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Chapter Text

Eda sunk further into her couch and stared at the smoldering joint in her hand. She turned it over, not flinching as the cherry-red tip skimmed by her fingers. The motion was ingrained in her muscle memory, which persisted even though her arm was a 'gift' from The Collector.

Its newness was something her mind shied away from, the smoothness of her right hand disconcerting when she placed her hands side-by-side. There wasn't a single mark on that arm, no battered scars across her knuckles from more bar fights than she'd ever admit to Luz. Even the notch in the side of her index finger, a deep slice from a misplaced cut when carving Owlbert, was gone.

She didn't like it.

She twisted the joint around one more time, the heat almost searing as it missed her skin again. She was only a little bit high, the edges of her mind hardly even numb, so she lifted it to her lips for one last toke. She'd snub it out after, give the living room air time to clear before Luz got out of school in an hour or so.

Still, she paused, holding her breath and not taking the pull, lips around the joint. There was that date with Raine tonight and she hadn't seen them in almost a week. She should be clearheaded for that, for the limited time they had to spare. Titan knew they never judged Eda, but the thought of their knowing smile whenever they smelled weed in Eda's hair or liquor on her breath made the knots in Eda's shoulders grow firmer.

It made Eda want to be good and proper high. "Fuck it."

She took a long drag on the joint. She had smoked enough that Raine was going to smell it even if she stopped now; she may as well make it worth her while.

It was good weed, too good to waste on the morose thoughts she couldn't banish. King had fucked off with his dad and Luz would fuck off with her mom as soon as she finished telling Eda about her day. That left her alone with Hooty and, no matter how much he begged, Eda was never going to call him son.

She choked on smoke when he slithered up from behind her.

"Hooty!" She pushed at his head, its heavy weight crushing on her shoulder.

"T-Minus five minutes on Luz's arrival!" He didn't yell into her ear, per se, but Eda had never been able to teach him the concept of an indoor voice.

"What? What time is it?"

"I don't know, but I think it's early." Hooty rolled off her shoulder, but only to flop down onto the couch beside her and peer up at her with his best pleading expression. "If you're done with that, can I have it?"

"That's an absolutely not, fuck no." Eda stubbed out the joint and tucked it back into her hair for safekeeping. "Clear out the smell in here, though."

"You never let me have any fun. You don't even let me have tea parties anymore."

Eda patted Hooty's head as she pushed herself up from the couch. "It's a weird world without the Emperor's Coven breathing down our necks."

She didn't think Hooty could clear the stench of weed from the living room, not before Luz would burst in, but she hadn't hauled in the lawn chairs after she and Raine toasted s'mores last week. So she shuffled outside and settled into the last broken of the loungers.

The sun beat down on her and her eyes slid closed as she stretched out. She should have smoked outside in the first place, not sulked in her house. The leaves were already beginning to fall; it wouldn't be long now until winter began to sit in.

Luz found her like that, almost asleep. "Busy day?"

Eda cracked open an eye, the grey one that still tripped her up sometimes when she caught an unexpected glimpse of herself in a mirror. "I'm beat. You can get a lot more stuff accomplished when you don't have people distracting you every five minutes."

"Uh huh." Luz looked down at her, but Eda was looking at the portal key in Luz's hand.

"You're done school early," she said. "Did you cut class to hang out with me?"

"Of course not," Luz said, and Eda ignored the pang in her heart. "Someone filled all the halls with abomination goop, so Bump sent us home early."

"Going back to the human realm, then?"

"My mom took time off work, so I thought it would be nice to spend the afternoon together."

Eda faked a yawn and rolled onto her side, facing away from Luz. "You have fun, then."

Apart from how she placed her hands on her hips, Luz's shadow didn't move. "You're coming with me, Eda."

"I highly doubt your mother wants to spend her day off work with me."

"I'm pretty sure she does. C'mon, it's been weeks since we got Belos and The Collector to chill out; you need to meet my mom."

"I'm pretty sure I don't," Eda said. "I'm pretty sure I can spend the rest of the afternoon napping in the sun and everything will be just fine."

Like hell was she going to meet Luz's mother right now. She hadn't wanted to sober and she certainly didn't want to on a day she had an extra mug of morning apple blood and one too many pulls off a joint.

She heard the portal unfold and she squeezed her eyes shut, curling into herself a fraction.

"She's been asking about you and it's starting to get weird." Luz pushed at Eda's shoulder, the one still sore from Hooty's begging. "Get up. She might change her mind about me studying at Hexside if you remain a mystery."

Heaving out a sigh, Eda swung her legs over the side of the lounger, one foot at a time. "You sure this can't wait until tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow's Saturday," Luz said. "You're going to be selling human junk all day."

That's what Eda had been counting on. "Next week, then?"

Luz tugged Eda to her feet and pulled her through the portal. As she always did, Eda took a deep breath as she walked down the steps of the abandoned house. Even with the pollution, which was minimal in Gravesfield, the human realm smelled sweet after the acrid air of the Boiling Isles.

Eda dug in her heels, quite literally sinking her boots into the dirt path. "Hang on a minute. I have to cover these puppies." She patted an ear before pulling a spotted bandanna out of her hair. The years had faded the mint green to a greenish-grey and it clashed as horridly with her hair now as it had when she had stolen it. It had been the love-struck impulse of a twenty-year-old.

She didn't give a shit what she looked like, though, and she liked the reminder of a simpler time. When the only thing she had to worry about was turning into a half-ton monster and mauling everything in sight.

Luz was giving her an odd look as she tied the bandanna over her ears, her fingers slow and clumsy, and she snickered at Luz's naivety. She was so fucking high, Titan, this was going to be a disaster. There's no way Luz's mother wouldn't notice; she couldn't possibly be as oblivious as her daughter.

Didn't mean she shouldn't try, though, and she slid a pair of sunglasses onto her nose.

"Why are you wearing those?" Luz asked as they stepped out of the forest and onto the sidewalk. Eda let her lead the way to her house, even if the route was seared into Eda's memory.

Eda looked down at Luz, her finger holding the plastic frames down to show the skeptical look in her eyes. "You don't think these look cool?"

"I guess?" Luz shrugged. "I don't think the 80s are back in, but what do I know about fashion?"

"Absolutely nothing, kid." Eda pushed the glasses back up and blinked past the plastic slats obscuring her vision. "The 80s are always in."

The 80s were never in, but they were the only glasses she could find in her hair. At least they matched her outfit, even if the red was a little too aggressive for even Eda's tastes. They'd have to do—better to be thought a fool than a burnout unfit to associate with the youth.

Titan, this was a mistake. Eda slowed her steps as Luz's house grew closer. There was a low, sleek and shining car in the driveway and a larger, mud spattered one on the street. The driveway was deep enough to fit both. Eda was the first to admit that she didn't know jack about cars, but she knew enough to recognise the disparity. She liked the older car better, mostly because she liked the hints of colour behind the dirt.

Luz was looking at the car, too, and frowning.

"What's the matter, kid?" Eda nudged her.

"Mom rarely lets her car stay dirty for more than a couple of days." She hurried up to the front door and Eda rolled her eyes behind Luz's back. Of course Luz's mom would be the sort of woman who couldn't handle an odd dirt splatter or two on her car. She kept a spotless house, one that had put Eda on edge the moment she stepped foot inside to fetch Luz's little basilisk friend, who kept showing up at the owl house with that blond boy to mooch off her food and borrow the portal key.

Eda didn't belong in houses like that. Last time she was here, she only made it to the living room before spewing excuses about restocking her inventory and turned tail. Now she hovered in the front entrance as Luz breezed right in.

"Mom!" Luz shouted as she headed deeper into the house, leaving footprints in her wake on the shiny floor. Eda eyed a bucket of soapy water in the corner of the room and didn't step off the welcome mat.

"Luz! Shoes off!"

Even while yelling sharp words through half the house, Luz's mother sounded kind and not at all like Grom's impersonation. Her accent was the same, but her voice was deeper. Richer, and laced with affection.

"Sorry mama!" And Luz was back, shoes in hand, which she dropped in a heap by the door before mopping up her mess.

"Dammit!" Luz's mom said, her voice closer now. "Not you, Luz," she said as she turned the corner, an overfilled bucket of water in her arms. The water had slopped out of the bucket and Eda's eyes shot up to the ceiling when she realised the dark stain across her chest wasn't a stain, but her wet shirt gone translucent enough to reveal a black lace bra. "Oh, there's already water in here. And a guest. You didn't say you were bringing someone home with you after school, Luz."

"Eda Clawthorne." Eda risked looking away from the ceiling and her eyes landed on Camila's face for the briefest of moments before skittering down to her chest.

It was a very nice bra. Very nice breasts too. Eda fought the urge to bite her lip and was grateful for her sunglasses. Her dorky sunglasses, which she was wearing in front of a woman in painted-on jeans and a white t-shirt that clung wetly to her curves.

Eda yanked off the glasses and the bandanna and stuffed them both back into her hair.

"Camila Noceda."

Eda had to meet her eyes now; she couldn't keep stealing glances at her chest. They would have been pretty eyes if she hadn't been looking at her quite so guardedly. Eda winced.

"I'll take off my boots?"

"Please and thank you." Camila made the polite words biting and Eda felt like an idiot as she swayed in place while removing her boots.

Camila's attention was recaptured by Luz, and Eda stole another glance, studying her face for the first time. She looked a lot like Luz, though Eda supposed it was Luz who looked a lot like Camila. The same eyes, though tired, and the same hair. The strands framing her face curled from exertion and the bulk of her hair was tied into a ponytail that trailed down her back, sleek and shiny and swaying when she turned. The same smile too; kind without a hint of deceit.

She was pretty—more than pretty—and Eda hadn't been expecting that. She supposed she had been picturing her own mother superimposed over Luz's features when she thought of Luz's mom, which, in hindsight, was pretty stupid. Luz was cute in that bony little fourteen-year-old kid way—cute enough to snag a girlfriend within a month. It made sense that her mother would be a looker.

A looker who was looking back at her, her expression unreadable. Eda's gaze returned to the ceiling and, at the edge of her vision, she saw Camila follow.

She sighed. "I'm going to have to paint that, aren't I?"

"What, the ceiling?" Eda asked. "It looks fine to me."

Camila grunted and pushed a few stray strands of hair off her forehead, which was beaded with sweat. "Let's go to the living room."

The living room was not how Eda remembered it. Eda remembered sitting on the couch and looking at how every knickknack was nicely aligned and perfectly dusted. She sat on the immaculate couch now, opposite of Camila perched on the edge of the armchair, but the coffee table was cluttered and the other surfaces bare.

Eda couldn't imagine taking a day off work to deep clean her house. She couldn't even imagine having a job, let alone deep cleaning her house now that she didn't have magic. At least not without blackmailing Luz's friends. Again.

"So, Eda."

Eda couldn't keep her eyes from widening as she jerked around to look at Camila. "Uh."

"I'm glad your schedule cleared up so we could finally meet." Camila's expression was too neutral, too blandly nice. She definitely knew that Eda was full of shit, and Eda sat up straighter.

"You know how it is, clients to meet, adulations to receive."

"Eda's the greatest witch on the Boiling Isles," Luz cut in, and Eda gave her a narrow-eyed look. That wasn't the source of the adulations she had, unfortunately, been receiving and Luz knew it.

Camila didn't. Her lips had pursed in the way Eda knew, from lifelong experience, meant that someone didn't appreciate her confidence.

"So I've heard," was all Camila said. Behind her glasses, her eyes darted to Luz for a brief moment and the silence grew awkward.

Eda couldn't stand it. She never did well with silence, but it was even less enjoyable when it hid ire. If Luz wasn't there, Eda suspected she would see a whole different side of Camila. "So, uh, Luz tells me that you're a vet?"

"Yes," Camila said. "Wildlife rehab. What is it that you do?"

The words were intended as a barb, but Eda just shrugged laconically. "This and that."

"She's an entrepreneur," Luz said. She was glaring at Eda now, looking so much like her mother.

"A good role model." Camila was very good at saying positive things in a neutral voice and meaning the opposite.

"You would be the only person in both worlds to think that," Eda said. "Most people just call me a menace.

"Which you're proud of."

"Damn straight."

Camila stood up, her shirt gaping open as she bent forward, and Eda's mouth went dry. Titan, it was a good thing she was seeing Raine tonight because, damn, did she need to get laid. Camila crossed her arms, colour high on her cheeks. "It was lovely meeting you, Eda, but I'm afraid I'm too busy to chat today. Luz, you can take Eda to the basement. I'm sure your dad would love to meet her."

"Uh, okay?"

"You have a dad?" Eda blurted, speaking over Luz, and she almost shrunk back at the twin looks of disbelief Luz and Camila gave her. She couldn't stop her eyes from skittering to Camila's left hand, where a rather large rock glittered in the sunlight. She hadn't even noticed. Some pickpocket she was.

"Of course she has a dad." Camila rolled her eyes. "It isn't as if a stork dropped Luz off on my front step fourteen years ago."

Luz screwed up her face. "Gross, I do not want to think about this."

"I meant in the picture." Eda rolled her eyes right back, making it big and dramatic. "It's not as if witches have figured out parthenogenesis either." She paused as Camila didn't react beyond a deepening scowl. "That's—"

"I know what parthenogenesis is," Camila cut her off. "I have a degree in biology."

"I don't know what parthenogenesis is," Luz said.

"A form of asexual reproduction," Camila said after the silence had gone on a beat too long and she glared at Eda. Eda's lips curled into a smirk as Luz's eyebrows furrowed further. "Asexual as in, say, reptiles, not human beings."

"And some demons," Eda added. "Did King not mention that in his demonology classes?"

"No," Luz said. "And you didn't mention it either when you tried to give me The Talk."

"Are you sure?" Eda asked. "You had your hands over your eyes for half the presentation."

"You made a presentation," Camila said flatly.

"It was awful," Luz said. "There was a slide show. With diagrams. Detailed diagrams."

"I'm glad you were... thorough." Camila's arms tightened across her chest. Her breasts spilled past her arms.

"That's me, always thorough." Oh Titan, now dumb shit was pouring out of her mouth. She stood up and stared at the wall behind Camila. "So, uh, Luz's dad. I don't want to impose."

"Right. It was nice meeting you." Camila didn't offer her hand or even spare her a backward glance as she left the room.

Eda watched her walk away and she bit the inside of her lip. Titan fuck, the woman just had to have the ass to match. It was too bad that she hated Eda's guts. Though, considering the husband and the fact that Eda herself wasn't single, that was probably a blessing. And so what if she was attractive? It wasn't as if Eda harboured any warm and fuzzy feelings for the snide woman. She just had eyes.

"Couldn't you have been nicer?" Luz hissed.

"I was perfectly nice!"

"You were perfectly weird, that's what you were. And not the good weird, the weird-weird."

"I told you this was a bad idea. Can I just meet your father so I can go home? I'll be 'less weird'."

"Whatever. I don't care how you act around my dad." She stalked off.

Oh boy. Eda trailed after Luz, their bare feet silent on the stairs, and came to a halt before two doors, one open to the furnace/laundry room and the other closed. There was a deadbolt on the door—the basement must have been designed to be rented—and Luz knocked.

"¿Sí?"

"It's me, dad. And Eda."

"Oh, yes, come in." His accent was heavier than Camila's and his voice brusque where hers was soft.

The basement may have been intended to be a suite, but it had been heavily remodelled in the intervening years. There was a lingering impression of a kitchenette in the well-stocked bar, the dark wood gleaming in the low light. Luz stepped far enough into the room to let Eda follow and Eda's toes sunk into the thick pile carpet. Where the rest of the house had simple decorations, full of family memories and items from home, the basement was lavish, richly appointed, and impersonal in its excess. Eda's fingers itched with the desire to filch silverware.

In much the same way Eda appraised the room, Luz's father studied Eda. His eyes were calculating and they swept over her body.

Eda stiffened, straightening to her full height and drawing her brows together as she frowned in a way she consciously avoided. The way her brows furrowed together deepened the wrinkles around her eyes, making her look closer to sixty.

It worked, as it often did, and his gaze turned disinterested.

"You're Luz's mentor? The magician?"

"I'm a witch, not some paltry magician."

"Uh huh," he said. "I'm glad that Luz found people who share her interests." He gestured to his ears and Eda frowned at him, then turned to look at Luz. Luz just shrugged. "I didn't think any adults played that dress-up game."

"Cosplay," Luz muttered under her breath, almost too quiet for Eda to catch.

Eda touched her ear. "These aren't fake."

"You're very committed to the bit, impressive." He took a step forward, extending his hand. "I'm Dr Noceda, but you can call me Luis."

His hand was large as it wrapped around Eda's, though he was several inches shorter than her. Despite his earlier disinterest, he lingered, stepping too close to Eda.

Eda's lip curled. "Edalyn Clawthorne, but if you call me Edalyn, I'll gut you."

Luz's father laughed as he stepped back. "Shouldn't you curse me instead, bruja?"

Luz sucked in a breath but Eda just laughed and flexed her hand, letting her fingers extend into talons, her and the owl beast in sync in their distaste. "I prefer a more direct approach."

He didn't notice, likely because his gaze lingered on her chest. A hot flash of anger rushed through her—the balls on this man, eyeing up a woman with his wife upstairs—chased by shame. She was no better than him with her blatant ogling of Camila, even if she was still getting used to not being single after spending her adult life unattached.

She really was a despicable woman.

"Then I'm glad you've taken Luz in under your wing, so to speak. She needs a bit more practicality in her life." He turned away, his heavy steps muffled by the carpet as he walked to the bar. "Would you like a drink?"

Eda looked at Luz, who hadn't moved, every muscle in her body tense and her mouth a hard line. Eda didn't think she had ever seen the kid upset like that before.

"No thanks," she said and Luz's shoulders dropped a fraction. "I was just stopping by on my way out."

"Too bad," Luz's father said. "Next time, then."

"Sure," Eda said as she turned to the door, Luz close on her heels. Eda waited until they were halfway up the stairs before turning to speak to Luz, her voice hushed. "Is everything okay between you and your father?"

"It's nothing dramatic." Her voice was just as low and her eyes darted up the stairs. "He's just never taken anything I like seriously and he's a jerk to mom."

Eda huffed out a low laugh. So his philandering extended further than simple ogling. She wondered if Camila knew, but how could she not when Luz did? "I gathered."

"Yeah," Luz said, her expression still mulish. "He's never done anything to me, though. It's not like that."

"Good," Eda said with a literal growl, which startled her as much as it did Luz. She cleared her throat and resumed walking upstairs. "I'm sorry to cut and run, kid, but I really do have stuff to do back home."

She could hear Camila moving about in the next room and she wondered if the woman had hovered near the landing in hopes of overhearing their conversation with her husband.

That's what Eda would have done, but, as established, Eda was a shit person.

Luz gave Eda a sly smile as she dogged along beside her. "That's right, you have a hot date tonight, don't you?"

"All my dates are hot. Could you even imagine me on a lukewarm date?"

"Only if it was a scam." Luz lingered close as Eda pulled on her boots. "I'll see you on Monday?"

"You're the one with the portal key, kid. You can see me whenever you want." She stared meaningfully at Luz until the girl fished the key out from beneath her shirt and tapped the eye. She kept looking up at Eda, her eyes big and brown and her face washed out by the glow of the portal, until Eda sighed and opened her arms. "Alright, you can get one hug."

Luz launched herself into Eda's arms, but Eda was used to it now. She didn't rock at the impact, just stood firm and steady as the kid held her in a vice grip. "Have fun with Raine and don't mope around the house too much; King will be back before you know it."

Eda pushed Luz away, ruffling her hair in the process. It was getting so long. "Are you mothering me? Which one of us is the adult here?"

"Me, if you ask Lilith." Luz stuck out her tongue, but she didn't try straightening her hair.

Eda rolled her eyes and pushed at Luz again. "My sister's a certified moron, her opinion doesn't count. Now go help your mother clean; it doesn't look like your father is going to do jack shit and it fucking sucks having to clean an entire house by yourself."

"I know!" Luz said. "You made me do it!"

"Go on, get!" Eda waited until Luz was out of the room and calling her mother's name before she turned to the portal. She lingered, listening for conversation in the next room. If she was going to be bad, she was going to be bad.

She could just make out Camila's hesitant words. "Eda has a... partner?"

"Yes, Raine! They're really nice. And kinda badass, though you wouldn't think it from how they act."

Eda frowned at the extra emphasis on the pronouns. Luz had never done anything like that before.

"Should I be meeting them too?"

Eda would never understand humans, not really.

"I mean, maybe? Maybe it would put Eda more at ease, if she thought she had someone in her court? Their relationship is kinda new-ish." Luz's voice turned conspiratorial and Eda turned back to the portal with a silent groan. Here came the gushing. "They were high school sweethearts and they carried a torch for each other for decades. Their love was rekindled at the lowest point of Eda's life, when she was struggling with her loss of magic, and Eda risked everything to keep Raine safe during the—"

Luz's voice mercifully cut off as Eda stepped through the portal and was deposited in her own front yard. Titan, the only thing worse than listening to renditions of the romance in those horrid Azura books was listening to renditions about her own love life.

It wasn't anything like Luz was describing. It wasn't as if she had held a torch for Raine—at best, they were the one that got away—and of course Eda had taken their place on the Day of Unity. She thought that, in the forest with Darius and Eberwolf, they had given their life for Eda. For Luz and King.

She didn't have some 'grand romance'. She was just an old, washed up witch who leered at her almost-daughter's actual mother while dating her oldest friend.

Chapter Text

The only benefit of King and Luz abandoning her in favour of their real parents was that Eda had the owl house to herself again. Somewhat, given the ebb and flow of semi-homeless teenagers, and that Hooty was the house—and he was the definition of in your face. But she was used to Hooty and, with him, she was willing to bring dates home instead of trying to finagle her way into their house or settling for a quick fuck in the alley behind the bar.

Not that she wanted either of those with Raine—and nor had she any interest in seeing anyone other than them. Raine deserved better than that. Raine deserved better than Eda at her best, and Eda was determined to never let Raine see her at her worst.

Not again.

With Raine, the empty house meant they could have privacy, tucked away from all the prying eyes and the whispers they left in their wake. Luz was far from the only one enamoured with their relationship. Half of Bonesborough seemed to view them as some sort of entertainment program, trading stories about the mischief Eda had dragged Raine into when they were children for gossip about how Raine had blushed when Eda took their hand in the market last week.

To a degree, Eda could understand. Raine was unbearably cute when they blushed. Cute, and uncomfortable when people were watching. Eda was much more interested in making them blush in private, particularly in her nest. If she managed to say something naughty enough, Raine's flush would extend down to their chest. Eda loved to see how red she could make them.

She shook off those thoughts and stirred the bubbling pot at her stove until the liquid lapped at the edge. She was dating Raine, not dragging them up to her bedroom. That wasn't Raine's style; they liked to be wined and dined before Eda could dine.

And Eda wanted that too. Wanted the domesticity of serving her partner a warm meal after they had a long, hard week working at restructuring their coven. Wanted to give Raine everything they needed.

Hooty slithered in to the kitchen, his head low in a pantomime of stealth. Eda glared at him.

"What are you doing in here? You're supposed to be watching for Raine."

"I had a look-see and they're nowhere nearby. Do you think they're working late again?" Hooty popped up to peer into the pot and Eda didn't even try pushing him aside. Even as the owl beast, she couldn't move him if he didn't want to be moved.

"They're very busy." The soup grew ever closer to escaping containment. She couldn't expect everyone to spend their days like she did, drifting from whim to whim.

"Too busy." Hooty shook his head with a gravity too heavy for his statement. Eda bit back a frustrated sigh. "Can I try this?"

"No! It hasn't even finished cooking yet." Eda slapped at Hooty's side, hurting her own hand more than him. "If you're just going to be a bother, go watch the door instead of leaving it hang open for anyone to waltz right in. What kind of house demon are you, leaving the stoop undefended?"

Hooty gasped. "You're right! I've been derelict in my duty!" He zooped out of the room, his movements dizzying in a way that once made Eda sick to watch and now didn't even make her bat an eye, and was gone.

Leaving Eda alone with her thoughts and the roiling soup.

Beyond a perfunctory greeting and a quick kiss hello, Raine and Eda didn't talk until Raine had gulped down two helpings and they relocated to the couch. Eda hadn't even finished her first and she had stirred the food around, watching Raine more than eating. She worried about them, worried about how they weren't eating at regular times and at how the shadows under their eyes were darkening.

"Busy day?" Eda asked as Raine drained their mug of apple blood. Not a traditional digestif, but fuck societal expectations.

"Long," Raine said as Eda refilled their mug. "Slow. Tedious. Everyone has opinions on how things should be run and, since we're no longer under the rule of a dictator, they need to be listened to." They sighed and slumped forward, resting their face on their hand. "I don't think I got anything accomplished today, not really."

"Maybe this is how dictatorships start," Eda mused. She swirled her glass in her hand, still half full, and watched Raine smile thinly at her. "Clever people tired of listening to the petty grievances of morons."

"I think the coven needs to be split up." Raine's eyes were drooping, but they continued to gamely drink. "It's too big and people have too many disparate goals. Maybe we don't need one big overseer for every affiliated coven but to let everyone do their own thing."

"You know I'm all for less executive meddling, but wouldn't you be putting yourself out of a job?"

"Wouldn't that be nice?" Raine said. "I feel like I've spent my entire adult life endlessly working. What do you do all day?"

Eda fought to keep herself from bristling, but an edge of annoyance crept into her voice. "It may not be a structured nine-to-five, but I'm busy too. The thing about being outside of the coven safety net is that you always need to be hustling."

Raine covered Eda's hand with one of theirs. The wrong hand. The new hand, which jerked at Raine's touch against Eda's wishes.

They firmed their long fingers around Eda's hand, squeezing and looking up at her over their glasses. "Hey, I know you're busy. I'm sorry, I guess I'm just tired. I meant it as a what did you get up to today?"

"Ah, well." Eda flushed. "Not a lot."

Raine laughed. "I don't think I believe you! You would always say that in school and then turn around and show me and Lily a new spell you learned while spying on another track."

"I guess I did go to the human realm with Luz for a few minutes."

Drink forgotten, Raine leaned forward. "Did you finally meet her mom?"

"We said five things to each other and she kicked me out of her living room. She obviously had a lot to say, but she wasn't willing to say it in front of Luz, so it can't be good. She still managed to make all of her comments snide even with the most infuriatingly pleasant smile on her face."

"That bad?"

"Titan, I just wanted her to rip into me so I could rip right back. All that smug superiority like she's the one who knows best for Luz when she couldn't connect with her own daughter and tried sending her to some dumb creativity-stifling camp." Eda slugged back the rest of the apple blood in her mug and inwardly cursed. She had been nursing it for a reason. She had barely edged into sobriety by the time Raine showed up—two hours late—and the alcohol hit her like a truck, her vision going hazy and her head swimming.

Or maybe it was just her anger. Her fingernails bit into her palm and Raine's thumb rubbed circles into the back of her hand, bumping over the prominent veins and delicate bones.

Titan, she was fucking old. She pulled her hand from Raine's and tucked it into her lap. Raine looked hurt, though their face smoothed over fast enough that Eda could pretend that she imagined it.

"You want to get in a fight with her?" The skepticism—and disapproval—was thick in Raine's voice. "Don't you think that it would be easier if you stayed your tongue and kept the peace?"

Eda gave them a hard stare. That was the exact opposite of what they had wanted twenty years ago, always pushing and prodding at Eda to talk about her fucking curse. "No."

"You're still really mad," Raine said, then their lips curved up into a knowing smile. "How pretty is she? Does she have a great"—Raine gestured to their chest, making an expansive motion with their hands.

"She's married," Eda said. "Even if her husband is a scumbag who spent more time staring at my"—she repeated Raine's gesture—"than paying the slightest attention to his kid. Also I'm with you, why would I be looking twice at a woman?"

"You were with me when you snuck into all those bard classes at Hexside to stare at that one teacher." They snapped their fingers, and even that small rhythm sent a note of magic humming through the air, and their brows drew together. "You know. You know the one."

Eda blushed at the twinkle in Raine's eye. She damn well knew exactly which teacher Raine was referring to. "I'm not a teenager anymore, I don't leer at women like some sort of pig."

Well, that was a bald-faced lie.

"So she is a looker." Raine was grinning, a smile that normally made Eda's heart light, but tonight only grated on her nerves. "Some things never change."

Eda laughed through her annoyance. "You're not jealous, are you?"

"No, not really." Raine was laughing too, a little too loud. The apple blood was hitting them hard too, but they were a glass ahead of Eda. If you only counted the drinks they'd shared.

And they weren't lying. They weren't jealous, not even a little bit. Eda knew when Raine was trying to hide their emotions. And, it was stupid, but it hurt.

Because, yes, Eda would admit that Camila was a very attractive woman and, yes, historically speaking, very much Eda's type. She couldn't deny it. Not with how stupid she had acted around her today. And Raine had to know it; they knew Eda just as well as Eda knew them.

They just didn't care that their partner had the hots for another woman.

"Good," Eda said. She placed one hand on Raine's chest, sliding under their jacket and feeling the slow beat of their heart under her palm. Her other hand cupped their cheek and guided their lips together. "It would be silly to be jealous—the kindest thing I feel for Camila Noceda is aggravation."

On Sunday, King came home from his week-long trip as Luz stepped through the portal with her mother in tow, almost as if they conspired to send Eda's life in an uproar. Win some, lose some, and wasn't that just the mantra of Eda's life? She kept a wide smile on her face, kept her eyes bright and sparkly as she showered King with affection, laughed at his sham of an attempt to squirm out of her grasp, and ignored how Camila watched her behind thick lenses.

Luz was in the thick of it without pause, her arms around King and Eda both as she pressed loud kisses to King's skull. Despite herself, Eda snuck a peek at Camila, whose eyes had gone wide as she watched the hulking form of King's father squeeze through the open door of the owl house. His body expanded as he stepped out into the clearing—nowhere near his full height, but half as tall as the house itself. Eda had to compress her lips into a firm line to keep from laughing—Camila was getting the full gamut of Boiling Isles horror and she hadn't even taken more than one step away from the portal.

King's father's focus went straight to the new human and peered down at her with a curious expression on his face. "You're young Luz's mother? Two humans on the Boiling Isles at the same time—I don't think this has happened in centuries."

To her credit, Camila's smile looked genuine and her body language was almost relaxed—more relaxed than it had been in her own house, staring down Eda across her coffee table—as she tilted her head back to look up at the titan. "I am, and you must be King's father. You speak as if you met the previous two humans."

He smiled. "I did. Interesting fellows, both of them. They were much more taken aback by me than you are, but I suppose I was more intimidating in my youth."

"Oh, you're plenty intimidating," Camila said, her lips curled into a sardonic smile. "But I've treated bears before. Some of them were nearly as large as you, and none of them could be reasoned with."

The titan laughed, a deep, booming roar that made Eda tighten her grip on King. Just a smidge.

"I like you, human." He turned to Eda and Eda shifted, planting her feet a little firmer into the ground. "Eda, as always, thank you for caring for my son."

Eda smiled and even to her, it felt false and brittle. "It's always a pleasure and no trouble at all."

"It's great seeing you again!" Luz took King from Eda and Eda's arms dropped to hang limp at her side.

"Bye dad! Don't be a stranger!"

Behind the kids' backs and out of their sight, Eda gave the titan an arch look to punctuate King's words. If he skipped out again, she would gut him and he knew it, even if he smiled at her, unperturbed.

Camila didn't smile, her expression calculating as she looked between Eda and King's father.

"I promise I'll be back." He waved once before disappearing into the forest, vanishing from sight faster than seemed possible given his bulk.

Luz turned to her mom, her eyes bright. "Wow, mom! You handled your first titan really well."

King huffed and squirmed out of Luz's arms. "What am I, chopped liver?"

"First scary titan."

"I can be scary!" King puffed up and shouted into the forest after his father. The trees shook in the wake of his magic and birds launched themselves into the air with a flurry of feathers and alarmed cries.

"That's still pretty adorable," Eda teased. From the bemusement on Camila's face, she agreed. "So, Camila, welcome to the Boiling Isles."

"Do you want a tour, mom? I can show you Hexside or Bonesborough or the forest or—"

"How about we start with Eda's house." There was a challenge in Camila's eyes as they flitted to Eda's, daring her to say no.

Eda shrugged, deep and laconic. "I agree." The last thing she wanted to do was spend her lazy Sunday trying to steer a dumb, magicless human out of trouble. Especially one that was far too pretty to leave unattended, even in Bonesborough.

She hadn't considered the joint she had rolled and left unlit beside a half-empty mug of apple blood in the living room until she slammed the front door open, making Hooty screech in protest. She was a pickpocket, though—a master of sleight of hand and misdirection—and she ambled over to the coffee table while gesturing to the far wall and explaining that it was moving with Hooty's breathing. An ample distraction for a human, the rhythmic breathing both disconcerting and mesmerising, and Eda casually twisted around to palm the joint while scooping up the inconspicuous mug.

Camila was watching her, not the wall, and her face was flat. Eda fought to keep her expression neutral as she took a slow swallow of the thick, room temperature alcohol. Busted, but what did she even care? It wasn't as if she smoked around the kids and she hadn't got day drunk in years. Not since King looked up at her with big eyes and asked her why she couldn't walk straight.

She still waited until Camila's back was turned before tucking the joint safely into her hair. When Luz's tour moved to the kitchen, she rinsed out her mug before setting it in the sink to be cleaned properly later.

Camila judged her for that too, her eyes darting between the sink and the dishes Eda had left on the table. Luz and King were looking at them too, and King redirected his gaze to Eda, long and contemplative.

She leaned against the counter next to the sink and refused to acknowledge the mess, longing to open the fridge beside her and pour herself a new mug of apple blood. Or drink it straight from the bottle. Really drive home how pathetic she was when left to her own devices.

Chattering all the way through, Luz gathered up the dishes and placed them in the sink. Eda wasn't sure what impact the nonchalance was having on Camila—the woman was so damned unreadable beyond her pervading distaste for everything surrounding Eda's existence.

Except for King. When she smiled at the little titan, it was genuine and her eyes even sparkled behind her glasses. Eda grunted—it wasn't surprising that he won her over already, but King's ease with Camila was. He wasn't seeking out her affection, but he wasn't shying from it either.

Apparently, they all bonded while working out what to do with Vee. Eda hadn't paid the slightest attention when King relayed the story, too wrapped up in her own thoughts about Luz and what she was supposed to do with a basilisk.

The tour ended with all four of them crammed into Luz's bedroom and, once her back was turned to her daughter, Camila let her disgust overtake her expression, looking from the sleeping roll on the floor to Jean-Luc in the corner and back again. "Really?" she mouthed at Eda.

Eda fought to keep the scowl off her face, fought to keep herself from glaring daggers back into Camila. Luz could see her expression even if she couldn't see her mother's and like hell Eda was going to let Luz think that she started a fight.

Not that Luz was paying either of them any mind. Instead, she was jimmying the latch on one of the chests along the wall. "But I haven't even shown you the best part about the Boiling Isles! In the Boiling Isles, I can do big magic." She turned around, a thick folder in her hands. Small scraps of paper with glyphs drawn upon them almost escaped the confines. She set the folder down and started rifling through it. "I've got to show you the coolest spell first, but which? Invisibility? Illusion clones? A fireball?"

"Take the pyrotechnics outside, kid," Eda grunted. "Take all of it outside, for that matter; it's much too cramped in here."

Even when they were back outside, King in Eda's arms and Camila standing a good five feet away, Luz hadn't decided which spell to show off first. The slight breeze fluttered the papers as she flipped through them and Eda eyed them, looking forward to watching Luz running around and trying to catch the papers before they escaped without activating the glyphs.

Eda couldn't take it anymore. Camila was watching her again, daring her to start a fight. "You're overthinking it. Just pick one—I promise you, even the simplest spell will impress a human."

"Are you speaking from experience?" Camila's voice was thick with implication.

"Yeah, experience with her." Eda jabbed a finger at Luz. "I don't do magic in front of humans and I don't bring them back here. I know what humans are like when they're confronted with something they don't understand and I can't magic away a bullet."

"I would show you a high level version of the first spell I learned, but it's too bright out to have an impact," Luz said, her voice loud as she talked over her mother's reply. Eda didn't bother trying to hide her smirk—so she wasn't the only one Luz was haranguing to play nice. "So I'll show you the second—ICE!"

Luz tapped her hand to the single glyph in her hand and, with a flash of light, a long blade of ice seemingly grew out of her palm, ending with a with a cross guard and hilt that Luz grabbed in midair before it fell.

"In sword form!" She dropped the ornate blade a moment later and shook out her hand. "Okay, that needs some work or I need to wear mitts."

"You could try wrapping the hilt in vines," Eda said. "Or you could just shoot ice bolts and be done with it."

Luz nodded. "Never bring a knife to a gunfight."

"How about never get into a knife-or-gunfight?" Camila cut in. Her hands were clenched at her sides and Eda's lips curled into a slow smile.

"It's always good to have options. You gotta be able to protect yourself; you can't go around expecting everyone to take care of you."

"Excuse me for not wanting my fourteen-year-old daughter to get into a fight with a magic ice sword."

Eda rolled her eyes as she summoned Owlbert. "It's just a cool magic trick. It's not like an ice sword would be practical. It would shatter on impact against any staff." He flew out of the confines of the house, slapped into her hand and, for once in her life, she didn't flub the catch while trying to show off. Because she wasn't trying to show off—she was just providing a demonstration. She gave her staff a quick twirl before smashing the butt into the blade. It shattered on impact and Camila jumped as ice shards spun towards her.

"The fact that you know this is not as encouraging as you seem to think it is," Camila muttered, loud enough that Eda could hear.

She meant for Eda to hear—she was still staring at Eda in challenge.

"I will not deny that I've been in more than my fair share of scraps." Eda had to focus on keeping her breathing even. "I'm not ashamed of it and I'm not ashamed of my culture. Witches duels are a time-honoured tradition, even if humans have decided that duelling is gauche in the recent century or so."

Camila's lips thinned. "I'm not judging you—" Eda doubted that very strongly "—you're an adult. You can do whatever you please. I'm doubting your judgement with teaching Luz magic with your cavalier attitude to violence."

"I can grow plants too!" Luz blurted.

Eda and Camila didn't look away from each other, even as a flash of light and a whole-ass tree rocketed up from the ground between them. She blinked up at it and back at her house, wondering if it would ruin the view from her bedroom window. Hooty was already screeching in protest, his body barrelling between Eda and Camila and crashing into the tree.

Camila stumbled back. "Jesus, what was that?" Even as she spoke, she followed his body back to the house. "The owl head placard on the door does that?"

"That's Hooty. He takes care of security for the house."

"Security against trees?" Camila regained her snarky tone, somehow made even more frustrating by how soft her voice remained.

"Trees and the pigs," Eda said. "It's not as if that wanted poster in my living room was a vanity purchase; I stole that from the Emperor's coven. I was public enemy number one for a long time."

Camila glanced at Luz, who was alternating between trying to calm Hooty down and dismantling the tree herself. She wasn't paying the adults any mind, and Camila looked back at Eda. "I can't tell if you're trying to antagonise me or if you think that will endear you to me."

Eda set down King and shooed him to Luz, though the little bastard dragged his heels as he went, blatantly eavesdropping. "Lady, I don't give enough shits about you to want to antagonise or charm you."

"Excuse me?"

"The portal key is Luz's and her life is here now. Like you said, she's fourteen. You can't stop her from visiting—Titan, I was her age when I started hiding out in the human realm to escape my mother. I don't see why I should care about your opinion of me."

Face flushed, Camila took a step toward Eda. "You should care because I'm her mother and she's still a child. That portal key, her mentorship with you, Hexside—all of that is a privilege, not a right."

Eda took a matching step forward, her stride longer than Camila's, and bringing them close enough together that Camila had to tilt her chin to look at Eda. The column of her throat worked as she swallowed, her skin dark as her flush worked her way down her neck. Eda gave Camila her best condescending look. "Yes, the unreasonable privilege of being happy and accepted."

Luz was between them before Camila could reply. "So, yeah, plant magic, huh? Isn't it wild?"

Camila looked at the tree, as did Eda now that she wasn't the one to back down. Hooty had decimated it and Eda hadn't even noticed when he caused the damn thing to crash to the ground, taking out several of the natural forest trees with it. He was reducing it to kindling now, still fluffed up, and King stood on the jagged remains of the stump and laughed as he directed Hooty's rage.

"Yes, certainly wild," Camila murmured.

"So do you want to see Hexside? It's a weekend, so no one will be there, but that could ease you into the full Boiling Isles experience."

Camila shot a glance at Eda, fury still simmering behind her eyes, which winked out as she made eye contact with her daughter. Her eyes were soft then, the gentleness matching her voice and the way she placed a hand on Luz's shoulder. "I think I might be all Boiling Isles'd out today, mija."

Luz deflated and she looked small under Camila's hand. "I guess the owl house is a lot to take in, and magic can be overwhelming."

"It's all very new to me," Camila said.

"So you want to go back? I can open the portal for you, but I have homework that I can't do in the human realm so I can't go back just yet. I had hoped you would stay as I did my assignments."

"I don't think it would be a good idea for me to stay." Camila didn't look at Eda, but Luz did and disappointment radiated off of her. Eda looked away, busying herself with worrying over King's potential slivers. He was such a baby when Eda had to tweeze things out of his paw pads.

"Okay."

Camila didn't hesitate as the portal opened, not until she had one foot through. Then she turned back to look at Luz, in full no nonsense mom mode. "Supper is in three hours and I expect you to be home on time."

"Yes, mama." She waited until Camila was out of sight before deactivating the portal, her hands clenched into fists at her side. She took a deep breath, the one she took when she wanted to calm herself down, and whirled around. Her eyes were hot and she was very not calm as she snapped, "Eda!"

Eda rocked back. "What?"

"Would it kill you to play nice for once in your life?"

"She started it!"

She gave Eda a hard stare. "I'm going to do my homework with Amity at the library instead." She summoned her palisman and was gone before Eda could sputter out a full sentence.

"Ohhhh, you're in trouble," King sing-songed.

Eda gave him a hard stare of her own. "What was I supposed to do, let Camila walk all over me?"

"She's actually really nice, y'know." King hopped off the stump, bored with watching Hooty, who seemed to have decided that the kindling should become paste. "She let Vee and the others stay with her—protected them even—and she makes really good cookies!"

"Cookie making, the definitive aspect of a nice person." Eda rolled her eyes. "You heard her, you saw how antagonistic she is."

"Because you're a beacon of kindness to her. Luz is right, you're being ridiculous. You didn't get nearly this upset with my father."

"Your father didn't accuse me of being a violent degenerate unfit to be around children," Eda muttered.

King threw up his hands. "Neither did Luz's mom!"

"She thought it."

"Did the owl beast give you mind reading powers now? No? You're being dramatic and if you don't make friends with Luz's mom, she might take Luz away from us. If this half and half thing is all we get, we have to make the most of it."

Eda scowled. "When did you get so amenable?"

"I grew up, Eda."

Chapter Text

Luz was over her ire by the morning, though she rushed through the owl house on her way to school with a kiss brushed against King's skull and a quick hug for Eda. So quick that Eda didn't even have the opportunity to wrap her arms around the kid before she was gone, jogging down the forest path while summoning her palisman. She had grown used to the casual affection Luz offered and she found herself missing it now that Luz was flitting in and out of her life. King was cute and his fur was soft, but he was prone to squirming out of Eda's grasp when Luz would snuggle in closer.

Her own fault, she supposed. She was the one to raise King to not understand what a hug was.

What a shit parent she made. Camila hadn't made mistakes like that. Luz was open and free with her affections, though Titan knew how Camila managed that when she was such a sly bitch and her husband a louse. Maybe niceness was a trait inherent to Luz.

Nature versus nurture was a stupid debate anyway. Everyone was who they were; who gave a shit why? It didn't fucking matter. It was just another excuse used by assholes to justify their behaviour. Eda was an enlightened asshole, thank you very much, one that understood that she had no one to blame but herself.

She'd still take any hug that Luz offered, even if she hardly deserved it. Especially after yesterday, when Luz hadn't even found Eda to say goodbye before returning to the human realm. The kid had loudly heaped love and praises on King in the living room while Eda lurked upstairs in her bedroom, the door open, and waited for Luz to come find her and apologise for brushing Eda off.

She hadn't. Instead, Eda had to listen to the portal opening and closing while she told herself that Luz would be back, that she hadn't heard the portal close for the last time.

She hated that. Hated that if Luz or Camila decided that Luz would never come back to the Boiling Isles, Eda could do nothing about it. The even more petty side of her simply hated that she no longer had her easy escape route, that she could no longer just leave any uncomfortable situation by popping over to the human realm. She was trapped again, like she hadn't been since she was a teenager, but not in any way that mattered. It wasn't as if there was anything she wanted to run from.

Nothing except the dumb ceremony that Raine wanted her to attend. Another celebration of Belos' defeat and the Collector fucking off and the return of wild magic and Eda was so over it. She'd have thought that Raine was too; they had always skipped out on stupid shit alongside Eda, or lurked in the corner with her as they exchanged caustic observations about the witches around them.

Things changed, she guessed, and people too. Though when she was around Raine, Eda felt like she was still fumbling through her twenties, young and stupid and barely in control.

She was so maudlin for someone who wasn't even a bit drunk. Other than her morning apple blood, which didn't count, she had abstained from drinking all day. It was already late afternoon. Almost time for Luz to be done school, if she judged by the wag of King's tail as he watched out the window.

Pathetic and transparent, though she was hardly better. Her book had been open to the same page for ages and it wasn't a coincidence that she had wandered down from her potions laboratory (okay, it was one of the rooms that had been piled to the ceiling with human junk until she shovelled it into the room next door once she realised that she needed to step up her potions brewing or starve) to stretch out on her couch.

Eda oh-so-casually turned a page as she watched from the corner of her eye as Luz burst into the house and swept King up into a hug. She didn't look up until Luz collapsed onto the couch beside her, and then it was to feign annoyance as the cushion lurched beneath her.

"Long day?" Eda kept her book open on her lap.

"So long," Luz groaned. "And I have so much homework."

Eda cackled. "That's why I only snuck into classes outside of my track. All the knowledge, none of the busywork."

"You may have had the right idea." Luz's eyes drifted closed and she slouched further into the couch. Eda frowned and she turned to give Luz a proper look. The girl looked exhausted, deep circles under her eyes and her hair scruffier than usual.

"You doing okay?" Eda smoothed out Luz's hair and smiled as it bounced back into place.

"Just tired. I fought with mom after supper and I didn't get much sleep last night."

"I'm sorry." The truth in her own words surprised herself. Not that she was sorry for her almost fight with Camila—she would do that again in a heartbeat—but for letting Luz see them squabble. Next time she would be civil. At least until Luz wandered off.

"Not your fault," Luz said. "No, that's a lie, it kinda is your fault. Mom's too, though, so I'm sorry for snapping at you like I did yesterday. It's hard for her, me being here. She doesn't understand all of this."

Eda grunted. Camila could try harder.

"I told her that it's hard for you too."

Eda could only grunt again and look away to hide the redness of her cheeks. King laughed anyway.

"You shouldn't be losing sleep over me and your mom," Eda said finally. "I won't let her do anything that's against your best interests."

Luz laughed, much kinder than King had. "She said the same thing, though she said safety instead of best interests."

Eda huffed at that. "She means to wrap you in a suit of bubble wrap."

"I don't think not wanting me to sword fight is an unreasonable request," Luz said. "Seriously, you should just talk to her. You guys would be friends if you stopped snipping at each other."

"That's a nice thought, but your mother isn't the sort of person to be friends with someone like me."

"You mean someone nice and smart?"

"I'm only one of those things, kiddo."

"You keep telling yourself that, owl lady."

They lapsed into silence and Luz's breathing evened until Eda thought she was asleep. She was wondering if she should move to the other couch and let Luz stretch out when Luz took a deep breath.

"You guys fighting weren't the only thing that kept me awake last night."

"Oh? What other worries have you got?" Eda compressed her lips. Who else she did she have to fight? The father? She hoped it was the father.

"The reason why my mom's deep cleaning the house is that my parents are putting it up for sale."

"Huh," Eda said. She had wondered why that man, who decorated his basement with such lavish excess and drove a flashy car, would live in such a modest house. "The portal key works anywhere in the human realm, you know. You don't need to use the abandoned house; I just always found it convenient since it was tucked out of the way."

"I know," Luz said. "It's just weird. I've lived in that house my whole life, apart from when I lived here. They've taken me to look at some of the new houses and they're wild. I guess I never really realised how much money my parents have."

"It's weird leaving your childhood home," Eda said. "But you would have left it for good in a few more years, right? Humans do that moving out at eighteen thing?"

"For college, yeah, but I don't think any human college will accept a diploma from Hexside."

Eda's heart lurched at the note of melancholy in Luz's voice. "Buyer's remorse?"

"I guess I'm just realising how much is changing and in ways I never considered. High school in the human realm sucked, but everyone always said that college is way better. I guess I wanted to experience that."

"I can forge transcripts for you."

Luz laughed and Eda knew Luz thought she had said something silly. She had probably missed some intricacy of human life that made her look naïve, but like Eda gave a shit.

"Thanks, Eda."

"You're grouchy again." Raine's thumb smoothed over the crease between Eda's eyebrows, though her brows furrowed further together once Raine's hand left her face.

"I am not," Eda lied.

Raine gave Eda a small, knowing smile and sat down beside her on the couch, close enough that Eda only had to shift her weight to lean into them. She didn't and she directed her gaze to her lap, where her fingers twisted together.

She had every reason to be grouchy—Luz had only given her a few days' respite on the Camila issue and she was back to haranguing her daily about another visit. The kid was nothing if not persistent, and all of Eda's arguments had fallen on deaf ears. Or, worse, Luz listened and offered counterarguments. She even compared Eda and Camila to herself and Amity, saying that they were also a case of two nice people not understanding each other because one was prickly.

Luz wouldn't say which of them was the Amity. Eda suspected that Luz thought she was the prickly one, which was rich. Eda was perfectly genial. Look at her, calmly accepting that Raine was too busy to see Eda more than once a week at best.

That was a bit unfair. It had only been six days since Raine slept over, even if they arrived late in the evening too tired to do much more than eat, fuck and fall asleep, then left at the crack of dawn to take care of another bard coven emergency.

"Eda?"

She was wasting precious seconds with them. Eda leaned into Raine until Raine wrapped an arm around her shoulders and tucked Eda's head into their side. She should be happy that Raine had a life of their own; hadn't her biggest complaint about past partners always been that they were too clingy? When they were young, hadn't Raine's biggest complaint about Eda been that Eda was so distant? They were just giving Eda the space she needed.

"How long can you stay?" Eda mumbled into Raine's neck. It was a surprise visit and Eda's edible was making her drowsy. She would stay awake for Raine, though.

"Not long," Raine said. "I wanted to stop by because I miss you, but I have an early morning tomorrow."

"You can sleep here." Eda closed her eyes, not wanting to see the guilt on Raine's face. "I got a proper bed for Luz now if your back is hurting too much to stay in my nest. Luz won't mind and King won't wake up if I carry him back to my room."

Raine pulled Eda closer. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm exhausted and I sleep better in my own bed." They didn't offer to take Eda back with them to their new apartment, and Eda didn't broach the topic.

She wanted to, though. She really wanted to. But Raine was already under so much stress and the last thing Eda wanted was to become the girlfriend she hated to have. She could hold her tongue until the coven situation was stable and then they could sit down and talk about what they wanted from their relationship. Eda knew she was emotionally dense, but even she wasn't so stupid as to make the same mistake twice with the exact same person.

She just didn't want to waste any of the snippets of time she had with Raine on hard conversations, on asking for things Raine couldn't give.

"We can fool around until you have to go home."

Raine laughed and pinched Eda's arm. "You know that will lead to me sleeping over!"

Eda smiled into Raine's neck. "Busted."

"Do you want to talk about why you're so grumpy past ten pm?" Raine asked, their voice soft as they ran a soothing hand up and down Eda's arm.

"I'm not grumpy," Eda said. "But if I was, it would be Luz's mom's fault."

"You never could cope well with pretty women who challenged you."

Eda rolled her eyes behind closed eyelids. "It's not that she's pretty—"

"So she's pretty."

"Yes, she's very pretty. And yes, she has a great rack and a great ass, are you happy?" Eda bit out.

Raine laughed through Eda's ire, or didn't recognise it entirely. "You've got a type, Eda."

"Whatever." Eda didn't think pretty and curvy was a type—everyone liked pretty women with great boobs and butts—and she had pursued athletic women with muscle rather than curves more times than she could count. "The fact that she's pretty is completely irrelevant to the fact that she drives me up the fucking wall."

"Are you sure?"

"Raine!" Eda snapped.

Raine pulled back, dislodging Eda from where she was tucked into their side. "Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

Eda felt cold. "I know. Even thinking about Camila gets me worked up—she's just so snide and superior. Like she knows better than me about everything."

"You can't still be mad from Friday?" Raine rested a light hand on Eda's shoulder and Eda sunk back into Raine's side.

"Luz brought her over on Sunday to show her some magic."

"Eda, it's Thursday, that's almost as bad. You've been upset for the better part of a week?" Raine's thumb was smoothing out the lines on Eda's forehead again and Eda couldn't stop herself from making them deeper. She hated that, hated when people acknowledged her premature ageing in a way she couldn't laugh off.

"We probably would have come to blows if Luz wasn't there. We started to rip into each other before Luz broke us apart." Eda pursed her lips. "I don't like fighting like that in front of the kid, not with her mother, and Titan knows that I'm able to keep my mouth shut around King's dad for King's sake, but something about Camila just gets under my skin."

"It must be mutual," Raine mused. "I doubt she wants to fight with you in front of Luz either."

"It would be less annoying if I could just forget about her, but Luz keeps bringing her up. She wants us to arrange another play date for us."

"Sounds rough."

Eda grunted. "It's stupid and I don't know why we're wasting our time talking about this. Tell me boring coven administrative stuff instead."

"Between that and the THC in your system, you'll just fall asleep." Raine laughed.

"You know I have a hard time staying relaxed while asleep without it," Eda groused. "It minimises the feather problem."

"I'm not judging." Raine was judging. Eda knew them too well not to recognise when they disapproved of Eda's choices. "I'm just saying that, unless you want to spend the night on your couch, that's a bad idea."

"You wouldn't carry me up to bed?"

"You know I would," Raine said. "And I know you would wake up, pout, and give me a cute look until I joined you."

"I don't see a problem there."

"You wouldn't." Raine brushed a kiss across Eda's forehead and they retracted their arm from around Eda's body. "I should get going before that becomes a reality."

Eda blinked her eyes open and stared blearily at the clock until the numbers resolved into a time. 11:30. Much too late for her, let alone Raine and their early mornings.

"I won't keep you any longer," Eda said quietly and she rose from the couch to offer Raine a hand up.

Raine took it, and they drew Eda into a long kiss. They were almost the same height with Eda's boots having been discarded hours earlier and Raine's not, but Eda still had to duck her head. She loved that, loved being taller than her partners and feeling them cling onto her for balance as they stood on their tiptoes.

Raine was steadier than her, though, and it was Eda left swaying in Raine's arms as they pulled back.

"Goodnight, Eda." Raine brushed a strand of hair out of Eda's face and Eda nuzzled into their hand, capturing it to press a kiss to their palm.

"Don't be a stranger," she whispered as she let Raine's hand drop to their side.

"Never again," Raine promised.

For a hot minute, after Luz didn't force another get together, Eda thought she had lucked out and Luz had given up on the whole Eda and Camila being friends thing.

That was the only good luck she had that weekend. Raine had been swamped with work until late Sunday evening and they stumbled into Eda's nest, waking Eda only when they accidentally tripped over her leg.

"Luz? Lily?" Eda mumbled through a haze of sleep. "What are you doing?" The fog over her mind cleared, just a fraction. "Why are you even here?"

"I'm not your sister." Raine giggled a bit at their own words. "Or your kid."

"Raine?" Eda squinted at them through the darkness of her room. She missed being able to draw a circle in midair and create light. She had light glyphs stashed in the nest, but damned if she could remember where when she was half asleep. "You know that Luz isn't my kid."

Spit landed on Eda's cheek as Raine blew a raspberry and Eda wrinkled her nose. It was disgusting, even if she had had her tongue in Raine's mouth more times than she could count. "She is."

"Are you drunk?" Eda pushed herself up as Raine fell down into the nest in a tangle of limbs. Eda smiled and settled back down, letting Raine burrow into her arms. "You are drunk. Your back is going to regret that belly flop in the morning."

"A problem for sober me." Raine's voice was too loud, especially given that they were yelling right into Eda's ear.

Eda peered at them, then sniffed at their hair, smelling sweat and booze. "Were you at a club?" Raine wasn't a loud drunk, not like Eda, and they usually only started yelling when their ears were ringing.

"We were celebrating an important milestone," Raine said and, when Eda shushed them, they dissolved back into giggles. "Imagine, you, shushing me!"

"I have a little titan in this house that gets testy when he doesn't get his full ten hours of sleep," Eda grumbled in a facade of annoyance, hiding how her heart leapt in her chest at Raine's words. "So what's the milestone that's got you all excited? You finally free of coven hell?"

"We've finally agreed to split into covens based on instrument types! We won't have a single leader, but we're forming a council consisting of the leaders of the voice and brass and woodwind and string and percussion and piano coven leaders! Six leaders! Possible ties, which seems bad, but we'll figure something out. I think. And underneath them are the leaders for the covens for each different instrument, so on and so forth." Raine wiggled. "Tiered covens! No rules that someone can't be a member of the flute coven and the sax coven!"

Eda smiled and scratched her fingers through Raine's short hair, the freshly cropped ends tickling at her palm. "You got your way then. Defeated the proponents of the covens-by-bands faction."

"I did!"

"So you're going to have a lot of free time now," Eda purred and bumped her nose against Raine's. "However are you going to fill your days?"

Frowning, Raine pulled back, thinking hard through the alcohol. "I mean, I guess I'll have a bit more free time, but not really? I have to organise the string coven now. Probably. It's going to take a lot of work to run the elections for instrument leaders while also campaigning to be head of the strings. Especially since I have to make sure no one thinks that I'm pulling strings"—they giggled again at their own joke, oblivious to Eda's growing coldness—"and cheating to get myself elected. I have to be transparent."

"I thought you didn't want to be the coven head anymore."

"Of all the bards? Titan, no, that was way too much. I think I could manage just the strings—it's a sixth of the workload."

That didn't sound so bad. "Eventual free time, then. Once everything is settled."

"Twelve-hour days, six days a week instead of sixteen-hour days, every day of the week." Raine sighed and they were clearly happy, content with their envisioned future.

Eda wasn't. "That's still a lot of hours. They can't expect you to work that much forever."

Raine laughed. "No one does! Everyone tells me all the time to take time off, but I can't tear myself away. I've spent two decades hustling, I can't imagine slowing down now when I'm finally getting everything I wanted!" They smiled at Eda. "You know how it is, right? You always worked twice as hard as me and Lily combined, even if your sister never saw it."

"No, I don't." Eda stared at Raine. "I want nothing more than to relax and spend time with the people I love for once in my fucking life, but I'm lucky if Luz spends five minutes in my house before running off to school or to see her friends and King's gone a week every month to train his powers with his father and Lily's still reconnecting with our parents or whatever and now you're planning on working yourself to the grave! When am I supposed to see you outside of those seventy-two hours you plan on working every week? You hate sleeping in my nest, which I'm fine with, I know it's weird, but you won't sleep in my house when I offer you a bed and you won't even invite me to stay at your apartment. Am I supposed to only see you in stolen scraps of time between coven catastrophes?"

Raine stared back. "This is important, Eda!"

"More important than us?" Eda snapped. "I thought we were going to be different this time around, but I guess shit never changes, does it?"

Raine pulled out of Eda's arms and stood up. Eda didn't bother following them, instead rolling away so she didn't have to look at their face. "Even if it's not more important than us, it's bigger than us, Eda. I thought you knew that. I thought you accepted that!"

Eda grunted.

"You know what, I can't deal with this right now. Not past midnight when I've been awake for nearly twenty hours, not while I'm half drunk." Eda heard Raine summoning their staff and she curled in on herself, glad that her back was to her window as night air whooshed over her exposed skin from Raine launching themselves into the sky.

Fuck.

Just fuck.

Chapter Text

Eda only realised why Luz had stopped pushing for the whole friendship with Camila thing when, on the night of parent-teacher interviews at Hexside, the portal opened in Eda's living room and spat out Luz and her mother. Eda's lips thinned as she took in the other woman's guarded stance and the defiant tilt of Luz's chin. She should have seen this coming when Luz begged Eda to attend the interviews with her.

"We should get going if you want to show me around your school before the interviews," Camila said to Luz. She didn't acknowledge Eda even as she kept almost looking at her out of the corner of her eyes.

She should have taken Camila's presence as an excuse to get herself off the hook, but the woman's cold dismissal left her bristling. "And I can quiz you to see if you've found all of Hexside's secrets yet."

"There's more than just your secret study chambers?" Luz lost her defiance and she eagerly looked up at Eda.

"You're not coming," Camila blurted. She looked at Eda then, simmering anger overtaking her icy facade.

"I sure as shit am," Eda said. "Luz asked me to come and what the hell do you even know about a proper magical education? What questions would you even know to ask?"

"I'm sure I can manage just fine. You can stay here and mind your plants. I wouldn't want to waste any of your time."

"Too late, I've already rearranged my entire evening for this," Eda lied, unless you counted delaying getting shitfaced until she passed out as rearranging her evening. Eda didn't.

"I'm sure if your partner wouldn't mind if you called them and said your plans fell through."

She hadn't talked to Raine since their spat and it took an extraordinary amount of effort to keep any hint of pain from her face. "Nope, they're the leader of one of the nine covens. One of the most important people on the Boiling Isles. They have way too much shit going on to deal with me flip-flopping on my availability."

"Eda's right," Luz cut in as Camila was about to speak. "She rarely gets to see Raine as it is and we should be grateful that she is willing to help us with Hexside things at all."

That made Eda feel guilty. She hadn't meant for Luz to think that she was sacrificing anything for her. Especially since she gave up nothing whatsoever.

Camila heaved out a sigh. "Fine. I suppose it would be useful to have someone familiar with the school with us."

She walked out the front door and Luz bounced along behind her. Eda just trudged as she followed.

"Great! Do you want to walk, or ride on my staff?" Luz summoned Stringbean and the staff started hovering obligingly beside her.

Camila paled. "I don't even like that you ride that thing."

"We can go slow and close to the ground. Ease you into it." Luz kept walking alongside her mother, though, subtly leading the way into the forest.

"I think I'm fine with walking," Camila said. "I need the exercise; I spent all day today cooped up in my office doing paperwork."

Eda groaned, loud. "Titan, this is going to take forever."

Between Camila's interest in every stray leaf and bone, her probing questions about every noise she heard, and Bump waiting for them at the front steps, they didn't make it to Hexside in time for Luz to give Camila a proper tour. After the meeting, Luz had promised, which was a pipe dream at best—Eda expected that either she or Camila would storm out in a huff and Luz would be too annoyed with the both of them to give any tour at all.

But when Eda turned to give Camila a mocking look, Camila was already looking at her, wry resignation in her eyes.

Eda's face felt hot and she looked away. It had been like Camila had seen her in that moment of shared amusement. She didn't like that. She didn't like how Camila had understood her thoughts, not when Raine couldn't seem to understand Eda at all.

"I am just so pleased with Luz's progress and the impact that she's had on the school that I felt like I had to conduct this interview myself," Bump was saying as he led the way through the school. Camila was distracted by, well, everything and Luz was distracted by trying to explain everything to her mother, so that left Eda free to slouch along behind everyone and wish that she was dead. "You are, of course, free to discuss Luz's work with any of her teachers, numerous though they may be."

Camila looked away from the snapping lockers and schooled her expression, clearly trying to look like a proper, concerned parent and not a tourist. "Yes, I heard that Luz is taking an unusual number of subjects after she made quite a stir when she first enrolled."

"She did!" Bump laughed, loud and obnoxious and it grated on Eda's nerves and made her shoulders want to hunch up around her ears. She didn't let them, of course. She was cool, calm and collected and not affected by being back in this building full of memories she'd rather bury. "I'll have to admit, I expected it. I couldn't resist putting her in the potions track, just like her mentor, and seeing what she would do. Any youngster that Eda would take under her wing"—and he laughed at his stupid fucking joke, so clever, so original, it wasn't as if Eda hadn't heard a million puns on owls already—"had to be a handful."

Eda expected Camila to start bristling at how Bump tied Luz to Eda, but Camila only smiled. Genuinely, at that—Eda had seen her real smile enough to recognise it, even if it had never been directed at herself. She had thought that it was reserved for kids, but no, it was freely given to anyone who wasn't Eda.

"I'm glad you're so patient with Luz's energy," Camila said. They had reached Bump's office and they all filed in. There were three chairs in front of his desk, almost as if he expected Luz to bring both Eda and Camila, and Eda looked at him with suspicion as she shut the door.

He ignored her entirely. "It's hardly patience; she brings such joy to this school. I couldn't imagine it without her in it anymore." He sat down at his desk and steepled his fingers together, waiting as Camila and Luz settled themselves before him. Luz had claimed the middle chair, her intent to be a literal buffer between Eda and Camila clear, but Eda still lingered near the door instead of sitting down. Bump gave her a look, long and disapproving, until she slouched forward and fell into the chair. She slumped, crossing and uncrossing her legs, and feeling everyone's eyes on her.

Bump was her reprieve, for the first time in Eda's life. "As I was saying, Luz is a pleasure. I dearly hope that you don't intend to pull her from Hexside and enrol her in a human school now that Eda has a working portal again."

"Technically I don't," Eda pointed out, channelling her sister to be pedantic and annoying. "It's Luz's portal now. She just lets me borrow it so I can maintain an inventory for my stall."

"And now that Eda's no longer a fugitive from the law, she lets me decorate it!" Luz was too excited to notice Eda's grimace—the kid had certainly left her mark on the stall—but Bump and Camila weren't. She didn't like the look on either of their faces, Bump with a smug, self-satisfied grin—and Eda abruptly realised that part of the reason he liked Luz was that he knew Luz's energy would torment Eda—and Camila's blank. Hiding judgement behind shuttered eyes and Eda scowled at her.

"At this time, I have no intention of pulling Luz from this school," Camila said carefully. "However, our initial agreement was that she could remain at Hexside until parent-teacher interviews, when I would have a chance to hear from her teachers and make my final decision."

Eda started and Bump's eyes shot to her in a brief moment of shared concern. She felt cold and she stared at Luz, who refused to meet her gaze, then past her to see Camila looking at her again with an unreadable expression on her face. Why hadn't Luz told her about that ultimatum?

"Well, in that case, I hope we make a good impression." Bump smiled widely. "Shall we start with a discussion about Luz's academic progress?"

At that, Luz looked nervous and Eda elbowed her gently. "What's with that face, kid? You discovered an entire branch of magic, your academic progress better be, like, 110 percent."

Luz smiled and Eda leaned back in her seat, but not before she gave Camila a smug look. The woman was watching her, of course, but her blank facade had cracked and the look she gave Eda wasn't unkind.

"I wouldn't say that Luz's grades are that high—as you know, Amity Blight is still at the top of the class—but her work is exemplary and her progress astounding. It's hard to believe that she only knew two spells, and had poor control over them both, at the beginning of the term. The only thing holding Luz back is that she has to adapt our lessons to her glyph magic, which I understand is an arduous process."

Eda grunted. "It's no walk in the park."

"Unfortunately, that does have an impact on her scores, along with her heavy course load that only gives her an overview of each subject, not an in depth delve. With the way modern magical education is structured, it is an inescapable reality that Luz's grades cannot compete with single track students."

Eda leaned forward and she jabbed a finger at Bump, her elbows locked as her arm fully extended. "That's a flaw in your system, then! We're in a new era now, wild magic two-point-oh or whatever it was that Luz calls it. Your 'modern' magical education is officially outdated."

"I agree with you," Bump said mildly.

Eda was a touch embarrassed by her own half-grunt of shock.

"Oh, don't look so surprised; you had to have known that I never agreed with the restrictions Belos placed on education. I bent the rules for Luz and her friends and I turned a blind eye to you turning my school into a warren of tunnels and spy holes so you could learn whatever magic from whichever discipline you wanted."

"Uh," Eda said.

"Myself and the other members of the education coven have been meeting endlessly—and I mean endlessly—in discussion as to how we plan on moving forward in this new world together." He smiled and Eda peered closer at him, realising only then that he looked more haggard than usual, which was saying something, and had that same pleased exhaustion that Raine wore. Was she the only witch not breaking her back shaping the future of the Boiling Isles? "I think you'll like what we're working towards, but of course I can't share just yet. I will hint that it is favourable to students like yourself and Luz. Honestly, if you weren't so... aggressively averse to structure, I would be trying to recruit you to teach here at Hexside."

A bark of laughter escaped Eda. "Me? A teacher?"

