Boiling Gems (The Owl House x Steven Universe)

Summary:

Can we really call it calm?

Sasha Waybright yawned as she began making her way to Gravesfield. "Finally, damn traffic took forever to clear."

As a child therapist exclusively, she didn't get many jobs in her home town … mostly after every child already got over their drama of frogs attacking the word, and given how she WAS a child of that generation, she understood perfectly. So she's been a bit of a freelancer roaming the country … the gas money took a bite out of most of her earnings, so the rich life was forever a pipedream.

The pros more than made for it though. She got to travel more of the world on her own time and pace, had plenty of time to clear her mind, and gave all the kids a healthy way to work through her issues. Her favorite clients were those that were like her- little miss Bossy Queen bees that thought they could rule the world by barking orders. It made her rather nostalgic.

Not that she'd go back to how she was back then, it was just funny to imagine that was how she used to be, how Sasha thought that being cruel and manipulative to others was sustainable in the long run for her emotional health. She laughed how she thought she figured out life by the time she was fourteen. It also made the principal's assessment of her becoming some sort of CEO pretty hilarious in hindsight.

She looked ahead, seeing a bunch of people in the road. Probably some sort of parade or something. She didn't recall any holiday's be around, but Sasha was new to this town, so maybe it was a community thing. Most people wouldn't bother making a whole trip from L.A to Connecticut, but something in her gut told her she'd be needed here, mainly because she was actually the fifth therapist the woman had ended up contacting. There had to be an interesting story there if so many refused to take the case.

She stopped by, turning to some boy. "Hey, do you know what's going on here?"

"…." Those eyes held a darkness deeper than that of many of the creatures from Amphibia. Nothing on the Core's evil of course …but she felt like it was a close second.

"Ahh…" If she still had her swords, she'd be reaching for them right now.

"Onion! Come back here, you know not to run off on your own during an evacuation, not after the last time!" A woman, presumably the creepy kid's mom, ran up and picked the little terror up. "Sorry about him."

"No problem Ms." Sasha waved off. "So, evacuation you say?"

"Yeah, Mayor called out a city evac this morning, something about a giant hand in the sky pointing fingers at him."

"Metaphorical or literal?" Sasha questioned.

"We'll Rhonaldo's over there ranting about alien spaceships." She pointed into the direction of a fry looking kid.

"This is just the beginning, people! The ghosts of the mirror world have finally reconnected with the snake people! World peace is at hand! The metal hand in the sky is an extension of the greetings!"

"Giant metal hand … gotta give them credit, they know style better than Andrias." Sasha laughed. "So, alien invasions are common around here?"

"Not really. My friend Amethyst is this talking purple rock lady, but the only thing she invades is the dumpster for coffee grinds and half eaten donuts." The lady smirked. The phone calls were starting to make sense … maybe this would be just like the good old days if she was lucky. "Anyways, the spaceship's crashed down, so I guess it's safe to go back."

People really seemed to be nonchalant about aliens coming down…maybe the world hadn't completely forgotten about Anne saving it a decade ago. Speaking of which, she felt like Mr. X was going to be making an appearance soon for a little alien clean up. Best get a look at it before the feds come in to haul it away.

"Okay, Gravesfield." They all turned to some guy on the podium. "The threat to our city … has passed!" Everyone cheered out at that. "To give us a damage assessment will be our town's very own Steven Universe."

Everyone clapped as a boy walked along the stage. Most notable thing she could notice was the cap he was wearing. Normal, since this was colder weather, but past experience trained her to not instantly accept what she saw at first glance. She could make out his lips muttering something about 'not used to being the hero' before he cleared his throat. "Hey there every-"

"Lucci!" A woman shouted, brown skin with glasses as she tried to make her way to the front. "Do you know where Luz is!? I checked the house but she wasn't there! Please tell me she's not hurt!"

