Reality Check - A Huntric/Goldric Based Fic

The Blonde (CHP 29)

And anyone who ever had a heart or sang a lonesome song would sell their souls just to make it with the blonde.

-TV Girl

Time flies when you're having fun.

But it also flies when the stress of getting home is surpressing everything else.

How long had it been since the Day of Unity incident? Weeks? Months? Years? No one was able to tell anymore.

Failed attempts to build a portal began to pile up, the overwhelming feelings of failure and hopelessness fracturing the entire group's mindset.

Everyone had changed in some way since they came to the demon realm, and it hadn't just been their mindsets.

Luz felt twenty years older, no longer the happy, innocent girl she once was. Instead of straightening her hair each time after she showered, the think brown curls stayed prominent, as she finally embraced her culture.

Amity wasn't happy about being seperated from Emira and Alador, but the absence of Odalia brought her a sense of freedom. As her hair grew out and lightened up, she still didn't have a single person on her case about it. She had to admit; she was still as happy as she could be.

Willow wouldn't let anyone know. but she wasn't doing her greatest. Tired of taking every burden, her temper began to wear short. She truly just wanted to see her dads again, but knew that she was the strong one... she couldn't let that on.

Gus had always been emotionally aware, even more now. He was much more sensitive to his deeper emotions, pining out for his father and the life he once had.

Edric hadn't been saved anymore than them. As was his sister, he was grateful to be away form Odalia. Yet, he knew this was all going down into a shit show. His confidence in himself had never been so low, relying on the concealment stone entirely. He even found it hard to eat a lot of days...

Hunter.

Hunter felt like he was losing his mind.

After his visit to the library with Edric, he had immediately read the entirety of the book about the Grimwalkers.

He was a clone, a copy of a man who Belos had once hunt down humans alongside with.

Yet he was still the only one with knowledge of this. For the moment, he was grateful no one else was aware but fear and paranoia raced through his veins everyday, wondering what the others would think of him.

What Edric would think of him.

Hunter closed the medicine cabinet in the bathroom, having grabbed his tooth brush. He glanced down at the book of the "Boiling Isles Human Hunters" with a sigh, wetting the tooth brush.

He looked back up at himself in the mirror and nearly screamed.

Hunter was not looking at himself through the mirror anymore. In his place was Belos, sneering right back at him.

Another man flashed.

The man Belos had once told him was his father became his appearance, taking up the space there.

Caleb Wittebane.

Hunter fell in his panic, his back slamming into the toilet. He didn't feel it, though. He clutched at the fabric of his shirt desperately, trying to calm his rapid heartbeat.

His breath sped up again, his vision blurring and doubling at random. He couldn't control himself, the thoughts pulsing through his mind.

He looked exactly like Caleb, like Belos.

He stood up, cold sweat rolling down his forehead as he dared to look at himself in the mirror again. 

His hands shook as he opened a drawer, then another. A few more drawers were thrown open, each more frantic than the last. Finally, he found what he was looking for. Hunter pulled out a pair of scissors, chopping and shearing away at the locks of blonde hair which had once fell around his head like a crown so freely.

Edric was coming back from the kitchen, having just grabbed a cup of water. He passed the bathroom door, not questioning the light being on. Hunter had said he was about to brush his teeth.

What he questioned was the cracked door and a piece of ash blonde hair peeking out of it. He softly knocked, before opening the door entirely.

Hunter stood, the pair of scissors in his shaky hands. His hair was half trimmed already, now falling around his head in almost a bowl cut style.

If it wasn't for the unadulterated fear and panic displayed on his face, Edric would have laughed. 

"I- Hunter! What happened?" He asked, stepping into the bathroom and shutting the door behind him with a soft click.

"M-my.. uh... I'm.." Hunter stumbled over his words, knowing he couldn't tell the complete truth. He dropped the scissors, a metallic clang sounding throughout the tiled bathroom.

"...do you need some help?" Ed picked the scissors right back up, positioning them correctly in his hands.

Hunter nodded slowly, sitting down on the closed toilet. The book, which had fallen just where his foot lain. He kicked it softly, just out of view.

Edric walked over to him, taking a look at what he had to work with. If he was honest, he wasn't exactly a hair stylist... he hadn't even trimmed his hair since he dyed it, the mullet he had grown out going wild.

He took up a few locks of hair in his hand, trimming the edges. Though.... he was having trouble doing so comfortably.

His very obviously stupid idea was to sit himself down on the edge of Hunter's lap to get a better angle.

"Edric! What are you doing?" Hunter's face had gone bright red.

"Just trying to cut your hair... trust me and let me work, darling." Ed responded with a slight smile, trimming that side of his head.

It took about an hour and about five more gay panic attacks on Hunter's part, but his hair was successfully cut. Prompted by Edric, he stood up, looking at himself in the mirror.

It was nothing like what he had before but it was everything he needed.

He now looked nothing like either Belos nor Caleb. The hair noodle had been replace by a singular curl at the front of his head, the rest of his hair neatly conformed.

"Sorry it's not what you had before, I just didn't-" He was cut off by Hunter wrapping his arms around him, pulling him into a tight embrace.

"Thank you, so much... it's everything I ever wanted." He sniffled slightly, much to Edric's surprise.

He smiled, returning the gesture and wrapping his arms around Hunter as well.

"You're welcome."

1035 words.