"Why is that so improbable?" Camila asked, her voice low. "You're mentoring my daughter, is that not teaching?"

Stymied, Eda blinked at Camila. Her cheeks felt hot again and she knew a blush was bright on her cheeks—her hair going grey hadn't made her complexion any less susceptible to betraying even the slightest hint of embarrassment. She looked away, no longer capable of meeting Camila's eyes, and saw a slow smile spread across Bump's face.

That was no better. That was Bump's meddling face. Eda shook her head minutely at him—she had no idea what his intentions were but she wanted no part in any of it.

"Eda's a fine teacher," Bump said. "And she's one of the few witches left with such a broad knowledge of magic. She even won the respect of everyone on the Isles during the Day of Unity when—"

"Whoa whoa whoa," Eda interjected. "Let's not get too hasty; it was a team effort and I was just trying to protect Luz and King and Raine and junk. The whole overthrowing a dictator thing was a side-effect."

"Did you lead a revolution?" Camila asked in bemusement.

Luz's laugh was nervous. "How about we talk about this later, mom? It's a long story and Principal Bump has already heard it all."

"Alright," Camila demurred. "So Luz's grades are decent, but she's hindered by an education structure that you intend on changing in the near future so they're not an accurate assessment of her ability."

"Correct!" Even when talking to an adult he had never taught when they were a child, Bump couldn't keep the teacher inflection out of his voice.

"Behaviour, then." Camila was placid as she stared at Bump, but Eda was beginning to know her well enough to recognise the tension in her jaw and how her hands twined together, knuckles turning white. Perhaps it was less that she was beginning to know Camila and more that she had nothing but experience with causing that tension to form in Camila's body. "How is Luz's behaviour in class? With the other students?"

Bump shuffled the notes on his desk, though he obviously wasn't reading them. Instead, he was doing exactly what Eda was, studying both Luz and Camila. Luz showed her nerves more obviously, shifting in her chair and her eyes darting, seeking something to distract her from her own thoughts. "Luz's teachers all say that Luz is a bright, optimistic presence. Her positive attitude shifts the class with her, enhancing all her classmates' learning. She's a leader, by example and action."

"Really?" Camila and Luz said in unison. They both looked poleaxed, and Eda and Bump exchanged another brief look. What were schools in the human realm like if that news came as a shock? Nothing Bump said had been surprising to Eda, even if Luz had alluded to having difficulties fitting in back in the human realm. She was so damned uplifting that it was hard for Eda to imagine any adults disappointed by her presence, even if her peers were cruel.

"Really," Bump said after the pause had gone on too long.

"There have been no complaints, even from other parents?"

"Well." Bump tugged at his collar and the brightness in Camila's eyes dimmed. "There have been a few issues lodged with my office, but none were founded. One was aimed at Luz's entire friend group and was a clear abuse of wealth disparity, one was because a student misled their parents about Luz's actions, and the rest were generalised complaints based on misconceptions about humans."

"Wow," Luz said. "I only knew about the first one, when Amity's parents tried to get me expelled."

"Excuse me?"

"It didn't stick, obviously!" Luz attempted to reassure her mom, but Camila wasn't willing to be reassured, instead turning her glare on Bump.

"The Blights wield a lot of influence in this town," Bump said. "I tried to fight it, of course, but they had the strength of the Abomination Coven at their back. One of the changes we're trying to implement is to prevent such a gross misuse of power. To her credit, Luz resolved the situation herself, negotiating with Amity's parents for her and her friends' expulsions to be revoked. As for the other incidents, well, I felt no reason to inform you of them at the time, Luz, since I was able to take care of them without any impact to you."

Camila shook her head. "And this is your girlfriend's parents. This is why I didn't want to enrol you in that private high school; wealthy people can be so unethical. Your father insisted, though."

Bump blinked in obvious surprise, though he kept his thoughts to himself. Eda glowered to herself—it wasn't fair that she was the only one who didn't have enough tact to not blurt out surprise at Luz having a father.

At least Bump was also surprised. It was nice that she wasn't alone in her assumption that Luz's father was out of the picture.

"So Luz is doing well, then."

"Better than I did in any human school," Luz said. "I told you, mom, this is good for me."

"I know, mija," Camila said. "I could see that already. I just wanted to make sure." She turned to Bump. "Tell me more about this school. What are the extracurriculars offered? Post-secondary education opportunities on the Boiling Isles? Typical class sizes and teaching approaches?"

Eda tuned the conversation out from there, entertaining herself by trying to see how many of Bump's pens she could filch and hide away in her hair before he noticed. Luz was watching her, disapproval clear in her glare and the way she kicked at Eda's ankle, but Eda serenely continued to empty the cup. Bump knew what she was like; if he hadn't put his good pens away in his desk beforehand, he was asking to be robbed.

Camila noticed what Eda was doing before Bump, her eyes tracking from where Luz was not-so-subtly hissing at her mentor to the half-empty mug of pens on Bump's desk and Eda's half-extended hand. She frowned, but she didn't miss a beat while talking to Bump.

Some of her questions were actually decent, things that Eda would never have thought to ask. Most were questions Eda already knew the answers to. Questions about school lunches, out of class learning, social events and spirit weeks, though the latter turned out to have nothing to do with ghosts or poltergeists and Bump looked just as baffled by the humans' explanation as Eda felt, though he was more polite about it.

Camila didn't even make a single snide remark about Eda, even when Bump tried venturing into another tangent to sing Eda's praises. Which Eda shut down, of course. It was weird hearing Bump speak highly of her, like the world had shifted on its axis and Eda wanted no part in it. She wanted Bump in the box labelled antagonists and herself to be nothing more than a thorn in Bump's side. This respect, too genuine to be grudging, was too weird for Eda to deal with.

It was nice to see that Camila could play nice, Eda supposed. It was nicer to see that she did seem to have some care for her daughter—she was at least able to recognise the symbols of the nine main covens and had a vague understanding of what each entailed, even without Luz's prompting.

She might actually be a decent person. She hadn't even flinched when she saw Bump or any of the kids whose appearances skewed more demon than witch, which was more than Eda expected. Eda scowled at that thought—if Camila was a decent person, that might make her the one to be overly antagonistic, and that couldn't be right. Camila had looked at her with disdain from the moment she laid eyes on Eda.

No, it was more likely that Camila was someone who was perfectly capable of being pleasant to everyone she met except Eda.

Eda was jolted from her thoughts by everyone else in the room standing. Belatedly, she leapt to her feet as Bump and Camila shook hands. One of her pilfered pens escaped her hair and she ignored it, even as it clattered to the floor and everyone turned to look at it. And, by extension, her.

"Edalyn." Bump held out his hand, palm up. He wasn't expecting a handshake.

"What?" Belligerence, the mature response.

"While the pens on my desk are free for anyone to borrow, I doubt you need all twenty of them." Eda scowled at him and he rolled his eyes. "You may notice that I have two mugs of pens on my desk, one on each corner. I've known you since you were this high, Edalyn, I didn't expect you to make it through an entire meeting without something to occupy your hands."

Eda flushed, again, and she had already blushed more times in the past hour than she would have preferred to have blushed in a year. "Fine," she said and stuffed her hand into her hair, feeling around until she had most of the pens clutched in her fist.

She slapped them down onto Bump's palm, uncaring as they spilled past his fingers and scattered across his desk.

"I'll see you both next quarter," Bump said cheerfully. "Maybe even sooner!" He gave Eda a meaningful look.

"Fat chance am I working for you," Eda muttered under her breath.

Bump had to have heard her, but he only turned to Luz and smiled. "And you, Luz, I imagine I'll see tomorrow."

"Bye Princy-B," Luz said and that made Bump's smile fade.

"Just Principal Bump is fine, Luz."

"Always nice seeing you, Bumpikins," Eda said for the sole reason of seeing if she could still make his eye twitch.

Camila just sighed. "It was nice meeting you, Principal Bump." She turned to Luz as they walked out. Eda pushed past them to lead the way, her strides long and eager. "You said you wanted to show me around Hexside?"

"Yeah!" Luz said. She caught up to Eda and tugged on her arm, bringing Eda to a halt. "You want to come with? Show me your secrets I haven't found yet?"

"No, thank you," Eda said. It wasn't as bad in Bump's office, but out here in the halls, surrounded by the same old lockers and her shoes clicking on the same scuffed floors? The weight of the school pressed at her, making her feel small and insignificant. Like she had to be loud and prickly and fight for any scrap of freedom. Her discontentment made the owl beast stir to life in her chest, anxious and demanding to be set free to rip apart their enemies.

She took a deep breath, trying to centre herself, trying to soothe the monster inside of her before its fear wormed its way inside of Eda. Luz watched, worry shining in her eyes, and Eda slowly curled her fingers into her palms to hide how they had become talons.

Fuck, she needed to get a handle on herself.

"I should get home," she said, her voice very even. "King will be missing me by now. I'll show you all the secrets some other time, I promise." Her nails had receded into her blunt manicure and she reached out to ruffle Luz's hair. "You'll have more fun with your mom without me tagging along anyway."

Luz grabbed Eda into a hug, her arms tight around Eda's waist. Eda's hand settled awkwardly on Luz's back, very aware that Camila was watching them even if she refused to look in the other woman's direction.

"You stay safe, okay?"

Eda laughed and pushed Luz away. She couldn't resist stealing a glance at Camila, who was watching her with furrowed brows. Eda looked away. "For the last time, it's my job to worry about you, not for you to worry about me. Stop by on your way back to the human realm; King misses you."

She tossed a wave over her shoulder and strode down the hall, her pace too fast and her heels too loud. The owl beast was screaming inside her and she ducked around a corner that used to have an easy to jimmy window.

It still was, even with her fingers talons again, and she burst out of the window, wings already ripping out of her back, the pain searing but so much more palatable than the excruciating horror when she became the owl beast, and feathers sprouting from her body and trailing behind her. She plunged to the ground for a full storey before her wings were large enough to bear her weight and they snapped open, catching an updraft, and she spiralled into the air, up and away from the school.

Free. She was free.

The day before the ceremony that Eda had begun to double-dread as the days wore on without word from Raine, Eda woke to the tap of boots against stone as someone landed on the windowsill beside her nest. She rolled over and blinked up, squinting against the light of the full moon and the silhouette of Raine's body crouched before it.

"Hey," Eda rasped. "What are you doing up there? C'mere."

"Hey, Eda."

Raine sounded tired, truly tired, not the manic exhaustion that normally sent them into Eda's arms. They didn't move from their perch on the windowsill, not even just to sit down, and their staff hovered beside them.

Eda sat up.

"Raine?"

"I've been thinking," Raine started and Eda placed a hand on their knee.

"I know that look." Eda's voice was hoarse, from sleep and certainly not from anything else. "I know what you're going to say. But it's late and we're both tired, can we discuss it in the morning?"

"Eda," Raine breathed.

"Please, Raine." Eda hated herself for begging. "Just this. Can you give me this?"

Raine's sigh was deep and heavy, but their staff vanished and they stepped down into the nest. "Alright," they said. "But we're talking in the morning."

"That's fine," Eda said. It was hours until sunrise and she pushed Raine's jacket off their shoulders. Raine let her, sitting placidly in front of her as Eda removed their clothes. "We can talk then."

"In the morning," Raine agreed, and they took Eda's face into their hands and kissed her.

The kiss was long and slow, unhurried as if they had all the time in the world, and salty from the tears sliding down Eda's cheeks. Raine's too, Eda realised when she brushed her thumb along their cheekbone to deepen the kiss.

The kiss broke with a gasp when Raine pressed Eda back against the nest, surrounding Eda inside and out with their warmth.

"You really want to give this up?" Eda asked.

"Shh." Raine mouthed kisses along Eda's neck. "It's not morning yet."

Eda squeezed her eyes shut, but tears welled past them. Raine kissed them away as they led them both to the heights of their pleasure.

After, as the breeze from the open window cooled the sweat clinging to their bodies, Eda turned to Raine. They were very much not asleep, every muscle in their body tense. As were Eda's, even with the warm remains of Raine's touch still humming through her veins.

"Why?" she asked.

Raine kept looking at the ceiling, the sharp panes of their face glowing in the moonlight. "Doesn't it feel wrong to you? Us, together again like this?"

"Yeah," Eda said. Sometimes it did, but it didn't feel wrong with Raine was touching her, kissing her.

"I don't know if we're good together." Moonlight shimmered in the fine tracks of tears along their face. "I want us to be, Titan I want us to be so bad. I love you Eda, I always have, but I don't think we're going in the same direction. You want more from me than I have to give and I don't want for you to feel like you're just given scraps of my time. You don't deserve that. You deserve so much more."

"I don't feel that way," Eda lied. "I was angry when I said that, I know that I'm important to you, that you love me. I'm fine waiting until your life levels out and we can start working to build a future together."

Raine rolled their neck to look at Eda, their eyes wide and unfiltered. Their glasses had long been discarded. "That's the thing, Eda. This is what a future with me looks like. I don't see anything changing in my professional life for years to come and I don't think it would be any better if we moved in together. For me to come home when you're already asleep and to leave before you wake."

"Fuck," Eda breathed. She wanted to say more, but she was drowning, her blood was draining from her body, her entire focus devoted to trying to keep calm, trying to keep the owl beast calm, trying not to repeat that scene on the hill.

"It's okay that you need more than this." Raine brushed aside Eda's tears and ignored the tears coursing down their own face. "It's okay to want to see someone more often than an hour or two a week. I'm so sorry that I can't be that person for you."

"I can't ask you to be that person." Eda's voice broke. "I don't want to force you to choose between me and work. It's fine, I'll take what you have to offer."

"You're not making me choose," Raine said. "But I can't sit here and watch you suffer in silence. I have to let you go, Eda, even though it breaks my heart to do so."

"Don't I get a say in this?" Eda asked through slow, even breaths. "Don't I get to decide for myself if only seeing you sometimes is less painful than never seeing you at all?"

"I'm sorry, Eda. I just don't think the timing is right for us. Again. We should have talked about this sooner, but I guess I just got swept up in it all. By you, the expectations of our friends, the depth of your love. Like I always do." Their smile was tremulous as they met Eda's eyes. "But we found each other again after twenty years—who knows what will happen twenty years from now? By then, I'm sure I'll be retired."

"I'll probably be dead," Eda muttered.

"Don't say that," Raine said. "I don't want to think about a world without you in it."

"But that's what you want. A life without me."

"I'm sorry," Raine said again.

Eda said nothing, just closed her eyes and leaned into Raine's touch.

"Would it be easier for you if I leave now?" Raine asked after the silence had dragged on for several long minutes.

"It's not morning yet," Eda whispered. "You said we'd talk in the morning."

Raine brought Eda into their arms and tucked Eda's head under their chin, their hands running through Eda's hair and along her back. The owl beast shifted inside Eda, discontented and as erratic as Eda wished she could be.

Raine didn't seem to notice, didn't seem to be aware of the danger Eda was placing them in. Again. They had made the right call breaking up with Eda; Eda clearly hadn't learned a thing.

They pressed a kiss to Eda's temple. "Okay. In the morning, then."

Chapter Text

They didn't talk in the morning either, not really. Raine whispered more apologies and half-promises that they would try again in twenty years (twenty years, didn't they know that Eda was lucky to be still alive right now?) and kissed Eda one last time before soaring off into the dawn. Leaving Eda to trudge down to the kitchen, where she poured herself two mugs of apple blood to save herself a trip to the fridge and drank them back to back.

That's where Luz found her, three sheets to the wind, when she stepped through the portal for her last classes of the week. Eda was too drunk to tell if Luz was oblivious to Eda's state or politely ignoring it, but Eda thought it would be hard for Luz to miss the empty bottles—she had grown tired of stumbling to the fridge and sloshing the apple blood all over the floor on the return trip to the kitchen table.

"Morning, Eda." Luz placed the portal key on the table and Eda blinked slowly at it. "Mom said she'd like to see you today if you have a free moment."

Eda grunted, not trusting herself to speak without her words slurring into incomprehensibility. Of fucking course Camila wanted to see her today. Because Eda's day wasn't shitty enough already—King had taken one look at her and vanished back upstairs and one of the first things Hooty had learned was to give Eda a wide berth when she was drinking herself stupid.

"She'll, uh, understand if you're busy, though."

Oh, yeah, Luz definitely knew she was drunk.

"I'm just going to go to school now." Luz backed out of the room, but Eda heard her run up the stairs, not out the door.

She slumped down further onto the table and rested her head in her crossed arms. She could hear everything Luz and King were saying, their whispers frantic.

"Is Eda okay?" Luz, worried.

"She's fine, just drunk." King, angry.

"Yeah, but it's not even nine am and she's really drunk."

"Just ignore it, she gets like this sometimes."

Eda covered her ears at the pained anger. She didn't want to hear it anymore, didn't want to hear about how she was so shitty of a mother that her kid was just resigned and bitter and not even remotely concerned when he woke to find that she had polished off an entire bottle of apple blood as he slept.

She stayed there like that, blocking out the sound of voices, until she heard the front door slam shut. The room rushed around her as she sat up and her stomach roiled in protest. And she had only sat up; she hadn't even tried to stand.

She needed to stand. She needed to climb all the stairs up to her bedroom and down a sobering potion because getting in a fight with Camila sounded like the exact thing she wanted to do right now.

Both hands planted on the kitchen table, Eda slowly eased herself upright. She heaved twice before she was standing, swaying, on her feet, but she swallowed it down. The bitter taste of vomit lingered on the back of her tongue.

Keeping one hand on the wall that kept lurching away from her grasp, she made her way out of the kitchen. The stairs were harder to navigate and Eda held the banister in a white knuckled grip. Thank fucking Titan she was in bare feet—she didn't think she would be able to clear the steps even in slippers. Why the fuck had she thought it was a good idea to keep that potion in her bedroom and only in her bedroom? She was so damned shortsighted.

As soon as she climbed the last step, Eda stumbled across the hall to crash into the opposite wall. It was an intentional move, somewhat. Halfway up the steps, she had the sudden vision of herself slipping and falling all the way down to the main floor and having to repeat the climb all over again. Possibly with a broken ankle, probably with vomit down the front of her sweater. There was no way her stomach would survive a fall. Even the lurch across a five foot wide hall had her gulping down bile.

When she reached her door, she fell through it, not realising that it hadn't been latched shut until it was too late and the ground was rushing towards her. That was fucking embarrassing. She wondered if King was still in the house, or if he had gone to Hexside with Luz. She didn't think that Luz would leave him alone with Eda when she was like this, but she also didn't think that Luz would leave Eda alone either.

But she wasn't alone, she supposed. Hooty was here, even if he was hiding. He was probably spying on her right now as she rolled over onto her back and willed the room to stop spinning.

Slow, careful steps. After she slow, careful stood up. She had made it too far to give up now.

The potions she wanted were in small vials, concentrated versions of the kind any schlub could buy at the market. But Eda wasn't any schlub. She had been, technically, in the potions track at Hexside and she had been good at it, even if she had only picked it because she wanted to be with Lilith. She had graduated with record high grades that stood for over a decade. To this day, she received a handwritten letter every June from the head of the Potions Coven, personally requesting that she join their ranks.

She could, and did, brew her own sobering potions, but she could do nothing about the taste. The viscous ooze coated her tongue and throat as it went down, so bitter that she gagged. The problem with sobering potions was that, while you were instantaneously sober, you were also instantaneously hungover and it hit like a fucking truck. The only relief the potion gave was to nausea since even the puritanical asshole who formulated it had to concede that puking significantly diminished its efficacy.

Her head throbbing, Eda chased the potion with a second one she had concocted as a teenager, which would never be approved by the healing coven given that it contained five separate painkillers, all of which were addictive and highly regulated.

It worked like a fucking charm, though. The sunlight stopped spiking needles of pain directly into Eda's skull and the heaviness of her limbs lifted. She was still uncoordinated as she stood, accidentally knocking the stool over and tripping over it as she made her way to her nest before she passed out on her rug. Again.

Eda felt like shit when she woke, but it was a normal level of shittiness for someone who had just been dumped and reeked of booze. She was sluggish as she stumbled into the bathroom, but the hot water pounding on her head took care of that as she washed away the alcohol and the faint traces of sex that she imagined still lingered on her body.

She wasn't in a good mood by a long shot, but she hummed as she dressed, eager for the coming fight. They wouldn't even have to worry about Luz catching them at each other's throats since she would be stuck in the demon realm until Eda came back with the key.

It was going to be a good one. Eda wondered if Camila was the sort of person to yell in anger or if she went cold and quiet. Eda planned on yelling, maybe doing some looming as she gave Camila shit for being a sanctimonious ass who didn't pay her daughter enough attention.

She dressed for the occasion, of course, in her tallest boots and a dress that always made her strut, with her makeup immaculate and her eyeliner flawlessly even. No cracks in this armour for Camila to exploit, no doofy sunglasses making her look like a dork this time. She wouldn't even wear the bandanna to hide her ears—she was Eda fucking Clawthorne and no one was going to mess with her.

While she could have opened the portal directly into Camila's front entrance like Luz always did, even Eda had to acknowledge that that was a bit too rude and she portalled into the abandoned house. It wasn't as if the two-minute walk would kill her and it was such a sleepy street that it was unlikely that there would be anyone around to see her ears and call the government to abduct her.

Her steps didn't falter as she crunched through the fallen leaves that covered both the forest path and littered across the sidewalk. It was always neat how the trees in the human realm turned yellow and orange before gently dropping their leaves, but today Eda didn't spare them a glance. Instead, she marched past the large for sale sign to Camila's front door and held down the buzzer, her lips curving into a wicked smirk as she heard the first note repetitively clang through the house.

The door ripped open and Camila glared up at her, looking wholly unsurprised to see Eda on her doorstep. Eda dropped her hand from the buzzer and Camila stepped aside to let her in.

"Eda," she said. Her voice was tight—as was her shirt, a fact Eda was very annoyed with herself for noticing. But how could she not notice with how the fabric strained across Camila's chest, the neckline low enough to put the shadow of her cleavage on full display?

Camila noticed Eda noticing, but bar a single raised eyebrow, her expression didn't change as she closed the door behind Eda.

"You wanted to talk?" Eda grunted. Not wanting to delay the argument by going further into the house, she planted her feet and stared challengingly at Camila.

"I did," Camila said. "It took me the better part of the week, but I finally managed to get the story out of Luz. You participated in a rebellion against a despotic emperor?"

"Yeah?" Eda shrugged to mask her confusion. Camila's voice had shook with anger as she spoke, but who in their right mind would be angry about someone ending a fascist regime? "What of it?"

"In the process of which, you got yourself captured."

"You'll have to be a bit more specific," Eda said. "Technically speaking, Belos captured me at least a half dozen times—he just couldn't hold me."

"The two times in which you needed my daughter to rescue you!"

"I'll admit, those weren't my finest moments. I assure you, I don't usually need teenagers to pull me out of scraps."

"Scraps?" Camila took a step forward. "Scraps? I know Luz is still downplaying the danger because she doesn't want me to worry, but I'm not stupid. I saw how traumatised Hunter was, no matter how much he tried to hide it. His 'uncle' was a monster and you just blithely let my daughter paint a target on her forehead."

"Hey, now, that's not fair! My sister may have kidnapped Luz once to get to me, but I expressly tried to keep Luz out of my run-ins with Belos. It's not my fault she decided to rescue me—the first time, I told her to go home and destroy the portal, but I guess she had no interest in doing that. At least not on this side, and who could blame her when the only thing she has here is you and you tried to change her! Do you even love her, or are you one of those mothers who only love the idea of their daughter that only lives in their head?"

Camila's hand shot out before Eda could react and slammed into her chest. Startled, Eda took a step back. It wasn't as if the push hurt, or even had enough force behind it to move her if she hadn't been off balanced, leering above Camila. A human as small and soft as Camila would never have the strength to move a witch who didn't want to be moved.

"Fuck you!" Camila spat. She pushed at Eda again, this time with both hands, and Eda let herself stumble into the door. It wouldn't be sporting to just stand there like a brick wall. "How dare you say that I don't love Luz!"

"I don't know, lady, but it isn't a stretch. The only things I've seen from you are sneers and snide comments."

"Really, is that all?" Camila snarled and Eda braced herself for another push as Camila raised her hands again, though Eda could hardly be pushed through the door.

She was completely unprepared for Camila's hand wrapping around the back of her neck and yanking her down into a kiss. The band of Camila's wedding ring pressed sharply into her spine and she gasped. Hot and demanding, Camila's tongue slid into her mouth.

Well. She came looking for a fight, but this could be better.

What wouldn't do was how Camila was trapping her against the door, her blunt nails digging into the skin of Eda's neck as she held her in place. If Camila wanted to do this, it was going to be on Eda's terms. Eda broke the kiss and stood back up to her full height, her back twinging in protest.

Camila gaped up at her, her lips parted and shining. She looked like she was about to say something, about to change her mind, so, in one move, Eda lifted Camila up bodily and strode across the small entryway until Camila's back crashed against the opposite wall. Her breath rushed out of her, Eda having not had the presence of mind to properly modulate her strength, but Eda wasn't about to apologise.

Instead, she lifted Camila higher and plastered their bodies together until Camila was wedged between Eda and the wall, their eyes level and her feet dangling. Eda pressed a knee between Camila's legs and ground her thigh against Camila's core as she kissed Camila again as Camila struggled for air.

Blunt teeth scraped at Eda's lower lip and she shivered involuntarily. No matter how many times she kissed humans, their domesticated little teeth were a delight. So cute and harmless, even as Camila's nips grew firmer in a demand for access to Eda's mouth. Eda didn't let her, instead shifting until she could pull Camila's bottom lip into her mouth. Very carefully, she bit down. Just enough that Camila could feel the razor-sharp edge.

It was always interesting to see how humans reacted to the sharpness of her teeth and the size of her incisors. They weren't noticeably different when she smiled, apart from her golden tooth. Humans never expected to find anything unusual when they kissed her, even if they had seen her ears. There were two reactions—humans either pulled away in shock and ran or kissed her harder.

Camila gasped and her nails dug into Eda's back as she pulled her closer, her legs coming up to wrap around Eda's waist. She moaned at the loss of the firm thigh between her legs and Eda wondered if she had even noticed that she had been grinding down on Eda's thigh until she stopped. Eda didn't care; Camila's centre was just as hot against her stomach as it had been against her leg and, with her legs around Eda's waist, Eda was able to finally palm her ass.

Eda let out a small moan as her fingers dug in, pliant even through thick jeans. Camila took advantage of Eda's momentary distraction and thrust her tongue inside Eda's mouth, flickering over the sharp edges of Eda's teeth in obvious fascination. Eda let her explore and opened her mouth wider, giving her access to taste her fill.

With Camila pressed against the wall, she had no way to pull away, no way to keep Eda from taking over the kiss again and groping at her clothes. Eda had a hand up Camila's shirt, tracing along her soft skin until she could brush the side of Camila's breast through scratchy lace. She snarled into their kiss as she tried working her hand between Camila's body and the wall to undo the bra, but Camila arched her back and kept Eda from reaching.

Eda pulled back, her lips twisted. "What are you doing?"

Camila panted and Eda lost her indignation for a moment as she watched Camila's swollen lips part as she tried to speak. Cheeks flushed and dark eyes wide and hazy behind glasses knocked askew, she looked debauched and Eda hadn't done anything yet, just grabbed her ass and shoved her tongue down her throat.

Eda growled and ducked her head down to mouth at Camila's neck. She nipped, not quite hard enough to bruise since she did have a scumbag husband and Eda didn't want to deal with the clusterfuck that was sure to follow if he found love bites on his wife's neck, and laughed as Camila squeaked.

"You can't tell me that you don't want this," Eda purred. "Your thighs are around my waist. I can feel how hot you are, how much you want me to touch you. You're practically burning; you must be dripping by now."

"I'll let you find out," Camila said into Eda's ear, her breath hot and humid as her thighs tightened around Eda, pressing herself closer. "We just have to go upstairs. To bed."

"You're not going to let me fuck you right here?" Eda asked, entirely rhetorical. Her own cunt was throbbing at Camila's breathy words and she wanted nothing more in that moment than to fuck Camila in her marital bed, the ultimate fuck you to her husband for blatantly coming on to her in front of Luz.

"No," Camila said. "It's my bed or not at all, your choice."

Her legs dropped from around Eda's waist after one final squeeze and Eda let her slide down to the ground. Camila's legs were shaky and she stumbled, only Eda's hands on her ass keeping her upright. Fuck that was hot. Everything about this woman was so fucking hot—she was even glaring up at Eda right now, daring her to defy her. Eda wanted to both punch and kiss that look off her face in equal measure.

Kissing was more pleasurable, so Eda chose that. She nipped firmly at Camila's lips until she whimpered and shivered, her body sagging into Eda's until Eda was all that was keeping her from falling to the ground.

"Can you make it?" Eda teased. Camila's lips looked almost painfully bruised and Eda pushed aside a small pang of guilt. She didn't look upset by Eda's actions, so why should Eda? Camila was already chasing up in an attempt to steal another kiss.

"I can make it," she growled against Eda's throat, Eda having refused to bend down enough for Camila to reach her lips. Camila bit at Eda's neck, hard even with blunt teeth.

Eda stepped away and watched as Camila wobbled until she slumped against the wall. "Lead the way, then."

Camila's bedroom was upstairs and Eda revelled in the fact that she could shamelessly ogle the flex of her ass as she climbed the steps. It had been torturous keeping her eyes to herself inside her own house and at Hexside. But now she could even touch, and she did as soon as she crested the last step. She pinned Camila against the wall again, face first, swept her hair aside and nuzzled into the fine hairs at the back of Camila's neck.

Camila moaned, her hands splayed useless against the drywall, and she arched back into Eda's touch.

"I could take you here, just like this." Eda bit at Camila's shoulder and slid a hand from Camila's ass around to her stomach. Slowly, she brought her hand lower and lower, until her the button of her jeans bit into her palm and her fingers teased at her mound. "You wouldn't even protest, would you?"

Camila whimpered and, though she shook her head, she didn't deny it, just gasped wordlessly and rocked into Eda's hand.

She was so needy, so eager. Practically trembling as Eda ran her fingers up her spine. Not even protesting as she pressed her face against the wall even though her glasses had to be pinching against her skin. Eda wondered when was the last time anyone had touched her like this. Her husband was very obviously the sort of man who was interested solely in his own pleasure.

Eda really wanted to fuck Camila in their bed. Really wanted to make up for the neglect she had suffered. She didn't even like Camila, but the idea of denying a woman like her pleasure, someone so fierce and fiery, who responded to even the lightest of touches with a gasp, was abhorrent.

She pulled away and Camila whimpered.

"I won't, though. Show me your bedroom."

Trembling arms pushed Camila from the wall and she stumbled the last few feet down the hall and ripped open a door. She didn't flinch as it bounced off the wall, just dragged Eda through and slammed it shut again.

The blinds were closed and the room was half dark, only small slats of brilliant light illuminated the room and Eda blinked as her eyes fought to readjust. She groped for the light switch with one hand, but Camila tugged her away before she found it. She knew where she was going, the dim lighting not hindering her progress.

Eda stumbled though, off balance for the first time since she stepped into the human realm and left all her troubles behind. Her momentary unsteadiness brought them flashing back to the forefront of her mind—was she really going to fuck a woman the same damn day Raine dumped her for the second time?

She was, she realised as she felt Camila's fingers search along the seams of her dress. And a woman Raine had insisted she had the hots for as well. White-hot anger rushed through her and she pushed Camila's hands away to undo her dress herself. Raine hadn't even cared that Eda so obviously wanted Camila. They had laughed and teased and practically encouraged her to do exactly this.

She stepped out of her dress and looked up to see Camila staring at her, her eyes round behind her thick glasses. Her hands shook at her sides and her eyes never left Eda's face, which was silly. She had seen Eda's face a dozen times before and Eda's lingerie was almost as nice as her body.

Eda raised an eyebrow and spread her arms wide. "You can look, y'know. You can even touch." She took a step forward. "I might even want you to touch me."

She took Camila's hand in her own and lifted it up to her chest, encouraging Camila's fingers to splay out and her palm to rest above her heart, letting the woman feel how her heart was racing. Camila's fingers twitched and she swallowed, her throat bobbing, and she finally let herself look at Eda. At her own hand resting on the swell of Eda's breast.

"Jesus," she breathed.

Tentative, her hand lowered until she was palming Eda's boob and Eda's nipple puckered at how Camila's hand slipped over the satin. She was breathing harder than Eda and Eda wasn't even touching her, just watching at how Camila's expression shifted as she marvelled at her hand.

Eda thrust out her chest and Camila's fingers closed around her breast. From her squeak of surprise, Eda didn't think that Camila meant to do that. But, with that barrier broken, Camila committed to it, squeezing and kneading.

Eda sighed. That was more like it, even if Camila's touch was still awkward and uncertain. Which, well, what did Eda expect? She had chosen to sleep with a woman who, given Luz's age, might not have slept with anyone other than a self-absorbed man for fifteen years.

With Camila distracted by her exploration of Eda's boobs, Eda slid a hand up the back of Camila's shirt and searched for the clasp that was denied to her earlier. She couldn't find it, couldn't find anything other than a solid band of scratchy lace, and she scowled as Camila's low laugh made heat bloom in her stomach.

"It opens in the front," Camila said.

"I gathered that." Eda let her hand slide out from under Camila's shirt as Camila stepped away. "Why did you stop me from realising that downstairs?"

"Because I wanted you up here and you weren't going to let up on attacking my mouth unless I gave you something else to focus on." Camila pulled her shirt off over her head and her bravery ended as soon as the garment hit the floor.

Eda didn't let Camila shy away. She ran a gentle hand down Camila's chest, starting from the hollow of her throat, and dipping between her breasts, which spilled out over the slightly too small bra. It only made her more appealing and the depth of the black and the scratchiness of the lace implied that she rarely wore this bra. That she had put it on specifically because she wanted Eda to see it.

That she had planned this, and wanted it despite how she flushed and shifted on her feet, unable to meet Eda's eyes.

"Beautiful," Eda breathed and she popped the latch open.

The tight lace left livid red marks on Camila's skin and Eda rubbed soothingly at one with her thumb before she pushed Camila's bra off over her shoulders. Then she bent down and took a hard nipple into her mouth. Her eyes fluttered shut and she groaned, deep in her throat. It was fucking heavenly to have a woman's boob in her mouth and Camila's were superb. As wonderful as she knew they would be from the moment she laid eyes on her, her shirt made sheer from soapy water.

Camila gasped and her hands threaded into Eda's mass of hair as she clutched Eda to her breast.

"Jesus fucking Christ."

Eda laughed and took Camila's nipple between her teeth, not exerting any force, and waited for her reaction. Camila only pulled her closer, so she nipped a bit and smiled when Camila writhed against her.

"You're still much too dressed," Eda said around Camila's breast. Her hand rested at Camila's waist, her intent clear. "I'm practically naked and you still have your pants on."

Camila huffed out a laugh. "I think we're even, given that you still have your bra and pantyhose on. You could argue that I'm more undressed since I have two articles of clothing off to your one."

"Let's make that three," Eda purred.

Camila didn't stop her as she undid her jeans and eased them down over her hips. When she stepped out of the jeans and kicked them aside, Eda finally lifted her head up from Camila's chest and eyed her. The panties matched and they bit into Camila's flesh. Eda was only being helpful by pulling them off for her.

"Oops." She smirked down at Camila, daring her to retaliate. "Looks like I got a bit carried away."

"Looks like it," Camila breathed.

She looked nervous again and Eda pressed forward to chase away her fears, nudging at her shoulder until she fell back onto the bed.

Eda licked her lips and her focus zeroed to the apex of Camila's thighs, where her movements revealed flashes of glistening folds. She wanted a taste; Camila's panties had been sodden when Eda pulled them off her.

Before Camila had fully settled against the bedspread, Eda was between her legs. She ignored how her boots caught on the soft fabric and spread Camila's thighs further.

Titan, everything about this woman was so soft. Even her eyes were soft now as she looked down at Eda. Not a trace of anger remained in them, just a small amount of nerves and a lot of eagerness.

"I want to taste you," Eda said. It was a question disguised as a statement. As much as she wanted to eat Camila out and as much as she didn't like her, Eda had no interest in doing anything with Camila that Camila didn't want.

Camila's eyes darkened behind her glasses. "I want that too."

"Good," Eda growled and lowered herself down to the wet warmth waiting for her.

Humans didn't taste much different from witches and Eda didn't stumble as she swiped the flat of her tongue along Camila's folds. Camila let out a shuddering gasp as Eda doubled down to work in earnest, her thighs coming up to trap Eda in place.

Eda didn't mind. Quite the opposite, in fact—she loved when she could make someone lose control, when she could reduce someone to a sobbing mess. Camila was already halfway there, her breathing ragged and her hands alternating between twisting in the sheets by her side and tugging on Eda's hair, urging her closer.

And Titan, was it ever hot. She was grinding into Eda's face, demanding that Eda give her more and more until she was screaming and her wetness was running down Eda's chin. Eda wanted to keep going, to drag another orgasm out of Camila, but Camila's legs had fallen open and her eyes were glazed over as she stared at the ceiling. Totally dead to the world and Eda sat up with a smirk. She remained, as ever, phenomenal with her tongue.

Panties wet to the point of uncomfortableness, she shed the rest of her clothes before crawling up to Camila. The woman was still blissed out, her muscles giving little twitches as she blinked slowly through her glasses. They were smudged and Eda carefully pulled them off Camila's face and set them aside on the bed table. She very much wanted Camila to return the favour and, if she didn't need to consider her glasses, perhaps she would be more inclined.

When Eda turned back around, Camila was staring at her, looking far less stupefied and far more hungry.

"Hey," Eda said.

Camila smiled. "You're not wearing any clothes."

"I sure ain't," Eda agreed. She fell back onto the bed beside Camila and stretched out, arching her back dramatically and thrusting her chest into the air.

Camila reached out a slow hand and placed it on Eda's chest. Her fingers were warm as she plucked at Eda's nipple and Eda could help but let out an involuntary purr. Camila had such nice hands, steady and sure, even as she looked askance at Eda.

"Witches can purr?"

Eda didn't think that Camila was even aware of what she was asking—she looked too out of it still to hold a conversation. Still, she answered. "Some of us. Not all of us."

Very few, really, considering that it was another side effect of her curse. That wasn't something worth explaining when a woman had her hand on her boobs, though.

"It's cute," Camila said. Eda couldn't help but screw up her face. "What? You don't like being cute?"

"I'm practically fifty; I'm too old to be cute."

"Practically fifty?" Camila's hand stilled and she blinked at her in that wide, dumbstruck way people had when they were confronted by Eda's age.

Eda rolled her eyes. "Despite what you may have guessed, I'm forty-seven, not fifty-seven."

"Same as Luis," Camila said absently.

Her focus was back on how Eda's boobs squished beneath her fingers, not that Eda could blame her for that. Her own fingers were itching to play with Camila's body, but she didn't want to distract her from her task, even if she was annoyed that Camila had compared her to her husband. She didn't want to hear about any way that they might be similar.

"I'm prettier, though."

Camila laughed and her eyes sparkled. "That you are."

She leaned over and kissed Eda, sliding her tongue into Eda's mouth and letting out a shocked little noise when she tasted herself on Eda's tongue. Eda laughed into the kiss—she had probably just been going for another titillating exploration of Eda's teeth.

Camila pulled away. "That didn't taste as weird as I always thought."

Eda blinked at her. "Haven't you ever kissed someone after they went down on you before?"

"No, I never—" Camila cut herself off as she flushed. "I guess not?"

"That's a shame," Eda said. "It's kinda hot tasting yourself on someone else."

"Is it?" Camila's brow furrowed and she bent back down for another kiss, her tongue demanding access that Eda was all too willing to give.

"See?" Eda said as Camila pulled away. "It's hot, knowing that you made such a mess on someone else and that they liked it."

"You really did like it." A statement, not a question. A pink tongue flickered past Camila's swollen lips and wetted them.

"I did," Eda said. She canted her hips, just enough to draw Camila's eye down to visibly damp close cropped curls. "You should see if you like it. See how a witch tastes."

Camila's mouth opened and closed.

"Okay," she said, her voice small.

Eda closed her eyes and stretched out. "No rush, though. You can keep playing with my boobs if you like."

She wasn't being polite. The low hum of arousal in her body was pleasant and Eda was never in a rush. She loved to spend long, lazy days in bed, not that she'd been able to for years between her string of casual partners and Raine's overloaded schedule.

Camila's hand moved from one of Eda's boobs to the other and Eda hummed. That was nice. That boob was beginning to feel neglected.

Her eyes shot open as a hot mouth enveloped her breast and she blinked down at Camila. Her eyes were closed and a smile curved her lips, so engrossed that her hand had paused on Eda's other boob and Eda eased herself back onto a pillow.

Camila didn't stay at Eda's breasts for long, which was good since, despite her words, the heat between Eda's thighs was beginning to grow demanding. She parted them at Camila's light touch and watched as Camila hesitantly dipped between Eda's folds.

"Oh," Camila breathed.

Eda laughed. "I think that's my line."

Camila's hand was unsure and hesitant as she explored Eda's centre, missing Eda's clit entirely, though Eda couldn't tell if it was by accident or design. Her fingers circled Eda's entrance, the tips dipping in and skittering back out.

"Can I?" Camila asked.

"Yeah, of course. Whatever you want." She was too nervous for Eda to fear her wanting to do anything outlandish and, when it came right down to it, Eda was pretty open to almost anything.

Her words didn't have the desired effect. If anything, Camila looked more nervous, but she didn't let that stop her from sliding in first one finger and then another. She stroked inside of Eda and Eda sighed, partially in pleasure but largely in frustration. She liked a firmer touch than Camila was giving and she bucked her hips in a silent entreaty. It took a few more rolls, but Camila got the message and started thrusting into Eda with greater force.

"Yeah," Eda breathed. "Like that."

She would never be able to come from just that, not with how Camila only incidentally bumped up against her clit, but Titan it felt nice to have Camila's fingers stretching inside of her. It was nice just watching the look on Camila's face as she watched her own fingers disappear inside Eda's body. She was looking at Eda practically in wonderment and Eda would never turn down being admired.

She did still want to come, though. She placed a hand on Camila's wrist, stilling her movements.

"Didn't you say that you wanted to see how I taste?"

Camila turned bright red and she stared up at Eda from where she was crouched between Eda's thighs. Embarrassed, despite the two fingers she still had inside of Eda, who clenched down on them playfully. "Y-yes?"

"You should, then. I'm plenty wet enough."

Eda eased Camila's fingers out of her body and a wicked smiled curved across her lips. She didn't let go of Camila's hand as she sat up. Instead, she lifted their hands to Camila's lips and placed Camila's wet fingers there. Camila's lips parted as she breathed heavily, her eyes wild.

"Go on." Eda felt her voice rumble out from deep within her chest. "Have a taste."

A pink tongue darted out and lapped at her own fingers. Eda bit her lip as her core clenched on nothing and grew even wetter.

"Fuck," Eda breathed.

Emboldened, Camila slid both of her fingers into her mouth and her cheeks hollowed as she sucked them clean. Her eyes never left Eda's, a challenge in their dark depths.

As soon as Camila's fingers popped out of her mouth, Eda surged forward to capture her lips in a kiss. Her tongue forced its way into Camila's mouth and she searched out any hint of her own taste.

She pulled away with a groan and Camila stared at her, stunned.

"I hope you liked the taste because I really want you to get it straight from the source right about now." Eda fell back onto the bed and spread her legs, lifting her hips up to Camila. "Please."

Camila licked her lips once, then once again.

"Since you asked so nicely." Her voice was a hoarse, throaty rumble.

When she fell on Eda, it was with more eagerness than finesse. Much more eagerness than finesse—she was sloppy and rushed and her blunt human teeth scraped at Eda's clit, startling a loud moan out of Eda. Camila paused for a moment, then tried that again.

"Yes, there!" Eda gasped. "But less teeth. I know they're not sharp, but once you've been accidentally bit a few times, you get a little gun shy."

"Okay." Camila's lips sealed over Eda's clit and she sucked experimentally.

"Good, good good good." She was babbling, but she didn't care. She was too close to coming to give a shit about anything other than her own pleasure. She didn't want Camila to fuck it up for her with a moment of insecurity.

When she came, it was with a sigh, not a shout, but, hey, an orgasm was an orgasm. She slumped back against the bed and her lips curled up into a small smile as she felt Camila settle onto the mattress beside her, not quite touching. She had had much worse than this for first time sex with a new partner. Camila wasn't bad at all for someone who probably hadn't had sex with anyone other than her husband in twenty years.

Even though she had quit over a decade prior, she could really go for a cigarette right now. Camila didn't strike her as the smoking type and her husband probably only smoked cigars, which would not scratch the itch. Still, she rolled her head to face Camila.

"Hey, by any chance do you have—"

She stopped, cutting herself off with a frown. Camila was curled into herself, her back towards Eda, and her shoulders were shaking.

"Camila?" Eda placed a tentative hand on the woman's shoulder blade. "Are you okay?"

A sob wrenched out of Camila's body, her entire body heaving under its weight, and Camila rolled over and hid her face in Eda's chest, her arms clinging tight to Eda's sweat-slick body.

Oh.

Fuck.

Chapter Text

"Camila?" Eda patted her back, feeling stiff and awkward. She didn't know what to do with a crying woman, let alone one who just had her face between her thighs.

Camila clung tighter to Eda and turned so her face was completely hidden from Eda's view. From how the woman was clinging to her, Eda didn't think she did anything to upset Camila, but logic didn't stop fear from coiling in her gut. Had she pushed Camila into something she hadn't wanted? Eda knew she was demanding and had a tendency to bully people into getting her way, but she didn't do that with sex.

But she had been pretty forceful with Camila. Maybe her anger had clouded her judgement and spilled out into the sex, tricking her into thinking that Camila was a willing participant when she was anything but.

"Are you okay?" Eda's voice trembled and she coughed to clear it. "Did I overstep any boundaries?"

Camila's head shot up. "God no!"

Her eyes were red rimmed and she looked so terrified. Eda brushed a thumb under Camila's eye and Camila leaned into Eda's touch.

Eda's heart rate eased. "Are you sure?"

"It's not you," Camila said, but she looked down and away, tucking her face back into Eda's boobs. "It's just that I think I'm a lesbian."

"Oh," Eda said. "Shit."

"Yeah." Camila's voice was muffled.

"That's a revelation." Would any words not stupid ever leave her mouth?

"I always thought I was bicurious." Camila let out a wet laugh. "Told myself that everyone thinks women are more beautiful than men since women are socialised to take more care with their appearance."

As best as she could with half of Camila's body weight thrown across her torso, Eda shrugged. "I'm bi and I generally find women more attractive than men. Could be the same for you."

"Maybe." She sounded doubtful.

"Well, wouldn't you have figured it out the first time you slept with a woman? You still married a man; just because he sucks in bed doesn't mean all men are terrible."

Camila stilled. "You're the only woman I've slept with."

"What?" Eda said. "You can't be serious."

"I am!" Camila pulled herself up off Eda to glare at her. "I've been with Luis since I was fifteen!"

Eda's eyes widened. "Am I the second person you've ever had sex with?"

"Yes! What of it?" Camila's chin jutted out in challenge.

"Nothing, nothing!" Eda said. "I'm just surprised, that's all! Why, after, what, thirty years, would you decide to sleep with me of all people? You don't even like me!"

"I don't know!" Her words were harsh, but she lowered herself back down onto Eda's chest and Eda found herself with her arms around Camila a moment later. "You just get under my skin and it drives me nuts and I can't stop thinking about how mad you make me! I've caught you staring at me so many times and I just wanted you to shut up!"

Her anger coupled with the soft touch of her fingers made Eda laugh. Her own fingers were gently carding through Camila's hair, the strands slipping smooth and orderly through her fingers in a way her hair could never manage. "You're constantly on my mind, too. Titan, you piss me off."

"Why did you sleep with me, then?" Camila asked. "Obviously, I have a whole slough of issues leading to this, but what possessed you to follow me to my bed?"

Eda shrugged. "You're hot and sex is just as good as fighting."

"Thanks," Camila tried to say wryly, but her smile betrayed her.

"Also because your husband is an ass who definitely wants to fuck me, but is one of those jagweeds who would pretend that he was doing me a favour since he normally fucks twenty-year-olds."

That startled a laugh out of Camila. "I have very carefully made sure I do not know any details about the women he sees on the side. I never cared that he was cheating on me, but that seemed a shade too far."

Eda hummed and ran her fingers down Camila's back, watching her shiver under the gentle touch. Maybe she was a lesbian. Eda couldn't imagine being married to Camila and wanting to cheat on her, not with how eager she was to touch and be touched. No wonder why she was so eager and so uncertain.

"Speaking of my husband, you're going to have to leave." Camila didn't move from where she was pinning Eda to the mattress, so Eda didn't either. She didn't pause her slow stroking of Camila's back for even a second.

"I thought that since he's a doctor, he's busy and important and that he took that one Friday off as a favour for you, but it was costing him so much."

Camila laughed again. "You're so mean!"

"Isn't that why you slept with me in the first place? I'm sure there were many nice women in your past who ogled you as much as I did."

"It's not nice to leer, so no, there hasn't."

"Well, I'm glad I was able to frustrate you more than them." There was a note of finality in Eda's words that she hadn't been planning, but, once she thought about it, it was probably a good thing. Sleeping with a married woman was messy enough as it was, but a married woman going through a sexuality crisis? Perhaps that was a bit much.

"You're truly talented."

Camila sat up and Eda went with her, eyeing her carefully. The redness around her eyes had faded, though they were still puffy and the skin felt tender as Eda thoughtlessly cupped her hand on Camila's cheek. Camila leaned closer, her eyes half closed and her swollen lips parted.

Titan, Eda wanted to kiss her. It was such a bad idea to kiss her, which was perhaps why she closed the distance between them and slid her tongue past those red lips. For all her average-at-best ability at sex, Camila was a fantastic kisser. Pliant and responsive, until she found something she wanted. Like one last swipe at Eda's teeth—Eda's smile broke the kiss for them and she pulled away with one last brush of her thumb over Camila's cheekbone.

"You get off on the fact I'm not human, huh?"

Camila pushed Eda away. "Put your clothes back on and get out of my house."

To avoid Hooty's incessant curiosity, Eda had portalled directly into her bedroom. She also headed straight into the shower, feeling sticky and out of sorts, which was odd considering how little physical exertion she had done since her first shower of the day. It had only been a bout of average sex; it wasn't as if Eda had done anything strenuous. She couldn't even smell anything on her, not even a trace of Camila's perfume.

Too caught up in other, more pressing matters, she hadn't noticed in the act, but Camila had smelled so delicate. Everyone and everything in the human realm smelled delicate to Eda, but Camila especially so. Something floral, perhaps.

Eda doubted she'd ever figure it out. It wasn't as if she would ever get close enough to Camila again to pin down the scent.

She changed into a different dress after her shower, dropping the old one into the overflowing hamper in her bedroom. Since it hardly counted as worn, normally she would set it aside to wear another day and push back doing laundry, but she couldn't shake the feeling that the dress was, well, not dirty, but soiled somehow.

That wasn't a healthy mindset, which she knew. Having questionable sex with a married woman hours after her own breakup wasn't a heinous act. It was just a bad decision.

And oh boy, was it ever a bad decision. Eda's head was reeling as she tried to work out all the consequences her half hour of fun would have. None of them were positive and she sunk down to sit on the edge of her nest as her own idiocy overwhelmed her.

She couldn't even blame it on the alcohol—she had been well and truly sober by the time she crossed into the human realm—and that made her long for a drink now. She craved to dull the edges of her own panic, but she knew she wouldn't stop at one mug. Luz and King would be back in a few hours and she wanted them to see that she was fine and not in the middle of a bad decision spiral.

Fuck, if she couldn't drink or couldn't get high, she wanted some outlet for this. She needed to process and, in that moment, she desperately missed Raine. She had missed them from the moment she looked them in the eyes and saw what they came to say, but now the ache in her chest was blinding in intensity.

Raine would understand. Raine always understood when Eda did something stupid. They would think this was a right laugh and maybe they would crow in Eda's face about being right about Camila for a minute, but they would let Eda talk it out, judgement free.

She had never deserved Raine. Never deserved someone that kind and soft, not for the handful of years they had together when they were young and certainly not for the few months Eda had clung to them when they were old. They always saw the bigger picture while Eda was blinded by the here and now, rushing in head first into bad decision after bad decision.

Like fucking her protégé's married mother.

Titan.

How was she going to keep this from Luz? The kid would be full of questions about how Eda's meeting with Camila went and neither of them had even thought to get their story straight before Eda left.

She got up and paced the length of her rug.

She still had the portal key. Should she go back and talk to Camila? By now, she had to have figured out what Eda had, but that didn't mean she wanted to see her. She had probably also realised her own idiocy in dragging Eda up to her bed and she had so much more to lose than Eda did. They had parted on reasonably good terms; Eda risked a fight if she headed back now.

She pushed aside the thought that she had craved that fight hours prior.

She'd keep it vague. Talk a lot, say little. Luz expected her to be 'mysterious', whatever the fuck she meant by that, so she wouldn't be surprised by Eda being taciturn. Make her think that everything is okay, that her relationship with Camila was completely unchanged.

Which was true. It was still unchanged, even if they had fucked. It wasn't as if Eda liked her, or if she liked Eda. Hell, she probably hated Eda even more, which Eda was completely fine with.

Step one of appearing to be fine would be to wait for King and Luz in the living room. Not openly, of course, she never waited for them openly, just lingered on her couch and read a book until they came home. She'd done it often enough that they would be concerned if she was hiding up in her room.

She took the first book she saw with her downstairs and found King instead, sitting in the middle of the couch with a book half his size in his lap.

"Oh," she said, dumbly, and King looked up at her, sympathy in his eyes. She tried to smile gamely as she flopped onto the couch, but her words rang hollow to her own ears. "How long have you been here for? I would have come down earlier if I had known you ditched Luz."

"Your act doesn't fool me, owl lady."

"What act?" Despite her words, Eda sat up and faced the titan properly.

"What happened? Why were you wasted by eight am? I thought I heard Raine come in last night, and they usually put you in an okay mood."

"Just okay?"

King shrugged. "I know you love them and all that mushy junk but, yeah, just okay. You're happy when they're here and you mope around for hours after they leave. You're not usually sad enough to start binge drinking at sunrise, though."

His eyes were soft, like he already knew what had happened and just wanted Eda to confirm it. She looked away from him and plucked at a rip on the couch, expanding it until the stuffing started to poke through.

"I guess it was like that."

"Eda." His voice was so gentle and the cushion dipped almost imperceptibly beneath his weight as he hopped across the divide.

She tugged at the stuffing, then tried to squash it back into the couch as the rip grew larger. "They broke up with me. Again."

He rested his warm little body against her, his head heavy against her ribs and two fists balled into her dress as he hugged her the best he could. "I'm sorry, Eda."

"It is what it is," she said with a sigh.

She wanted desperately to pull him into her lap, but school was out for the day and it wouldn't be long until Luz stopped by to pick up the portal key. Instead, she gave him a quick squeeze before urging him back to his book. Gamely, he obliged her, but he did little more than let the book sit open on his lap as he stared at her.

The book Eda had taken with her turned out to be a dry treatise on the origins of magic that predated Belos' rule and definitely should have been destroyed by his decree. Eda would never admit it to anyone, but the fact that the Bonesborough library opened its vault up to the general public made all the shit she went through with Belos worth it. She could, and had, snuck into the depths of the library many times in the past, but Eda was far from opposed to being able to walk up to the front counter and just ask for someone to fetch books for her.

It was much too dense of a read for her whirling thoughts, but she kept the book open even as she read the same paragraph over and over again. Luz wouldn't linger long on campus. Eda knew from experience how awkward it was to steal kisses when Bump was watching. Not nearly as awkward as when King was watching, but the little shit did not yet understand the appeal of romance and he made it very well known to everyone in his vicinity.

If he'd ever see the appeal. When they were kids, Lily hadn't either. As far as Eda could tell, she still didn't, which didn't help Eda's current predicament. She assumed that Lilith's ban on any discussion of what Eda got up to with Raine was still on the table, which left Eda with a big fat zero options for adults to talk to about—ugh, she hated even thinking about it in this sense—her relationship drama.

Forty-seven with no friends other than the son who had adopted her, her teenage protégé, her house, her sister and her ex-twice-over. What a shining beacon of a well-adjusted adult.

No wonder Camila kept giving her those disdainful looks. Even if her marriage was a sham, she still had one—and a career and a kid who called her mom and probably oodles of friends who were giving her a pep talk about leaving her husband or how to reconcile her marriage right now.

Better than Eda, who just had a musty book written by a witch whose bones would have rotted away to dirt by now, and the son she had no intention of explaining any of this to. And Hooty, who was slithering in along the floor from the back of the house.

"Eda?" He lifted himself up to eye level on the other side of the coffee table. "Luz is five minutes out."

Eda gave him a weak smile. "Thanks Hooty." She held out her hand and he nuzzled into it, though the furrow never left his brow. "You're a good house demon, you know that, right?"

"I know, but it's nice to hear it sometimes." He was matter-of-fact, not a hint of condemnation or dramatics in his features, and he retracted out of the living room.

With a sigh, Eda redoubled her focus on her book. She needed to centre herself before she sent Luz into a flurry of worry. Again.

Obviously for Eda's benefit, Hooty was overly loud when he greeted Luz, enunciating her name at the top of his lungs. Eda winced—that wasn't obvious at all—before stretching out on the couch, sneaking her legs between King's body and the back of the couch. She crossed one leg over the other in a pantomime of relaxation and propped her book open on her stomach.

She still hadn't figured out what the paragraph was trying to say, but that was fine. Luz was here to distract them now.

Luz was visibly surprised to see her fully dressed and sober in the living room. Eda didn't even have to look up from her book for more than the briefest of seconds to see that—Hooty had let her whispering carry into the living room as she had a last minute debate over what to do if she found Eda still drunk or passed out on the kitchen table.

"How was Hexside?" Eda turned a page. "Learn anything interesting?"

"It was good?" Luz's voice rose, turning the statement into a question. There was the thump and click of bone on hardwood as King slid from the couch and padded over to Luz.

"We were right." Eda didn't need the owl beast's ears to hear the words King whispered in Luz's ear. At least the gossip over her love life would come to an end now that she didn't have one.

Luz's sigh was deep and mournful and Eda dogmatically stared at the words swimming in her book. "Operation distraction is a go, then."

"She'll certainly be distracted." Disdain dripped from King's mouth. "It's not as bad as it could be, she had a shower."

That was a shade too far. Eda looked at him over the edge of her book, lifting her eyebrows so they arched and accentuated their careful sculpting. "It's a rare day where I don't shower."

"Are you okay?" Luz asked.

"Totally fine."

"Are you sure?" Luz sat down on the coffee table and King slid down to sit beside her.

Eda set the book aside. "Do I look not okay?"

"No, you look great. You always look great." Luz frowned. "But this morning you, uh."

Eda shrugged. "I overindulged a little, that's all."

King scoffed, but stayed silent, letting Luz ask the questions. "Did you go see my mom?"

"Yup." She popped the P and reached a hand into her hair. "Your portal key."

"How did it go?"

"It went."

"Did you two make up?"

"Something like that," Eda said, entirely truthful. They had also made out, a fact that she would never, ever tell Luz.

Luz could smell the misdirection and her eyes narrowed. "Did you fight?"

Eda just smiled.

"Eda! Please tell me you didn't lay hands on my mom!"

Eda choked, and it took her a minute to clear her throat. All while Luz glared at her, growing more and more visibly upset.

"I don't make a habit of getting into fistfights with humans," Eda finally said. "I have an unfair advantage."

"I can't help but notice that you're not denying it."

"Luz, I swear to you, I did not raise a hand against your mother in violence."

King narrowed his eyes at that, but Luz didn't seem to sense that half truth. "Well, are you going to give me any specifics? What did you two talk about?"

"That seems like a betrayal of your mother's confidence."

Luz stood up, portal key in hand. "You're not going to tell me anything, are you?"

"I sure ain't." Eda eyed the key. "Leaving so soon?"

"I promised my mom I would go grocery shopping with her." Her smile turned crafty—and unsubtle. "She was thinking about making a big supper on Saturday. You should come, my mom's cooking is amazing."

"That's your idea of a distraction."

"She said it would be killing two birds with one stone." King shrugged, not quite in apology.

"Sounds accurate." Eda's nose wrinkled. She'd be one of those birds and the stone would be Camila.

Luz beamed at her. "I knew you would agree! I'll come by tomorrow and pick you both up."

"Hey, I didn't agree to shit." Eda flipped the page. "I think I'll stay here, thank you very much."

"No, you really should come." From the corner of her eye, she watched as Luz leaned forward and stared at King meaningfully. "Don't you agree, King?"

"Oh, yes, absolutely." He didn't attempt to inject an ounce of enthusiasm in his voice. Not until his next words. "But can I go? Luz promised tamales."

Despite herself, Eda's stomach grumbled. Her mouth watered too—but she hadn't yet eaten anything except pussy, so that was to be expected.

"I'll take your stomach as an agreement that you'll both come."

Titan, she was so fucking enthusiastic. "Fine, whatever." Eda sunk deeper into the couch. Even the thought of continuing this argument was exhausting.

"Really?"

"You don't have to sound so surprised, kid. I've had a lot on my plate lately. At least this way I won't have to cook tomorrow."

"I, no, this is great!" Luz dragged her eyes along the length of Eda's body, still sprawled out on the couch, and the book resting face down on her stomach. "You look like you could use a break."

"Whatever, just go home if you're going to judge."

"I'll see you both tomorrow." Luz bent down and pressed a kiss to King's skull. Eda watched as his tail wagged involuntarily—he was so transparent with his affections. Luz didn't give Eda a kiss on her forehead as well, but she did bend down to give her a sort of half hug, which Eda returned. She had to restrain herself from sitting up and giving the girl a proper hug, but from how Luz's worried look had returned as she pulled away, Eda might have clung to her a bit too firmly as it was. "I'll stop by around five, so be ready."

"Yeah, yeah." Fuck, she was going to have to bring something, wasn't she? Something that was digestible by humans and not too weird. "Go on already."

King waited until the portal folded shut behind Luz before turning around and placing a bony hand on her knee. "You really don't have to go, you know. I can make an excuse for you."

She swallowed. She had hoped for longer than twenty-four hours to settle out the mass of emotions roiling in her stomach before she saw Camila again. "It will be fine. I'll be fine."

He hoisted himself up into her lap and turned in a circle before settling down, his skull pressed comfortingly into her stomach. "You don't have to be. You don't have to put on a brave face with me."

Tears were welling in Eda's eyes and she dashed them aside before burying her fingers into King's plush fur. "Thanks, King."

Eda's nest smelled faintly of Raine's shampoo. She curled into a ball and tried to muffle her sobs until she fell into an uneasy sleep, exhausted. It was late Saturday afternoon when she woke, tired still from the maybe three hours of sleep she got yesterday before Raine had woken her. Barely more than twenty-four hours ago, and somehow she had found the time to go out and fuck someone else.

What a sack of shit Eda was. She had even spent most of yesterday fretting about what she would do if Luz found out she had fucked her mom instead of being upset about the far more pressing concern. Eda didn't subscribe to that whole love of your life bullshit, or any romantic nonsense for that matter. But she would be a dirty, filthy liar if she denied that, when Raine had kissed her after waking and finding Eda alive, albeit down an arm, she had thought that that was it for her. She had really, truly thought in that moment, with Raine's lips on hers and their tears mingling, that she would be with them forever.

Raine hadn't thought that, obviously. Raine had probably taken one look at Eda's besotted face when they parted, panicked, and kept up the facade of interest until they could let Eda down easy.

Well, they fucking failed at that. It hurt more now than it had twenty years ago and that time the owl beast had taken over and nearly savaged Raine in its rage. Eda could still feel it shivering beneath her skin, its hurt and anger as keenly felt as Eda's own. Anger that Raine had hurt Eda again which, in its own weird way, was comforting. It was nice to feel the owl beast to be on her side for once, someone to work with instead of against.

Eda rubbed at her chest and took deep breaths, willing the feathers to recede and for her shoulder blades to stop itching with the wings waiting to burst free. She had just finished brushing out her hair and finding the last dress in her closet that wasn't littered with downy feathers. She didn't want to repeat the whole process, even if she ached to catch an updraft and soar on the thermals.

"We'll go flying once we do this whole 'family' supper bullshit," Eda murmured. She focused on warm thoughts, the feeling of the sun against her outstretched wings, and sent them to the owl beast until it started to purr. Not in contentment, but in acceptance of Eda's promise.

"Eda?" King was yelling, but his voice was faint, coming from a lower floor. He didn't sound upset, but Eda was crossing the floor of her bedroom in long strides before she even realised she had gotten to her feet. His voice was clearer with her door open and her heart rate slowed as she heard the note of whininess. "Eda!"

"Up here!"

She leaned against the door frame and waited, watching down the hall to see King barrel around the corner and scamper towards her. "Tie this for me!"

Knees creaking, Eda knelt down before him and took the two ends of the tie between her hands.

"Is this a fancy family supper?" She couldn't quite keep her voice from hitting the word family with an extra dosing of derision.

"I want to look my best for Camila." He stood perfectly still as Eda tied a practiced knot. "You should too."

Eda looked down at herself, then back at King. "What's wrong with what I've got on now?"

"Your dress has holes in it."

"It's supposed to have holes in it! It's fashionable!"

"It's shabby!"

Eda stood up slowly and cast a long glance around her room, with the deep gouges in the wood she hadn't bothered to fix when she still had magic, the cracked mirror and the worn furniture. Everything she owned was shabby and, when she looked back at King, he shifted in embarrassment.

Eda's lips tightened.

"Okay." Her voice came out too quiet and she cleared her throat. "Why don't you pick out something for me to wear?"

King was across her room in a flash, moving far faster than seemed possible with his tiny little legs. "You're going to look great!"

"I reserve veto rights!"

There were no surprises in the outfit King selected for Eda. He dragged out her entire chaperoning minors but still wanting to look foxy in case of other foxy adults being in attendance outfit, complete with the bow tie. Eda took the clothes from his hands before he tripped over it and tossed the tie and the jacket into her nest.

"I'm not wearing those." She turned the shirt and pants over in her hands, looking for stray feathers. She sniffed it once she plucked it clean and shrugged. A bit dusty, but she leaned out her window and shook them out. "These have promise, though."

She winked at King and bit back a smile as his tail wagged. He waited patiently, at least as patiently as King ever managed, as Eda ducked behind her partition to change.

"Not bad." She stepped in front of her mirror and turned around to see how the pants hugged her ass without the fall of the jacket to cover it. "Good thinking, King."

He preened, though he covered it with annoyance. "It would look better with the jacket."

"Way too formal." This was still too formal, buttoned all the way up like that. She rolled up her sleeves, then undid all the buttons until her gem was on full display, then went one further. The shirt cast shadows along her cleavage, drawing the eye, and she couldn't help but smirk. She couldn't wait to see Camila's reaction. "I think this is better."

"You made it look casual!" King said.

"Well, yeah. This isn't a dinner party, just a little get together. It's not a formal thing."

"Oh." King held his tie in his hands and looked down at it. "Should I take this off, then?"

"No way! You look very dashing—I'm sure Camila will love it." At least, she knew Luz would coo over it and the girl would be very upset if she learned that Eda had deprived her of the sight of King in a tie.

"I hope she does." He patted the tie back into place. "Let's go downstairs and wait for Luz!"

King didn't wait for Eda to reply before darting out of the room. He didn't need to—he knew that she would follow as she always did, half a step behind and feigning indifference.

And she did. It was better than sitting upstairs and being morose alone.

Chapter Text

Luz was delighted by King's tie and she gave an appreciative wolf whistle at Eda's outfit. "Who are you guys trying to impress? It's just me and my mom!"

Eda grunted. "Well, I wanted to wear a dress, but someone felt like being fancy." She changed tack before King could protest. "I thought your dad was supposed to be there too?"

"He had to work." Luz shrugged. She was trying much too hard to be nonchalant, and Eda watched her closely. "Some weekend conference on surgery techniques. He left on Friday morning."

Philandering again. Eda doubted that there was any such conference and she felt a surge of anger coupled with smug delight swell up in her. At least Camila got to have a bit of fun on Friday. Which Luz absolutely was not going to know about, so Eda would have to keep her eyes to herself. No ogling Camila, no matter how nicely her chest filled out her shirt. Or how perfectly round her ass was, begging to be squeezed.

Fuck, she wasn't supposed to be looking at either, even without Luz's presence. That was a one and done encounter—she was not making that mistake ever again.

King had been speaking while Eda had lapsed out of the conversation and she struggled to look engaged and focused.

"Are you guys ready to go?" Luz asked.

Eda pulled her bottle of apple blood half out of her hair, the condensation slick on her hands. "Yup."

"Eda, you're not sneaking in alcohol."

"I'm not sneaking it." Eda tucked the bottle away. "It's a gift for your mom."

"Uh, okay," Luz said. "She's not much of a drinker, though."