".... She isn't dead or critically injured." Interesting choice of words, that and he didn't correct on the 'Lucci' name, almost seemed delighted by it in fact. "Right now she is grabbing her bearings with Amity. If you go home now, you'll probably see her there." The woman instantly ran forward, making her way into the town. "... Poor girl." He muttered into the mic, before his eyes widened. "Anyway, in terms of damages. There were no deaths or injuries to any civilians." There was a lot of smiling and clapping at that one, with a few hoots. "There is however a lot of debri littering the beach from the exploding ship, which landed on the following locations. Fish Stew Pizza, Fryman's fry shop, the Big Donut, Funland Arcade, the Coffee Bean, the Gravesfield Historical society… good riddance... the car wash, the library, and several cars. Also the forest is halfway burnt to ash."

There were multiple groans from the audience as he listed the locations. "Yeah, I know, it sucks, but as long as you avoid the falling rubble, the broken glass, the fires that spontaneously appear here and there, and the several mounds of metal laying over the city, everything's pretty much normal for the most part. Just go along like it's normal, and you'll be fine."

"Alright people, there's no need to worry, we can get through this no problem." The man from before took the mike. "Gravesfield will live on!"

"So you're going to use our tax dollars to fix the damage?!" A small, elderly woman asked.

"...So anyways, I was thinking about arranging a small putlock later this week too.."

"Answer the lady's question! How are you going to help fix out homes and businesses?!" A large black man shouted.

"Of course we will do everything we can to help support the happiness of our people."

"What about the livelihood!?" A man with black hair and glasses shouted.

" ..Well, we are a tourist town, and with the right campaigning, I'm certain we can fix the right angle here…"

"You still haven't said anything about HOW you're going to help us!" A bully woman in a mailman uniform shouted. "I say Dewey should be out!"

"What-come on, don't be like that. Steven, you can vouch for me, right?"

He handed the boy the mike back, slowly nodding, before turning to the crowd. "... Dewey out!" The boy began running away … it was a sad day when she missed Andrias.

========================================================================

Ruby emerged from her gem. "I'M BACK! I'M BACK AND READY FOR ACTI-"

"Kid's already won." Ruby turned, seeing Amethyst raiding the fridge as Ruby looked around, having realized she was back in the house. "Crashed a spaceship, there was a fusion I think, and now everyone's resting."

"... Oh …" That was a bit anticlimactic. "So …"

"The kids are all doing stuff, Vee's sitting with Sapphire. They're both waiting for you on the front porch." She continued. "I've got Pearl here." She tossed the pale round gem up and down. "The things I could do to her right now…would it be so funny if I flushed her down the toilet? Then she reforms, and she has no idea what's going on."

This felt like something Garnet would try to oppose … but she wasn't Garnet, so Ruby had no idea what to do here, the only thing that mattered was getting back with Sapphire again. "Okay, you go do that. I'm going to talk with Sapphy….and Vee…"

"Bout time. Honestly, figured you'd be the first to talk to her." Amethyst swallowed a whole ham. "Name and face change, but they're still the same kid we looked after."

"I know … and that's part of the problem." She went out the door, seeing the two sitting down, looking over a metal beach. "... Vee …"

The girl turned to her. "Hey there …" The child spoke with a wince. "I should probably introduce myself …"

"No…I mean…I already know you…Steven…Vee…" This was awkward, she didn't stutter! This was more Sapphire department

"Oh … so you know about …" Yes, she did.

"And there's something I… I've been wanting to say …" She clenched her fists.

"I know … I know … I lied to you … I lied about being Steven, and I can't tell you how sor-"

"Ssssh." Sapphire placed a hand on Vee's shoulder. "Let Ruby have her say first."

Ruby took in a breath. "WHY!?" She shouted. "We raised you for fourteen years, we fed you, cared for you, we changed your DIAPERS, and you didn't trust us once!? We had to learn about it from someone else! Didn't you trust us!?" She cried out, small tears coming out of her eyes. "We carried you in our arms….did we scare you that much…..did you not feel safe under our watch?"

