Archive of Our Own ^beta

Hunter swallowed a little as the chime of a door rang, the glass sliding door swinging aside. He nearly blinked from the bright halogen lights hanging from the ceiling and looked around the room, trying not to seem too out of place.

“...they’ve got nothing like this back…” he took a deep shuddering breath, rubbing his arms together from the sudden shivering chill. “...back home.”

Flapjack tweeted soft soothing words from in his backpack. “You don’t have to do this, if you don’t feel up to doing the shopping, well… Well Miss Camila won’t blame you.”

“I know Flapjack, I know,” Hunter said, pretending not to see how everyone looked at him as if he was a weirdo apparently just talking to himself. “It’s just, I’m the oldest now, and as the oldest, it’s my responsibility. Sigh Aldi huh? The fanciest market I’ve ever been to.”

“Supermarket is what Miss Camila called it.”

“I suppose that’s one way to describe it. Feels too cold and impersonal though,” Hunter mused to himself. “Back home, back in Bonesborough, it was all farmer’s markets. Nothing like this.”

“This isn’t Bonesborough though,” Flapjack tweets. “Too cold though. I’m shivering in my feathers.”

“Agreed. You think I look alright?” Hunter asked him, getting more strange looks as his question wasn’t apparently directed at anyone in particular. Even as he grabbed a shopping cart, he heard a tweet back in reply.

“You look handsome!”

“Handsome huh?” Hunter replied, even as he places his backpack in the shopping cart. He had face him so he could see Flapjack perched inside the see-through material.

“Miss Camila says you look like such a little man!”

“And as the man of the house, it’s my job to do the shopping,” Hunter said. “As the man of the house it’s my job to take responsibility.”

He sees a few approving looks sent his way

“You don’t have to,” Flapjack replies. “You’ve already had so much responsibility placed on you, you should just let yourself be a normal teenager for once.”

“But I’m not a normal teenager,” Hunter says in a low tone as they peruse the aisles. “I’m not.”

Flapjack makes a confused tweeting sound, roughly translating to: “You feel like one to me.”

“Most teenagers,” Hunter whispers. “Aren’t clones or… or whatever I am. Most teenagers weren’t a tyrant’s personal…” he shudders. “Witch hunter.”

“Which is why I’m telling you to be a normal teenager for once in your life. Miss Camila would probably tell you the same thing.”

“Yeah, well mo- Camila, doesn’t have to know. She’d hate me if she knew, she’d be afraid of me and what I could do to her kids, to my friends if she knew what I’ve done in the past,” Hunter whispers. “She’d kick me out of the house. That’s why I-”

“-have to prove yourself?”

“Exactly. I’ve spent so long hurting people that I…” Hunter continued to whisper before shuddering again. “That I need to make up for that. Instead of hurting people… I want to help them. I want to be… I want to be…”

“Normal?” Flapjack says, though his voice sounds skeptical. His tweet sounded like wanted to say something else, but had held it back for the time being.

“Yes, normal,” Hunter says, though even he doesn’t sound like he believes it. He holds up something off the shelf, and blinks. “...Mozzarella Cheese Wraps? What do you think?”

“Save some for me!”

Hunter reaches inside the pet carrier, and ruffles his palismen’s head. “Of course, I love you Flapjack. I wouldn’t know what to do without you.”

-----

Camila’s home is always warm and comforting, like a home is apparently supposed to be. Not that he would know, he’s never known what a home was supposed to be like. Hindsight was a terrible thing, the blonde would admit.

He places the shopping bag, full of foods he doesn’t know anything about, down on the kitchen table. He shudders a little, slipping down behind the island and curls up in a ball, his palismen snuggling into him.

Too many people staring at him, at his scars, at the bags under his eyes. Too many people seeing him for what he was, someone’s puppet. All eyes were on him, he’d realized. He’d heard the whispers, people worrying over him. That maybe he’d been abused at home, that he’d been-

Flapjack snuggles into him and chirps out a soft soothing song. Telling him that their comments shouldn’t matter, he knew the truth. He knew that he was loved. That no matter what people said, they were only speculating.

