Chapter Text
“I call shotgun!” Luz yelled with as much of a grin she could muster after everything that had happened.
“Shotgun?!” Hunter looked at her with a mix of confusion and concern, thinking she was actually going to get her hands on a shotgun.
Mike chuckled a bit at the teen’s confusion before saying “It just means she wants the front seat.”
“Oh,” Hunter mumbled, shying away his face in embarrassment as Willow lightly patted his shoulder to console him, wearing a weak smirk that Hunter couldn’t help but return.
The Hexsquad hopped into the car, all barely fitting but managing. Luz sat in the front passenger seat while the other four were squashed together in the back row. Mike got into the driver's seat and started the car, heading out the parking lot when an idea came to him.
“I’ll stop at a convenience store up the road to pick you kids up some snacks and something to drink. Is there anything in particular you’d like?” He asked them.
The four in the back all looked at each other in confusion. This wasn’t the demon realm, they weren’t sure what snacks they had here! But Luz came to the rescue, turning around in her seat to face them, whispering “Don’t worry, I’ll find human realm equivalents or something I think y'all will like.” They all sighed with grateful looks in response.
“Thanks Luz,” Amity said, getting a soft smile from Luz in response, making her blush slightly. Some things never change, even in dark situations.
Luz sat back properly in her seat and glanced at Mike about to answer before a street light lit up the car, causing her to finally notice something the darker environment from earlier wouldn’t allow: the decaying appearance of the man who took them in. Luz felt her words shrivel up in her throat before glancing away, trying to process this. She’d spent months in the demon realm and just faced off with Belos and some creepy robots, but this is what gets to her! Well, Mike was nice enough to open his home to a group of teens he just met so… why should she judge. She lived on a giant corpse for months! Plus, Eda wasn’t even near the definition of ‘normal’, so she shouldn’t be put off by his appearance. Everyone had their stories, including herself. It wasn’t important… but maybe she could get some mysterious backstory lore later. Yeah, that sounded fun! And so, she left that thought there and turned back to face Mike.
“My friends aren’t exactly… from here but I know their taste in food so I’ll help pick things out, if that's fine,” said Luz.
“Alright, thank you. I wouldn’t want to grab anything no one would like so your help is much appreciated,” Mike smiled at her before focusing back on the road and pulling into a parking lot of a 24/7 hour gas station. “Do you want to come in with me or give me a list of things to grab?” He asked.
“Oh! I can come in. I dunno what all they have so it’d just be easier,” Luz shrugged.
“Alright,” Mike nodded, unbuckling his seatbelt and turning back to face the rest of the Hexsquad. “I’ll keep the car running while we’re grabbing things. We’ll be back in a few. Lock the doors when we leave though, alright?”
“No problem, sir,” Hunter nodded firmly.
“Alright, thank you. And please, feel free to call me Mike. I really don’t mind,” Mike said with a smile before getting out of the car with Luz, heading through the front doors of the building.
The four in the backseat glanced at each other before Hunter was the one to break the silence.
“Do humans normally look like that?”
Upon entering, Luz followed Mike to the racks of snacks before glancing at him, asking “So… how many can I grab for each of my friends?”
“Hm, how about two drinks, one salty snack, and one sweet?” Mike suggested.
“Oh, really? Are you sure, Mr. Mike?” Luz asked. “That’s quite a bit.”
“Well I wouldn’t offer if I wasn’t sure,” he chuckled. “Plus, you and your friends don’t look to be in the greatest shape, you need a bit of a treat.” Mike smiled sympathetically.
“Thanks,” Luz smiled back before searching the snack aisles for things she felt her friends would like. After a few minutes, she picked out everything for each of her friends, Mike helping her carry the snack pile to the self checkout.