"No…No Gar-Ruby, that wasn't it at all!" Vee shouted. "You guys were trying to look after Steven , and try as I might, I am not Steven! I had…I thought I had to pretend to be someone you'd care about to actually have some care for myself…"

"You knew us, you knew what type of people we were! Did you really think we wouldn't help someone who didn't have a home!?" She shouted. "Sure we wouldn't know where to start with … Basitri-Basaki-Whatever, but we could have tried!"

"Would you have?" Vee sniffed. "Pearl makes it pretty clear she wants nothing to do with me…"

"Pearl's more stubborn than the rock she comes out of! I'm-we're the leader of the Crystal gems, what we say goes!" Ruby stopped her. "And if I had seen a Basha-a baby snake person in the snow looking for help all those years ago…I would've done everything humanly and inhumanly possible to make sure she was okay!"

"You're … I …" They ran forward, hugging Ruby. "I'm sorry … I'm so sorry …"

"You should be! If the past half a month wasn't punishment enough, then I'd ground you for hiding that perfect true self we know as our daughter!" Ruby cried out, hugging tightly. "We would have done it sooner, but Saphy said we shouldn't scream at you!"

"I didn't want you to cry!" The blue gem jumped in on the hug, a large volume in her voice rarely heard. "You're our baby girl and I want nothing to hurt you, even us!"

"Guys….You're the best moms I could ever ask for!" Vee lifted the two of them up and twirled them around, the three of them laughing, as one tiny but very happy family. "I'm sorry I tried to ship you with Jamie the Mailman!

They stopped at that …. "What?"

"Oh, you didn't know that?" Vee put them down. "He was crushing on you, so I sent him and you both love letters so you'd meet up … I guess you never got it?"

"I…we rejected him…brutally." Ruby explained. "The man wouldn't stop crying…like…damn, I didn't know a man could cry that much."

"That explains why all the mail now comes wet and salty." Vee winced. 

"Okay, you're grounded for a week for that stunt." Sapphire asked. "After we spend the day together of course."

"Really?" Vee asked. "Shouldn't we help the town clean up?"

"Nah, it's fine. It's just going to be for one day, no big." Ruby waved off.

========================================================================

"Annnd … lift!" Hunter screamed, pulling on the rope as he tried to realign the donut onto the building. "Put your back into it, people! This donut isn't going to fix itself!"

"I'm not that athletic damn it!" Lars screamed as he tried to push against it from the other direction.

"That just means you need to try harder!" He shouted. "You don't see Sadie complaining!"

"I AM A MIGHTY MACHINE!" Sadie pulled on with another rope, veins popping all over her body. "NOTHING CAN STOP ME NOW!"

"I think you just got her addicted to adrenaline from your motivational speeches." Lars rolled his eyes.

"Everyone else I know really appreciates those speeches." Hunter groaned as he pulled. "Almost there … ready the power drill!" Just a little more effort." Funny, it was almost like working in the Emperor's Coven agai-

That made him pause. No, no, he can't think fondly of his time at the Emperor's Coven. That wasn't good, those weren't good times…well…maybe most of it was bad, but there had to be some good coming out of it….all those time…serving his uncle…those good times he had when he helped Belos with the draining that would kill his entire species-

No, no, that wasn't him anymore! He wasn't the Golden Guard, he wasn't Caleb…the brother that Belos killed….who he's killed twenty times over with all the grimwalkers…

He was behind that, he was behind that! He needed to stop thinking about it, just stop thinking about it stop thinking about it STOP THINKING ABOUT IT STOP THINKING ABOUT IT. "Too far…" Wait, what? "YOU'RE PULLING TOO FAR!" He could see the Donut begin to drop down on him and Sadie.

