Chapter Text
(Amity’s POV)
Amity quietly opened her door, sneaking into her dorm so as to not wake up her roommate who was already long gone asleep. Somehow it was 1 in the morning, Amity wondered where the time had gone. She crashed onto her bed, hiding underneath her covers and her random assortment of blankets that she used as a makeshift weighted blanket. Amity was so exhausted, but she was so stressed out from the day that she knew she wasn’t gonna fall asleep for a while. After a long day of classes all she had wanted to do was come home and write, but unfortunately she’d gotten into an argument with her Mom, which completely killed her motivation for the day. And to make matters worse, she was called into work just a few minutes after that argument had ended. Great, just what I needed. Instead of trying to sleep, Amity opened Twitter to distract herself from the hell that was her day. She had found comfort and solace in the Good Witch Azura fandom, which is where she primarily stayed when on Twitter. And so she laid there scrolling through her timeline, retweeting any art she saw. It made her smile just a little bit after such an awful day.
“Oh hey, new art from Luzura?” Amity whispered to herself, trying desperately not to wake up her roommate who was just a few feet away from her fast asleep. “So amazing, as always.”
Luzura was a pretty popular artist in the Azura fandom, one whose art Amity just adored. She’s clearly put a lot of work into it. Amity’s body finally decided it was time to fall asleep, she struggled to keep her eyes open. So she laid her phone back on her bedside table and finally let herself sleep for the night, remaining cautious for what tomorrow would bring her.
…
(Luz’ POV)
“And it’s finally posted, good lord I’m exhausted…”
Luz finally stood up from her desk and collapsed straight into her bed. It was 4 in the morning, her room was slightly lit by her drawing tablet and a single candle. The smell of eucalyptus filled the air as Luz went to her phone to check her notifications. So far only one retweet on her new art, though she expected this, I mean it was 4 in the morning. She wasn’t sure what compelled her, but she decided to check out the account that retweeted her.
GayWitchAmi?
Luz spent a few minutes just scrolling through the girl's Twitter account, finding mainly retweets of Azura art. Luz thought she seemed sweet though, and then she stumbled on a random selfie Amity had posted.
“Oh golly…she’s…so pretty” Luz felt her face warm up. “Did I really just say golly?” She slapped herself, trying to snap herself out of her trance. “Luz, no! No gay panicking!” She sat and breathed in and out slowly, trying to recollect her thoughts. Wow, she’s so pretty.
Luz decided to follow her. Whether or not it was because of a suppressed gay panic is something she would never tell. She continued to scroll through her account, until she stumbled upon a link to an Azura fanfiction that was written by the girl.
“Well, I guess I’m not THAT tired…”
…
(Amity’s POV)
It was just after 11 am and Amity was still sound asleep. But her sleep was very quickly rudely interrupted as a pillow swiftly made its way to her, smacking her in the face. Amity immediately stirred up.
“WILLOW!!!” Amity yelled, looking at her roommate.
“Whaaat I’ve been trying to wake you up for 2 minutes now, you wouldn’t budge.” Willow said, sitting on her bed criss cross.
Amity grunted quietly. “You could’ve been nicer about it, though…” Amity turned her phone on and noticed the time.
“Willow?! It’s 11, why didn’t you wake me up?! I’m gonna be late for class!”
“Calm down, Blight. Classes were canceled for the day.”
“Huh? What do you mean canceled?”
“It’s snowing outside, so they canceled classes until further notice.”
“Huh?” Amity leaned up on her bed to open up the blinds, only to see snow falling down, the grass outside turned to a bright white powder. “…We’re in California, how could it be snowing?”
“Global warming babyyy you already know.”
“Meh, I guess you’re right. Expect the unexpected.” Amity laid back down, scrolling through her phone to see what she missed while she was asleep. Opening Twitter, Amity was caught completely by surprise.
Luzura followed you back!
“Holy shit…” Amity quietly said to herself.
“Everything alright, Amity?”
“Oh, yeah everything’s fine!”
Holy shit Luzura followed me!
Amity had to contain her excitement, it was too early in the morning to get all excited. Besides, she had the day off now. So Amity decided she was going to try to dedicate the day to writing.