For herself, she picked out Jolly Rancher gummies, pepper jack Cheez-its, and two bottles of orange juice. For Amity, she grabbed yogurt covered pretzels, white cheddar popcorn, and two bottles of sweet tea. For Gus, she snagged a bag of mini Starbursts, pizza-flavored Pringles, one bottle of blue Powerade and one bottle of cherry flavored Coke. For Willow, she chose a honey bun, spicy potato chips, and two bottles of Sprite. For Hunter, she picked up a s’mores flavored granola bar, trail mix, and two bottles of water.
Mike paid for the mountain of snacks while Luz bagged them before they headed out of the building and back to the car. Luz caught a glimpse of first aid supplies while bagging the snacks that Mike must’ve snuck into the pile, smiling softly at the thought. She decided not to bring attention to it but kept the sentiment in her thoughts as she settled back into the passenger’s seat.
Mike started back up the car, heading off before suggesting “How about you pass the snacks out? The drive isn’t long but you guys look exhausted and I bet you haven’t eaten anything for a bit, hm?”
Luz nodded before passing out the snacks to her friends, each of them accepting the snacks and drinks graciously. Admittedly, they were all dehydrated and hungry, the last they ate being on the airship and as for Luz, she hadn’t eaten all day.
Amity smiled as she ate a few of her pretzels while Willow and Gus offered each other a bite of their snacks. Hunter opened the trail mix, handing a few raisins to Flapjack who was poking his head out from under his yellow tunic. Luz smiled at her friends before opening a bottle of orange juice and taking multiple sips. In all honesty, she missed the taste of human realm snacks and drinks. They felt almost… nostalgic now.
Mike eventually drove into a neighborhood and drove into a driveway, parking his car in the garage and turning to look at the Hexsquad. “Alright we’re here. It’ll take me a while to clean out a few rooms for you kids so you’ll have to sleep in the living room for the time being. I’m sorry about that.”
“It’s alright man, you’re already helping us a ton,” Gus smiled.
Mike smiled in return, saying “It’s nothing really. I try to help where I can.” He cleared his throat before changing subjects. “I’ll show you around before patching your wounds and grabbing some sleeping bags and blow-up mattresses. I’m also going to look for some old clothing I have packed away somewhere while you kids rest.”
“What about you? You said it's practically morning and you were awake, don’t you need rest too?” Luz asked with a frown.
“Well, yes, that is true but there’s no need to worry. Once You kids are settled in, I’ll rest as well but my main priority currently is help you all.” Mike answered with determination.
“Thank you,” Amity slightly smiled.
“It’s fine, really!” Mike smiled back before getting out of the car, the kids filing out afterwards. He led them up a short flight of stairs and through a door into a kitchen.
“Pardon the mess, I’ll clean it tomorrow after we all rest,” Mike said apologetically as the Hexsquad noticed the piles of papers and cardboard boxes set on the dining room table. “I should… probably buy some more chairs, huh?” He lightly chuckled.
He led them out of the kitchen to a sunken living room. Wincing slightly at the coffee table right in the middle of the space, he walked down the steps and pushed the coffee table out of the way, making more space for the teens to rest.
“I’m going to go grab the first aid bag and the extra things I bought, make yourselves comfortable. Blankets are in the cabinets over there,” He said pointing to a wall made of cabinets positioned together before walking away to grab the first aid supplies.
The Hexsquad entered the sunken living room and sat down on the couch, subconsciously huddled together for comfort as all the activity died down, leaving them with their thoughts and questions on where to go from here.
Back at Freddy’s, a drop of green, rotting slime crawled its way around the dust covered floors, looking for matter to build itself back up. Belos made his way to the animatronics, spotting what looked like crusted blood in their matted fur, giving him an idea as he crawled onto one and absorbed the matter only to spot a trail leading to the chest of the animatronic. Belos felt annoyed as all he was greeted with was a heavily decayed corpse. Seeing as it was the only thing for now, Belos took the rest of the matter remaining from the small corpse, leaving the bones before moving onto the other animatronics to do the same, ignoring the off putting whispers he heard and the pair of silver-ish purple eyes in the shadows.