Eda shrugged. All the more reason to bring her own booze.

Luz had kept the portal open and, in two steps, Eda had left her house and arrived at Camila's. It was a strange transition, walking from her dark wood and peeling walls lit by candlelight and magic to the soft green walls with pale trim lit with that sterile human lighting. Everything was in its place, gleaming in show home readiness, and perfectly neutral.

Eda took off her boots before she stepped into properly into the house and found that she missed them dearly, even though she still towered above everyone in stockings. Camila hadn't complained about Eda walking through her house in boots yesterday, but she wasn't willing to push it today. Not when she had no idea what was waiting for her.

Neither Luz nor King noticed her discomfort. They hadn't had any shoes to remove and had went straight for the kitchen, leaving Eda behind. Which was good, it gave her a moment to centre herself, to breathe through how her heart had started to race when she heard Camila's voice from the back of the house.

Love suffused Camila's words and, for a second before she was able to squash it, Eda wished that Camila would sound that soft when she spoke to her.

It didn't mean anything. She was missing Raine and how they would give her a small smile whenever Eda did something they found endearing.

Before her absence became noteworthy, Eda stepped into the small kitchen and tucked herself into an out of the way corner. Something was simmering on the stove and Camila was bent over as she pulled a dish out of the oven. Eda swallowed, thankful that the island blocked most of her view of Camila's body.

She was off to a great start.

Camila met Eda's eyes as she placed the dish on the island. She smiled, small and strained. "Hello, Eda."

Eda's face felt as tense as Camila's and, to give her hands something to do, she pulled the bottle of apple blood out of her hair. "Camila."

Keeping the island between them, Eda placed the bottle on the counter. At Camila's perplexed look, she pushed it forward until Camila could reach, albeit with effort. Her shirt pulled tight over her breasts as she leaned across the island. Eda bit back a curse as her eyes zeroed in for a brief moment before looking away, focusing on the fridge behind Camila. There was a note pinned to the surface, but she couldn't read it from here.

"Apple blood?"

"It's like human wine." Eda kept studying the note. "But not. More like hard liquor, but also not."

"Interesting." Camila placed the bottle back on the counter and turned to the stove. "I'd offer to pour you a glass, but I'm a bit tied up."

"That's alright." Eda inclined her chin at Luz, and the girl pulled two mugs out of the cupboard. Eda held back an eye roll, but she had only herself to blame. In the demon realm, it was just as uncouth to drink apple blood from a mug as it was to drink wine from one in the human realm. Maybe Camila would brush it off as Luz being silly, but she doubted it. Not with how Camila had already caught her day drinking from a mug.

Whatever. Eda wasn't going to start apologising for who she was now.

With her long reach, she was able to snag the bottle from where Camila had set it just as Camila turned around from the stove. Her dark eyes went wide from behind her glasses, but she made no move to help Eda.

Of course she wouldn't. That would be showing kindness to Eda, something she would rather die than do.

Eda popped out the cork with a practised twist of her hand. "You wanna mug?"

"I guess?" Camila's voice was hoarse and her throat bobbed as she wet her mouth. "I can't say I've tried demon realm alcohol before."

Eda only filled one of the mugs halfway and she slid it across the island. Not out of politeness, but out of practicality. It would be a waste of perfectly good apple blood if Camila didn't like it. It wasn't as if Eda was averse to finishing off Camila's mug for her—she already had her tongue down the woman's throat and up her cunt, what was a little backwash?—but Luz might find that odd.

The fact that Camila had to stretch to reach the mug was an innocent mistake on Eda's part. She had misjudged the other woman's reach, that was all. Eda could have sworn that the woman lingered, half stretched across the island, longer than she needed, her eyes on Eda's in an unspoken challenge.

Eda took a bracing sip from her mug. Camila mirrored her and Eda let herself watch as she rolled the drink around on her tongue. No one could fault her for watching a human's reaction to a demon realm drink, right?

Camila swallowed and Eda's mouth felt dry.

"It's interesting." Camila took another sip, which she drank faster. "It's got a kick to it, but you're right. It's like wine or liquor, but not."

Luz slapped both her hands onto the island and Eda turned to her. The girl was obviously confused and covering it how she always did, with brash confidence. "So when am I allowed to try it?"

"When you're twenty-one," Camila said.

At the same time, Eda spoke, "You mean you haven't snuck some already?"

Eda raised both of her eyebrows, not at Camila's words, and she ignored how the woman was glaring at her. When she was Luz's age, she had been pilfering entire bottles of booze from her parents for years and sneaking them into the grudgby afterparties.

It was possible that she had been overcompensating for being the youngest witch on the team by three years, but she had been the coolest fucking twelve-year-old in the school. Lilith had disagreed, but Lilith had always disapproved of everything fun Eda did.

The fact that their parents blamed Lilith for the theft of the alcohol wouldn't have had anything to do with Lilith's annoyance.

"You better not have snuck some already," Camila said.

"No mama!" Luz turned her wide eyes on Camila. "I haven't, I swear!"

"Good, you are much too young for alcohol." Camila took a long sip of her drink. "Though I have to admit, twenty-one is an arbitrary age, and it wasn't as if I abstained until then—or even until I was legal back home."

That startled a bark of laughter out of Eda and Camila met her eyes, her eyebrows twitching as she hid a smile behind her mug.

"So when will you let me drink?"

"When you're eighteen."

"I don't even know why you want to drink," King said. "It just makes you stupid and useless."

He was looking Eda dead in the eye as he said it, and Eda glared at him, wishing she could tell the little shit to zip it.

Camila laughed, though. "I'll let you in on a secret—sometimes, that's why it's fun. It's hard for some people to let themselves be silly as they grow older and alcohol can help with that. That's also why you two don't need any; you're both plenty silly enough without it."

"I'm not silly! I'm frightening!" Even as he puffed himself up, King looked pleased.

But now Luz was giving Eda a long look and Eda bit back a groan. This wasn't the direction she expected her evening to go—it wasn't her drinking that was supposed to come under scrutiny. She would have to limit herself to just one mug—or maybe two, she could handle two, she hadn't had anything to drink or smoke all day—lest Camila catch on to why King had said what he said.

"Very frightening," Camila agreed. "Would you like to help frighten Luz into finishing setting the table?"

"Would I?" King turned to Luz with obvious glee. "You! Human! Set the table!"

Even with Camila matching Eda drink for drink, half the bottle was left by the time Luz and Camila were gathering up the dishes. Eda had made an abortive, half-hearted movement to help, but Camila waved her off with a sluggish hand. There was a rosy glow to Camila's cheeks and her eyes were a bit hazy, but Eda didn't feel the slightest bit tipsy. A little warm, maybe, but the kitchen was small and the table even smaller. Eda had spent the entire meal knocking elbows with Luz and King and it hadn't all been intentional.

She slipped out of the kitchen when no one was watching and she moved silently through the dark house. There was just too many people for the owl beast to cope with and no escape routes that it could see—Eda could feel feathers itching to burst out of her skin and the desire to rip and claw her way outside through the very walls was almost overwhelming.

Even though the sound of voices grated the owl beast, it was calmer in the dark and Eda struggled to control her breathing. She didn't know why she was so on edge—Camila hadn't so much as made a single snarky comment to her all evening. She hadn't made a kind one either, but neutrality was more than Eda could have hoped for.

For the first time in months, Eda downed an elixir midday. The taste mingled with the faint traces of apple blood still in her mouth and she shuddered. Nasty fucking shit.

She stayed tucked away in the dark even after the owl beast settled down inside of her and she swirled the bottle in her hands. The dregs of golden liquid caught the distant motes of light and shimmered. Was the curse worsening already? Had Lily only given her a few months of reprieve? Or was it just the stress of the last few days building up?

Titan, she hoped it was the latter. She could control that. She could get over Raine and never touch Camila again and her life would go back to its normal carefree drifting. It would be even more relaxing now that there wasn't an evil overlord out to make her life miserable.

"There you are."

Eda looked up at Camila's voice, familiar with its hard edge. She tucked the flask away into her hair and pushed herself up off the wall, never looking away from the woman at the other end of the hall.

"Here I am."

She couldn't make out Camila's expression, not with how the light from the kitchen haloed around her, but Eda could read her body language well enough. The woman was tense and her gait stiff as she walked towards Eda.

"We need to talk." Even speaking in a low register didn't make her voice soft, not like how it was when she talked to Luz or King.

Eda compressed her lips. "We should get our stories straight, yeah. What did you tell Luz we talked about?"

"I told her it was none of her business and she should stop agonising over our relationship. Lack of relationship."

"Same," Eda said even though Camila hadn't asked. "We good?"

Camila stepped in front of her as Eda tried to walk past. Eda stopped short, close enough to Camila that if either woman breathed too hard, they would touch.

"That wasn't what I wanted to talk about," Camila hissed.

"What, then? What else do we even have to talk about?"

"Yesterday!"

The deep flush on her face made her intention clear and Eda gripped Camila's bicep in warning. She dipped her head to growl quietly, her nose inches away from Camila's. "Keep your voice down."

Shivering, Camila ripped her arm from Eda's grasp and backed away. "Stop playing stupid, then."

"I'm not." Eda stepped forward, purely in interest of keeping her voice low and making sure Camila heard every word. "We fucked, once, what is there even to talk about?"

"It never happened." Camila was shaking. "We never had sex."

Eda laughed before she could stop herself, sharp and disbelieving. She waited until she heard King and Luz's conversation continue unabated before speaking. "You can't make something un-happen. We fucked, it was a one and done thing, move on. It didn't mean anything."

"It didn't happen because it couldn't have happened. I'm straight!"

Eda raised both eyebrows and she looked down at Camila. "Honey, not one straight woman in the history of either of our worlds ever ate pussy with that much enthusiasm."

Camila stepped forward to push at Eda, but this time Eda didn't let Camila move her. She stood there, not even rocking back, as Camila strained against her. "Don't ever imply that I'm... like that ever again."

"Like what?" Eda's lips curled into a snarl, baring teeth she could feel elongating as her agitation rose the owl beast from its slumber.

All her senses heightened, Camila's scent coming into sharp relief, soft and intoxicating and confusing the owl beast. Camila was breathing hard, her chest heaving and her cheeks red with anger. It was so like the way she flushed when she came and her expression wasn't even hard as she glared up at Eda. She looked more like she was pleading, and Eda curled one hand around Camila's waist to rest at the small of her back.

Camila's lips parted, but Eda didn't get to know what bit of bullshit she was going to spew next.

"Mom? Eda?"

Eda took her hand off Camila as if the metaphorical burn of Camila's skin through her thin t-shirt was very literal as Luz flipped the lights on. They were standing too close to each other, and Eda knew she was as flushed as Camila.

"Are you two fighting in the dark?"

Eda let out a deep exhale at the same time as Camila and she followed it up with a glare that Camila also matched. Eda snorted and turned away.

"So what if we are, kid?" Eda pushed past Camila. "We can fight if we want to."

"I can't believe this!" Luz followed Eda back into the kitchen, where Eda scooped King out from the cupboards he had climbed into in search of snacks. He took a box of cookies with him and scrabbled to open the plastic wrap. "You two got along for all of supper, but you just had to go and ruin it?"

"That's what I do. I turn everyone's life upside down." Eda looked at Camila as she spoke. King's bony head rolled against her shoulder as he looked between Eda and Camila. Eda grimaced; the little shit was much too observant when he wasn't being shortsighted. "We should head out before we really overstay our welcome."

"King could never." Camila crossed the kitchen to rub her hand over King's head and his tail thumped against Eda's side. Camila ignored Eda entirely, despite being close enough to touch.

And, oh, Eda wanted to touch. She wanted to feel that soft skin warm under her fingers, see that flush rise on her chest properly, not hidden in the dark with their kids ten feet away.

"You won't be saying that when he polishes off that box of cookies." Entirely to keep herself from reaching out to Camila, Eda plucked the box from King's hands and set it aside. "Thank you for the meal, Camila. It was delicious."

She hadn't meant the double entendre. She hadn't even realised what she had said until Camila's eyes went dark.

"You're cutting it pretty close, Eda."

"Luz? Portal?"

Wordlessly, Luz opened the portal right in the kitchen. Her eyes were wide as she took in the sudden spike of tension and Eda darted through the portal with a wave. She did not want to be there when Luz figured out what she and Camila had done.

The portal closed behind her with a snap, leaving Eda and King alone in the dark confines of the owl house. Not silent, though. The house was never truly silent, not with Hooty's breathing and the distant screams that emanated from the forest.

"What was that about?" King asked, and Eda set him down on the coffee table. At the sound of his voice, candles burst into light.

"What was what about?"

"You and Camila were acting really weird. Your heart was pounding when she got near us and I could smell the elixir on your breath." King tapped his claws together and looked away. "Eda? Are you... okay? I know that's a stupid question. Obviously you're not okay, Raine broke up with you yesterday. But are you okay?"

"Hey." Eda kneeled down on the rug before King, bringing herself down to eye level with him. "I promise you, I'm fine. I'm a little stressed right now, but it's nothing I can't handle."

"But the curse? You haven't needed more than just your morning dose since the Collector left."

Eda laughed. "Sure I have! You just haven't seen it."

"No, you haven't." His voice was too serious. "I know how much elixir you have stashed in the house and where. You haven't touched your emergency elixir."

"Do you keep an inventory?" Eda's eyes narrowed.

"Yes," King said. "It isn't like you can be trusted to keep yourself in stock."

"I managed just fine for years." Eda kept her voice mild. "It was only when things got really bad that I started running out. Seriously King, don't worry about me. I've got everything under control."

"Do you?" King looked pointedly down at Eda's feet. "Because you forgot your boots at Camila's house."

"Aw, fuck."

Titan knew that Eda didn't mean to eavesdrop—she had less than no desire to want to eavesdrop on the saccharine bullshit that spewed out of Luz and Amity's mouths when they were alone—but Luz had left her window open and Eda was stretched out on her stomach on the grass below, her wings extended and soaking up the last rays of mostly summer sun. No matter what King said, she wasn't being lazy, she was placating the owl beast by giving it a bit of freedom and calming them both with a bit of relaxation. It was a perfectly good use of her time.

Especially since the owl beast had been unruly lately. Even with a double dose of elixir, it hadn't let Eda sleep after her fight with Camila, not until she let herself transform into a harpy and went for a long, long flight above the forest until the sun rose. She even let it hunt voles and her stomach still ached from its gluttony. Too much worrying about what Luz might know and all for nothing—the kid had just given her another lecture on Monday morning about not antagonising her mother.

Her sleep schedule was destroyed too and she had almost bargained herself into taking a nap on the grass when the sound of her own name made her ears twitch. They weren't long for intimidation; she could hear a twig snap in the forest from fifty feet away. Luz and King had measured it once, a painfully dull experience.

"—Eda to be friends so bad?"

Eda could guess at the beginning of Amity's sentence and she squeezed her eyes shut, as if that would block out the sound of their voices. She wanted to transform back, but the owl beast whined at the thought and she had to admit that she was loath to do so. There was nothing comparable to the sun on outstretched wings.

Except maybe sex.

What sex would be like if it also had the sun beating down on her wings? She should have tried that with Raine when she had the chance, but Raine was always too shy, even for something as unadventurous as having sex outdoors.

"I don't know," Luz was saying. "I just thought it would be nice. I don't think my parents have liked each other for at least ten years and I just imagined that with Eda and my mom it would be different."

"Oh, Luz." There was a rustle of cloth—Amity giving Luz a hug or resting her head on her shoulder, Eda guessed. "I'm sorry your parents are like that."

"It's fine." Luz's voice was watery and Eda covered her ears, though it did little good. She could still hear the girl's words as if she was in the same room as her. "I'm preaching to the choir, I know. At least my mom and Eda both love me, even if they don't like each other."

She couldn't listen anymore and her hard earned calm was lost. The owl beast demanded her to fly up to the window and soothe Luz's tears. Instead, Eda leapt into the air and flew over the forest as fast as her wings could take her.

"Hey, Luz!" Eda kicked the door open and ignored Hooty's screeching. "You still here? Can you give me a hand?"

"Whoa! Eda, what's that?" Luz sounded close, but it wasn't as if Eda could pinpoint her position. She had dropped the harpy form upon landing on her front step; the wings made it difficult enough to get inside, let along wings and a box she couldn't see around.

A purple glow surrounded the box in Eda's arms and Amity levitated it onto the coffee table. Luz was pulling back the flaps before Eda even cleared the doorway. Hooty was right in there too, his ire forgotten by the desire to snoop.

"Is that a manticore flank?"

"It's huge!"

"There was a sale," Eda said. "I couldn't pass it up."

"How are you going to eat all that? How are you going to cook all that?"

"Fucked if I know." Eda shrugged. "And a slow roast all day tomorrow until it's nice and tender." She paused, as if considering. "You should invite your friends over. You're right that King and I can't eat all of this, even with your help."

Luz turned her pleading eyes to Amity, who gave her a love-struck smile. "Of course I'll be there."

"You may as well bring your mom too," Eda added as Luz stood up to find the crystal ball.

Luz beamed at her, but Amity gave her that snotty look she was so fond of. She waited until Luz was out of the room before she got up and stalked across the room to Eda.

"There was no sale."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Eda crossed her arms.

"I'm not mad," Amity huffed. "I think what you're doing for Luz is sweet, even if you're going about it in a stupid way."

"Making her supper? I make her supper all the time."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're incredibly frustrating?"

Eda smiled, sharp toothed and annoying. "You'd be the first."

Teenagers were exhausting.

Eda knew that already, well before she invited six of them into her house to join her and her probably-not-teenage son. All seven of them had been to her house, together, multiple times, but Eda had coped with that with a gratuitous application of apple blood. Tonight, Eda was stone cold sober.

Well, mostly sober. She had split a bottle of apple blood with Camila, but that hardly counted.

And, Titan, were teenagers hard to deal with while sober. They were so loud, so energetic that they set the owl beast on high alert, looking for danger. Even though she had preemptively downed a double dose of elixir that morning, Eda felt liable to burst into feathers at any moment. She had taken it expecting that Camila was going to drive her up the bend, but the woman hadn't even looked at her twice.

No one had. And Eda got it, and Titan knew she wasn't complaining about not being the centre of attention for a bunch of teenagers, but it was a bit annoying to watch the kids all fawn over Camila just because she was a human. And had sheltered them while they were trapped in the human realm for a few months, but whatever.

It did make it easier for Eda to slip out, though, and she took full advantage. Even while lurking in the shadows behind her own house, the wide open sky above her and the forest a dozen feet away, the kids were loud and the owl beast antsy. She wanted a smoke, or to polish off another half bottle. There was a joint stashed in her hair, though, and that made it the obvious choice.

Camila would be unbearably judgemental if she caught Eda smoking a bit of weed instead of being a responsible adult. Eda's shoulders hunched in on herself—on some level, the self-destructive level, that only made her crave it more.

She was staring at the joint when the back door opened, spilling light and laughter into the dimly lit terrace. She palmed the joint but it was too late; Camila closed the door behind her and crossed her arms.

"I wasn't going to smoke it," Eda blurted. "It wasn't even lit."

"I'd hope it wasn't," Camila said. "Or you'd have burned your hand."

"Right," Eda said, and tucked the joint back into her hair.

But Camila didn't say anything further. Instead, she leaned against the wall near the door, letting the large window separate the two of them and the darkness hide her expression. Eda debated trying to partially shift her eyes for the night vision, but she had never even tried that before and the last thing she wanted was to freak the woman out by growing wings in front of her.

Also, her eyes became reflective, which would be disturbing enough all on its own.

She decided to just ignore the woman and slumped back against the wall. She turned to stare, unseeing, at the night sky where wispy clouds floated past the moon.

She had almost forgotten about Camila's presence when the other woman spoke. She was quiet and contemplative, almost like she had also half forgotten that Eda was there.

"I never realised how loud a group of happy teenagers could be."

"It surprises me every time," Eda admitted.

She didn't look towards Camila. If her eyes had adapted to the dark, she didn't want to see the look on her face. She didn't want to know what Camila felt about loud teenagers.

"Every time," Camila repeated. "This is the first time I've ever been in a house full of teenagers that weren't all on the brink of a mental breakdown since I was a teenager."

Eda grunted. Camila seemed determined to tell her, which was typical. When did that woman ever respect Eda's wishes?

"I never had a house full of pre-teens, either. Or elementary kids or toddlers. For whatever it's worth, Eda, thank you for this. For giving Luz a place where she could make friends."

"I didn't do shit." She really wanted that joint now. "I just fed the kid, gave her a place to sleep, and taught her a bit of magic."

"Everything she always wanted. Everything I couldn't give her."

Eda barked out a laugh. "Bullshit, Camila. You gave that kid so much love and you did it freely. I'm not stupid, I know Luz had to get her heart from somewhere and it certainly wasn't her father. Maybe I gave Luz the opportunity to make friends, but you made Luz the person they befriended."

"Thanks." Camila's voice was rough. Eda kept her gaze on the stars. "Would you teach me? Magic."

"Why me? Apart from glyphs, I can't even do magic anymore, and Luz was the one to teach me glyph magic. I know she would love to teach you."

"She would," Camila said. "But I think I'd rather that you taught me."

Eda looked over at Camila then, but she still couldn't make out her face in the shadows, only that the way she leaned against the wall seemed almost relaxed. Well, not relaxed, per se, but non-confrontational.

"What do you want to learn, then?"

"How it works. Where does it come from, what are its governing principles, what are its limits, what you can do with it." The words spilled out of Camila's mouth.

"Okay," Eda said, only because Camila had been thinking about this. It wasn't a whim and she did promise herself that she would be more considerate of Camila, for Luz's sake. "When do you want to start?"

"Monday? Do you have the lunch hour free? I can get Luz to leave the key with me and portal here from my office."

Eda had every hour free.

"I could probably squeeze you in."

"It's a date." Camila's body went stiff when she registered her words, and Eda didn't bother to hide her smile. "Except not. Because I'm straight."

"And married."

"And married," Camila said, but she didn't sound nearly as stricken about that.

Chapter Text

Eda would be the first to admit that she remembered jack shit about theory of magic bullshit from her Hexside days. Lily probably did; the fucking nerd probably reviewed her notes on an annual basis. Eda, though, she hadn't given two thoughts about school since she walked out Hexside's front doors with her diploma three decades ago.

The basics of magic were all things that Eda knew instinctively. Her fingers still twitched with spells seared into her memory, eager to draw a circle and pour the considerable force of her will and talent into making her imagination take shape. She didn't think that urge would ever leave her.

At least the remembered loss had faded from the initial blindingly sharp pain that, if she hadn't had a sister who kept watching her and two kids she had to take care of and a curse to manage, she would have let consume her for weeks. Months. Maybe even forever. It had been almost impossible to leave her nest that first morning, and her shower had been scalding to disguise the redness of her eyes.

Now she just felt resigned, full of bone deep weary, whenever a circle of light fractured in front of her. And somehow she had to push that aside to teach Camila theoretical bullshit that she didn't even remember.

She knew she could borrow Luz's schoolbooks. That it would only take her a day or two of skimming the heavy texts to remember enough to formulate some sort of lecture for Camila. It wasn't as if she would have to talk for long—King would distract her within minutes, assuming his father didn't come and whisk him away, and Camila would have to eat at some point. But she couldn't think of a less appealing way to spend her weekend than refreshing herself on magic 101.

So she didn't and pushed off that research in favour of her own, much more interesting enquiry into wild magic, until the sound of Luz portalling into her living room on Monday morning drew her out of her fitful sleep.

She stayed ensconced in her nest and let her ears elongate until she could make out every word spoken inside her house. She was getting better at this partial shifting thing; while her teeth felt sharp in her mouth, everything in her room stood out in stark relief with her owl eyes, and shoulder blades itched, there wasn't a hint of feathers or extra appendages on her body. Even her fingers hadn't curled into talons and those were usually the first to change.

It helped that she had no desire to tear anyone's throat out. Even the owl beast felt like staying in the nest for the rest of the day.

"So I just press the eye and the portal will open?" Camila's words came through the portal, as clear as if Eda were standing right beside her in the human realm. Eda's lips twitched at the note of almost concealed worry in her voice.

"Yes, mom." Luz sounded long suffering in the way only teenagers had mastered. Eda smiled properly. "You can try it out right now."

"Okay." She couldn't prevent the worry from saturating her voice then.

"Just think of the owl house and it will open up right here." Luz was using the same quiet patience she had with King. It was sweet, but Eda's smile faltered when she realised she had to have learned that from Camila.

"Okay," Camila said again, and the hum of the portal cut out abruptly. The silence only lasted a few seconds before the portal snapped back open. "It worked."

"Pretty easy, huh? I better get going to Hexside. Try not to fight with Eda today, please?"

Camila sighed. "You act like we're the unruly children and you're the put upon adult. Where is Eda, anyway?"

"Sleeping." King sounded like he wanted to be sleeping too. "She's been very lazy lately."

"That's rich," Eda said into her pillow. "Coming from the titan who schedules in at least two naps per day."

"Oh," Camila said. Eda couldn't read her tone of voice at all and she almost wished she was downstairs and watching from around the corner. Maybe she would know what that oh meant if she could see her expression. "I suppose if I didn't have to go to work, I wouldn't be awake right now either."

Okay then, it was a snide oh. Of course she had nothing but contempt for Eda's lack of a regular job. Eda rolled onto her back and crossed her arms.

"I'd better get going too," Camila said. "But can I get a hug first?"

"Yes!" There was the scrabble of bone on wood, then that plastic-y stuff humans coated their floors with, as King inserted himself into the mother/daughter bonding. "You give the best hugs!"

Eda jogged her foot. She had no right to be pissy about that—she hadn't even told King what a hug was for Titan's sake and Titan knew that she was too bony to give good hugs.

Also he was right. Camila had felt amazing in her arms, soft and warm and squeezing tight to Eda.

Fuck, she wasn't supposed to be thinking of that. Eda shifted her features back to normal and dragged herself out of her nest. She needed to have a shower. She needed to look like a proper, presentable adult who didn't have a habit of sleeping past noon when there was no one around to judge her.

It turned out that Luz brought all of her schoolbooks to school with her. That probably wasn't something that Eda should have been surprised about, but she remembered hating lugging her potions texts to and from school and conveniently 'forgetting' them at home four days out of five. Eda would have to look into getting Luz a magic bag to hold all her books in—it couldn't be good for the kid's back considering how many courses she was enrolled in.

Eda groaned as she stood up from kneeling on the floor beside one of Luz's many stacks of books. Well, she would just have to wing her lecture, which was par for course. It wasn't as if she ever prepared for shit.

When she exited the room, it was to see King staring at her, his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed.

"What were you doing in Luz's room?"

"None of your business," Eda said. King glared harder and she sighed. "Nothing nefarious, I was just looking for stuff to help Camila."

"In Luz's bedroom?"

"Yes?" Eda turned the word into two syllables, lifting the second into a questioning tone. "Where else would she keep her dumb magic books?"

"How would Luz's magic books help Camila?"

Eda stared at him. "Because I'm teaching her magical theory?"

"Why?"

"I don't know, because she asked and it seemed rude to say no?" Eda rolled her eyes and started to walk away. She had an hour until Camila was supposed to be here and she was going to make the most of it with a nap on the couch.

"Since when do you care about being rude?" King followed her and watched as she stretched out on the couch.

"I don't," Eda said. She closed her eyes and patted her stomach. Even though he was annoyed with her, King climbed up and curled up on top of Eda, his warm body a familiar weight. "I just told Luz I'd be polite to her mom, y'know?"

"I don't see how you get to magic lessons from that." Sleep was thick in King's voice and Eda rested her hand on his back, her fingers burrowing into his thick fur.

"Can't say I really do either," Eda mumbled, already half asleep. They had napped together like this so many times that she didn't even realise she had fallen asleep until she was awake again, disturbed by the sound of eating.

"What?" Her voice was thick and she rubbed at her eyes, then swore. She stared at her hand and tried to see if she had smudged any of her makeup onto it. Maybe she had enough time to fix it before Camila arrived.

"I made some for you too." Camila's voice came from somewhere behind her and she jerked her head, craning to see her. She was sitting on the divan and she gave Eda a small smile when their eyes met. "King too. Sorry, I didn't want to wake either of you. You looked so peaceful."

Eda groaned, but when she sat up, she carefully moved King onto her lap so as to not disturb him.

"Thanks," she muttered. "I'm afraid I'm a bit of a night owl."

There were two sandwiches on two mismatched plates, ones Eda recognised as her own, sitting on the coffee table in front of her. She snagged one and took a large bite, her eyes involuntarily closing as she chewed.

"I hope I'm not disturbing you?" Camila worried at her bottom lip. "I'm sorry if I picked a time that is only convenient for me."

"No, it's alright." Eda spoke around a mouthful of sandwich. "I shouldn't be sleeping at noon, it only makes my curse harder to manage. I didn't waste too much of your lunch hour sleeping, did I?"

Camila held up her own plate, with half a sandwich still untouched. Eda had already started the second half of her own sandwich. "You're fine."

Titan, this was so painfully polite with both Eda and Camila picking their words carefully and keeping their voices neutral. King would be killing himself laughing if he was awake, but if Eda kept running her fingers through his fur, he'd stay out like a light.

"So what do you already know about magic?" Eda asked after she downed half the glass of water Camila had also set out for her.

Camila chewed properly and swallowed before speaking. "Not much. Luz said that if she focuses hard enough while activating a glyph, the magic of the island or her palisman will do what she imagined. Or something like that."

Eda grunted. "That's basically it."

Camila frowned and set the plate on the cushion beside her. "That can't be right. It's all just imagination made manifest?"

"Well, you have to have the right combination of glyphs and Lily and Luz have this whole system where they work out how they combine, but honestly I'm still not the best at glyph magic." She hated, hated admitting that, but yet the words just slipped out of her under Camila's soft gaze.

"But Luz said that you were the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles?"

"'Were' being the operative word," Eda said. "Witches have bile sacs full of magic attached to their hearts—our magic is innate to us and we're not manipulating the island's magic directly, just drawing on our own power. Mine's pretty much burned out on the account of my curse."

"I'm sorry." She genuinely did look sorry, and Eda shifted to look away.

"It's fine," she said shortly. "You can do a lot bigger spells with glyphs, but you lack the flexibility and spontaneity of just being able to draw a circle midair. Though Luz thinks that the circles themselves contain glyphs that we just can't see, so maybe it's all the same in the end."

"But how do the glyphs or the circles work?" Frustration was seeping into Camila's voice. "It can't just be imagination. There has to be some structure!"

Eda laughed. "What, do you want to know about the math underpinning it all?"

"Yes!"

Eda was taken aback by the forcefulness of Camila's voice, by the way she leaned forward eagerly. It caused her shirt to gape at the collar, but her scrubs were too high cut for Eda to take a peak.

Not that she would have, even if Camila's shirt was low cut. She wasn't looking at Camila like that anymore.

"Uh, well, okay." Eda stuttered and reached into her hair. The book she was looking for sprang forward with a thought, the spine bumping up against her fingers. "If you want to know about math, then we should start with the underlying principles."

Eda placed the book on the coffee table and cracked it open as Camila got up and closed the handful of feet between them to sit beside Eda. The text was small and the book was the furthest thing from magic 101, but Camila leaned in to read. Their arms brushed and Eda knew she was flushing.

"Here," she said gruffly, and dropped the book into Camila's lap. "It'll be easier to read this way."

She still had to sit close to Camila, close enough that the edge of the book dug into her thigh and the warmth of Camila's body permeated her own. She could smell Camila's shampoo as her hair brushed against her arm. Her heart was beating erratically and the owl beast was stretching and purring inside her and her hand stilled its rhythmic stroking along King's back as she lost the ability to do that many things at once.

Her voice stayed steady as she spoke, explaining the principles that the math was illustrating, and that was more than she could hope for. Camila's eyes alternated between staring at the text and staring at her, big and brown and sparkling with interest.

Eda liked that Camila was interested in her. Well, not her, but whatever stupid nonsense was pouring out of her mouth and utterly betraying the fact that she was a huge fucking nerd. Titan, this was the stupidest way she had ever tried winning over a woman. Math. Even Raine hadn't been this much of a nerd.

Not that she was trying to win Camila over.

Camila was a nerd though. She wasn't faking her interest—and why would she, she didn't have enough respect for Eda to bother—and she was actually following what Eda was saying. Her questions were incisive and some of them made Eda trip up and have to think things through.

She had almost gotten used to Camila's proximity when Camila's phone went off. She was full on leaning into Camila by that point, her finger marking a spot on the far page, and she jumped back in surprise. King let out a little grunt on her lap and Eda soothed him back to sleep with a scratch along his spine. Her heart clenched—she was going to miss the little shit once his dad arrived. If his dad arrived.

"You're good with him," Camila said after she shut off her alarm. Her phone was still in her hand and she was looking up at Eda again. If Eda didn't know any better, she'd say that Camila was looking up at her through her eyelashes.

Eda shrugged. "He likes naps."

"I have to get back to work." Camila was quiet. Trying not to wake King, though her eyes stayed on Eda's. They were soft, but whose eyes wouldn't be when they were thinking about the titan?

"Okay," Eda said dumbly. "Thanks for the sandwich."

Camila smiled. "You're welcome." She leaned forward to set the book on the coffee table, but she didn't stand up once she finished. Instead, she leaned back onto the couch and placed a hand on King's back.

Their fingertips touched. Eda's heart pounded.

Even in the gloom of the owl house, the diamond on Camila's finger glittered.

"I'm always amazed by how soft his fur is," Camila said. "The texture is unlike anything I've felt on earth."

Right. She was a vet.

Eda ached to kiss her. It wouldn't be hard, she was so close. She'd just have to dip her head a few inches. She didn't think Camila would protest, not with how she kept looking at Eda.

The last time Eda had kissed Camila, Camila had turned around the next day and said it had never happened.

"Yeah," Eda said. "You don't have to leave immediately, right? I'll wake him, he'll be moody for the rest of the day if he found out he slept through your entire visit."

Eda didn't wait for Camila's response—she could already tell it was going to be a polite refusal—and tapped at King's skull with a single long fingernail. He growled and batted her hand away.

"What?"

"Wake up, lazybones. Camila has to go back to work."

His eyes opened at that and he uncurled himself from Eda's lap. "Camila's here?"

"Good morning," Camila said, soft and teasing. Softer than how she had been speaking to Eda. "Did you have a good nap?"

Eda's heart clenched. She hadn't realised that her voice wasn't at its kindest register. Which, whatever. Eda was Eda and King was King. Obviously she would speak more fondly to him than her.

"Why didn't you wake me earlier?" King demanded, though his eyes darted between Eda and Camila and the total lack of space between them.

Eda shrugged, forcing nonchalance into her every move. "You just would have fallen back asleep anyway. We were talking about math."

King made a face. "Boring."

"I found it interesting." Camila patted King's head before standing up. "Eda's right, though, I do have to get back to work now." She smiled down at him and her eyes flickered to Eda's for a brief moment, sparkling with mischief. "You should eat your sandwich before Eda steals it."

"Sandwich?" King spotted it even as he spoke and Eda bit back a wince as his little bone claws dug into her thigh as he jumped off her and onto the coffee table. Camila's smile widened.

"I'll be back in a few hours to pick up Luz. We can decide on when we should continue this then?"

"Uh, yeah," Eda said. "Sounds good."

"Great."

Camila opened the portal and Eda blatantly peered through it to see a fair sized office stuffed with books and dominated by a large desk covered in papers. Around the last of her sandwich, Camila gave her a smirk before stepping through the portal. She closed it behind her without a sparing a glance behind.

"Man, this is a good sandwich." King's words came out slurred and Eda smiled.

Well, that was a fucking disaster on all counts. Eda hadn't wanted Camila to like or understand her dumb theory of magic lecture. She had wanted to bore the other woman to tears, or at least confuse her until she stormed out in frustration and never came back. She hadn't wanted the woman to sit close to her, so close that their legs had pressed together and Eda had to fight back the instinct to wrap an arm around Camila's shoulders.

Eda paced her bedroom, which she had escaped into before King had a chance to finish his sandwich and remember that what he had woken up to. She didn't want to talk about it with him, or anyone for that matter. She only had a couple of hours to get herself under control, to think of a plausible way to turn Camila down without upsetting her and putting them back to square one.

Not that she cared if they went back to fighting all the time. She liked fighting Camila—it wasn't as if she wanted Camila to like her. But Luz did and Eda was self aware enough that she knew she'd do anything for her kids.

Not that Luz was her kid. Clearly. It was her mother that Eda was supposed to be befriending.

Titan, Eda needed to do something. Her restlessness was making the owl beast anxious, its wings beating inside of her. Her shoulder blades itched something fierce and the open sky beckoned to her. She needed to calm down, but she had already downed two elixirs this morning and, now that she knew King was keeping track, she was hesitant to take anymore.

She needed to squirrel some away somewhere where King couldn't find them. Like an alcoholic, ensuring they always had booze at the ready.

Apple blood would help. It was a depressant, but she wasn't an alcoholic and she kept her booze downstairs in her fridge where King was lurking. Her weed, though, that she kept in her room.

Still, she hesitated. She did not want to deal with Camila's pissiness when she came back and found Eda high on her couch. And it wasn't as if she would be able to think of any good excuses to get out of the magic lecture bullshit with the strain she had on hand. That strain just made her blissfully not think about shit at all.

There was only one option. Eda let her body contort as she climbed onto the window ledge, still amazed that at how little it hurt to sprout two massive wings from her back. Comparatively speaking, at least. The white-hot shards of agony flared and faded almost before it registered and were infinitely more tolerable than all the other shit fucked up about Eda's body.

The wings were ungainly, though, and she had to consciously keep them tucked in so as to not knock another one of her poor plants out of her window. She was forced to let herself drop a few feet before she snapped open her wings, a few powerful beats and the slight updraft keeping her from splatting on her face outside her window.

Not that she had ever done that before.

Look, having wings was weird and sometimes if she thought about it too much, she couldn't figure out how they worked. Like thinking about breathing and then having to keep thinking about breathing because she forgot how to breathe without thinking about breathing. Except with wings and gravity was happening and the ground was rushing at her and—

It wasn't pleasant, okay? Her arms had hurt for weeks.

At least no one had seen her face plant in the grass. Even Hooty had been chasing bugs on the other side of the house.

But now she knew. She had to give the owl beast some measure of control while she was like this and, well, wasn't that why she was flying around over the forest in the first place? To placate the monster within so that it wouldn't become the monster without?

Eda could only imagine what Camila would think if she grew talons and growled in her face. If she was going to be so snotty about Eda being a little drunk or a little high, Eda couldn't imagine she would be able to handle Eda at her actual worst.

Fuck, she wasn't supposed to be thinking about that woman. She was supposed to be enjoying the thermals and the sun at her back. Maybe even that small rodent she could see scampering through the forest floor, her eyes somehow able to cut through the leaves and the shifting pattern they left on the bones and moss.

She was feeling a bit peckish. The sandwich was great, but she had skipped breakfast and this was about making the owl beast happy so that it wouldn't want to maul everyone in sight.

She swooped down and snatched it up. The rodent was swallowed whole before it even had a chance to register what had happened to it and Eda let out a satisfied belch as she rose back up above the trees. She'd regret it in a few hours when she puked it up, half digested and partially pelleted, but right now? There was no better feeling in the world.

There was another small creature skittering below, and the owl beast whined and squirmed inside of her.

"You're a greedy little thing, aren't you?" Eda grumbled. "I'll really be sick if I eat anymore of those furry bastards."

The owl beast projected the impression of growing big and strong and fat with prey. The lazy contentment of napping in the sun without a concern in the world because nothing would dare attack them.

Eda snorted. "I hate to break it to you, but I've been fully grown for years. We aren't getting any bigger or scarier than this."

She scowled when it sent the mournful thought of them wasting away, skin and bones for the rest of their lives.

"Is that what you think of me? Well, sorry that I'm not twenty with a hot twenty-year-old bod anymore. I'm a perfectly reasonable size for my age." She plummeted to the forest floor and scooped up the damn vole. She shoved it into her face and ignored how good eating it made her feel. "Are you happy now? I hope you enjoy it when we vomit, you little shit."

It purred in contentment.

Eda spotted Luz flying towards the owl house before Luz even had a chance to see her. Owl eyes had their advantage, and Eda didn't hesitate to capitalise on them. She dropped down into the trees and, weaving through the branches with her heart in her throat—Titan she better not clothesline herself—flew out of Luz's path before tucking herself into a tree, high off the ground but still well covered by foliage.

She was still on edge and still without an excuse to end magic lessons, so she may as well just avoid seeing Camila the easy way. By hiding in trees.

She stayed close enough to home that she could faintly make out Luz landing and greeting Hooty, but she was still much too far away to hear anything being said inside her house. Which was fine, she didn't want to hear what Camila had to say when she stepped through the portal and found the house suspiciously lacking in Eda. Nor did she want to hear what King was saying to Luz—he was probably blabbing all about how he woke up and saw Eda and Camila practically on top of each other on the couch.

She didn't want to think about it. The owl beast didn't either, it was fed up with her thoughts entirely. It just wanted her to drop out of the tree and eat another fucking vole. Eda's stomach ached already, but the owl beast was petulant and it wasn't as if it made a difference if she puked up five voles or fifty.

She dropped and flared her wings just before she hit the forest floor, her feet snagging a furry little thing before she lifted back into the air.

"This is the last one," she said and swallowed the vole.

She nearly gagged as it went down and even the owl beast was discomforted, though it tried soothing her with images of them being thankful for their gluttony when they didn't find any prey for the next week.

Eda groaned. "It doesn't work like that, you idiot! I don't have to hunt for my food, I can just go to the store and buy some. Or steal it, if I don't have any snails." Or, as was more common these days, gifted it as the shopkeeper looked at her with stars in their eyes.

She didn't like thinking about that.

It didn't understand that, of course. How could it? It had no concept of society beyond thoughts of warmth and shared nests.

"When was the last time we went hungry?" Eda tried. "Even when shit got rough this year, we still had enough food on the table. And that was before I was a 'hero'."

Though it clearly maintained its skepticism, the owl beast mulled on that and, when Eda spotted another fuzzy thing run by, it didn't try to convince her to eat it as well. Eda took it as a victory and launched off the tree to head home.

Luz should be gone home by now and, even if the thought of food turned Eda's stomach, King still needed to be fed.

Chapter Text

Eda sat downstairs in her kitchen with a coffee mug in hand—and there was coffee inside. She was holding off on drinking until she was sure Camila wasn't going to follow Luz through the portal. That she was changing her morning routine for that woman only made her twice as grumpy. She was exhausted; even though the owl beast had slumbering peacefully through the night inside her, she had spent the night nursing an aching stomach. But she was awake, very deliberately awake, because she knew Luz would start prying if she wasn't downstairs to greet her for two days in a row.

She didn't stand up until she heard the portal fold shut. Camila hadn't asked after her, just wished Luz a good day and gave King the hug he demanded.

Eda didn't know how she felt about that.

No, she did. She was happy. If Camila didn't care about her absence, it meant that they could go back to a quiet disregard for each other.

She dumped the steaming coffee out of her mug and swirled a bit of water to clean out the dregs before filling it with apple blood. She probably needed the caffeine more than she needed the alcohol, but what difference did it make if she spent the rest of the day face down on her couch?

Luz had just started speaking when Eda stepped into the living room. Her back was to Eda so Eda couldn't read her expression, but her posture alone made it obvious that she was worried.

"Is Eda—"

Fuck.

Eda grunted and raised her mug when Luz turned. "Morning, kid."

"Eda! You're fully dressed!"

Eda looked down at herself and back up at Luz, keeping her motions slow and sardonic. "Yes?"

"You usually don't bother to change until after you have breakfast."

"I don't?" Eda asked. "Never noticed."

Luz looked at Eda for a long moment. King too, his eyes narrow.

"Okay," Luz said. "Well, I should get to school, so have a good day you two!"

"You too," Eda said into her mug. That was it?

When the front door closed behind Luz, King turned to head deeper into the owl house. Eda frowned. He wasn't going to quiz her on her total absence yesterday? If he even noticed—he had followed Luz through the portal and scavenged supper off Camila, the little shit.

"Hey, where are you going?"

King turned back around, just far enough to meet Eda's eyes. "To pack? My dad's coming to pick me up today, remember? He's going to show me around some ancestral lands for a week."

"I, he is? That's today?"

King rolled his eyes. "Yes, it's today."

"Oh, huh." Eda forced a smile. "And you haven't even started packing? King!"

"Hey, Luz! Hold up!" Eda absolutely did not almost trip down the stairs, even if she did stumble the landing, which was a good thing since she still had a toothbrush stuck in her mouth.

"Good morning Eda!"

Luz wrapped Eda up in a big hug, tighter and longer than usual. Eda patted her on the back, not at all awkward.

"You're early," Eda said around the toothbrush.

"Yeah," Luz said as she let go of Eda. "Me and Willow have a big project due on Monday, so I gotta run, sorry!"

Eda waved a dismissive hand. "You go have fun. 'Fun.' Could you leave the portal key here, though? I have some business to take care of in the human realm today."

"Getting new stock for tomorrow?" Luz asked, too nonchalant as she handed over the key. Eda bit back a snort.

"Yeah," Eda said. She wasn't going to give Luz the satisfaction of knowing that she wanted to visit Camila and, well, it wasn't as if she was lying. She did intend on sending Owlbert out scouting. Multitasking.

"Have fun," Luz said. "Try not to get arrested. You can't just magic your way out of a human jail anymore."

Eda rolled her eyes. She was, unfortunately, all too aware. "I still have another type of magic, kid. One that even works in the human realm."

"Really? What is it? Why haven't you taught me it?"

Eda pulled a bundle of twenties out of her hair and slapped them into her palm. "If you haven't learned this one yet, I question your ability to learn anything from me."

"Oh, that magic." Luz backed away. "Just so you know, bribing a police officer is illegal and I don't think they let minors post bail. You'd better hope my mom's in a good mood."

"Yeah, yeah," Eda said and bit back the urge to ask Luz if Camila was, in fact, in a good mood. "Get going. Your project isn't going to do itself."

Eda rushed through the rest of her morning routine, forgoing breakfast entirely and nearly smearing her eyeliner in her haste. With Luz out of the house early, Camila might take that opportunity to head into work early herself. She seemed like the sort of person to do that, to come in early and stay late out of company loyalty, and it wasn't as if Eda could portal directly into Camila's house. She'd have to portal into the forest and hope to catch the other woman before she left for work because Eda hadn't the faintest idea of how to find her otherwise.

Owlbert stuck with her as she speed walked through the forest, her hair in a rough, looping ponytail. She hadn't had the time to brush it out and it was snarled to shit. She hoped that, with her hair tied back, it looked intentional.

Camila's boxy car gleamed a deep red in the sunrise, not a speck of dirt to be seen. Camila's husband's car, just as shiny but with sleek lines and a low profile, was in the driveway and Eda swore. She hadn't considered that he would be there.

Whatever. He was probably lurking in the basement anyway, the creep.

He wasn't lurking in the basement. He was the one to answer the door, clad in only a slick black bathrobe that didn't have a prayer of covering his barrel chest. There was a lot of hair there and normally Eda would be kinda into it. Right now, she wanted to look at anything else.

Owlbert landed on her shoulder and his eyes left Eda's chest. "Oh! You're Luz's teacher."

"Eda," Eda said.

"You just missed Luz."

Eda raised an eyebrow. "I know? That's how I'm here?" He looked at her blankly. "Look, can I just come in? I want to talk to Camila."

"About what?" he asked, and Eda bristled at his tone. Owlbert did too, and hooted sharply. "Oh, you have an owl. Yeah, you may as well come in, this won't be the first time Camila brought in some injured animal that pissed and shat all over the house."

"Excuse me?" Eda snapped, but she stepped inside the house as Camila's husband moved aside.

"She's always rescuing something," he said as Eda kicked off her boots. "I can't fault her for it, she's got a kind heart, but it's so terribly unhygienic."

Eda ignored him and walked deeper into the house. It was either that or punch him and punching him would be too messy for this early in the morning.

Plus, she could smell bacon.

The husband protested, because of course he did. "Hey, don't take that thing into the kitchen! I'm eating there!"

"Go downstairs to eat," Eda snapped. "Your bar can double as a breakfast nook today."

"Eda?" Camila had one hand on the tap. "What are you doing here?"

"She found some broken bird for you to rescue," her husband said.

Eda wanted to snip back, but since he was loading a plate full of bacon and eggs she held her tongue. Also Camila was rounding the table and heading straight for her with a worried look on her face that made Eda's stomach swoop.

Her heart pounded in her chest when Camila stepped right into Eda's personal space, so close that if Eda wrapped her arm around Camila's waist, it wouldn't take any effort at all to pull her until they were flush, chest to chest.

Camila wasn't paying Eda any attention at all. Her entire focus was on Owlbert and she held out her hand, palm up. Her husband huffed out a deep breath of air, but both women paid him no mind, Eda too enraptured by Camila's nearness and struggling to keep her face blank. The last thing she wanted was to end up in the middle of a marital spat—been there, done that, never again.

She kept it blank even after she heard the basement door close. It wouldn't do for Camila to know she had any effect on Eda. Not that she would notice, not with Owlbert lifting a tentative foot and shifting his weight from side to side. He wanted to go to her, Eda could read his desire as clear as her own. He wanted to meet the woman King and Luz never stopped talking about.

"Hey little guy," Camila whispered. Eda tamped down on her shiver. "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to find out how you're hurt and help you, okay?"

"He's not hurt," Eda said, quieter than she had intended, her voice almost husky. "But, go on Owlbert. I'm not going to stop you."

With a small hoo, he fluttered off Eda's shoulder and into Camila's hand. He perched delicately, his small claws wrapped around her fingers, too gentle to break skin.

Camila's brow furrowed. "You're not like any owl I've ever seen." She looked up at Eda and her eyes widened. A small flush was growing across her face and it took all of Eda's willpower to keep herself from placing that arm around Camila's waist. "He's your palisman, isn't he?"

"He is." Eda scratched one long fingernail along Owlbert's head, ruffling his feathers until he cooed.

"He's adorable," Camila said. "Can I touch him?"

"You can." Eda dropped her hand, though she lingered long enough that their fingers almost brushed. She didn't feel any urge to threaten Camila over Owlbert's safety, and why would she? The woman was a wildlife vet, she handled much more fragile animals every day.

"Well, aren't you a soft one," Camila cooed. "Your feathers are very orderly." Owlbert puffed out his chest and Camila blinked. "Oh, he can understand me? Like Stringbean?"

"He can."

"Magic is so strange." She kept petting Owlbert until his eyes narrowed into contented slits. "So why are you here if it isn't for this cutie?"

"So Luz has this big school project, right? I was thinking of seeing if she and Willow wanted to spend the night at my house to work on it." She shrugged expansively. "It seemed more convenient than working on it early in the morning."

Camila finally looked away from Owlbert and smiled up at Eda. Eda's breath caught in her throat—she had almost forgotten how close Camila was, and her fond smile hadn't faltered. For weeks, Eda had craved that smile, and seeing it so close—Eda ached to reach out, to touch Camila.

"Of course," Camila said. "Thank you for checking with me first."

"I was in the neighbourhood."

"Do you want to stay for breakfast?" Camila blurted.

"I shouldn't," Eda said, though she couldn't stop herself from looking at the plate of bacon, still warm and filling the room with the scent of crispy grease.

"Please?" Camila asked. "I hadn't expected Luz to bail on us this morning—I fried more bacon than we could ever eat."

"Well, I guess," Eda said. "I wouldn't want you to waste food."

"Thanks." Camila finally stepped back and Eda could breathe again. With a small flutter of wings, Owlbert repositioned himself to perch on Camila's shoulder and he rotated his head to give Eda an arch look as Camila walked to the fridge. "What would you like to drink? I have coffee, milk, juice?"

"Coffee is fine." Eda hovered at the table, inexplicably ill at ease.

"Sit," Camila said when she came back, two steaming mugs in hand.

So Eda did, and Camila sat down beside her. Their feet bumped under the table, but Eda didn't pull hers back. Neither did Camila—if anything, Camila nudged her foot closer to Eda's.

"So how are you coping with King being gone?" Camila asked. Eda nearly choked on her coffee and Camila gave her a sly smile over her own mug. "Luz mentioned something about King visiting his dad for the week."

"It's, you know." Eda flipped her wrist vaguely. "It's good for him."

"It's still hard, though. I almost turned around when driving Luz—well, Vee, but I didn't know that then—at every intersection on the way to summer camp and Luz is fourteen. Luz said that King's, what, eight?"

"Older," Eda said. "I'm not sure how much older and titans are weird about the whole ageing thing anyway. But it was eight years ago when I rescued him. Or stole him, I guess." She looked away and gave a weak laugh. "I have a habit of that."

"There could be worse habits than giving homes to wayward children."

Eda stared at Camila, her eyes wide and searching for any hint of censure, finding none. Camila gave her a placid smile. Eda didn't know what to say and she was still groping for something, anything, when Camila's husband thumped up the steps. He poked his head around the corner behind and she turned around just in time to see him wrinkle his nose at the sight of her.

He looked past her and addressed Camila. "My schedule is tight today and I won't be home until midnight at the earliest. Don't bother making me anything for supper, I'll just order delivery to the hospital."

Eda turned away before he could see the disbelief on her face, which unfortunately meant that Camila could. Camila didn't meet her eye.

"Alright," she said simply. "Have a good day at work."

They sat in silence until his car roared to life before settling into a soft purr, which he ruined by gunning the engine into a growl as he pulled out onto the sleepy street.

"He's not working late." Eda knew she shouldn't, but the words had left her mouth anyway. Camila didn't seem to mind—she just shook her head and gave Eda an odd little smile. "Come to my house after work." Those words just fell out of her mouth without any input from her brain as well. "There's no sense for you to make supper for just yourself and I could always give you another magic theory lesson again or something."

"I'd like that," Camila said with a smile.

Eda smiled back.

Looking nothing at all like a woman whose husband was currently schtupping someone who wasn't her, Camila kept giving Eda little smiles during supper. It made Eda nervous, even though Luz kept looking between them and grinning madly. Camila's smiles made Eda think stupid things and, once Willow and Luz were safely ensconced in Luz's room, Eda realised that she couldn't teach Camila any magic. Not if she was going to keep looking at Eda like that and not if she was going to sit beside Eda on the couch again with their knees pressed together and their shoulders brushing as Camila turned pages in whatever textbook Eda scrounged up.

Also, all thoughts of magic theory left Eda's mind whenever Camila placed her hand on Eda's forearm, something that seemed to happen more than necessary. It seemed as if whenever Camila wanted Eda's attention for anything, no matter how minor, she touched Eda first.

And Camila wanted Eda's attention a lot.

Eda didn't dare return those little touches. She knew exactly what Camila was doing, playing at flirting with a woman with no intention of follow through. Eda wasn't going to give her the satisfaction. What she needed to do was terrify the other woman shitless so she would stop looking at Eda like that.

She needed to remind Camila that they didn't like each other.

Camila nudged her, a little hip check as they stood side-by-side in front of the sink. "I think that dish is clean."

"It has a stubborn spot." Eda scrubbed harder at nothing, then passed the plate over to Camila.

"Thinking about your lesson plan?" Camila asked. "I can head home if you need time to plan, it wasn't as if you had much notice."

Back home, to her empty house to wait for her husband to slink in after midnight, smelling of another woman's perfume. To watch tv in the dark, maybe nurse a glass of wine. Eda frowned.

"You're right that I don't have my thoughts in order," she said. "But you don't have to leave so soon if you don't want. I can show you other things about the Boiling Isles and magic that aren't dry lectures."

"I like dry lectures." It was Camila's turn to focus too strongly on the dishes, her damp towel smearing the wetness around more than properly drying the glass.

That nervousness was what Eda was looking for and she gave Camila her best sly grin. "I can give you a dry lecture, just somewhere other than my couch."

"Of what?"

"Luz hasn't given you a tour of Bonesborough yet, has she?"

"She has."

Eda blinked. "She has? When?"

"A few weeks ago. We stopped by, but you weren't home."

"Oh," Eda said. "Well, she doesn't know the good parts. In a few hours, the town will really come alive."

"We're supposed to be supervising Luz and Willow's project."

Eda shrugged. "Hooty can keep an eye on them and I'll take my penstagram with me. We won't go far, I promise."

"I don't know."

"They need a little freedom. They need to learn how to make mistakes and solve problems themselves without adults hovering." Camila looked unconvinced and Eda continued, lying through her teeth. "I checked over their project, it'll be fine. If anything goes wrong, it won't be outrageous."

Camila sighed and dried off her hands on the damp towel. "I guess an hour couldn't hurt."

"You won't regret this," Eda lied cheerily.

She yelled up the stairs to Luz that they were going out and she didn't hide her smirk at Camila's wince. Luz yelled her own acknowledgement back and Eda ushered Camila out the front door.

Camila started walking into the forest, not a hint of nervousness on her face despite the sun sinking past the horizon, and Eda had to wrap her hand around Camila's bicep to draw her short.

"We aren't walking," she said. Owlbert hovered beside her, perfectly still and a bit lower than Eda preferred for the mount. Camila's legs were shorter and the hint was obvious.

Camila took a step back. "No way."

"It's faster," Eda said. "And these boots weren't made for walkin'."

"Absolutely nothing will convince me to get on that stick, Eda."

"Hey! Don't call Owlbert a stick." Eda ran her hand along Owlbert's back. Camila didn't even look contrite—instead, she frowned deeper. Eda took a step closer to her and lifted her hands, palms out. "Look, I get your reservations about flying with Luz. She's just a kid and has only had her own palisman for a few months. But me and Owlbert have been together since I was Luz's age. We won't let you fall, I promise."

"Eda," Camila pleaded.

Eda took another step closer and Camila lifted a hand. It fluttered between them, as if Camila was torn between warning her back and pulling her closer. Eda pressed her advantage and kept walking until Camila's hand was splayed out on her chest.

"Be brave," Eda breathed.

Camila's eyes were wide and Eda could feel her hand trembling. "Just to Bonesborough? No further?"

"Just to Bonesborough."

Owlbert helpfully slid over so Eda sat down on top of him and tucked her feet up, crossing them at the ankles. Camila's hand fell away and Eda captured it, pulling Camila forward.

"Do I sit in front of you or behind?" Camila's hesitation was almost cute. Eda could feel her heart racing where her fingers curled around Camila's wrist.

"Your choice," Eda said. "Traditionally, the person in front is the one flying, but I'm tall enough that I could see over you. The only real difference is that, if you sit behind, you can hold on to me or Owlbert."

Camila sat behind Eda, swinging her legs over in the same stance Luz preferred.

Eda laughed. "Don't trust me to hold on to you?"

"More like if I'm going to fall, I'm taking you with me." Camila's arms snaked around Eda's waist, loose. Eda could barely feel the heat of Camila's body against her back, and Camila gripped her own wrists. White knuckles betrayed her lack of calm.

"You're not going to fall." Eda nudged Owlbert up and Camila squeaked as her feet left the ground.

"This is high enough," Camila said as they hovered five feet above the ground, not yet moving. Her breathing was rapid and Eda grinned.

"You don't want to see the sunset?" Eda didn't wait for a response and Owlbert shot upward, staying parallel to the ground.

Camila screamed anyway and suddenly she was plastered against Eda's back, her fingers digging bruises into Eda's side. "EDA! Jesus fuck!"

"It's safer up high," Eda said as they levelled off again. "Think about it. If you did fall from five feet off the ground, I wouldn't have a prayer of catching you."

"You'll catch me? You swear that you will catch me?" Camila's voice was muffled, her face buried inside Eda's hair. "You aren't lying again?"

"I promise," Eda said. She placed a hand over one of Camila's and Camila released her death grip on her dress to clamp down on her hand instead. "It takes a lot of work to fall off of a staff anyway. Owlbert would have to be very upset with you, or you would have to consciously jump off for you to fall when we're just hovering here."

"You're a fucking asshole," Camila said, but her voice wasn't wavering anymore.

"I know," Eda said. "But if you stop hiding your face in my hair, we can start your next magic lesson."

She didn't. Instead, she gripped Eda tighter, as if she was scared Eda would pull away. Eda doubted she had the willpower to do so, not with how Camila's rapid heartbeat and short breaths were playing havoc on her own circulatory system.

"What's it about?"

"The source of magic on the Boiling Isles." Eda squeezed Camila's hand. "And also the sunset is really pretty."

"Isn't it just a giant titan?" Camila said. "Luz said that the entire island is the corpse of a titan that's also King's dad, which I've decided not to ask questions about, and, honestly, I don't think I want to see that. I've been pretending that I'm not walking on decaying flesh every time I come over here."

"It is pretty grisly," Eda said. "But there's beauty in it too. This high up, you can barely smell the rot, right? C'mon Camila, don't you want to see why Luz loves this place so much?"

"Fine." Camila shifted against Eda's back, though she didn't move an inch away. Eda pulled her hair over her shoulder and Camila let out a gasp. "It's gorgeous."

"I told you," Eda said. "It's even better at twilight."

Camila twisted, this way and that, as she fought to take everything in. Her grip on Eda's waist relaxed and Eda guided Camila's hand to grip the staff.

"Here," Eda whispered. "Staffs are controlled by mental commands even if most people find themselves leaning into the turns."

"Like Mario Kart."

"Yeah," Eda said, though she had no idea what Mario Kart was. "Owlbert will turn when you want him to turn."

Camila ripped her hand off the staff. "You're letting me drive?"

"No, of course not." Eda peeled Camila's hand off her stomach and placed back onto Owlbert, though she had to hold it in place. "I'm still in charge. Owlbert wouldn't do anything that I'm not okay with."

"You'd be okay with doing barrel rolls."

"Are you going to ask Owlbert to do a barrel roll?"

"No!"

"Then what are you worried about? Just focus, concentrate on rotating us forty-five degrees to the left. Nice and easy."

"I don't think I can," Camila said. "Isn't that like magic? I can't do magic."

"What are you talking about? Of course you can do magic. Glyphs aren't something unique to me and Luz. Just think, Camila. Forty-five degrees to the left. I know you can visualise forty-five degrees. You're a math nerd. You know that's a quarter of a turn."

"An eighth," Camila corrected. "It's a quarter of one-eighty, but that's half a turn. Do you want me to turn ninety degrees?"

Eda growled. "Whichever! The actual rotation doesn't matter, just do it."

"But how would you know if I did it right? What if I went forty-five degrees and you thought I hadn't visualised properly because you thought we should have turned further?"

"Camila! I'm not grading you. I just thought it would be easier for you to see shit if you could control what direction we're facing."

Good fuck, why was she always surrounded by nerds? Luz, Lilith, Raine and now Camila. Why couldn't she ever meet someone who wouldn't give a shit about fiddly bullshit?

Owlbert turned smoothly, the full ninety degrees—probably precisely ninety degrees, but Eda didn't try to measure—and Camila gasped. "That's a skull!" Owlbert rotated again and Camila craned her neck to see behind her. Eda rolled her eyes. "So that mountain isn't a mountain, it's a knee!"

"Yup."

Owlbert turned back to face the skull and he inched closer, following Camila's subconscious desire to get a better look. Eda didn't bother to stop him. "It's getting too dark, I can't make out any of the details."

"I thought you didn't want to see the grisly stuff."

"I didn't think it would be this interesting."

Camila's grip on Eda was loose now, and her hair floated in the breeze, the long strands tangling and flying into her face. If they stayed up here much longer, her hair would begin to rival Eda's. Camila let go of Eda to push the hair out of her eyes and, before she realised what she was doing, Eda had an arm around Camila's waist.

Camila looked down at Eda's hand in bemusement. "I thought you said Owlbert wouldn't let me fall."

"He won't," Eda grunted. She didn't take her arm away from Camila's waist, though, and Camila leaned into her.

"I think I should have sat sidesaddle like you. I'd be able to see more then."

"Probably," Eda said. "On our way back you can."

"Our way back?"

"We're going to Bonesborough, remember? It's the Friday night market, there's always a few extra stalls on Fridays and there's usually a bard or two charming people out of their snails. It's a good time."

"What about the magic lesson?" Camila asked.

"Demons and witches were born from the rotting corpse of the titan, everything here has magic, glyphs can tap into it," Eda said. "That's it, magic lesson over. Let's go shopping."

Chapter Text

Eda slowed to a halt, letting them rest six feet above the ground. "I should warn you—the night market isn't dangerous, per se. I told Luz and King it was because I don't want either of them wandering around here without me, but it's more of an adult party and it is a bit rougher than Bonesborough is during the day. Nothing like it gets out in the boonies, but, y'know. You should stay close."

When she judged Camila to be sufficiently cowed, Eda lowered them the last few feet and hopped off Owlbert. Camila's dismount was far less smooth and Eda had to steady her as she stumbled. Camila didn't let her pull away, instead looping their arms together. Not quite holding hands, but Eda felt her heart speed up anyway, especially as Camila's hips bumped against hers until their steps fell into sync.

This was worse than sitting beside each other on the couch with a bird tube on the other side of the door and two fourteen-year-olds up a flight of stairs. Maybe even as bad as how tightly Camila had clung to her on that initial climb.

"Is there anything in specific I should watch out for?" Camila asked.

"I'd say pickpockets, but I'm usually the one picking pockets," Eda said. "Because of Luz, Bonesborough is pretty used to humans, but you're still going to be an oddity and they might think you'd be an easy mark because of that."

Camila laughed. "An easy mark for what? It isn't like I have any money to get conned out of."

Eda laughed alongside her. That wasn't what she meant; she was thinking more along the lines of Camila being a mark for abduction, but she didn't want to scare Camila so much that she banned from Luz from ever returning to the demon realm.

It would be fine. She didn't need the full warning. So long as she stuck close to Eda, no one would dare try to steal her. And if someone did, well, they would just get a fist full of talons for their efforts.

Inside her, the owl beast rumbled.

Eda led Camila through the twisting back alleys of Bonesborough, her attention split between watching the shadows for anyone with nefarious intent and watching Camila's expression shift as they got close enough for the sound of revelry to reach their ears. The closer they got to the raucous shouts, the brighter the alleys grew until they spilled out onto a main thoroughfare, right into a swirling crowd of dancing witches.

Camila gasped, which Eda felt rather than heard, and her hand tightened on Eda's arm.

"Stay close," Eda reiterated and suppressed a shiver as Camila pressed herself to Eda.

A demon carrying a loaded tray of drinks was weaving his way around the shifting edge of dancers and Eda moved to intercept. She snagged two drinks off the tray before the demon even noticed she was there and his scowl faded into a look of grudging acceptance when he realised who had lightened his load.

"That's going on your tab, owl lady."

"Yeah, yeah." Beer sloshed over the edge of the glasses as Eda threw out her arm. The one Camila wasn't holding, so the beer splattered onto a passing witch, whom Eda ignored entirely. "I'll be sure to pay in the morning."

The demon snorted, but said nothing, just stepped past Eda and into the crowd. Eda offered Camila a mug with a wink and Camila hesitated before accepting.

"I'm not a much of a beer person," she said. "But I can hold on to this for you until you finish your drink."

"Trying to get me drunk, are we?" Eda wiggled her eyebrows and took a long draught of the amber liquid which, if Camila had bothered to look at, she would have seen glimmer with an inner light. "You should try it. If you don't like it, I'll steal you something else."

"I thought this was going on your tab?" Camila smirked. She lifted the mug to her lips, but she didn't drink.

"Oh, I don't pay that," Eda said. "I haven't paid my tab in at least twenty years."

Camila laughed and choked on her first sip of the beer. "Eda! And they still serve you drinks?"

"Well, yeah. My charming personality is payment enough."

"I bet." Camila took a proper drink, one that she didn't cough out onto the cobblestones, then another. "Not bad. Not really like beer at all."

"Everything's better in the demon realm." Eda hadn't meant to make a double entendre, but from the slow sweep of Camila's gaze, she had interpreted it as one.

"Prove it."

Eda grinned at her, wild, and pulled her deeper into the crowd. "How do you feel about a little shopping?"

"With a ten finger discount?"

"Nah," Eda said and held up a coin purse she snagged off of a passing bounty hunter. "I've got some cash."

The market section of the night market was marginally quieter than the dance floor they had entered on. Instead of loud music and shouting, there were sellers hawking their wares and attracting customers with flashing lights and catchy tunes. What with the proliferation of food carts and incense burning at every other stall, it was a sensory overload.

Eda was used to it and she laughed in delight as she twirled Camila out of the way of a passing cart. The owl beast growled, low and continuous. It wanted the quiet of the forest, the safety of the nest. Eda ignored it and focused on how Camila felt in her arms, warm and flushed from the alcohol she had drank too fast.

"Careful!"

"Why?" Camila asked. "You're watching out for me, right?"

Eda laughed again. "More drinks?"

"I want to see what's in that stall first!"

Eda followed Camila's pointing finger and she groaned as she recognised the shimmering and shifting sigils. "It's just junk. I have all sorts of junk at home you can see."

"But I want to see that junk!" She was tipsier than Eda had realised, her voice coming out as a whine. She hadn't moved from the circle of Eda's arms.

