Reprogrammed (Hunter Angst)

Welcome, Abyss

TW: violence, fighting, yelling, swearing, medication misuse, and suicidal ideation.

The day began like so: Hunter woke up late (again), realized that it was Monday and he had school, and threw himself out of bed. Darius had left a note for him on the counter, explaining that he'd gone out to survey the castle ruins, and that there had been reports of die-hard Belos supporters who were meeting there to do... something. Hunter hadn't had time to read the whole note.

The teenager took his medication, opted to skip breakfast, and ran out the door, teleporting frantically to get to class on time. He was late anyway. His biology teacher was handing back the exams that his class had taken last week, when he burst through the door. Hunter was ashamed to find that he'd failed the shit out of yet another test. He spent the rest of the hour dissociating in an angry daze.

Ancient Magical History was no better, despite the fact that Gus was in that class with him. The history teacher pulled him out in the hall to inform him that she was worried about him and that his performance in her class was... "lackluster". He had to excuse himself for much of class to sob quietly in the bathroom, which meant that he was missing more class.

After his third class, he trudged to lunchtime with nothing to eat because he had been late in the morning and hadn't had time to pack food. He wasn't very hungry anyways. Willow, Gus, and Amity greeted him with their usual excitement, to which he made no attempt to match.

The blonde was very busily spacing out when Gus nudged him in the side, causing him to flinch. His friends stared at him, their prying eyes causing his stomach to churn uncomfortably. His scars itched.

"So, what do you think?" Amity spoke.

Hunter made a face. "... Think about what?"

"How do you feel about Luz coming to Hexside to hang out for a few days this week? Her Mom's already cool with it," Amity filled him in. Clearly, he hadn't been listening and she knew. Hunter felt his face warm a little, and he silently berated himself over the fact that he'd been too busy spacing out to give his friends the time of day.

"Sounds awesome, I can't wait." He told them, voice flat and face tired. "Hey, uh, I'm gonna go to the bathroom"  They watched him get up and excuse himself with a haphazard wave.

"Something's wrong with him today," Willow remarked.

Gus nodded solemnly. "It's worse than usual. He was gone for like... most of history. When he came back in the last two minutes of class, his face was red like he'd been crying."

Amity bit her bottom lip. She had to tell them what Luz had told her.

"Amity? You okay?" Willow called.

"Yeah... I went on a date with Luz this weekend, and she filled me in on some of the stuff that's been up with Hunter. When we get a chance, I should also fill you guys in, too."

Willow and Gus nodded vigorously. They all cared very deeply for their friend, and it had been taking a toll on each of them to watch Hunter recess into himself.