"AAAGGGH!" Sadie yelled, and Hunter felt himself freeze. He was better than this! He could grab Flapjack and move her out of the way! Why was he freezing, why was his sweat so cold, WHY DID HE FEEL SO USELESS RIGHT NOW-"

"KEEP YOUR HEADS DOWN!" An unfamiliar voice shouted as Hunter felt himself getting pushed into the center of the donut alongside Sadie, with a third body forcing them to face the ground with their hands on the back of their heads.

FAPOOOOF

The donut landed, the three of them being untouched by it as cracks were sent into the ground. "Death by giant donut. Not the most absurd thing I've had to avoid in my life." The third voice belonged to a woman, clearly an adult, but not like Ms. Noceda, with much more youth in her face, aside from a small scar that was under her right eye, along with some long blonde hair. "You kids okay?"

"I'm fine." Sadie nodded. "Hunter though … he just … kind of froze." 

"Sorry about that … I'm not a guy who deals with stress well." Technically it wasn't a lie considering what just happened.

"Sadie!" Lars came around, moving down and holding Sadie. "Are you alright!?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Thank the god of donuts that he made them with holes." Sadie laughed, lightly blushing at Lar's touch. "It's thanks to her that we came out unscratched. I owe you, miss.."

"No Ms. I'm not that old." The lady laughed. "Just call me Sasha."

"Understood Sasha Sir." Hunter nodded. 

That actually made the woman laugh. "Hah, you have no idea how nostalgic that is for me. Great times, great times."

"Nostalgic? You've fought in an army before?" Hunter asked. Looking at her, the build did fit. A form that was toned but not too bulky, and a scar on her face, likely from handling, or rather, dueling with a weapon.

"You're an observant kid…." She looked him over. "Though given your scars, one could say the same about you … which worries me since you're younger."

"It was more of a … small police force." He answered.

"That only makes me ask more questions…" She checked the beeping on her watch. "Questions I don't have time to ask, I'm running late. Oh, but take this." She handed him a card. "If you ever feel like that again, give me a call. I'm open anytime."

He looked over the card. "Dr. Sasha Waybright. Phd. Child Psychologist."

"Trust me, sooner is better than later." She responded, walking away.

There was a moment of silence, before Hunter turned to the others. "Sorry about that."

"Dude, it's fine … just try to freak out in private next time." Lars said, only to get an elbow in the chest. "What!?"

"Lars, don't be a jerk about it!"

"No, he has a point … I thought I had a handle on that." Hunter hadn't even had time to process what being a grimwalker was to him really … or being Belos's technical 'brother' … he needed to do more research on Caleb.

========================================================================

Gus looked at the ceiling, gazing at the dark walls, before turning to his Palsiman. "Hey Emmiline Bailey Marcostimo … can I ask you something?" The palisman responded with a tongue to their own face. "Right … Prism, you listening in?"

":)*)*P()&()*&^" The floating pyramid lit up.

"If … if you knew something that drags a person down, but is super secret and not your place to talk … what should you do about it?"

"Bleeegh." Emiline crawled on the wall and tongued their own head.

"))*&*^)" The Prism lit up blue.

"You sure the direct approach is the best way to go? What if they freak out, what if they get scared and do something drastic?"

"!(#^@*#^@." They became a pinkish red.

"No, shooting their limbs so they don't do something drastic is not a valid option." He argued. "The goal is to help them, not hurt them.

"Bleegh." Are you talking about your grimwalker friend?

"Wait, you know that Hunter is a grimwalker too?!" Gus shouted at Emline. "How can you tell!?

"Bleegh." Palisman wood scent. All over him.

"How come no one has said anything!?"

"Bleegh." None of our business. Flapjack also threatened all of us if we said a word to anyone … don't tell him I spilled.

"So that doesn't freak you guys out, like at all?" Gus asked.

"!*#Y#!." They glew a shade of purple, tilting their head.

"Actually, if I'm being honest, I don't even know what it fully means. I only learned because I peeked into Belos's mind with this thing." Gus held up the monocle. "Apparently Belos had a brother…and Hunter is a copy of that brother…I guess…it's weird."

