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"Mija."
Luz dragged her forehead down the window of the waiting room. When she came into her mom's clinic she knew she might get an earful, but even so she swears this time wasn't her fault. If she'd been on the Boiling Isles, then that shopping cart maneuver would have worked out flawlessly. Back home, not as much. He still hadn't readjusted to being somewhere mostly non-magical.
"Mija," her mom said again, perching beside her on the bench. She rubbed small circles on her daughter's back. "I squeezed you in with one of the junior doctors. I'd see you myself if-" her phone buzzes with a notification. She smiles apologetically before checking it.
Luz pushed themself to their feet with a small smile. "Thank you, Mami."
When the shopping cart had hit the creek, she knew something was broken. She was embarrassed that the flip had gone so wrong, but she knew to ask for help - even when the clinic was packed to the gills.
"He's eccentric," her mom continued with a smile, "I think you two would get along."
She knocked on a closed office door. "Come in!" a voice called. Luz could almost place it. Before she could think about it any more, the door opened.
"Thank you for seeing my daughter, Doctor. How they managed to-"
Maybe the very last person she could have expected to see stood there in a slightly-too-big white doctor's coat.
"Gus?!" Luz yells, "Gus!" His busted hand momentarily forgotten, he runs forward and scoops him into a spinning bear hug.
"Luz?" he says, half confused and half elated. "How are you here right now?"
"How are you here right now?" She discovered his round ears. "What happened to your ears?" Gus shot a concerned look over his shoulder.
"I had an earring, back in high school," he explained to Luz's mom. "Luz," he hissed through his teeth.
Camilia looked up from the buzzing phone on top of her clipboard. "I have to go. Thank you again, Doctor. I'll see you right after this patient, mija." She kisses the top of Luz's head, then exits, closing the door behind her. Luz pulled up her sleeve and tapped a rune she had taped there using washi tape. It sealed the door shut - just in case.
"I can't believe you're here! But seriously, what happened to your ears?"
Gus waved his hand and a poof of light blue magic revealed his pointy ears. He raised an eyebrow with a smile. Right - illusion magic.
"When you said that you were 'studying abroad' I thought you'd be on like, another magical island, not here! In the human world! With me!" Luz hugged him again. She hit her hand and flinched. "Ow, ow ow ow."
"Here, let me," he said. He took her injured hand and healed it with one simple spell circle. "Good as new."
She flexed her hand and beamed. "Oh, oh wow - Gus, you've learned healing magic?"
"Maybe I wanted to get in on the magic mixing fun too!" he laughed.
"Is that why you're here, to use healing magic?"
"No, I could've done that in the Boiling Isles. Things have calmed down quite a bit. I'm here for," he peeked into the lobby between the slats of the window blind, "humans. No better place to study humans than here! I don't use healing magic on humans, but I'm learning so much. Did you know that humans only sometimes have gills?"
"Humans sometimes have gills?"
"Yes!" he shouted triumphantly.
"You learn somethin' new every day."
Luz looked him up and down. He was still shorter than her, but he'd grown up a lot since she'd last seen him. And the doctor's coat definitely made him look more mature, even if it was too big. He pulled out some bandages to wrap her hand. "It has to look like you're healing at least," he explained.
"So you're here studying humans, pretending to be a doctor-"
"Oh no I'm actually a doctor."
Luz grunts in shock.
"I wasn't getting what I wanted at the magical colleges, and I figured this would give me the most access to humans, and one thing led to the other, so," Gus shrugged. "I've always been a good student."
Luz grinned, "You are so cool ."
"I know," Gus preened, "But what are you studying now? How're Willow and Am-"
"Mostly writing. It's a liberal arts college, so I'm studying a bit of everything," she laughed, "That's the same in any dimension. So writing, musicology, environmental science, animation, chemistry, uhh, and I just picked up a comedy improv class!"
Gus nodded along.
"Willow was good last I heard," she added.
"And Amity?" he asked gently. He wanted to press them for information, but from their reaction it seemed to be a sensitive subject.
"Amity is, um, good. I think. Intra-dimensional relationships can be..." Her shoulders sagged.
"Complex?"
"Complex," they nodded an affirmation. "But now that you're here, maybe they don't have to be! Do you have a cell phone? Can I text you? Omigosh we can hang out now, like hang out hang out, in real life! Not an illusion or a crystal ball call!"
Gus laughed, "We can, that's true! The cat's out of the bag now I suppose." They exchanged numbers. A knock interrupted them.
"Mija? Are you all done? My shift's over."
Luz dismissed the locking spell. Her mom stepped inside.
"I'm sorry I couldn't make proper introductions earlier. You'd think after the fifth one up his nose they'd stop letting him have crayons," she clucked her tongue, "How do you and the doctor know each other?" She bumped the young man with her hip.
"We've known each other since high school! This is Gus, like 'Gus from summer camp' Gus! We haven't seen each other in ages."
"But now we're back and ready to get this party started." Gus showed off some of his dance moves.
Her mom tapped her chin in thought. "Since you know each other already, maybe you can come to our karaoke nights."
Luz turned to Gus. "You were having karaoke nights with my mom?" Luz dragged his hands down his face. "Without me?"
"I didn't know she was your mom! We'll invite you next time! I swear!" Gus threw his hands up in surrender.
"You better," Luz growled. Then she hugged Gus again.
"I'll see you next week then," he laughed and hugged them back. "Bye for now Luz. Have a good evening Ms. Noceda."
Camilia and Luz waved their goodbyes and made their way out of the clinic.
"I should have known you two were friends," her mom said.
"How would you know that?"
"Like I said," she laughed, "he's eccentric."