Hunter shivers again, despite the warmth of the small house, he feels a little cold. Despite the walls surrounding him, and the cover of the island, he feels exposed. He lifts up his hands, covered in scars.

Battle scars. People had seen them, they had to have. He’d never fit in with the human realm, he doesn’t belong here. The Boiling Isles wasn’t the place for him either, not when he wasn’t a witch either. He doesn’t belong anywhere.

Another comforting chirp from Flapjack, even as Hunter’s starts to let out short sharp breathes and his vision blurs. He’s crying, he knows he is. He curls up further in on himself, trying not to be seen in such a state of humiliation. He sobs into his arms, quietly enough not to attract attention.

Luz nor Vee needed to see him, nor Gus or his Captain. They needed to keep thinking he was strong enough to handle himself. He needed to keep upholding that illusion really. That despite it all, he was still a capable, functioning person. 

He didn’t want them to think otherwise, for them to pull back the curtain and realize that he was damaged beyond repair. Broken goods. 

“You’re not that,” Flapjack tweets, nipping at him slightly in what Hunter knew to be disappointment. “You’re not broken beyond repair, not yet. You’ve just been through a lot. And people still love you, despite that. I love you Hunter. I love you.”

“Hunter?” Camila eventually finds him, sitting herself down next to him. She wraps an arm around him. “Oh, mijo come here. It’s okay.”

She pulls him into her arms. 

“Tell me if something’s hurting you,” she says, and Hunter says nothing. “It’s okay, if you don’t feel like talking right now, if you’re okay with staying nonverbal, then you don’t have to say anything. Just nod or shake your head.”

Camila’s so kind and so caring, Hunter thinks to himself. She knows about his needs, how he prefers not to speak unless he has to. How he doesn’t like to meet people’s eyes.

Belos had hated this in him, and often forced him to look him in the eyes, to speak when spoken to.

“Are you okay with that?” Camila asks of him.

A nod, never meeting the woman’s eyes.

“Do you just want to sit here for a minute?”

Another nod.

“That’s okay. We can stay here as long as you like, though do you want to move to the couch? It’s more comfortable over there.”

Hunter shakes his head, he was fine where he was. It felt safe.

“That’s okay,” Camila says soothingly. “Take your time. Take all of the time you need, I can wait until you’re comfortable.”

So she sits there next to him, and he isn’t sure how much time had passed before he finally felt comfortable with speaking.

“I lasted 30 minutes,” Hunter confesses and he’s vaguely aware that he must have cried a bit harder than was acceptable. “I lasted thirty minutes out in public, before I just wanted to just go home. I… I could have broke down in that store, in public and I-”

He’s aware that he’s taking short, sharp panicked breaths again.

“But you didn’t, you’re such a strong boy mijo and I’m proud of you. You faced your fears, you went out in public by yourself!” Camila says, moving to the couch and sitting him on her lap. She rests his head on her shoulder, guiding it there with a gentle hand. “Now breathe with me, mi tesoro okay? In and out, in and out.”

Hunter slowed his breathing, matching Camila’s own, the Noceda grasping his hand as she ran her other hand through his hair. Nearby, sitting on the couch’s arm, Flapjack was still chirping out soft soothing songs.

“They… They were staring at me,” he admitted. “At my scars… I heard them whispering, I know they think you’re abusing me.”

“People talk about whatever they want to,” Camila says with a sigh of distaste. “It’s all people seem to know how to do sometimes, mijo and yes it annoys me too. But don’t let those gossips get to you, they don’t know what they’re talking about. You’re loved here. You are loved, do you understand?”

“Belos… he said he loved me once as well…” Hunter says, feeling something wrapping around him, pressing down on him like a great big hug. He knew Camila had set him down and pulled what she called a ‘weighted blanket’ around him.

