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Hunter was in the throne room.
He didn't even notice at first, the way his feet were being dragged into the ground.
Just the way they did back in Belos's mind.
And speaking of Belos, Hunter saw he was standing before him.
On instinct, he bowed down.
That was when he realised his feet sinking.
"H-huh!?"
He then saw that Belos's mask was off, and he was smiling at Hunter, a horrible, sinister smile.
"Hunter... such a shame..."
"... Uncle... what are you talking about!?"
"Ugh... you were almost just like him... you even looked the most like him..."
He was getting dragged deeper. Deeper deeper and deeper.
"U—Uncle!? UNCLE I CAN'T MOVE! UNCLE!?"
The room was suddenly morphing now too. It took Hunter a second to realise that this was now the inside of Belos's mind, not the throne room.
Belos was still in front of him, however. With that same grin on his face.
He looked straight into Hunter's eyes, almost as if he were staring into his soul.
"... Here we are again, Caleb. Just like before.
"I—! I'm not Caleb! W—why—!"
He was now almost fully in the ground, only his eyes and forehead hadn't been dragged.
Belos never stopped smirking. It only seemed to grow worse the more Hunter vanished.
He looked like neither human or witch when Hunter was completely gone. He only looked like a monster.
***
Hunter screamed.
He screamed and threw himself upright, clutching the blanket as close as he could and holding it so tightly it felt like his nails would tear holes through it.
He heard someone's voice. Way too familiar for it's own good.
A voice he hated and feared so much now just hearing it made his chest tighten and heart beat run like wind.
"Hunter...!? What—!"
Belos. That was Belos's voice.
"NO! NO NO NO STAY AWAY! GET AWAY!"
His hand balled up into a fist so quickly and was so swift in trying to punch "Belos" that it was a miracle it could be stopped.
"H—Hunter! Stop! It's me! It's Gus!"
Hunter swore he felt his heart stop for a moment.
He was so terrified—and he had almost hurt Gus.
"O—oh my.... Oh Titan—! Gus... Gus I'm sorry!"
He started to hyperventilate. Titan—he had almost hurt him.
"Hunter! Hey! It's—it's okay now!"
"I—it's not! No it's not okay! It's not okay!"
His voice was starting to get high and shaky. The way it always did when he was panicked.
"Yes it is! Look—! Remember what I taught you? The breathing thing—! Watch me. Come on..."
Gus's voice was soft and gentle, he reached a hand out to Hunter's face and carefully and softly as he could, turned it so he would look at him. The rise and fall of his chest, the steady breathing with his nose and mouth.
Without even thinking or realising, Hunter found himself doing the same.
"There we go..."
Hunter's breathing had went back to normal completely. He saw he was staring into the eyes of Augustus, not Belos.
Gus reached a hand out to Hunter's shoulder, and though he didn't speak, the look on his face looked as if he were asking for permission.
Hunter nodded, and Gus pulled him in for a hug by the shoulder.
Hunter was stunned at first. He was always stunned when someone made any sort of contact like that with him. He couldn't help it. He just struggled with getting used to it.
But eventually, he found himself melting into Gus's touch. And closing his eyes in bliss.
"...Jeez, you're soaking wet..."
Gus wasn't wrong. Hunter's shirt and pants were both soaked with sweat after his nightmare.
His head hurt too, and there was that horrid nauseous feeling in his stomach.
"....Yeah..."
"Wait a sec—I'll get you some new clothes."
Gus let go of Hunter and left him on the mat he was sleeping on. Hunter had to admit, he was sad at the breaking of the contact.
How could anyone blame him? It was a good hug.
Hunter was sat quietly on the mat whilst Gus rummaged through his clothes for him. He didn't like it. He felt alone again.
And of all times, now really wasn't one where he wanted to be alone.
But Gus did return eventually, a new plain black shirt in hands as well as shorts to match.
"These looked comfy enough. Here ya go."
He passed them over to Hunter, who went into the closest bathroom to get changed.
He avoided the mirror at all costs. He really didn't need a repeat of the time he freaked out and cut his own hair, which had caused Willow to go and help cut it for him.
He still got a weird feeling thinking about that, not that he would admit it.
He didn't take long with getting changed, and he found himself back in the basement with Gus before he knew it.
"You feel better now that you've got better clothes?"
Hunter couldn't find it in him to talk, so he simply nodded.
"Great! So uh... what happened? I'm guessing a bad dream?"
As much as Hunter really did appreciate Gus's caring for him, he really didn't wanna talk about his dream. He couldn't bear the thought of thinking about— .... him, any longer.
