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“You know, you smell weirdly of lemons.”
Luz’s head bobs up in confusion, her mouth opening to ask what Amity had meant by that. She was cut short with a quick “Not in a bad way… its nice.”
“Thanks… i guess?” Luz trailed off quietly, the book in her lap shifting as Amity took hold of it to turn the page. Her face was becoming home to a rather embarrassing blush so she faced away, her mind suddenly hyper aware of the situation she was in.
They sat quietly inside Amity’s secret hide away. Distancing themselves from the outside world of its creepy crawlies, demons, life threatening situations at every turn and opting for a peaceful evening of reading the good witch Azura. Together. Alone.
Luz took in a deep breath.
Don't get her wrong, Luz LOVED the idea of adventuring through the boiling isles and fighting off bad guys with wicked magic (which she lacked) but...
A couple of days had gone by since the library incident. Luz was quick and excitable to geek out over the 5th part in the Azura series while Amity kept a calm and distant composure. Going as far as to outwardly ignore her in the marketplace. That is, in the public's eye view. Inside her hideout Amity was absolutely buzzing to unload her repressed emotions and theories.
This part of her was charming and dare Luz say, cute. Amity of all people didn't seem like the kind of girl to geek out over fantasy books romanticizing the idea of witchcraft and impossibly convoluted story lines that one couldn't help but fall in love with.
The way Amity had impatiently grabbed Luz’s hand and whispered “I have so much to say about this book, you wouldn't believe it.” Told her otherwise. Ever since then they’d been meeting up in private, mostly because Amity couldn't bear being seen in public fervently preaching about a kids book like a religion.
Luz didn't object, mostly because she enjoyed spending time with Amity and this would just boost her along her plans of befriending her rival! However, the position they were in bordered more so a couple, than friends. She tried not to dwell on it.
They sat up against the wall, leaning on each other in order to be able to read from the same book. Their hands would brush and Amity's pale, slender digits would leave ghosts of feather light touches on her twitchy hands. Luz could feel the witch’s soft green hair bunching up and becoming unruly the longer she treated Luz’s shoulder like a pillow.
If she turned her head slightly she could sense a few strands of green hair tickling her nose and smell the green apple shampoo she used. That's weird. Don't be weird.
Luz suddenly lost her place in the book.
In fact, how long have they been on this page?
“Luz? Can I turn the page now? Or is your feeble human mind too slow for that.” Amity snickered jokingly. Her eager golden eyes met the Latina’s own and the world around them disappeared like black mist. Amity was so close her breath was just teasing Luz’s chin.
“Oh! Yeah, sure sure sure, cool… beans…” so she panicked. Sue her.
Amity snorted. “What's wrong Luz? The rivalry between Azura and Hecate was just getting good.”
Luz cherished this part of her, the part most people haven't seen or will ever get the honorable chance to see. Her cute snort could put a kitten to shame. ’Que hermosa eres.’
She blanked.
If the furrow in Amity's brows was anything to go by, she was beginning to worry about the latina’s eerie silence. QUICK, SAY SOMETHING!
“Hello..? Is this something humans regularly do?”
“SO HOW DID YOU FIND OUT ABOUT AZURA!?”
Luz’s outburst caused the green witch to jump, a quick yelp escaping her mouth. Almost instantly Luz missed the feeling of the witch leaning against her.
“What?”
Luz cleared her throat, trying again.
“Well… Azura is a human book right? How'd you find out about it.” Something warm and outright heavenly soft made its way into her hands.
“Well, originally I found the first book in the trash. I couldn’t just sit there and watch someone ruin perfectly good works of literature, I had to go turn it into the library.” The latina didn’t have to look down to know Amity had just intertwined their fingers together.
“I ended up reading the first few pages on the way over…” she was drawing small circles on the back of Luz’s hand with the pad of her thumb. “It was dumb but somehow I fell in love with it. Humans are so peculiar”
“Yeah, I'm sure witches are no better.”
“Oh please, witches are far superior to humans.”
Luz let out a laugh. “You're right, but I still think my culture could outshine yours any day.” Now she was just getting cocky.
“Your culture?”
She beamed.
“Yeah! Have you ever danced to merengue?” The puzzling look was all she needed for an answer.
“Mere-who?”
The latina began standing up, pulling Amity alongside her.
“Merengue, there's also bachata, and salsa. Its a dance style popular where I’m from”
“I don’t dance.”
Luz grinned wide. “I don't either, I spent all my time editing anime clips together. I still picked up a few things from parties though.” She wasn’t sure where all this confidence was coming from but she pulled Amity closer and, with their hands still clasped, asked “Do you want to dance? You can say no.”
The green haired witch stared at their hands. “Yes.”
“Well, there's no music playing but, I’ll lead.” With that, Luz stands up straight, letting go of Amity’s hand and placing it under her shoulder blade. She pulls her in closer and the feeling is electrifying. Luz can feel Amity’s breathing again, this time teasing her lips.
They tried doing a basic few steps to an imaginary beat. It was clumsy and slow and they kept stepping on each other's toes. Their dance was so out of sync that they mumbled apologies while smiling. They were enjoying themselves, lost in their terrible dancing and giggling like children
In a swift movement, Luz tried to twirl Amity. One wrong turn and the Latina lost her footing, causing both of them to fall to the floor with a thunderous thud. It didn’t stop their laughter though, instead intensified it.
“We’re terrible at dancing.” Amity panted, staring up at the ceiling from the uncomfortable floor. Luz squeezed her hand in response.
At once they turned to each other, eyes locked. It was intoxicating. Luz glanced down at Amity’s inviting lips, wondering for the third time today if they were as soft as they always looked.
The world seems to have stilled for a second. The quietness of the room suddenly overbearing. Amity’s eyes had Luz in a trance, nothing felt real, their surroundings seemingly disappearing into thin air as if they were never there to begin with.
“Luz?”
“Amity?”
“I’m so glad you’re my friend.”
Friend.
Luz tried to hide her obvious disappointment. “Me too.”
“But I want to be something more.”
Suddenly, she didn’t have to wonder or dream about how soft Amity’s lips were.