Camila makes a noise of disgust at the mention of that man’s name. “I swear if he wasn’t already a puddle of goo, he and I would have plenty to talk about. I’d like to introduce him to La Chancla for-”

“For ruining me?”

“No no,” Camila soothes. “Never say that about yourself, you’re not ruined.”

“But I am,” Hunter croaks out, his voice still hoarse from all of his crying. Flapjack rested on his shoulders, gently cuddling up to him. He welcomes his palismen’s presence. “I’m damaged, broken. Do you know the reason I was crying so softly, out of sight? That’s what I was trained to do in my uncle’s Coven. To never show weakness. Any personal issues were to be kept private, out of sight out of mind.”

Another sharp intake of breath from Camila, and a noise of disgust from her as well. “That’s the worst reasoning I’ve ever heard. You’re just a child! You’re supposed to go to someone, anyone if you ever needed help mijo as that’s why we cry. To let others know we need help from someone.”

“My uncle didn’t think that way.”

“Yes, well, your uncle doesn’t deserve that title,” Camila says, furiously. “A family member is someone who loves and cares for you, and as far as I can see, Belos did very little of either.”

Hunter sobs softly again. “T-Thank you… I know I must feel like such a burden on your household. And yet you took me in anyways…”

“You’re not a burden mi tesoro and never tell yourself that you are,” Camila said. “And of course I took you in, I couldn’t leave you or your friends out in the pouring rain. Sure I’d have a few extra mouths to feed, but… But I’d never be able to live with myself otherwise.”

Luz sat down next to him, now sporting a scar over her eye where Belos had struck her. Hunter winces guilty, another thing he should bear the blame for. Not getting there in time to help her.

“My mami’s right, she’d never be able to leave anyone out in the pouring rain. You’re welcome here.”

“Here and only here,” Hunter said. “Only here. I don’t have a place in the Isles, and here in the human realm… I’ve seen the statue, who I look like. I can never go out in public without people staring at me… connecting those dots.”

“I doubt people would ever realize who you’re related to,” Luz said, and he notes their word choice. Not cloned from, related to. He smiles gratefully. “They’d just brush it off as funny coincidence, that’s all. People are kinda dumb like that.”

“They’d still stare though… I’ve got…” Hunter says. “I’m covered in scars. I’m a freak, something to point at.”

“Well then,” Luz says, a conspiratory grin crossing their face. “Let’s give them another reason to stare at you.”

“What are you planning, mija?” her mother asks.

“Oh, nothing…”  they say in reply with their grin growing wider.

----

‘Nothing’ turned out to be giving what they called a ‘glow-up’ to Hunter. Once again, Hunter finds himself out in public, in what Luz calls a shopping mall.

It’s big, filled with more people than Hunter has ever been around before. It’s intimidating, and for a moment Hunter longs to be back on the Isles again. For a brief scary moment, he longs for his mask so nobody could see how nervous he was.

He feels a squeeze of his hand, and looks to see his Captain giving him a reassuring smile. That confident, bright look on her face makes him feel like he could do anything. He feels his heart skip a beat slightly, and for a moment he wonders why that is. If something else is wrong with him.

It’s probably nothing at all, Hunter tells himself.

“I think,” his Captain tells him, and Luz is nodding in agreement. “A whole new look is what you need. A whole new you. If you look confident, you’ll feel confident, that’s what my dads always told me.”

“And anyone blessed with the gift of sight, will, by the time you’re done here… Well,” Luz smirks as they pass into a clothing store, the words Old Navy above them. “Well anyone who looks at you will be able to tell you’re a teenage boy ready to face the world!”

It’s overwhelming how many choices he has. The store is apparently empty for this time of day, with only a few other shoppers.

Hunter’s grateful for that, he can take things at his own pace he realizes with a rare smile. As ever, Flapjack’s pet carrier is on his back, his palismen tweeting out encouragements.

“After this, we can go get you some concealer if you want. Hide those bags under your eyes,” Luz offers. “I’m sure you’ll look very handsome, bro.”