"Bleegh." Just ignore it, the problem will solve itself eventually.

"That's the thing, I've been watching Hunter ignore it ever since we came to the human realm. I see him freeze up sometimes during the day, and he has nightmares at night." Gus sighed. "He doesn't want anyone to know, but he's holding in all that pain as a result with no outlet."

")%()*&#." They turned green.

"But it's not like I can just bluntly tell everyone about it either." He argued. "He'll never trust me again, and it was already a pain and a half getting him to be a good guy. I don't want to have the same kind of relationship he has with Lucci, where they're constantly sarcastic with each other and barely avoid killing one another. That's not who I am."

"Trrr." Two options here, you need to commit to either saying or ignoring. There isn't a middle ground, it's like talking to giraffes or not.

"Why do I keep putting off meeting the giraffes, that's like the second best thing about coming to the human realm-never mind." He huffed. "I want to tell him…but I want him to be comfortable first…like…get used to the idea of it being okay to say you're a clone of somebody."

")**(*&." That kind of thing only happens in stories and folktales.

"You're right….I should find a story or something about that very subject!" He wasn't sure how, but both his Palisman and the Prism managed to face palm simultaneously. "Come on, it's not the worst idea in the world.

"Bleegh" Yes it is.

")*(&&*" Very bad. It'll end in a fiery blaze of tragedy.

"… Plus side, you're finally agreeing and not trying to kill each other." He muttered, getting up. "Ms. Noceda has tons of human artifacts here, there has to be something in the pile that has what I need."

========================================================================

"Can we finally play now?" Spinel asked. She'd been watching Lucci sleep on the sand for the last three hours, and as fun as it was poking his soft squishy face, she was ready for a new game.

"Yeah, just give me a minute." He shook his head. "I'm still fighting off my massive headache. The fight took more out of me than I thought it would.

"Headaches are easy to fix." She grinned, grabbing him. "You just make yourself so dizzy you can't feel your head!" She began spinning the boy around like a little top. "I used to do this with Pink all the time, it was the best. One time she spun me around so hard I didn't stop spinning for an entire year! I saw pretty stars whether my eyes were open or not."

"I, I , I , see, ee, ee!" He screamed in fun as she moved him around like a tornado. "I…i…i…i…CAN FEEL my brain…touching …my…..skull."

"That's what makes it the best!" Spinel laughed. "And the better part is that we're all alone, just the two of us, having fun with no one else around!"

"AMETHYST!!!!" That Pearl shrieked as she chased after the tiny quartz. "WHY IN THE NAME OF THE STARS WAS I REFORMED IN THE TOILET!?"

"I was wondering if you'd form in the pipes … have to say, I was disappointed you didn't fit. Guess your head was bigger than I thought it was." Amethyst laughed as she ran.

"YOU ARE SO GETTING IT WHEN I CATCH YOU!"

"Booo, there's too much noise here." And way too many gems to distract Lucci. Sure, he hated Pearl and was indifferent to Garnet, but he liked Amethyst. That was too much of a risk she was not willing to take.

"Meh, I learned to tune out annoying voices after living with Lilith. Pearl's condescending voice isn't that bad." Lucci said as he rubbed his head.

Oh no, tolerance! The first step towards liking someone! She needed to cut this off at the source quickly. "Still, it would be better if we had our own special place to play in, like the garden."

"Why would we need that?" He asked. "The house is for quiet time, the cabin is for the witches and Spice, and the beach is for gems and Vee."

"But you don't like those crystal guys, and I don't like those crystal guys." Spinel clarified.

"Okay then, let's head to the cabin then." He said, straightening himself out as he began stumbling away, going in the opposite direction of the door, and more into the temple part of the house.

"Told you being dizzy would help." She grinned as Lucci pressed himself again that weird door the gems alway walked through.

