees to effortlessly scoop her into his arms bridal style. Her back arm naturally rest around his neck as her other found its way on his chest as she looked up at him with starry eyes, taken back by the romance of his actions. “-necessary.”
Her voice was airy and soft but Hunter did not seem to notice her star struck nature as he was too focused on helping her. He furrowed his brow as he began to walk back to the school and Willow simply stared at him like he was the dashing hero on the cover of one of those novels she’d see in the grocery store line.
“Are you comfortable, Captain?” He asked as he adjusted his hold to bring her closer, taking care not to wrinkle her dress.
“Oh yeah, I’m great,” she said, leaning her head against his shoulder. She knew if he turned his head and saw her looking at him so endearingly he would get inside his own head and probably fall over but for now she could admire his chivalry that his anxiety strengthened. It was well worth the minor injury to her ankle.
“Good, we’re almost back at the gym.”
“Take your time,” she sighed happily, admiring the way the wind blew through his hair as he ran. "I'm fine right here."
---
Hunter stared at the ground as he walked Willow home, mentally cursing himself. He had been so worried about stepping on her toes or holding her too close, he never dared to imagine he would drop her. He was mortified. He was embarrassed. He could only imagine how Willow felt.
He looked at her, sitting side saddle on her staff a few feet above the ground. Viney had instructed her to keep pressure off her ankle and advised flying too fast could aggravate it further. She insisted she would be fine, but she could tell Hunter would worry himself silly if he didn’t see her home safely. Even in her disheveled state, she still looked beautiful. She looked like she was waiting for him to say something. Most of all, she looked cold.
“Willow,” he started as he removed his jacket to put around her shoulders. “I… I think I need to apologize.”
“Hunter, you’ve apologized like twenty times,” she insisted, realizing for the first time he was wearing cologne as his jacket engulfed her. “Viney said my ankle will heal just fine. It's no big deal.”
“It is a big deal!” he exclaimed as he wrung his hands. “I would consider breaking your ankle on our first date a pretty big deal!”
Her mouth formed a small o as she processed what he just said “First date?” she repeated, trying not to smile too wide. “You wanted Grom to be our first date?”
“I did! But then I forgot to ask you! And then I dropped you,!” Hunter rambled. “And if I can’t even ask you to dance then how am I supposed to ask you to be my-?”
He stopped himself and looked up from his monologue and saw Willow’s eyes fixated on him, begging him to finish. The conversation caught up with him as he processed exactly what he had almost confessed. His brain started screaming, trying to think of a way to save this but the way she was looking at him seemed to both calm and frazzle him. He took a deep breath. ” You know, I probably could have avoided the whole disaster if I just told you how I…”
“How you… what?”
“How I feel about,” he exhaled, his palms sweaty. “About… dancing?”
“About… dancing?” she repeated, slightly confused and hoping he’d end up asking the question he mentioned. Clover stopped and hovered the in air as Hunter paced a little.
“Yeah, I uh… really like… dancing,” he said, looking at her with soft eyes hoping she understood what he really meant. “I think it’s really beautiful and powerful and special but it makes me kind of nervous. And I really wanted to ask you but I don’t have alot of experience with…”
“With things like dancing?”
“Exactly,” he said, clearing his throat. “Yes, with wonderful and awesome things like dancing.”
Willow reached out and placed her hand on his cheek and he easily leaned into the touch.
“Well, if you ask me, dancing thinks you’re pretty wonderful and awesome too,” said Willow, brushing her thumb over his cheek. “I’d still like to see how your dance ends.”
“While your ankle heals I’ll be sure to practice so I’ll be the perfect partner,” assured Hunter, feeling more at ease. “Or at the very least next time we can do it where the ground is softer.”
“Sounds like the perfect second date,” Willow laughed and Hunter screamed internally in joy that he hadn't totally blown his shot. “And in the meantime, can I show you how my dance was supposed to end?”
“Well, Viney said you shouldn’t put any unnecessary pressure on your ankle,” Hunter reminded her, genuinely concerned. “Maybe we should save your dance moves for later.”
Willow moved the hand that was holding onto her staff and reached out to grab his shirt collar to bring him closer to her. He looked down at her, flustered at the sudden closeness as something twinkled in her eyes that Hunter couldn’t quite explain. “It’s not that kind of move,” she whispered with a wink.
“Oh?” Hunter gulped, his eyes dared to dart down to her lips as Willow’s face slowly came closer to his. Then suddenly the distance disappeared as Clover boosted Willow up to his level as her lips met his. She closed her eyes and leaned into the kiss so he would have no doubt that it was on purpose. Hunter quickly melted into the contact as he closed his eyes and brought his hand to the side of her face to help balance her and to make sure she was real.
When she eventually pulled away she was delighted to see his soft and slightly dazed expression as he kept his eyes closed as though still stuck inside a dream, his hand still delicately holding her face. Willow smiled and bit her lip as she tried to suppress her laugher at the effect her ending had on him. It was everything she had hoped for.
Hunter’s eyes slowly opened and when Willow entered his vision, a large dopey grin overtook his face. Truly everything she had hoped for, and the reaction caused the return of several flowers atop her head.
“So…do all dances end like that?” he asked, his voice low and airy. He was sure if any of the videos he had watched mentioned this he definitely would have remembered. But If Willow was improvising, she would hear no complaints from him.
“Well," she started as coyly as a girl trying to catch her breath could, taking the gardenia from his jacket pocket and tucking it behind his ear so they truly matched. "I guess you'll just have to ask me to dance if you wanna find out, huh?"