Bro, it’s how easily Luz settled into that role of adoring little sister for him that shocks him. 

“Is that alright with you, hermano?” they asked, before noticing how Hunter’s hands had drifted to not pants but a long skirt. A maxi skirt, they vaguely remembered it being called.

“Or…” Luz tests out the word. “Or should I call you hermana hmmm?”

“No, I’m still fine with hermano, it’s just…” Hunter admits. “It’s just it feels so nice, running my hands across it. I’m trying to imagine myself in it and…”

“Maybe you don’t have to just imagine,” his Captain says. “I’m sure there’s a changing room nearby you can go try it on in.”

Flapjack chirps out: “Go do it!”

“But what if…?” Hunter pauses. “What if anyone sees me? I know how…”

His fear tries to overtake him but he fights it away.

“I know how people like you are treated here, for not conforming to traditional gender dynamics and norms…” Hunter says.

“If anyone gives you crap, I’ll punch them in the snoz,” his Captain says. “They’re not worth talking to. What people will really see is a handsome teenage boy being his best self.”

“Willow’s right, hermano,” Luz agrees. “People will see you as you truly are, and that’s the only thing they should take away from it. Who cares what you dress like, clothes are just only that in the end. You should only feel comfortable in your own skin. Don’t let anyone give you crap for that, hermano. Let people see you as you should be, happy and healthy.”

“And if they don’t they can stay back or I’ll attack!” Flapjack chirps, and at this Hunter giggles somewhat.

“You’re feisty today aren’t you?” he whispers to the bird before grabbing a few skirts off the rack. Pinks and lavenders, one cream and another tan and finally one crimson red. Never white or gold, anything but those colors ever again.

“I’ve got your back, Hunter. Like I said, they can stay back or I’ll attack!”

Soon, Hunter finds himself in the changing rooms, and dropping his well-worn pants. It occurs to him that he needs something besides borrowed clothes anyways. He runs his hands over the skirt’s fabric and smiles, and even giggles a bit at the touch, liking the texture. 

“Perfect…” he says to himself, as he pulls the skirt up his legs and feels a distinct urge to spin in place. He giggles again, his hands still gripping the maxi skirt and liking it’s feel. 

His smile fades as he looks himself in the mirror, the bags under his eyes still obvious to anyone who looked at him close enough. Maybe his hermanita was right, maybe some concealer would do him some good.

He strides out of the changing room, and feels more confident than he had when he’d walked into the store. His Captain gasps and holds a hand over her heart.

“Oh look at you…” she says, happily. Luz laughed and hugged him from behind, grinning triumphantly.

“I saw that confident walk of yours, see what’d we tell you? New clothes new you. But,” they say. “We can’t just stop there, can we? No no, new skirts mean a whole new wardrobe to go with it!”

“Some concealer as well, you’re right. I think I need some!” Hunter agrees.

“Ooooooooooh, we’re doing make-up as well?” his Captain gasps happily. “Someone’s feeling confident now! I was right, you did need a new wardrobe to help you along~!”

“What do you think, Flapjack?” Hunter turns to his first friend.

“I think you’re going to look so pretty by the time Willow and Luz are done with you!”

“Pretty?” here Hunter raises an eyebrow.

“You do be stylin’,” Luz says. “I wish I could pull off a skirt like that. I’m kinda jealous actually.”

“Suupppper jealous,” his Captain agrees. “But well, as Luz said, we can’t just stop there. No no, that one shirt you do own, it won’t go with any of the skirts you like. Everything has to match!”

Hunter pretended to look resigned to his fate, but failed at that pretty utterly.

Honestly, his fear slowly begins to die down, and he finds himself going through the store like a whirlwind.

“Mhmmmmm, what about this jacket?” he asks, holding up a particularly appealing number, in soft pastel tones to go with the skirts he’d picked out. “Does it have that… oh, what do you humans call it? That drip?”