"As long as this takes me somewhere peaceful, I'm fine with whatever it takes me." As the boy said that, a small glow could be seen from his stomach, making part of the door glow and open up to a room full of pink clouds.

"Yay, cloudy fun land, let's go!" She pushed him inside before anything else could interrupt them.

"Wait…" He began to shake himself, looking down at the endless pink sky below them. "Gah, falling! Sugar!"

"Hhhss!" That weird snake thing popped out of his hair as he made that staff … only to hit the ground rather quickly. "Hssh?"

"Huh … guess the clouds are solid." Lucci scratched his head. "Landing could've been softer. Would it have killed my womb donor to lay a few pillows on the ground."

Poof

A bunch of pillows laid out on the ground. "Oooh, soo fluffy." She picked it up.

"Weird … they weren't here before." Lucci muttered, poking them. "They even feel like the ones back home….back in the Owl House…" He blinked. "Did this room read my mind?"

"Oooh, what number am I thinking of!?" She asked the room. She waited for a second … and nothing happened. "Boo! I wanted my mind read!"

"Let me try. What number am I thinking of?" He asked out loud. Seconds later, what looked like one of those pancake things rolled around.

"Aww, it didn't work."

"No, it did. I don't think about math that much." Lucci explained. "Hmm … worm cakes." He looked at them. "I wonder if they taste like mom makes." He took a bite.

Poof

"What?" He blinked again as the cake disappeared into tiny fluffy clouds. "Huh, a giant illusion room, Gus might get a kick out of this." Lucci observed.

"How powerful do you think it is?" Spinel asked.

"... A slither beast doing a paw stand while using feet to juggle five gallons of ice scream!"

Poof

A big furry … thing with multiple eyes and two bird like feet appeared, standing on one foot while juggling five containers. "WOW!" Spinel gleamed. "That's so amazing … your home has stuff like this everywhere!?"

"Yes, yes it does." He grinned. "Alright, we can have some fun with this. I'm gonna go grab the gang and show them aroun-"

"NO!" Spinel grabbed him by the arm and held him close. Wait, that might've been too forceful … what did Lucci always tell her … hook them in. "I mean … we found this place … and we don't know … everything about it … so … we should … go crazy and test the limits of it before showing anyone."

He blinked at her as that snake slid back onto his shoulder. "Hhss." They hissed in a disapproving tone.

"I do want to show the others … but she does kind of have a point." 

"HSSSSH!?"

"Come on, yeah it seems fun, but what if something does go wrong?" Lucci argued. "The plan yesterday almost went completely off the rails. I'd rather give them a rest from something crazy before bringing them into something else that probably is."

"Exactly. So come on chum, let's make some magic!" And have some personal fun all to themselves.

========================================================================

Willow heaved yet another giant piece of metal out of the pizza shop, groaning as she put it down. She had been going at it for a couple hours, doing their best to help their one place of income. They probably would've preferred resting, but it was the least they could do to help out, both the Pizza's and her friends … even if it meant working with Boscha for even longer periods of time.

"Okay everyone, water break!" Mr Pizza shouted. 

"Finally." Jenny groaned, walking over and downing a bottle in one go. "Gah, this is gonna take forever."

"It's not the worst thing in the world. The entire shop could've been destroyed." Kiki leaned against a wall. "We're lucky we still have a place to get tired of and complain about."

"Yeah, yeah, dad could at least take one day off though." Jenny rolled her eyes.

"Blame the economy. With the repairs that need to be made, I'm not getting a day off for the next year." The man complained. "Piece of advice children, owning your own business is no guarantee for success. You're actually more likely to fail."

"How uplifting." Willow muttered as she sat down. The whole experience was something she had trouble sorting her feelings on. Out of everyone, baring Gus, she probably got out of the whole experience the least unscathed … and that made her feel a little guilty.

