I'll take it if it comes in orange

Coli was right by their side, being uncharacteristically quiet but that made sense due to the setting. They were staying right beside Luz, occasionally looking up to their friend to check in. He was also making sure to keep a fierce guard of Torch, who also sat on the blanket.

The palisman wasn’t awake yet, nor had he shown any big signs that he’d wake up soon since the near incident a few weeks ago. Neither of the children minded, even if it meant they had to wait a little longer to truly meet their new friend. Both liked the fact that Torch was comfortable enough to take his time, or that at least was the reason they agreed to be true.

So until he was ready, Luz and Coli would take him wherever they could to make sure he was safe. That even included the graveyard where it wasn’t too hard to keep an eye on the scorpian.

Speaking of being watched over, Luz wasn’t the only human occupying the blanket. Their mami, in a fierce show of strength, had managed to stay mostly composed as she sat with Luz. The pain in her eyes was clear and the stiffness of her posture showed her inner struggle. Not that Luz faulted her for that, how could they?

It hurt them just as much to stare at their father’s grave. But the fact that the two Nocedas were there together this time made it a bit easier.

“Do you think he misses us?” Perhaps a little too easy as the words slipped out of Luz’s mouth with no resistance.

Backpack / Cryptid

Screw it, I felt pretty good about my sketch practice today so I wanted to post it here. I have this dumb fear about others seeing what I draw so it's time to start getting over that!

Not much going on here, just trying to nail down my style and work on expressions, with a little bit of doodling.

For once, things were actually going alright. That was probably not a statement Luz should have been celebrating, but lately, she had been questioning a lot of things she once thought she should or shouldn’t do. Or the things she thought she couldn’t do. And honestly, what did those things mean to her?

How much was she willing to put on the line for the happiness of those she cared about? What was she willing to do to show that she was in control now? Is there anything she was willing to let go of in order to move forward?

Luz was forced to drown throughout the class period, never allowed to take in a breath of air. Though maybe it was better that way. It certainly made time tick by faster.

“Alright you guys, that’s enough for our little contest. It’s clear to see who lost.” Mr. Kurtz jabbed while looking directly at Luz.

“Time to head off to your special class for today, so line up.”

Yet another difference, Phillip needed control and would make demands of anyone who he felt needed to listen to him. He usually just did it in a way where they didn’t sound like demands, rather strongly advised ideas that made you believe you came up with them. But he wasn’t in the mood to use his usual tactics.

And Coli wasn’t in the mood to call him out for being mean. If that’s the game he wanted to play then they would show him how seriously they took playing.

Camila expected that she would be doing so for a good five minutes, so she was quite surprised when Luz suddenly shift from her position on the ground and lunged into her arms while burying her gave into the mother’s frame.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry-” Luz mumbled in between each hitch in her breathing.

“Shhh, Luz please none of that right now. Just take a big breath for me. Like how I taught you. In for four, out for eight.”

Luz had trouble following the instructions at first, but once Camila started to breathe with her it became easier with each passing minute. Soon the room was no longer filled with the tearful screams of a distressed child but rather the watery hiccups of a child who was exhaustedly slumped into her mother’s arms. 

Anyways I just decided to slip an slide into here because I caught your tumblr name from the starry light fic, great work btw its a really interesting concept and I think you pulled it off very well!

I just wanted to say keep up the great work and have a great day and or night!

The drive over was a standard affair which ended with the usual but never stale kiss on the forehead and exchange of I love you before the car slowly pulled off leaving Luz and Coli to skulk through the halls for another monotonous day. And yes, Luz would describe the day as monotonous even if she wasn’t completely sure about the usage of that word.

As much as she was dreading it, Luz’s return date to school was quickly approaching, now less than a week away. She knew her excused absences from school would only last for so long, but it didn’t feel long enough. The fact that she still had to do homework didn’t help.

“Uggh, math. Just listening to you do it is boring, so doing must be way worse. Don’t you want to play with me instead?”

“Well, yeah…but I can’t. I need to get this stuff done, which shouldn’t be too much longer. Plus, mami says that math is important.”

“That it is, cariño.” Camila agreed, unknowingly startling Luz and Coli. 

Luz nodded along and then watched as her mami did as she said needed to be done. The cream was a little itchy but the bandages kind of made her look cool so she didn’t mind. More than anything she was just glad all of these things were getting treated. Speaking of which…

“Oh yeah, mami. I also got a cut on my hand from when I first found Coli’s shard.”

“A cut where, wait what do you mean shard?”

“Yeah look.” Taking her newly wrapped left hand from her mother so that she could transfer the shard to it and show both the piece of glass and her cut. She was expecting her mom to fuss over her hand more but apparently, she had other plans.

Now, Luz was no stranger to getting hurt, she had always been a rather curious kid and that curiosity tended to need a first aid kit and the rare hospital visit to compensate. But this wasn’t on the same pain level as a skinned elbow or instilled the same fear as swallowing a bolt. This was much great than any situation she was in before because it was all hitting her at once.

Luz, a small and vulnerable child, was who knows where in a forest filled with too many dangers to count with no idea how to get out other than a very vague sense of direction. And even if she did know how to get back to the part, she was so overcome by the pain of everything that’s happened that she wasn’t even sure she could make it back.