Luz burst into giggles.

“What?” he asked, honestly confused.

“Sorry, you just trying to be hip,” they say. “It’s just… yeah, stick to being you right now, we’ll give you a proper education in teen-speak later. We’ll make a Gen Zedder out of you yet hermano don’t worry!”

Hunter slowly nods, before sighing.

“I’m… I’m not sure if I’m ready to go out in public dressed like…” he says, gesturing to himself. “Like this. I know new clothes bring new confidence but…”

“Don’t worry, you can take it at your own pace,” his Captain said, a pastel yellow bandana disguising her ears. “I personally don’t understand what the fuss is about what’s basically clothes here in the human realm, but this is all for your own comfort. Nobody can force you into doing what you don’t want to, not anymore.”

“Yeah…” Hunter says, going back to change into his regular worn-down jeans, before pausing. He chuckles. “Heh! ...bet my Uncle would collapse in shock if he saw me dressed like this!”

Luz snickered. “He probably would!”

“With that image in mind…” Hunter said with a toothy grin. “You know what, I think I will wear my skirt just to spite him from beyond the grave!”

His Captain claps him on the back approvingly. “That’s the spirit, Hunter!”

Head held high, he marches out of the store, eagerly following after the girls to their next destination.

Their next stop was a cosmetics store just a short walk away, but already Hunter had noticed the change in people’s perceptions of him.

The comments, unlike those back at Aldi's, were far more approving.

“You look so pretty, kid!”

“Ooooooh, I wish I had the confidence to dress like that! Leave it to the next generation!”

“That skirt’s simply fabulous! Like that boy knows a thing or two about fashion!

“So chic! I mean, OMG he looks so cute!”

“See,” his sibling says with a nod. “I told you that if you just walk like you own the place, people will notice your newfound confidence and treat you accordingly. They won’t even notice the scars, or the bags under your eyes, and just see my awesome big brother!”

“Uh, Luz, hate to rain on your parade, but I think that guy…” his captain points behind them. “Well, I don’t think everyone approves…”

Luz looks behind them. “Ugh, yes, a boomer. Just keep walking Hunter, pretend he’s not there. Maybe he’ll get bored.”

“I’ve got your back,” Flapjack says from inside his backpack. “If that guy makes a move towards you, let me out! I’ll go on the attack, I’ll leave him a little gift inside his hair! I’ll peck his head! I am smol but fierce!”

“Yeah, you are,” Hunter said to him.

“Awwwww…” Luz cooed. “He’s been guarding you all day hasn’t he?”

“He’s such a little warrior,” Hunter said, letting his palismen out and ruffling the bird’s feathers to a pleased chirp.

“You’re just looking for attention aren’t ya kid?” the man, a little older than Camila or Darius says. “Flaunting yourself like that. Are you sure you’re not just confused, you tra-”

“I’m not confused, I know exactly who I am,” Hunter says, eyes narrowed. “I think the only one here who’s confused is you, sir. There’s a world outside your own narrow-minded views.”

“Disrespectful brat!” the man raises his hand to strike him, and his Captain rolled up her sleeves and moved to defend him. Not that she needed to worry any, given Hunter just stepped backwards out of arm’s reach.

“Pot, meet kettle, I believe is the saying?” Hunter remarked. “You’re making a scene. Please leave.”

“I’m making a scene?” the bigot asked. “You’re walking around in a skirt, and I saw where you’re walking! To a makeup store, you little f-”

“They’re just cosmetics, and my skirt’s just clothes,” Hunter shrugged, not really all that scared of this man. He was nowhere near Belos’ level of terrifying. “I really don’t see what the big deal is.”

“The big deal? The BIG DEAL is that you’re going around in public flaunt-”

“Yes, I am flaunting, and if you’re about to say I was flaunting my sin, honestly I don’t really care… sir,” Hunter said, managing to stress as much sarcasm as he could into the word. “Now I don’t know much about this holy bible of yours, but my hermanita is Jewish and the god she believes in is very loving and very kind. He accepts everyone. Maybe you should follow His example.”