Lucci was mentally strained; Luz was fighting with no magic at all, Amity was fighting with the little abomination magic she had, Hunter just had flapjack … yet here Willow was; a master of plant magic … and she was pushed to the sides for a third of the fight because fighting on the beach was inconvenient for her.

The gems all got obliterated according to Gus, with Lapis being forced to focus on stopping the hand from shooting off any more lasers, and the Prism barely scratching Jasper when she ran rampant. All of her friends were fighting with all that they had even if it was very little. Heck, BOSCHA was doing more even without her potions. What was wrong with the world when Boscha of all witches was being more helpful than her?

"I know you want to be a tree, but maybe don't keep your head in the clouds in public." Willow was shaken out of her thoughts as Boscha took a seat. "Your face looks dumb when you stare off into nothing."

Willow rolled her eyes at the jab. "Can't go a day without getting an insult in, can you?"

"Who's insulting who? I'm just spitting facts." Boscha shrugged. "Not my fault you get offended."

"Wow…just wow.." Willow thought the girl deserved a little leeway when that Kevin creep freaked her out, but the three eyed girl seemed to be back to top bitch mode the next day. "You'd think after surviving the end of the world like four different times would make you grow a heart at least once."

"I have a heart." She said, drinking some water. "There's just a very short list of people who deserve it."

"And who in your mind in this theoretical list 'deserves' it?" Willow groaned.

"Anyone that doesn't just up and abandon me when times get tough." Boscha responded. "Skara was the only one on that list for a while … I thought Amity was too, but then Luz came along … and you know how that is."

"She actually gave Amity a positive, good influence?" Willow responded.

"If that's what you call treachery, then yes." Boscha sighed. "Now it's just my Crystal since he's the only one left to talk to. Most of you hate me, and Golden Boy likes you, so he'll probably hate me too soon enough."

Willow blinked. "Wait; what do you mean by 'likes me'?"

"For someone annoyed by obliviousness, you have plenty of it yourself." She rolled her eyes.

Willow shook her head. "Maybe I'd like you if you were nicer."

Boscha stared at her. "You want me to lie?"

"No, I want you to … say one nice thing."

"Really?" Boscha raised an eyebrow. 

"Yes., just one, one genuinely nice thing . It's obvious you're not going to leave the group, and like or not, we're all stuck together." Willow answered. "So let's try and make things less miserable for each other. Give me a reason to be nicer to you, and say one nice thing."

"Okay.." Boscha looked baffled by the whole thing, but nodded nonetheless. "You're … green."

"That wasn't a compliment, that was you stating the obvious." Willow sighed.

"It was a compliment compared to everything else in my head."

Willow took in a deep breath. "Look deep, deep into that twisted, messed up heart that for some reason Lucci is attracted to, and say one, nice, complimentary, thing about me." She was trying here, really really trying here! No one couldn't say Willow wasn't trying!

"Alright…" Boscha nodded, taking a deep breath. "You…you…"

"Yes…"

"You … are … not completely pathetic." Boscha breathed out. "Phew; thought I was going to pass out there."

"…Really?"

"I'd like to see you try." The pink witch complained.

"I … like how you're not afraid to say what's on your mind." Willow answered after a second.

"That's stupid."

"See." Willow pointed out. "It's not that hard. You try again."

"Fine.." Boscha moaned. "From certain angles…I can imagine why…some people…people with low standards…. call you cute…even adorable."

"Ah …" Willow nodded, a little flustered from the compliment.

"... Your turn." Boscha turned her head away. "Say something nice."

"Your eyes…are pretty…all of them are.." Willow admitted, turning away as well….this was awkward, why did she think this was a good idea?

"Aww." They turned to see Jenny watching them with a phoon. "Young love in action."

Willow and Boscha looked at each other, then at the phone, then back at each other, realizing what they had to do. "Give us that photo!" They jumped off their seats.

"..." Jenny began running.

" You're not getting away from us!" Now this was a much better bonding exercise. Gave off less mixed messages.

