Mother stands for comfort

[imaglyphwitch]

Who: Luz and you (and specifically with Luca)
What: Luz tries to resist the hex, and not mutate herself until she finally falls to beast hood
When: Middle of February (sorry Luz, no birthday for you)
Where: All around Trench

She'd read the sermon and was sure that was when the trouble began. Luz had thought, after getting others who'd been sympathetic and lent an ear to her troubles, that she might be able to ride out the crazy of this month, that she'd get to her birthday in relative peace. Unfortunately, things didn't get better: instead, Luz found herself plagues by the past: her father leaving, the scorn of being that "weird" kid in her class, and the things that came with her Deerington and new Trench memories.

After Varian, Luz had been meticulous about trying to keep such thoughts from consuming her, trying to talk to others when she could, listening to advice and meditating more than she probably had any month. But the thoughts kept coming, and no matter what Luz did, she found she was feeling more depressed by the day, even though she interacted with people and did her best to keep her smile up.

And then one day, she found it was starting to feel worse than usual, enough that she even resorted to turning to her bird form if only to escape those memories. Now they were starting to compound, and images of the cave men and the Blood Cultists and their attacks on her began to plague her nightmares. It got so bad that she woke up feeling the cuts in her skin as clearly as she had back then, and she would be breathing hard and be so anxious she stayed in bed.

She had no idea how to stop this, and moments where she started to consider self-harm surfaced, shocking her so badly she took a cold bath, shivering and in tears, wondering what would happen next.

Comments

[imaglyphwitch]

Luz couldn't help thinking about it since it was one of the rare times she could ever return the favor of giving Scorpia a piggyback ride.

"I know I don't have to! I want to! Since we've met I've never failed to feel better when I'm around you, so if I can ever do something to make you happy, I'd like to try, ok?"

[cuddlery]

"Well you do a great job of making me feel better too!" She smiles lightly while she continues to carry her along. "But hey, if you really wanna do something nice, there's nothing I can do to stop you. It can only be good to keep the positivity flowing!"

[imaglyphwitch]

Luz couldn't help but give her friend an extra strong hug while she was still hanging onto her for dear life. Scorpia was really precious beyond words and Luz didn't know what she would have done without her.

"Thank you. Being here makes all of this a lot easier, Scorpia. Thank you for pulling me back from there. I'm sure you already guessed it, but things sometimes get pretty overwhelming for me, even when I try to be as cheerful as I can about it."

[cuddlery]

The hug is appreciated, and she chuckles as she holds her tighter!

"It is my absolute pleasure to help you like this, Luz. I know... I know things can be so hard on you here, the complete opposite of what you deserve. Remember, I'm always here to listen if you need someone to talk to."

[imaglyphwitch]

Luz took a deep breath, still hanging onto her friend. There's a lot going on in her head right now, least of which being why this happened to her in the first place, but she was nothing if not grateful for Scorpia being one of the people to bring her back.

"I remember, Scorpia."

And remembering this, she had to be frank about what she was thinking

"Is it sad that I keep thinking one day all my problems are just going to annoy everyone enough that they stay away on purpose, that they're barely putting up with me?"

[cuddlery]

Scorpia seems shocked by the very idea!

"What are you talking about? Who - who would ever think that about you? That would be horrible... I can't imagine anyone being annoyed by you or not wanting to be around you because of your problems. This is the kind of thing that friends want to be there for!"

[imaglyphwitch]

Luz flushed, smiling a little, then looking down a moment.

"Back home, I didn't have friends like I do here. I was hyperactive, really threw myself into the things I liked to do, and people were put off by that. So I was alone all the time, enough that my mom sent me to this camp to try and get me to make friends. At the time, I just thought she was trying to stifle me a little, but over time, you see things the way your parent does. When I got to the Boiling Isles, I made friends, but I'd also do this potentially crazy stuff to protect them too. I wanted to, of course, but this month, I had to face up to some of my fears. I realized that sometimes I do that stuff because I'm afraid people will see me as that annoying, crazy girl back home."

It was silly, maybe, but Luz had done herself a disservice by never really voicing it until now. When she spoke it aloud, it was clear that she ALWAYS had that thought, in the back of her head, even with her new family.

[cuddlery]

She hears her out and nods along softly, with a sympathetic frown.

"Well, Luz... I'm glad you got that off your chest. But you should know that you never have to feel that here. You have so many great, supportive friends! And I feel like we're all in it for the long haul. After all, we all have some kind of weirdness to ys! You're in good company, Luz. You won't have to fear that any more."

[imaglyphwitch]

Luz nodded, making herself a little smaller in the robes she was wearing.

"This month was definitely a lot. Going to have to remember that for next year if we're all still here. I'm just glad that nothing this bad has ever happened to you."

At that thought though, Luz was quiet, then spoke up again.

"Scorpia, would you be interested in having a friendship Bond?"