“You little shi-” the man snarled.

“Is there a problem here sir?” a security guard walked up.

The man ranted and raved at him, pointing angrily at Hunter and spitting up enough curses to make a sailor jealous. Luz had covered his Captain’s ears, not wanting her to hear such hateful words.

“You’re causing a disturbance, sir,” the guard said. “You’re disturbing the other shoppers.”

“This brat’s disturbing ME!” the bigot shouted, still pointing at Hunter.

“By simply existing? I dunno, pretty sure your God only cares if I’m happy, doesn’t that what being gay means?” Hunter shrugged and caused his sister to let out a snort. “Pretty sure that’s what my hermanita believes. And if I look queer, I believe is the word, then maybe I should. I am pretty queer.”

“Come on hermano there’s no reasoning with these types of people, let’s just let him rant and rave,” Luz said, guiding him away. “We’ve got far more fun things to do anyways.”

They spent a brief time in the cosmetics store, getting Hunter enough concealer to cover up the bags under his eyes. Hunter also let out a low ‘oooooh’ spotting some glitter he’d like to try putting on his face later.

“Hey, don’t go too overboard okay?” Luz said. “Mami can only pay for so much! If we max out her credit card on one trip, she’s not going to be happy. Maybe next time huh?”

Hunter nodded, and sadly put the glitter back.

“Don’t worry hermano you look pretty fantastic already,” Luz said, as they smiled warmly at him. “Honestly, just seeing you come into your own like this… oh, I’m trying not to cry here. My heart… it can only take so much, and just seeing you smile… Oh, my heart’s so full!”

“I smile!” Hunter argued.

“Yes, but not in this way,” his Captain said. “Over the past hour or so, we’ve only just started to see the real you, real honest smiles from you. We’re not seeing you as the Golden Guard, we’re seeing you as just Hunter understand?”

“...I… I think I see, yeah,” Hunter smiled, and Luz was right, it wasn’t a weary forced one. But an actual, honest expression of joy. “Thanks, Luz. Thanks, Captain.”

“Please… just call me Willow,” his Captain said. “No more of that Captain stuff, we’re not on the Isles anymore. It’ll probably be a while before we play as Entrails again…”

Hunter nodded, before bringing the suddenly saddened girl into a hug. Willow squeaked in shock, unused to such a gesture from him before she settled into it.

Luz chuckled to herself, giving an unseen knowing look at her big brother. Those two were so cute together.

------

“Ohhhh, you look adorable!” Camila squealed as the trio met up with her at their local Barnes & Noble. Pinching her son’s cheeks, she said: “And you’re smiling Hunter! Awww, you look so cute mijo and I’m so proud of you for coming onto your own!”

She paused before speaking cautiously.

“...it is still mijo right o-or should I use different pronouns for you now?”

“No, mijo is still fine,” Hunter said. “Thanks for asking though.”

“Oh, you look wonderful! I wish I had the confidence you do to dress up in style,” Camila said. “And you all made it here okay? No… incidents?”

“There was this one bigot who tried harassing us, a true Kyle but Hunter showed him!” Luz grinned. “Turned his own words back on him! Told him to practice what he preaches.”

“Oh, one of those people,” Camila said in distaste. “I’m sorry you had to deal with him mi tesoro and I’m sorry to say there’s plenty more like him where he came from.”

“Cool, I’ll pretend to care about what they have to say as well,” Hunter said, in perfect deadpan. “Anyways… Feel free to explore, if there’s anything you like, we’ll see how much it costs and we’ll talk about it okay?”

Hunter nodded, before finding himself wandering the shelves and he smiled as he overheard some more appreciative comments. It seemed there were plenty more accepting people in the Human Realm than there were bigots.

It seemed his sibling wasn’t a totally unique entity to the realm, there were plenty more people like her.

