Reprogrammed (Hunter Angst)

Kin of My Trauma

As Hunter's dosage of Sertraline was continually reduced, more and more of the least desirable traits of his diagnosis began to resurface. He had also distanced himself from his sleeping medication, not wanting to disturb his still healing body with more artificial human chemicals.

This unfortunately meant that his quality of sleep drastically reduced. Terrible nightmares gripped desperately at his every neuron, as he, in equal desperation, gripped at wakefulness. Despite this, he had something big to look forward to.

Only a few days after his return to the Demon Realm had his friends already planned a "welcome home" party. Somehow, they'd gotten Darius to agree to host it at his place. Willow sent him a message over Penstagram, her excitement overflowing through the glowing scroll. It made him smile when he saw her happy. He was going to cook them a wonderful meal, and have a great time with his friends.

The party, though carefully planned, had way more guests than what Darius was probably imagining. Luz, Willow, Amity, Vee, Gus, Eda, Raine, King, Camila, and of course, Eberwolf all stood busily chatting in Darius's kitchen. Their shoes left scuffs on the wooden floor, and the host desperately wished he'd been much more insistent on his "no shoes in the house" rule.

Despite these regretful thoughts, and the acceptance that he'd have to scrub the floor on his hands and knees later, he was happy to see all of these people in one place. In truth, during their run-in with the Collector, Darius had almost convinced himself that that was how they were all going to die. A terrible thought to have, when he was standing in a kitchen full of perfectly alive people.

To distract himself, he turned his attention towards Hunter, who was gesticulating wildly while he explained what was for dinner. He still couldn't believe that this was the Golden Guard, a scrawny teenager who loved wolves and cooking and seeing friends. All the same, he was grateful that the kid was moving closer to being able to live a semi-normal life. There were challenges, but at least he was free of the Coven; as much as the kid's mind would allow him to be.

Warm food sat bubbling on the stove, and Hunter turned the burner off to begin serving dishes. Hunter had taken a lot of time to cook this meal, and it was clearly showing. Darius felt pride in that. Soon, everyone was eating and chatting.

Hunter tried his best to skirt around the serious stuff. He knew that soon there needed to be time to tell his friends everything, that a conversation was overdue, but he just couldn't think of a time that felt right to have that discussion. So for now, he sat and listened to the people around him.

"Oh man, I would love to be able to learn some of the recipes Darius uses for his Abominations" Amity said with excitement as she watched a little abomination toddle around with glasses of water and Apple Blood. "Every time I try to make little ones like that, they always drip all over the floor."

Darius overheard her, and after swallowing the bite he was chewing, he spoke: "It's all about how humid your room is, and how long you store your slime if you're saving it for later. Believe it or not, abomination slime becomes more elastic the longer you store it! Just don't let it dry out."

Amity nodded intently, vigorously taking notes in her head. Around them, Eda was explaining something to King, Willow was trying to grow a little garnish to stick on top of her food, Gus was encouraging her antics, and Eberwolf was busy ripping and tearing at his own meal. Raine was the only sane looking one of them all sat quietly in their chair, politely spooning food into their mouth,

The lights over the table were bright, and the smell of the food laid thick in the room. Noise tangled and jumbled, crawling deep into his brain. The food sitting on his tongue felt all too overseasoned, suddenly. Hunter itched at his arms, wishing that the lights would be a little dimmer.