"Uh...yeah..Butheylet'snotworryaboutitIreallydon'twannatalk'boutit!"
Gus raised an eyebrow, clearly barely able to make out a word Hunter had said.
"Okay, I get it. You don't have to talk about it if you don't wanna."
"... Thanks, Gus..."
"Mhm. But... I'm guessing you don't wanna go back to sleep yet either though... you don't really look ready to..."
"N—no... No I'm really not..."
"That's cool. Hey, I've got an idea! Let's stay up together for a bit! It can be like a Moonlight Conjuring! Only with none of the cool stuff with making objects float and stuff..."
Hunter got a random memory of Luz saying something about how her, Willow and Gus had once had their Moonlight Conjuring go horribly wrong. Something about them somehow getting the entire Owl House to walk?
It seemed crazy, but this was Luz.
"Don't the Humans call it a Slumber Party or a sleepover or something?"
"... Yeah, think so... anyway, c'mere! You can sit on the couch with me instead of sitting on that mat!"
"... O—oh! Okay then...!"
Hunter didn't know why, but he was really taken aback by how nice Gus was.
He thought of the hug from earlier. It had been so nice... so warm... so comforting...
It had made Hunter feel so safe.
He found himself staring at Gus, the question on the tip of his tongue.
"...Uh... Gus?"
"Yeah?"
"... Can you... canyouhugmeagain!?"
Hunter, now incredibly mortified and probably never gonna emotionally recover, ducked his head away and tried to not feel ridiculous.
But Gus only smiled. And it wasn't condescending.
"Course I can!"
And then his arms were wrapped around Hunter again, holding him close and leaning his head against his shoulder, practically cradling his body.
Hunter had to deal with the annoying stun feeling again before he could properly enjoy the hug. But once he could, he let his eyes close and buried his face in Gus's sleeve.
Titan—it was such a nice feeling.
For a few moments—he could forget about Belos. Forget about being the Golden Guard and the Emperor's Coven. He could forget about everything that had happened to him.
He could just enjoy a nice moment. For once.
...
Hunter had tears running down his face before he knew it.
He hoped to the Titan Gus wouldn't notice.
His sleeve did a good job muffling his sobs, but Gus could still feel his shoulder getting wet, of course.
"I know you're crying, Hunter."
"... S—sorry...!"
Of course he had to ruin it. Hunter really could never do anything right.
"No. No don't be sorry. Cry. It's okay. We've been through a lot, you shouldn't be bottling anything up, dude."
...
He held Gus tighter. And in return, so did he.
"Dude—! You are definitely touch starved, my guy."
"A-am not! It's not my fault you give such nice hugs!"
"That, and you're touch-starved."
Hunter could sense the smug grin on his face. And oh how he wanted to wipe it right off.
"... Just shut up..."
"Do you want me to stop hugging you!?"
"No! No don't shut up please I'm sorry, don't shut up."
"That's what I thought.
That smug grin had grown even worse. Hunter could sense it.
But the amazing feeling of the hug outweighed the annoyance Gus's smirk caused him.
"...Hey, if you want, you can sleep on the couch with me tonight. Would help keep the nightmares away and you would feed your touch starvation."
Hunter was so glad Gus couldn't see his eyes shoot open.
Hunter had never shared a bed or a place someone slept ever before. Not once in his life. The idea was so... foreign sounding to him.
But it sounded so good too.
"... Okay I am not touch-starved... but yeah I'll sleep on the couch with you that sounds so great thanks."
Gus smiled, and it sort of wasn't smug this time.
"Sure you're not."
A few more minutes passed by of the two just cuddling on the couch. Hunter had to admit, this was the most at peace he had felt in a long time.
And he was loving every second of it. And no it wasn't because of any touch starvation. It was just that Gus gave good hugs.
It wasn't long before he felt his eyes starting to grow droopy. And his grip on Gus started to grow weaker with each minute.
Sleep was back to claim him.
"... Gus... M'tired..."
"Oh, ready to head back to sleep then?"
"... Uh... huh..."
The hug finally broke so that Gus could get the couch ready for them both. Of course Hunter immediately restarted it the second he was given the chance.
"... You'll be okay now... No more nightmares..."
Gus draped his arm over Hunter and linked his hand in his.
It took a second for Hunter to get over the shock, before he squeezed his hand in return and held it too.
"Yeah..."
And he was right. There were no more nightmares for either of them that night. There was no Belos or anyone else. Just Gus and Hunter, finally getting a good night's rest.
Which Hunter swore, he could get used to it.