~𝒮𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓈~ ʜᴜɴᴛʟᴏᴡ

Chapter 2 ~Not like him~

(Potential)tw: trans trauma also s.h. Btw, I strongly agree with trans Hunter head-cannon so yeah that's in this chapter. *Also fair warning I don't know the first thing about what it's like to be wearing a binder that's too tight, so be warned it may not be realistic.*

Hunter's POV 

I woke with a start, covered in sweat. The small, red lettered "clock" Camila had given me and Gus read "4:36". I got up, creeping up the basement steps, careful not to wake Gus. I needed time to cool. Ever since arriving in the Human Realm, I had been plagued with nightmares, resulting in me waking at odd hours of the morning.

The nightmares often included usually me, Willow, Luz, Gus or really anyone I cared about dying.  Sometimes, in rare occasions, we succeeded, and defeated Belos, but always one of us had to sacrifice ourselves. But most of all of us, it was Willow.

My hair had been growing much longer, and as I stumbled through the pitch black hallway, searching for one room in particular, it fell and swung in front of my face. I flicked on the bathroom light, and sat down on the the toilet seat, taking a few deep breaths. I stood up, and as I did, I saw first Belos, or "Philip" I suppose, in front of me, and then a man with blonde hair much like mine with a scar on one of his gaunt, hollow cheeks. Clearly the man hadn't been eating well. I recognized him from Belos's mind and Caleb, Philip's brother, and the person I was a clone of. I jumped backwards, gasping for air, shocked by what I'd seen.

I pulled off my shirt and stared at my now normal face in the mirror. My binder dug into my skin, and the area around it was inflamed and bruised. I reached an arm up, pulling back the mirror to reveal a cabinet, hoping to reach the testosterone, but froze, burning pain pulling me into place. 

I knew I should have been taking off my binder, but I was so unhappy with my body, I decided "Hey, maybe it will be fine", but didn't realize it could get this bad. I could feel my ribs shifting in ways they shouldn't. "Stupid body... why can't you just be normal..." I muttered angrily, staring at my face in the mirror. Hot tears rolled down my cheeks, and I began sobbing. I had to keep this entire thing I secret from Belos, he always talked about "Those infernal 'transgender' witches are nothing but attention seekers, and deserve to die, blah blah British accent..." but Steve had lent me one of his old binders, and it fit well. He also went out into town for me and bought some testosterone for me. Thank Titan for him, I don't know how I could have survived without him.

Y'know, the more I looked, the more I hated myself, and thought of myself as ugly. No wonder I had no girlfriend, no wonder Willow doesn't seem to like me. I was telling myself it Belos's fault for keeping inside the castle, but maybe that wasn't true. The scars I used to use as an item to prove myself, now were permanent memories of terrible times, a plague that sickened my face. 

I looked myself in the eye and made a silent decision. My hair held to many.....memories. Plus, the longer it grows, the more I look like him. I picked up a pair of scissors next to me, and doubled over, awkwardly trying to get a good view of my hair so I could cut it. I paused, and started staring at myself. Slowly, as if in a trance, I began lifting the scissors in one hand, raising my arm. I began to press the blade against my skin, pressing harder and harder still, trying to break the skin. The blades were blunt, but that made it all of the bit better. I grinned as I scoured the scissors across my skin leaving red marks yet still not drawing blood, unfortunately. 

Suddenly I heard footsteps coming from down the hall and snapped out of my trance at the noise. In a rush, I attempted to resume my original position, bent over to cut my hair. Pretending nothing had happened, I weakly called out, "Hello?", snapping my head towards the doorway, a bead of sweat rolling down my face, and Willow's heard popped into the bathroom. "Hunter?" She asked wearily, looking blinded from the contrast between the bright light of the bathroom and the darkness of the early morning lit hallway. 

"H-hey Captain.." I managed to stutter out, covering my arm with one hand. "I'm, uh, cutting my hair.." I explained, sort of dumbfounded. 'You idiot! She's not blind, I'm sure Willow can tell what you're doing!" I yelled to myself silently. "Hehe, yeah, I can see that." She joked, smiling at me. "Do you want some help? Looks like you could use it." I nodded numbly, soon after flushing at the thought of Willow cutting my hair, standing close to me, close enough to touch...

Willow's POV

I rubbed my eyes, slowly adjusting to the neon light of Luz's bathroom, as I held a pair of scissors in my hands. 

I smiled down at Hunter as I carefully snipped at his dirty blonde locks of hair. Before too long, I had finished. Hunter's hair was much shorter now, including his little curly tuft that always was in front of his eyes. He didn't seem to mind it, but sometimes it bothered me, especially because it would often cover up his beautiful scarlet and maroon eyes, which really popped out against the dark shade of his ever constant eyebags.  

"Alright Hun, it's done!" I felt my cheeks warm up, and glanced at my flushed face in the mirror as I realized what I had said, and what it sounded like. "-ter! I meant Hunter!" I corrected quickly. "Thanks Willow." Hunter smiled, and rose up to head back downstairs. We said goodnight to each other, and went to our separate rooms to get a few more hours of sleep.

~Time skip to tmrw cause I'm lazy~

Hunter's POV

I walked into the kitchen at 7:30, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. Luz was packing her lunch for school, and Amity was eating a piece of toast and peanut butter at the island. "Morning guys." I croaked groggily. Luz briefly glanced up from her sandwich, and gasped in delight and surprise.

"Hunter! What's up with your hair, how'd you get that overnight?" She exclaimed, walking up to me. At first, I had no idea what she was talking about, then the memories of the night before cam flooding back, and my cheeks grew warm with embarrassment. "O-oh, um, Willow cut it last night..." I said awkwardly, not meeting Luz's eyes. "What's the problem?", a curious and familiar voice behind me asked. I jumped, not realizing Willow had gotten up. Amity and Luz looked the two of us up and down, then exchanged amused glances. "Ohhh, I see what's happening here..." Luz smirked.  Willow looked around the room, confused, as if she actually expected to she a physical item. "Luz, there's nothing happening here? I just cut his hair?" Willow spoke carefully, looking slightly concerned.

"Oh, it's much more than that...much more.." Luz grinned evilly, slowly backing up and out the doorway. "Much more..-OW!!!" She suddenly exclaimed in pain, Luz had accidentally walked right into the corner of the kitchen island. Then, acting as if nothing had happened, she continued to walk backwards out of the room. 

"Should we be worried about her?" I asked pointing towards where Luz had just left. "Mmm, probably, yeah. But let's get some breakfast first." Willow replied. Amity simply shook her head, smiling at her girlfriend's craziness. Willow and I got to work making bizcocho, which was a type of Spanish sponge cake, and Camila had taught us how to make it.

Woo,second chapter done! I have very big plans on how I want to finish out this fanfic, so let me know if you guys actually enjoy what I'm writing!

Published Feb 20, 2024

-1312 words!-

Remember to drink water, eat a snack, and darling, you. Are. Loved. By me especially, have a great day <333