"Fine," Eda said and she took Camila by the hand so they could cut against the flow of traffic without being separated.

The stall was full of whirring gadgets and flashing gizmos, all things that looked like they might hold great magical power, but Eda was an expert conman. She knew a scam when she saw one.

Also, she had gone to school with the proprietor and she had been a hack of a witch from day one.

She still followed Camila as she leaned in close, peering at everything but careful not to touch. Eda tried to play it cool, keeping a disinterested look on her face and avoiding eye contact with her old classmate.

She couldn't manage it for long, of course. Camila didn't have any such compunction and the woman, dressed in heavy robes and laden with chunky jewellery that jangled when she so much as breathed too deep, used her to get to Eda.

"I see you're interested in my pendant of ward deflection. You have a very astute eye especially for"—she leaned in close, her eyes flashing purple for a moment as she tried to use divination to personalise her sales pitch. Eda rolled her eyes—so ham-fisted—"oh, a human? Here, in the Bonesborough night market? Accompanied by the much lauded Edalyn Clawthorne? How interesting. Are you the apprentice, then?"

Camila laughed and Eda was startled by the realisation that it was fake. She knew it was fake because it wasn't at all like how Camila had looked up and her and laughed only minutes ago. Her breath caught in her throat—when had Camila stopped giving her a facsimile of affection and started to give her genuine smiles?

"I don't have the slightest bit of magical ability," Camila said. "I'm the apprentice's mother."

"Her mother! You must be so proud, considering her role in Emperor Belos' defeat and the whole mess that followed. Not to mention her fantastic luck snagging the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles as a mentor."

"Maude, shut up."

Dropping the pretence, Maude looked directly at Eda. She smiled and her eyes flickered to Camila. "I was just extolling your virtues to your new friend, Eda."

"Whatever."

"Eda?" Camila looked up at her, eyes hard behind her glasses. "You promised me another drink?"

"I'll do you one better," Eda said. "I'll get you a snack too."

"Give my regards to Raine!" Maude called out as they walked away and, without breaking stride, Eda flipped her the finger.

Beside her, Camila tensed and her grip on Eda's hand slackened. She didn't quite pull away, but she pretended to be deeply engrossed by the stalls beside her. She wasn't able to turn far enough away to hide her flush from Eda, though.

Eda squeezed her hand and tugged Camila gently until she was back to her side. "Stay close, remember?"

"Are you sure?" Camila asked, her face still turned away.

"Yeah, of course?" Eda's voice lifted the statement into a question and Camila looked up at her.

"Considering Raine?" she trailed off.

"What about them?" Eda asked. Her hand tightened on Camila's again and she had to consciously relax her grip when Camila winced. "I don't give a shit about what people think of me, so don't worry about Raine."

"If you're sure," Camila repeated. Eda just frowned at her until Camila squeezed her hand.

"I'm sure," Eda said. "Do you want something sweet or salty for your snack?"

"You should, you should tell me about the nine, the nine." Camila stumbled over her words, and the cobblestones, and she collided heavily into Eda. She giggled as Eda sluggishly brought her arms up to steady her.

"The nine what?" Eda asked, though she knew what Camila was trying to say.

"The nine whatevers of magic." She laughed again. "Why is it nine? Nine's not a lucky number, that's seven."

"What's human luck got to do with it? If you're so concerned about human luck, nine is three threes."

"But why nine whatevers?"

"Fucked if I know," Eda said. "You'd have to ask Liiiilyyy. My sister. She's really annoying."

"You're annoying," Camila said, not unkindly. "And I like you. I suppose I'd like your sister as well."

"You like me?"

"Sometimes. Not right now. You're not telling me about the nine whatevers so I don't like you right now."

Eda laughed. "If I got more beer, would you like me again?"

Camila stumbled to a halt and Eda jerked with her. Their hands were still entangled and Camila was also holding onto Eda's arm for balance, so when Camila moved, Eda didn't have any time to react. They were blocking the flow of traffic and Eda snickered to herself. Sober Camila would have pulled them to the side before stopping. Sober Camila could also think and walk at the same time, so they probably wouldn't have stopped at all.

"Maybe," Camila proclaimed after a long moment of contemplation. "If it's a big glass."

"Okay, okay." Eda tugged on Camila and got them walking again, though with their weaving and slow pace, they were more of an obstacle than when they were stationary. "It's easier to get booze where there's partying."

"Why is everyone partying? Is the music played by bards? Is that why everyone is dancing? Luz said bards can make people do things."

"Bards can do all sorts of things. A good bard can change the mood of an entire room, but we're not partying because of bards, we're partying because Belos is fucking six feet under, the ancient fuck."

"Cuz you beat him. You and Luz." Her nose wrinkled and her steps started to slow again. "You put Luz in danger."

"I tried not to!" Eda said. "I kept her out of it as long as I could! I didn't even tell her when I thought Raine got themself killed to protect me. It's just, she's Luz. I can't stop her from doing something she sets her mind to."

"Yeah. Neither can I." Camila laughed, bitter. "I don't know why I thought you could. Maybe because you're better with her than me."

"Nuh-uh." Eda stopped them, whirled Camila around until they were face to face and she shook her finger at Camila. It went wide and she accidentally hit Camila's nose. Camila just blinked at her. "We're being happy drunks tonight, not sad drunks! No being sad about Luz, got it? She's perfectly safe at home—at my house."

"Okay." Camila's eyes were wide and Eda realised she was being too intense.

"More beer!" Eda said and she pulled Camila through the crowd until they were back in the square.

There was a full band playing now and, while there hadn't been a hum of magic in the air when they first arrived, Eda could taste it now. She could feel it thrumming through her body, urging her to join the mass of witches and demons. It was a primal urge, one that even the owl beast responded positively to and it hated crowds. Eda could barely feel it inside of her beyond the haze of alcohol, something she once craved but now made her almost anxious. Would she even be able to become a harpy?

She pulled Camila closer to her. Best not find out the hard way.

"Beer!" Camila leaned across Eda's body and pointed. She overbalanced and her hand landed on Eda's chest as she fought to stay upright. Eda's heart thumped at the accidental groping. "Sorry!"

"Don't be." Eda's voice came out low and rough. She couldn't keep herself from slinging her arms around Camila's waist and pulling the woman closer.

Camila's eyes were wide, her pupils blown, and her breath was short and shallow. Her lips parted and Eda saw a flash of blunt teeth before her pink tongue wetted her lips. She wanted to kiss her, to feel that tongue against her own. Eda leaned down and Camila's hand began to slide up her chest.

There was a sharp impact between Eda's shoulder blades and she stumbled forward, her arms closing protectively around Camila to hold her upright. She whipped her head around and barked out a sharp, "Hey!"

"Oh, shit, sorry!" The witch held up both his hands. If it wasn't for the fact that he had two full beers, one trailing foam down over his arm, Eda thought he'd be holding his hands palms up in surrender. "I didn't see—you're the owl lady, aren't you?"

"What of it?" Eda growled.

"Nothing! It's just! You're a hero!" He looked awestruck. Eda didn't look at Camila, though she could feel the woman craning to look around Eda's body.

"If I'm a fucking hero, give me your booze."

"Oh! Yeah, of course!"

He thrust the mugs towards them and Eda was forced to drop her hold on Camila. The glass was slick with condensation and spilled beer and too large for Eda's hands. Camila took one from her and she started to drink in an obvious feigned disinterest in the conversation. Eda's shoulders itched in embarrassment anyway.

It didn't matter. As soon as the beer exchanged hands and he realised that Eda wasn't interested in his obsequiousness, the witch fled.

"I didn't think that would work," Eda said.

"You really are famous," Camila said. Her glass was already a quarter empty and Eda chugged to catch up before answering.

"I liked being infamous better."

"It can't be that bad. Everyone gives you free shit."

Eda screwed up her nose. "But people expect things from you when you're a famous 'hero' or some junk. I just want to be an outlaw again. No one expects anything from an outlaw."

"Well, I don't expect you to do anything heroic," Camila said. "And I can go back to thinking that you're going to steal my daughter again if that makes you feel any better."

Eda huffed out a laugh. "Not really, actually."

Camila nudged her. "Finish your drink. We're happy drunks, remember?"

Eda looked at her drink, which looked more than three quarters full. "You think I should chug this?"

"Are you saying that you can't?"

"Are you saying that you can?"

Camila raised an eyebrow, lifted the glass to her lips and tipped it back. Eda's eyes widened as Camila didn't stop drinking and Eda hastily started to chug, spluttering as the beer leaked out of her mouth and splattered on her chest.

Camila laughed into her own beer and she doubled over to cough. Eda let her choke and drank faster—with Camila's glass nearly empty, it was her only chance to catch up.

Tears were budded in Camila's eyes as she straightened up to polish off the last of her mug. She beat Eda, but it wasn't by much, and Eda gasped for breath as Camila resumed coughing.

"What the fuck was that?" Eda asked. "You've—have you been holdin' out on me? Only drinking a couple glasses of apple blood, pretending to be tipsy?"

Camila looked up at her and laughed through her coughing fit. She placed one hand on Eda's shoulder and pulled herself back upright. "I'm so fucking wasted."

"How did you learn to drink like that?"

"That's what impresses you?" Camila swayed into Eda and the empty glass in her hand pressed into Eda's chest. "The fact that I can chug beer? Edaaa, I was in college for, like, twelve years. Of course I can drink!"

"Twelve years?" Eda said. "Holy fuck, I didn't even go to any school for twelve years. Why am I teaching you things? You should be teaching me things."

"You're not teaching me things," Camila said. "You're not telling me anything about the nine whatevers!"

Tired of the cold glass against her chest instead of Camila's soft hand, and her own long abandoned in the crowd, Eda plucked the mug from Camila and shoved it into the hands of a passing demon. She ignored his protest and smirked as Camila's hand flattened over her chest. She wished she would move her hand down to cop a feel, but Eda could live with this.

"Okay, fine, I'll tell you about bard magic since you're so interested. You know why you're dancing right now?"

"I'm not dancing," Camila said. "The ground is unsteady and I'm compensating."

"You are," Eda said. "We both are. You're moving in time with the music. You can't not, not this drunk with this many bards playing. It takes serious willpower to resist a bard's manipulations. Can't you feel it in the air? That hum, like a live wire. The sensation that's raising the hairs on your arm."

Camila looked down, though her arms were covered by her bomber jacket. "It's cold out. It's fall."

"You're not cold," Eda said. The square was so thick with partygoers that it was muggy with heat. "It's the magic. You really want to feel bard magic? To feel what it does to you if you let it?"

"I don't know," Camila frowned. "I don't want to do something I don't want to do."

"You won't," Eda said. "I'll get us out of here if anyone tries something funny. This is fun bard magic. If you give yourself up to the dance, you'll see what I mean. You'll really feel magic then. Inside you, around you. Everywhere."

"Are you asking me to dance, Eda Clawthorne?"

"You asked me to teach you about magic. I'm teaching you about magic."

Camila smiled. "Teach me."

Eda pulled Camila deep into the crush of dancing witches until the air turned soupy with magic. Even an untrained human had to be able to feel the difference and, when she pulled Camila to her, her eyes were hazy with more than just alcohol.

"That." Eda bent down to speak into Camila's ear. "That's magic."

"Eda," Camila breathed. "I want." She shook her head as if to clear it. "I want," she tried again.

"Just let go," Eda said. "And dance with me."

Even though the magic beat at her, promising her a reprieve and freedom and everything she ever asked for, she didn't let it envelop her until she saw Camila lose herself in it. She waited until she saw Camila's lips upturn into a smile, then she tightened her arms around Camila and let herself be carried away.

Everything was Camila now. Camila and the magic coursing through them both, thick and heady. She had been concerned at first about losing track of Camila in the crowd, of letting the magic pull them apart and find different partners, but she didn't feel the urge. She just wanted to be with Camila, to keep her close even though Camila didn't seem to have any urge to drift away.

They danced until the music shifted from one of revelry to a slower, more romantic beat. Eda's heart thundered in her chest and Camila swayed closer, her eyes heavy lidded and intent.

Eda pulled away.

It was just the music, the magic, the beer and the sweets making Camila look at her that way. Nothing more, nothing less, and if Camila looked bereft by Eda's retreat, well, it was just the manipulation Camila had so feared.

Eda gave Camila a weak smile and she took her hand again. "These boots aren't made for dancing either."

She pulled them out of the crowd, though Camila resisted, caught up in the bards' spell. Eda cursed herself for her own arrogance, for encouraging Camila to let herself be drawn into the magic. What had she been thinking? She was just a human, one that only knew a few mathematical principles about magic and how to steer a staff. She didn't know how to pull away from bard magic, she didn't know how to separate her own desires from the crowd's.

Fuck, she had fucked up. Camila probably hadn't even wanted to dance with Eda at all, let alone how they had danced pressed together, almost sharing breath. She should have taken her back home, or pulled her back into the market proper once they got their beers. Fuck, fuck, she was going to be so mad once the magic released its hold.

Eda led them through the alleys again, a less circuitous route this time. She no longer wanted to tease Camila with glimpses of light and sound, she just wanted her free from the spell that kept her tugging at Eda's hand, urging her back to the mass of dancers. It wasn't until they rounded into a courtyard lit only by the near-full moon where the sound of the music was faint to Eda's ears, that Camila gasped and drew up short.

It was different from how she had tugged at Eda's hand before and Eda stopped with her, finally turning around to meet her eyes. They were wide and she blinked sluggishly, but her intoxication wasn't magic induced anymore.

Camila laughed, open and inviting. "You weren't kidding. I've never felt anything like that. I felt like I could dance forever."

"I think you humans have stories about that. About being lured away by music, never to be seen again."

"To dance until you die," Camila said. She smiled up at Eda, completely without care. Maybe it was just the alcohol, or maybe it was the wisps of music that travelled with the breeze clouding her judgement. "It's a good thing you were with me or I might have at least danced until morning. My feet are killing me and I didn't even notice until just now."

Eda's ached too and, despite her earlier excuse, she hadn't noticed until Camila's complaint.

"Bard magic is incredibly powerful if you aren't prepared for it. I'm sorry, I should have never—"

"It's fine." Camila stepped closer to Eda and placed her hand on Eda's chest, just above her heart, as had become habit for her this evening. Eda couldn't count how many times she had touched her like that. "You warned me and you got me out, just as you promised. I trust you."

Eda closed her hand over Camila's and took it from her chest. She wasn't willing to let Camila go, though, and she held her hand loosely between their bodies. "I'm not sure if you should."

"It's my choice to make."

"I guess it is," Eda said. "Do you want to head back?"

"God, we should, shouldn't we?" Camila tipped her head back and stared at the stars. "What time is it even? Luis is probably home, Luz better be asleep, but she probably isn't."

Eda summoned Owlbert and he hovered obediently, again at a height more suited to Camila than Eda. "Let's go harass the kids then."

Camila hesitated before sitting on the staff. "Are there laws against drunk flying?"

"No?" Eda said. "It's generally not advised, but I'm sure as fuck not walking. It'll be fine. Owlbert won't let us fall." She patted his head. "You're in charge of getting us home, buddy."

He hooted softly and Camila smiled. She wrapped her arms around Eda when she sat down, but her grip wasn't as desperate as it had been at the owl house and the head resting on Eda's back was tired, not terrified. She was quiet on the flight back, her breathing slow and steady.

"Hey," Eda said. "If you planned on falling asleep, you should have sat in front of me."

"Don't worry," Camila mumbled. "I'm just resting my eyes. I'm not going to fall asleep on you."

"You better not," Eda said. "The adrenaline rush of having to catch you would be a massive mood killer."

The lights were all off in the owl house as they approached, even in Luz's room, and Eda hovered outside of it to snoop.

Camila snooped too. "They're actually asleep."

"I can sneak in and get the portal key from Luz without waking her," Eda offered as they drifted to the ground.

Even drunk, Camila's second dismount was much smoother than her first. Eda steadied her anyway and kept her hand splayed out on Camila's back as they walked the handful of feet to the front door.

Hooty blinked tiredly at them.

"You two are late," he said. "I've been up for hours making sure Luz and Willow were safe in your absence."

Eda opened her mouth to snap something snarky at him, but Camila cut her off.

"And we thank you for that, Hooty," she said. "I would never have been able to relax if I hadn't known that you were here taking care of them."

"Well!" Hooty said and he gave Eda an arch look. "It's good to see that someone appreciates me."

Eda rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. You going to let us in? I'm tired."

A few of the candles lit as they stepped inside, just enough so that they wouldn't trip over the furniture. Not that they moved far enough into the room to trip over anything; once the door closed behind them, Eda's body was suffused with awkwardness.

"So? Do you want me to steal the portal key?"

Camila shook her head. "I don't want to see Luis."

"Okay," Eda said. "I don't really have a guest bedroom, but I can scrounge up some blankets for you and you can sleep on the couch. Or I could take the couch and you my nest. If that isn't too weird."

Camila took a step closer to Eda. "I don't want to be alone either."

"Oh. Well. I guess it's a big nest." Eda stepped back. "I, just, follow me."

They took a detour on the way to Eda's bedroom, taking turns in the bathroom. In Eda's room, Eda shifted and turned her gaze to the wall.

"Um, yeah. That's my nest. We could probably fit on the couch or I can take the divan and, you know, that makes more sense, I don't know why I didn't offer that first, we can go back—"

Camila placed her hand on Eda's wrist. "Your nest is fine. I'm still so drunk that I could sleep on stone floor."

"Okay," Eda said. She waved at the partition and winced at the clothes strewn across it. "I'll just change and find you something to sleep in."

She scuttled across the room and took a moment to compose herself once she was out of sight. What was she doing? What was Camila doing? Titan, what were they even thinking? She stripped out of her clothes, trying not to think at all.

It took some searching, but she found an old set of clothes in her wardrobe that were neither ripped nor stained and might fit Camila. She stepped out from behind the partition. "I got you some—oh!"

She blinked at Camila, who stood in front of her in her t-shirt and panties. The rest of her clothes were folded and placed neatly on the edge of Eda's nest, but Eda hardly noticed that. Her mouth felt dry as she took in the miles of shapely legs and the faint outline of Camila's nipples tenting her shirt.

"I, uh."

"I can sleep like this," Camila said.

"Um, I'll just." Eda set aside the clothes. She pulled rarely used bedding out from a chest and tossed it haphazard into the nest. Even with the breeze from the open window, she always felt too hot while she slept, but Raine had made it clear that her sleeping habits were unusual.

Camila climbed into the nest after Eda without complaint. She didn't say anything at all as she snuggled up to Eda, silent as Eda took the obvious hint and pulled Camila into her arms. Despite her deep and even breathing, she didn't drop straight into sleep.

Instead, after a long, quiet minute, she spoke. There was a hint of discontent in her voice and Eda couldn't help but hold her closer. "Can we stay here tomorrow?"

"Yeah, of course," Eda said. "As long as you want."

"Good." Camila's voice turned drowsy. "The realtor is showing my house tomorrow and I don't want to kill time at the mall."

She fell asleep almost before she had finished the sentence, faster than Eda thought possible. Despite her exhaustion and her lingering drunkenness, Eda was far from sleep. She couldn't slow her heart rate, not with how Camila's breath, smelling faintly of mint, washed over her. Not with how warm she felt with the heavy weight of the blanket over them and Camila so close.

The owl beast purred though, finally content in the quiet and security of being home with someone to share and help protect their nest.

Eda swallowed.

Chapter Text

Eda did end up sleeping, the alcohol and the contentedness of the owl beast lulling her to sleep as sweat pricked at her curve of her spine. She felt sticky when she awoke in the morning despite having kicked off the blankets sometime in the middle of the night and Camila's total absence. The bright, early morning light stabbed into her eyes and she groaned, rolling over to hide her face.

But the light was the least of her problems. Her stomach was roiling and her mouth was dry, the back of her tongue tasting faintly of acid. Every muscle in her body ached and her feet throbbed. Fuck, why had she drank so much?

Then she remembered what she had done. She pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes. Why hadn't she drank until she couldn't remember shit? Titan, she had been such an idiot, hanging on to Camila like that. She had fucking held her hand for most of the night, like they were on some sort of date and not a cultural exchange or magic lesson or whatever dumb fuck reason she had come up with to avoid sitting next to Camila on the couch last night.

Titan, she was so transparent. No one in their right mind would ever think that going to one of the sixty million Belos is dead parties would be less intimate than reading about math on a couch in the same house as two teenage girls. Who the hell did she think she was fooling, other than herself? From the way she hung onto her and looked up at her, her eyes heavy and wanting, Camila certainly thought it was a date.

She had wanted it. She had swayed into Eda, touched her chest and stared at her lips. Even if she was 'straight', she wouldn't have turned down Eda's advances. Not last night.

Not while she was drunk.

Fuck. She was so fucked. If she had wanted to put distance between them, she should have kissed Camila last night, should have done more than keep her hands chastely at her waist while they slept together. But instead Eda was grateful that, even wasted with a pretty woman plastered over her, she had kept the sense of mind to not kiss her. To not bed her again. It wouldn't have been right, even if they had been both so drunk that it wasn't as if Camila could have accused her of taking advantage.

She just didn't want Camila to hate her. She wanted to take her hand and kiss her in the cold light of morning, with no music teasing them into action. She wanted to ask her out on a proper, actual date. One where she didn't steal their food and drinks. One where she bought all the pretty baubles Camila had been enchanted by instead of urging her to a new stall.

She was so, so fucked. Camila was married and in self-denial about the dumbest of things and she was Luz's mother and Eda had just broken up with Raine.

But Eda could hear the faint traces of Camila's voice through the floorboards and her heart wouldn't slow. She hadn't left. She hadn't woken up, went to Luz's room and portalled back to the human realm. Even the owl beast was happy, only straining against the cage of Eda's will to go downstairs and run their fingers through Camila's hair.

Eda downed her morning elixir after she dragged herself out of her nest. Even if they were in agreement at this one moment, it didn't mean that things couldn't change. That she couldn't change, to grow wings and talons and settle into a form that felt more and more natural every time she used it.

It wasn't something she wanted to contemplate, not now when she was so hungover that standing brought bile to the back of her throat, and not ever if she could manage it. Camila was a human after all. Sharp teeth and pointy ears were exotic, but claws and black-rimmed eyes were monstrous. She'd have no chance at all if Camila knew what she really was.

Which was not a harpy. She was a prematurely ageing witch with a curse. She wasn't some sort of witch-demon hybrid, just a witch with a demon inside her.

A witch that was still a bit drunk, if the way the floor seemed to buckle under her feet was any indication. She had a few spare vials of hangover relief potion in her cabinet, though she added that to her to do list as she picked up two vials. One she unstoppered and drank immediately, the other she tucked into her hand. It was safe for human consumption—she had looked into it shortly after Luz had moved in, expecting that the kid would be more like her and prone to drinking in excess—and Camila would likely appreciate the pick-me-up.

Eda was silent as she padded her way downstairs, still in her pyjamas with slippers covering her feet. Camila had already seen her like this last night; it was too late to play at being cool. And, even if her head no longer throbbed with every heartbeat, she was too exhausted and hungry to bother getting dressed for at least another hour.

"You look really tired, mom." Luz's voice floated out of the kitchen. She sounded worried and Eda frowned. It just figured that she would wake up after the teenagers.

"Like I said, Eda and I were up late last night studying." Camila sounded rough, gravelly from sleep, and Eda's heart lurched.

When she rounded the corner, she saw that Luz had been right—Camila did look tired, mostly because she looked very hungover. She was squinting even though she had her back to the window and standing out of the sun in front of the stove, where something sizzled and made Eda's stomach growl. Whatever it was, Luz and Willow were sitting at the table and largely engrossed by their meal. They were facing the window, and away from Eda, so they neither saw her lingering in the doorway.

Camila did and her expression was unreadable. Eda fought to keep her smile from dimming as she held up the vial and wiggled it invitingly.

Camila didn't frown, but she didn't smile back either as she crossed the room. Eda ducked around the corner and Camila followed. A grin broke across Camila's face as soon as they were out of sight from the kitchen.

"Good morning." Camila's tired eyes sparkled.

Eda pressed the vial into Camila's hand and closed Camila's fingers over it. "Here," she whispered. "Drink it. It will help."

Camila looked down at the vial, and Eda's hand, still wrapped around her own. "Is this how you're so cheery this morning?"

"Why wouldn't I be in a good mood? I woke up to find breakfast, and you still in my house." She let go of Camila's hand, but only so that she could rub a smudge of mascara from under Camila's eye. This close, she could smell the faint traces of beer clinging to Camila's skin. The owl beast, though, was captivated solely by Camila's scent, not quite masked by the beer, and urged Eda to step forward, to press her nose to the crook of Camila's neck and breathe deeply. Eda's heart softened in sympathy—Camila was hiding it well, but she had to be suffering.

Camila's breath quickened and her eyelashes fluttered. "Eda," she breathed, voice full of warning even as she leaned into Eda's touch.

Eda pulled back. "You had a spot."

Camila turned back to the vial in her hand. "So I just drink it straight?"

"It's a bit bitter so you might want to wash it down after, but yeah, you just drink it straight."

She didn't hesitate before tipping it into her mouth, though her face twisted into a scowl as she swallowed. "A bit bitter?"

"My tolerance for horrid tasting potions might be a bit higher than most, what with my curse and all." Eda shrugged. "But how are you feeling? Better, right?"

Camila let out a slow breath, almost laughing. "Yeah, actually. I feel great. God, I might be tempted to start drinking again if I had more of these. I haven't been able to drink without a wicked hangover since I was in my twenties."

"You know where to find them." Eda winked. "And I might know where you can find a drinking buddy."

"It's dangerous, drinking with you."

"But fun though, right?" Eda balled her skirt up into her hands to keep herself from reaching out for Camila.

Camila smiled. "I haven't had fun like that for years."

"I'm glad," Eda said. "I'd hate for you to regret anything."

"Eda," Camila started, but she trailed off, seemingly having nothing to say. She swallowed and kept looking up at Eda, her eyes pleading.

Eda reached out a hand and cupped Camila's upper arm.

"Camila."

"Mom!" Luz said. "The food is starting to burn!"

"Fuck," Camila breathed and stepped away. Her face was twisted and the look she gave Eda was full of fear.

Bereft, Eda followed her back into the kitchen. For that handful of seconds, she had been so certain that Camila would have accepted her kiss. But now, with that look? She couldn't touch Camila again. She didn't think she could take another scene like the one in Camila's dark hallway. Not anymore. Not unless she wanted her heart ripped asunder.

Eda vowed to go back to avoiding Camila.

Her resolve crumbled with the weekend. On Monday morning, Camila followed Luz through the portal, giving Eda a single day's grace to compartmentalise her growing feelings.

She hadn't, of course. Her heart beat as fast as it had on Saturday morning when she met Camila's eyes. Titan, and she was in her pyjamas again, her hair a rat's nest of tangles from a sleepless night. She knew she was staring dumbly at Camila, who was dressed and ready for the workday, but she couldn't stop herself. Not when Camila gave her a small smile.

Grabbing Eda into a hug, Luz pulled her away from her idiocy.

Eda grunted. "What's this for?"

"I missed you," Luz said, and gave Eda another squeeze before bouncing back.

"You saw me two days ago," Eda said. "How could two days possibly be enough time to miss someone?"

That was fucking rich, considering how much her heart had swelled when she saw Luz—and Camila, but that was a different kind of stupidity—walk through the portal.

"I know you missed me too," Luz said. "When's King coming back? I miss him."

"Tomorrow, maybe." Eda shrugged. "He was supposed to only be gone for a week, but you know titans."

"Sure do," Luz said, even though she did not. Which was fair, since it wasn't as if Eda knew titans either. "I hate to run, but I have to get to Hexside. Willow and I have to get our project set up before class."

"Have fun, mija," Camila said. Luz gave her a hug too and, all too soon, she was gone, leaving Eda alone with Camila.

She shifted, transferring her weight between feet as she tried not to give Camila longing looks. "So what's up?"

"Feel like giving me another magic lesson at lunch?"

Eda blinked. She hadn't thought that Camila would want another lesson. She had thought that Camila would do what Eda wanted to do, which was hide in her house forever and not talk to another woman ever again.

"Sure," she said. "I can think of something."

"That would be great." Camila lingered at the portal and, through it, Eda could hear the clatter of cutlery. The husband was home.

"Do you want to have breakfast?" Eda asked. "I have nothing prepared, but—"

"I would," Camila blurted. "If it wouldn't be any trouble."

"No, I can at least scrounge up some toast." Eda shrugged again and Camila closed the portal, cutting off the sound of her husband. The tension faded from her shoulders and Eda's brow furrowed. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Camila said, too fast.

"You don't have to be," Eda said. "We're not drunk anymore, the moratorium on being happy is over."

Camila barked out a startled laugh. "I really am fine. Mostly."

"Let's go to the kitchen," Eda said. "We can talk while I make toast."

Eda didn't just make toast and Camila didn't just sit and watch, chopping whatever ingredients Eda set in front of her and cleaning as they went. But they didn't speak either, not until they sat across from each other and waited for their food to cool.

"So?" Eda asked, when it became clear that Camila wasn't going to speak of her volition.

"I don't know," Camila said. "It's dumb."

"I do lots of dumb shit. Tell me."

"Luis didn't even say anything when I came home with Luz on Saturday." Camila speared a hash brown with her fork. "I don't know what I was expecting him to say, but I guess I didn't think it would be nothing at all?"

"It is shit that he didn't say anything at all," Eda said. "You were gone all night and it's not like you told him in advance. If he was decent, he would have been at least a little worried about you, even if it was obvious that you were here with me. And Luz."

"Yeah. Maybe. But it's not like I care when he doesn't come home without telling me."

Eda snorted. "You know exactly what he's doing, though."

"Fucking around," Camila said. The 'like I was' hung unspoken in the air between them.

"For how long?" Eda asked. "If you don't mind me asking. You're very calm about it."

Camila shrugged. "The better part of ten years? I've always known, but I've never cared. I know what you're thinking, but it's not like I'm some sort of sad woman being conned by a cheating husband. It just never mattered to me. In a way, I felt relieved. That I didn't have to be there for him in that way."

Eda kept her expression neutral. It wasn't as if she was surprised that Camila didn't give a fuck that her husband slept around. "But it's not an open relationship?"

"No," Camila said. "We've never discussed it and I don't think he knows I know so, no."

Eda desperately wanted to ask if that was something she ever planned on discussing with him. Not because Camila being in an open relationship would mean anything for Eda's non-relationship with Camila—Eda honestly didn't give a shit either way about the ethics of it all and the hypothetical of dating Camila seemed less appealing if Camila was in an open relationship than if she was cheating.

That was probably sick. There was something broken inside of Eda and the fact that the owl beast agreed with that sentiment only confirmed it.

"It's so fucked up," Camila said. "I'm fucked up."

Eda reached across the table and covered Camila's hand. "Hey, no, you're not. You're really, really not. Relationships are always a bit of a disaster."

Tears budded in Camila's eyes and she dashed them away. "I'm just more of a disaster than most."

"You can't possibly be more of a disaster than me," Eda said. "Ask anyone. I'm the biggest fuck up of them all."

Camila laughed. "You have people tripping over themselves to give you free drinks. Somehow I doubt that you're even remotely a fuck up at all."

"I did one good thing for selfish reasons and put everyone I love in danger in the process. I'm a lucky fuck up, that's all."

"Well." Camila glanced at her phone. "Luis should have left for work by now."

"Time to head back?" Eda's hand tightened on Camila's for a moment before Eda pulled away.

"Soon, but not yet. I have a later start than him."

"Good. You should eat your breakfast. I might not give you enough time to eat lunch."

Camila smiled. "You're going to be a strict teacher today? One that doesn't take naps or impromptu field trips?"

"Oh, shut up." Eda scowled.

The next day, when Camila stepped through the portal at noon, Eda couldn't bring herself to turn away from the front window.

"He's not back yet?" Camila rested her hand on Eda's back for a second, a featherlight touch that Eda barely registered before it was gone.

"No." Eda forced a smile on her face, which wavered when she saw the understanding in Camila's eyes. "But I'm not expecting him to be back today, not really. You know how titans are."

"But I don't," Camila said. "I don't even know how witches are different from humans, other than the obvious ears and teeth."

Eda couldn't be certain, but she was sure Camila had coloured as she said teeth, so she flashed her a toothy grin.

"Yes, those," Camila said. "It's strange, though, just from looking, you can hardly tell that they're wickedly sharp."

"You can feel them, if you like. Test their wickedness," Eda couldn't help but say. Her grin grew even wider as Camila flushed in earnest.

"I'll pass," Camila said, though her eyes lingered on Eda's mouth.

"Your loss. So do you want to learn about the biological and sociological differences between the four races today?"

"Yes, absolutely!"

She was still flushed, which only made her more appealing as she beamed up at Eda. Eda's heart thudded in her chest and she ached to touch Camila.

So she did, a small touch to the woman's forearm to guide her to the couch. She was so warm, her skin so soft and Eda never wanted to stop touching her.

When they sat down, Eda tucked herself into the far corner of the couch. "Did you eat already?"

"Not yet." Camila reached across the coffee table and snagged her fingers through her purse strap. "I brought you lunch as well. King too, but you can save that for him. Or eat it yourself."

"He snoozed, he losed." Eda made grabby motions for one of the containers, the sides opaque from condensation.

"It's a bit hot," Camila warned. "And we'll need utensils—stay there, I'll get us some."

Eda may have lingered a bit long on her appraisal of Camila's butt, but how could she not? Camila had taken her jacket off and her thin pants had pulled tight against her ass as she walked.

The smile she gave Eda when she walked into the room was soft and not at all teasing. Eda swallowed—how could Camila be so oblivious to the effect she had on her? And when had Camila become so comfortable in her house that she just got up and found the utensil drawer without having to search?

When she sat down, it was closer to Eda than before, near enough that her feet nearly brushed Eda's.

"Thanks," Eda said. She kept her face tucked down, not wanting Camila to read the desire written on her face, and also because lunch was leftovers and they smelled delicious. "So where do you want to start with the human/witch/demon/titan biology lesson?"

"I know we were talking about titans, but witches, I think. It seems like it might be an easier starting point."

Eda nodded. "It's not like anyone knows shit about titans. Apart from King's dad." She coughed and looked away when Camila's face turned too sympathetic. "Witches are a good starting point. There's less variance unless we start getting into witch/demon hybrids."

"So—oh lord, this sounds awful—interspecies breeding between witches and demons is possible?"

"Yeah, of course." Eda shrugged. "Same with witches and humans, at least so the rumour goes. Belos' brother apparently knocked up some witch back in the day—you can do all sorts of things with magic."

Eda wiggled her fingers and Camila's eyebrows knit together. "Is that how Willow looks like both of her dads? Magic assisted same-sex reproduction?"

"Got it in one," Eda said. "It's a bit more difficult when you're talking about two cis men having a kid without using a surrogate, but it's doable. It's dead easy with two cis women."

"How easy?"

Eda frowned. Camila looked so weird, nervous even. "It's a pretty basic spell? I used to use a variant of it all the time to get the fun parts, not the baby making parts."

"Eda?"

"Yes?"

"How concerned about this do I need to be?"

Eda stared at her. "I can't even cast that spell anymore and you would have noticed if I had when we—"

"Not about us!" Camila cut in. "About Luz and Amity!"

"Oh," Eda said. "Not very? I told you, I gave Luz the updated sex talk to account for, y'know, witches when she started dating Amity and that kid's parents are even more intense than she is. I very highly doubt that she would fuck up the spell and knock Luz up. Or accidentally knock herself up."

"Are they already having sex?" Camila's eyes were wide.

"I don't think so?" Eda said. "Luz is not very subtle, we would both know if they were. Probably."

"You don't know? Eda, they're constantly at this house together!"

"It's not like I monitor them!"

"You don't—Eda!"

"What?" Eda said. "If I don't give them privacy here, they'll just sneak off to the forest to canoodle or something stupid like that. Not that I'm speaking from experience or anything like that."

"I, okay, that is worse, but they're fourteen. They're much too young to be having sex!"

"Eh, I was barely thirteen when I lost my v-card and I turned out fine." Eda waved her hand dismissively. "And we've already established that Luz is not like me—she hasn't stolen any of my booze or my weed. You're worrying over nothing. Luz is a good kid, she's not going to rush into things."

"Eda, please." Camila touched Eda's foot, which she couldn't feel because she was wearing boots. "Just don't let them have unfettered range of the house, okay? For my peace of mind?"

"Okay," Eda said. "For what it's worth, I never left them alone-alone. King was always around and, believe me, that rascal is a pretty good cockblock."

Camila buried her face in her hands. "Please stop talking."

After their disastrous sex talk, where Eda had to spell out every single biological difference between witches and humans and the circumstances under which conception was possible and which STDs were transmittable between species—not that Eda had a clue about that, which only made Camila more frustrated with her—Eda figured that magic lessons were over.

But Camila kept showing up at noon sharp and didn't stop coming over in the morning for the rest of the week, always lingering on Eda's side of the portal until Eda asked her if she wanted to stay. By Friday, Eda stopped asking and waited for her with an extra mug of coffee in hand.

As soon as the door closed behind Luz, Camila had her hand on Eda's arm and was looking up into Eda's eyes. "Are you okay? You look so tired."

"King's not back yet," Eda said, too exhausted to temper her words or to hide her anxiety. "I knew it would be a week plus or minus a few days—and that plus was more likely than minus—but it's been ten days now."

"And you miss him."

Camila's hand slid down Eda's arm and she laced their fingers together. Eda's hand closed convulsively over hers and Eda hated that she was too anxious to enjoy the feeling of Camila's thumb drawing slow, soothing circles. Camila so very rarely initiated contact like that—she was willing to touch Eda, and did so more often than Eda's heart could handle, but they were always careful little touches, always hard to be construed as anything more than friendly.

"So much," Eda admitted. Her exhaustion and Camila's touch had destroyed any filter. "I am so sorry for my part in doing this to you with Luz."

Camila's smile was weak. "I won't lie to you and say that it's okay. I don't think I'll ever be okay with what you both did."

Eda's eyes closed and her head bowed. "I know. That's fair. I'm not asking for forgiveness, Titan knows I don't deserve it."

"I might not be okay with it, but I can live with it," Camila said. "Luz is so much happier now and you kept her safe for me."

"Thank you." Eda could feel hot tears prickling at her eyes and she squeezed them shut even tighter.

"You need to get some sleep," Camila said. She tugged on Eda with their conjoined hands and Eda didn't have to open her eyes to know that Camila was leading her to the couch.

"Fat chance of that happening," Eda muttered as Camila urged her to sit with gentle hands on Eda's shoulders. Despite her words, she went down willingly. "The coffee came from my second pot of the day."

"Eda," Camila sighed. When she guided Eda to lie down on the couch, Eda was surprised when her head settled onto Camila's lap.

"Don't you have work?" Eda asked, opening one eye and tilting her head up to look at Camila.

"I have half an hour," Camila said. "I bet if you close your eyes, you'll be asleep by the time I have to leave."

She nudged Eda until she closed her eye and her hands carded through Eda's hair.

"I thought you said no more naps."

"That was your idea, not mine. You're the one that wanted to be a strict teacher. Not that you managed that; half the time we talk about anything other than magic."

"Magic theory is boring. You can't expect me to talk about it for an entire hour."

"Uh huh," Camila said. "Well, right now I want you to talk about nothing at all, you think you can manage that?"

"Yeah, sure," Eda said and yawned. "But don't expect me to actually fall asleep."

Chapter Text

Eda blinked awake to find Camila looking down at her, a weird smile on her face.

"I told you I wouldn't get any sleep," Eda said. "Good effort, though. You almost got out of here without me noticing."

"Eda, it's noon."

"What?" Eda pushed herself upright and her stiff body groaned in protest. She stretched until a few of her joints popped back into place. None on her right arm even so much as cracked—they were all, disconcertingly, already in their proper places. "It can't be." But when she looked around, the shadows had shifted.

Camila sat down on the coffee table in front of her and their knees knocked together. "You feeling better now?"

"I guess?" Eda rubbed grit from her eyes. "Shit, I was going to teach you things. What were we talking about last time?"

"The interactions between the core elements that drive all spellcasting, the implications of only four basic glyphs and the effect that would have on current elemental theory," Camila said promptly.

Eda stared at her. "Did I use any of those words? That doesn't sound like me."

"I may have extrapolated."

"'May'." Eda snorted.

"I have some questions."

Camila took a notebook out of her bag, one Eda was familiar with by this point. Inside, it was half scrapbook, half planner. Camila had called it a bullet journal. It was certainly full of bullet points about magic theory interspersed with grocery lists and her work schedule.

"Fire away," Eda said. She slumped back onto the couch and her legs slid between Camila's. It hadn't been intentional, but the way Camila's eyes darkened momentarily made Eda wish it had. Wish she had drawn out the motion a little, let her legs rub against Camila's.

That would have been a bad idea.

That didn't mean Eda didn't want it.

"If there are four basic glyphs—fire, light, ice and plant—was there a difference in utility and power of a witch under Belos' regime who was sworn into, say, the oracle coven versus the plant coven? Given that oracle magic must be a combination of different types of magic and plant magic is solely plant magic, would an oracle coven member be able to tap into the distinct elements that make up their magic track?"

Eda stared at Camila. She was not awake enough for this, she was barely awake enough to follow Camila's train of thought. "I, maybe? I was never part of a coven and no one I knew really fought against it like that. Raine, maybe, but they were never very interested in studying outside of bard magic."

Camila's shoulders hunched and her smile faltered for a moment before her face evened out again. Eda was much too tired to try to parse that and she just blinked slowly as Camila talked, her words coming out in a rush. "But in theory? Hypothetically? You said yesterday that the basic elements of spellcasting don't align with glyph magic, but if all magic is just manipulating with island's magic with witches just adding a boost from their own personal power or their spell circles forming the glyphs for them—"

Eda's head was swimming. How had Camila even worked out any of this? Had Eda even mentioned anything about the basic elements of spellcasting? She couldn't even remember the basic elements of spellcasting. It was just draw circle and will your intentions into reality. Bile sac does the rest.

Camila was still talking, still leaning forward with her eyes sparkling as she gestured. Eda had lost the conversational thread—if it could even be called a conversation, when Camila was doing all the talking—and, when Camila paused, resting her hands on her knees and looking at Eda, Eda may have panicked. Just a little bit.

"Why are you really here?"

Camila's brow wrinkled and, even though she was feeling slow on the uptake, Eda noticed the faint blush rising on her cheeks. She hadn't expected that. "To learn about magic?"

"No, really?" Eda sat up and Camila's flush grew darker. Camila didn't move away, despite how Eda was too close to be strictly friendly. "You can't possibly be this interested in the underpinnings of magic, no one is. Not even my sister. So why are you here?"

"I told you," Camila sputtered. "It's something Luz is interested in and I felt like I should know something about it too and—"

"And why not just ask her? It would make for good mother/daughter bonding." Eda leaned forward. The way Camila's chest was rising and falling with her rapid breathing was distracting, but Eda found herself more interested in watching how her eyes had widened and how her pupils had overtaken much of the rich brown. "Why is it me that you linger to see in the morning, why is it me that you come to see at lunch?"

"You know why," Camila said, her voice unsteady. "Eda, don't play coy with me, please don't tease me."

"Have you ever considered." Eda didn't like how rough her voice sounded, but she supposed it was just the inevitable side effect of being freshly pulled from sleep. "That you might be the one teasing me?"

"God dammit Eda," Camila said.

Before Eda had a chance to formulate a response, Camila was in her lap, her hands tangled in her hair, and she had tugged Eda down into a bruising kiss.

Eda gasped into her mouth, startled by Camila's intensity, and Camila's tongue was darting past her lips moments later. Camila shivered and Eda remembered her fascination with her teeth and the way she sometimes watched her mouth when she spoke.

Titan, what was she doing? Camila was literally on top of her and she was just sitting there like a moron. She wasn't even touching her, even though Camila was running one of her hands down Eda's chest. The other was at the back of Eda's head, keeping her from pulling away from the kiss.

Pulling away from the kiss was the last thing on Eda's mind. Not that there was anything at all happening in her head right now, just an endless litany of Camila, lap, tongue in mouth, hand on boob.

Camila was going to pull away if Eda didn't respond instead of gaping like a moron. Which Eda wasn't, a moron that is, she was just tired and surprised and a little overwhelmed. She couldn't remember the last time a woman climbed into her lap on this couch.

She probably—definitely—was a little too enthusiastic when she finally managed to figure out how her limbs worked again. Camila squeaked into the kiss when Eda's hands landed on her ass and pulled her until their chests were flush, crushing Camila's hand between their bodies.

That squeak kick-started something in Eda's brain and had her twisting until she had Camila pinned on the couch. It meant that she had to stop groping Camila's ass, which was a shame, her work pants were a thin cotton and Eda had been able to feel the outline of her panties and the soft warmth of her skin.

But it did mean that her breasts were accessible and Eda tugged at Camila's shirt until it was rucked up over her chest. The compression sports bra kept Eda from reaching what she wanted, but the way Camila's chest heaved under Eda's touch made up for it.

She was too busy kissing Camila to care, too busy swallowing her gasps and moans as she clutched at Eda, trying to bring them even closer together. Titan, she was so soft, even while digging her nails so desperately into Eda's clothes she wondered if she was going to rip them.

Not that Eda cared. It would make it easier, make Camila more willing to escalate beyond making out on the couch for the rest of the hour. Maybe if she was charming enough, Camila would spend the rest of the afternoon with Eda. Skive off work for sex. It would only be fair, Eda had watched plenty of human medical dramas. She knew exactly what surgeons did in their downtime.

Camila's thoughts seemed in line with Eda's. She had given up on tearing through the dress—a shame, really, Eda always liked it when her clothes were torn off, but she supposed that was a bit of a tall ask for a human—and had her hands underneath, skating up the back of Eda's thighs.

"Eda." Camila pulled back from the kiss with a gasp. "Why the fuck are you always wearing pantyhose?"

"Because it's hot?" Eda said. Which was true, but she certainly wasn't going to say that it was hot because the alternative was wandering around with pale chicken legs.

"It's frustrating."

"Too much talking."

Eda kissed Camila again, though she was distracted by the way Camila's hands were seeking the hem of her pantyhose and the way she squirmed beneath her. So distracted that she hadn't realised the intent of the squirming until Camila had her flipped over—flipped over and off the couch, with Camila following.

The wind was knocked out of Eda as her back crashed into the rug and Camila landed on top of her. Camila struggled to rise, but, even as Eda gasped for air, she kept her arms around Camila, preventing her from getting far.

"Eda, oh my god, I'm so sorry." Camila certainly looked sorry, but Eda didn't care about that. She also looked aroused, her cheeks flushed, her glasses knocked askew and her hair ruffled.

"I'm fine," Eda growled. "Now get back here."

It didn't take much urging for Camila to lower herself onto Eda, her desire over-weighing whatever guilt she felt for toppling them off the couch. Which should be none; Eda had fallen from heights greater than two feet before and under far less pleasant circumstances.

Plus, with Camila on top, it was easier for Eda to get Camila's shirt off. She was just starting to admire her handiwork when Hooty slithered up over Camila's shoulder, his eyes squeezed shut.

"Uh, guys?"

Camila let out a short scream and covered her chest. Eda sat up and pulled Camila to her, even if she was being ridiculous. She was still wearing a sports bra for Titan's sake, that was normal gym attire.

"What the fuck, Hooty?"

"Jeez, so rude! I'm only doing what you asked and letting you know that I saw King and his dad heading this way."

Camila stiffened and Eda ran a hand down her back.

It didn't help. If anything, it made it worse—Camila had started to tremble.

"Hooty, go distract King!" Eda barked and, eyes wide, Hooty rushed to obey, slamming the front door shut in his haste.

Maybe it wasn't helping, but she couldn't stop herself from pulling Camila closer to her. Camila didn't push her away, so it couldn't be hurting—she knew damn well that Camila had no compunction about shoving Eda away.

"Camila?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Camila stood up though she hadn't stopped trembling. She didn't seem fine and Eda scrambled to her own feet, taking Camila's shirt with her.

"Here." Eda held out the shirt and gnawed on her lip as Camila struggled to put it on.

"Don't," Camila snapped as Eda reached out. "Don't touch me!"

Eda stepped back. "I'm sorry. Look, I can go out with Hooty and distract King while you put yourself together."

"No, I'm fine," Camila repeated.

"I, okay," Eda said. "If you don't want King to know what we were doing, you should fix your hair. And you have lipstick, uh, everywhere."

"It's not—Luz can't know about this." Camila rubbed at her mouth, only managing to smear the lipstick further.

"I know, it's okay, she won't. She's still at school, remember? King won't even find out, I promise. He's pretty oblivious to this sort of thing." Eda couldn't stop herself from edging closer to Camila. "Here, let me help with that. And my lipstick must be a mess, can you fix that for me?"

Being given a task seemed to calm Camila, something that Eda took note of. "Your hair is a mess too."

Eda shrugged. "That's always a disaster."

She was careful as she removed the lipstick from Camila's face, a much easier task with the makeup remover wipes she kept in her hair. Camila wasn't much help in fixing Eda's—she had reverted to trembling and staring as soon as Eda's hand cupped her chin.

"Better," Eda said as she fluffed Camila's hair back into a semblance of order. "No one would ever guess that you had just rolled me off a couch."

That was a lie, but Eda needed Camila to calm down. She stepped back from Camila and blotted the last of her lipstick off her own lips with the same wipe. "Did I get it all?"

"Yeah." Camila's eyes were wide and she tracked Eda's every movement as Eda reapplied her lipstick.

"Good," Eda said, and she tucked away all the evidence into her hair, which, yes, she could tell without looking was mussed. "Now let's sit back down on the couch and act like we have spent the last half hour doing nothing but talk about incredibly boring magic bullshit."

Camila flushed bright red as she looked at the couch, but she sat down anyway. "So, what do we talk about since magic theory is so boring?"

"Oh, Titan, I don't know." Eda dropped down onto the couch beside Camila, careful to maintain a friendly distance between them. "You can't expect me to have kept any thoughts in my mind after you climbed onto my lap and kissed me like that."

Camila's shoulders hunched up around her ears. "We can't talk about that."

"I know, I know!" Eda said. "You just... you have to give me a minute. Titan, this is just like Hexside, when Bump would catch me and Raine 'studying'."

Camila looked away and chewed at her lip. In a small voice, she asked, "You could just answer my earlier question?"

"I don't remember that. I don't think I was even listening in the first place, like, fuck Camila, you're really overestimating my ability to focus on boring shit when there's something far more interesting to think about."

"Like what?" She looked so genuinely confused that Eda could only stare at her.

"Like how you—"

"Eda? Camila?" The door slammed open and King stood panting in the doorway, dwarfed by the hulking form of his father behind him. Camila shrank back, widening the distance between her and Eda until it became suspiciously large. "Oh. You're not fighting? Hooty said you're fighting."

King looked put out and Eda looked past him to Hooty, where he squirmed in the approximation of a shrug. What the hell had he thought an appropriate distraction was?

"We're not fighting." Camila stood up.

Eda stayed on the couch.

"That's good," King said and swaggered into the house. "Because Luz would be really disappointed if you were fighting."

"We were just debating," Eda said, scrambling for a believable lie. "There was a paper published last week about the applications of glyph magic when applied to the traditional witch spellcasting and Camila had opinions on it."

That was a paper, written by Lilith, and Eda had plodded through it. Eda hadn't mentioned it to Camila, though, and she whipped around to give Eda a hard look. Eda widened her eyes and compressed her lips at her.

"Boring," King said.

"It was very riveting," Eda said dryly. "I disagreed with the author on all points, but Camila does not and she gets a bit unreasonable when you tell her she's wrong about something."

"I get unreasonable?" Camila asked. "You're the one unwilling to consider any other side."

King's father cleared his throat. "Not to interrupt the reopened debate, but would you mind if I helped King put away his stuff?"

"Yeah, go ahead." Eda waved her hand absently and watched as Camila's expression never wavered, even as King's father managed to fit his improbably large bulk through the door. She was handling it better than Eda did herself—the way his body rippled with magic as he shrunk down—or made the owl house expand to fit him. It was nauseating.

The living room felt small with him inside, his horns nearly scraping the ceiling, and he edged very carefully around the coffee table. King remained where he was, looking between Eda and Camila, and Eda frowned at him.

"Are you going to make your dad do all the work?"

"It's no trouble—"

"No, I can help!" King cut his dad off, his eyes wide.

Camila dropped onto the coffee table with a thud once King and his father were out of the room, her face pale. Eda wasn't sure if her nerves were from almost getting caught or how much larger King's father managed to look inside than he had out in the clearing in front of the owl house, even if he was physically smaller. Maybe.

"Camila?" she asked and Camila lifted a staying hand. She turned to Hooty then and hissed, "Hooty, why the fuck did you tell King that we're fighting?"

He slithered in, staying low to the ground. "I panicked, okay?"

"Why do you always have to be the opposite of helpful?"

"You could cut him some slack, Eda," Camila said, and Hooty telescoped up beside her. She patted him on the head. "He did warn us in the first place."

"I guess it could have been worse," Eda said. "I probably would have had your bra off when King and his dad walked in."

"Eda!" Camila whisper-yelled.

"Can't you hear them walking around upstairs?" Eda rolled her eyes. "They're not going to sneak up on us."

"Still, can you just... not?" Camila wrung her hands together in her lap.

"Okay." Eda laid a hand on Camila's knee, purely aiming to be reassuring, but Camila jumped back like she was burned and shot Eda an earth-scorching glare. Eda pulled back and lifted both hands in surrender.

"Shit, I'm sorry." Camila's shoulders slumped and Hooty rested his head in her lap as she continued to pet him. Eda doubted that she even realised that she was petting him. "I should go."

"No!" Eda blurted and Camila started, her eyes going wide. Eda flushed. "It, it would be more suspicious if you did, don't you think? King knows you stay for your entire lunch break."

Camila twisted, but her purse—and her phone—were out of reach. None of the clocks in Eda's house bore the right time. Earlier this week, Camila had accidentally spent an extra half hour at Eda's house and, blaming Eda's clocks, she had set an alarm on her phone. She turned to look at Eda, but Eda just raised her eyebrows, daring Camila to lie and say their hour was up already.

She sighed. "Can we just do nothing for the rest of the hour, then?"

"Fine by me," Eda said and she stretched out on the couch. "I'm always game for doing nothing."

"She is," Hooty said. "She once spent an entire week doing nothing."

Eda closed her eyes. "Hooty, stop betraying my secrets."

They sat in silence—well, Eda was laying down with her eyes closed and definitely not falling asleep—until King clattered down the stairs, his father in slow, heavy footed pursuit. Eda sat up just in time to see King skid into the living room and stare at them again.

"Stop thinking that we're going to breakout into a full fledged brawl," Eda said.

"I don't think you're going to actually lay hands on each other," King rolled his eyes.

Eda couldn't help exchanging a glance with Camila, who flushed bright red and looked away. Camila had, in fact, laid hands on Eda. More than once. And Eda wouldn't deny her culpability in egging her on.

And also for laying hands on Camila in a much more pleasant setting. One that Eda was very eager to recreate.

"We weren't even fighting, King." Camila paused. "Not really."

King still looked skeptical, even when his father's large hand pressed down on his skull. "Academic debates are good things to have, King. They keep the mind sharp."

"And that's important. If I don't want to go loopy with age." It was clear that he was fighting not to look at Hooty, still sprawled across Camila's lap.

The big titan gave Eda and Camila a long, considering look, his expression inscrutable. Eda could feel her own turning mulish and she looked at Camila out of the corner of her eye, watching her eyes go more and more round.

"Well, ladies, I would love to stay and discuss academic matters with you both, but I suspect that you'd prefer to debate amongst yourselves. Perhaps next time we meet. King, will you humour me awhile longer? I have remembered more that I wish to tell you—memory is a funny thing when you get to my age." He gestured for King to precede him and, once King was halfway out of the door, the big titan gave a single, slow wink to Eda and Camila. "It was nice seeing you both again, even if it was brief."

"You too," Camila said faintly.

He didn't close the door after him—he couldn't, given how Hooty was lolling across Camila's lap as she scratched under his chin—and Eda cleared her throat.

"Hooty, you too."

"But I am the house," Hooty said. "I know everything that happens inside these walls. Everything."

"Sometimes I like to pretend that you do not. Get out, guard the perimeter."

"Does he really?" Camila asked after the door was closed, her voice hushed.

"If he's awake and paying attention, yeah." Eda shrugged. "Try not to think about it. He's actually pretty good at keeping his mouth shut about the important things."

"That's still weird." Camila kept staring at the door and Eda skootched closer until she could put her hand on Camila's knee. Which she did, even though Camila hadn't responded well to that five minutes ago. She didn't flinch this time, so that was progress.

"He's really uninterested in sex, if that helps. Other than a few sly comments about dating, he's never said anything about the people I've brought home to fuck."

Camila winced. Her face was still twisted and her body tense and Eda's hopes of at least getting a goodbye kiss faded.

"I should go." The alarm hadn't yet gone off but Camila stood and Eda scrambled to stand with her. "You can have Luz eat supper at your place tonight, if you want. She'll want to spend as much time with King as she can."

"She'll like that, but are you okay? Like, really okay?" Eda hovered her hand over Camila's arm before dropping it. The woman had shrunk in on herself, looking for all the world like she wanted anything except being touched. "It's okay, King doesn't suspect a thing and Hooty really isn't going to tell him."

"It's not that," Camila said. "It's complicated."

Eda frowned. "Tell me about it. Is it related to, uh, your reaction when we had sex?"

"I, just, god, Eda, now isn't the time! I have to work this afternoon, I don't have time for another whatever that was!"

"Okay, okay," Eda said. "Just... you can talk to me about this, y'know. You don't have to deal with this is alone."

Camila's shoulders slumped. "I will, I promise. Just not today, okay? Not any day in the middle of a workday."

"We only see each other in the middle of your workdays."

"I'll stop by sometime this weekend? Or after work next week?"

So never. Eda bit back a sigh and plastered a smile across her face. "Of course. Whenever you're ready."

Eda was by no means stupid. She had spent a lot of the nineties in the human realm, sneaking into theatres and clubs and making a nuisance of herself. She knew that humans were a bit—a lot—backwards about the whole queer thing. She had punched out more than one human moron as a kid, and the sideways looks she sometimes got when she flirted with women hadn't ended, even if the number of slurs hurled at her had slowed.

She hadn't thought that Camila would be one of those humans that had a problem with queer people, though. Not with how relaxed Luz had been when her bisexuality came out. Either of their bisexuality, and Eda had made a point of dropping numerous hints to Luz once she started to suspect that the kid wasn't straight. No kid could be that cool about being different if they hadn't grown up in a supportive environment.

That didn't explain why Camila was such a damn mess and Eda couldn't help but think that there was some context she was missing, which was why she spent the entire afternoon sitting on her couch and waiting for Luz to come home.

She felt like King, which was horrendously embarrassing. He was, of course, sitting right next to her, telling her in great detail every little thing he had done with his father. Eda wasn't sure if she would have ever been interested in knowing each aspect of all their meals at the best of times, but she certainly wasn't right now. Not when all she could think about was how Camila shied away from her touch.

Titan dammit, she had come on to Eda! Eda hadn't touched her at all. Okay, maybe she played a little dirty with her comments, but Camila had taken the first move. What the hell was she doing, fucking with Eda like that?

It was King who got to Luz first when she walked through the door and that was that, she had no chance in winning Luz's attention. Luz actually seemed interested in King's stories and Eda sunk down into the couch. Not that she was sulking.

Luz plopped down beside her, King still in her arms. "How was today's magic lesson with mom?"

"Fine."

"They were weird," King said.

"Eda! Are you guys fighting again?"

"No!" Eda lied. To be fair, they hadn't been fighting until the last five minutes and that was only a little squabbling. It hardly counted for anything. "We were just debating Lilith's paper."

"Uh huh." Luz raised her eyebrows.

Eda rolled her eyes. "Look, do you think your mom would have said that you should stay over for supper if we were fighting?"

"She did?"

"She figured you would want to since you haven't seen King in ages."

"I should ask her if she wants to eat here too!" Luz shot up and Eda snatched the portal key off the coffee table.

"Kid, I think she wants some time to herself. She's already been having lunch and breakfast here all week."

"Breakfast too?" Luz cocked her head. "I didn't know that."

Eda shrugged. "Don't read into it, I just make a mean pot of coffee."

"I guess that bodes well for you guys being friends."

Eda snorted. "I'm not sure if I'd go that far, but, sure, we're friendly."

So friendly that they've shoved their tongues down each others throats on more than one occasion.

Luz looked happy enough with that and turned back to King. Eda sighed and stood up—she may as well get started on supper. It wasn't as if she was going to get a word in edge-wise.

The easiest time to talk to Luz without King hovering around and giving Eda suspicious looks, was during chores. Especially chores involving water. King never liked how the fur of his paws got soaked while doing the dishes and he always found an excuse to vanish just before Eda started to hint about cleaning up.

Today was no exception and, despite the fact that Eda had had an entire afternoon to contemplate how she was going to open this conversation, she had nothing. Everything seemed so transparent, like Luz would know immediately why Eda was asking,

Camila would fucking kill her if Eda was too transparent.

But she ended up not having to think of an opening—Luz had been watching her as much as she had been watching Luz and Luz broke first.

"You've been quiet all evening," she said. "And you've been giving me weird looks."

"Just thinking, I guess." Eda ran a rag over a plate in long, circular motions. "Remembering when I was your age. I never did ask you—how did you realise that you aren't straight?"

"Remembering your old romances?" Luz held out her hand and Eda passed a very clean plate over. "Missing Raine?"

She wasn't, actually. She felt more guilt over her lack of devastation than anything. Wasn't Raine supposed to be the one who got away? How had she gotten over them so quickly? She didn't even think she had gotten over Raine the first time, not really. Not enough to want a serious relationship until she met them again.

"Yeah." It was simpler that way. Less incriminating. The guilt only grew at that word.

"I'm sorry things didn't work out between you two," Luz said. "I was really rooting for you guys."

"I know. I guess we were never meant to be, no matter how much I loved them. Love them," she corrected, though that rang false to her own ears. Fuck.

"It's okay to move on," Luz said. "You don't have to pine after them forever."

"Who said I pined after them at all?"

"Your sister. She has some pretty funny stories about you falling all over yourself to impress Raine."

"Don't listen to her, she doesn't know what she's talking about." Eda shoved another plate at Luz. "We're not talking about me right now, I'm living vicariously through you. Spill."

"I don't know," Luz said with a shrug. "I've kinda always known. I liked Disney princesses as much as the princes, that sort of thing. The first time I heard the word bisexual, I knew that was me."

"And your parents? How did they take it?"

"I haven't told my dad, but mom was cool about it. She hugged me and said she loved me and that she's proud of me."

"Huh, that's good." And didn't explain anything about Camila's behaviour.

"Yeah," Luz said. "It was easy telling her. She's always voted Democrat and has never said anything, like, homophobic or anything."

"Huh," Eda said, in part because she had no fucking clue what the hell voting had to do with anything. "Was anyone ever homophobic to you?"

"No, not really," Luz said. "I got made fun of for like anime, not for liking girls."

"Huh," Eda said again. Maybe she had been wrong about humans being shitty about queer stuff. It was more of a total absence of queer people in movies she had noticed and maybe she had just run into a string of assholes. "They shouldn't have made fun of you for that either. Anime's great."

Luz leaned into Eda's side until Eda wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "I'm glad I can talk to you about this stuff. Mom just doesn't get it."

"About liking girls?"

Luz laughed. "About liking anime!"

Chapter Text

Monday morning, Eda was downstairs before King. The coffee pot was half full and percolating by the time he stumbled into the room, trailing a blanket and rubbing at one of his eyes. Eda gave him the barest of smiles, ignored how her heart warmed at the sight of how cute he was, and turned back to her fridge.

She should have gone grocery shopping on the weekend instead of lurking about the house, waiting fruitlessly to see if Camila would show up. There was enough food for breakfast for her and King, but Camila? She gnawed at her lower lip and opened the freezer door. She was sure she had seen half a loaf of bread stuffed in the back somewhere behind the ice cream containers.

"Ha!" A few of the ice cream containers nearly skittered out of the freezer as she tugged the bread free, but she blocked them with her tits. Chilly, but effective.

"Eda?" King asked. "What's going on? Why are you dressed already?"

"Just wanted to make the best of the day." Eda turned the bag over in her hand and wrinkled her nose. She could hardly see any of the bread behind the thick layer of frost.

"With an entire pot of coffee?"

"I'm going to have a very productive day."

The fridge door bumped against her hip and she shifted away, letting King inspect the fridge for himself. "Which I hope will include a trip to the grocery store."

"Yeah, yeah, if I have time." Eda lined up the slices of bread on the counter and frowned. Little claws snagged into her clothes, careful to not pierce the fabric, and King draped himself over her shoulder.

"Are any of those edible?"

"I'm not sure," Eda said. "I think they might be beyond toasting."

"Ugh," King said. "Do we at least have any cereal left?"

"Hunter finished the last box yesterday."

King flopped further onto her shoulder. "So I'm just going to starve, then?"

"I'm not going to let you starve, you big baby." Eda rubbed at his head. "I still have a couple gryphon eggs left; we'll fry 'em up, eat 'em and head into town with Luz."

"Good." King slid down off her shoulder and landed on the ground with a click. "I'm a growing titan, you know!"

"Yes, yes." Eda pulled the carton of eggs out of the fridge, but she didn't turn on the stove. "You're going to be a big, ferocious titan."

"Just like my dad!"

"Just like your dad." Whom she didn't want to think about and was kicking herself for bringing him up. One of her kids' real parents occupying her thoughts was too much for Eda to handle and now she had to deal with two.

She wanted to wait for the portal before frying up the eggs, but King was watching her with pleading eyes and rubbing at his stomach. He was such a little faker, but he was a cute little faker so she clicked on the gas to the stove.

The portal opened just as Eda cracked the first egg into the pan and she swore with a bit more vehemence than was strictly necessary.

"I'll get Luz," King said. "I'm sure she'll wait until we eat before going to school."

"Yeah, okay," Eda said. She kept her eyes on the pan, knowing her cheeks were embarrassingly red.

As soon as King was out of sight, she lengthened her ears and focused beyond the snap and crack of frying eggs and butter to the living room. She only heard two sets of footsteps—King's claws clicking as he ran across the hardwood and Luz's soft-soled shoes. She couldn't hear Camila's runners at all, even when focusing past the slight hum of the portal and into the human realm. She could only hear running water and the scrape of utensils on plates. She couldn't even hear voices, though she was sure both Camila and her husband were home.

"Luz!" King's voice was piercing and Eda winced. There were distinct downsides to the giant ears.

The portal snapped shut and Luz yelled back, "King!"

Eda listened for a few moments more even as her heart sunk. No Camila this morning. At least her stomach would be happy about that, even if her nerves wouldn't be able to withstand the full pot of coffee.

King was suspicious. He was always suspicious, always scheming and he always knew when Eda had something on her mind. When the portal snapped shut behind Luz the next day, he gave Eda a look before putting on a show of pouting until Luz picked him up for cuddles.

"What's with that face?" she asked. "What does little King have to be all mopey about?"

"Stop that!" King squirmed, but not hard enough to wriggle out of Luz's loose grasp. "I wanted to see Camila—I've barely seen her in weeks!"

"She's been having to go in early to work this week," Luz said and she gave Eda an apologetic look. "She says she's going to have to work through lunch again today so she left the key with me."

Eda shrugged. "She's a busy woman. I may as well make the best of my wide open day—could I have the portal key? My stock is running low."

"So you're dumpster diving and I'm going to class—what's your day looking like, King?"

"You want to know? You really want to know? Because I've got a plan!" King rubbed his paws together before running across the room to take a flying jump at an easel Eda hadn't noticed was in the corner of her living room. She probably needed to clean more if her eyes were skating past an entire easel surrounded by paint supplies.

She shrugged. A problem for another day.

"I have broken down my day into hour increments!" King flipped the page. "Oh eight hundred, I awake! Oh nine hundred, I find the sunny spot on the chair in the front window and nap! Ten hun—"

"You give Hooty a bath," Eda said.

Not that Hooty really needed a bath, she just needed to not listen to King's packed day plan of naps and snacking. It was making her jealous already and her nascent plans included a late afternoon spent basking in the sun in her bedroom. It was getting a bit too nippy out to lie out on the grass, what with the morning frost dampening the ground. She had tried the other day and only got a wet ass for her troubles.

"I'll do that tomorrow," King said. "As you can see, my day is completely booked."

"Uh huh," Eda said. "Well, I don't see breakfast on that list so I guess I won't be making you any."

"Wait, wait, wait." King hopped off the easel. "I think I can squeeze something in."

"I don't know," Eda said as she walked into the kitchen. "I can see how busy you are today."

Eda waited until King was deep into his first nap of the day before she slipped out of the house and into the human realm. Barring Owlbert, the kerchief to hide her ears, and all the junk in her hair, she didn't take anything with her. This wasn't a human garbage finding expedition—in truth, Eda hardly needed to find human garbage to sell anymore. Her money was still being politely refused and, well, who was Eda to complain about ethical shoplifting? Free stuff was free stuff, even if it did come with a side of hero worship.