…
(Luz’ POV)
It was nearly 2 in the afternoon, Luz finally began to stir awake. She finally fell asleep around 6 in the morning. She had completely lost track of time while reading multiple Azura fics that Amity had posted. She absolutely adored them. Before she could process her surroundings or her own thoughts, she heard a knock at the door.
“Hey, Mija? There’s some leftover breakfast downstairs, it’s in the microwave if you want it.”
Luz groaned, barely processing anything going on. Though she could process well enough what her mom said.
“Gracias, Mama.”
Luz began to stir more, willing herself to sit up at her bed. She turned her phone on and noticed the time, letting out a deep sigh.
“Man, I didn’t mean to sleep THAT late…”
She slowly got herself out of bed, making her way to the kitchen. She checked the microwave to see what her mom had left behind.
“Mmm, waffles…” She turned the microwave on before making her way straight to the coffee-mate.
Luz made her way back to her room, coffee and breakfast in hand. She sat down at her desk, opening her sketchbook before taking a sip of coffee. She could only stare at the empty page, her mind wasn’t on art at all. Her mind was solely focused on those fanfictions she stayed up reading, as well as the girl who wrote them.
Amity…
She shook her head, immediately reaching for another sip of coffee.
“Calm down, Luz.” She did her usual breathing trick. 4 seconds in, 4 seconds out. “You haven’t even spoken to her yet, you don’t even know this person!”
But Luz knew she wanted to talk to her, she didn’t know what it was but she was just intrigued by this girl.
“Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to DM her…”
…
(Amity’s POV)
Amity was slumped against her desk, she could only stare at her laptop and groan. On the screen was a blank text document, she had been trying to come up with ideas for an Azura fic for hours but to no avail. Classes had started to take a toll on her creative drive, she felt herself slowly lose it as the days went on.
“God, why isn’t shit getting better?” Amity lamented as her hands fell onto her face. “I can’t even bring myself to do the one thing that makes me happy…I’m just tired.”
Willow noticed her roommate looked visibly upset. She got up and gently made her way to Amity’s side.
“Hey, you okay?”
“Mm, not really…”
“Well, I’m here for you okay?”
“Thank you, Willow…” Amity leaned into Willow, finding comfort in her friend's embrace.
“Of course. Hey, I’m gonna go get some food. Do you want anything?”
“Are you sure it’s safe to drive?”
“Not necessarily, but I can handle myself. Plus, it’s not like we have much food here anyway.”
“Mmm, fair. Maybe just some fries?”
“Of course. I’ll be back!” Willow made her way out of the dorm, leaving Amity to herself.
Amity’s head fell back into her hands, letting out a few short breaths as she felt herself on the verge of tears. Just as she was about to close her laptop and fall face first into her bed, she heard a notification come from her laptop.
Luzura-“Hi! I hope I’m not intruding, but I just wanted to drop in and tell you I read a few of your fics last night! They were all so good! The amount of detail…you’re extremely talented!”-1:32PM
Amity was taken aback for a moment. She had been given props for her work before, but no one has ever gone out of their way to compliment her. And right as she was feeling down? It’s like this girl sensed she was upset. But Amity knew that was a ridiculous thought. She picked up her laptop and brought it over to her bed. She sat there trying to come up with a good response, even if she didn’t say much she knew she had to say something.
Amity-“OMG! No, you're not intruding at all! I don’t really know what to say, I’m not used to compliments on my work. Thank you so so much though! I genuinely appreciate it a ton!”-1:36PM
Amity felt something she wasn’t used to. The only praise she had ever gotten growing up was from her Mom, but it was only for things her Mom wanted her to do, things that Amity wasn’t ever passionate about. Her Mom sent her to University to get her degree in Psychology, because that’s what she wanted. But it wasn’t what Amity wanted. All she could think about was being a writer. It made her so happy and fulfilled. But with classes and work piling on top of her, she kept being pulled away from it, she felt hopeless. So getting genuine praise for her work was a feeling she hadn’t truly experienced yet. She felt her heart warm up. And then she saw another notification.
Luzura-“Aw, no need to thank me!! Genuinely, your work is amazing! I can’t wait to read more! And hey, maybe I can do an art piece to go with your next fic if you’d like! I’d love to help out!”-1:40PM
Amity even more so now than before was just shocked. “She wants to do art for my fics?!” She wasn’t used to this at all. She felt her mind racing, unsure of how to process this. All she knew was that she felt over the moon with joy.