They even had a name for people like him. Autistic. Belos had thought him just ‘odd’ but tolerated him because of his success rate. Though even that was probably a lie, thinking back. He’d probably only pretended to tolerate his autism.

Was his original self, that Caleb person like him? Hunter sighed and shook his head, it was best not to wonder unless he wanted to bring another existential crisis upon himself.

He ran his hands along the spines of the books, liking how they felt and grinning to himself. Part of being autistic loved taking in new sensory experiences, apparently. Just experiencing them.

A part of him wondered if there was any carpet in this place, just for him to lay on. Then again, he doubted the store staff would appreciate him just blocking everyone’s paths like this.

“Hey look Flapjack, it’s you!” he said to his palismen, having placed the carrier atop a shelf. He held up a book, by this group called the American Audubon Society on birds of North America. Sure enough, there was Flapjack’s basis, this bird called a cardinal.

Flapjack let out an appreciative chirp. “It is, though he’s nowhere near as cute as me! I’m unique, often imitated but never replicated!”

“You and your ego…” Hunter said with a chuckle, as he shook his head.

Another set of whispers from behind, more appreciative ones.

“Oh, is that his pet bird? Oh my gosh, he’s so cute and I’m so jealous!”

“Oh, I wish I had a pet like that!”

“Just look at how he treats him, they’re so adorable together!”

Hunter smiled to himself, before that smile faded as he heard… no, it couldn’t have been. But it sounded like…

He raced down the bookshelves to the source of the sound.

It sounded like his Captain was crying.

She never cried, she always looked so strong!

And yet, here she was.

“Hey… You okay?” Hunter said before feeling like slapping himself as he sat down next to her. Putting an arm around her, he muttered: “Right, stupid question…”

“Sorry, it’s just…” Willow sniffled. “It just hit me, we’re probably never going back to the Isles, are we? We’re never seeing the Entrails again, we’re never seeing our frie-”

She let out another soft sob.

“It’s okay Captain, we’ll see them again. Stay strong alright?”

“I’m trying,” Willow admitted. “But… but I’m just not sure what we’ll even come back to… I saw the Collector, how he changed the Titan’s skull all around him… who’s to say he hasn’t changed the rest of the Isles to fit his mad desires as well?”

“I… I don’t think he’d go that far, and if he has… we’ll find a way to stop him. Hey, you and me Captain… we can do anything…”

“I wish… I wish I believed that…” Willow replied, before sobbing into his shoulder. 

They stayed like that for a while, until finally all tears were dry.

“Come on,” Willow said, wiping her eyes and her makeup ruined. “We should probably go find Camila, gosh she’s probably so worried about us. Take your book as well, at least you found something you liked…”

“If you want… I can read it to you…”

Willow giggled. It was a nice giggle, like bells. “Like a bedtime story?”

“Exactly like that.”

Willow was still cuddled into him as they found Camila, who noticed her state immediately and frowned.

“Don’t worry dear, I’ll help you redo your makeup later,” the Latina woman promised with a knowing look. “I wish I was one of your dads as well… I’m only filling in as is…”

“Don’t worry,” Willow said kindly. “You’re doing a good job doing so.”

“There’s one more place we need to go to, and then we can all go home okay?” Camila said.

All three children looked honestly curious and confused but comprehension dawned as soon as they saw the next store. Build-a-Bear Workshop, the sign read in big bright colorful letters.

“I’ve noticed you’d had trouble sleeping at night, mi tesoro so I figured…” Camila said. “Well, back when I was a child, I always had this stuffed bear to chase away the nightmares and cuddle with so…”

“Thanks Cam… Thanks Mami,” Hunter said, and even as they entered the store, a smile that simply wouldn’t leave graced Camila’s face. “You… no you really don’t have to, surely we’re coming close to maxing out your credit card already.”

“Don’t worry,” his Mami said, smile still stretched across her face. “I have just enough left, and you deserve this for looking after my little mija while she was in that horrid place.”