One of the worst parts of not having her magic was that she had to walk all the way downtown. She used to cast a simple invisibility spell and fly, but Luz had made it very clear to her that her 'antics' had been noticed and at least one person in Gravesfield was trying to hunt her down and capture her.

There was no way any human could hold her, even with limited magic at her disposal, but it would be too much hassle to break herself out and she had a mission with a clear objective. She was going to find the town library and figure out what the ever loving fuck was going on with queer rights in the human realm.

The library was hard to miss, an ostentatious marble building with an excessive number of pillars overlooking the town square. Eda's heels clicked up the steps and echoed as she stepped into the polished marble foyer. Eda rolled her eyes in anticipation of all the nasty looks she was going to get for disturbing the quiet.

Inside, much of the library was carpeted and her heels sunk into the thick pile as she took in the open, two storey room. Somewhere beyond the kids leaving sticky fingerprints was the information she needed.

Too bad she had never bothered to learn how humans sorted their information. Eda headed straight for the front desk and tapped her foot as she waited behind a small child handing over their books one by one to the librarian.

She stepped up to the counter before the kid had gathered all their books back into their arms and leaned on it. "Could you point me to the section with queer history?"

"Unless someone has taken them out, I think we have a few books on the second floor," the librarian said. Eda looked up at the rather large second floor and back down at the librarian. "I can show you, if you'd like."

"I would."

The librarian circled around the desk and Eda followed her to the twisting stairs. "If you don't mind me saying, I think it's lovely that you're looking into LGBT history. Did someone close to you come out recently?"

"I can't say anyone has," Eda said, quite truthfully since Camila had rescinded her lesbianism.

"You're very supportive of the community."

"Well, I am a member of it," Eda said dryly. "I can't imagine I wouldn't support it."

"Oh!" The librarian's walk turned stiff and Eda snickered. "I, well, good for you anyway!"

"Thanks."

Embarrassment was always an effective method for getting people to skedaddle and the librarian was no exception. As soon as she pointed out the rather meagre selection of books, she hightailed it back downstairs.

Eda yanked them all off the shelf and backtracked to an overstuffed armchair. She had no intention of reading all of them, but she may as well have them handy. She dumped the books onto the table, crossed her ankles in front of her and picked the first book up off the pile.

Eda's stomach twisted with hunger before noon so she abandoned the depressing, and useless, collection of books. She didn't learn much more than she already knew, and it was so American-centric that it was practically worthless given that Camila had grown up in the Dominican Republic.

So she set the books aside and pushed herself up out of the plush chair and arched her back until it cracked, loud in the still air. Fuck, she was old.

The same librarian was sitting at the front desk when Eda clattered down the stairs. She looked up and her eyes went wide, a slight blush dusting across her cheeks as she saw Eda walking towards her.

"Did you find everything you were looking for?"

Eda grunted. "Yeah, thanks. I have a question though—would you happen to know of any wildlife rehab facilities in the area?"

It was a dumb question, one she didn't actually expect to get an answer for. She had mostly asked to be annoying, but the librarian turned to one of those boxes humans were so obsessed with and pressed a few keys.

"There's one just out of town," she said after a few moments. "I can print off directions for you, if you like?"

"Please."

The directions came with an aerial map, which was convenient since Eda had no intention of following the instructions once she realised how deep into the forest the rehab centre was. She would just have to risk Luz's ire and fly—the kid worried too much anyway.

There was a small gap between the library and the adjacent, equally obnoxious marble building. Eda slipped into it until she was out of sight of any passersby. With one last glance around, she summoned Owlbert, activated an invisibility glyph and shot up into the sky. She had debated shifting and flying herself—if she flew high enough, humans would probably mistake her for a rather large bird—but the owl beast was already on edge, antsy from the weird smells of the human realm. Humans rarely looked up anyway and, really, if one did see her, who would even believe them?

It took more searching than Eda would ever admit to find Camila's work. The road leading to it was little more than a hard packed dirt path, rutted from tires, and the trees had grown in since the photo had been taken. There was a large, fenced clearing out back but only a small break in the trees in the front with a handful of muddy cars parked haphazard. Eda's lips quirked into a smile when she recognised Camila's car. At least the road and the dirt yard explained why it was perpetually mud streaked.

Eda circled the building twice before deciding to land in the forest to the side of the road and walk the rest of the way up. If it had only been Camila's car out front, she would have flown right up to the door, but she supposed she should be a bit circumspect.

"Hey buddy, ready to play cute injured owl?" Eda patted Owlbert's wooden head and he shifted into a warm, living creature under her touch. He hooted softly and Eda smirked. "I know it's not going to fool her, but it might amuse her."

He hooted again and rolled his eyes. Eda stuck her tongue out at him and vanished her staff as she stepped out of the forest and onto the road. It wasn't a long walk—she would be the first to admit that she favoured the easier path over the harder—and, when she tried the door, it was unlocked.

Eda smiled and stepped into the building. There was, arguably, a receptionist desk, but no one was manning it. Eda would have been surprised if anyone ever manned it—while there was paperwork scattered across the surface, it was disorganised in a way that suggested that multiple people had pulled the files.

"Hello?" Eda called out as she walked past the desk and cracked open the door beside it.

The back of the facility was even more disorderly than the front desk. It wasn't so much messy than overstuffed—there was so much equipment that it had spilled out into the hall. Someone had erected shelving to store it, but that battle had been lost with several hardshell cases stacked against the wall beside it.

There was the rise and fall of laughing voices near the back of the building, so Eda picked her way through the maze of equipment until she pinpointed the room it was coming from. She could smell food and hear the hum of a microwave from behind a partially closed door and her stomach rumbled. She had forgotten to steal those sandwiches.

"Hello?" Eda repeated as she pushed open the door.

Three faces turned to look at her, all of them surprised, none of them Camila's. Eda kept her expression steady—she hadn't heard Camila's laugh, but she had hoped that she had been in the room anyway.

"How can we help you?" One woman placed her lunch onto the table they were all sitting around and stood up.

"I was looking for—"

But the other woman jumped to her feet and cut Eda off with a gasp. "Is that an owl?"

Owlbert hooted mournfully and stuck out his wing at an awkward angle.

"Not now, you little shit," Eda hissed.

"Oh, he's hurt!"

In an instant, Eda was surrounded by both women and the one man as they all peered at Owlbert.

"Yes, I was hoping that I could—"

"He's so cute!" The second woman cooed and extended her hand, palm up, to Owlbert.

The man slapped it down. "Are you stupid?"

"I've never seen that species of owl before." The first woman was frowning and, when she looked up at Eda, there was judgement in her eyes. "An imported pet?"

"Owlbert's not my pet!" Eda snapped.

"Really?" the man said. "You seem to have named him."

This was not going how Eda had planned. "Look, I was just trying to find—"

"I would find you at the centre of this," Camila said from behind Eda.

Eda whirled around and Owlbert fluttered off her shoulder to settle onto Camila's instead. "Camila!"

She rolled her eyes and walked to the fridge. "Eda." She exchanged a steaming container in the microwave with a large tupperware container of her own. "What brings you here?"

"Uh." Eda slapped a hand over her face as Owlbert resumed his broken wing routine, which was totally not obviously fake by this point.

"Has Owlbert been 'injured' again?" Camila scritched his head with two fingers.

"It's not my fault everyone assumes that he's hurt," Eda muttered as Owlbert stretched his wing out even more dramatically.

"I can't imagine how anyone gets the impression."

"So you're here to see Camila and you just happen to have an owl?" the woman who had wanted to pet Owlbert asked.

"She's tutoring Luz." Camila gathered up two sets of plates and cutlery as the microwave beeped. "I assume she's here to talk about that."

Eda eyed the plates. "Are you going to feed me?"

"Have you fed yourself?" Camila arched an eyebrow at Eda. "Let's go to my office."

Eda was pleased. She had half expected Camila to use her coworkers as a buffer, and the other half of her expectations was Camila throwing her out by her ear.

Halfway down the hall, Eda's ear twitched as the conversation in the break room resumed. From Camila's missed step, she heard them too.

"At least she's not holing up in her office alone again this week," one of the women said. Eda thought it might be the suspicious woman.

"I don't know," the other woman said. "She was in a better mood when she was being anti-social."

Camila shut her office door behind them. Eda eyed her. She was a bit flushed, but her jaw was set—even if Eda pleaded, there was no way that she would acknowledge her coworkers' words.

Not that Camila would ever be amenable to Eda's pleading.

Unlike the rest of the building, Camila's office was immaculate. Even with the wall full of heavy textbooks and three separate filing cabinets, she had managed to keep the small space from feeling cramped. The large desk was bare aside from a closed little box thing, like the ones humans brought to coffee shops. Luz had tried showing her how they worked, once, but Eda hadn't been interested. She still wasn't interested as Camila turned away to set the computer on top of one of the filing cabinets—she really needed to start controlling herself and stop staring at Camila's ass whenever the woman turned her back to her.

There was a small chair in front of the desk, so Eda sat when Camila did. Owlbert stuck stubbornly to Camila's shoulder.

"Why are you here, Eda?" Camila kept her eyes down as she split her food between the two plates.

"Owlbert's hurt wing?"

Camila snorted. "Nice try, though I'm not upset about seeing him again."

Eda's shoulders tensed. "But you are upset about seeing me?"

"Yes? No?" Camila pushed a plate across the desk. "I don't know, Eda. If you're here to talk about Friday, this is really not the time."

"I know, and I'm not," Eda lied. "I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be fine?"

"Camila," Eda said softly. "This is twice now that you've had a panic attack after touching me."

"I didn't have a panic attack."

"I don't know what else you would call it," Eda said. "I'm just worried, that's all. I care about you."

"You care about me?" Camila's voice was small.

Eda blinked and swallowed. That was more than she had wanted to admit, but it was out in the open now and she wasn't going to take it back. Not with how fragile Camila looked, stirring the food around on her plate and not meeting Eda's eyes.

"I do."

Camila's face crumpled and tears welled up in her eyes.

"Oh, shit," Eda breathed and she rounded the desk. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry."

She hovered, near enough to touch, and Camila lurched forward, wrapping her arms around Eda's waist and burying her face in her middle.

Okay, she would let her touch her now. Even though the position was more than awkward. Eda stepped closer so that Camila wasn't practically falling out of her chair and ran her hands through her silky hair.

"I guess I am doing this now," Camila said into Eda's stomach.

"You don't have to." Eda kept her voice as soft as possible. "You don't have to do anything you're not ready for."

Camila snorted. "If we waited for that, I'd just push this off until the end of time."

Eda laughed. "That's what I do and it's worked pretty well for me so far."

Yes, so well that she imploded her only two serious relationships, both with the same person, and was currently pursuing a married woman.

"It scares me, Eda. You scare me. The things I feel when I'm around you, the way you're never far from my mind. I've never felt like this before, not with anyone. Certainly not with Luis."

Eda clutched Camila closer, her heart thudding so loud it drowned out her thoughts. "That makes sense, if you're a lesbian. You wouldn't feel any attraction to him."

"It's more than that. I thought what I have with Luis was how relationships are supposed to be, that the whole big, passionate feelings thing was just a manufactured exaggeration to sell romance novels. That it was best to just find a nice man, settle down, have a few kids."

"I'm not sure I would call your husband a nice man," Eda said. It was the wrong takeaway, she knew that, but she didn't know what else to say. Everything else seemed too big, too important.

"He's never done anything to upset me. That's nice enough."

"Sure."

"But is it enough-enough?" Camila asked. Her arms tightened around Eda. "Because if this is the way it's supposed to feel when I'm holding someone, I think I fucked up, Eda."

"You didn't fuck up anything."

"Only thirty years of my life."

"Okay, so that's a large amount of time, but it doesn't mean you fucked it up."

"But I did. You don't get it, I'm a terrible person. A terrible mother. When Luz came out to me, I was disappointed—I think my first thought was anger that she was once again choosing to walk the hard path in life. That there was no point in coming out as bi, that she should put aside her attraction to women and date men. Like I had done. Not that I would have had a thought like that then."

"Luz doesn't remember it that way." Eda kept her hands running through Camila's hair, slow and even. "She remembers you being supportive and loving, so even if you did have some less than charitable thoughts, she never realised. In my books, that makes you a good mother."

"But still a terrible person."

"For thinking something you know is wrong? That doesn't make you a terrible person. You can't control your thoughts; it's what you do that matters."

"Ah, yes, because sleeping with a woman while being married to a man and then crying all over her, twice, is stellar behaviour."

"You owe your husband nothing," Eda growled. "And does it look like I'm complaining that you're crying on me? I told you, Camila, I care about you. If crying on me helps, you can cry on me as much as you like."

It wasn't as if Eda could do anything else to help her. She felt like she was drowning in this conversation. That she and Camila were speaking different languages altogether because, even with all of Camila's words, she still didn't understand why she was so upset. Sure, intrusive thoughts were annoying, but they weren't worth worrying over. Not to this degree.

"Then I'd like to keep crying on you, at least for a little while."

"Take as long as you need," Eda whispered. "I have all the time in the world."

Chapter Text

"Mom told me to give you this."

Luz tossed Eda the portal key and Eda's faded grudgby reflexes, and maybe the brand new nerves in her right arm, were all that kept it from falling to the floor at her feet.

"Thanks." Eda tucked the key away into her hair and ignored Luz and King's expectant stares.

She was so tired. The owl beast had been unwilling to rest all night and its anxiety over their sojourn to the human realm had spilled over into Eda. It had taken a double dose of elixir this morning to calm it and the taste still lingered on her tongue.

"That's it?" Luz said after a long moment. "That's your only explanation?"

"Explanation for what?"

"Eeedaaa! Are you meeting with my mom while I'm at school?"

"We were having lunch together all last week," Eda said. "Why are you so interested now?"

"Because you're both being so mysterious about it!"

"What's so mysterious about me having lunch at your mom's office instead of here?" Eda asked. "So what, your mom just wants to get some extra paperwork done while I tell her about boring magic stuff?"

Luz pointed at her. "You're hiding something, you both are. And I'm going to figure it out."

She walked backwards out of the room, her eyes narrowed and focused on Eda. Eda just shrugged and looked at King. He looked back, no less suspicious than Luz.

"It is weird, you know," he said. "That you're suddenly friends with her and that you only spend time with her alone."

"Do you want to come with me?"

"And be trapped in your boring magic talk for an hour? No, thank you," King said. "If you are up to something, you won't be doing it while I'm watching."

Eda rolled her eyes. "There's just no pleasing you."

Well before noon, she opened the portal to the human realm. In her bedroom. King hadn't stopped giving her obnoxious looks all morning and it hadn't taken her long to grow bored with hiding from his judgement in her room. Maybe Camila would be willing to entertain her for an extra hour or two.

The owl beast wasn't happy when they stepped through the portal and into the forest just outside of Camila's work. It felt too large for her body to contain and Eda sighed. Debated turning around and telling Luz to tell Camila to go back to taking her lunches at Eda's.

"What is wrong with you?" Eda muttered, not quite to herself. "We're going to go see Camila. I thought you liked Camila."

The owl beast grumbled, but it stopped beating its wings and kicking up a fuss. Good enough, so she turned her arch look to Owlbert.

"And you! Be more consistent with your injured wing routine, won't you? None of this overly dramatic bullcrap."

He hooted at her, low and mournful.

"I'm not being ridiculous, I'm making an excuse so that Camila's coworkers don't question why I'm visiting her again."

She stuck her tongue out at his impertinent reply and stomped through the forest, kicking up freshly fallen leaves until she burst out of the underbrush and onto the road. There, the leaves had been ground into mulch by car tires and they squished underfoot as she walked into the clearing.

She had always found the human realm pretty in the fall, the trees less alien even if the sky was still that unnerving cornflower blue. She didn't enjoy the winter it heralded, when the cold wind whipped off the ocean and cut through all of her clothing, no matter how many layers she wore or how many heating charms she wove into the fabric. She wasn't looking forward to this winter, when she would have to rely on layers alone to keep herself from freezing to death while dumpster diving. Owlbert wasn't fond of the cold either and she was loath to send him out alone into the icy winds.

Today was a nice day though, bright with nary a cloud to be seen beyond the tree tops, and, when Eda stepped out into the clearing, sun soaked and warm. If it weren't for the human voices she could hear from the back of the facility, she might have been tempted to let the owl beast have its way and stretch out their wings for an hour or two.

One of the voices was Camila's. Eda wasn't risking that, not even for a minute. Instead, she crunched her way around the building and watched through the chain-link fence as Camila coaxed something rather large and furry into leaving its enclosure.

The humans had gone silent, all except Camila, who spoke too lowly for Eda to hear. She almost grew out her ears, an action that was becoming frighteningly instinctual, to eavesdrop—only one the motion of one of the two humans nudging the other and two sets of eyes turning to watch her reminded Eda to not be silly. Her bandanna would not be sufficient to cover those ears.

Eda gave the humans a small wave and pondered the fence. It wasn't particularly tall and there was no razor wire on top, so it would be a snap to scale. It wouldn't be a good look to show just how skilled she was at criminal mischief, but it was the image of the back of her dress snagging on top of the fence and ripping further that kept Eda lingering on the correct side.

When the fuzzy thing finally decided to be brave enough to escape its literal cage, Camila turned back to her coworkers, who immediately ratted Eda out. Eda gave Camila a much bigger wave and smile, which grew when Camila rolled her eyes.

Camila jogged to the fence. "You're early."

"I got bored." Eda shrugged. "You want to take an early lunch?"

"Yes," Camila said. "But I can't. I need to check on the birds."

"Any owls?" Eda asked. "Cuz we'd fit right in."

Camila rolled her eyes again, but her smile was soft as she started to walk down the fence line, away from the building. "You can visit the birds. There's a gate along the way, I'll let you in there."

Eda followed. "What about that animal you just released? How's it getting out?"

"Only the sides are fenced," Camila said and she gave Eda a sly smile. "It's more to discourage people from sneaking in the back."

"Hey, I only went around back because I heard your voice. I would have traipsed through the front door and all the way back into the break room again if I hadn't known you were out here."

"You do like to misbehave."

Camila paused at the gate and Eda let herself in. Now that there was nothing separating them, the urge to touch Camila rose up in Eda again. Camila's hand was right there, swinging as she walked, and Eda knew it would be warm and soft.

She shouldn't take Camila's hand while they were within sight of her coworkers. They were bound to know that she was married—it would be impossible to not know, given the size of the rock on Camila's left hand. She was already making Camila's life difficult enough, she didn't need to add another layer of complication.

Once they stepped inside the aviary, though, there was nothing stopping Eda from touching Camila. Nothing but the wide eyed look Camila gave her, so she kept her hands at her side and let Camila edge away.

"So what are we doing for these birds?" Eda glanced around, noting that every bird was some sort of raptor. "Look, Owlbert, you fit right in."

"You're doing nothing," Camila said. "And don't stick any fingers where you don't want to lose them. Unlike Owlbert, none of these birds are particularly friendly. They're all potentials for release, assuming they heal up nicely."

"Fine, fine," Eda said. "What are you doing then while I'm admiring the birds?"

Not that Eda had paid much attention to the birds. Watching Camila don heavy leather gloves was much more interesting.

"It's feeding time," Camila said. "And I'll be checking on their general wellness. Some of them, like that golden eagle beside you, will be moved to the other aviary in the next few days if I don't see anything amiss and then, hopefully, back into the wild."

"He's a pretty little guy."

Camila snorted. "That 'little guy' has a wingspan longer than you're tall."

"He's still pretty," Eda said. "But not as pretty as Owlbert."

"Few birds are," Camila said with a smile. "You're living the dream, Eda, having an owl like that as an ethical animal companion."

"You must have a few of your own," Eda said. "Well, not your own, but surely not all the birds you get can be released?"

"We have a few." Camila took two packets out of the fridge in the back of the room and dropped them on a scarred counter. "We have to consider their quality of life, though, not just our own emotional attachments. If an animal is too impaired, sometimes the best thing we can do for them is to end their suffering."

Even though she was clearly practised at it, her hands were clumsy in their thick gloves as she sliced meat into strips. Eda stepped up behind her and reached around to place her hand over Camila's.

"I got this," she said. She could feel Camila shiver as her words washed over her neck. "I can chop and you can try not to let your hands turn into bird food."

"Thanks," Camila said. She didn't make any move to pull away, though Eda hadn't boxed her in by any stretch of the imagination. "There's a box of nitrile gloves in the cabinet if you don't want to get your hands dirty."

Eda grinned and leaned in closer. "I've never minded getting messy."

Camila breathed in, deep enough that Eda could see her shoulders rise and then fall as she spoke. "I should have known, considering your choice of career involves literal dumpster diving."

"It's lucrative. And I have—had—magic. I could draw a single circle and everything interesting would float out into my hand."

"What colour was yours?" Camila winced. "Sorry, I shouldn't—I know how much it hurt Luz and Hunter when they couldn't use magic."

"It's fine. I can still make them," Eda said and she lifted her hand from Camila's to trace a small golden circle that crumbled into glittering dust before it connected. "I just can't do anything with them. Not anymore."

"It's beautiful," Camila said. "It matches your eyes. One of them, at least."

Eda pulled away and, after a moment, Camila stepped aside, taking the second packet with her. "It used to match them both. The grey one is a side effect of Lily taking on half my curse."

"It's a good look," Camila said. "Silver and gold."

Eda laughed and she picked the knife up off the counter. "That's certainly a poetic way of describing my eyes."

Camila's laugh was strangled. "I must have picked it up from Luz. No one has ever accused me of spouting poetry before."

Eda turned and, when she caught Camila's attention, she waggled her eyebrows. "Or maybe you've just never had a muse like me before."

"That must be it." There was a flush painted across Camila's cheeks despite her dry words. "Now, stop being distracting or you will be flying me to the nearest hospital to get my fingers reattached."

"Camila, I'm a witch." She flipped the knife in her hand, careless and casual, and the handle landed perfectly in her palm. "I may not have any magic anymore, but I'm more than capable of opening a portal directly to a healing coven facility and threatening them into growing you whole new fingers."

Camila's nose wrinkled. "That sounds horrifying. I'd think I'd rather have my existing fingers reattached, thanks."

"C'mon, it would be great," Eda said, though it had been pretty horrifying when she had been handed a whole-ass arm. "Don't you humans use your fingerprints for all sorts of identification? You could commit a crime, chop off your fingers, grow new ones and, bam, immune from prosecution."

"Does everything come back to crime with you?" Camila turned away and looked at the bird nearest to her, the one letting out the occasional ear-piercing scream as it watched Camila's hands and the mice she was holding. "Your plan wouldn't even work—if I lost any hairs or shed enough skin cells, they could get me on DNA evidence, which is far more conclusive than a few partial fingerprints."

Camila carefully tossed a dead mouse into the bowl in front of the angry hawk and its wings fluttered as it lunged for the snack. The meat vanished into its gullet in seconds and the screeching resumed in earnest. Camila tossed it another one before moving on to the next bird, one much more reticent and lurking in the depths of its enclosure.

"Keep chopping that meat, Eda," Camila said without looking away from the cage. "You gave up the opportunity to watch me feed these hungry bastards."

Knowing that she couldn't see her, Eda stuck her tongue out at Camila before turning back to the cutting board. The knife was wicked sharp, so it was only a minute's worth of work to slice the rest of the meat into strips.

Even with Eda working at, well, not top speed, but a reasonable pace nonetheless, Camila had distributed the mice before Eda finished. The creak of the worn wood floor, audible even over the excited raptor noises, gave away her approach but Eda was startled when Camila pressed up against Eda's back and reached around to snag a few slices off the cutting board.

It was a taste of her own medicine and Eda revelled in it, the knife stilling in her hands as she focused on the warmth of Camila's body against her own, the press of her breasts to her back.

Eda wanted to drop the knife, turn around and kiss Camila until she whimpered. She didn't care that her hands were slimy and that Camila's were full of cold meat—she wanted to feel those lips on hers, to hear her pant and to taste her lips.

Camila pulled away, achingly slow, and Eda was bereft at the loss.

"Hurry up," Camila said, her voice husky.

Eda hurried.

When the meat was cut, the last few strips markedly more haphazard, Eda carried the cutting board to Camila. She followed her around, watching as Camila tossed with unerring accuracy and how she coaxed the more reluctant eaters into trying a few nibbles. Always, Camila's eyes were on the birds, cataloguing their every movement. For someone who styled herself as the owl lady, Eda knew jackshit about birds, but she could read each bird's prognosis just from how Camila's brows drew together.

The golden eagle was one of the more voracious eaters and Camila smiled as she tossed him the last few strips, the lines around her eyes soft.

"He's good to go then?"

"I think so." Camila shucked off her gloves and tossed them into a bin. "Let's wash up, if you're not bored of me yet, you can watch me do paperwork."

"Paperwork, how exciting."

Camila did much of her paperwork—not that there was much paper involved, she largely just tapped at the screen of one of those giant phones—in the aviary, so Eda didn't watch Camila. Not much, at least. The birds were pretty and all, and Owlbert was fascinated by them, fond of teasing them by stretching his wings and flaunting his freedom from Eda's shoulder, but Camila's movements drew Eda's eyes. She was prettier than any of the birds by far.

When they stepped out of the aviary and back onto the grass, they both stopped to blink in the blinding noon sun.

"So why did you ask me to come here?" Eda asked as her eyes adjusted. "You could have come to my house—less questions from your coworkers, other than their concern about your antisocial behaviour."

"More temptations too," Camila said. She was flushed again and Eda bumped their shoulders together.

"I can behave."

"You absolutely cannot behave," Camila said. "The second we were alone you were all up in my personal space."

Eda felt her eyebrows knit together as she looked down at Camila. "You didn't mind, right?"

"Of course I didn't," Camila said. "That's the problem. I'm not sure if I should be alone with you."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You're not responsible for the way you make me feel."

"Am I not? I know that it puts you on edge, but I keep flirting with you anyway."

Camila started walking. "I keep flirting back, don't I?"

Eda jogged to catch up. "So, do you want to kiss me or not? What do you want from me?"

"I don't know," Camila said. "Everything. Nothing."

"Well," Eda said. "Let me know when you decide."

"You're sleeping with her, aren't you? You're sleeping with Luz's mom."

King was waiting for her on the edge of her nest, his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed in disapproval. Eda choked and fumbled to shut the portal, glad she had decided to walk out the front door of the rehab centre and wait until she was hidden in the woods to open the portal instead of leaving straight from Camila's office.

"I wouldn't say that I'm sleeping with her," Eda hedged. Sleeping implied an active component—it was more accurate to say that Eda had slept with her.

"Don't you play weasel with me, Eda." King shook his finger. "You know what I meant. Even if you're not sleeping with her now—which I doubt—you want to."

"You know, most people aren't that calm about the possibility of a parent having sex."

"Oh puh-lease, like that was ever an option for me," King said. "You have always been disgustingly frank about your love life."

"I have, haven't I?" Eda smiled. "So it stands to reason that, if I was sleeping with Camila, I would just say so."

"Eda. Please. I deserve to know."

"Okay, speaking purely hypothetically here." Eda dropped down to sit beside King on the edge of her nest. "Would I, ethically, even be able to tell you if I was sleeping with Camila given that you know her and she might not want anyone to know? Given that she's married."

"Eda." King rubbed between his eyes. "Why Camila? Why, out of every person on the Boiling Isles or the human realm, did you decide that your rebound should be Luz's mom? Can't you see how this is going to explode in all of our faces?"

Eda swallowed and looked away. "I know it's a bad idea, but, I just."

"Make terrible decisions when it comes to your love life?"

"It's not like that!" Eda said. "Not this time! It's different. She's different."

King looked at Eda for a long minute. "Eda, she's married. And Luz's mom."

"I know, I know!"

"You're not going to stop, are you?"

"There's nothing to stop," Eda muttered. "We've kissed, like, twice and slept together once. Well, twice, but the second time was sleeping-sleeping. She doesn't know what she wants. I don't even know if I know what I want."

"Ugh," King said. "I think I'm starting to realise why people find this knowledge more gross than annoying."

Eda smiled. "You just don't like mushy feelings stuff."

"Of course I don't! I'm not Luz!"

Eda froze. "You know you can't tell Luz any of this, right? I mean it, she can't know anything—Camila would be very hurt if you told Luz anything."

King groaned. "So you're asking me to lie to Luz? You have to know she suspects something's up, she's bound to ask me eventually."

"You knew that before you asked me this." Eda glared at him. "If you wanted the plausible deniability, you should never have started this conversation. I'm not asking you this for my sake—you know damn well I don't care if Luz knows who I'm interested in—but I am asking you for Camila's. Please, King."

"Fine," he sighed. "For Camila. But I still think it's shitty that you want me to lie to Luz."

Eda sighed as well. "She'll figure it out sooner or later, with or without our confirmation. She's a smart kid."

Though she was unsurprised by how Luz closed the portal behind her, moments after stepping foot in the owl house, it didn't mean that Eda wasn't disappointed. She hadn't made a double pot of coffee that day and she had already made breakfast for both herself and King, but another morning without seeing Camila lingering near the portal with that hesitant smile on her face depressed her anyway.

The owl beast stretched and fluffed out its feathers inside her and Eda sighed. If she was alone, she would have talked to it, thanked it for its attempt at comforting her, but Luz was already giving her a weird look as she walked towards her and King was sulking on the couch. Another layer of awkward might just kill her.

Luz held out the key and Eda reached out for it. She only realised that she was grinning when she felt her face fall as Luz snatched the key back, just as Eda's fingers grazed cool metal.

"Nuh uh!" Luz wagged the key at Eda before tucking it into her pocket. "Not until you stop dodging the question about why my mom wants to see you all the time."

Eda pinched the bridge of her nose. "Titan, Luz."

"Eda, please! You can't leave me hanging like this." And, because Luz was That Kid, she grabbed onto Eda's arm and let her knees go slack, leaving Eda to either hold up Luz's weight or let her drop to the deck. "Don't get me wrong, I'm ecstatic you guys are friends now, but I need to know what you two get up too."

She shook Luz off. The kid was being extra weird, looking at her with stars in her eyes.

"Don't you think you're a bit too melodramatic?" she asked Luz, who crumpled to the floor before sprawling out into a heap.

"I'm inconsolable," Luz said. "I go through all this work to encourage you and mom to be friends and, as soon as you are, you won't talk about it or spend any time together with me? You're always off doing your own things, all mysterious together."

Eda grunted. "Is that all you wanted? Another 'family supper'?" She made the air quotes with the hand not holding her mug, not wanting to splash apple blood all over her rug. Again. It turned out that, without magic, it was a bitch to get stains out of carpet.

"It doesn't have to be supper," Luz said. "But do want to spend time with all four of us together. Six, if we can round up Vee and Hunter."

The four included King, who perked up when Luz gestured to him, though he slumped back down into his sulk as soon as her back was turned. He glared at Eda for good measure, as if to say see, 'look at the horrible position you've put me in'. Eda barely restrained herself from rolling her eyes.

Four, or six, excluded Camila's husband and, one day, Eda would have to do some digging into why Luz so adamantly wrote off her father in all aspects of her life. Yeah, he was a tool and, yeah, Eda would have written him off too, but Luz was a forgiving kid and was much more fond of building bridges than burning them. Even though Luz had insisted that her dad never raised a hand towards her, Eda couldn't help but worry.

She wasn't used to worrying about people like that, not in a way that cut so sharply in her chest. She worried about Lily and Raine and, well, honestly just Lily and Raine, and then only in the most abstract of senses for decades, too blinded by her own hurt to spare much thought for their pain.

Abstract worrying for adults she hadn't talked to in years hadn't prepared her for the intense worrying about the kids she loved fiercely. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that neither Camila nor King's dad would let anything harm their kids, but it was an intellectual knowledge and it had no impact on the nagging dread that infected her as soon as Luz stepped through the portal to the human realm or King walked off with his father.

Luz was still on the floor, looking up at her with those big watery eyes, and Eda sighed.

"Fine, fine, I'll talk to your mom at lunch today, where she will very boringly do paperwork while I try to pet a raccoon. You can have your weird family togetherness bullshit, I promise, now get off the floor and stop looking so pathetic."

Luz leapt off the floor and grabbed Eda into a hug. Eda had been half expecting it and she smoothly returned the affection. For some reason, Luz's openness made her less nervous now that she knew Camila. Maybe it was seeing that softness mirrored in Camila's touch and kind words or maybe she didn't feel like she was encroaching somewhere she didn't belong anymore.

Ugh, maybe they actually were some sort of weird family in reality, not just in Luz's fantasy novel addled mind. Wasn't that just gross?

Eda pushed aside the thoughts about how her and Camila circling each other was going to explode it all into smithereens sooner or later. She could deal with it then; there was nothing to deal with now. Not until Camila decided what she wanted. Until then, she just had a few unrequited feelings.

If Camila decided to play it safe, she would be left with the unrequited feelings. Her breath caught in her throat. The sharp pang of loss she felt at that thought didn't bode well for Luz's dreams of family happiness. Not unless Eda could learn to push aside those feelings.

Good thing she had a lifetime of practise at it.

Chapter Text

It was noon, ish, when Eda stepped into the human realm. Owlbert was on her shoulder, again providing cover alongside snarky remarks. The air was brisk on the human side of the portal and Eda shivered, debating turning around and getting her cloak.

The cloak would raise even more questions than Owlbert, though, so she wrapped her arms around her middle and rushed through the damp forest until she burst out into the clearing, where it wasn't any warmer. It was colder even, the sky solid white and fallen leaves swirled around her ankles. The wind cut through the too-thin fabric of her dress and made Owlbert huddle into the crook of her neck, his feathers fluffed and soft against the underside of her jaw.

"It'll just be a few more minutes, buddy," she whispered. "Then we'll be nice and warm inside Camila's office."

The encouragement was more for herself than for Owlbert, who, despite looking like a round puff ball, wasn't shivering at all when Eda burst through the front door. Eda was, the wind had whipped up under her dress and pantyhose was less than effective at keeping her legs warm. She ran brisk hands over her own biceps and let herself into the back of the building.

She didn't linger in the halls; the equipment was boring and she didn't have to search for Camila. Instead, she went straight for her office, giving a jaunty wave to a middle-aged man she didn't recognise as she passed him in the hall. He gave her a cordial nod, his eyes interested but not suspicious. She supposed she was the topic of gossip for the week, which was probably fair. The road wasn't worn enough for the facility to have many visitors.

Camila's door was closed and the hall was too well lit to see any light peeking out through the cracks in the frame. Without knocking, Eda tried the knob and it gave under her hand.

There was no one inside, the lights off and Camila's large desk bare apart from an open computer and a couple sheets of paper. Camila's scent clung to the air and the owl beast eased back on its rumbling discontent—a discontent Eda hadn't even noticed until it was gone. Eda circled the desk to check the drawers, wondering if Camila's desk was clean only because she hid her detritus.

She didn't. While all the drawers were stuffed to near overflowing, everything was meticulously organised and terribly boring. Owlbert hooted his disapproval, fluttering off Eda's shoulder to perch on top of the computer. Eda rolled her eyes at him.

"I'm just looking." She flopped down onto Camila's chair. "It's not like I'm reading any of the documents."

She rolled forward and back, boredom creeping in after a moment of idleness. She was warmer now, but not by much—Camila's office was the furthest thing from warm and even Owlbert hadn't flattened all his feathers. She hadn't expected that. She hadn't realised how much she associated Camila with warmth.

The heavy green jacket hanging off the back of the door was tempting and Eda jolted in surprise when the door swung open.

"Hello, Eda." Camila shut the door with her foot, her hands full with dishes and a steaming tupperware container. "I see you've made yourself at home."

Eda's mouth watered and not just from the food. Dirt was smudged across Camila's cheek and sweat darkened her hairline.

"Busy day?"

"Less busy and more exhausting." Camila set the food down on her desk and flopped into the chair across from Eda with a groan. "Had to do some heavy lifting—they didn't warn us about the manual labour in vet school."

"You want your chair?" Eda made to get up but Camila waved her off.

"Don't. Now that I'm sitting, I don't want to get up again." With a silent flutter of wings, Owlbert glided into her lap and pressed his tiny body into her side. The corners of Camila's eyes crinkled as she smiled. "Hello to you too, Owlbert."

With Camila busy giving Owlbert scratches under his beak, Eda took it upon herself to dole out the food. If she was starved after a day of doing nothing, Camila had to be famished.

Eda waited until Camila was a few bites into her lunch before speaking. "So, how much has Luz been hounding you to know about what we talk about over lunch?"

Camila choked on her food as she tried to laugh and swallow at the same time. Owlbert gave Eda a disapproving look, but he was just being a baby, upset that his perch was shaking beneath him.

"Christ, Eda!" Camila gasped, her voice wispy, and she dashed away her tears.

"Sorry," Eda said, though she was hardly sorry for making Camila laugh. The minor choking, maybe, but Camila had been eating too fast for Eda to get a word in edge-wise.

Camila leaned back in her chair. "She hasn't stopped. I swear, she only lets up when Luis is in the room, but that's only because she hardly ever talks around him."

Eda raised both her eyebrows, desperately wanting to question that, and Camila gave her a wan smile.

"I know what you're thinking, but it's nothing nefarious. They've just never clicked. Even when Luz was a baby, Luis had no idea what to do with her. He had been so sure that she was going to be a boy, he had all these grand plans in his mind about little league and riding bikes. And maybe he could have handled a quote unquote 'normal' girl, but Luz is Luz. Sweet and charming, but—"

"But the furthest thing from normal."

"By human standards, at least." Owlbert stretched out one of his wings and Camila scratched underneath, straightening his feathers.

Eda laughed. "No, she's pretty weird by witch standards too. But she's caring and kindhearted and that's more important."

"I always thought so too," Camila said with a short, soft smile. "But Luis didn't and he always urged her to change, to be someone she isn't. I don't blame Luz for having no desire to be close to him."

Eda looked at her for a long moment. "I imagine it helps that you have no desire to be close to him either."

"It's awful, isn't it?" Camila speared bite-sized pieces of food onto her fork, laddering them up until the tines were full. "We've been looking at houses—or, rather, he's been looking at houses and forwarding me listings—and they're all so massive and oversized. Completely unnecessary for a family of three that, in three years, will be a family of two. I alternate between thoughts about rattling around inside like a ghost in a mausoleum and thinking about how nice it will be to have my own space. Some of the houses have two kitchens, Eda! Two kitchens! Luis and I would never have to see each other even while living in the same home."

She stuffed the fork into her mouth and began to chew vigorously, her flushed cheeks bulging. Eda took a smaller bite of the leftovers, the spices pleasantly warm on her tongue.

"That's one way to manage a marriage," Eda said after Camila had swallowed and gone back to stabbing at her food.

"Yeah," Camila said. "Not what I ever imagined."

"Well. It would make it easier for Luz to have her family togetherness bullshit minus her dad. Which, speaking of, she collapsed very dramatically on my floor this morning and watery eyed me until I agreed that the three of us and King do something together. Something family-y, whatever that means." Eda's nose wrinkled.

Camila laughed. "I'm not surprised! She's been so curious and jealous of the time we spend together. Should we do something this weekend? I think Luis wants me to look at houses with him and I'd like an excuse to not."

"So long as it isn't on Saturday," Eda said. "Unless you want the family bonding to occur while I try to sell human garbage to idiots."

"Right, the Bonesborough market." Camila snapped her fingers. "Luz mentioned it a few times, but sometimes I forget that you do things other than loaf around and entertain me."

Her eyes were sparkling and her lips were curled up into a teasing smile. But there was no edge of condemnation to her words, only fond amusement, as if Camila was joking about being the highlight of Eda's day rather than actually believing it. It didn't grate like the way it always had when Raine had poked fun at Eda's lifestyle.

She also always asked if Eda was free before asking for her time, never presuming that Eda would be waiting for her. Even now, when she asked Luz to give Eda the portal key in the morning, it was an open ended invitation, one that Eda could fill or not fill as she desired.

Eda smiled back. "I have to do something to fund my philanthropic efforts—my career of teaching humans how to use magic isn't very lucrative."

"What, the Boiling Isles don't provide grants for mentorship programs?" Camila said. "I'd even let you claim me as an apprentice, even though I am the worst student ever."

"Now that would be wildly unethical!" Eda grinned. "And very naughty."

Camila rolled her eyes even as she kept smiling. "You would like that."

"It's all about the scam. And, for the record, you're far from a poor student. The opposite, really, you're far more focused than me and Luz combined."

"A poor student of magic, then," Camila said. "It's not like I've ever cast a spell."

Eda sat up. "You still haven't?"

"No, of course not! When would I have ever?"

"I just assumed that Luz had shown you how to use glyphs. That's her thing, not mine, after all." Eda tugged at her own hair. "Titan, fuck, I need to stop taking you anywhere outside of my house until you learn how to use glyph magic."

"A bit too late to worry about that," Camila said with a shrug, the picture of calm. "You can show me the next time I'm in the Boiling Isles."

Eda took a deep, steadying breath. It would do no good for her to get worked up, not in the human realm. Not with the owl beast already pacing inside her. Owlbert fluttered up from Camila's lap to nestle into her shoulder, his slight weight comforting and familiar.

"Right, yeah," she said, though she knew she would forget. Her thoughts always fled as soon as she saw Camila.

Camila reached across the desk and touched the back of Eda's hand with the tips of her fingers, the only part of Eda she could reach. "So Saturday's out for our little get together, which is a shame since I enjoyed my first witch market, so how does Sunday work for you?"

Eda couldn't remember. Not with how Camila's fingers were softly stroking her hand. Slowly, she extended her arm until Camila didn't have to stretch to reach. Camila smiled and rewarded Eda by covering her hand.

"I think it's fine," Eda said dumbly when she realised the silence had stretched too long. "I'm never busy."

Camila's eyes twinkled. "Have you thought about what we should do or are you going to offload all the labour onto me?"

"Hey!" Eda flipped her hand over and gave Camila's a warning squeeze. "Cut me some slack, I've never had to do this sorta thing before."

"What about with King?" Camila was looking at their joined hands and, where Eda's fingers pressed against her wrist, she could feel Camila's fluttering heartbeat. "Didn't you ever take him out to do things just for fun?"

"Of course I did, but I don't think you would enjoy a family pickpocketing night."

Camila sighed. "Sometimes I can't believe I trust you with my daughter."

"She's getting pretty good at her sleight of hand," Eda said. "Though she only uses it for glyph tricks. She doesn't even attempt to scam anyone with it."

"Well, I for one am glad that my daughter isn't going to end up in jail before she reaches eighteen."

"Oh, no, she's already been arrested, like, at least twice." Eda cackled at the look on Camila's face and ignored how Owlbert dug his talons into her shoulder, just enough to pinch. "We were opposing a corrupt regime, of course we got in a few scraps with the law. If it makes you feel any better, one of the times she was arrested, she was in my body, so it was my crimes she went to jail for."

"That just raises more questions than it reassures me," Camila said. "You're stalling, though, what do you want us to do on Sunday?"

"Titan, I have no idea," Eda admitted. She couldn't think of anything with Camila's warm hand in her own, unless one could count thoughts of Camila. "I'd be fine sitting around and doing nothing on my couch."

"You're hopeless," Camila said. "But we can do that. Luz and I can bring over some board games and we can compare human games to witch games." She leaned forward. "It has the double benefit of frustrating human kids because they think that board games are boring and old fashioned."

Board games were boring and old fashioned. Eda had never really got into playing penstagram games, but she had always been too impatient for board games as a kid. Too much energy to sit still for that long, too frustrated whenever she started to lose. Which was constantly since Lily never made concessions for Eda's age, and she was so unbearably smug about it. Like that beating her ten-year-old sister was something to be proud of. Their games usually ended with both of them in tears, the pieces scattered and the board flipped over on Lilith's head.

"That sounds fun," Eda said.

"It's a plan."

Their eyes met and lingered for too long and Eda watched as a flush grew across Camila's cheeks. Her own face felt warm, but how could it not? Camila was so cute when she was being bold and yet still so shy, all at the same time.

Camila was the first to look away, her gaze dropping to her plate. Like Eda's, it was still half full. She pulled her hand out from under Eda's and cleared her throat. "I should finish eating. The afternoon is shaping up to be just as physically intensive as the morning."

"Yes, of course," Eda stuttered. "By all means, don't stop on my account."

She shovelled food into her mouth, mostly to keep any more stupid words from spilling out. Camila was smiling at her, though, so at least it hadn't been a total waste of air.

Eda stood when Camila started making noises about her busy afternoon schedule. They had only just finished eating, but Eda didn't begrudge her that. Camila had given her so much of her time as it was.

She just wished she had had the opportunity to nudge the conversation into asking if Camila had decided what she wanted yet. Which was horridly unfair of Eda, she hadn't even given Camila a full day to think about it, but she burned with the desire to know. Because it had to be yes, there was no way the answer could be anything else when Camila had reached out to comfort her. Not when Camila teased and flirted and looked for ways to spend more time together.

Owlbert hooted at her, low and disapproving, as she shut the door to Camila's office behind her. She looked at him and screwed her face up into a pantomime of annoyance.

"Didn't you say I was being silly even coming here?" she hissed as she walked, her shoulders already hunched in anticipation for the cold that awaited her.

He scoffed right back and she pivoted on her heel. "Fine!"

She was a half step from Camila's door when it opened. She stopped short and her heart raced in her chest as Camila gasped and clutched her jacket to her chest, her eyes wide.

"Camila," Eda breathed.

"Did you come here without a jacket?" Camila lifted her own jacket, holding it out between their bodies. "Eda, it's too cold for that!"

Eda took a step forward and her hands closed over the jacket. A flush was rising on Camila's cheeks and Eda squeezed Camila's hands reassuringly as she backed them into the office.

She shut the door behind them and Owlbert's slight weight lifted her shoulder.

"I don't want to press," she whispered. "And you don't have to have an answer. But I can't leave without asking."

"Ask." Camila was trembling.

Eda wanted to take her in her arms. "Have you decided yet? Do you want me?"

"Yes." Camila was staring at her lips. "But I can't ask it of you."

"Why not?" Eda swayed closer. "I'm right here."

"It wouldn't be fair to you." Camila let go of the jacket and stepped back. Then took a deep breath, stared up at Eda again, and circled her desk until it was between them. "I'm married. And you." She gestured vaguely.

"I know that." Eda hung up the jacket. "I've always known that."

"I have nothing to offer you but trouble," Camila said. "It's would be horribly unbalanced."

Eda let herself smile, sly and sharp toothed. "I like trouble. Tell me what you want and I can decide if it's unfair to me or not."

Camila swallowed. "You woke something in me, Eda. I want to find out what it is. I want to know if it is real, or just that no one has ever touched me like that before."

Even though Camila clearly needed the space, Eda couldn't stop herself from walking forward until the front of her thighs pressed against Camila's desk. "You want to experiment with me?"

"I know, it's horrible, you said you cared about me and you have your own life and I want something so juvenile and—"

"I'm game," Eda cut her off, her voice low and husky even to her own ears.

Camila blinked. "Really? You shouldn't say yes just because I want this."

"Camila, I'm not saying yes just because you want this. I want this too."

"You want to mess up your entire life for, what, someone else's indulgence? You shouldn't, it isn't worth it."

Eda cocked her head. "Sex isn't worth it? Not that I'm asking for sex, right now, this is your experiment, we can move at your pace. Or not move forward at all if your attempts to talk me out of it are a polite hint to get me to back off. If we never have sex or ever talk about this again, that's fine."

The way her heart was thudding in her chest gave lie to those words. It wouldn't be fine if Eda never got to touch Camila again, but like fuck Eda would ever coerce anyone into sex.

But Camila was shaking her head, her eyes wide and pleading. "I don't want you to back off. I'm not trying to hint anything, I just." She swallowed, twice, and when she spoke again, her voice was low and breathy. "Sex is very much on the table."

"Okay, that's good. Great, even."

"But that can't possibly be enough," Camila repeated. "What do you want from me—how do we make this fair? You have so much more to lose than me."

Eda squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath before opening them again, staring right at Camila, who shifted from side to side. "Camila, you've lost me somewhere. If we're going to do this, we will need to communicate clearly. I don't want to overstep any bounds. So, please, tell me what it is that you think I should want from you?"

"I don't know!" Camila said, her words too loud. They were loud enough to carry—if any of her colleagues were in the hall, they certainly would have heard. Camila knew it too and her shoulders hunched as she spoke more quietly. "I don't know what you should want, I don't know why you want me, I don't know what you ever saw in me to have sex with me in the first place."

"Why wouldn't I want you? You're so kind, Camila. So soft and caring, patient and smart. And, not that it matters nearly as much as the rest of it, you're absolutely gorgeous. I couldn't keep my eyes off of you when we first met. I still can't—if you're in the room, you're all that I see."

"Jesus," Camila swore softly. "That's what I mean when I say I have nothing to offer me. You feel like that about me and I don't know what I feel at all."

"I'm not in love with you," Eda said and the words tasted of a lie. "It's nothing heavy like that. You're a friend I'm attracted to, that's all."

"Oh."

"If that's what you're concerned about, the prospect of me having feelings for you, you have nothing to worry about." Eda laughed. "I'm a grown-ass woman. This isn't something I'm unfamiliar with; I've slept with friends before."

"Okay."

"And, if I did happen to develop feelings for you, that's my problem, not yours. I wouldn't expect anything more from you than what you can offer."

"So, we're going to do this?" Camila asked, her voice tremulous. "Experiment? Have an affair?"

"Absolutely. Though we should probably discuss this." Eda sat down and Camila stared at her, her eyes wide. "Unless you really do have work you need to get back to?"

"I do," Camila said, but she sat down as well. "But it can wait. What should we discuss?"

"Some of it is obvious," Eda said. "We're not telling Luz anything about this, I'm presuming we're not telling your husband either—"

"Lord no!"

"But mostly I want to know what you're comfortable with. We rushed into things last time and I don't want to do that again. So, should we take it slow?"

Camila's chest rose and fall as she took a deep breath and Eda felt a frisson of delight as she realised that she could watch, guilt free. "Eda."

Okay, but that didn't mean that Camila wanted her to be ogling her chest at any given moment. Eda's eyes snapped back to Camila's.

"Yes?"

"We have been taking it very slowly for weeks. If we had sex on my desk right now, that would not be rushing it."

Eda stared at Camila. "Is that an actual option?"

"No!" Camila yelped as Owlbert hooted in annoyance.

"Just checking," Eda said. "I didn't really think you were making an overture, but, if you were."

Lifting her glasses, Camila pinched the bridge of her nose. It was very cute. "I'm not having sex with you at work."

"But we are having sex, soon?"

"Yes, god yes."

Eda leaned back in her chair. "And we're back to scheduling. I'm still basically free all the time except Saturdays."

Camila sighed. "I never considered this part. The logistics."

"Affairs are tricky like that," Eda said. "But your husband is rarely home, so that will make things easier."

"But Luz is, or she is at yours," Camila said. "And I really don't want to be rushed for time, catching a few minutes here and there while Luz is at school."

Eda wouldn't mind that. The idea of Camila sneaking into her nest during her lunch break was appealing. But the idea of Camila wanting to take her time to explore was even more appealing. Watching her face as she touched Eda, knowing that it was one of the first times she had ever touched a woman. It was a thought that made Eda's heart quicken despite never before caring about being someone's first.

"Then when? I could nudge Luz into having a sleepover with one of her friends, but that doesn't mean that she wouldn't just fly back to the owl house and find an open portal to your bedroom."

Camila sighed. "It wouldn't work anyway. Luis makes a point of always returning home for the night, unless he's at a conference."

"A 'conference'."

"Yes, I'm aware that he attends more 'conferences' than conferences." Camila rolled her eyes. "The point is that he plans his overnight stays and he doesn't have any listed on the calendar for the next month."

Eda's nose wrinkled, both at the implication that they would be planning their sex life to run parallel to Camila's husband's and the long delay. "That's shit."

"Very rarely he will take an overnight shift at the hospital—yes, I know that's a euphemism—but those he does on whim. It would have to somehow line up with Luz spending the night in the demon realm and, ugh." Camila buried her face in her hands.

"Hey," Eda said. "We'll figure something out."

"Why is this so damn hard?" Camila's voice was muffled. "Luis doesn't seem to have any trouble at all."

"Of course he doesn't," Eda said. "He passes off the responsibility of child-rearing to you and doesn't give a shit if Luz finds out about what he's up to, so of course he can fuck off whenever he wants. You can't, and won't, do that." Camila's face was still hidden so Eda put a teasing note into her voice. "It doesn't help that the woman you'd pawn your kid off on to have an affair is the woman you're planning on having an affair with."

Camila laughed weakly and peeked through her fingers at Eda. "This is so frustrating."

Eda shrugged. "We'll play it by ear, then. We don't have to have an itinerary. Get Luz to leave the portal key with you and you can pop over to mine whenever."

"You can't possibly mean whenever."

"Oh, no, I assure you that I do mean whenever. I'll even cut my market days short for you."

"I wouldn't want to pull you away from work."

"Why not?" Eda asked. "I want to pull you away from your work."

"You're bad," Camila said. She was smiling, but she looked conflicted. "You're certainly pulling me away from it right now."

"Is that a for real Eda please leave now?"

"I don't want it to be! I want to know when I'll be seeing you next!"

"You'll see me on Sunday."

"Seeing you without Luz or work or Luis or, or, anything other than you!" She was flushed and breathing hard and Eda was tall enough, even while seated, to see that her knuckles were white where she gripped the armrests of her chair.

Eda stood up. "You really want it, don't you? Sex with a woman. With me."

"Yes, god dammit! I've tried to not want it for weeks, but it's only become worse. Eda, I want things I never cared about before and I don't know what to do."

Eda circled around the desk and put herself between it and Camila. Camila stared up at her, her chest heaving and her hands trembling on the armrests.

"Right now, you do all that you can do." Eda sat on the edge of the desk, which still put her impossibly taller than Camila.

"Which is?"

"Take advantage of every stolen moment we have."

Eda curled a hand around Camila's neck and drew her forward into a kiss. Camila gasped, though it couldn't have been in surprise. She had to have known why Eda had crossed the desk, she had to have known why Eda had sat down before her.

If it was a surprise, Camila snapped to action fast. She surged to her feet and then Eda was the one craning her neck to be kissed. She parted her thighs willingly and Camila stepped between them as her hands grasped at Eda, quick and fleeting, as if she didn't know where she wanted to touch.

Eda wrapped her legs around Camila's waist to hold her in place and Camila's frantic touches slowed. Her palms burned hot on Eda's rib cage, her thumbs brushing at the tender spot just below Eda's breasts. So close to where Eda wanted them and she whined and wiggled.

Camila pulled out of their kiss and Eda's eyes shot opened, zeroing onto Camila's parted lips, already red from the intensity of their kisses.

"What?" Camila asked.

"What?" Eda asked back. Her hand tightened on the back of Camila's neck and she tried urging her forward. It was hard, staying within the bounds where she wouldn't hurt Camila, who was too fragile by far.

"Why are you wiggling? Do you want me to stop?"

"Fuck, Camila!"

Eda took her hands from Camila's back and wrapped them around Camila's hands. She squeezed for a moment before lifting their joined hands up and plopping them on her chest. Camila reflexively squeezed and she flushed, her fingers stretching away even as Eda pressed her hands more firmly into her breasts.

"You're allowed to touch me," Eda said. "Please touch me."

Camila bit her lip. "You can touch me too."

"I know." Eda placed her hands on Camila's back and trailed her fingers down her spine, light and teasing. "But you've had people grope your boobs before. I can wait for my turn. This is your chance to do the groping now."

Camila hummed. "So magnanimous of you, allowing me to touch your boobs first." She squeezed, just enough to make Eda arch into her touch. "You get no pleasure out of this at all."

"Absolutely none," Eda stuttered as her eyes grew heavy. "It's all for you, everything is for you."

"I see that."

Eda looked up at her through her eyelashes, putting on her best pleading look. "Kiss me again?"

"Definitely all about my pleasure." Camila's lips quirked in a small smile, but she leaned down and kissed Eda again. Her lips were so soft and warm. Eda sighed into her mouth and let herself sink back onto the desk.

She took Camila with her, though it meant that Camila's hands left her breasts and smacked onto the desk on either side of her body. Her nest would have been better, but Camila was on top of her all the same.

"Stop that," Camila growled. "I'm not tall enough for you to lie on the desk and the desk isn't deep enough either."

Eda thrust her chest out. "Your kiss made me so weak I couldn't sit upright anymore."

"Uh huh." Camila curled her fingers into the fine hairs at the nape of Eda's neck and held her in place. "I'm not having sex with you on this desk."

"I could make it worth your while," Eda purred.

"I'm sure you could, but no."

Camila's kisses were soft, no longer urgent and desperate. Her tongue still flickered between Eda's lips and ghosted over her teeth, but there was an edge of finality to it.

When she pulled away, Eda blinked up at her, slow and hazy. "You're kicking me out?"

"I am," Camila said. "We're bound to get caught if we keep this up for much longer."

She lifted herself from Eda and Eda took a moment to compose herself before sliding off the desk. Camila swallowed when Eda looked down at her.

"One last kiss, though?" Eda licked her lips. "As a consolation prize for not getting to feel you up?"

"One last kiss."

Camila tried frowning, but the corners of her mouth kept twitching. Eda kissed the smile from her face, wrapping her arms around Camila and pulling her flush to her chest. Something deep inside her purred in contentment—now this is what she had wanted. This closeness, this warmth. Making out on the desk and convincing Camila to grope her was fun and all, but this was better.

Eda slid her hands down Camila's back until they rested at the swell of her ass. When Camila didn't flinch, she allowed herself to drift lower until she cupped Camila's butt. Which, Titan, was a work of art. She squeezed and the muscle gave under her fingers, bringing a growl to her throat.

Camila squeaked and pressed herself closer—her hands were on Eda's back, nowhere near anything interesting, but Eda didn't begrudge her that. Not with how she was sagging in Eda's arms. Eda wanted to keep kissing her, wanted to lift her onto the desk, sink to her knees and pull down her pants with her teeth.

Instead, she gave Camila's ass one last squeeze before breaking the kiss. Not wanting to leave Camila reeling, she didn't step away. Instead, she waited for Camila to find her footing and moved her hands up to rest at her waist.

"You feel better?" Eda whispered. "Less desperate?"

That startled a laugh out of Camila. "That was supposed to take the edge off? Eda, if we keep kissing, I'll have you sprawled out on my desk within the next five minutes."

"Now I really don't want to go."

"No, get. No more one last kisses." She didn't step out of the circle of Eda's arms, though, and her own remained draped around Eda's waist.

"Not even a quick one?"

"No way."

Eda sighed. She dipped her head and smirked as Camila glared up at her. Despite her words and the look in her eye, she wasn't pushing Eda away.

Still, Eda only brushed a single featherlight kiss high on Camila's cheek. "You might want to clean your face before leaving your office."

Camila touched her lips. "You need to start wearing kiss proof lipstick."

"Nah." Eda dropped her hands from Camila's waist and, after a long moment, Camila did as well. "I like seeing the evidence for where I've been."

"Territorial."

Eda shrugged. She wasn't, not really, but the owl beast was and it was full of happy rumbles as Eda took in how dishevelled she had left Camila.

"I'll see you Sunday?" Eda asked. "Though you're welcome to stop by my house anytime in between."

"Sunday," Camila said. "I don't know if I would make it back to work if I took lunch at your place."

"Would that be so bad?" Eda asked, even as she crossed the room. She could sense Camila at her heels.

"Yes, if I want to keep my job." Camila's hand covered Eda's on the doorknob. "Take the jacket."

Eda turned. "What about you? How do you plan on getting home without it?"

Camila shrugged. "I'll wear one of my work jackets. I think I have one that isn't covered in fluids."

"If you're sure."

"I'm sure." Camila reached past Eda and snagged the jacket off the hook. Eda took it from her and shrugged it over her shoulders, where it hung too large on her narrow frame. Camila's eyes went dark.

"It's not really my colour, but it's warm."

"You look great." Camila's hands balled into the lapel of the jacket and pulled Eda down into a fast, bruising kiss. "That was the last one, I swear."

"Uh huh," Eda said, but Owlbert fluttered across the room to land on her shoulder. It was, in his opinion as well, the last kiss. "Enjoy the rest of your afternoon."

She slipped out of the office before Camila could say anything, before Eda came up with another reason to delay her departure and kiss Camila again and again.

One of Camila's coworkers stopped in the middle of the hall and gave Eda a long look as she passed. Eda gave her a small smile, knowing that her lipstick was smudged and faded and she was wearing Camila's jacket and betraying everything that she and Camila had done. She didn't care. Her steps were buoyant as she sailed past and not even Owlbert's teasing hoots could bring her down.

Chapter Text

Eda's heart dropped when Luz pocketed the portal key. She hadn't even heard fragments of Camila's voice through the portal and every part of her mourned that loss.

Luz gave her a small shrug. "Sorry, mom said that you're too distracting."

"That's fair," Eda said through a forced smile. "I am pretty hard to ignore."

She supposed it was too much to hope that Camila would have thrown caution aside, followed Luz through the portal and announced that she had called in sick to work. She must have wanted to, maybe even as much as Eda wanted her to, since she had put the key out of either of their reach. Would she let Eda fuck her on her desk if Eda conned the key off of Luz?

But no, it was best not to be too eager. Luz was watching her closely and Eda was uncertain if the inscrutable expression she had plastered across her face was actually inscrutable. She shouldn't rush things either, even if Camila wanted to. She said that now, but, in the act? Eda didn't know how she would react if Camila started crying again.

She didn't know if her heart could handle seeing Camila in pain.

Her rationalisation didn't make their separation more bearable—if anything, it made it worse. If she could visit Camila again, share a couple of kisses and maybe a quick grope under her shirt, maybe should ease her into it.

There was still a vial of King's blood leftover from their portal experiment, take two. Not a lot, maybe only enough for one last shot, but they had got very close to cracking it before Eda had fucked off to rescue Raine from The Collector and thrown all their plans into chaos. She was pretty sure that King had stashed the vial in Luz's bedroom and Eda drifted off towards the stairs.

"Uh, bye Eda?" Luz said and Eda flicked her a half wave over her shoulder. Luz's voice lowered to a near whisper once Eda rounded the corner, but Eda could pick out her every word. She didn't slow her pace, instead shifting her ears. "Wow, she was more choked up about the portal key than I had expected. I guess she and mom are better friends than I thought."

King gave a noncommittal hum.

"What do you think?" Luz asked him. "You must have been around them together when I wasn't."

"Not really?" King's voice was pitched too high and he coughed. "Camila only came by once or twice when I was here; Eda started going to the human realm once I got back from my dad's."

"Interesting, very interesting." Luz dragged out the leading I both times and Eda rolled her eyes as she pushed open the door to Luz's bedroom. She was probably stroking a nonexistent goatee like she was some sort of movie villain. "So they don't want us to see what they're up to."

"I guess not," King said. Eda could hear the desperation in his voice and she bit back a groan. He was so horrible at subterfuge.

"King?" Luz asked. "Do you know something that I don't?"

"I know all sorts of things that you don't!" King blurted. "About demons and the history of the Boiling Isles and, wow, look at the time! Aren't you late for school?"

Now where the hell did Luz keep anything in this room? Eda's nose wrinkled and she toed at a pile of laundry in the corner. The kid was worse than her.

"I can be a few minutes late for homeroom."

Eda jimmied the lock on one of Luz's chests without feeling an ounce of shame. Needs must, and all that. It wasn't as if the girl even had anything interesting, just a bunch of sappy keepsakes from Amity that Eda would rather she hadn't seen.

"Really?" King said. "I thought you had homeroom with Amity? And didn't you say that living in the human realm was putting a damper on how much you got to see your girlfriend? She has to be missing you too and she's probably waiting for you right now."

"I can see through your manipulations but, dammit, they're still working," Luz said. "This conversation isn't over, King!"

There, in the corner of the chest, a repurposed peanut butter jar. Eda eased it free and eyed the tiny vial inside. There were only a few drops left, but it would have to do.

"Yeah, yeah, go play kissy face."

Eda shifted her ears back as she heard the click of claws on hardwood. She had just tucked the jar into her hair and stepped out of Luz's room when King rounded the corner and pointed at her.

"You!"

"Me?" Eda laid a hand on her heart.

"I can't keep putting her off forever! You have to come clean to Luz."

"That's not my place," Eda said. "And I have nothing to come clean about, Camila and I have hardly done anything."

"Luz isn't going to see it that way," King said. "I don't even see it that way. What were you doing in Luz's room?"

"I was looking for something."

"Looking for what? You checked out of that conversation the instant Luz said she wasn't going to give you that portal key. Everything has been about Camila for you recently, so what could you possibly want from Luz's room?" King's eyes went wide, then narrowed as he came to a conclusion. Silently, he stalked past Eda and into Luz's room, where he went straight for the chest Eda had found his blood in. "You took the blood. You're building another portal."

"I thought it would be easier." Eda shrugged. "It was manageable when it was only me and Luz using the key and we were travelling between realms together, but with three schedules and one key? It's frustrating."

"You just want to go and play at kissy face with your girlfriend."

"What of it?" Eda said. "And she's hardly my girlfriend."

"You can't even wait until Sunday?"

"We're all going to see her on Sunday. I'll be lucky if I'll even be able to look at her without Luz cataloguing my every move."

King snorted. "Yeah, good luck with that one. If you two manage to keep it under wraps all day, I will be impressed."

Eda scowled. "I'm sure we can keep our hands to ourselves for a couple of hours." Then she grinned, knowing it was wild and disarming. "Speaking of hands, do you feel like giving me yours? I could use some help with this portal thing."

"I think that's the creepiest possible way you could have phrased it and that you're making this portal for the dumbest possible reason but, sure, I'll help you. We should have made a backup portal ages ago."

Eda cackled. "Just you wait, King. One day, someone will catch your eye and you won't think this is so dumb."

Luz set a stack of boxes down on Eda's coffee table with a rattling thump as the pieces inside skittered to and fro.

"That's a lot of games," Eda said.

Luz's stack dwarfed Eda's. What few games she had been able to scavenge out of her junk collections were largely missing pieces or were in poor repair. She had debated flying over to her parents and raiding their collection of board games, but that would have meant having to talk to her sister and her mother and make awkward eye contact with her father, who would probably want to give her another hug and tell her that he didn't blame her for anything.

Hard pass.

Luz was already gone, vanished into the kitchen to find snacks with King, and leaving Eda alone in her living room with just the bright boxes and the glowing portal for company.

Camila was on the other side of that portal. Eda wondered if popping over to the human realm to see if she needed a hand would be considered polite or unbearably rude. She couldn't hear anything through the portal, not anything interesting at least, and she definitely couldn't hear Camila's husband's voice.

She shifted her weight, hating how anxious this made her. She wasn't one for considering her actions, she wanted to lurch from one idea to the next.

Footsteps from the other side of the portal put her debate to rest and, seconds later, Camila stepped into Eda's living room, her arms piled full of human snacks. A box of cookies was slipping out from under her arm and Eda rushed to catch it.

"Thanks," Camila said, and Eda relieved her of half her load. "Luz insisted that we bring my entire pantry."

"Because we don't have a portal key that makes sneaking between kitchens quick and convenient." Still just the one; even with all of Friday and half of Saturday devoted to portal making, Eda was hesitant to commit the blood until she was certain that it would work.

"You know Luz." Camila set down the snacks alongside the board games and glanced around. "Where is she, anyway?"

Eda placed her snacks down too, standing close to Camila to do so. She had to, that was the only empty space on the coffee table, but Camila gave her a nervous look.

"In the kitchen," Eda said, then pitched her voice low as she touched the tips of two fingers to Camila's forearm. "She and King are completely distracted, I promise."

"God, Eda, we can't risk it." Still, she reached up to touch Eda's cheek. Eda swayed towards her, her hand already moving from Camila's wrist to the small of her back.

"I can hear every word they're saying," she whispered. "I'll know when they start to leave the kitchen."

"You won't if you're too distracted by kissing me." Camila stared at Eda's lips. Eda wet them.

"I won't get that distracted," Eda said. It was probably a lie, but Camila's eyes were dark and her hand warm where it was cupping her cheek.

"I will," Camila said. "And I'll be a mess if you kiss me now."

In the kitchen, King jumped off the counter and Eda sighed. She stepped back and Camila's hand fell away.

"Now implies that I can kiss you later."

She had timed it so that the last of her words were spoken at a whisper moments before Luz and King stepped into the room, giving Camila no time to deny her. Camila glared at her instead, the flush high on her cheeks, and Luz looked between them with a frown.

"You two better not be fighting."

Eda rolled her eyes. "I haven't fought with your mother in weeks. At least, not really fought with her."

"No little needling fights either, then."

Camila placed her hand on Luz's shoulder. "Mija, stop worrying about me and Eda. We're fine, I promise, and even if we weren't, we're both the adults here. It's not your job to make sure we play nice."

Luz's face stayed scrunched up so Eda swiped the top game off her pile. "Look, if you're so concerned about it, we can start by playing a team game. Me and Camila versus you and King."

