April 2023 Multifandom Oneshots

The Owl House #2

**Series finale spoilers, grief, crying, trauma, Belos is talked about
Chronology : Episode 3x03, after Belos dies but before the time skip
Pairings : Hunter & Darius, Alador/Darius (mentioned)
Headcanon : Autistic!Hunter

Once Hunter finished his infodumping about wolves, Darius had some more serious questions for the child, but he wanted to make sure he felt comfortable first.

"Assuming you don't have a housing situation in order, I'd like for you to come live with me and Alador in his mansion, little prince"

"Alador Blight?" Hunter asked. He couldn't believe his ears. "I thought you hated him!"

"Yeah, well" Darius chuckled and scratched behind his ear. "There were some unresolved feelings underneath that hatred, as it turned out" he explained. "When you guys left, we had to work together a lot, and, well... Anyways, do you have other housing in order?"

"Oh, no" Hunter shook his head solemnly. His only home had been with Belos and now the creep was dead and the palace was largely destroyed. Plus, he was sure if he'd ever step foot in that place again, he'd have one of his "panic attacks", as Gus called them.

"Then it's settled" Darius clapped his hands together. Eberwolf smiled and made a chipper noise as they began their walk to Blight Manor.

As soon as Hunter was shown his room, he collapsed onto the bed and promptly fell asleep. Darius smiled at the sight as he lifted the boy's limp body and properly tucked him in. Lord knows the kid needed rest. Besides, his questions could wait.

The following morning, he knocked on Hunter's door and was surprised to get an immediate response- He was sure the child would still be asleep given how exhausted he must've been.

With permission, he opened the door and found Hunter organizing the room with what little personal belongings he had.

"You're up bright and early" Darius remarked. Hunter frowned.

"Sorry, Darius" he said nervously. "I had a 'nightmare' and woke up in the middle of the night" he explained. "I couldn't fall back asleep so I figured I'd make myself useful. I'm sorry for violating any-"

"You apologize too much" Darius cut him off with a chuckle. "It's perfectly fine. You're not in trouble" he reassured and, only then, Hunter seemed to calm down a little. "Come join me downstairs for breakfast- Alador made pancakes and eggs"

Breakfast was nice.

The whole family- Darius, Alador, Hunter, Amity, and the twins- Sat around the table and just talked. Talked about those last few chaotic months. Talked about the food. Talked about the future. Everyone was still exhausted, but the simple ritual of breakfast made everything feel less heavy.

After breakfast, Alador and his kids left to do some recovery work for the Isles. Everyone on the island agreed to give it a few weeks while everyone recovered (mentally and physically) from the recent stress, but the Blights wanted a headstart since it gave them something to do.

"So, Hunter" Darius spoke up once the Blight side of the family left. "I have some questions I would like to ask you" he started. "You don't have to answer anything you're uncomfortable with"

"Ask away, Darius"

"Where are all the new scars from?" he asked, gesturing at the boy's face and arms. Hunter stilled, so he rushed to reassure "You don't have to answer if it's too much"

"No, it's okay" Hunter told him. "It's just, um..." he swallowed thickly. "Unc- Belos had sort of, um, gotten in- He got- Sorry, hold on"

"Take your time" Darius said calmly, reaching his gloved hand over the table for Hunter to cling onto, which he did.

"A little bit of him had followed us into the Human Realm and he got inside me and... You know" he shuddered, and Darius mimicked the action. He knew Belos was horrible, of course, but he never wanted to believe the man was capable of using his own family in such a horrible and invasive way.

"I'm so sorry, little prince"

"It's okay" Hunter shrugged. "But, yeah, that's where the scars came from" he nodded. "Any other questions?"

"Where's the little bird that would follow you around?"

Now, this made Hunter tear up, and that response told Darius everything he needed to know.

"Oh, prince..." the coven head said weakly as he stood up and walked over to where the boy sat. He kneeled down and let Hunter collapse into him as he began to sob, unprocessed grief consuming the grimwalker's mind.

Flapjack had been more than just a pet to him. That was his first real friend, or at least the first friend who stuck by him. The others all took a little longer since he had still been fighting against them, but Flapjack was by him all the way until the end... And now he was gone.

"I'm so sorry, little prince" Darius told him in a hushed voice as he cried. "It's okay now, though" he assured. "I'll make sure no one hurts you like that ever again, okay? I promise"

"I'm sorry"

"Shhhhh, none of that" Darius hushed him. "Here, I have an idea" he said, pulling away from the kid enough to look at him properly. "You said you got into sci-fi while you were in the Human Realm, right?"

"Yes...?"

"I'll go down to Hexside's library and get you some sci-fi books from there and you can spend the day reading to try and distract yourself, okay?"

"You'd do that?"

"Of course!" Darius nodded earnestly. "Titan knows you need the escape. I'll get you for meals and stuff, okay?"

"Thank you, Darius"

"Don't mention it, kid"