========================================================================

Luz sighed as she laid in her bed. "... Do you think she'll buy that I was looking for her too?" She asked.

"It's plausible, but you weren't supposed to leave your room at all, so you're already going to be in trouble for that alone." Amity sat down next to her, holding her hand. "Your mom likes little animals, right? Maybe say you were saving a box of kittens and making sure they were safe?"

"Mew."

"Ghost is right." Even if she couldn't understand the cute critter. "I already didn't tell her about the Palisman at the beginning because she had enough stress with six extra kids in her life …" She looked over to her desk, where a certain, shiny egg rested. "No reaction …"

"Don't fret, your palisman will come on their own time." Amity reassured them. "We always have the runaway option. Never too early to start a life off the grid."

"No, that would just freak her out more and make her run towards Mr. Universe even more." Luz groaned. "I'm just going to be straight forward. She's not going to like it, but we just stopped an alien invasion. I don't care what she thinks, that's more important than anything at the moment."

"So you don't care what she thinks, but you don't want to run away …" Amity laid next to her. "I'm getting very mixed messages here."

"It's complicated, I know. Mom's not like your mom, I never had to worry about her controlling me like a puppet … not to extreme measures anyways." Luz sighed again. "She just … she just thinks the earth stuff is all there is to life, we just have different viewpoints."

"And you were never a fan of earth stuff." Amity nodded, putting a hand on Luz's head.

"I like the stories they make, and the internet, but for the most part..yeah…" She moaned. Luz didn't fit in here…but maybe as a penance for dooming the demon realm, it would be perfect for her.

"Luz, you upstairs!?" She heard her mom call down.

"Guess it's time to face the music." Luz up. "Yes, I am..!"

"Come downstairs, there's something we need to discuss!" Mom didn't sound too mad … so she was probably disappointed

"Wish me luck." Luz sighed, getting out of bed, making her way down the stairs. There was either going to be a lot of shouting, or a lot of crying. Either way the experience wasn't going to be happy. "Mom.."

"Miha, don't scare me like that again!" She was immediately greeted by a massive hug from her mom. As if she didn't feel guilty enough.

"I know mom, I know you need to know where I was, and I'll tell you everything-"

"I already know … or rather I can figure out the details." Her mom stopped her. "When I saw Lucci announce the news to everyone, my mind put two and two together. You rushed forward and put yourself in danger, didn't you?" 

"…Yes, and I don't regret it." Luz said honestly.

Mom took in a deep breath, and Luz was waiting for that shoe to drop, for her mom to get mad at her, disappointment in her … but it didn't come. "Mija, there's so much I want to say right now; and so much I still don't understand, other than I know that you're keeping things from me."

"Mom.."

"And I've been patient, I've been letting you unwind by yourself, but you're still getting in trouble, so … I made a call to a few professionals." Oh … so Luz was … "You're seeing a therapist."

 Ah, not institutionalized … that was … slightly better. "Mom.."

"There's going to be no buts about it, your therapist has already arrived in town, and you WILL be seeing her regularly."

"Her?"

"Yes. Dr. Waybright. She's highly recommended in child psychology … and the only one who didn't laugh and hang up on me on the phone." Mom answered. 

Great, now she knows her mom put stress on herself for this … "I'll go see her." Just another thing to add to her schedule. Like she wasn't busy enough.

"Good, because she'll be here any minute." Mom went to the living room.

"Wait, I'm seeing her now!?"

"I did tell you she just arrived in town today. She likes starting right away from what I've been told." She told her. "I'll make sure none of your friends walk in on you two in the living room."

"Luz, what's going on? The lack of shouting is making me worried." Amity said from the stairs.

"Mom got me a therapist I have to talk to right now." She answered.

"... You know, our group was bound to get one eventually." Her girlfriend nodded like it was a fact. "I just thought it would be Lucci after we bound and tied him against his will."

"...I need to book more appointments, don't I?" Mom groaned.