"But what about me?" Hooty slithered up, sticking his head around to stare at Eda, uncomfortably close. "Can't I play too?"

"Ugh, fine, yes, just get out of my face. Owlbert can be on your team." Holding back on her first instinct to just sweep the table clean—which was probably why all of her board games were falling apart—Eda cleared off the table and began unfolding the board. "King, you can explain the rules."

He groaned. "I hate this game, it's so needlessly complicated. You have to have the rulebook memorised to win and Eda has."

"Not willingly." Eda set out the pieces. "You try playing against my sister and not end up with every single damn clause burned into your memory."

Truthfully, she hated the game as well, but the same could be said of every single game in her pile and she doubted she would enjoy the human games either. It had been kinda fun to play them with King and crush him beneath the boot of her superiority, but delivering crushing defeats to toddlers was only entertaining for so long.

"So where are the rules?" Luz asked. She had the box turned upside down and was frowning.

Eda tapped her head. "Up here."

"Forgive me if this sounds like I don't trust you, but I don't trust you."

Eda laughed. "I wouldn't trust me either, but this is mine and Lily's old set. She spelled it so that no one could make an illegal move."

"I wonder why that was necessary," King muttered.

"She just didn't like my creative solutions." Eda flicked her penstagram to Luz. "But, here, I'm sure you can find the rules somewhere on the incanternet."

Luz frowned. "Do you ever clear out any of your notifications? You have hundreds of unread messages."

"It's all junk." Eda shrugged.

"It looks like you have a dozen messages from Lilith."

Camila leaned over Luz's shoulder and met Eda's gaze for a teasing second before looking at the scroll. She frowned a bit and Eda bit back a sigh. Now she was getting judged for her unwillingness to pay attention to the social climbing masses.

"Like I said, junk. Now get off my penstagram account."

"How many pages of rules are there?" Luz asked as she scrolled. And scrolled.

"I told you, it was Lily's favourite game. Did you think it wouldn't be annoying and overly complex?"

"I just make random moves until the board accepts one of them as valid," King said.

"Are all witch games stupid like this?" Luz looked up from the scroll. "I don't know why I expected anything different after grudgby."

"Hey, grudgby makes perfect sense," Eda said. "You just have to keep your eye on—"

"No!" Luz cut her off. "No more sports talk! I can't take it anymore! Why did I have to suggest that Amity and Willow bond over sports, that was such a mistake. It's all flyer derby this, grudgby that. I can only talk to Gus and Vee now; they're the only ones not infected with that brainrot."

"I think you would really like grudgby if you just—"

"Eda, no!"

Eda grinned, wide and sharp toothed.

"She's baiting you, mija." Camila patted Luz on the shoulder, then circled the coffee table to sit on the couch. "You two are young, you can take the floor."

When played by teams, discussions amongst teammates weren't allowed, per se, but Eda had played the game more than enough to be able to count the cards and make a reasonable guess at what Camila had in her hand.

"Stop cheating!" Luz said after the fifth time Eda made a slight gesture that caused Camila to rethink her next move. She was smiling, though, and her gaze kept flicking between them. "I can tell that you're coaching her!"

"How could I?" Eda asked. "I can't see her cards since you made us sit on opposite ends of the couch. Not that I was looking in the first place." Her boots were resting against Camila's thighs and she pressed her toe reassuringly into Camila as she set down the correct card.

"Playing with her is always like this," King said morosely as he tossed down his cards one by one until a move was accepted. "She's the worst."

"Is it so bad that I want to win?"

"Yes," Camila said.

Eda looked at her. "You want to win as well."

Camila smiled back, small and secretive. Eda nudged her again. It was probably a good thing that Luz had separated them—if she had been close enough to properly touch, she wasn't sure if she would have been able to resist.

In the end, they didn't win, but only because no one won. Hooty flipped the game board into the wall after Eda definitely didn't coach Camila into a move that sent Hooty and Owlbert from two squares from the finish line to the start of the board.

King sighed. "Just like every time."

Camila laughed and stood up with a stretch. Eda's eyes lingered on the strip of bare skin at Camila's stomach and her mouth dried. It had been so long since she had been able to feel that soft skin beneath her fingers.

"I can see now why the board is in two pieces."

"No, it's been like that since as long as I can remember," King said.

"I ripped it in half after Lily cast the anti-cheating spell on it," Eda said cheerfully. "I was hoping that it would break it, but she had planned for that eventuality."

"You're ridiculous," Camila said with a fond smile as she started picking up all the pieces. "Hooty, would you like to help me with this?"

"No! I'm not playing with you guys anymore, you're too cutthroat."

"Uh huh," Camila said. "But don't you think you should help clean up the mess you made?"

Hooty slunk back in, low to the ground. "Fiiiine."

"Don't eat the pieces," Eda warned. "Actually, you can just leave them scattered, Lily spelled them to return to the box eventually."

Camila looked up from where she was kneeling on the floor and gave Eda a long look. "Have you ever finished one of these games?"

Eda laughed. "That's a silly question—does anyone finish any board games?"

"Yes!" Luz said. "Rage quitting isn't normal, Eda."

"You didn't grow up with an annoying older sister," Eda said. "Trust me, rage quitting is completely normal and understandable. Anyway, Lily always declared herself the winner when I flipped the board so I guess that makes me and Camila the winners of this round. What game do we want to play next?"

"Monopoly," Luz said. "And I want to be the banker."

Camila groaned and dropped the piece she just picked up back on the floor. It bounced and clattered, somehow rolling against the floor's uneven slope towards the coffee table. "Why on earth do you want to play that, mija?"

"Obviously we're competing for the worst board game now, not the best—"

"'Now'?" Eda asked. "There's such a thing as the best board game?"

"Yes, it's Catan, I will take no arguments."

"Then why don't we play that?" Camila begged.

"No, no," Eda said. The stricken look on Camila's face was intriguing. "I want to try this monopoly."

"Do you want to know the rules?" Luz unfolded a piece of paper covered in tiny print.

"No," Eda said. She looked at the board and the array of game pieces and cocked her head. "I'm assuming we all start on 'go', roll a die and when we land on a square, we buy it or follow the instructions?"

"Or pay rent if someone else has property on it, but there are some other aspects of the game that—"

"That you can tell me about when they happen." She patted the couch beside her. "Leave the game pieces, Camila."

"Can I be the top hat?" King asked as Camila gave Eda a glare as she picked up the last scattered piece.

Luz took in a deep, pained breath. "Fine. I guess I'll be the race car then."

Eda picked up the cheap metal boot and turned it around in her hand. "I'll be this sad little thing then. Camila? Do you have a preference?"

Camila returned to the couch with her handful of tokens. She leaned across Eda to dump them into the box. "No, I'll play as whatever."

"You can have the cute dog then, mom."

Camila took her time returning to sitting upright and, when she was, their thighs were pressed together.

Eda's heart thumped in her chest and the little boot clutched in her hand grew slick with sweat. She set it down on the table, right beside the dog Luz had set out for Camila. Luz was watching them again, her eyes narrowed.

Once Luz doled out the money, the game began.

"I don't know why you think this game is so bad," Eda said after they made it around the board. "It's just boring so far."

Luz looked down at the table, where half the properties were little red buildings, and at the stack of bills Eda had clutched in her hand. King was stuck in jail and was cramming cookies into his mouth with a mutinous look on his face.

"That's because you're winning, though I don't know how you're winning," Luz said. "This game is only fun if you're winning."

Camila tossed the dice onto the table in a half-hearted roll and held out the last of her money to Eda. "Oh, look, you get to be a bit richer."

"No thanks," Eda said. "I'll waive your rent for this turn. I'm not a cruel landlord, making my tenants pay until they go bankrupt."

"That's the point of the game, Eda." Camila thrust the money into Eda's chest. Eda closed her hand over Camila's and gently pushed her away.

"No, no, I insist."

"Your blatant favouritism of my mom isn't going to make me think that something isn't up with you two." Luz's eyes were bright.

King choked but he attempted to cover it up by reaching for the dice. "I'm going to roll doubles this time."

He didn't and he swore, loudly. Eda shrugged when Camila gave her a long look.

When Eda finished ruthlessly driving Luz, King and Owlbert into bankruptcy, Camila tossed her money onto the table. "Okay, that's it, we're done. Eda wins."

"I can't believe how long this game takes," King groaned.

Luz nodded. "It's literally the worst game."

"Of course it is! It was intentionally designed to be a bad game," Camila said. "It's a lesson on how monopolies are cruel, which we've learned, so can we never play this again, ever?"

"If we never play another board game in my life, I'll be happy." Eda tossed her own money onto the pile and leaned back on the couch, throwing her arm over the back of it. "Board games suck."

For a brief moment, Camila leaned into her side before she jerked away. "Then what do you want to do instead?"

"Titan, I don't know, literally anything else?" Eda turned to Luz, who was carefully sorting the fake money. "Hey, kid, you're the one who wanted to do family things. What do you want to do?"

Luz looked up at them, her eyes wide. "I don't know? I don't even really know what family things are."

Camila winced and Eda dropped her arm from the back of the couch to give Camila a small squeeze.

"It's still light out," Eda said and she groped for straws, for anything to say. For the few memories from her childhood that hadn't been overwritten by pain. For an excuse to touch Camila for longer than the barest of moments. "Let's go flying."

Flying was a bad choice. A really, really bad choice.

If Eda had thought that sitting beside Camila on the same couch, even on opposite ends of the same couch with the only contact between them being Eda's feet pressing into Camila's thigh, was bad for her self control, flying was worse. She had realised her mistake when King called dibs on flying with Luz—and the little shit gave her the most obnoxious look while he had done so—though Camila had seemed to have realised it earlier. She just gave Eda a long look as Owlbert turned to wood.

"Do you want your first flying lesson?" Eda blurted as they stepped out of the house. Maybe it would be more bearable if Camila wasn't clinging to her back.

Camila crossed her arms. "I've only been on a staff twice and you already want me to learn how to fly?"

"It's a handy skill?" Eda's voice rose, turning her statement into a weak sounding question. Camila snorted. "You did pretty okay with steering Owlbert last time and that was the first time you had ever been flying."

"You're letting mom fly already?" Luz glided close to them, her and King already perched on her staff. "You never offered to teach me how to fly!"

"And where did that get me?" Eda asked. "You stole Owlbert and took him on a little joyride with your friends."

Luz flushed. "Owlbert, you betrayed our secret?"

Eda laughed overtop Owlbert's hoot. "He didn't, you were both acting so suspicious that it wasn't hard to figure out what you had done. Owlbert had clearly forgiven you for whatever you two got up to that gave him that crack, so there was no point in pressing the matter."

"I'm going to press the matter," Camila said. "You shouldn't take things without permission, Luz. Especially living creatures."

"I know mama."

"To be fair." King tapped his hand claws together, the chnk barely audible over the noise of the forest at sunset, when everything was beginning to stir or turn into the night. "It was partially my fault. I told Luz it was okay to borrow Owlbert."

Camila sighed inaudibly, though she smiled at King. "That's big of you to admit your fault."

"So." Eda nudged Camila with her elbow. It seemed safest that way, very impersonal. "Do you want to take the driver's seat?"

"Why not?" Camila asked. "You'll keep us from crashing, right?"

"Absolutely." She twirled her staff in one quick rotation before letting go, leaving Owlbert to float in midair before Camila. "Hop on."

Camila looked between Luz and the staff hovering before her and she threw one leg over Owlbert. Both of her feet skimmed the ground and Owlbert politely lowered himself until her feet were flat. Eda gave his head a quick rub before settling onto the staff behind Camila. It was a good thing she was wearing a split skirt today; it would be easier to reach around her while sitting astride without the fabric bunching up around her knees.

"You ready?" she asked as she tucked her own feet up off the ground. "Do you remember what to do?"

Camila's knuckles tightened over the staff. "Visualise what where I want to go and he'll listen."

"That's right." Eda didn't know what to do with her hands, not with Luz watching, and they hung uselessly at her sides. "Nice and easy to start. Five feet up."

"Five feet up," Camila repeated to herself. She spoke so quietly that Eda didn't think anyone other than her could have heard it.

Owlbert rose up into the air, slow and steady, until they hovered five feet above the ground. Eda wasn't the best at judging distances—or anything with any degree of accuracy, really—but she was pretty sure they were exactly five feet off the ground.

"Mom, you did it! That's so awesome!" Luz circled around them in a lazy loop.

"I had a good teacher."

Eda knew she was flushing, but she blustered on regardless. "I am pretty good at what I do. Luz, why don't you take the lead? Don't get too far ahead, mind you!"

Luz only moved a few feet in front of them, still close enough to overhear every word Eda and Camila said, and drifted forward at a snail's pace. Eda rolled her eyes.

She leaned forward and whispered into Camila's ear. "It's easier to learn to fly if you've got someone to copy off of. Just focus on matching Luz's pace and follow in her wake."

Camila shivered, but she nodded and they began to drift forward. "It is easier to visualise this way."

The cool fall breeze, which Eda hadn't noticed when they were hovering motionless in the air, rose goosebumps on Eda's skin. She frowned and looked at Camila—no wonder the woman was shivering, she was bearing the brunt of the wind and she wasn't wearing a jacket. Eda scooted closer and slung her arms around Camila's waist.

"Once you get the hang of it, you won't have to consciously visualise at all." Eda propped her chin on Camila's shoulder once Camila leaned into her. "It's all instinctual—following someone is a good shortcut for making your brain stop thinking too much."

Luz glanced back at them and her eyes went wide. Camila stiffened in Eda's arms but Eda didn't pull away. The last thing she needed was for Luz to think that they had something to hide.

Which they did, of course, but Luz didn't need to know that.

"Luz!" Eda yelled and Camila flinched at the explosion of noise right in her ear. "Go faster!"

"I—okay!" Luz turned around and they both picked up speed, Camila easily adjusting her own to match.

"Eda," Camila said, her voice barely audible over the rising noise of the wind. "This isn't very circumspect."

"I'm teaching you to fly," Eda said. "And she's flown with her arms around me often enough."

"That's not the same as this."

Eda gave her a little squeeze. "Only because you know I want to tear your clothes off. From the standpoint of anyone watching us from the ground, we're just two people sharing a staff."

"I don't give a shit what anyone on the ground would think of us. They could think that you have your hands down my pants for all that I care," Camila hissed. "I care about what Luz thinks!"

"It'll be fine," Eda said. "She knows you don't like the idea of flying. Stop worrying about it and focus on flying—Luz is pulling ahead."

"Oh, shit," Camila said. Owlbert lurched into motion and Camila squeaked as she slid back on the staff, only Eda's body keeping her from sliding more than an inch.

"I've got you." Eda gave Camila a squeeze, and not just for reassurance. She liked how Camila felt, cradled in her arms. "We've gotta practise your quick starts though if that was enough to throw you off."

"How fast can Owlbert go?" Camila asked as they slowed down to trundle along behind Luz again.

"You want to find out?"

"Not really," Camila said. Her voice had a note of fear to it, but there was a frisson of excitement too.

She would never admit to that excitement. Eda reluctantly dropped her hold on Camila and slid her hands up the staff until they covered Camila's. Her ring pressed uncomfortably into Eda's palm.

"It'll be fun," Eda said. She nudged Owlbert a bit faster and they pulled out to fly alongside Luz. She grinned at the kid and waggled her eyebrows. "How about a little race?"

"Absolutely not," Camila said. "That sounds dangerous."

"You're on," King said and he turned to Luz. "Camila will wuss out so we can win this one."

"Wuss out?" Camila said. "I'm just being practical."

"That's the same as wussing out." Eda urged Owlbert to surge ahead a foot or two. "C'mon, you can't let these kids beat us."

"Even if they do, we've still got them best two out of three."

"Now, that isn't nearly good enough and you know it. Let's crush them."

"You won't be crushing anyone," King said as Luz slid up alongside them. "The first one to Bonesborough is the winner."

The town was almost visible on the horizon; the street lamps flicking on and glowing softly over the tops of the trees as night fell.

"The first one to Bonesborough," Eda agreed.

"Mom?" Luz asked.

"On the count of three," Eda said. "Three—"

"Wait do we go on—"

"Two."

"—one or on—"

"ONE!" Eda shot forward, a quick burst of speed that made Camila shriek.

"Eda!" Luz yelled from behind them, though she passed them in a shot. "You cheater!"

"Oh my god, why are we doing this?" Every muscle in Camila's back and arms were tight and Eda nuzzled her cheek alongside Camila's reassuringly.

"Because it's fun," Eda said. "It's like a carnival ride and even safer. Owlbert won't let anything happen to us and I won't let anything happen to you. And this way Luz cannot fault you for wanting me close."

"You're the one holding onto me," Camila said. "It looks to me like you're the one who wants me close."

The wind was whipping through Eda's hair and she laughed, loud and carefree. Even the owl beast was still inside her, content with this form of flying if it meant that Camila was in their arms. "I do want you close! I always want you in my arms!"

Camila's words were swallowed up by the wind as Eda urged Owlbert faster and faster until all Camila could do was laugh and scream as they ripped past Luz and King and rooftops passed beneath their feet in a blur.

Chapter Text

Eda woke up alone with a start, her skin tingling and aching to be touched. She wasn't surprised to find her nest empty—the night before, Camila had urged Luz through the portal as soon as they set foot on solid ground—but she was surprised by the depth of her disappointment. Titan, she had never once woken up to find Camila in her nest, how in hell was she missing something she had never experienced?

Fuck, but she wished Camila hadn't hustled herself and Luz back to the human realm before Eda could get in a single word. She had wanted to ask Luz to spend the night and if Camila would indulge her with a nightcap. She was sure that it wouldn't take more than a glass or two to convince Camila to stay as well. It had been nice falling asleep beside her the one time they had, even with Camila's breath reeking of beer and her bare legs tangling with Eda's, taunting her with visions of what she had thought she would never have again.

At this rate, she would never have it again, the physical touch just as far out of reach as Camila indulging any emotional intimacy. Luz had kept the key with her every day so far this week and the portal construction was going painfully slow. King had grown bored with assisting Eda days ago and had fucked off to do his own thing—naps in the sun, which, wow, so riveting—while having the gall to tell Eda that she was overthinking things. No one in the history of ever had accused Eda of overthinking anything.

The light breeze through the window did little to cool her ardour, even if the air was getting nippy. She slid a hand under her sweater and hissed as her cold fingers touched the skin of her stomach. She was going to have to do something about the window; it was going to be a nightmare once winter set in since she no longer could keep the heat from escaping with the flick of her fingers.

"Hush, you," she said as the owl beast growled inside her. "You can still have your window, I'll just have to talk to the construction coven and see if they have anything they can install that will keep heat in while letting us come and go as we please."

By the time her hand was warm enough to travel south, her fingers no longer stiff with cold, it was too late to start anything. It was too late even to get dressed—she only had enough time to down an elixir and stumble downstairs in her ratty pyjamas. It didn't matter. Camila hadn't even so much as waved hello from the human side of the portal all week and Luz had seen her in worse states before.

"You look like shit," King said.

Eda flipped him off as she collapsed face first onto the couch. "Is Luz here yet?"

"No."

The thunk of ceramic on wood had her turning her head to see that King had placed a mug on the coffee table within easy reach. Her nose twitched but she didn't smell coffee—apple blood then—and she stretched out her arm to draw it closer. She didn't want to get up, though, and King hadn't provided a straw, so she left it on the table.

"Why are you being so nice?" she asked.

"You're just so pathetic," King said. "Pining after Luz's mom like this."

"I'm not pining."

"What is this then?"

"Garden variety ennui," Eda said. "It would be pathetic if I was pining after a woman I last saw a couple of days ago."

"It is, isn't it?"

Eda glared, but the snap of the portal opening cut off her words. She half propped herself up on one arm and peered past King to see Luz step out from the portal. Her back was to them as she waved goodbye, though. From her angle, Eda couldn't see through the portal. She collapsed down when the portal folded shut and closed her eyes. Another day without even a glimpse of Camila.

"Morning Eda," Luz said. Eda grunted. "Ah, it's one of those days."

"Those days?" Eda said into her couch.

Luz patted her ankle, quick and perfunctory. "A day where you're tired. I'll get out of your hair and leave you to your nap on the couch. I told Gus I'd meet up with him before school anyway."

"You know, sometimes you're really stupid," King said after the door slammed shut behind Luz.

"Excuse me?" Eda said, though she didn't bother to move.

"If you had paid the slightest bit of attention instead of sulking when you couldn't see your girlfriend, you would have noticed that Luz didn't take the key with her through the portal."

Eda sat up. "She didn't?"

"No," King said. "It was definitely closed from the other side."

"Oh." Eda looked down at herself, taking in the new hole forming in her long skirt. "Oh, shit, I need to shower."

As she showered, she kept her ears long and craned for any noise that didn't come from King. And noises that did come from King, so long as they were unusual and implied that he was in danger. She rushed through her entire routine except for the defeathering—that she took extra care with and hunted down every stray bit of fluff poking out of her skin. Her hair was a nightmare and a half to dry, even with a high powered hairdryer she had swiped from someone at the Saturday market months ago, but she washed it too. It had started to go lank, disgusting, really, and if Camila was going to be grabbing fistfuls of Eda's hair while pulling Eda's face closer to her pussy, well, Eda wanted nothing to detract from Camila's eagerness.

The hair at the nape of her neck was still damp when Eda gave up and moved onto her makeup. It looked presentable enough, at least as presentable as it ever was, and she needed to do something to hide how papery thin the skin under her eyes was becoming.

She hadn't finished dressing when she heard the portal open downstairs. It had to be Camila, but Eda heard nothing other than the sound of socked feet on hardwood. King didn't even say anything and Eda frowned as she pulled a clean dress on over her head. She had been so sure that he was going to waylay Camila and say something utterly stupid.

The footsteps were at the end of the long hall in front of her bedroom and Eda glanced around. Her room was a mess, but it was too late to do anything about that now. And Camila had already seen it like this; she already knew how much of a fucking disaster Eda was.

Eda ripped open her door when the sound of footsteps stopped, only remembering to shrink her ears when she saw the startled look on Camila's face. Her lips were parted, one hand raised to knock, as she stared up at Eda. Without a word, Eda pulled her into the bedroom and slammed the door shut behind her.

Before Camila had a chance to speak, Eda had her pinned to the bedroom door and their mouths sealed together. Even as she gasped into the kiss, Camila didn't hesitate and she pulled Eda tight to her body.

"I missed you." The words came out as a low growl as the owl beast demanded that Eda nuzzle into Camila's neck and preen her hair. Eda gave into the former and buried her nose into Camila's hairline, breathing in deeply. She was already betraying too much, pushing Camila too far.

"God, I missed you too."

"What are you doing here so early?"

Camila shivered when Eda licked at her neck with the tip of her tongue. "I called in to work. Said that I needed the day off because of a showing."

"Showing?" Eda asked. She reconsidered when Camila grew less pliant in her arms as she shifted gears from making out against a door to talking. "Never mind, I don't care."

"A house showing," Camila said anyway. "I don't think they believed me, though."

"But you have the day off?"

"Yes."

The word was hardly out of Camila's mouth before Eda had her lifted up into her arms. "I'm going to fuck you so hard." Camila was stiff, not melting into Eda and Eda frowned. Human women loved when she showed off her strength—men, not so much, but she hadn't though Camila would share their hangups. "If that's what you want? I didn't mean to assume."

Camila cupped Eda's face. "No, that's very much what I want. It's just." She flushed and her next words came out as a mutter. "King's sleeping in the sun downstairs."

"And?" Eda asked. "I slept with Raine loads of times when King was having a nap. He's not going to wake up and barge in on us."

"Can we just go back to my place?" Camila's eyes darted past Eda and Eda bit back a grimace. Oh, yeah. The nest. Even if drunk and touch starved Camila was willing to sleep in it, that didn't mean that horny and touched starved Camila wanted to fuck in it.

"Sure. Just open the portal and I'll walk us right through."

"Thanks." Camila's smile was sheepish, but Eda hardly noticed that as she watched Camila fish the key out from her cleavage. She couldn't believe that she completely missed the fact that Camila was wearing a very low cut shirt that strained into near-transparency across her chest.

Camila opened the portal over her shoulder and Eda carried her right through and straight into Camila's bedroom.

"Efficient," Eda said. "I like it."

She didn't place Camila onto the bed, instead lowering her carefully to the carpet, only letting go when she felt Camila's legs stabilise. Even if she did want to fuck as badly as Eda wanted, Camila's panic had been a shock of icy water that made Eda remember why she had wanted to take things slow this time around.

Camila grabbed at Eda's dress, her hands shaking as she tried to find the zipper. Eda gathered her in close until Camila's head rested on her chest and she nuzzled her nose into Camila's hair.

"There's no rush," she murmured. "We've got all day. Luz and King can't interrupt us, they're literally in a different dimension, and I doubt your husband will be coming home anytime soon." And if he did come home and happen to catch them, well, Eda would take great pleasure rubbing his face into how Camila preferred her touch to his.

Camila took a deep breath and let it out in a slow exhale. Her voice quavered as she spoke, "You're right."

"Of course I am," Eda said. "I'm always right."

"But I do want to rush. Eda, I've been waiting my whole life for this. Please don't make me wait any longer."

Titan, the way she was looking up at her, her teeth sinking into her already swollen lower lip, her eyes dark with longing. "Okay. I'll let you set the pace, but if you start acting weird, we're slowing down."

"Thank you," Camila said fervently and her hands began roaming Eda's back again. "Now how do you get this off?"

"You're overthinking it." Eda laughed and drew her hair over her shoulder. She didn't think that Camila had the presence of mind to keep from getting Eda's hair caught in the teeth. "Right there, along my spine."

Despite her reservations, which were strong even if Camila had stopped shaking, she stepped out of the dress as soon as Camila had worked it down over her hips and preened. She knew she was preening, looking ridiculous with her chest thrust out, but the owl beast was purring in satisfaction and Camila's eyes were fixated on her boobs.

If there was any part of her morning routine that Eda had paid extra attention to, it was selecting lingerie. It still rankled that Camila had caught her totally unaware and that her first look at Eda's boobs was when she was wearing functional lingerie. It had looked good on Eda—Eda didn't own a single scrap of clothing she didn't look hot in—but it wasn't fuck me now sexy. Not like the semi-sheer number she shimmied on today.

The magic woven into the dark red lace and satin worked exactly as advertised. Her tits hadn't been this perky since she was twenty, even if the effect would be totally ruined once the bra came off. But it wasn't as if Camila was a spring chicken herself—she knew damn well not to expect the boobs a twenty-something.

The tips of Camila's fingers ghosted along the scoop cup of the bra, touching more of the lace than Eda's skin, but Eda sucked in an involuntary breath. Liquid warmth pooled inside her and she fought to keep herself from thrusting her chest out further so that Camila would touch her properly.

Camila didn't need the encouragement. Her tentative touch grew firm and Eda's eyes fluttered closed. Titan, that didn't have any right to feel as good as it did. Camila hardly even knew what she was doing and she wasn't confident in what little she did know, but Eda's heart was racing, the blood thundering in her ears.

"God, you're so beautiful," Camila said. She sounded absent, like she wasn't fully processing what she was saying before the words slipped from her mouth, too engrossed in touching Eda.

"So are you," Eda said, her voice rough.

She couldn't keep her hands hanging placidly at her side any longer. Surely, if she only touched Camila at her waist and didn't pull her closer or sneak under her shirt, it wouldn't be pressuring her. Such a simple touch wouldn't be escalating anything. It was almost friendly, really, not sexual at all.

Eda pretended not to notice how her hands had started shaking as she placed them on the swell of Camila's hips. Just her fingertips. Soft, barely there, at least for a moment. Eda's resolve crumbled in seconds and she palmed Camila's hips, her fingers splayed out and trying to touch as much of her as she could with only those two points of contact.

She didn't pull Camila to her. She had enough self control to not do that, even as her shoulders tensed in anticipation. She didn't have to—Camila stepped closer and her hands left Eda's chest to slide up around her neck. She pulled Eda down into a kiss, softer and with less urgency than any of their previous kisses.

Eda purred into Camila's mouth and she broke down, pulling Camila flush to her chest. She was weak as Camila's tongue slipped past her teeth, as Camila's fingers scratched at her scalp, until she found herself practically draped over Camila. Standing on her own was too much effort and Camila broke their kiss with a low laugh.

"Want to sit down?"

Eda blinked down at her, feeling like her head was full of cotton. Camila nudged her, steering her along until the back of her knees hit the bed and she dropped down onto it, less by design and more at the shock of it. Camila climbed onto her lap, her thighs bracketing Eda's, and she kissed Eda again, short and teasing.

"Touch me," she said between kisses. "I want you to touch me."

Eda couldn't, not properly, not without collapsing back onto the bed. Camila was leaning too much of her weight into Eda and it was only her arms, outstretched behind her, keeping them upright. But the invitation was too tempting and Eda palmed Camila's ass with one hand and pulled her closer still.

They fell back onto the mattress, of course, Eda's arm giving out as Camila ran her hands up Eda's side. Camila propped herself up and hovered above Eda. Her glasses were smudged and Eda's fingers twitched as she kept herself from pulling them off, like she used to do with Raine.

"Eda?"

"Yes?" Eda asked dumbly.

"I know you're trying to be nice and let me take the lead, but I would really like it if you were less passive."

"Uh," Eda said. Her brain still wasn't fully working, focused more on how Camila's shirt gaped open and the swell of her breasts.

Camila didn't seem to notice her distraction. "I like that you're aggressive and unrestrained, Eda. Do you think we would have ever have ended up here, like this, if you were docile?"

The words barely registered and Eda replied even though she hadn't much of a clue what she was replying to. "Probably not."

"Then fucking touch me! For chrissake, Eda, you're half naked and I'm fully dressed."

"Take off your shirt then." The shirt was practically molded to Camila's skin; Eda wouldn't have cared if Camila hadn't taken it off at all.

Camila sat up on her heels. "Better," she said and pulled the shirt over her head in one smooth motion, knocking her glasses askew.

Eda was full of shit. She definitely would have been disappointed if Camila hadn't taken off her shirt. Eda hadn't been the only one who dressed for the occasion; Camila's bra was the stark black that only lasted the first laundering and it was sculpted perfectly to her body. She was gorgeous, unspeakably so, glaring down at Eda and silently demanding that she take action.

Eda sat up and took the glasses from Camila's face. She blinked at her, surprise making her eyes go round and indignation firming her lips.

"That's your reaction to me taking off my top?"

Eda levitated the glasses, shaky and uncontrolled, with the tiny spark of magic she still had left. It was hard, even harder than it had been the last time she had tried, and the glasses clattered down with none of the finesse she had wanted.

"I just don't want to damage them when I do this." Eda placed her hands on Camila's hips and, with a surge of strength—at least she still had that—she had Camila flat on her back. Eda buried her face in Camila's heaving chest. "Titan, you've got such great tits."

With a laugh, Camila threaded her fingers through Eda's hair and pulled her closer. "Yes, that's what I wanted."

She mouthed at the swell of Camila's breasts, leaving teasing little nips that made Camila jump and squeak. Not hard enough to bruise or leave marks that would last longer than the hour; even if her husband hadn't touched her in years and she wanted him to fuck off and die, Eda didn't want to make Camila's life more complicated than it already was.

Not that Camila seemed to give a shit. She kept arching her back and pushing her chest into Eda's mouth even as her hands held Eda in place. "More!"

Through the bra, Eda bit at Camila's nipple. The material was thin, hardly enough to blunt Eda's teeth. She still had to focus on not biting too hard; humans had such delicate skin.

She let go when Camila started to squirm. "You know, you're still more dressed than me."

She ran her hands along the outside of Camila's hips, the thick denim coarse beneath her fingers. Camila widened her thighs, already forced open by Eda's body between them, and Eda laughed. "That's not going to help me take them off."

"You're going to have to move if you want them off," Camila said. "And, while you're at it, take off your pantyhose."

"Yes ma'am." Eda winked and slid off the bed and onto her feet. She only wavered a little, but Camila still gave her a sly smile. "Shut up, you. I'd like to see you stand right now."

"But I don't need to." Camila lifted her hips as Eda tugged her pants down. "You seem to have this covered."

Eda let the jeans fall to the carpet and paused to admire Camila.

Camila shifted, a small wriggle that seemed more of embarrassment than to relieve any ache she may have felt between her thighs, and sat up. "What are you looking at?"

"You, obviously." Eda stepped forward until she was between Camila's legs again and she touched Camila's cheek. "You're captivating."

"Sure." Camila laughed, but she leaned into Eda's touch so Eda bent down to brush a kiss across her lips.

"You are. I told you; I can't stop myself from looking at you. I meant it, you know." She rubbed her thumb over Camila's cheek. "I can try to stop if it makes you uncomfortable, though."

A flush darkened Camila's face and her hand came up to cover Eda's. "Please don't. I like that you're attracted to me."

"I'm very attracted to you." Eda grinned and pulled back. She spread her arms wide. "What about me, though? Do you think that I'm attractive?"

Camila laughed. "Eda, you already know that you're beautiful."

Eda blew a raspberry. "Obviously, but finding someone beautiful isn't the same as finding them attractive—though you are definitely both. Does seeing me make your heart skip a beat?"

She was only teasing, of course. She didn't mean anything by it—she was Camila's experiment, not her crush. But Camila flushed and her hands reached out to pull Eda in.

"Every time you walk through the door," Camila said. "Every time you make a bad joke."

"Hey, none of my jokes are bad." Eda frowned. "I'm a comedy goldmine."

"Yes, like that one." Camila tugged at Eda's hands until she bent down far enough for Camila to kiss her. "But you should take that pantyhose off before I rip it."

Eda smiled. "That's always a fun way to destroy hose, though. It's up there with snagged on the razor wire of a chain-link fence I'm hopping."

Camila's eyebrows drew together and she ran her hands down Eda's thighs. "I never noticed any scars."

"They're pretty old," Eda said. "I'm a lot better at scaling fences these days."

"'Better', but not smart enough to not scale fences."

"Sometimes it's necessary." Eda shrugged. "Don't give me that judgemental look, a few summers ago, all you humans got real into climbing fences and waving around your phone-things." Camila just stared at her so Eda rolled her eyes. "Look, I'll let you look for scars for as long as you like, but it might be easier with the pantyhose off."

Camila touched Eda's stomach, not anywhere near the hemline of the pantyhose, and Eda looked down to see that she was touching a small mark she forgot that she even had. "Even with only half your body bare, I can see so many scars."

"That one isn't from razor wire," Eda said. Camila's forehead was still marred with lines and Eda heaved out a sigh. She knelt down to look up at Camila, her hands resting on Camila's knees. "I used to get in a lot of scraps. I was reckless when I was young and I did a lot of stupid shit. Don't worry about me; I don't make those choices anymore. I've got King to look after and Hooty and the parade of teenagers and I'm not scrounging to make ends meet."

"Eda."

Eda stood before Camila's hand reached her face and she hooked her fingers into her pantyhose. "This isn't about me, remember? It's certainly not about my past. We're here to have fun, explore, experiment."

She took off her panties along with the hose. They were drenched and uncomfortably cold against her skin anyway. Camila certainly didn't complain so Eda pulled off the bra as well. May as well get it over with now when neither of them were frantically pulling at clothes.

Which was what they should have been doing, none of this melancholy feelings-y bullshit. It would be hard to remember that this was meaningless if Camila kept being nice and concerned and Eda didn't want any false hope encouraging her to sink deeper into feelings.

"Right," Camila said, but she still looked uncertain.

"We don't have to, if you don't want to."

"Eda! I want to, god, do I want to. I took the day off work on a false pretence. What part of that says that I don't want to have sex with you?"

"People can think all sorts of things are a good idea all the way up until they reach the ledge and realise that they can't jump over. You're so nervous and it's making me nervous."

"Of course I'm nervous! This is the first time I decided that I was going to have sex with a woman. I didn't even know that I was going to kiss you the first time until you pissed me off so much that I just wanted to shut you up and then we were in my bedroom and I wasn't thinking at all. Eda, please, I don't know what I'm doing." Camila stretched out her hand to Eda. "Please, just show me what to do."

Eda took Camila's hand and guided it to her chest. "This would be a good start."

She had been comfortable feeling Eda up before after all, and she rolled Eda's nipple between her fingers in a way that made Eda gasp. But she was still looking up at Eda with that nervous, pleading look on her face.

"Eda," she said, and then Eda finally understood. Camila didn't want to be cautious, she wanted to be swept away in the moment. She wanted Eda to silence whatever voice in Camila's head that had her all worked up and worried.

Eda felt like a moron for taking so long. She sunk to her knees before Camila again and this time she noticed how Camila's pulse jumped in her throat when Eda touched her knees. She didn't want to leisurely explore Eda's body, she wanted Eda to fuck her until she lost all of her good sense.

That probably wasn't healthy. She would probably end up crying in Eda's arms again and the thought made Eda's guts squirm. But she did sign up for that. She signed up to be a safe place for Camila to explore her sexuality and holding her while she was in the middle of a panic attack was part and parcel.

And right now, Camila wanted this, desperately. The flush on her chest, the way her sodden panties stuck to her skin as Eda pulled them off, revealing her hairless sex. The way that her bedroom was stripped of any hint that her husband slept there as well. The way Camila's hands grasped at Eda and kept her from backing away.

Eda smiled up at her. "Hey, don't worry. I get it now. I'm not going anywhere."

Camila breathed out a deep, shuddering sigh. She skootched forward and canted her hips toward Eda, her meaning clear. She still had her bra on, but Eda could peel it off of her later, when she was limp and senseless on the mattress.

Her bare folds were glistening and Eda licked her lips. She hadn't even realised she had made the thoughtlessly sexy gesture until Camila let out a low groan. She smiled, wicked—she hadn't even touched her yet, not properly. Her hands were at her inner thighs, but she wasn't touching anywhere interesting.

Eda blew a shot of cold, teasing air at Camila's centre and snickered as she jumped.

"Eda!"

"Yes, yes, I know."

She trailed her hands up Camila's thighs until her thumbs brushed against the delicate skin at the apex of her thighs. More slick moisture gathered and Eda parted Camila's folds with gentle fingers. She hadn't had time to repaint them after trimming them for this express purpose and it was odd seeing her nails bare.

Not that she cared about her manicure. Not when she could smell Camila's lust and her mouth watered in anticipation. She wanted to taste her, that weird human taste.

So she did. There was no point in denying herself now, not when Camila was staring down at her and all but begging with her eyes.

At the first touch of Eda's tongue, Camila's arms gave out and she fell back onto the mattress. Eda held back a smile—this would be easy if all it took was a simple touch for Camila to lose control.

It was too easy—Eda didn't have the chance to drag it out before Camila was coming apart, shaking. Eda wanted to go for another, but Camila tugged on her hair until she could kiss Eda.

She moaned into the kiss and Eda slid her hand down between their bodies to circle Camila's clit. Even if Camila's grip on her hair kept her from eating Camila out, she couldn't restrain her hand as well.

"Stop that," Camila mumbled into Eda's lips.

"Why?" Eda asked. "You're still so wet."

"Because I want to touch you now and I can't think with your hand on me like that."

"Oh, well." Eda withdrew her hand. "Be my guest."

Eda didn't let Camila touch her, not right away. Camila used the time it took for Eda to get settled onto the bed to take off her own bra, which prompted Eda to pop up and latch onto Camila's breasts.

Titan, was there anything better than a great pair of tits? Eda lapped at them until Camila managed to pry her off and push her back onto the mattress.

"I said it was my turn," Camila said, her soft voice edged with a hint of a growl as she pinned Eda's wrists over her head.

"You shouldn't have tempted me then." Eda grinned up at her. She flexed her arms under Camila's grip, enough to be annoying and to show the woman that she could hold her down only because Eda wanted to be held down.

Camila rolled her eyes, but she kept one hand on Eda's wrists as the other trailed down her chest.

She was so much more confident now, all of her touches commanding Eda to pay attention. It was the way she had wedged her thigh between Eda's—something that Eda thought was incidental and intended to lessen how much Camila had to stretch to keep Eda's hands in place—that sent Eda's hips rolling, though.

Camila's eyes were wide as Eda ground against her, though her hand gamely plucked at Eda's nipples. Eda fought to keep her eyes open, to watch Camila watch her, but she wanted to get lost her in her own pleasure even more.

She lost the battle when Camila sent her hand down between their bodies and her the tips of her fingers brushed against Eda's clit. Eda bit her lip to prevent a strangled scream from escaping.

"Yes, that! Keep doing that!"

Camila's fingers grew more deft and she fell into motion with Eda until Eda lost the rhythm, her hips moving in spasmodic jerks as she toppled over the edge. She breathed hard and broke Camila's grip on her wrists to pull the woman down to blanket her. As much as she wanted to luxuriate in the high and the weight of Camila on top of her, Eda forced her breathing to slow and her eyes to open. Camila was silent, but she hadn't been a loud crier the first go around.

Camila's eyes were bright as she lay on top of Eda and her sticky fingers traced idle patterns on Eda's chest, which heaved as Eda let out an inaudible sigh of relief. Eda tightened her grip on Camila regardless and Camila gave her a soft kiss.

"Stop worrying," Camila said. "I'm not going to lose it again."

Eda looked at her. "Did you think you were going to lose it the first time?"

"Well, no," Camila said. "But I wasn't prepared for it."

Eda searched her face, finding only obstinacy and arousal. The latter was why Eda thought she was still so blithe, but those hints of quiet pleading had Eda rolling them over and trailing kisses down Camila's neck.

Chapter Text

"So," Eda said. "Thoughts?"

Camila's face was hidden in Eda's chest, but Eda wasn't concerned. Not much, at least—Camila's breathing was deep and even and she wasn't frightfully still. She seemed overwhelmed, but the sort of overwhelmed that came from good sex, not life-altering personal revelations.

"Head empty," Camila said.

Eda laughed. She knew those words, one of those dumb, meaningless phrases that Luz was fond of and she knew Camila's tone of voice. She was just as bemused by Luz's turns of phrase, which was reassuring. It was good to know that she still had a decent grasp on human culture and it was only teenage 'memes' that were escaping her.

"Good head empty?"

"Very," Camila said and, even though she was wrung out, delight shivered through Eda's body at Camila's satisfied contentment.

"Good," Eda said. "And you're not trying to put on a brave face, right?"

"I'm not."

"Because you don't have to," Eda said. "I understand if this is a lot for you and if you need to process it—"

"Eda." Camila placed the tips of her fingers on Eda's lips. "I'm fine, I promise. Why don't we just relax and enjoy this instead of worrying about my mental state?"

Eda snorted. "It's kinda hard to relax when that's up in the air."

"You're sweet, but it's not up in the air." She pulled herself out of Eda's arms and Eda fretted until Camila settled back down on her side, tugging at Eda's arm until Eda rolled over to face her. "Is that better?"

It was, actually. Camila's face was unmarred by any sign of discontent and her eyes were bright, focused. Eda drew her closer until Camila slipped one of her legs between Eda's.

"If it hits you later, when I'm gone, you'll come find me, right? I don't want to leave you alone with that."

The corners of Camila's eyes crinkled as she smiled. "That would be a bit hard since you'll be taking the portal key with you to give to Luz."

Eda frowned. She really needed to get that second portal up and running. "Maybe I should just leave it with you."

"You will not," Camila said. "It's easier if you give it to Luz."

"You're really fine?"

"I'm really fine." She smiled. "I'm already looking forward to the next time." She slid her leg up through Eda's until it pressed against Eda's centre. Eda bit her lip. "Unless next time is right now?"

Eda throbbed, and it wasn't entirely pleasant. "Fuck, do you want to kill me, woman?"

"Can you blame me? I have a lot of lost time to make up for."

"So we're going to keep doing this?" Eda asked and she hated how eager she sounded. "Not today, you'll have to find another woman to fuck if you want another round." She hated that idea.

Camila wrinkled her nose. "Where would I even find another woman?"

"Don't you humans have those hookup apps on your phones?" Eda had no idea why she was saying this shit, but the words kept coming out anyway. Nearly fifty years old and she hadn't figured out how to keep her damn mouth shut. "You could use one of those."

"I, uh, will keep that in mind."

"You know. If I can't keep up. Though I'll try. I'm not going to let you totally show me up."

"Eda, I don't want to have sex right now either. Or tonight, when you're gone."

"Oh. Right."

"I don't want to install a dating app on my phone either."

"Yeah," Eda said. "I guess that would be pretty obvious if your husband or Luz looked at your phone."

"That's not—I can barely find the time to see you, how would I be able to see another woman? Honestly, I don't know how you do it."

Eda blinked. "How I do what?"

"The whole two seeing two people at once thing. Properly, I mean. Not like how I am."

"I'm not?" Eda asked. "I'm only sleeping with you."

"Raine?"

"Oh. I'm not. Seeing Raine anymore."

"Oh! I just—I guess I thought that we were both cheating." She was bright red. "When did you break up?"

"About six hours before the first time we fucked."

"So I'm your rebound," Camila said. "Which is fine!"

"I guess?" Eda asked. Maybe the first time they fucked she was, but she was pretty over Raine by now. Sleeping with Camila didn't feel like rebound sex.

"Huh."

The silence stretched, long and awkward. Eda groped for something to say, for anything to make everything better. She couldn't find anything, everything felt inane or trite or she wanted to say something stupid about how this was anything but meaningless rebound sex to her, that she really did like Camila. As a friend. And also more than a friend, maybe. Probably.

Definitely.

"Can I ask why you two broke up?" Camila's voice was small. Hesitant. Guilty, even. "Luz made it sound like they were the love of your life. That you were soulmates."

Eda laughed and was surprised at how bitter it sounded. "Maybe we are, but does it fucking matter if they never choose me? They said that the timing isn't right and we should try again in twenty years. Like I should just sit around and wait for them to retire." She winced at the outrage on Camila's face and rolled onto her back. "I'm being unfair. They never told me to wait, I think they were just letting me down easy. There were just so many expectations and hopes pinned on us and everyone in the Boiling Isles was watching. Luz and King with their dream of an epic romance were the least of it."

"I'm sorry." Camila's fingers feathered over Eda's collarbone. "That is a lot of pressure for a burgeoning relationship."

"Eh, well." She didn't know what to do about the look on Camila's face. "It isn't the first time they broke up with me. I got over them once and I'll get over them again." She smiled then, false and wolfish all at once. "So there, that's what I'm getting out of our so-called unbalanced arrangement. They do say, after all, that the fastest way to get over someone is to get under someone else."

Camila laughed. "You know, I think that makes me feel a bit less like an ass. It probably shouldn't, but." She shrugged. "Though I guess this really does mean that everything does hinge on my schedule."

"You're the one with the nine-to-five." And the husband and the kid in the dark.

"I don't think I can take time off like this again."

"See, that's why I don't work a regular job."

"But I don't know when I can see you next," Camila said, ignoring Eda entirely. "God, I hate this!"

"Hey, hey." Eda tangled her fingers with Camila's and brought them up to her lips. "We don't need to decide on anything right now. We can play shit by ear. Sneak an hour here and there. I'm working on something that will make it easier."

"You are?"

"Yeah," Eda said. "Hopefully I'll finish it soon."

Camila gave her a long look, clearly waiting for Eda to elaborate. When Eda didn't, she said, "So we just leave it as that? No actual plan?"

"It will be fine. I can't say that I ever scheduled sex before and I've had plenty of it."

Camila bit her lip. "I guess we do it your way, then."

Eda kissed Camila's hand again. "You can still come over to my house for lunch. Even if you refuse to fuck on your lunch break, we could always make out a bit."

She was pretty sure that Camila's resolve would wear thin after a day or two. Eda could be very tempting when she wanted to be.

"I guess."

"I can kick King out too, if that would make you feel better."

"No, don't kick him out! It's his home!"

"It's my home as well and he needs to get out and socialise more anyway." Eda smirked. "It's settled, you're coming over to my house tomorrow at lunch. Make your coworkers think that you're being antisocial again."

"Oh, damn, that might be worth it so that they stop bothering me about you." Camila groaned.

"What have they been asking?"

"Exactly what you're grinning about," Camila said. "They've all decided that I'm being pursued by an older woman, who is a bit odd but seems nice, and that I should go for it."

"They're right on all counts," Eda said. "Except for the part where they think that I'm nice."

"Don't you think that you're cutting it a bit slim?"

King was in the living room when Eda stepped through the portal after sharing one last kiss with Camila that had bled into five. Eda wasn't surprised that he was—King was always waiting in the living room at this time of day—but she was surprised to see him sitting on the couch instead of on the windowsill. At least he had waited to speak until after Eda had closed the portal, but she still glanced behind her to double check.

"What do you care? You think that I should tell her anyway."

"I do! But not like this, with you walking out of Camila's bedroom with your lipstick smudged." King scowled as Eda rubbed at her mouth. "It was a figure of speech, it's gone. You must have left it all over Luz's mom."

That was sounded gross coming out of King's mouth. Which was fucking rich considering that he learned it from her—she had never once been shy about discussing sex with him, even when he made the same disgusted faces at her that she was making now.

"Can't you see? It's going to come out whether you want it or not. You need to tell Luz; she needs to hear it from you now, not find out when she comes home to find you with your hand up her mom's shirt. Secrets are bad, Eda!"

"Not all secrets are bad." Eda pinched the bridge of her nose. Where this sudden black and white morality was coming from, she would never know. And he just kept bringing it up, like a dog with a bone. "Yes, Luz might be miffed to learn that Camila and I have some sort of thing, but it's normal for people to date without telling their kids."

"This is more than going on a few dates with someone you met in the bar," King said. "You're Luz's sorta-mom and Camila is Luz's mom. This is big!"

Eda sighed. "King, we've already discussed this. I've already weighed Luz's potential hurt against Camila's and I think Camila has more to lose here. This isn't a situation where everyone can win, but one where all you can do is minimise the harm. I have to protect Camila—and Luz too. She'd be devastated if Camila decides that she's straight after all, you know she doesn't like her dad and that she'd start imagining some sort of fairytale future if she even got a whiff of what Camila and I are doing together."

"Protect them. Protect her," King said. "Just like you protected me by lying about my past? Because the lie made me happy? How did that turn out for you—for me! Why can't you see that you're just repeating that same mistake?"

Eda pulled her shoulders back and blinked. She could feel her mouth hanging ajar, but her mind was racing and what her body was doing seemed like such a trivial concern. That was why King was so hung up on this? Fuck, she should have realised. Of course he was obsessed with the lying angle.

"King." She sat down on the coffee table in front of him. She didn't know what she was going to say, how she could make this better, how to explain that even if a lie had hurt him, they were still sometimes necessary, but she had to say something. "It's not—"

"Hey guys!" The door slammed open and Luz grinned at them, wide and untroubled. Hooty hovered behind her, his face twisted into a silent apology. "How was your day? Mine was awesome, one of the oracle teachers showed us how to read palms. Oh, hey, you got dressed!" Luz cocked her head. "Mostly, at least. I get it, doing your hair is hard some days and it's not like I ever bother with makeup. Fifty percent dressed is pretty good."

Wow, that kid had set the bar real low for her. Shamefully low, really—Eda didn't know if she should be offended.

"Thanks?"

"So, what did you guys get up to?"

King gave Eda a meaningful look and she glared back. He was being terribly unsubtle, almost to the point of rudeness.

Eda shrugged, using the motion to draw Luz's eye away from King. "A fat load of nothing. You were right; I spent most of the day in bed."

King let out a sharp, disbelieving bark of laughter and Luz turned to look at him, her confusion clear. "What about you?"

"Nothing nearly so interesting as Eda," he spat before storming off.

"What's gotten into him?" Luz looked up at Eda, her eyes wide. "Do you think I should go talk to him?"

"Nah, he's fine," Eda said. "He's been in a grouchy mood all day. Titan puberty and all that."

"Ahhh." Luz nodded. "Best to give him space, then."

"I sure am." Eda rocked on her heels. King was nuts. How could lying be so wrong when it came so easy? "By the way, your mom told me to give you this."

Luz caught the key—not smoothly. She fumbled it twice before the leather loop caught between her fingers. "Eda, don't do that! What if it breaks?"

Camila would kill her and she'd have to up the timeline for her portal creation, that's what. "Pfft, as if it would, I've dropped that thing loads of times."

She definitely needed to work on that new portal.

"And it already broke once before. You've got to be careful, Eda."

"It was your girlfriend that broke it, not me."

"Yeah, yeah," Luz said. "Anyway, I better get home."

Home to Camila, whom Eda had left in a state.

"Do you have to?" Eda injected a whine into her voice. "You've been spending all your time at home or at school—I barely get to see you anymore."

Luz looked at her. "I guess I can hang out here for a bit. Mom probably won't be home for at least an hour anyway."

Eda threw her arm around Luz's shoulder and manhandled her towards the kitchen. "Why don't you tell me about the latest way you and your friends drove Bumpikins up the wall while I make you a snack?"

The sound of someone whispering her name pulled Eda into wakefulness.

Wakefulness might have been too strong. Eda wasn't awake enough to have thoughts that weren't drifting in the eddies of somnolence. It was more that she was pulled from a deep sleep to mostly asleep, that state where she had to be careful to not think too hard so she could drift back under.

So she didn't and carefully didn't think about anything other than her dream woman with Eda's name on her lips, thick with need. It wasn't as if there was anyone calling for her; Hooty wouldn't let any women into the house, no matter how soft they sounded. Lilith, he would, but her voice was grating and completely unlike her dream woman's and Hooty would have shrieked with delight at seeing her.

"Eda!"

A hand cupped her shoulder and Eda's eyes shot open. Dreams couldn't touch her—there was someone in her house, someone with the ability to incapacitate Hooty. She rolled over onto all fours, a growl ripping from her throat and feathers rising from her skin.

"It's just me!"

Even with her night vision augmented by the owl beast's eyes, Eda could only make out Camila's shadowy silhouette from where she stood outside of the nest, both hands raised palms out. It was pitch black with the new moon and Eda heaved a sigh of relief, as much because it was only Camila as it was because the darkness would have hid the monstrous change in her body.

The feathers receded and Eda waited until her mouth wasn't overstuffed with teeth before speaking. "Titan, you scared me." She sat down, her eyes fixed on where she knew Camila was standing, even if she could no longer see her.

"Sorry."

"What are you doing here?" Eda rasped, from sleep or lingering fear, she didn't know. She swallowed and tried again, trying to keep her voice soft and unaggressive. "Not that I don't want to see you, but it's the middle of the night."

"I was wrong."

Eda stiffened. She should have kept the eyes and the ears—there was something off about Camila's voice but she couldn't place it. She patted the nest around her, searching.

"About?" she asked as she tapped at a scrap piece of paper, hoping that it had the light glyph inscribed on it and not the fire. She thought she had removed all the fire glyphs from her nest after the first couple incidents of activating glyphs in her sleep, but she was never the most thorough witch.

Camila looked fine, though her eyes were hard to read as she squinted in the sudden light. There were no tear tracks on her cheeks, only a flush that could have been a trick of the light. Eda formed another ball of light and the shadows shifted across Camila's chest, her nipples in sharp relief through her battered t-shirt.

Oh. Oh.

"About not wanting to have sex again today."

Eda stood up and held out her hand. "C'mere." Her voice was rough again, but it was the good kind of rough, inviting, not aggressive.

Camila placed her hand in Eda's and Eda needlessly steadied her as she stepped over the wall of the nest and into Eda's arms. Eda kissed her before she regained her footing, her mind racing with a thousand thoughts at once. She had thought her days of being woken in the middle of the night for a booty call were over, but here she was, entertaining another complicated partner when she should have been sleeping.

Who was she to turn down sex offered by a desperate woman, though?

And Camila was desperate—she clung to Eda, her hands fisted in Eda's sweater and Eda could feel how warm she was through the thin cotton of her shirt. Her mouth tasted faintly of minty toothpaste and Eda smiled into the kiss.

"Where's your husband?"

"Asleep in bed." Camila chased Eda's lips, the 'who cares?' evident in her voice and touch.

"What did you do, sneak into Luz's room and steal the portal key?"

"She sleeps like the dead and leaves it on the desk right beside her bed."

"Naughty thief." Eda kissed Camila again.

"If I'm a thief, it's only because of your influence."

Camila tugged Eda down until they were sitting. Eda made a face. "Sorry, I don't bother with the bedding when it's just me." Because the owl beast had destroyed it so many times and Eda had grown tired of ordering yet another custom sheet set.

"It's fine," Camila said.

She slipped her hand up under Eda's shirt and Eda laughed. Everything was fine with your libido in the driver's seat.

"Tell me when it isn't and I can get out the bedding. It isn't a problem at all."

"It absolutely is if it delays me from having you."

She palmed Eda's boob and Eda groaned. Titan, she hadn't been expecting this and the adrenaline rush of her wakening had morphed so easily into heady arousal. She was wet already—ridiculous, she had barely had her tongue in Camila's mouth and Camila's hand on her chest shouldn't have been enough to make her this needy.

"You should take off my shirt, then."

Camila did one better—she pulled off her own before Eda's and Eda's mouth watered. She reached out for Camila's chest only for Camila to smack her hands away.

"My turn," she said and closed her mouth over Eda's tit.

"Okay, fine, I can lay here and let you do all the work."

Eda lowered herself down to lie flat on her back and laughed as Camila growled at her.

"Stop moving!"

Eda brushed Camila's hair out of her face. It was mussed and Eda wondered if Camila had even slept yet, if she had spent the night tossing and turning with her core aching for relief before giving up and coming to Eda. She was almost surprised that Camila wasn't demanding that Eda take care of her first—Eda would have.

The two tiny balls of light Eda had created were a paltry source of light, creating more shadows than they illuminated. But she could direct them with a thought and they hovered closer until Eda could see the smile on Camila's face as she devoured her.

Such a total lack of restraint, so different from before, but what Eda had been expecting when she first went down on her. She was so responsive, so eager to be touched; how could that not translate to how she touched others?

She tugged at Eda's skirt until it slid out from under her hips and Eda's bare ass scraped along the twigs. She was definitely going to get out the bedding after she came—humans got splinters so easily.

All thoughts of bedding left her mind as Camila mouthed her way down Eda's stomach, making an unerring line to Eda's centre. Eda spread her legs before Camila asked and let out a deep sigh when Camila swiped her tongue along her slit.

"You taste so good." There was wonderment in Camila's voice and Eda preened.

"So do you," she said and carded her fingers through Camila's hair to bring her closer.

She knew what she was doing now, teasingly circling Eda's entrance and dipping inside, chasing Eda's taste to the source, but she didn't linger long before licking her way up to Eda's clit.

And, fuck, she knew how to scrape her teeth against her clit just so, knew how to suck at Eda's clit until Eda had to shove a fist into her mouth to keep herself from screaming. Or saying something she shouldn't, something that would scare Camila from ever touching her again. Her hands were on Eda, inside Eda's cunt, stretching her and filling her, stroking inside and coaxing more moisture to spill from Eda and Eda was coming and coming and she didn't know if she was screaming or if she had kept her hand in her mouth and she didn't care either way, it was so good.

And Camila wasn't stopping. She didn't slow her pace as Eda thrashed and she continued, unrelenting until Eda came again with a hot gush of liquid that coated Camila's face.

Eda breathed, hard, and kept her eyes closed. Even the two lights dancing above them were too much, and she grasped for Camila.

"Up, up," she demanded weakly. She needed Camila on top of her, needed her to ground her. Her skin was tingling as if she had touched a live wire and everything was just so much.

Camila sprawled across Eda's chest and pressed small kisses to the base of her neck. She licked too, tasting Eda's sweat now that Eda wasn't letting her taste her come.

"How was that?" Camila asked as soon as Eda's breathing evened out.

Her pulse still raced and she could hardly think, but she heard the unspoken message behind Camila's words. "You are amazing."

"You're not just saying that?" Camila asked. "I know that I'm a bit rusty and I have no idea what I'm doing and that I'm not nearly as good at this as you are and I did so much—"

Eda cracked open her eyes and looked down at Camila. "Do I look like I'm just saying this? You were fantastic. Sex is more about knowing your partner than having 'experience' anyway."

"Oh, right. Good." A smile erased the worried lines between Camila's brow. "I'm glad that I finally managed to give you as much pleasure as you've given me."

Eda sighed, though it was a fond sigh, and she ran her hand down Camila's back. "You've given me plenty of pleasure. I've never had any complaints about your performance or anything asinine like that."

"I know, it's just—"

"You're just being silly," Eda said. "Don't worry about stuff like that, okay? There's no scoreboard."

"That better not mean that you don't plan on touching me tonight."

Eda laughed. "Oh, believe me, I plan on touching you very thoroughly. In a few minutes. Once I've recovered enough to stand and make the bed."

"You don't have to do that."

Eda bent her head until she could kiss Camila. "I know, but I want to."

"You can't sleep here," Eda whispered as she felt Camila drifting off. She didn't want to say those words; she wanted to fall asleep with Camila, warm and tangled in blankets and smelling of sex. The owl beast didn't want it either and unhelpfully sent Eda image after image of them as the owl beast entangled with Camila, who was also large and fluffy and preening Eda's wings.

"I'm not sleeping," Camila said. "I'm just resting my eyes."

"At two am?" Eda asked, though she hadn't a clue what time it was. "That's just another way of saying sleeping."

"I'm not going to sleep," Camila said. "That would be bad. Because it would be good."

"Oh yeah, you need to get out of my nest now." Eda laughed. "You should have a quick shower and portal back to your house before your husband notices that you're missing. He'll definitely notice if you're not there when he wakes up and Luz would panic when she found the key missing."

"Just a few more minutes." Camila burrowed in closer and pressed her nose into Eda's neck.

"Nuh uh," Eda said. "You'll a few more minutes yourself into both of us falling asleep. I'm pretty wiped too, you know."

"It's not fair," Camila said. "I want to fall asleep in your arms again. Wake up in the morning to you snoring in my ear, still holding onto me. Kiss you awake this time, instead of staring at you for a quarter of an hour, wishing I had the courage to act."

"Fuck," Eda said. "I want that too."

She wanted the slow morning sex, the warm, sleepy orgasm. The soft debate about going downstairs for breakfast or lazing away the entire morning in bed.

"We could set an alarm. One for five am, well before Luis or Luz would ever wake up."

"We shouldn't." At five am, Eda would want Camila to leave her bed even less than she did now. "You need to get some sleep, proper sleep. Not a few hours here and a few hours in your own bed."

"I'd sleep better here than I would with Luis beside me."

"I'm sure you would." Eda was sure Camila would just keep making excuses until Eda fell asleep so Eda drew down the covers, letting the cold air wash over them.

Camila yelped. "Christ, that's freezing. I don't know how you can sleep without blankets."

Eda shrugged. "I run hot. Get up. Have a shower."

"I don't want to."

"You're going to spend all night freezing here with me, then?"

"I don't want to have a shower," Camila clarified.

"If your husband is at all observant, he'll smell the sex on you."

"I don't care."

Something threatened to bloom in Eda's chest and she tamped down on it. Sleepy mulish words after a couple of orgasms meant nothing. Wanting to get back at a husband for years of philandering meant even less.

"Still doesn't change the fact that you can't stay here," Eda said. "You'll regret it in the morning if you do."

Camila sighed. "I know. But why can't you be reckless and self indulgent and enable me?"

"I'm trying out a new thing," Eda said. "Long term thinking."

"Okay, I'll portal back." Camila heaved herself upright and Eda followed until they were both standing in front of one of the chests in Eda's room, where Camila had placed the key.

"One last kiss?" Eda offered. Her hand was already cupping Camila's cheek and she leaned down before Camila had a chance to say anything. She was going to agree anyway, and she leaned into Eda, her cotton shirt soft against Eda's chest.

Not as soft as Camila's skin would have been. Eda sighed and broke the kiss.

"I'll see you at lunch?" Eda asked.

"You'll see me at lunch."

Chapter Text

Eda swept Camila up into a kiss the instant Camila stepped through the portal. Camila squeaked—her hands were full of food, so the fact that she didn't grab onto Eda wasn't what gave Eda pause. It was that her jaw was tight, and Eda pulled back.

"Is King here?" Camila asked before Eda had a chance to say anything.

"No, he's in town doing a potions run."

The tension left Camila's shoulders. "That's a relief."

Eda smiled at her, thin and anxious. She knew that her avoidance of telling Camila that King already knew about them was far beyond a lie of omission—and wouldn't King just love that—but she didn't want to ruin what little time they had together.

She would tell her right before she left to go back to work. Because that wasn't cowardly at all.

"You brought food?" she asked, and ignored how her gut was twisting.

"I brought food," Camila said. "You want to eat now, or?"

"Now. We'll forget to eat entirely if we don't."

If it wasn't for the fact that Camila had both hands full, Eda would have taken her hand as they walked to the kitchen. It would have been a totally unnecessary gesture anyway, one much too revealing.

Eda distracted herself from thoughts of holding Camila's hand for no reason at all by pulling plates out of the cupboards. Camila was already in the utensil drawer and Eda's heart fluttered at that instead. So domestic, divvying up the chores without speaking.

"I don't know how you can have leftovers that taste this good." Eda closed her eyes as she ate. The food was rich and, while she was pretty proud of her own cooking and would brag at her prowess when asked, Camila was on a whole other level. Maybe it was because she was a mom. Maybe some sort of innate cooking ability woke in people the instant they decided that they were a parent.

"They're nothing special," Camila said with a laugh. "I hardly have the time to make a real, proper meal these days."

"Please let me come over when you do," Eda said and took another large bite of food. "I need to experience what is special if this isn't."

Camila nudged the side of Eda's foot with her own. "Maybe after all the mess of moving is over and done with I'll have a spare Saturday to feed you properly. You and the kids."

"I can hardly wait," Eda said.

They didn't say much else while eating, Eda too focused on her food and Camila too focused on trying to distract Eda with little touches. It wasn't until they were washing the dishes that Eda got the guts to give voice to her nascent thoughts.

"I may have an idea."

"About?" Camila smiled, soft and patient.

"If what you were saying last night wasn't just sleepiness and stupidity brought on by sex, I think I know a way that you could spend the night." She couldn't bring herself to say 'and fall asleep with me'.

She didn't have to. Camila's eyes had darkened with interest and her smile grown wider. "It was an idle wish, but not an untrue one. What's your idea?"

"I was thinking that I could, possibly, nudge Luz into asking one of her friends to stay over for a sleepover. You could tell your husband that you don't trust me to supervise—which would hardly be a lie at all—"

"I trust you to supervise," Camila interjected. "You've been a good parent to Luz." She flushed. "Or however you want to put it."

Eda shrugged. Her own cheeks felt hot. "You and Luz get to decide how to put that, not me."

Camila's smile grew crooked. "You know she thinks of you as a mom."

Eda smiled back, hesitant. "I do. And I, y'know, love her and all that junk. But I'll never overstep. I won't lay claim to any title you don't want me to have."

"It doesn't bother me." Camila set down the plate in her hands, which was long since dry. Eda had only washed two of the dishes. She leaned into Eda until Eda wrapped her arm around her. "I think I like it. You're a better parent to Luz than Luis ever was."

A low bar to pass, but Eda kept that thought to herself.

"Thanks," she said instead, her voice rough.

"And your plan is a good one. Even though I trust you implicitly with Luz, Luis doesn't have to know that."

"It's probably for the best if he still thinks we're fighting."

"I don't think he ever knew that we were," Camila said. "It's not like I really talk to him."

Eda hummed. "Do you want to do a fun kind of not talking with me?"

"Eda," Camila warned.

"Just a little necking on the couch," she promised. "I'm still sore from last night. And yesterday."

Not that that would make Eda stop Camila if she slid her hands under her dress. But that wasn't something she had to tell Camila. Camila's eyes darted down to Eda's lips and Eda wet them, parting her lips just enough to let a flash of her teeth show. She wasn't above playing dirty.

"Maybe a little," Camila said. "But only if you teach me something about magic first."

"Do I have to?" Eda whined—and tried to channel Luz's most pleading expression.

"Yes. It's easier to lie to Luz about magic lessons when I'm actually getting magic lessons."

"I am giving you magic lessons. About the healing properties of regular orgasms."

Camila backhanded Eda on the arm, too soft to be anything but affectionate. "That's just biology. Come on, Eda, weren't you supposed to be the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles?"

"Playing to my ego, huh?" She put her other arm around Camila, turning her until she was in her arms, looking up at her with her brown eyes wide and wanting. If she pushed, just a little, she knew she could get Camila to forget all about the magic lessons.

"Is it working?" Camila's hands were creeping up Eda's stomach.

But, sometimes, it was more fun to tease, even if she was teasing herself in the process. "You've got my number."

She stepped back, letting Camila's hands fall from her body, and smiled at the involuntary whine that left Camila's throat. She was just as riled as Camila looked, so she settled on something easy, something that required no thought at all.

Something Camila desperately needed to learn.

She pulled a stack of paper scraps from her hair and fanned them out before Camila. "Pick your poison."

Camila took a step back. "You can't be serious."

"You wanted a magic lesson." Eda hid her smile behind the glyphs. "If you want my advice, go for the light spell. It's the least destructive of the base glyphs."

"I don't think I should." Camila's voice shook.

