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Luz sat on the couch in the front room of The Owl House, working on some homework from Hexside. She didn't want to do it- abomination calculations wasn't exactly her favorite topic- but she just figured that she'd get it done. Amity had always helped her, and it was about time she learned to do it herself.
Just as she was about to figure out the hardest problem on her sheet, the door flung wide open, with King and the Collector happily strolling in afterwards. The girl grumbled as Hooty greeted them, wishing that someone could have at least knocked.
Since the whole puppet incident, am all the other trauma that the Collector had inflicted upon Luz and her gang, she had actually grown to like him, seeing him for exactly what he was- a kid. She had realized just how similar they were, two lonely weirdos in worlds not made for them. While they still mostly lived with other Collectors now, they would often come to visit their best friends down in the Isles.
"Eda, Luz, we're home!" King called, still holding the Collector's hand with his paw. He then noticed Luz's angry stare and simply shrugged at her and waved, and Luz couldn't help herself but giggle a bit.
"So... uh, Luz!" The Collector said, running over to the girl and giving her a big hug. "Do you wanna play anything with King and me? We could play anything you want- besides Flyer Derby, I'm not too great at that."
She had learned to be able to tell the Collector no. It was a hard process, as the fear of them turning her into a puppet was definitely still there, but the older both of them got, the more they understood limits and rules. Luz was proud to see how much the Collector had matured- and she figured that maybe now was the time to give herself a break.
Standing up, she offered the Collector a pat on the head. "What about Hexes Hold 'Em? I believe Eda taught you how to play that which- that wasn't the best idea but- or what about Go Bard?"
"Ok!" the kid was gleeful at Luz's suggestion. With just a snap of their fingers, a deck of Go Bard cards, showcasing a wide variety of Bard instruments, appeared on the small coffee table that was in front of them. He plopped down in front of the couch where Luz sat, and King sat at the Collector's side. "Everyone, take seven cards!"
The group did as they were told, taking seven cards and examining them closely. Before anyone had the chance to start to strategize, the Collector spoke up again.
"I go first!" he shouted, locking eyes with Luz in a playful yet serious way. "Luz, do you have any... bassoons?"
She groaned, sending the two bassoons flying across the table. "Remember to play fairly please, it's no fun if it isn't fair, Collector, remember?"
"Yea, I know! I promise I wasn't looking!"
Luz chuckled. Titan, for someone who had put her through so much trauma, he was awfully cute.
Their game continued just as it had started, with the three of them taking turns and stealing each other's cards as much as possible. King had three matches and only two cards left, and he thought for sure that Luz would have two ukuleles- but he didn't think she knew that he needed them. He would just have to wait for the round to cycle back. For now, it was the Collector's turn.
"Well well well, Luz," the Collector started, trying to sound as menacing as a small child could. He even tried to slightly deepen his voice, but it wasn't working- Luz and King just thought it was adorable. "Do you happen to have any accordions, in your hand? If you do, they are mine now!" he said with a wink.
"Go Bard," she said, smirking at him. This wasn't his first Go Bard of the day, and she had played with them before. He always had quite the flair for the dramatic, and getting told to Go Bard would result in groans and sighs and claims that he was misunderstood, even if he clearly wasn't. But this time was different.
All he did was stare at Luz- no, past Luz, into some vacant abyss that was seemingly the back of the couch. His eyes were glazed over and unblinking, his shoulders and head slightly slumped forward as well. And, most terrifyingly, he was silent. The Collector was never silent for any reason. Luz didn't think he even knew how to be silent.
"Um, Collector, kiddo. Are you alright there, bud?" she asked, starting to lean forward a bit and reach out to them. Were the other Collectors somehow able to communicate with him- could that be what was going on?
"It's ok Luz, honestly," King assured her, "he just gets like this sometimes. I don't know how or why or anything but he'll be fine. It's just... a thing!" his attempts to calm Luz were not very successful, considering the fact that the tiny titan was still waving his paw frantically in front of his friend's face.
Slowly, Luz stood up and walked over to the other side of the boy and crouched down beside him, gently placing her hand on their shoulder. She had an idea about what was going on, but she didn't know for sure. She didn't want to scare him, or King for that matter. He already seemed frightened.
She made sure that they were holding nothing dangerous, and made sure she was prepared to catch him in case they did start to fall. "King, calm down, take a few deep breaths yourself. I've got this."
"But I don't know what's happening!" King admitted. "This keeps happening and it's getting more often I think and when everyone was a puppet I had no one to tell but now I've been too scared to tell anyone and-"
"Why are you so upset, King?" the Collector asked, tilting their head to the side like a cute puppy. "Anyways, Luz, where are those accordions, I know you have them! Wait- why are you right there- you cheater! You were just saying that you want to play fair! No peeking, remember? You made a pinky promise!"
"Collector, I'm not peeking, I swear," Luz said in a gentle voice. "Has anyone in your family or anything ever told you that sometimes you just... kinda forget what you were saying, or stop in the middle of your sentence?"
The kid sighed, beginning to play with the pom-poms on their shoes. "No other Collectors have, but King says that I do that a lot. King and you and Eda are my family, anyways."
Luz nodded. "Has anyone ever told you about something called seizures? Has anyone brought that up to you?"
He shook his head in response. "I do not have seizures. I think I heard someone mentioning that back a long time ago, but not about me! It was a Healer! They- they said it's when you fall and go to sleep and start shaking right... right?" his voice became even more uncertain with each passing breath, beginning to sound nervous.
"Well, you're not wrong. That can happen. But sometimes, all it is is that you, like, forget where you are for a moment."
"I didn't forget where I was! I still know! I am in the Owl House! With King and you, and I'm sure that Ms. Eda is here somewhere!"
"That's... not what I mean, I guess," she said softly, stroking his arm with care. "You just black out for a moment. You probably don't even realize it, but the people around you do!"
They briefly looked at King, and then at Luz, and then back at King. "Could... could these 'seizures' be why King says that I freeze a lot?"
"Maybe," Luz offered a shy smile in return, not wanting to sound too confident, in case she was wrong or overreacting. But she thought she knew, based off of experience at her mamá's vet clinic, as well as one of her friends not all too long ago. It seemed like it, but she didn't know exactly how Collectors worked.
"Is there anything that can be done about it? The healer said that they were working on a potion for it, I think."
"Usually," she didn't want to get his hopes up, but at the same time, she really wanted to calm him down as much as possible. "Usually healers' potions will work, but they don't know until they try. And they have a whole bunch of potions to explore. Some work better on some witches than others."
"But I'm not a witch. I'm a Collector. Do- do potions even ever work on Collectors?" A small tear began to form in his eye, but Luz was quick to gently wipe it away.
"I know, silly. We'll do what we can, ok? I promise you. I mean, they were able to help Hunter's seizures, they were just like yours. If they could get it to work on him, or get any healing potion to work on King, I'm sure something will work for you." she offered him a reassuring smile as she continued with a wink, Now come on, let's get back to Go Bard- but let's restart. I'm afraid I did see your hand."