Amity-“No way, I’d absolutely love that! I’ve been trying to think of new fic ideas, but I’ve kinda run into a giant wall when it comes to that. ;-; School and work have just been taking up a lot of my time, yknow? But when I have something cooking, I’ll definitely let you know! You’re so sweet, thank you so much. :)” -1:43PM
Luzura-“Of course! Genuinely you’re doing absolutely amazing!”-1:44PM
Amity was reeling, her smile was wider than it had been in what felt like forever. After hours of struggling to come up with anything and just being ready to give up, she’s suddenly given a blast of encouragement that she wasn’t expecting at all. But she wanted to hold onto what just happened. For the first time since starting University, she felt genuine optimism. She felt the excitement of writing come back to her. It was the push she desperately needed.
“Hmmmm…”
…
(Luz’ POV)
Luz closed Twitter and went back to her sketchbook. She had been mindlessly drawing for hours as she usually did when she was upset, and those times had become more and more common as of late. Her body couldn’t choose between too much sleep or not enough sleep, the two altered by the day. The only thing that brought Luz happiness anymore was Azura and her art. She wasn’t in school anymore, and her sister Vee was off at college. The only real interactions she had anymore were with her mom and a few friends online. When she wasn’t working on commissions, she spent her free time reading fan fiction. It was an escape from her reality. Hell, it was a big reason for the nights of no sleep sometimes. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t find herself being lost in the stories. And by sheer luck, the girl she had just followed happened to write Azura fanfiction, and Luz found herself lost in it. Luz wasn’t sure why, but she couldn’t get her mind off of this girl.
“Do I like her? No, that’s ridiculous. You just met her, Luz! But…I do wanna talk to her more.” Maybe Luz just liked having new interactions, or maybe she liked the prospect of working together with someone on something she cared about as much as she cared about Azura. But she knew she wanted to get to know Amity more. So, Luz went back to her phone and straight to Twitter.
Luzura-“Hey, Twitter DM’s are kinda dumb. Do you use Discord? I’d love to talk more, plus any communication about doing art for your writing would be a lot easier there!”-4:50PM
Luz stared at her phone, waiting for a response. She was on her second cup of coffee of the day, she took another sip and let out a deep breath. She tapped her fingers on her sketchpad in a rhythm. It’s something she did a lot when she was nervous. She waited what felt like an eternity in her head, although it was only a few minutes before she heard her phone ping.
Amity-“Oh, yeah of course!! I prefer Discord anyway, haha. It's Amityy!!#4319. I’ll see ya over there!”
Luz’ breathing slowed, her anxiety settled. A small smile grew on her face as she sent the friend request. She felt optimistic, she had a chance to make a meaningful connection with someone again. For the first time since her sister left for college, she was hopeful.
…
(Amity’s POV)
Luzura#1956 sent you a friend request
Amity quickly accepted the friend request. She had a big smile on her face, her cheeks were slightly red. And of course, as soon as she was blushing her roommate walked back in.
“I’m back, I know you only wanted fries but I got you a milkshake. You gotta have something to dip them in, y’know.”
“You dip your fries in your milkshake, Willow?”
“Uhm, yeah? It’s like heaven.”
As Willow approached Amity, she quickly noticed how red Amity’s cheeks were.
“Hey, are you okay? Your cheeks are really red.”
“Huh? Oh, no I’m fine! I definitely feel better than I did earlier. Thanks for the food!”
Willow was confused, but decided not to press further.
“Well can you at least try dipping a fry in your shake?”
Amity let out a big sigh. “I guesssss. Anything for my bestie, I suppose.”
“Girl, I can hear the sarcasm in your voice.”
“What sarcasm?” Amity then obliged, grabbing a few fries and dipping them in her milkshake. “Holy shit it’s like heaven.”
“See? I told ya, Blight.”
“Yeah yeah, thank you though seriously.” Amity returned to look at her laptop. Her mind was still racing. All this time she had been looking for some kind of motivation, some kind of kick to put her creativity back into full gear. And yet, all it took was genuine praise. Something she wasn’t used to at all. She looked back at the conversation she had with Luz and her smile grew, and her heart began to race.
What is this feeling?