Eda set the glyphs on the counter, still fanned out, but kept a single light glyph tucked up her sleeve. She couldn't help but go to Camila, to ease her way into her warmth. "Hey, why not? It's just glyph magic—unless you want to do this with Luz instead?"

"I want that even less." Camila swayed towards Eda. "It doesn't seem right for me to do magic. I'm not special, not like Luz, and if the glyphs work for me..."

"It doesn't mean shit," Eda said once Camila started to chew on her lower lip. "Luz is special, but it has nothing to do with using glyphs. Fucking Belos could use them and Luz would be ecstatic if you could too. They're just a tool, Camila, and one I would really like for you to learn. For my peace of mind, please?"

"I." She bit deeper into her lip and Eda longed to kiss her anxiety away. "If it's that important to you, I guess I can try. Not that anything will happen."

Eda held out her hand and, with a sleight-of-hand trick, pulled the paper from her sleeve as if it appeared from thin air. "It'll work. Just touch the glyph and think about light. You've seen me and Luz use this glyph loads of time."

"It would be easier than a flashlight." Her hand hovered over Eda's, trembling in a way she rarely did. "Here goes nothing."

She squeezed her eyes shut as tapped the paper, a flutter-light touch that only grazed the glyph. But that was enough—the paper curled into itself and formed a small, perfect mote of light.

A mote of light that Camila couldn't see, not with how tight she had her eyes shut and her face turned away. Eda laughed and touched Camila's cheek, guiding to face the magic she wrought.

"Don't you want to see your very first spell?" Eda whispered when Camila stubbornly kept her eyes shut.

"Did it work?"

"Of course it worked." Eda rubbed a small circle on Camila's cheekbone. She was so soft.

Her eyes were soft too when she finally blinked them open, soft and wide with wonder as she stared at the warm little light ball bobbing between them. "Oh!"

She reached for it and deflated when it vanished as her fingers grazed its surface. "It's so fragile."

"But beautiful, right?" Eda brought her hand down to cup the back of Camila's neck. "There you have it. Your very first spell—the same first spell as Luz."

"Yeah." She was still staring at the spot the light orb had been. "I'm going to have to practise drawing circles, aren't I?"

"You've got all the time in the world." Eda stepped closer, let her fingers card into Camila's hair and urge her head to tip back and her eyes to meet Eda's. "But right now, I believe you promised me a few kisses in exchange for a magic lesson."

Her eyes were bright when she finally met Eda's, sparkling with a light Eda hadn't seen before. "I did, didn't I?"

"You did." The words rumbled out of Eda's chest, embarrassing in their intensity. She didn't give Camila any time to consider the depth of Eda's want and kissed her, fast and fleeting until Camila was growling, clawing at Eda and demanding a more satisfying touch.

She urged Camila out of the kitchen and into the living room, where a little necking on the couch turned fast to Camila flat on her back with Eda's hand up her shirt. Camila's moans were decidedly not in protest and Eda smirked as she trailed kisses down her neck.

She was debating pressing her luck and seeing if Camila would let Eda take off Camila's shirt when King shouted, "I knew it! I knew you sent me into town so you could suck face with Luz's mom!"

Camila pushed Eda off her, but Eda hardly noticed. She was on her feet and marching towards King.

"What the hell are you doing?" she yelled back. "Hooty, what the hell are you doing, you're supposed to warn me about stuff like this!"

"I snuck in," King said and Eda realised for the first time that he was standing in the door leading to the kitchen and that he was panting, his fur covered in twigs and dirt. "Because of that!"

For the first time in his life, Hooty didn't barge in, instead just yelling a very loud apology and keeping the front door firmly shut.

"Why? Why did you want to see this so bad?"

"He knew?" Camila's voice was weak and Eda turned to her.

She looked so small on the couch and Eda deflated. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know if going back to Camila would make things worse and King was looking at her in triumph, absorbed in his own self-righteousness and oblivious to how Camila was breaking down.

"Of course I knew," King scoffed. "Eda's never been subtle when she likes someone."

Camila bit her lip and Eda couldn't take it anymore. She went to Camila and sat down beside her, so close that they were nearly touching, and ached to close that small gap.

Camila's eyes were unreadable and they bore into Eda. "You knew he knew."

Eda watched her face, watched as it crumpled as she read the in Eda's expression before Eda spoke. "Yes, I was going to tell you, but—"

"You were going to tell her that, but you weren't going to tell Luz—"

"King, shut the fuck up!" Eda didn't have time for his bullshit, not right now, not when Camila was shaking. As soft as she could manage, Eda placed the tips of her fingers Camila's hand. "Camila, it's going to be okay."

"But if he knows he's going to tell Luz." Camila's voice quavered. She didn't flinch from Eda's touch and Eda slowly lowered her hand until it covered Camila's.

"He's not going to tell Luz," Eda said. "Even though he wants to, he's not going to tell Luz." She turned to glare at him as she spoke the last words and King's eyes were wide as he stared at Camila.

"Luz can't know," Camila said. "It's bad enough that my coworkers know that you're interested in me, at least they don't know that I'm—I'm a lesbian, but Luz can't know."

"Why not?" King asked, subdued now and his hands were twisted together. "She would like that you and Eda have a thing."

Camila shook her head. "We don't though, not really. I'm just using Eda."

"You're not using me." Eda laced their fingers together. "But it's okay that you don't want to tell Luz. She'll understand."

"But." Camila looked past Eda to stare at King.

"I won't tell her either," he said softly. "I'm sorry for barging in like that."

He looked so contrite and his voice was so sad that Camila softened. Her hand still clutched to Eda's, but she took a deep breath and tension faded from her body.

"Thank you, King. Your apology is accepted." Her voice was warm and her smile sweet. One could almost believe that she hadn't been halfway into a panic attack only minutes before. King did, his fur smoothing out and his hands dropping to his side.

Eda did not. She could feel how clammy Camila's hand was as she clutched Eda's. It was hard enough to hurt and Eda placed her other hand on top of Camila's. She wouldn't want her white knuckles betraying her unease.

"Eda did try to tell me, but I guess I didn't believe her." His brows drew together. "I guess lying isn't always bad."

Camila's smile didn't falter. "Life isn't as black and white as one might hope. That's part of growing up, learning to see that sometimes there is no right solution to a problem and that the best you can do is mitigate the damage."

King glanced over at Eda and Eda let a wry half smile quirk her lips for a moment. If they had been alone, she would have pointed and told him that she had told him so, but she didn't think Camila would be too impressed with that, even if it was totally justified.

"Yeah," King said. "But how do you know when a lie is good?"

"They're never really good," Camila said. "At best, you're delaying someone's hurt. You just have to decide whether or not that hurt will be less painful in that moment or in the next."

"Oh."

He clearly didn't get it but he didn't press. Eda's lips thinned. Typical—he'd listen to Camila telling him the exact same thing she had been telling him for weeks. What did Eda know anyway? It wasn't as if she hadn't had a lifetime's worth of experience lying to everyone she knew.

From the amused sparkle in Camila's eye, she knew that King didn't understand it either. "You'll figure it out eventually."

King sighed. "I don't think I like growing up. Everything is so much more confusing now. It was easier before, when pickpocketing and lying to sell human garbage to idiots was always good."

Camila choked. "I don't think I would describe either of those things as good."

"I know! Now there's nuance," King spat the word, "and I feel bad unless I'm pickpocketing someone who is obviously mega rich, like Amity's parents. Then it's fairly redistributing their wealth."

Camila looked at Eda. "That's one way of looking at it, I guess."

Eda shrugged. "You humans have similar morals, look at that movie with the archery fox."

"That's the first version of Robin Hood that comes to your mind?" she asked. "Do you both actually redistribute to the poor or do you take the money for yourselves?"

"We're poor," King said.

"Eda is a lauded hero that gets free drinks in every bar she steps foot in," Camila said. "Poor is an interesting way of putting it."

Eda cleared her throat. "Perhaps this discussion of alternative interpretations of socio-economic politics is a bit off topic?"

"Thievery, Eda, the word you're looking for is thievery."

"Ah, but the rich rob from us every day with their tax evasion and time theft and stagnant wages!"

"Not helping, King," Eda said through clenched teeth.

"Oh," he said. "Ohhhh. I'll just... go upstairs. Sorry again Camila."

"Do you even pay taxes?" Camila asked as Eda listened to the scrape of King's claws on the stairs. She didn't quite trust him to not hide around the corner and wait to ambush her. Again. "It's not like stagnant wages and time theft are things you need to be concerned about."

"Why would I pay taxes to a totalitarian dictatorship?" Eda asked. "It would be morally bankrupt of me to have supported Belos' regime by lining his coffers."

Camila barked out a startled laugh and her death grip on Eda's hand finally eased. "You have a justification for everything, don't you? What are you going to do now that it's a whole new government, one that's arguably fair?"

"I couldn't in good conscience give them any of my hard-earned money before they improve labour laws," Eda said. "The social programs need work too, I kept telling Raine that they should be using their influence to push through a basic income so that everyone can afford a place to live and food to eat."

"You're ridiculous." Camila leaned into Eda's side and let go of Eda's hand, a hint that Eda willingly filled as she wrapped her arm around Camila's shoulders and drew her closer. "That's a very idealistic dream you have there, but I can't help but notice that it's ultimately very self serving."

"What can I say?" Eda asked. "After a few weeks of eating nothing but gryphon eggs because I lost almost every source of income in one fell swoop, I became an idealist. It's hard not to be when you have to start weighing your wants against your kids' needs."

"It's tough being a parent," Camila said. She lifted her hand to play with Eda's, which rested with her fingers brushing the swell of Camila's chest. "King's right, you know. Luz is going to be hurt when she finds out about what we've been doing."

"I know," Eda said. "But it's a quick hurt, one born from the desire to know everything about both our lives. She'll get over it."

Camila hummed and Eda knew that she was thinking the same thing. Luz would get over it, but only if it ended in the way Luz would want. With the picture perfect family she desperately craved, the family Eda didn't think could ever exist. Not because she was too flawed, but because everyone was. Nothing was ever like the storybooks Luz loved.

"Eda!" Camila whisper-yelled through clenched teeth.

Eda lifted her gaze from the table she was wiping down and her eyes widened as she saw the look on Camila's face. When Camila grabbed her bicep, Eda straightened and went with her willingly.

Camila led them outside and Eda wrapped her arms around herself to ward off the chill. It was fucking freezing out and her breath hung in the air before her, white crystals forming in the damp air. Camila didn't seem to notice the cold at all, but she was wearing that green jacket she wore everywhere, including inside her own house. She was also pissed and her cheeks had been flushed before they stepped out into the cold.

"When I said having Luz invite a friend over for a sleepover was a good idea, I didn't mean Amity!"

Eda tightened her arms around her chest. "What happened to trusting me implicitly with Luz?"

"I'm remembering now why I didn't in the first place." Camila pinched the bridge of her nose. "I must have lost my mind when I said that to you."

Eda stiffened, more than the weather demanded. Every part of her was demanding that she snap back, but the cold air cutting into her lungs gave her pause.

"I didn't think it would be that big of a deal," Eda said and, despite her best efforts, the words came out mulish. "Since we're both here and King as well. It's not like they're going to get much privacy. It's not much different from when Amity was living at your house."

"It's not the same, the kids stayed at the forest house the rare times Luis was home and there were four of them piled into that room when he wasn't. Luz and Amity were never alone and they're dating, Eda! They shouldn't be having sleepovers—Amity's sleeping bag is practically touching Luz's."

"It's a small room and Luz has a lot of junk in there." Eda paused. "I also have a lot of junk in there. But I know that's not your point!" she hurried to add as Camila's mouth opened. "I'm sorry, I can tell Luz that she has to invite some of her other nerd friends too."

Camila's face was briefly obscured by the cloud of fog that formed from her sigh. Her shoulders dropped and, when the fog dissipated, the hard lines around her mouth had vanished. "I already asked about that. Apparently they are all busy tonight. All four of them."

A bark of laughter escaped Eda and she snorted as she tried to bite it back. "They're good little wingmen."

"God, Eda, you do not know how to help your own case."

"Oh, c'mon, you got to admit that it's kinda cute. Imagine how those dorks would have given Luz oh-so-subtle thumbs up as soon as Amity's back was turned." Eda let a teasing smile spread across her face. "Luz would have turned into a tomato."

Camila laughed and drew her jacket tight to her chest, holding it shut with one hand. "She would have been so embarrassed. I'm glad she's got such good friends, even if they're little nuisances causing problems for me."

Eda risked stepping closer to Camila, but she didn't touch her. Camila had shied away from Eda since the moment she had stepped through the portal, always checking twice to make sure Luz wasn't in the room before fully smiling at Eda.

"They wouldn't be teenagers if they weren't causing problems," Eda said. "And I'm sure we can put the fear of the titan into Luz and Amity. Make them too scared to even look at each other too long."

"Trust me," Camila said. "I plan on it."

"Great," Eda said. "Can we go do that right now? I'm freezing my damn tits off."

Camila arched an eyebrow, but she walked past Eda to the door. "You're cold? You? The woman who sleeps without covers underneath an open window so large that I could fit my entire car through it?"

Eda grunted. "I've got the construction coven coming over next week to see if they have any ideas for how to keep the heat in this winter."

"Have you thought of installing a pane of glass?" Camila asked. "Double pane, even."

"Ha ha," Eda said. "The thought never occurred to me."

She caught Camila by the wrist, a quick touch that she dropped as soon as Camila turned to look at her, her own hand at the door.

"Eda?"

"Amity's parents are pieces of work," Eda said, her voice low. "I went to school around the same time as both of them. One was always a bit of a space case and let the other push them around. I can't imagine that their parenting would be any better. Bear that in mind when you're terrifying her."

A small smile spread across Camila's face and she reached up to touch Eda's cheek. "You can be so sweet sometimes."

"I am not," Eda protested. "I just don't want to deal with moody teenagers."

"Take the compliment." Without looking around, Camila stretched up and brushed a quick kiss across Eda's lips. "Now, do you want to glower threateningly at a couple of teenagers?"

"You really know the way to my heart," Eda said, trying to ignore how fast it was pumping, just from a simple kiss.

They found Luz and Amity in the living room, sitting angled on the couch with their knees touching. Both girls were flushed from that contact alone and Eda barely kept herself from rolling her eyes. For all of Camila's paranoia, she doubted that those two would do anything more salacious than hold hands while falling asleep in their separate sleeping bags.

"Luz? Amity?" Camila began and the no nonsense tone of voice she had taken on was doing things for Eda. "We need to discuss the expectations for your behaviour tonight and the trust Eda and I are placing in you."

Luz's eyes had widened with Camila's every word and Eda could see the faint beginnings of a flush building on her cheeks. Eda's focus was more on Amity, though, whose yellow eyes had gone dull and she sat ramrod straight, no part of her body touching Luz.

"While we are allowing you both to spend the night, together, alone, in the same room, that is not us giving you permission to have sex—"

Well, maybe Camila wasn't, but Eda kinda was. The rest of Camila's words were drowned out by Luz's horrified gasp and the babble of words that spilled out of her mouth. She was bright red and on her feet, her hands waving in anxious flutters.

"Mom! No! We're not! We haven't! Oh my god, this is so embarrassing."

Eda was still watching Amity. Camila's attention was fully on her daughter—as was King's, who had snuck in to check on the commotion. He hadn't quite picked up on why Luz was screeching, yet, so Eda diverted some of her attention to him—his embarrassment would be almost as entertaining as Luz's.

Amity wasn't embarrassed—or, if she was, she didn't show any sign. Luz's outburst had cut through her stiffness and she wasn't sitting Lilith-perfect anymore, though she was by no means slouching. Her eyes had brightened and she watched Camila with rapt attention. Eda cocked her head as she looked at Camila, looking for what Amity saw that put her at ease. Probably the smile tugging at Camila's lips, or the roundness of her shoulders, her muscles loose and at ease.

Nothing like Odalia. Eda didn't think that she had ever seen Odalia relaxed for even a minute. She had been too much even for Lily, which was saying something—and none of it good.

"We understand, Camila," Amity said. Her voice was cool, but not that ice princess frostiness that she used when she was trying to hide that she was out of her depths, and it cut through Luz's panicked words. "We won't behave in any way that is untoward."

Camila let herself smile properly, a flash of white teeth that was directed solely at Amity. "I know—we know. That's why we're trusting you both."

Amity smiled back, hesitant and self satisfied all at once. The girl practically glowed in a reserved goth sort of way and Luz dropped back onto the couch, deflated. They weren't touching at all, but Amity glanced a little too long at where Luz's hand lay limp on the cushion between them.

That's when it dawned on King and Eda's smile grew as he met her eyes. He gagged. "Do you all always have to be so gross?"

"Aww, poor King," Luz said. "I guess you're stuck with mom and Eda if you don't want to see cuddling."

King's mouth opened then closed, his eyes darting between Eda and Camila and back to Luz. "I don't want to hang out with them either," he said finally. "They're so boring with all that magic talk."

"Does that mean we get to have our own sleepover?" Hooty gasped and coiled closer. "Teenagers, moms, and us guys?"

"Eda and I aren't having a sleepover," Camila said. Eda was impressed—she couldn't hear a trace of a lie in her voice.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Luz jumped up off the couch and bounced over to her mom. "I made up one of the spare rooms for you so that you don't have to sleep on the couch this time."

"I have a spare room?" Eda asked. She was sure that all of her rooms had a purpose and her eyebrows drew together. "Did you find an extra room in my house? That happens sometimes."

"No, we just cleaned out one of your junk rooms," Luz said. "Come on. I'll show you."

"Which room did you clean out?" Eda kept pace with Luz, her concern mounting as she led them deep into the house. "You know I have a lot of valuable stuff and that I have a system!"

"This one!" Luz pushed open the door to a room not far from Eda's own and Eda bit back a groan. "There was nothing in here but human junk so I figured it was safe to purge."

"That was all my high-ticket items! They were just waiting for the right buyer!"

"No, it was all junk," Amity said, and pushed past Eda and into the room. The candles scattered about the room flared to light and Eda blinked in surprise. "Now you have a room with a bed."

Eda stepped into the room, which was like stepping into another house entirely. The wood floors gleamed with fresh polish and the walls were bright with new paint. Even the candles were new with not a smudge of spilled wax in sight.

There was also the massive four poster bed dominating the room. The matching nightstands and dresser were wedged in, leaving barely enough room for all five of them to stand inside.

Eda had a dozen questions, but the stupidest one spilled out of her mouth first. "Where did you get the bed?"

"My mom has dozens of guest bedrooms," Amity said. "She won't miss this set."

"We were practising the shrinking magic we learned the other week and it gave me the idea." Luz picked up a backpack off the dresser and handed it to Eda. "All your junk is in there."

"Well, that answers the question of how you managed to move everything out so fast," Eda muttered. "Did you use abominations to do the cleaning?"

Amity nodded. "Of course."

"So what do you guys think?" Luz asked. "Pretty cool, right?"

"It certainly looks more comfortable than the couch," Camila said.

"I'm not going to complain about a free bed," Eda said with a shrug. "Especially not one stolen from the Blights. But I need to get rid of this bag before the magic wears off and we're drowning in human crap."

She tossed the bag into a different room of human garbage on their way back downstairs. Camila's fingers wrapped around her wrist and she stilled, watching the kids walk down the stairs without them.

"What's up?" she whispered once she was sure they wouldn't be overheard.

"We're still having our sleepover even though Luz brought a bed, right?" Camila whispered back.

"Of course," Eda said. "Though I was thinking that we should spend the night in that room instead of my nest. I've always wanted to try out rich people mattresses."

"You're fine with that?" Camila asked. "I assume you must sleep in a nest under an open window for a reason and a four poster bed in a room with a single small window is the exact opposite of that."

Eda shrugged. She wasn't wrong—the owl beast was already fluffed up and annoyed at the very thought of being confined by all that thick fabric—but, "One night of sleeping like a normal person won't kill me."

Camila squeezed Eda's wrist before letting go. "If you're sure."

Eda smiled down at her, lopsided. She knew where Camila would be most comfortable, and it wasn't in a room only a few degrees warmer than the frigid near-winter air outside. "I'm sure."

Chapter Text

It was nine pm and the girls were still in the living room, surreptitiously holding hands and giving Camila nervous looks while King mimed gagging. Eda hid a smile behind her mug—she didn't think that they could be any less subtle about wanting to break off but Camila wasn't biting. She knew Camila was aware of the girls' wishes, but Camila was slowly sipping from her own mug and watching them from the corner of her eyes.

As amusing as watching Camila toy with the teenagers was, Eda was finding that her sympathies were aligning more with them than Camila. She also wanted to sneak off and kiss Camila and she didn't get the luxury of holding hands. She only had her foot pressed into Camila's thigh and even that had garnered a lingering look from both King and Camila.

The divan was small and she was a tall woman, okay? Who could blame her for stretching out? Neither Luz nor Amity had and that's all that mattered. They had been too wrapped up in their play-by-play discussion of the latest Azura book to notice anything but each other; even King was left in the dust and he had actually read the book. Just, apparently, not in as much depth.

That conversation had petered out with both girls sneaking looks at each others lips and they had groped for anything to say. They had settled on schoolwork, which was almost as boring as having to listen to books-by-proxy. Their paraphrasing had not cut down on the amount of purple prose—Amity had taken notes of her favourite parts to share with Luz.

They were all the romantic parts, which was how they got to the point of staring at each others mouths. It was pathetic to watch—even the talk of abomination goo wasn't dimming their ardour.

Eda nudged Camila with her foot and Camila turned her gaze, the sparkle in her eyes warming into something Eda wished she could call fondness.

'What?' Camila mouthed.

Eda narrowed her eyes at her. She knew damn well what and the smile curling Camila's lips betrayed her. Eda nudged her again, harder this time, and Camila laughed.

Luz looked up at the sound of her mother's laughter and Eda wondered what she saw. She interpreted everything they did as fighting and Camila was flush from the apple blood. But she didn't seem to think much of it. After a moment's hesitation, she faked a large yawn and stared directly into Camila's eyes.

"Wow, I'm beat! I think I might turn in early."

Eda snorted. "Had a rough week, kid? You're usually up until midnight watching those videos on your phone."

Camila pressed her thigh into Eda's foot until Eda looked at her. She quirked her eyebrows at Eda for a second and Eda lifted her hand to scratch at the side of her nose.

'What?' she mouthed at Camila, the movement of her lips hidden from the kids by her hand.

"We had a lot of homework this week," Amity said. "I'm tired too."

"You're calling it quits before us?" Camila asked. "Kids these days sure are different."

"I know, going to bed early on a Friday? When I was their age, I would have been getting ready to sneak out of the house in an hour." Eda narrowed her eyes in mock suspicion. "Unless that's what you two are doing. Any of your classmates holding a big party tonight?"

"No!" Luz said.

"Boscha is," Amity said. "But she anti-invited us."

"That never stopped me."

"We're not going to a party!" Luz said, her voice high pitched. "We're going upstairs to sleep like people who make responsible life choices."

"Okay," Camila said. The kids stared at her, expectant. "Well? What are you waiting for? Permission to go to bed?"

Luz screwed up her nose. "It sounds dumb when you put it that way."

"That's because it is dumb," Eda said. "Go on, get out of here."

King lingered as Luz thumped upstairs—Amity's footsteps were nearly silent—and he tapped his claws together.

"I'm not staying down here with you two either, but I'm certainly not going upstairs with them," he said. "They're all mushy and it's way worse than whatever it is you two have going on."

"Thanks?" Eda said. She felt as mushy as a teenager right now with Camila's hand wrapped around her ankle, one thumb rubbing circles into the dip behind her ankle bone, but that could have been the apple blood talking.

The door crashed open and Camila jumped as Hooty squirmed in, a ton of junk draped over his body. "Is it finally time for demon-titan bonding?"

King closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. "Fine, we can do some demon-titan bonding. Some! I'm not staying up all night again this time."

He screeched as Hooty added him to the junk collected on his back and rushed out the door. Camila didn't flinch as it slammed shut, but her hand remained tight on Eda's ankle.

"He's very fast," she said, breathless.

"He's a very good security demon," Eda said. "King should count himself lucky that Hooty didn't decide to pellet him this time."

Camila turned to look at Eda, her movements slow and her face had lost the flush from the alcohol and taken on a grey pallor. "Please don't tell me that that's what it sounds like."

"No can do." Eda smiled, sharp toothed and trying very hard not to think about all the pellets she had puked up after the owl beast went on a rampage. "It's exactly what it sounds like."

"Gross."

"No more gross than all that sappy Azura bullshit we had to sit through."

Camila resumed stroking Eda's ankle. "You don't like the books?"

"Titan, no! They're awful, what adult could like them?"

"They're not that bad," Camila said. "The magic stuff is incomprehensible, but I assumed you would have a higher tolerance for that. Or would understand it."

"It's just as nonsensical to me and I was the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles. I would have been able to forgive that if it weren't for the literary sins those books commit. The prose alone." She shuddered.

"You're a snob." Camila laughed.

"What of it?" Eda drained the dregs of her mug and set it aside. "If I am, doesn't that say good things about you since you're the one I choose to spend time with?"

She stood up from the divan and plucked Camila's mug from her unresisting hand. It was nearly empty as well, but Eda swallowed the last mouthful, letting the bitter alcohol coat her mouth.

Camila looked up at her through her eyelashes. "I just didn't peg you as a lit fic elitist."

"There's lots about me that you don't know."

Eda cupped Camila's face and leaned down to kiss her. It was a soft kiss, a simple press of lips, and Camila's curved into a smile.

"Not yet, anyway," she said when Eda straightened and Eda's heart fluttered at her words.

She coughed. "I'm going to put these mugs away and then how about we go upstairs as well? We wouldn't want Luz to catch us if she went downstairs for a glass of water."

Camila followed her into the kitchen, too close to be friendly. Close enough that Eda debated kissing her against the fridge for a minute or two, but she knew that she wouldn't be able to keep it at just a minute, or her hands out from under Camila's shirt. She had worn a low cut one again and, thanks to her height, Eda could see the lace edge of her bra.

She waited until the door of her new spare bedroom closed behind them to ask the question she had been dying to ask since the moment Camila had stepped through the portal. "What do you expect from tonight?"

Eda turned around and realised that Camila hadn't heard her. Camila was looking about the room with wide eyes, though what she was seeing, Eda hadn't the slightest idea. It was just a normal candlelit room; the only thing different from this room than any other in her house was the lack of clutter.

Well, the lack of clutter and the bed, which looked even larger with the flickering shadows from the candlelight.

"This is only missing the rose petals," Camila murmured.

Eda blinked once before vague memories of human romantic comedy movies floated to her mind. Rose pedals, candles, a plush red bed like the one before them. Human romance.

"Uh," Eda said.

"I don't think it was intentional," Camila said. "You have candles everywhere and of course Luz and Amity would have picked out a red bedspread for you."

"It is my favourite colour," Eda said dumbly.

"I know." Camila fingered her glasses. "And I don't know what I'm expecting."

It took Eda a few moments to backtrack to the previous conversational thread and she gave Camila a weak smile. "Fair enough. Just falling asleep together is fine by me."

She set her glasses down on top of the dresser. "I do know that I want to kiss you again."

An inaudible sigh of relief escaped Eda's lungs. "I'm always interested in more kissing."

"I'm finding that I am too."

Camila stepped forward until she was in Eda's arms, her own heavy on Eda's shoulders as she drew Eda into a kiss. A deeper kiss than what Eda had given her minutes before in the living room and Eda lost herself in it, lost herself in Camila. She followed Camila's every touch, every escalation until she found the hard wood of a bedpost digging into her back.

Her dress was rucked up around her waist and Camila's hands skidded along her slick pantyhose, the callouses on her fingers catching on the silk. For her own part, Eda had her hands up the back of Camila's shirt, fingers splayed to touch as much of Camila as she could. Even with her mind turned to mush under Camila's touch, Eda kept her hands carefully away from any of Camila's more interesting parts.

Camila broke their kiss. "You're being polite again."

"Is that a problem?" Eda blinked hazily down at her.

"No," Camila sighed, her expression unreadable. There were too many emotions there for Eda to parse while also trying to keep herself from pulling Camila back into a kiss or ripping her shirt off or throwing her onto the bed or—Eda lost track of her own thoughts as Camila's throat bobbed. "It's hard to judge what you want sometimes. Sometimes you look at me like you are now, like you want to devour me, but you touch me like I'm fragile or as if you don't know that I want your touch."

"I don't, though," Eda said. "I don't know your boundaries and I don't want to overstep."

"Eda, I promise you. There's nothing you could do to me—with me—that would be overstepping."

Eda smiled. She wouldn't have said that if she had known the depth of Eda's feelings, if she had known how much Eda wanted her, how much Eda craved to be in her presence.

"Then you don't mind if I do this?" Eda flicked open the clasp on Camila's bra. Even with Camila's reassurance, she still watched her face closely, looking for any signs of hesitance. She only found eagerness, so she lifted the shirt and bra together over Camila's head. "Or this?"

"I love when you do that." Camila plastered herself against Eda and Eda felt a pang deep in her stomach. She wanted to see Camila, watch the play of the flickering candlelight across her generous chest and her large, dark nipples. She wanted Camila pressed against her, she wanted to touch her, she wanted to hear Camila say those words again.

She wanted to hear Camila to say those words, but different.

She clutched Camila to her and pressed their mouths together in a quick, violent motion that made Camila squeak and her hands to dig into Eda's thighs.

Eda had Camila's pants pooling around her ankles before she realised what she was doing. The owl beast inside her was rumbling, demanding for Eda to hurry up and throw Camila onto the bed. To ravish her, to stake their claim and Eda pulled away from the kiss with a gasp. Her chest heaved as she fought to regain control, her hands curling into fists and her claws digging into her palms. She kept her eyes closed, terrified that they had gone black and gold. Her teeth felt too large for her mouth, too sharp against her own tongue.

"Eda?" Camila cupped her cheek. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Her voice didn't quite have that harpy reverberation, but she sounded off to her own ears, which had to be too long. She waited for Camila to pull away from her, to cross the room in dawning horror, but she only drew Eda's head down until Eda's face was in the crook of Camila's neck.

"Just breathe, cariño."

Eda tried, but with her nose pressed against Camila's neck, all she could smell was Camila and it just made her want more. Made the owl beast want to lick at the base of Camila's throat to feel her pulse racing against their tongue.

She tried directing her thoughts at the owl beast, tried telling it that Camila would not be receptive to having talons and razor-sharp teeth anywhere near her body. That they could get what they wanted, but only if it settled down.

"That's it." Camila's fingers were carding through her hair, pausing to untangle snarls and discard detritus that was escaping her pocket dimension. "We spend a lot of time discussing my comfort levels and perhaps we haven't spent enough time discussing yours."

"I'm fine," Eda said. Her voice sounded normal so she continued. "I get overwhelmed sometimes, it's no big deal." At least it wouldn't be so long as the owl beast continued to have fond feelings for Camila. She didn't think it would harm her, but if Camila screamed or tried to defend herself—

She wouldn't let that happen. She was in control.

Camila hummed. "That sounds like something we should discuss."

"We don't have to." Eda pulled herself out of Camila's hold and straightened. She opened her eyes and Camila didn't so much as flinch, so she smiled. "I'm fine now. I just needed a moment."

"If you're sure," Camila said. She rested her hands on the bunched up fabric on Eda's hips.

"I'm very sure." Eda kissed Camila again and, apart from some pleased rumbling, the owl beast stayed docile inside of her. "Very, very sure."

Her hands caught on the scrap of lace at Camila's hips, but she didn't tug it down. She didn't trust herself yet so she traced around the lace to Camila's ass, which was warm and bare. Eda squeezed.

"Are you wearing a thong?" It was a rhetorical question; she had already explored all of Camila's ass.

Camila pinched Eda's butt through the pantyhose. "I am, though I'm not sure why you're so delighted. Every time I've taken off your clothes, you're wearing one."

"Panty lines are unflattering."

"You wear pantyhose." Camila arched an eyebrow up at her.

"You can never be too careful," Eda said. "And don't act like you don't know why I'm delighted. Turn around, I know you're dying to show off your ass."

Camila laughed. "If you insist." She turned without hesitation and gave Eda a teasing smirk over her shoulder.

A smirk that Eda hardly noticed—Camila always had a great ass and it was rare that Eda was able to keep her eyes off of it, but damn, was it something else when she wanted Eda to look. And touch too, which Eda didn't hesitate to do.

"Titan, you're gorgeous," Eda breathed.

Camila turned around again, but that just meant that Eda could ogle her breasts instead, heavy and her nipples puckering despite the stiflingly warm air. "You certainly make me feel gorgeous."

"You are," Eda said, "divine."

That fucking husband. She'd chase out any doubts this woman had if it was the last thing she would do.

"That might be pushing it a bit." Camila smiled. "I'm in the demon realm, aren't I? Doesn't that imply a real, actual divine realm?"

"Fucked if I know," Eda said. "I was never interested in theology and I'm even less interested in it right now. Get on the bed."

The mattress sunk under Camila as she made her way to the centre of the bed. "God, this thing is massive." She turned back to look at Eda, still on her hands and knees. "Aren't you coming?"

"Just admiring the view." The candlelight burnished Camila's skin and accentuated the roundness of her ass, which Camila wiggled.

"Come admire closer," she said. "This is a bedroom, not a museum. You're allowed to touch."

"If we were in a museum, it'd be worth being kicked out if I got to touch you."

Eda pulled off her clothes before climbing on to the bed. She didn't want any logistics interruptions and Camila was willing to wait patiently for her, still in the same position. Even through her drenched panties, Eda could see that she was wet and swollen, and Eda knew how to take a hint.

She palmed Camila's ass. "You want me to have you like this?"

"Please."

Eda bit her lip. Fuck, she wished she had her magic or that she was better at figuring out glyphs. Her sister was such a fucking prude that even if she did reverse engineer the spell to grow a dick, she'd never tell Eda.

She still had her hands, though, and she slid them under the scrap of fabric covering Camila's folds. She dragged her nails—still short and she was half waiting for Luz to ask—through the moisture she found there and smiled at Camila's full body shiver.

"Want me to go hard?"

"Hard," Camila said. "Don't hold back."

"I won't," Eda lied.

She wished she didn't have to hold back, but Camila was a human. She could do one thing, though, and she shifted one of her fingers into a talon. It came frightfully easy—the owl beast was very eager to get on with it—and she sliced through the thong and had her finger back into a normal shape before Camila even realised what had happened.

Camila laughed, but the desire and desperation shone through her voice and she was practically gushing. "Underwear isn't single use, Eda."

"You told me not to hold back."

She slid her fingers inside Camila and cut off any quip she might have made. Camila moaned, loud, then gasped. Her body shifted as she lowered herself onto her elbows and bit down on her hand.

"That's right," Eda said. "You gotta be quiet."

Normally she'd damn the consequences and demand for her partner to be loud anyway, but Camila was so wet that Eda's fingers were obscenely audible as she pushed into Camila. It wasn't one of those noises that only Eda could pick up on; Camila was making embarrassed little whimpers around her own hand and she grew even wetter as Eda angled her thrusts to draw out more noise rather than to strictly pleasure her.

"You're not doing a very good job of staying quiet." Eda wasn't being particularly quiet herself, but she didn't give a fuck. She wanted to see how much of a mess Camila would make of herself.

Camila pulled her fist out of her mouth. "You're doing that, not me!"

Eda couldn't turn down the opportunity and she slammed back into Camila with an extra finger, which slid inside without any resistance, and her other hand pinched Camila's clit. For a fraction of a second, Camila started to scream.

"Am I? It sounds like I might have to gag you." Eda bent low over Camila and bit at her shoulder. She wasn't sure if it was the threat or the bite, but Camila shuddered and reached for a pillow to hide her face in. "Oh, you like the sound of that, don't you? You want to be helpless and at my mercy?"

Camila didn't say anything, but she didn't need to. The sloppiness at her centre gave away her desire.

"That's something I can do for you, if you want it," Eda purred. "Just say the word and I'll do some shopping."

"O-0nly if I can use it on you too," Camila gasped. "I wanna see you strain to say all the smart-ass things that cross your mind."

Eda shivered. "That's hot. We can do that. We should do that."

"God, I can just picture the look on your face," Camila moaned. "Your consternation when I give you a soft serve for a dirty joke that you can't even answer."

"You should think more about what I'm doing to you right now." Eda thrust into her. "Do you know that I have three fingers in you right now?"

"Yeah."

"You think you can manage four?"

"Yes!"

"You sound awfully confident."

"Eda, you may have longer fingers, but my hands are bigger than yours. Give me more."

"Fuck, you're so hot." Eda bit down on Camila again. The owl beast wanted it and she wanted to see if it would make Camila shiver.

It did, and Eda was much more careful with her fourth finger than she had been with the third, perhaps needlessly so. Camila had been right—it was a bit of a squeeze, but her fingers slid in with little effort.

"How's that?"

"Full," Camila sighed. "So full."

She was fully slumped over now and Eda was pretty sure that the only thing keeping Camila's ass in the air was her own arm wrapped around Camila's waist. She could feel Camila's stomach rhythmically contracting beneath her hand and Eda twisted her wrist so that she could stroke inside Camila, the tips of her fingers brushing against that spot inside her that made her scream.

She didn't scream, but liquid gushed out of her in a short burst, coating Eda's wrist and staining the bedspread. Eda grinned and laughed.

"You didn't tell me that you could squirt!"

"I—what?" Camila said. She sounded dazed and completely out of it. She didn't protest at all when Eda rolled her onto her back.

"This!" It was easier on Eda's wrist from this angle and she had a hand free to play with Camila's clit. And Camila could see what Eda was doing. In theory, at least. She had her eyes squeezed shut and Eda reached up to tap at Camila's cheek with one wet finger. "Watch!"

Camila's eyes grudgingly opened, narrow slits that glared up at Eda. "But I'm close."

"I know." Eda rubbed circles around Camila's clit. "Watch."

"Jesus," Camila yelped as she came with a torrent of slick, her thighs shaking. "Fuck."

"So fucking hot," Eda said and she pulled her hand out of Camila and replaced it with her mouth. "Come again."

"I don't think—" Camila said. Eda scraped her teeth over Camila's clit. "Oh! Okay, yeah, I can." And she did, all over Eda's face as Eda tried to lick it all up through her grin.

"Amazing," Eda said as she pulled away from Camila. "Look at the mess you made!"

Camila raised herself with shaking arms. "Shit," she said. "Good thing we didn't do this in your nest. How would you even clean that?"

"Fucked if I know." Eda shrugged. "I haven't figured out a good way to do that without magic."

Camila was still staring at her own mess. "I didn't even know that I could do that."

Eda flopped down beside her and rolled Camila onto her chest and out of the wet spot. "The experiment is going good, then? No regrets?"

"None." Camila heaved out a deep sigh and she sunk into Eda's body. "This has been so great. You're so great. Perfect."

"I know," Eda said. Everything was pretty perfect after an earth shattering orgasm and Camila hadn't stopped trembling yet. Eda cupped her ass idly and squeezed. "Any conclusions yet?"

"I'm probably a lesbian," Camila said. "But you already knew that. And I'm only saying probably because it might just be you. You're really good at sex."

Eda laughed. "I am, but not good enough to turn a straight woman gay."

"I'm pretty sure you are," Camila said. "I thought I was straight until I met you."

"Did you, though?" Eda gave Camila's ass a small squeeze. "You can't tell me that you never had a double take when a particularly beautiful woman passed you on the street."

Camila drummed her fingers on Eda's chest. "Maybe? I don't know. Probably. I knew I was suppressing something, especially after Luz came out. But I never wanted to examine it until I met you. You're something else, Eda. Special."

Eda's face was hot and she rolled her head to the side to stare at the wall. The abominations had done a better job painting than Eda had ever managed. "Especially annoying, maybe."

"And funny and smart. And particularly beautiful. I would have looked twice at you if we had passed on the street."

Eda's heart was racing and she shifted beneath Camila. She wanted to believe Camila; the owl beast did, its purring threatening to spill out of Eda. Camila had to know how she felt—her head was resting above Eda's heart, how could she not hear every rapid beat?

Camila's hand snaked down between their bodies and cupped Eda's centre. Eda shuddered. "Have I been neglecting you? I can't promise you an orgasm like you gave me, but I'll make you feel good."

"You might if you boss me around," Eda said, even as her own words made her flush. It was better than dwelling on whether or not Camila had figured her out. "Put the fear of the Titan in me."

"You mean like—Eda, spread your legs." Her voice had hardened as she spoke and Eda parted them without thought. Camila pulled back from Eda and she whimpered. "Bend your knees. Let me see you."

"Like this?" Eda asked, though she knew she was doing exactly what Camila asked. She wanted to hear Camila's voice to go with the inscrutable look she was giving Eda.

"Yes. Now, touch yourself. Show me how you like to be touched."

Eda moaned and spread her folds as she did as Camila asked. Her movements were more for show than pleasure and Camila frowned at her.

"Properly, Eda. You wouldn't want me to learn something you're not actually interested in, would you?"

"Noooo." Eda let herself fall into practised motions, ones she knew would get her off fast, especially with how worked up she already was. "Aren't you going to touch me, though? I'm so close. I want you to touch me."

"I thought I was supposed to be the bossy one right now," Camila said. "If you're going to come that easily, remove your hands from your cunt and keep them on the mattress."

Eda did and she canted her hips up for Camila to see how desperate she was.

Camila's hand was warm as she cupped Eda's sex and her fingers slipped inside without preamble. Eda sucked in a breath—Camila had been right, her fingers were bigger than Eda's. The stretch was more than what she could manage on her own with two fingers and she moaned appreciatively.

"So wet," Camila said. "You've been very patient, haven't you? Making me feel good without any regard for yourself."

Eda was dripping wet because she had watched Camila's pleasure, but she had no idea how to express those thoughts into words when Camila was staring down at her with two of her fingers rocking in and out of Eda. She could only whimper.

"Should I make you keep waiting?" Camila asked and her fingers stilled inside Eda. "Make you beg for it?"

"Please, please," Eda said. She didn't know anything beyond that Camila had stopped moving and said to beg. She'd beg if Camila wanted. She was so, so close. And Camila was so far, sitting on her haunches between Eda's bent knees and not touching Eda apart from the lone hand on her cunt.

She knew vaguely that her hands were balling up the bedspread for a reason, but she couldn't remember it, couldn't remember if it was more important than reaching for Camila. Nothing could be more important than touching Camila, feeling her soft skin give beneath her hands. Eda grasped for her, patting her hands on Camila's knees and thighs.

"What's this about?" Camila picked up one of Eda's hands and Eda clamped down on her. She tugged, hard enough that Camila swayed forward and her fingers slipped out of Eda. Eda whimpered—that wasn't what she wanted.

"Touch me," she said. "Touch me, touch me. Let me touch you."

"Like this?" Camila lowered herself to blanket Eda again and Eda sighed in relief. Her fingers were back inside Eda, scissoring together and her thumb rubbing against Eda's clit. "You say you want me to be bossy, but really you want to cuddle?"

Eda just wanted Camila near her. Always near her, so she didn't have to look far to see her smile. She wanted Camila to be hers, properly hers, not just in these stolen moments. She was already Camila's, even if Camila didn't know it.

She screwed her eyes shut and bit down on her hand, hard, when she came. Not to be quiet—though she had to be quiet even if she couldn't remember why—but to swallow any stupid words that wanted to spill free.

Camila gently pulled Eda's hand out of her mouth and rubbed at the marks her teeth were bound to have left. Even with her eyes half open, Eda could see a perfect imprint of her teeth on Camila's shoulder and she winced as she remembered why she wasn't supposed to do stupid shit like that.

"Sorry," she said in unison with Camila. They blinked at each other.

Camila spoke first, probably because she was less addled than Eda, who was still trying to parse what was going on. "For your hand."

"I was the one who bit it?" Eda asked. "And you." She touched Camila's shoulder and fought to keep from shivering as she ran her fingers along the divots left by her teeth. What a disgustingly animalistic instinct. The damn owl beast didn't even have teeth, she couldn't blame this on it. This possessiveness was all Eda.

"You bit me?" Camila lifted her own hand to her shoulder and Eda let hers drop away. She flushed. "Oh, yeah. I remember now. Don't be sorry. I, uh, liked it."

"You'll have to explain that to your husband, though."

"I'll wear a high-necked sweater for a couple of days. He won't think anything of it; it's winter." Camila's nose wrinkled with Eda's. "You're good though? Not feeling overwhelmed?"

"Only the good kind of overwhelmed." Eda stretched and let the owl beast's purr surface. They shared some of the same vices—sex, drugs and alcohol—and Eda was only too willing to oblige any impulse that wasn't murderous or gluttonous.

"You want to talk about earlier?" As if she knew that the last thing Eda wanted was to meet her eyes, Camila lowered her head to rest on Eda's chest.

"I do not," Eda said. "It's not something you should worry about."

"I'm going to, whether you tell me to worry or not," Camila said. "I already think I'm taking advantage of your good nature, let alone taking advantage of you."

"You could never," Eda said. "And I have no good nature."

Camila laughed. "You're so full of shit."

Warm and content, Eda could watch the candlelight dance on Camila's skin for hours, but Camila was starting to shiver, tiny little bumps raising on her arms that wouldn't soothe away with Eda's touch.

"Want to cuddle under the covers?" Eda asked, though the blankets looked heavy and she knew she would boil under that much heat.

"I do, but I should check on Luz and Amity first."

"They're fine," Eda said. "If someone was bleeding, they would have burst in here screaming."

"No one will be bursting in; I locked the door," Camila said. "I need to make sure that they're not up to any funny business."

"Like us?" Eda squeezed Camila.

"I will be furious if they did even a fraction of what we got up to tonight."

Camila heaved herself from Eda's arms. Eda grabbed at her, holding her just tight enough to be annoying. Not enough that Camila couldn't easily break free, and Camila did.

She walked past her clothes and Eda propped herself up to watch as Camila unzipped the small bag on the dresser. She put on a thick pair of flannel pyjamas and smoothed down her hair.

"You brought pyjamas? I hope you didn't plan on wearing them."

Camila smiled at Eda. "I do not, but I need something to wear in the morning. Do you want to come with me while I say goodnight to the girls?"

Eda would prefer for Camila to come back to bed, but if the unlikely thing happened and Camila walked in on Luz and Amity in a compromising situation, Eda needed to be there too. To laugh and make the situation worse.

"Yeah, sure." She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. She lifted her dress with her foot and, when she looked up, Camila was rolling her eyes.

"Wait here, I'll get you something to wear that isn't obviously a dress you threw on after ripping it off." She slipped out of the bedroom before Eda had a chance to point out that Luz and Amity wouldn't notice shit.

She was back in less than a minute. "Your skirt almost has a hole in it."

Eda grunted as she put it on and pulled the sweater over her head. "Inevitable, sometimes it catches on twigs in the nest."

"Don't you think you should get a new one?" Camila asked. She took a small clutch out of her bag and waited for Eda to pad barefoot across the hardwood to her.

"I like this one," Eda said. "I'll just patch it when it tears."

Camila raised an eyebrow as they moved through the quiet house. Her voice was hushed too. "It has stains."

"It's comfortable," Eda said. Their strides had synced and Camila's hand was brushing against hers; she wasn't paying much attention to what she was saying. Camila didn't lead them back to the bedroom, but to the bathroom. "I need to brush my teeth and wash up," she said and she gave Eda a once over. "You should too, half your face was covered in, well, me."

Eda's lips curved into a smile. "That was amazing. We're going to have to do that again."

"Not tonight," Camila said. "I'm beat. As tired as the girls pretended to be."

"Well, it was actually a long week for you." Eda nudged her with her elbow, barely reaching across the double sink. "You had a late night this week, sneaking into my nest because you can't get enough of me."

Camila smiled around her toothbrush, but she didn't rush her routine to snark back at Eda. When their mouths were minty fresh and their faces washed clean, she stretched up to press a kiss to Eda's lips. "I don't think I could ever get enough of you. Except right now. I have to pee, so get out."

Eda laughed and she waited in the hall, leaning across the from the door. She couldn't stop smiling and it only grew when Camila stepped into the hall. Even with all of her premature ageing on full display in the bright light spilling out from the bathroom, she couldn't help but smile. It was hard not to with Camila beaming up at her.

"My turn," Eda whispered and stole a kiss as she brushed past her.

Camila waited for her too, the same smile on her face. Neither spoke, content to with their nearness, until they were outside of Luz's closed door. Light spilled out from underneath along with giggles and Eda raised her eyebrows at Camila.

"I didn't think they would actually do anything," Camila whispered as she knocked at the door.

One of the two yelped—Luz, probably, though Amity lost most of her dignity whenever she got in close contact with Luz—and both burst out into giggles again.

"Luz? Amity?" Camila pitched her voice loud enough to be heard through the door.

"Come in!"

The girls had pushed Luz's bed—which even Eda had to admit was hardly more than a cot—flush to the wall and spread out their sleeping bags so that there was the tiniest gap between them. Eda bit back a snort. Both were in their pyjamas, but they were sitting on Luz's sleeping bag, shoulder to shoulder, and a book was sprawled across both their laps.

"We just wanted to say goodnight," Camila said.

"I thought you two were tired," Eda couldn't resist saying. "That you had to go to bed early because school was so hard this week."

Their eyes both went wide and Amity scrambled off Luz's sleeping bag. "We were just about to go to sleep!"

"Uh huh," Camila said. "Well, Eda and I are going to bed."

"Okay mama," Luz said. "I hope you sleep well in the fancy bed! You should draw the curtains around it, I bet it would be so cool. Like sleeping in a Victorian manor."

Eda made a face. "Do you want your mother to cook to death in her sleep?"

Luz made a face right back. "Not everyone wants to sleep under an open window in the middle of winter, Eda."

"Why is everyone getting on my case about that? I'm getting it fixed soon, yeesh."

Camila wrapped her arm around Eda's bicep and pulled her out the door. "You can argue about this in the morning. Goodnight Luz, Amity."

The girls echoed their own goodnights and Camila closed the door. She kept her hand on Eda, sliding it down to tangle their fingers together once the bedroom was out of sight.

"You want to go find King and say goodnight to him?"

"Nah," Eda said. "Demon-titan bonding with Hooty can get real weird and I don't think you're ready to witness that yet."

"To bed, then."

Inside the bedroom and behind the locked door, Eda tugged at Camila's pyjamas until Camila took them off, folding them carefully and setting them down on the dresser before picking up and folding all of their discarded clothes—including the pyjamas Eda dropped unceremoniously to the floor.

Once they were burrowed under the covers, Eda slid across the bed to wrap herself around Camila. Titan, it felt right to have Camila in her arms, loose limbed and heavy as they settled in to sleep. The owl beast was urging Eda to carry Camila back to the nest, but Eda was content like this, in this too-warm bed. Happy, even.

"All this space in this bed," she whispered into Camila's ear. "And we're stuck clinging to the edge because someone made a mess in the middle."

Camila laughed. "I can see that you're heartbroken."

"Absolutely devastated." Eda pressed a kiss to Camila's shoulder, the one with her bite marks, and closed her eyes.

Chapter Text

When Eda woke, Camila was still fast asleep in her arms. Which made sense, considering that the sky was only starting to grey with the approaching dawn and Eda didn't want to be awake herself. Her body ached with exhaustion—and for more pleasurable reasons—but she was damp with sweat and the air tasted stale in her lungs. She was awake because the owl beast was and it was growling at her, fluffed with anger that she had let them sleep in this too large bed that chicks could roll out of instead of their cozy, secure nest.

She bit back a groan as she eased herself away from Camila and out of the bed entirely. "We don't have any chicks," she whispered as she crossed the room to open the window. Hopefully the bracing winter wind would shut the little shit up.

It sent her an impression of her coupling with Camila, then a collection of rather large eggs that made Eda wince.

"It doesn't work like that for witches." She stuck her head out the window and let the wind whip her hair. It was already a tangled mess from Camila and sleep; the wind couldn't make it any worse. "Or humans. We don't lay eggs and Camila and I are incompatible with the whole process of baby making without magical intervention. Which I lack, may I remind you?"

The owl beast sent a burst of sadness and desolation, along with two somehow coherent words—no chicks?

"No chicks," Eda said. The icy air felt good on her overheated skin and she leaned out further. The best part about living deep within the forest was that there was no one around to bitch when she wanted to air out her tits. "You're too late to start asking for those now—it would be surprising if I got pregnant at all, even with the right parts, and Camila isn't much younger. We've got King and Luz anyway."

The cold air and the knowledge that they could fit through the window, though she might lose some skin on the rough stone in the process, was calming the owl beast, even as it continued to grumble about the lack of chicks in their future.

"Why do you want that anyway?" she asked. "Chicks are so much work, all that squawking and inability to feed themselves. We lucked out skipping that shit with King and Luz."

She lost the meditative thread of her conversation when Camila shifted in the bed, the fabric rustling as the mattress dipped with her movements. "Eda?"

Eda pulled herself out of the window and looked to Camila, her heart racing. "Yeah?"

"What're you doing half out the window like that? S'cold." She burrowed herself deeper into the blankets, pulling them up to cover her nose.

"I guess I'm not used to sleeping in a warm bed." Eda reached for the window to pull it shut, but Camila let out a small whine as she did so.

"You can leave it open," she said. "Just come back to bed."

"But you're cold?"

"You can warm me." Camila's eyes drooped shut and Eda's heart lurched. She looked so soft and cozy all bundled up.

The owl beast crooned, urging Eda away from the window and back to the half-asleep woman. Probably because it was clinging to that stupid idea of Eda to making chicks with her, but Eda wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. She hadn't wanted to leave the bed in the first place.

Camila yelped as she rolled over to snuggle with Eda. "Christ, you're freezing."

She kept her grip on Eda tight, though, and her own nose was far from warm as she pressed it into Eda's neck.

"I'll warm up soon." Eda pressed the back of her hand to Camila's neck and laughed as she flinched away.

Eda had been sure that Camila had fallen back asleep when Camila spoke again. Her breathing had been so even. "Who were you talking to? Out the window?"

"No one, really." Her heart was racing again—so much for the calm she had gained after her initial burst of fear. "Myself."

"What were you talking to yourself about?" She sounded so lazy, almost asleep and full of idle curiosity. There was no way that she had heard Eda's words, there was no way that she would be calm if she had heard Eda talking about laying eggs, for fuck's sake.

"Nothing, really. I just had a weird dream."

Camila hummed. "You can tell me about your weird dreams, if you like."

"This one was pretty fucking weird," Eda said. "And I don't remember much of it and I'm tired."

"Okay," Camila said. She shifted, moving closer to Eda and becoming heavy against her. "We can talk in the morning."

Camila woke Eda in the proper morning, when the screeching of the winter birds drifted through the open window and the room was bathed in the reddish-purple light of dawn. Eda still wanted to sleep, both from her natural inclinations and the nocturnal nature of the owl beast.

"You can stay here, but I'm getting up." Camila brushed Eda's hair out of her face and Eda caught her hand to draw her in close. She rolled on top of the woman and held her in place with her bodyweight alone, nuzzling her face into the crook of Camila's neck. Camila laughed and her swats at Eda were more like caresses.

"Or you could stay here and sleep some more. I can tell you're still tired too."

"I am," Camila said. "But if I'm not up before Luz and she comes to find me?"

"She's a teenager. She's going to spend the entire morning making cow eyes at Amity whenever she eventually wakes up. You worry too much."

"And you worry too little. Let me up. At the very least, I need to pee."

"Fine," Eda said with as much of a whine as she could manage. She flopped back down onto the bed once Camila had squirmed out from under her and Camila pressed a kiss to her temple for her troubles.

"Come downstairs when you get hungry."

"Are you going to make breakfast again?" Eda closed her eyes and stretched. Even with how tall she was, she couldn't reach the end of the bed, and she smiled.

"If you have enough groceries. Luz has the portal key so I can't just pop into my own kitchen."

"Right. Portal keys," Eda mumbled. She had to work on that. There was a guy she knew in Latissa who might know where to get one of the last pieces she needed. High quality shit, not like the garbage she had kicking around that Luz had experimented with.

"Get some sleep." Camila's hand ran through Eda's hair again before the mattress shifted beneath Eda. She didn't open her eyes, instead just listening to the rustle of fabric as Camila put her pyjamas back on.

Eda didn't fall back asleep. Beds were too weird after decades of sleeping in a nest and she could smell sex in the room, even with the wide-open window, which made her want to seek out Camila and wheedle another round out of her. She shifted her ears until she could make out the slow, even breaths of Luz and Amity—and King too, though he was deep within the bowels of the house.

Camila, though, was in the shower. She'd be warm and wet, glistening as water rolled down her shoulders and off her breasts. Eda heaved herself out of the bed and into her own pyjamas, though she also took yesterday's clothes and chucked them haphazard into her own bedroom. She'd forget if she didn't do it now and that Luz would notice.

The bathroom door was locked, but that had never stopped Eda. Even without her magic, there were no locks that could keep her out, especially not in her own home. She could hear the shower running as she knelt down with a set of lock picks. The door gave easy and she slipped inside, as silent as a ghost, and locked the door behind her.

She dropped her clothes beside Camila's and pulled open the shower curtain, just enough to slip inside.

"Hey," she said and Camila screamed.

"Jesus Christ, Eda!" Camila pressed her hand over her heart.

"I'm awake now."

"We'd be lucky if the entire house isn't awake now!" Camila said. "What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't stop thinking of you in the shower, all wet and slippery." Eda stepped under the spray and slung her arms around Camila's waist. "I'll wash your back if you wash mine."

"God dammit."

"Is that a no?" Eda cocked her head and tugged at Camila, who stepped willingly into her arms. "It's not a no."

"It's a 'I very much would like that but Luz is going to break down that door at any moment'."

"I'll be very quiet and you can tell her that you saw a spider crawl up the drain." If she had even noticed her mother screaming—she certainly hadn't last night and she hadn't been asleep then.

Camila looked down. "Is that an actual possibility?"

"Sometimes bugs hide from Hooty in the places he can't reach which, yeah, includes the pipes."

"That's horrifying," Camila said. She slipped around Eda. "You can stand closer to the drain."

"More water for me." She reached out and poured a generous helping of shampoo into her hand and started working it into her hair.

"You were actually serious about showering?" Camila asked. "This wasn't a ploy for sex?"

"In the shower? I don't have a death wish." Eda's fingers kept getting tangled in her own hair and she growled in frustration, tugging until large clumps came free in her hands.

Camila batted Eda's hands away from Eda's head. "Stop that, I'll get it for you."

Eda's eyes half closed as Camila's fingers worked through her hair, gentle and careful as she worked through all the tangles.

"God, how much shampoo do you go through in a week?" Camila asked. "You have a deceptive amount of hair."

"I'd go broke if I actually paid for the shampoo." Eda ducked back under the water and washed it all out before reaching for the conditioner. That went in easier and Eda twisted Camila around so that she was under the spray. "I promised you that I would wash your back."

It was more of a massage than anything, but the conditioner needed time to set and Camila's back was full of knots that slowly released under the combination of the steamy heat and Eda's hands.

Luz never did pound on the door, but Camila made Eda hide before she opened it, even after Eda pointed out that if someone was waiting on the other side for their turn, they would have heard them talking.

There wasn't, because Camila was far too paranoid, and Eda couldn't resist stealing a kiss in the hallway junction before they parted, Camila to head downstairs and get started on breakfast and Eda to change into proper clothes. Apparently wearing old pyjamas after showering negated the shower, which was silly, but Eda was willing to go along with Camila's silly wishes.

She picked a low cut dress for the day, in part because she wanted to watch Camila try to keep her eyes off Eda's chest while the kids were in the room and in part because that guy in Latissa was more pliable when Eda waved her tits in his face.

A quick shift of her ears revealed that King was in the kitchen, begging food off Camila, and that the girls were both awake and sequestered in Luz's bedroom, making gross kissy noises. Eda returned her ears back to normal and gagged.

For Camila's sake, she took the long way down to the kitchen and pounded on Luz's door with maximum obnoxiousness. "Hey! You two! Get up, breakfast is almost ready!"

She was still laughing as she stepped into the kitchen and Camila looked over at her from the stove, a single eyebrow raised.

"The girls are up." Eda sidled closer to snoop on what Camila was making and copped one last quick feel.

King gagged, but his dramatics stopped as Luz and Amity stumbled into the kitchen, both flushed and their clothes rumpled. The girls sat dutifully at the table and Camila cut Eda a hard look. Eda leaned in to steal a slice of bacon off the pan, unconcerned as the grease spattered and burned at her fingers.

"They were sucking face," she said, too low for anyone other than Camila to hear.

Camila slapped at Eda's hand as she reached out to snag another. "Either sit down or make yourself useful."

"I can be useful," Eda said, but she didn't bother to be. Instead, she boosted herself up onto the counter beside the stove and made herself as annoying as possible, just to see Camila's grudging smile.

"Eda, can you fly faster?" King asked. It was more of a whine than anything and Eda could fly faster, but it was cold as balls out and they were cruising against the wind at a high altitude. The icy air cut through her thick coat and the only reason why King wasn't complaining about freezing as well was that Eda was functioning as a windbreak for the little shit.

"Why?" she asked instead. "It's almost noon so we missed Luz in the morning and we'll be back at the owl house well before she gets home from school at this pace."

"Because, when we left on Saturday morning, you said that this was only going to be a quick trip, a day tops. It's Tuesday, Eda!"

Eda grunted. She was well aware of the date and how long they had been away from home. She felt disgusting, her hair lank and forming thick tangles from the constant flying, and exhausted from trying to sleep in inns while the owl beast whined and King snored. She was down to her last flask of elixir, but it was worth it. She may have had to traverse the length of the titan twice, but she had everything now.

"So you didn't get to see her for a day and a half less than usual, I'm sure Luz will be willing to stay on the Boiling Isles for a few hours after school to catch you up on all that you've missed."

"That day and a half might be all that I get to see Luz this week! My dad's supposed to pick me up soon, remember?"

Eda had kinda been hoping that King's dad had stopped by, grown bored with waiting and left already. She knew it was a selfish wish so she bit her tongue.

"I know he was supposed to come by last week, but you know how us titans are about time. He's probably waiting for me at the owl house already and then I won't get to see Luz at all!"

"'Us titans'?" Eda echoed. "King, you are much too young to have started losing track of the passage of time. And if you had, you wouldn't have been on my case for two days now about getting back home. Face it, you were raised by a witch and you have a witch's sensibilities."

"What witch's sensibilities do you have?" King asked. "You're the one who stretched a day trip into half a week."

"Fair," Eda said. "We're about an hour out from Hexside—do you want me to drop you off there so you can bother Luz?"

"Yes, yes!" The staff shifted a bit as King squirmed and Eda corrected for it, minuscule movements that she didn't have to think to make. Owlbert never once veered off the path. "They always have the best garbage."

He fell silent after that and curled up against Eda's back. The cold must have been getting to him too and Eda put on a burst of speed. Not enough to whip her skin raw, but certainly enough that she wished that she had thought to bring a scarf. She could hardly feel the tip of her nose and she tucked her neck down into the collar of her jacket.

She dropped King off at the top of steps at Hexside's front entrance. The stone would be like ice against the pads on his feet and she knew how much he hated acclimatising to winter. Her sympathy only went so far—he kept refusing to wear boots after all—but that didn't mean she had to be mean about it.

Though it was pretty funny watching him dance from foot to foot as he tried to open the door. She didn't feel a lick of guilt for laughing at that as she flew low to the ground through the forest path to her house. The trees blocked out much of the wind and hardly anyone ever walked this path—though it had been dicey for a while after the thing with the Collector until people learned to fear Hooty's tea parties—so she picked up the pace, flattening herself to her staff as she raced for home.

She shot up into the sky when she entered the clearing that made up her yard and spiralled upwards to drop momentum. She could just make out Hooty unspooling from the door to greet her and she debated just dive bombing her bedroom window. It wouldn't dissuade Hooty from following, but at least she would be warm and inside.

Except she wouldn't, because she had flaked on the construction coven, which was supposed to have sent a rep on Monday to assess Eda's window situation. She sighed and dropped down to the hard-packed dirt. Another nightmare to take care of.

"King's dad stop by yet?" Eda asked as soon as Hooty dropped within speaking range.

"Hello Hooty, how are you, did you have a good time holding down the fort alone for almost an entire week?" Hooty curled around until he was looking at Eda upside down, which he knew she hated.

She sighed. "Hello Hooty, did you have a pleasant four days without me?"

Hooty hummed. "They weren't bad, but they were pretty boring. There just aren't a nice variety of bugs in winter."

"Did you do anything other than eat?" Eda asked. "Such as see King's dad?"

"Mmmmmnope!" Hooty coiled around Eda. "Do you want your mail?" He didn't wait for her reply and started horking it up which, well, at least he was doing it outside. She wouldn't have to clean his slime off the floors this time.

"What about the construction coven?" Eda asked as she gingerly picked up the letters between two gloved fingers. "Were they upset that I blew them off?"

"Nah, I smoothed that one over for you. I said you were on important saviour business. You know, protecting the island and junk."

"Thanks? Did they say when they would come back?" Tired of standing out in the cold when warmth, blessed warmth and her own nest were right there, Eda moved to open the door. Hooty scooted in her way.

"Nope! They installed an open air spell barrier window for you, like the ones rich people have in their solariums. I negotiated you the top of the line model. The pamphlet is in your hand." Hooty jabbed his face at it in a pointing motion.

Eda's eyes widened. "These are very expensive." Way more expensive than she could ever afford, even the base model.

"I know!" Hooty said. "I wanted them to turn off the feature to keep bugs out, but they refused. They keyed it to your wards, though—it was a very slick installation, if I do say so myself. And I do! And I'm an expert house demon so I know you got quality stuff."

He was quivering at the memory, which was horrifying in its own right, but Eda was too focused on all the zeros in the price tag to spare any of her horror for him. Titan, she better get a steep discount for being the saviour of the world. She flipped through the rest of the letters. "Did they give you a quote? Or say when to expect the invoice?"

"Didn't I tell you already?" Hooty cocked his head, too far and Eda's stomach churned. "I also negotiated the price—you get it for free!"

"Really?" Eda pinned him with a look. "Did you get that in writing?"

"I thiiiiink so. I signed so much paperwork that day, you can't expect me to keep track."

"Did you keep a copy?" There wasn't anything in her mail apart from other bills and junk, but Eda flipped through them again.

"Yeah, on your dresser in your bedroom."

"Great." Eda muscled past Hooty and forced the door open.

Camila looked up from the couch as the cold air rushed in, swirling powdery snow inside. She didn't say anything and Eda couldn't see her expression after spending the entire day in the brightness of the sun bouncing off snow.

"Also Camila's here!"

"You couldn't have led with that?"

Eda patted at her hair, which was a lost cause that she made worse, the slime coating her gloves joining the grease clumped strands. She gave up and shut the door behind her, ignoring Hooty's squawk about being cut out of the conversation, and shucked off her outer layer. She let them drop into a sodden pile near the door, her excitement at seeing Camila at war with her anxiety about being a gross, sticky mess and the fact that Camila still hadn't said anything.

Her eyes had adapted to the dim lighting and she could see that, while Camila was tracking her every move, her gaze was unfocused. She was too placid, sitting there with her hands folded in her lap.

"Camila?" Eda sat down beside her. "Have you been here long? I'm sorry that I made you wait."

Camila blinked at her. "No, it's okay. Luz told me that Hooty said you and King were out on a secret mission. I wasn't waiting for you. Not really."

"Okay," Eda said when it was clear that that was all that Camila was going to say. "Then why are you here? You're always welcome in my house, of course, but you seem off."

"I needed to get away. To think."

"I used to do that all the time, but in reverse. Escape to Gravesfield and torment humans." Eda tried a small laugh, but Camila's lips hardly twitched at all.

"I saw your photo in the coffee shop downtown. Banned for life, huh, Marilyn?"

"Super banned." Eda covered Camila's hand. It was cold, even under Eda's half-frozen fingers. "What did you come here to think about?"

"My future," Camila said. Her hand twitched beneath Eda's. "The house sold. I signed the papers a few hours ago."

"Huh," Eda said. "So you're homeless?"

"Not yet," Camila said. "They don't get possession until the new year. It's just—it's put a deadline on things, I guess."

Her eyes welled with tears as she looked up at Eda. She looked terrified, gnawing at her lower lip, and Eda ignored the fact that she smelled like shit and gathered Camila into her arms. It wasn't as if Camila seemed to care—she burrowed her way closer and pressed her wet face into Eda's neck.

The part of herself that she hated was full of delight. Not because Camila was in her arms—though she was sickly happy about that—but that the house had sold and Camila was conflicted. She had to be thinking about leaving her husband; it would be the easiest time to do it. No big assets, just cash and possessions to be split and custody to determine.

"So your future?" Eda couldn't help but ask.

"I don't know," Camila said. "Luis keeps asking me to look at this house with him. I think I'm supposed to be doing that right now. Maybe. I don't know how long I've been sitting here."

"Do you want to buy another house with him?"

Camila shook her head. "But I didn't want to sell our house in the first place. We had just finished paying off the mortgage; it seems so silly to move now and saddle ourselves with a debt that will last into our retirement. But Luis wanted it, desperately."