“Actually…” Hunter admitted with a laugh even as he browsed the shelves. “I think she was the one who looked after me.”

It took him a bit, wandering from shelf to shelf and eyes wide in childish amazement as he stared at everything. From timeless fuzzy teddy bears, to fierce raptors to strange licensed stuff such as a stuffed animal wearing strange silvery armor from that Galaxy Wars franchise he believed it was called.

Then he spotted it, just sitting on a shelf seemingly calling out to him. It was a pastel blue shade, looking like a dragon upon first glance but with much kinder features. Soft fairy-like wings, and incredibly tiny horns.

Hunter knew he’d found his forever friend, and pointed to it, saying: “This one.”

“Ohmygosh, it’s so cute!” Willow squee’d. “You’ve got to give it a name!”

And it didn’t take long to decide upon one, as it came to him almost instantly. “Muffin.”

“To go along with my name!” Flapjack chirped out.

“Yeah,” Hunter said as Camila paid. “To go with yours.”

“A new friend, a new friend!” Flapjack chirped from inside his backpack. “A new friend to snuggle with at night, hooray! I love him already!”

And Hunter’s smile was warm, content with life. For now, all was well.

-----

Aldi’s again, and once again a blast of cold air greeted Hunter as he walked inside. Even as he grabbed a shopping cart, placing Flapjack’s backpack inside it, he felt strangely relaxed.

This time he could handle the stares, he knew. This time they weren’t ones of worry, just curiosity and sometimes amazement.

It comforts him, he knows, to not be seen as just something to gawk at for reasons beyond him being a freak of nature. Nobody here knew, he reminded himself. Nobody here knew what he was, his origins.

He still couldn’t look himself in the mirror somedays, knowing what he was. But sometimes, when he worked up the courage, he could see a little less of his progenitor every day. Sometimes, he wondered if he was truly growing into his own person.

Sometimes he wondered if he’d distanced himself from Caleb Wittebane. Even now, if he were to look out the window, he could see that statue in the middle of town. It was still hard to look at, and sometimes his paranoia got the better of him. Sometimes he imagined his uncle, despite the impossibility, was still watching him.

Waiting for him to drop his guard.

Waiting for a chance to strike.

Hunter pushed the thoughts away. It was only just a statue, and the stupid populace of Gravesfield didn’t know what kind of monster one of their founders had been. The lengths he’d gone to.

The populace didn’t know, even now, a Wittebane walked amongst them and honestly… Hunter was glad they didn’t. It was like Luz said, sometimes people gave him a funny look but soon shrugged it off as mere coincidence.

Nobody had yet to connect those dots, which… the more Hunter thought about it, didn’t really surprise him. After all… a magical clone of one of your town’s founders was hardly the first thing you thought of when you looked at him.

“L’Oven Fresh Zero Net Carb Bread…” Hunter said to himself, pulling it off the shelf. “I bet Mami can do something with this. Carb-free, yummy. My Captain loves healthy stuff like this.”

He paused at another item nearby. 

“...Blueberry pancakes and sausage on a stick,” he mused. “I mean, sounds interesting and you only live once so…”

In the shopping cart it went. 

“Better get some Paradise Fruit Blend as well. Luz and Vee love their smoothies,” Hunter said. “And for you, Flapjack… violet sea salt. You know, we’ve got to talk about your addiction to this stuff.”

“I don’t have a problem with this stuff,” his palisman said with a sniff, obviously lying. “You’re only imagining it!”

“Sure I am, bud. That said, Mami does wonders with this stuff. And she says she doesn’t have magic in her! Could have fooled me, woman must have a bile sack because her cooking is otherworldly,” Hunter said. “I love her, Flapjack. I love my mom. My… I have a mom. I have a mom!”

He jumped up and down excitedly not for the first time this week as it settled in.

He smirked. “Sorry Uncle, but you can just stay in your grave as a puddle of goo. I’m not your tool anymore, I’m nobody’s toy. I’m not a Wittebane, I’m a Noceda.”