"You know that you don't have to, right?"

"We're married."

Eda took a deep breath. "And you don't have to be. He's been cheating on you for years."

"And I've been cheating on him. I don't know." She pressed herself closer to Eda. "It's all so much. Everything's just happening all at once and I can hardly think. What would I even do if I divorced Luis? Where would I live, where would Luz live? What would I be left with?"

Eda bit her lip. Ran her hands along Camila's back. Felt the blood thrum through her veins. It seemed to her that divorce would solve most of Camila's problems. But that was her own selfishness talking.

"Well, you were saying that you didn't have enough time to properly experiment," Eda said. Camila shifted against her and Eda could feel her eyes on her. She didn't return the gaze, though, keeping her own fixated on the wall opposite. "With no husband, you could download one of those apps. Figure out where you stand on the sexuality spectrum. Fuck some dudes that aren't your husband, fuck some women who aren't me."

"I guess," Camila said. "I never really wanted to sleep with men, though. At most, I felt like I could tolerate it with Luis."

Eda shrugged. "Or skip men and date women." Camila was still so tense and Eda didn't know what to do, how to get her to relax. "And don't worry about housing, for you or Luz. It goes without saying that you're always welcome here. Even if you don't want to be in my bed. Nest. Whichever."

Camila sighed, pulling deep from her lungs, and sunk into Eda. "Promise?"

"Promise. I'd never turn you away."

Chapter Text

Eda burst into King's room, kicking the door hard enough that it bounced off the wall and nearly smacked her in the face as she stepped into the room.

"Are you ready?!"

"Nyeh!" King scrambled away and pressed himself against the opposite wall. "What the hell, Eda!"

"It's time! I'm going to do it!"

"Do what?" King's voice cracked as he shouted back.

She stepped forward, knowing that her grin was manic and her eyes were wild behind the smudges of grease and dark circles. "Make the new portal."

"You're finally going to risk it?" King asked. "You've been very cautious about this. It's very unlike you."

"Well, do you want to get stabbed by a needle again? You were such a baby about it the first go around." Eda rolled her eyes. "I've got one easy shot at this."

King got to his feet. "Alright, let's do this. What do you need me to do?"

"I need an extra set of hands. This isn't cutting it anymore." Even though he was too familiar with it to be disgusted, she popped off one hand and waved it at him with the other. "Then I'm going to need you to hold on to the rope if everything goes well."

King looked down at his own hands and then back up at Eda. "I know I'm, like, super incredibly strong and fit, but, uh, don't you think we should wait until Luz gets home before we try any ventures through the portal?"

"Pshh." She twisted her hand back on and flexed the fingers. "This is supposed to be a surprise, remember? Hooty can help pull you out, but it's really just a precautionary measure. I, for one, have no intention of walking into a janky-ass portal like Luz."

It was much too cold to be constructing the portal outside—and it was a surprise—so Eda had used one of the large, open rooms of the tower, the one that used to have been her workshop back when she had magic to workshop with. It had felt nice tinkering around in there again. Like she was herself, properly, not a washed up shadow reliant on an accord with a monster living inside her and glyphs engineered by her apprentice and her sister.

She didn't know what she was going to do with herself once this project was finished. She knew she didn't want to go back to how she was before, but all thoughts of her future were nebulous, like grasping for smoke. Maybe Raine had been right when they tried nudging Eda into doing things other than laying about the house.

Whatever. She wouldn't even be finishing this project right now if it weren't for how pathetic King had been all week. As much as she had half-wished for King's dad to have come to the owl house to pick up King while they were out, Eda hadn't wished for him to not come at all. It didn't matter how many times King insisted that it was just that his dad was old, even for a titan, and time slipped through his fingers. Eda knew he was hurt by his absence. Hurt and worried, both of which he alternated between trying to hide from Eda—but never from Luz—and crawling onto her lap and seeking comfort.

That titan better hope that King saw him first. If Eda did, well, he'd have to deal with a face full of talons.

Hence, the portal shaped distraction. Eda sent King scampering all over, tightening all the little fittings she couldn't quite reach and holding awkward items so she could affix them to her hot mess.

"I think that's it," Eda said as she crosschecked everything for the fifth time between Luz and Belos' notes.

"Are you sure?" King asked. "It looks pretty... not great."

Eda looked up and frowned. "It does look pretty shit, doesn't it?"

"Not as bad as Luz's attempt but—"

"Yeah," Eda said. "But I think this is it. I've replicated everything I could from the original schematics with pieces matching the time period. There's a few modern upgrades, but everyone I consulted with said that those changes were superior. Evened out the energy flow, more efficient use of magic. Should need less titan's blood than the original."

"I could give you more. If you asked nicely."

"Thanks," Eda said, though she had no intention to ever ask him to give her his blood for something so self-indulgent.

"Where is the last of my blood?"

"In here." Eda lifted a slim, silver key with a small blue gem inlaid in the bow, delicately ornate where the original key was vaguely gruesome. "I infused the blood already."

"That's less than I realised," King said. "Are you sure—"

"Of course I'm not sure!" Eda snapped. "But I have to try or I'll just keep dithering about forever."

And Camila needed that second key—it wasn't a matter of convenience anymore. It had been a week since she had signed those papers, but she was still anxious and Eda had hardly seen her at all.

"You're using glyph magic to power this? Not electricity?"

"Yup," Eda said. It was the only glyph she could honestly say that she had developed herself. In theory—in practise, she had made smaller scale models—it would syphon ambient magic and pour it into an object. She had made a lot of explosions recently. "You better step out of that circle, I'm about to light it up."

King scampered across the room and straight into Eda's hair, though he kept his head out to watch. A coward, but a curious coward.

"Here it goes." Eda reached out and tapped the edge of the glyph with the toe of her boot before backpedaling to press her back against the wall and edge behind a heavy shield as the glyph started to glow.

She'd never said that she wasn't a coward as well.

The key warmed in her hand as the makeshift portal in front of them began to glow. The key was the only point of heat left in the room other than Eda and King—the glyph, or the portal, was sucking every last bit of energy out of the air. Eda's nails dug into her palms, long and jagged as the owl beast's fear mixed with her own, but somehow the key slipped out between her fingers. She grasped for it, but it was gone, flying across the room and into the lock.

Eda swore, but the portal twisted, corkscrewing all of its component parts, before creaking open.

"Did it work?" King asked, his teeth chattering.

"I, maybe?" Eda's voice reverberated with the harpy's power. She stepped out from behind the shield and stared past the blinding light of the portal to the snow covered forest beyond. "It certainly looks like the human realm."

"And it looks like a door. A proper one, not all twisted up like Luz's was." King slid down Eda's back and circled the new portal. "But it's not the same. This one's all flowy and pretty."

"Maybe it's matching the key?" Eda tied a long strand of rope around her waist. "I'm going to try going through."

"What about Hooty?" King asked. "Shouldn't he be anchoring the rope?"

"Yeah, yeah," Eda said. She threw open a window and leaned out of it, as far as her wings would allow, and shouted for Hooty.

She paced under King's watchful eyes. The damn portal was right there, open and inviting and connected to the human realm. The rope was overkill, let alone Hooty, who was taking for-fucking-ever. Where was that damned owl tube? He was always up in everyone's business, so where the fuck was he now?

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Eda whirled at the sound of Hooty's voice. "Don't you want to test it with something first? I can get you some bugs."

Eda rolled her eyes as she tied the other end of the rope around Hooty's body. "You two worry too much. That's obviously the path from the abandoned house in Gravesfield. I've been there hundreds of times."

She didn't test the knot—either the one she tied around her own waist or the one on Hooty—before diving through the portal. She didn't want to wait for another round of anxious looks—when had any of them ever exercised caution?

She didn't stumble as her feet sunk into the thick snow, unmarred but for a line of deer tracks crisscrossing a smaller rabbit trail. Eda spun in place, slowly, and her grin grew wider.

King and Hooty stared through the portal at her, King's face as near to the door as he could get without passing through, the rope wrapped tight around his hands. Eda laughed at the looks on their faces and she picked at the knot at her waist for a second before slicing clean through it with her claws.

"Eda!" King took an abortive step closer.

"It's fine," she said. "I told you that it's the human realm. I'll see you guys later."

She reached out and plucked the key from the portal door and it collapsed behind her. With a single beat of her wings, and the key tucked safely into her hair, she cleared the tree line. Her heart in her throat, she spun in midair to where Camila's house should be. For all of her confidence, there was a thread of doubt lingering inside her, some disbelief that she had managed to build this portal without fucking up.

But the house was exactly where it should be, with the sale sign blocked out by a large red SOLD placard on the front yard. Camila's car was parked on the street, covered by a fine dusting of snow. She frowned—it was the middle of the workday and Luz hadn't said anything about her mom taking the day off. She had been planning on flying across town to find her.

She landed in a small copse of trees outside of Camila's house and took a deep, bracing breath of freezing air before releasing her harpy form. Without the insulation of feathers, the cold bit through her skin and shivers racked her body.

The snow crunched under her heels as she ran up to the house, her hands tucked under her armpits and her shoulders hunched. The doorknob stung at her hand when she touched it and she swore when it didn't give. Fingers already too stiff to pick the lock, she jammed down the doorbell.

Past the blaring first note of the doorbell chiming on repeat, Eda could hear footsteps and Camila muttering in Spanish. Eda would be the first to admit that she didn't know any Spanish beyond pleasantries, but she knew that Camila's words were anything but pleasant.

She let go of the doorbell and the door wrenched open.

"What—Eda?" Camila's eyes widened and she stepped to the side. "Why are you out there? Where's your jacket?"

"Forgot it," Eda said as Camila closed the door behind her.

"Did you open the portal in the wrong spot?" Camila's hands fluttered over Eda, leaving burning trails in their wake. "You know you can always portal straight into my house—it's below freezing, Eda! You could have got frostbite!"

Eda waved a dismissive hand. "Barely. I was only outside for a minute or two."

Camila patted at Eda's cheeks, which, if they were red, was only due to Camila's proximity, before running along her ears. Eda shivered and Camila frowned up at her.

"It only takes a minute or two for frostbite to set in."

Eda covered Camila's hands and pressed them to her chest. "Camila. I don't have frostbite."

Camila stilled and her breath came fast. Her hands uncurled on Eda's chest and Eda let them go to wrap her arms around Camila's waist.

"I am a bit cold, though." She eased her way closer to Camila, watching how her eyes darkened. "And I think you could help warm me up."

"Christ, Eda," Camila breathed. "Do you think of anything else?"

"My waking moments are consumed by thoughts of you and my dreams are filled with images of your face." Eda kept her face straight, though her lips quivered at the look on Camila's face. "Your face between my thighs."

Camila slapped her on the chest. "You're incorrigible. The absolute worst."

"You're still going to warm me up, though." Eda brushed her cold nose across Camila's and laughed.

"I suppose I could take a break."

"From what?" Eda asked. "Why are you home, anyway?" She barely kept herself from asking, 'and why didn't you tell me?'

Camila heard the unspoken question. "This wasn't planned. I would have invited you over if I have known, but the possession date was moved up. I have a week to pack so now I'm burning all my leave at the beginning of December so the new owners can have a magical first Christmas in their new home."

"What about your Christmas?" Eda asked. She pulled Camila closer to her. "Where are you going to spend Christmas?"

"Fucked if I know," Camila said. "Probably some mansion. Luis has some dumb plan. I'm not even sure if the new owners want the house for Christmas with their new baby or if it was some manipulative story he told to get me to sign the new papers."

"He shouldn't have done that."

"He shouldn't have," Camila agreed. "But I'm so tired of it all, Eda."

"Where is your husband? I didn't see his car out front—don't tell me that he's leaving you to pack alone."

"Of course he is," Camila said. "His job is far too important for him to take time off. He said he'll pack in the evenings, but—"

"But that's a crock of shit," Eda said. "King and I will help. Well, I'll help and King will look cute and distracting."

Camila smiled up at her, her shoulders lowering and the tension leaving her body. "You're sweet. But I don't want to think about Luis or houses or packing right now. Your hands are still cold."

"Well," Eda said. "I'm sure the packing can hold for an hour or two."

"At least."

Camila's hands slid around Eda's neck as Eda ducked down to kiss her. She was warm, soft as she held Eda closer and hummed into the kiss. Within moments, she was licking her way inside Eda's mouth, her tongue brushing against Eda's teeth as she shivered. Eda didn't think she'd ever get tired of Camila's fascination with her teeth.

She didn't think she'd ever get tired of Camila.

She needed to touch her, to feel her fall apart in her hands. Without breaking their kiss, Eda scooped her hands under Camila's ass and lifted her until Camila could wrap her legs around her waist.

Camila pressed closer as Eda carried her upstairs and into her bedroom. Eda wanted to throw her onto the bed, wanted to see if she would shriek as she bounced onto the mattress, but she wanted her out of her clothes more. She set her down on the carpet and Camila's hands groped for the zipper at the back of Eda's dress.

It took longer than it should have to remove their clothes, not because they were distracted by kisses or a teasing reveal of bare skin, but because neither wanted to pause in their removal of the other's clothes to let their own fall off their body.

"Beautiful," Eda said into Camila's breast even as she tugged at the bedspread. "You're so beautiful."

"Christ, Eda." Camila fell back onto the sheets in an uncoordinated heap. Eda was on top of her in a moment, a wide smile across her face.

"Tell me which body parts are more prone to frostbite."

Camila gave her a slow smile. "Your extremities. Ears, toes, nose, fingers."

Eda wiggled her fingers. "I should warm these up first then, hmm? Where do you think I could do that best?"

She trailed her fingers, which the warmth of Camila's body had driven the stiffness from, down Camila's side. Camila squirmed, especially as she brushed along her ribs.

"I think you have the right idea," she said as she spread her thighs. "Though you shouldn't neglect your nose and ears."

Eda hummed and ran her hands along Camila's thighs. "I suppose I could also warm my face here."

"I'd hate for you to lose the tips of your ears." Camila tweaked one and Eda bit back a yelp. "You might get mistaken for a human."

Eda smiled her best wolfish smile. "I don't think I have to worry about that, but I'll warm them if you insisted."

"Oh, I do."

Eda dipped her head and licked at Camila, her tongue flat and wide. Camila's thighs clamped about her head and Eda flicked her gaze up to look at her.

"Just making sure you're nice and toasty."

"I'm warming up," Eda mumbled into Camila.

Camila was too, but a few more licks brought the heady taste of Camila's desire to Eda's tongue and she hummed. It was such a nice taste, one she could lose herself in for hours. For a lifetime.

The former was the only one available, but that made it sweeter. She licked until Camila's thighs fell away and Eda trailed her fingers along them, cataloguing every twitch and gasp Camila made. She was getting close, her muscles jumping and her breath coming faster and Eda smiled. Should she slow down, gentle her touches to drag out Camila's pleasure? Or drive her hard and fast and not stop until she came twice?

She cracked open one eye to look up at Camila, whose head was thrown and her jaw tight. She wanted to come, but not desperately. Not enough to beg for it. Not yet, anyway. She slowed her touch and Camila's eyes flew open.

"Eda," she growled.

"Yes?" Eda swiped the tip of her tongue over Camila's clit.

"Well, I had begun to wonder if you were seeing someone, but I can't say I was expecting this," Camila's husband said.

Eda's head whipped up and she clamped down hard on her first instinct—the owl beast's instinct—to climb on top of Camila and growl. The growl rumbled inaudibly in her throat as she glared up at him, slowly moving until she was between him and Camila. She didn't like the look in his eye, the way he leered at her, the bulge between his legs.

Camila saw it too, her face pale as she sat up. "What the fuck, Luis?"

He took a step into the room and Eda's growl rumbled louder before she was able to tamp it down. He hadn't been close enough to hear, but Camila had, and she placed a hand on Eda's arm.

"Why didn't you tell me that this was something you wanted?" He gestured at Eda, but it wasn't Eda he was talking about, but what she represented. Eda's hands balled into fists, her nails digging into her palms to keep them from forming talons. "I would have been accommodating. Some of my girlfriends were bisexual. It's trendy these days."

"Trendy?" Eda gaped.

He ignored her, looking right past her to Camila. "And don't you get mad at me for my girlfriends. You have no moral high ground."

"Do you think I'm surprised by that 'revelation'?" Camila gathered the sheets and tucked them around Eda before covering herself. "Did you think that I am so stupid that I didn't know that my husband has been cheating on me for the better part of a decade?"

"You knew?" he asked. "Why didn't you say anything? It would have been easier if I didn't have to sneak around."

"Yes, because I would have liked nothing more to make your cheating easier."

"Oh, come on, it's hardly cheating if you knew about it." He leaned against the dresser, hips cocked to draw attention to the growing bulge in his pants. "I'm honestly a bit miffed you didn't say anything, since you're into women as well. My last girlfriend would have been very interested in a threesome, but I'm not sure if Tracy would be."

It wasn't working. Her nails kept shifting to and from talons. Even the white hot pain in her palms wasn't keeping her grounded. She didn't know who the fuck Tracy was, but she didn't want her hands on Camila. She didn't want that half-hard cock anywhere near Camila.

Camila was laughing, high and hysteria tinged. "The last thing I want is a threesome with one of your twenty-year-olds."

He turned his gaze to Eda at that, an appraising look in his eyes. Eda's lips curled back and her words came out thick behind too large teeth. "I don't fucking want you anywhere near me, so don't even ask."

He sighed. "Lesbians. So inflexible."

"I'm 'trendy', actually." She glared at him and let Camila pull her back into her warmth.

Camila's touch made him smile and Eda growled. He wouldn't even let her enjoy this small amount of possessiveness?

"No threesomes, period," Camila said.

"Could I at least watch?"

He made to go sit in the chair, but froze when a growl ripped from Camila's throat. Eda started. Somehow that growl, and Camila's arms tightening around her, were what soothed the owl beast enough to let her hands return to normal. She flexed her cramped fingers and blood dripped between them.

"Fuck no!" Camila said. "I don't want you, or any man, to have any part of my sex life."

His eyes went cold. "Any man?" he repeated. "You can't be saying that you're... like that."

"I am," Camila said. "Assuming that by 'like that', you mean a lesbian."

She hadn't even stumbled over her words, her voice clear in her anger. Heedless of the blood still oozing from her palms, Eda covered one of Camila's hands and gave it a small squeeze.

"You can't be," he said. "I can't have been married to a lesbian for almost twenty-five years. I would have known."

"Congrats," Eda said. "You have a shit gaydar."

"A lesbian," he said again. He barred his flat, innocuous human teeth and took a step towards the bed. "Fuck, you can't tell anyone about this. I'd be a laughingstock if people found out that I'm married to a lesbian."

Camila's grip on Eda loosened and Eda looked behind her to see Camila drawing her knees to her chest.

"Yes, you'd be a laughingstock." Eda extracted herself from the sheets and stood up. Even naked and barefoot, she could stare down at him, and she did. "Poor, pitiful you, married to a lesbian while fucking other women. Whatever will people think of you?"

He was trying to look behind her again and Eda was sick of it, sick of how he kept looking at Camila, so she flared her wings, sparing Camila from his gaze.

"Jesus," he said, his eyes wide.

"Did you ever think, even once, about how your actions would have impacted Camila? Or is it just you, you, you, all the time?" She took a step towards him, awkward and ungainly as her taloned feet snagged on the carpet. "I can't understand you. How could you be married to a woman like Camila and cheat on her? What's wrong with you? You have to know that you could never do better than her. That she's better than you could ever dream of being."

Her clawed fingers curled into his shirt and pulled him closer, the fabric shredding. "What's broken inside you that lets you wilfully hurt her? That lets you treat her like a maid and a nanny for a kid you don't spare two thoughts about? I can't even imagine treating her the way you do. I can't imagine winning her affections and throwing them away in favour of a quick fuck."

"What are you?" His hands wrapped around her wrist, his muscles bulging as he tried to pull away with all of his feeble human strength.

Eda scoffed—he didn't have a prayer of budging her no matter what form she took, but like this? With her wings and talons? He was nothing.

"Like Luz told you, I'm a witch, you idiot. Maybe you should pay more attention to your daughter. You're just as shit of a father as you are a husband—how could you possibly be shocked by this when you had four witches and a demon living under your roof this summer?"

"I was away for most of the summer! Learning new surgery techniques."

Lying. Even now, when he knew everyone in the fucking room was aware he was philanderer. White-hot rage had her throwing him back. She didn't want to touch him, not even in anger. "Disgusting."

He stumbled when his feet touched the ground, falling to his knees, and Eda's wings raised, arcing around so that her pinions arrowed down at him. He looked past her, his eyes focused on the bed.

At Camila.

Eda froze, though her wings trembled.

"This is what you want?" he asked Camila. "This monster?"

What a stupid question. Of course Camila didn't want her, not in the way Eda wanted her to. Not in the way she did and had just blabbed in front of her like a damn fool. She'd be lucky if Camila would even kiss her again, now that she knew she was 'taking advantage' of Eda's feelings.

She couldn't bear to hear Camila's denial and her desperation loosened her frozen muscles. "Why wouldn't she? I'm magnificent." She bared her teeth, her lips curling as he flinched away. "Now get the fuck out of here before I rip your throat out." She glanced down, where his manhood was still obvious. "Or that."

He scrambled back on his hands and feet, like a crab trying to return to the sea, until he hit the wall opposite the bedroom door. Eda watched him as he struggled to his feet and listened until the front door thumped open.

Her wings slowly closed in around her body and she looked down at her claws. Pale, apart from the dark blood that sluggishly leaked from her palms, not the wine red she was used to seeing. All of her feathers were pale and thick and hugging her body. Right. Because her dress was on the floor behind her, tangled with Camila's shirt.

"Eda," Camila said.

Eda turned slowly.

Camila's eyes were wide and Eda could hear her blood rushing through her veins. The sheet had slipped from her grasp and was pooled in her lap, deep purple, like the small bite Eda had left on the underside of Camila's breast. Eda could read the terror in her eyes, the amazement, the horror and the sick fascination. Her wings squeezed tighter around herself.

She had known this was going to happen. No one could cope with her curse. Witches couldn't, demons couldn't, so why would a human?

That didn't mean it didn't fucking hurt to see that look on yet another person's face. That horror of learning who—what—Eda really was. Her own heart was racing and the owl beast screeched at her to go to Camila and soothe away her fears. It didn't know that what she feared was them, that it would be a thousand times worse if Eda took a step closer.

But the owl beast didn't understand nuance and it fought for control and, Titan help her, Eda's was fraying fast. She could feel her bones and muscles stretch and shift inside her and she had to get out of here. Now. Before she painted this room with Camila's blood.

She crashed through the window, sending a hail of glass onto the glittering snow. Her wings unfurled and lifted her skyward before she joined the glass and she climbed and climbed until she until the icy air burned at her lungs. But it wasn't enough to cut through her thick feathers so long as she tucked her hands under her arms.

Camila's husband's car wasn't in the driveway and, this high up, she could spot it driving much too fast for the residential roads. Her lips curled and she debated chasing after him, leaving a few gouges in the paint. But her control was waning, even in the icy embrace of winter far above any judgemental eyes. The last thing she needed was to turn into the owl beast in Gravesfield, where she was most likely to be shot dead than anywhere else in the realms.

She let herself drop from the sky, her wings tucked in and furling at the last minute to keep herself from splatting into the snow in front of the derelict house. She landed hard, snow spraying out around her. Her knees twinged as she straightened. Fuck, she was nearly as decrepit as the god damned house.

The portal unfolded before her and she traded one snow covered forest for another. She barely had the presence of mind to close the portal behind her and she kept the key clenched in her fist as she doubled over. The owl beast was screaming now, enraged that they had left Camila behind.

She couldn't blame it, but she could fucking hate it. Her own guts were writhing at the loss and her pain was a hundredfold worse—she knew that they couldn't open the portal and return to Camila's side. She knew that Camila wanted nothing to do with them.

Her voice echoed with the owl beast's as she screamed.

Chapter Text

By the time King and Hooty found her, Eda was staring down her last bottle of elixir. The rest were scattered in the snow, a handful reduced to glass shards after she hurled them into tree trunks. The owl beast hadn't yet settled inside of her, still enraged. It had stripped the harpy form from her once it realised she wasn't going to take them back to the human realm, leaving her nothing but a pathetic old woman sitting in the snow in a forest of bones.

"Eda?" King asked.

She closed her eyes. She didn't want to hear anyone else say her name in that tone of voice, scared and cautious.

"Are you okay? Did the portal open to the human realm?"

"Yeah."

"You realise that you're naked, right?"

She looked down at herself, though she was quite aware that all of her clothes were at Camila's house. Probably in Camila's garbage by now.

"Yeah."

"Aren't you cold?"

"I guess?" She was freezing, though she had stopped shivering a while back. That was nice. The shivering had been annoying.

"Here. We brought you this." Her heavy fur jacket fell about her shoulders and King worked her stiff arms through the sleeves. "It isn't enough, though. We thought you'd at least be wearing your clothes."

"I can get her back to the owl house real quick," Hooty said.

Eda opened her eyes to glare at him. "Don't you dare pellet me."

He looked put out at that and he wrapped himself around her like a python.

"This is still horrible," Eda said, but she let herself hang limp as he lifted her into the air. She didn't want to walk anyway.

Inside the owl house, King piled blanket after blanket on top of Eda until Eda was certain that he had brought her every blanket in the house.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, once Eda was well covered.

"No."

"Do you want me to get you anything?"

"A drink," she said, not entirely serious. Her teeth had started to chatter again and, deep inside the mass of blankets, her hands were shaking. She would be lucky if half a cup ended up down her throat.

King nodded and he left for the kitchen, where he dithered for an inordinate amount of time. Eda didn't care. Eda was more than happy to be left alone to stew.

Mostly alone. Hooty still watched her with unblinking eyes.

"Here." King set a steaming mug down on the coffee table. "Hot apple blood. It should help warm you up."

Eda snaked one hand free of the blankets and drew the mug to her. The heat of the mug seared white-hot into her skin, but she lifted it to her lips and took a long drink. It burned going down and she kept drinking, fast, until the mug was drained.

"Better?"

She was warmer, but better? "No."

She stood up and the blankets fell from her. She ignored King's squawking as she made her way to the kitchen. King had left the bottle of apple blood out on the counter and she brought it to her lips.

"I don't think you should have given her alcohol," Hooty said. Eda flipped him off as she drank until she needed to breathe.

The bottle had been almost empty before Eda had got at it, but that didn't stop King and Hooty from exchanging looks as Eda pulled a new one down. Talons didn't spring from her fingers as she pulled at the cork and she growled. Of all the inconvenient things that stupid owl beast was leaving with her.

Half her junk drawer ended up spread across the counter, the corkscrew having filtered down to the bottom of the mess.

"Don't you think you should get dressed first?" King asked. "You're only wearing a jacket."

Eda grunted as she worked the cork free. "It's my house. Who is going to stop me if I want to become a nudist?"

"All of us," King said. "No offence, but none of us want to see all of that."

She knew that he was baiting her, that he was trying to rile her up by poking at her vanity, but he wasn't wrong. No one wanted to see all of that. She took a long swig of lukewarm apple blood. That was why she didn't tell people about the whole curse thing. No one wanted to be even casually involved with a woman liable to turn into a giant monster, especially if the giant monster had feelings.

Fuck, she had really screwed herself this time. Luz was going to be pissed when she and Camila went back to freezing each other out.

Bottle in hand, she took a step back to the living room before pausing, considering. The bottle was already light, her head painfully sharp and her guts were still cold despite the alcohol burning inside. She sat down at the kitchen table instead—it would save her the trip right back to the kitchen in five minutes.

"Eda?" King asked.

She ignored him and contemplated finding a long straw. She had to have one somewhere in the house, at least one of those oddly shaped novelty straws humans had liked before they went on a straw ban. They always reminded her of Hooty, coiled up in improbable shapes and highly impractical.

He was squirming like that again, all anxious squiggles across the room as he circled and circled until he froze, his body tense and almost vibrating in stillness.

"Someone's coming," he said and Eda closed her eyes before she had to watch him whip out of the room.

King stayed with her and continued his own anxious hovering until Eda fixed him with a hard stare.

"You should go with Hooty," she said. "It's too early to be Luz so it's probably your dad."

"I doubt it," he scoffed. He couldn't hide the flash of light in his eyes, though. "It's been so long that I think he's forgotten entirely."

"Go check."

He twisted his claws together, so tight that the bone scraped, and Eda looked into his eyes as she took another drink.

"Why bother? It's bound to be one of your admirers and I'd just end up cold again for no reason."

"I'm not going anywhere," Eda said. "You can take your eyes off me for five minutes."

Not that he was watching her. His focus was split between her and the door to the living room and the door was winning.

"I guess I can go scare off the supplicant," King said, sighing as if he was doing Eda a great favour. "It'll only be a minute."

Eda hummed and turned back to her bottle. She didn't watch him walk out, didn't watch him walk away from her. It would be for the best if he left with his father now—she was no good to anyone.

The bottle was empty and the room spun as she stood. She felt numb, like her insides had frozen into ice. Another bottle would warm her.

She took it out to the living room this time, where a small skiff of snow was forming around the gap under the door. The snow was cold on her feet, but she couldn't shift her ears long.

"Are you ready to go, King?" his dad asked.

Eda thought about smiling a small, wry smile, but her lips didn't move.

"Um," King said. "I'm packed, but... I don't think I'm going to go with you this time."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Maybe next month?" King's voice rose hopefully. "It's just that there's a lot of stuff going on here right now and I think it's best if I stay."

The snow was melting between Eda's toes and the chill wind was swirling up under her jacket. Too cold. The whole living room was too cold and she wrapped several blankets around herself as she shuffled back to the kitchen, her feet slapping wetly against the hardwood.

She tucked her legs under her as she sat at the table and pondered her bottle. She should have found a straw while she was up. She drank it anyway, though it sloshed down her front. Too many thoughts.

When the front door opened and Luz came home, Eda's eyelids were heavy and her head heavier. That might have been the blanket she had thrown over herself to keep King's judgemental eyes off her, but she wasn't moving regardless. Luz could come and find her sprawled across the kitchen table. What difference did it make? Everyone else had already seen how pathetic she was.

King patted at her blanket before jumping off the table and she closed her eyes. Abandoned for Luz, though she couldn't blame him. No one with any sense would want to be around her right now.

"Hey King!" Luz's voice was a shade too loud, like it was a normal day, and a shade too perky. "What did you get up to while I was at school?"

"Worked on a project with Eda."

"She's home?" Luz asked. "Is she upstairs? I wanna say hi before heading back to the human realm."

"I don't think that's a good idea," King said. "The project didn't go so well and she's pretty bummed."

"We could try cheering her up—she likes our antics, even if she tries hiding it behind a frown."

"Maybe," King said. "But I think she wants to wallow for a while. And, uh, I think you should check on Camila."

"My mom?" Luz's voice turned sharp. "What about my mom? What happened?"

"Just... go check on her."

Eda could hear the portal open and she strained to hear past its hum and into the human realm. The owl beast stubbornly refused to let Eda borrow its power and she groaned.

"Bye, King," Luz said. "Give Eda my love and I'll see you tomorrow."

The portal snapped shut and Eda untangled the blanket from her hair. King's claws joined hers and, when her head popped free, he was looking at her with sad eyes.

Eda's lower lip quivered.

"Are you ready to talk about it?" King patted at Eda's hair. "What happened between you and Camila?"

"No," Eda said. Even that single syllable came out strangled and her vision swam.

"You know, I was looking forward to telling you that I told you so, but I don't think I can with you like this. You really care for her."

"I guess," Eda said. "It doesn't matter if I do. She knows what I am now."

She wasn't even slurring. How wasn't she slurring? There were two empty bottles on the table in front of her and the one in her hand only had the dregs left.

"A catch that any person would be lucky to have?"

Eda snorted. "A monster."

"You're hardly a monster, Eda. And you know that. You're just cursed."

"To a human, though?"

"Camila isn't a normal human. She doesn't think of you like that."

"She does." Eda turned away. "You didn't see the way she stared when she saw me with wings and feathers and black eyes. I can't blame her. She didn't sign up for this. She signed up for a good time."

King's laugh was disbelieving. "Eda, she wanted you. What part of your shared history would make you think that Camila wants something easy? You two had more bad times than good."

"Makes sense then. That it would end bad."

"Probably," King said. "You know that I thought it would."

Eda snorted. "You couldn't resist getting that I told you so in."

"Don't make it so easy for me, then. But, look, you said it yourself. Camila's a human. She's not used to Boiling Isles weirdness, but she adapts fast and she's open-minded. She's never been anything but kind to me and I'm a titan."

"You're a cute titan, with cute little claws, not talons whose only purpose is rending flesh."

"She loves Vee like her own child and you can't tell me that basilisks are cute."

Learning that your casual lover is sometimes a bird and harboured unwanted feelings was orders of magnitude different from learning that your daughter was not your daughter but a lost demon child.

"Whatever."

"I'm just trying to say that you should give her some time. Maybe she was a bit shocked to find out that you don't always look almost human, but she'll come around. She's not going to hate you."

"Too late for that."

Shortly after the sun went down, King fell asleep tangled in a nest of blankets on the kitchen table. It wasn't late, but the little napper had spent all day awake fretting over Eda and tuckered himself right out. Silly, that. Eda didn't need any fretting; she had only moved to crack open new bottles of apple blood.

Which she was damn near out of now. The last bottle was half gone, but she was still thinking. Still seeing Camila's horrified face. She wanted it gone, needed it gone. Needed the empty ache out of her stomach.

The room spun as she stood and the blankets tangled around her legs made her stumble into the wall as she climbed the stairs to her bedroom. She couldn't go into town wearing nothing but a jacket. It would be all over penstagram and then she'd get a dozen messages from her sister and she was drunk enough that she would probably answer them.

Trusting her ability to stand on one foot more than testing the vertigo of bending down, she dressed in clothes she picked up off the bedroom floor with her feet. They were clean enough, probably. She hadn't turned the lights on, but she didn't think she had spilled anything on herself this week. Maybe. Everything was becoming fuzzy about the edges. Except for Camila's face. In her mind. Because Camila was in the human realm and was never crossing over ever again.

She did risk the vertigo of flying. She certainly wasn't going to walk to Bonesborough, but Owlbert took nearly as long to get them there as it would have been to walk. The little shit, conspiring against her. She knew he was only going slow because he hoped the winter winds would sober her up.

Which they did, but that made everything worse. Now Eda felt physically sick to her stomach as well as metaphorically, but it did allow her to walk to the bar without weaving and sit down without making an ass of herself. All eyes, what few there were in this time between happy hour and the late night partiers, were on.

Eda still had to flag the bartender down, even if he had been openly watching her. No special treatment for her here, probably because her tab was several years long.

"Eda," he said.

"My regular," she said. "And make it two."

He sighed and squinted at her so she squinted right back. "You're already drunk, aren't you?"

"So what if I am?"

"I'll give you one and a glass of water."

He poured her a drink with a heavy hand, though, and Eda gave him a smile as she pushed the water aside. No matter how drunk she got, he'd keep pouring her drinks. She hadn't missed how the couple at a corner table had stolen a picture of her as she walked in and she knew that, within the hour, there would be idiots from other cities swarming the place.

And she was right. Soon the bar was a crush of people, demons and witches alike all waiting for her to do something interesting, all wanting a story to tell around the water cooler in the morning.

Fuck 'em. She was just gonna sit here and try not to think about how the last time she had been drunk in a crowd, Camila had been hanging off her arm and smiling up at her.

Eda flagged down another drink.

Why was she moping over Camila like this? Absolutely stupid waste of her time. Pining fucking sucked. Half the people in this bar would trip over themselves to please her if she so much as crooked a finger.

She hadn't even had a chance to take advantage of her celebrity status like that. Her and Raine had fallen back together before the dust had settled and then she had fallen right into Camila's bed and gotten hung up on her. Fucking stupid, that was. No wonder she got so stupid over Camila—if she had played the field like she normally did, none of this would have ever happened.

She had to piss something fierce and she drained her glass while standing up. The floor sloshed beneath her feet and she levied a look at the demon sitting beside her.

"You." She almost hit his face when she pointed at him, wine glass still in hand. She snorted. "Save my spot, I'll be right back."

The crowd parted before her and she didn't wait to see if he acknowledged her. Of course he would save her spot. His was only a prime seat if she was sitting next to him.

Countless hands kept her upright, which was a thing that happened now she guessed. People were very helpful to acclaimed heroes, even if they were never kind to notorious criminals. No one even copped a feel. Too scared of her for that. Which they should be. She was ferocious.

The bathroom was empty when she stumbled into it and she blinked blearily. It was brighter than it was in the bar and it made her head ache. She squinted and fumbled for a stall.

Locked. The bathroom wasn't empty then. Partially occupied. But not entirely occupied; the door was ajar at the stall on the end and Eda made her way to it, smacking the other doors as she went.

"What the fuck?" one of the occupants asked.

Eda didn't say shit. She practically fell into the open stall, her hand grabbing at the top of the door to keep herself from faceplanting into the toilet. One of the taps was running now and Eda struggled to lock the door.

"I can't believe you made us come all the way out to this backwater town to watch the owl lady sit at a bar and get wasted."

"Do you think she's okay?"

Eda snorted. Of course she was okay. She was always okay.

A toilet flushed, and someone spoke over it. "Who gives a shit? I hear she cheated on Raine Whispers, so if she's miserable, she fucking deserves it."

"Oh, fuck me, are you going to talk about those stupid pictures of the owl lady dancing with that human again? Give it a rest already."

"It's deplorable behaviour. And after she spewed all that bullshit about how ending Belos' regime was a byproduct of protecting Raine. What a love story."

"They could have an open relationship."

Eda flushed the toilet and ignored how the room whooshed about her as she stood. Not entirely intentionally, she banged the door open. The ground lurched as she walked to the last open sink. Through the mirror, she watched the witches' eyes all widen.

"For the record," she said as she washed her hands. "Raine and I broke up months ago."

"Uh," one of the witches said. Eda hadn't a clue if they were the one disparaging her.

"And you know what?" Leaving the water running, she took a step towards them. "It's none of your fucking business what I do."

A different witch cut off Eda's approach. "You're the one out here, getting so drunk that you can't even stand without holding onto a wall. You're making it our business."

"Get out of my way."

"Or what? Everyone knows that you can't do shit. They might all be worshipping the ground you walk on, but I sure as fuck ain't."

"Good for you." Eda pushed at them. She just wanted out, the bathroom was too bright, too echo-y, too claustrophobic.

The witch pushed her back. "You wanna go?"

"In a bathroom? Kid, I'm too old to get into fistfights in bathrooms." She squinted at the witch. "Actually, no, fuck it. I'm not too old."

Her punch landed, but there wasn't much force behind it. Her body was sluggish from the alcohol, but she brought up her fists and tried again.

She landed a solid punch in the witch's gut before arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her away.

A voice was babbling in her ear and Eda struggled to free herself. "She's just an idiot, ignore her."

"No! I wanna fight!"

Eda stomped her heel and ground it into her captor's foot. They yelped and their grip loosened enough for Eda to burst free and tackle the witch and the friend holding them back.

All three tumbled out of the bathroom and onto the sticky floor in a heap. Eda and the witch grappled as people shouted and feet hurried to move out of their way. Eda had the witch pinned face first to the floor, her fingers twisted in their hair and keeping their face smushed into the floorboards, when fingers twisted into the back of her dress and she was lifted off the witch by the nape of her neck.

She kicked, her legs and arms flailing as she dangled. "Put me down!"

The man grunted as her heel clipped his shin.

"Sure," he said and Eda realised that she was being carted through the crowd by the bartender. He dropped her down into a snowdrift beside the front door. "No hard feelings, but you should go home and sober up."

"Whatever! You can't tell me what to do." Eda brushed the snow off the back of her dress.

He dropped her jacket on the snow in front of her. "Go home, Eda."

Eda didn't go home. There was more than one bar in Bonesborough. There was more than one bar on the block and she crunched her way through the snow to the next one and tried to ignore the crowd of people trying to inconspicuously follow her. Stupid fuckers. This was why she hated leaving the house.

She wrinkled her nose at the next bar as she stepped into the yellow light spilling onto the snow. She had forgotten how pretentious it was, with its polished dark wood and the orbs of light dangling from the ceiling. Too many people in suits with fake smiles sharing thousand snail bottles of liquor. Pass.

The fuckers followed her all the way into the diviest dive bar in town. There, no one looked up when she walked in until all the idiots surged through the door, but by then she was already at the bar, trying her best charming smile on the bartender.

"A couple bottles of apple blood and the use of your back door, please."

"The fuck did you bring in with you, owl lady?"

"Customers," Eda said. "If you're lucky, they'll not realise that I snuck out the back if you're quick about giving me the booze."

The bartender narrowed her eye. Possibly eyes. The odds were ten to one that the eye patch was just for show. Gotta look tough. Eda could respect that. "I ain't giving you any discount."

"I ain't askin' for one," Eda said. "Look, the out of towners will be fun to fuck with."

She grunted. "I'll give you the booze and the door, but only because you're so fucked that you're practically cross eyed. I don't want to deal with your shit."

"Fair enough."

Eda didn't want to deal with her shit either. She hopped the bar and the toe of her boot caught the edge. She slid down head first on the other side. The bartender didn't watch as Eda righted herself; she just snagged three bottles off the wall and held them by the neck between thick fingers.

"C'mon," she said and Eda followed her into the back, where she snatched a bottle of apple blood and hid it in her hair when the bartender wasn't watching.

The back door opened up into an alley that smelled of piss and vomit, strong enough that Eda's eyes began to water. The bartender rolled her own eyes and shoved the bottles into Eda's arms.

"That will be ten thousand snails."

"Ten thou—" Eda cut herself off as the bartender cracked her knuckles. Her very large knuckles, attached to very large arms. She took a step back and stumbled into Owlbert, who hovered behind her. "That's fine. But, the thing is, I didn't bring any money with me, soooo, I'll come back and pay tomorrow?"

The bartender's biceps bulged as she crossed her arms. "I'm sure you will. After all, I know where you live and no house demon has ever deterred me."

She certainly looked beefy enough to wrestle Hooty. Eda tightened her grip on Owlbert and they rose a few feet into the air. "I'll be here, bright and early."

"See that you are."

Eda cracked open one of the bottles and drank it as Owlbert carried her home, flying straight through her bedroom window and dumping her into her nest.

"Rude!" she said as she scooped up the bottle. It had soaked part of the nest and she sighed at the loss.

Owlbert hooted at her once, telling her to go to bed, before drifting over to rest inert against the wall.

"I shall not."

It was hot in the room, warm enough that a featherless human would feel comfortable lounging about naked. Which had been by design, but now it made Eda mad and she struggled out of her jacket and half her clothes. Fucking considerations for fucking humans.

She tipped the rest of the bottle down her throat.

Chapter Text

King's staring pulled Eda from her sleep. If you could call it sleep—she had passed out in a haze too deep to notice the apple blood spilled across her stomach. Even now, mostly awake and her head not yet pounding because it swam drunkenly, she had to touch the sticky red mess on her stomach and taste it to realise that, no, she hadn't impaled herself in the middle of the night.

"You're pathetic," King said.

Eda rolled over. "Go away."

"I can't. Luz is almost done with school for the day and I managed to head her off in the morning, but only because she was running late. Do you want her to find you like this?"

Eda grunted. She didn't even want King to find her like this and he had seen her hungover countless times.

But he hadn't seen her like this before. Hadn't seen her drink so much that she woke up drunk.

He shouldn't be seeing her like this. Eda pushed the hair out of her face and sat up, her knees hugging her chest.

"Get up." He hopped off the edge of her nest and headed to the door. "Have a shower, get dressed."

A shower felt like an insurmountable task, but Eda's dress from yesterday was crumpled into the corner of her nest. It stuck to her stomach when she pulled it on and Eda flopped back down, exhausted. She hissed as her elbow hit something hard, sending pain radiating up and down her arm. What a great prelude to her imminent hangover.

"What the fuck?"

She groaned when she realised she had dumped out the contents of her hair the night before, including the bottles of apple blood she had pilfered from some bar, somewhere. Maybe. She couldn't exactly remember.

One bottle wasn't quite empty and Eda slugged it back in one long go. If she was drunk, she wouldn't be hungover. If she was drunk, maybe she could look at Luz without seeing all the ways she looked like Camila and not break into tears.

She had meant to get up, to shuffle her way downstairs and pretend to be presentable on the couch, but Luz found her still in the nest, still surrounded by a bunch of garbage.

"Hey Eda." Luz sat down on the edge of the nest. "You doing okay?"

"Me? Pffft, I'm fine, obviously. I'm always fine."

"Are you?" Luz looked around at the mess, her eyes lingering on the empty bottles. "I haven't seen you for a few days."

"I've been suuuper busy," Eda said. That sounded drunker than she had wanted. "Had a lot of stuff going on. Big projects."

"Didn't go well, huh?"

"Oh no, the project went perfectly." Eda spread out an arm and the room lurched. "On the first try, even."

"So what's got you all sad?" Luz's words were pointed, but Eda just blinked at her. Maybe she shouldn't have drank that extra apple blood if Luz was going to talk in double meanings. It hadn't kept her from noticing that she had her mother's nose. "You know, when I went home after school yesterday, my mom was off, too."

Eda grunted. Finding out that you had been sharing your bed with a bird would throw someone off their game.

"It was really strange. My dad didn't come home until the next morning and he doesn't come back home until after work the next day if he spends the night elsewhere." Luz waited, but when Eda stubbornly kept her mouth shut, she continued. "I overheard them talking. Mom asked for a divorce."

Something fluttered in Eda's chest and she grit her teeth, still somehow managing to slur her words. "Good for her. Her husband's an ass."

"Don't you think that it's interesting that she decided to divorce him now? He's been a dick for as long as I can remember."

"Maybe," Eda carefully enunciated. "It was probably a long time coming."

"You think? I think my mom met someone." Luz gave Eda a meaningful look and Eda sat up straighter.

"What do you know?" She had meant for the words to come out flippant and she should have been able to manage it. Flippant was her default, but instead she sounded hesitant. Almost interested.

Luz raised her eyebrows. "Just that up until yesterday, I've never seen my mom this happy." She frowned. "That's not really right, it's not like she's always sad. But now maybe she's content? Satisfied?"

Eda had certainly left her satisfied.

"And you've been happier too." Luz dropped any bit of slyness and turned to gushing. "And you two have been seeing each other a lot recently. And you're always so close to each other, like you don't want to be out of reach. And the looks!"

"Are you 'shipping' me and your mom?" The air quotes Eda made felt too big and sloppy and she stared at her own hands in front of her face.

"Oh, obviously, I've been shipping you both since before you met. What I'm asking is if you're canon."

Eda rubbed at her temples. "Titan, I hate your nerd speak."

"Because I'm like ninety-nine percent certain you are. You guys are not as subtle as you think."

"Fine, fine. Your mother and I might have had a thing."

Luz leapt to her feet. "I knew it! I knew you two were dating! And now that mom's getting a divorce, that means you two are making it official! Is mom moving into the owl house? Oh my gosh, this is so exciting!"

Eda winced and told herself that it was because Luz's voice had gone high pitched. Loudly, she spoke, "Briefly. In the past. I highly doubt that your mother wants to see me ever again, let alone move into my house."

"In the past? Eda, you two have only known each other for three months. Are you counting yesterday as the past?"

"It is, by definition, the past."

Luz gaped at her. "What happened? Can you fix it? Can I fix it?"

"Not everything can be fixed, Luz." Eda gave her a half smile. "No matter how much you might want to."

"It's only been a day, it must be fixable. Tell me what happened, we can brainstorm for ways you can sweep my mom off her feet."

"Luz, I'm not looking for ways to sweep Camila off her feet."

"Grovel then."

"What makes you think that this is my fault?" Luz looked at her and Eda sighed. "Okay, yes, I do need to apologise to her, but that's not going to make anything better. And I'm not telling you anything more than that. If you want to know, ask your mother."

Luz sat back down on the edge of the nest. "But she's not telling me anything! I asked last night because King got me freaked, but she didn't say anything."

"You said she was getting a divorce. How would you know that if she didn't tell you anything?"

Luz frowned at her and spoke slowly, as if she was repeating something. She probably was, the conversation was slipping through Eda's fingers like sand. "I overheard her talking to dad this morning. He mentioned you by name."

Eda wanted to know what they had said, but. "Oh no. Nice try. You're getting nothing from me. Go home. Talk to your mom." She paused and, slowly, her drunken mind sorted through Luz's likely actions. "And don't bring her back here, okay? You won't be fixing anything by putting me and Camila in the same room."

"Yeah, no, I had no plans to do that." Her nose wrinkled. "You reek and the nest isn't looking very romantic—"

"Does the nest ever look romantic?" Eda asked. "It's full of feathers."

"Yeah, why do you think I got you that bed?" Luz asked. Eda slapped her hand over her face and dragged it down. She kept her eyes shut even as Luz continued talking. "I'll give you some time to fix yourself up, but my mom can be pretty determined when she sets her mind on something."

"No shit." Eda snorted. That's why Camila was going to spend the rest of her days avoiding seeing Eda ever again.

The nest shifted and Eda opened her eyes to see Luz kneeling beside her. "Even if you and mom don't get back together, I'm glad that you two had a thing. I've been hoping that mom would divorce my dad for years."

"Uh," Eda said and Luz hugged her.

A short hug, by Luz standards. She pulled away and covered her nose. "Titan, you really do smell awful."

Eda rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Luz. I can't do anything about that with you here."

Luz stood up and saluted. "Message received, owl lady. I'll see you later and... thanks again."

"Don't thank me; I didn't do anything," Eda said. "Except maybe be extraordinarily annoying."

Luz just smiled at her before turning to leave. Once she reached the door, she paused, one hand on the handle, and looked back at Eda. "Do you want me to give mom a message?"

"No." Eda shook her head. "I don't think she wants to hear anything from me."

"I doubt that," Luz said and she slipped out before Eda could tell her that she was being ridiculous.

How many times now had Eda struggled to sober up purely to keep Camila from judging her? Too many times. Once was too many—no one else warranted this treatment from Eda. She was even doing it now at the mere thought of her judgement, on the infinitesimal chance that Luz would trick her through the portal.

Eda consoled herself that it wasn't just Camila she didn't want to worry, but King and Hooty as well. Especially King, who had deemed her so pathetic that he practically glued himself to her side, even now while she cooked them both breakfast with her hair damp from the shower.

A headache lingered at her temples and the morning sun bouncing off the snow was painful even with the light muted by the windows, but she was functional. Ish. She was clean and her clothes didn't smell of liquor, which was better than nothing. Still not how she wanted Camila to see her, but that didn't matter. She was never going to see Camila again.

She swore as the frying pan started to smoke and hastily scraped the salvageable food onto her plate. King gave her a look as she set the plate on the table and she frowned at him.

"I wanted it crispy."

"Sure," he said. "You figured out what you're going to say to Camila?"

"I'll be lucky if I get a single word in before she slams the door on my face, so I guess I'll go with 'sorry'." Eda groaned. "Can we talk about anything other than Camila?"

"Sadly, your love life is the only interesting thing that's happened in weeks." King pointed his fork at her. "We need to start getting into mischief again."

"Maybe," Eda said. She certainly needed to do something, but mischief didn't hold any appeal when there were no consequences for her actions. She could feel restlessness growing behind the numb pit in her stomach. "I can't think of anything fun, though. What's the point of stealing money if no one lets me spend it?"

"Snails are just the means to an end and that end is adulation, Eda." He sighed. "It's wasted on you."

"Whatever," Eda said. Better her than him—any small bit of fame made him insufferable already. "The only mischief I'm getting up to today is naps."

"That's how you're going to prepare for Camila? You're going to let her find you napping on the couch? Again?"

Eda stood up. The few bites she took of the burnt food had killed her appetite. "Consider it a time-honoured tradition."

She trudged upstairs, slathered on makeup and put on a nice dress before going back downstairs to collapse on the couch. May as well make half an effort; King always hovered when she forewent makeup and Hooty sometimes hissed in horror. She was just so damned tired, tired enough that not even the damp hair wetting the back of her dress bothered her.

The sun wasn't in the right position to warm the couch, and laying in the sun in her living room would never compare to stretching out her wings in the grass, but the couch sagged comfortingly under her weight. The pounding in her head eased as she tucked a blanket up around her face and she closed her eyes with a deep sigh.

She slept through the portal opening and closing ten feet from her couch and only half-woke when she heard people talking. She kept her eyes closed and her face hidden as the voices washed over her. King. And not Hooty, the speaker was too soft to be Hooty.

Their words were indistinct and Eda belatedly realised that they weren't in the same room as her. Absently, she tried shifting her ears longer only to be startled into full wakefulness when the owl beast growled at her.

Right. It was mad at her. Inconvenient.

It wanted her to stop lazing about on the couch and go to the voices, which Eda thought was odd until she realised that the person King was speaking to was Camila.

She sat up and folded the blanket before setting it down on the end of the couch. Her makeup was probably smudged from her nap—if it could even be called a nap, it was already late afternoon and well into sleep hygiene destruction territory—but she could hardly fix it, not after she dumped out all her spare makeup into her nest and never returned it to her hair.

It was better this way. It wasn't like she wanted Camila to think that she cared or anything. Well, that she cared more than what she had already blabbed about.

With her boots left on the floor beside the couch, Eda was silent as she made her way to the kitchen. Silent, but not invisible. King spotted her before she had a chance to properly eavesdrop and he was the furthest thing from subtle. Camila turned to follow his gaze and Eda couldn't even begin to read her expression.

"I'm going to go upstairs," King said. He didn't give an excuse, just slid down off the table and dashed out of the room as fast as his tiny little legs would carry him, not missing a beat as he twisted to slip between Eda's legs and the door frame.

She stayed there, watching Camila, and fighting to the owl beast's desire to get closer. Fighting her own desire to run into the forest and hide. If she left now, with nothing settled between them, Camila would have to come back. She'd be able to see Camila again, one last time. It left her frozen under Camila's gaze.

"Is this a bad time?"

Eda only raised her eyebrows.

"I can come back some other time."

That was what Eda had wanted, but was there even any point? She knew what Camila had to say and she was done letting people put off dumping her. "Now's fine. What do you want to talk about?"

Camila stared at her and Eda still couldn't read her. She looked almost taken aback.

"I'm getting a divorce," she blurted after the silence stretched into something uncomfortable.

"Good for you," Eda said. "I'm very happy for you."

Camila's brow furrowed. "Are you?"

"Of course. This is a big step for you, one where you can live your life how you want to. Why wouldn't I be happy for you?"

"You seem... off."

"Do I?" Eda shrugged. "Maybe I'm still tired. I only just woke up. Seriously though, I'm happy for you." She should have ended it there, but words started to pour out of her mouth. "And you don't have to worry about me, not that I think you are. I know you don't want a relationship or anything like that with me and that's fine. I know I have a lot of baggage—a lot of baggage—and I know I'm a lot. But I'm not going to force my feelings on you or anything. I can manage them, you don't have to worry about it. I'll be fine if you still want us to do family things with Luz or never see me again or—what are you looking at me like that for?"

Camila laughed. Somewhere in the middle of Eda's word vomit, her shoulders had relaxed and, while her expression was still unreadable, her eyes sparkled. Eda had gone in the opposite direction, her facade of cool stripped away and leaving her clutching at her arm, her short nails digging into her skin as best as they could.

"Oh my god, Eda," she said between laughter. "I wasn't worried about you having feelings for me, I was worried that you didn't. I think I might be in love with you."

She had to have misheard. She had to have misunderstood. Her blood rushed through her veins regardless, her heart beating double time.

"What?"

Camila stepped closer to Eda, almost close enough to touch, and Eda swayed into her before catching herself.

"You heard me." Camila's cheeks were pink.

"But, why? Why me? I'm such a fuckup. I'm almost fifty and I've ruined every relationship I've ever been in and every part of my life is a disaster, I don't even know what I'm doing with it anymore. I don't have my curse under control, not really, and I hid the fact that I'm some sort of bird monster from you and it's not like I ever talk about anything important and—" Eda gasped, almost dizzy from the torrent of words that had spilled out of her.

"You're not telling me anything I didn't already know. Did you think that I didn't know about your curse? Luz told me about your adventures in excruciating detail." Camila reached out a hand and Eda couldn't stop herself from snatching it out of the air greedily. Camila squeezed back just as tight. "So what if you're all those things? So am I! It took me until I was in my mid-forties to realise that I'm a lesbian for chrissake. Which you know, since you were there for it all. Nothing is ruined, Eda, not unless you want it to be. You know it takes a lot to get rid of me."

Camila's laugh was self-deprecating and Eda bristled. "You shouldn't have to put up with shit like your husband's—your ex's—cheating or all my bullshit. You should call me out on my shit, because I have a lot of it."

Camila blinked furiously as her eyes watered, her mouth set in a firm line. "Like how you jumped through my window two days ago? Setting aside the nightmare it was trying to get that fixed in the middle of winter without freezing out the house, I needed you Eda. I had finally come to terms with the fact that I need to divorce Luis and you left me to deal with it all alone."

She had Eda pinned by her gaze and she backed up as Eda tried to move closer. She didn't drop Eda's hand, though, and Eda held on tighter, abruptly realising that Camila's wedding ring wasn't cutting into her palm.

"I'm so sorry. I had thought that—"

"I know what you thought!" Camila took a deep breath, then a few more in quick sequence. "You should have talked to me instead of leaping out of my damn window. You shouldn't have made assumptions and run away. I really, really needed you, Eda and you said that you'd be there for me. That I could talk to you through all of this, but in the end, I had to do it all alone. Like always."

Eda's vision swam. "Titan, Camila, I am so, so sorry."

"Just tell me you'll never do it again," Camila begged.

"I'll never do it again. I'd make an everlasting oath if I had the magic to do it. I'll find someone who can make one for me. I won't abandon you again, I won't panic again. I'll do better, I'll be better, I swear. I won't threaten husbands or turn into a monster or do anything to ever hurt you."

"Eda, no." Camila cupped Eda's cheek and their breath mingled in the space between them. "I just want your word. It doesn't erase the past, but it's enough. You're enough, just how you are, and you can threaten Luis as much as you want and you can take whatever form that you want. I'm not going to give up on you after one fuck up, or two, or three because you are going to fuck up in the future. You are going to hurt me again; I have given too much of myself to you to not be hurt by you, and it's okay. Because I'll fuck up and hurt you too and we can work through it together. I want to work through it with you because I want to be with you, Eda, more than anything in the world."

"You want to be with me? Properly, not just fucking around or experimenting?" Eda breathed.

"Yes. I meant what I said, Eda."

"But you just got out of a long-term relationship. You sure you don't want to mess around first?"

Camila smiled. "Are you trying to talk me out of dating you? If you don't want this, you just have to—"

"No, I want this."

"Good. Though perhaps I should be the one worrying about your dating history—Luis and I have been emotionally split for years, but you're the one who used me as a rebound after a breakup with someone you loved for a very long time."

Eda brought Camila's hand to her chest and held it there. "You were never a rebound. Maybe sleeping with you the first time was self-destructive for both of us, but I wasn't ever using you to get over Raine. And... we're in a better place now, aren't we?"

"I think so." Camila's fingers curled into Eda's dress and she let Eda wrap an arm around her waist. "If we aren't yet, we're working towards it. This is a good step, talking about more than just my desires. Open communication."

Eda lowered her head and Camila lifted her chin to meet her. Eda's words washed over Camila's lips. "For the sake of full disclosure, though I'm sure you've figured it out already, I'm in love with you."

"I hadn't." Camila's voice tremored. "But we're in agreement? That we're together now."

"Girlfriends, even." Eda winked as a flush bloomed across Camila's cheeks.

"Girlfriends," Camila repeated and Eda kissed her until she laughed.

The portal opened to reveal Luz sitting in an armchair she had pulled from Camila's living room into the front entrance. She had a book in hand and the world's most hopeful expression on her face, but Eda watched Camila's eyes follow the lines in the carpet and fought the urge to tighten her grip on Camila's hand. It was one thing to agree to start dating, but they hadn't discussed at all what they planned on telling Luz or King. There had been more important matters at hand, like how Camila's mouth opened at the faintest touch of Eda's tongue and how Camila's hand squeezed Eda's ass.

Camila didn't drop Eda's hand. Her grip stayed steady, her hand warm and soft in Eda's own.

Luz, for her part, gasped and pointed. "Are you?"

"Yes, mija, we are."

In a single move, Luz dropped her book, leapt to her feet, and flew through the portal to tackle Eda and Camila both into a hug. "Oh my gosh, this is so exciting! I can't believe this is happening! This is, this is...!"

Her words turned wet and Eda redirected her into Camila's arms. Tears were budding at the corners of Camila's eyes and she needed that hug more than Eda did. But Camila kept her grasp on Eda's hand and tugged her closer when she went to move away.

'Stay,' Camila mouthed, her eyes pleading.

"This is so sappy," Eda groused, but she dropped Camila's hand in order to wrap her arm around Camila's shoulders.

Camila sagged against her. "You love it."

Eda loved her. Loved the feel of her in her arms, the weight of her body against her as she entrusted Eda to keep her from falling. Loved the way Luz grinned wildly at her and put her arm back around her.

She grunted.

"I think Eda's all hugged out," Luz said as she pulled away, though Eda wasn't, could never be, and Eda kept Camila tucked into her side.

"I'm just not a hugger, kid."

"Sure," Luz said. "Since mom's getting a divorce and you two are together now, I don't have to live in that weird mansion, right?"

"That's depends on the custody arrangement," Camila said.

"I hope he doesn't want custody," Luz said and Eda's heart twisted at the nonchalant words. "So we're moving into the owl house? This is going to be so awesome, living in the Boiling Isles full time. Where's King? I've gotta tell him the good news. Does he know already? He must—HEY, KING!"

"WHAT?" King yelled back. "Is it safe to go downstairs yet?"

The front door banged open and the icy air rushing in struck like needles at Eda's bare legs. "The main floor was dangerous? Why wasn't I informed?" Hooty screeched.

"It wasn't dangerous, King's just being dramatic."

Luz yelled overtop Eda. "Yes! Mom and Eda are dating! We get to live together again!"

"Really?" King thumped down the stairs and was breathing hard by the time he skidded into the living room. Winded from running down the stairs—Eda would have to find a way to trick him into some sort of regular exercise if that was tuckering him out. "Finally!"

"I'll have to increase my patrols," Hooty shouted, making sure everyone could hear him over Luz and King shrieking at each other in excitement. "I'm going to be protecting two humans now, not just one!"

Camila, who had jumped at every shout and had shrunk into Eda's side as Hooty and King descended upon them, bit her lip and Eda had the sinking feeling she knew what she was going to say. She could feel Camila's pulse racing, could see her chest rise and fall with the short breaths she was taking.

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold up! No housing situations have been decided upon. We haven't even talked about it." Eda had to yell to be heard and she kept her arm tight around Camila.

"Then where are we going to live?" Luz asked. "We only have a few weeks to find a place."

"Don't give me that puppy dog look," Eda said. "It's not like I'm saying you can't live here, I'm saying that your mom and I will discuss it and nothing needs to be decided right this instant."

"I'm going to start moving my stuff over anyway," Luz said. "Even if we do move somewhere else, it would be easier to use the portal to move everything to the Boiling Isles and then back to the human realm in a new location."

"Smart thinking," Eda said. "Saving on the cost of movers."

Luz turned to King. "You wanna help me move all my stuff upstairs? It's mostly packed already."

"Okay!" King scrambled up Luz's back and draped himself over her shoulder. "I can't believe this is happening. This is the best day of my life!"

Eda watched as they plunged through the portal and disappeared from sight before turning to Camila, still tucked into her side. Communication. They were trying to be better, trying to form a solid groundwork for a lasting relationship.

"My offer still stands, y'know. You're more than welcome to stay here as long as you want. Permanently even, but I'll have no hard feelings if you'd prefer your own place. I can understand the need for space."

"It would be easier for Luz to live here." Camila bit her lip. "And if Luis does want custody, it means she wouldn't have to split her time between all three of us."

"Do you think he's going to want custody?"

Camila sighed. "He hasn't said anything either way, but—"

She cut herself off when two sets of footsteps started thudding down the stairs on the other side of the portal. They watched in silence as Luz and King burst through the portal, their arms overloaded with boxes, and went straight for the next set of stairs.

"But I don't think he will," she continued, her voice low and her eyes fixed on the doorway Luz had disappeared through. "And even though I'm relieved, I hate him for that so, so much. God, I hope that he doesn't say anything until Luz tells him that she wants to live with me full time and then I hope he just concedes to her wishes. I don't want her to know how little fucks he has to give about her."

"I think Luz already knows," Eda said dryly as the thumping resumed.

"What do I know?" Luz asked between gasps. King was already trailing behind her, his tail low.

"That it would be easier to reopen the portal to connect your bedrooms."

Luz's eyes widened. "That would be easier."

"Yes, let's do that! Less stairs!" King made grabby motions with his hands, but Camila passed the key to Luz after closing the portal.

"Just one more set, buddy."

King tilted his head and slumped his shoulders. "Carry me?"

"I shouldn't," Luz said. "But I can't say no to that face!" She bent down and swung King up into her arms.

"It's funny," Camila said after Luz and King were back upstairs. "I spent all those years married to Luis because I didn't want to deal with split custody or child support payments and now here I am, concerned that he'll tell our daughter he wants nothing to do with her and debating living in another dimension where his money will be of no use to Luz's future."

Eda nudged Camila until they were sitting on the couch, Camila practically in Eda's lap. "I'm not saying that you shouldn't consider Luz in your decision, but I am going to say that you should consider her less. Obviously she would love to live here, all of her friends live her, but she's almost fifteen. Practically an adult. You shouldn't make long-term decisions based on what she wants and she's old enough to cope with whatever you decide. Make the choice that is best for you."

"I mean." Camila heaved out a deep sigh and rested her head on Eda's shoulder. "I don't know what's best for me. I do know what would be easier, and that would be living here, with you. Even from the practical standpoint, it's already getting frustrating arranging who has the portal key. If I lived here, it would be easy since I'm the only one who would need it in the middle of the day. Unless you wanted to go human junk collecting."

"Stop thinking about things like logistics." Eda shifted Camila until her weight was on one of her arms and reached into her hair. "Don't worry about the little things we can easily solve. You should do what you want, what would make you happy. Don't worry about me or Luz."

She took one of Camila's hands into her own and pressed the new portal key into it, closing Camila's fingers around it. Camila clenched her fist for a moment, her eyes wide, before her fingers uncurled. She stared at the silver filigree key in her palms, the blue stone glinting.

"Is this what I think it is?" Camila breathed.

"Your very own portal," Eda said. "It works and everything—I already tested it. I was going to give it to you a few days ago but, well, I got interrupted."

"That's why you didn't portal directly into my house," Camila said. "You used this key to get there, not Luz's. God, Eda. How did you make this? Luz told me all about how hard her portal building attempts were."

"I had the benefits of her notes and a few decades of experience fucking about with magic. Also my fame helped me procure higher quality goods than I could have before." Eda shrugged. "You're starting a new life, Camila. One that you can make on your terms, one where you can call all the shots for your future. No one else."

"That's the thing, though." Camila met Eda's eyes and Eda's heart skipped a beat. "I know what you're trying to say and I appreciate the gesture more than words can say, but I don't want to make those decisions alone. I want to make them with you. If we want to be partners, it can't be me making unilateral decisions that affect us both."

"Then let's make a temporary decision together," Eda said. "You and Luz live here until after the new year, and then we can talk about what we want going forward in January. It's too big of a decision to make today and you have too much stress looming on the horizon, but I meant what I said. There's no timeline on the decision; you can live here forever without actually deciding either way, or you can move out in a week."

Camila slipped the key around her neck and touched Eda's cheek. "In the spirit of honesty, I do want to live with you and the idea of living here forever scares me with how much I want it. I can't trust it, not yet, and I don't know if it's healthy to uhaul like this."

"I know." Eda nuzzled into her palm. "It's just until your life settles enough to start thinking about living arrangements. I promise that I won't let you be swept up in it all."

Camila gave her a shaky smile. "Even if I want to be swept up?"

"Okay, maybe I'll allow a little sweeping. For the romance."

Camila's breathing went quick and she flushed, but she looked more embarrassed than angling for a kiss. Her hand on Eda's cheek was hot and Eda could feel the sweat gathering in Camila's palm, so she covered her hand with her own to keep it in place.

"Camila? Are you okay?"

"I love you," she said. "I was being a coward earlier. I've known that I'm in love with you for a while now."

Eda could feel herself smiling, wide and uncontrollable. She could hear King and Luz crashing about upstairs, yelling at Hooty to stop trying to help. Camila was in her arms, Luz was under her roof and the owl beast was purring in her chest. She didn't know the last time she had felt this content.

Maybe never—she had never done well with contentment, even as a child.

She kissed Camila, soft and slow until Camila melted against her. When Eda pulled back, Camila's eyes were hazy and her tongue darted out to wet her lips. She leaned in for another kiss, but Eda gave her a soft squeeze and bumped their noses together.

"I love you, too," she said and kissed Camila again.