King isn't stupid. He's a pretty smart demon, who prides himself on how conniving he is. Eda thinks she can pull one over on him, thinks he can't follow, but she should really know better.

He's disappointed in her, honestly.

When he slides onto the stool, hugged up against the kitchen counter, he's keen on giving her a chance to come clean. He leans the hard bone of his cheek against a fisted paw, watching her curiously. She's distracted enough to have not heard the commotion of him trying to scramble up onto a seat twice his height, so focused on uh… whatever you do in a kitchen. Cooking, he guesses.

His grin is wide and predatory, "You look busy"

She squints suspiciously at the look on his face.

"Yeah, so what? No rest for the wicked, or something like that"

"You're cooking! I didn't know you did that!"

Eda huffs, staring at him irritably, "I do what I want"

King leans closer, eyes widening once he sees the pans she's shoveling out of the oven. "Are those cupcakes?" Cupcakes, seriously? If that didn't scream soccer mom, King didn't know what did. "Ooooo, you're in deep"

When she turns upon him with burning eyes, hot with indignation, it's almost enough to fool him. It almost makes him wonder if that whole scene at the park had even been genuine.

Then she softens, just the slightest bit around the edges, and spits out a half-hearted, "Get, you little beast" that really didn't pack any punch behind it, too soft because it's crumbly with fondness, affection- and King knows for sure.


King needs a plan. Above all though, King needs a partner. A partner in crime! Because they were definitely about to commit some crimes, being outrageous outlaws and all.

Luz seemed like the perfect candidate. He finds her in the living room, practicing spells, and fills her in.

King leans over the arm of the couch, upside down- in very much roguelike fashion, he must add.

"We gotta get her to admit it"

Luz blinks, before leaning in closer, and asking with a conspiratorial whisper. "Admit what?"

"That she cares about people. Mainly you, and moi"

"I mean, it's not as if Eda never says it or anything. She uh… she definitely said 'good job, kid' last week, and she didn't gag or anything"

"Who cares? Eda's becoming a Mom, and I won't rest until she says it!" King cackles, rubbing his paws together, "That's the last time you call me Mr. Wiggles!"

"King, are you asking me to help you blackmail Eda?"

"No! No. Uh, yeah, but it's not like that. This is good for everybody involved. She'll finally say what she really thinks, and I'll get to make fun of her. And lovey dovey yatta yatta, whatever… you'll like that part"

Luz considers that, with what seems to be bone shaking intensity, before giving a quick nod and a smile.

"Alright! We'll need a good, cohesive scheme. So, to the scheming board!" She points toward a tiny blackboard she's tacked to the wall, just beside the door, and they both scurry over to it, bright with excitement.


For Luz, part of the experience is, well, the experience. Even the failed plans are worthwhile because she and King bond over the execution of said failed plans, often ending in laughter and wiped down chalk and scrawling messy Plan G additions while no one's watching (Hooty most of all. He's a lot nosy-er than either of them would have first anticipated, and he harps straight to Eda- so he too becomes a fun obstacle to try to overcome).

Luz dots the last i's, crosses the remaining t's, and turns to King with her gaze aglow with mischief, chalk stowed behind her ear.

"Ready?"

King grins wide, like an adorable little shark.

"Ready!"

"Plan J is a go!"

When Eda strolls downstairs, after a long, restless night, all tangle-haired and ragged, she reaches the bottom step to find Luz lying prone in the middle of the living room, left leg held tight to her chest.

"Oh Eda, my leg, it's broken!" Luz cries, loud and ridiculous, in the least convincing, 'I'm hurt' voice anyone had ever conceived. The added wail of pain only adds insult to injury.

Eda is tired enough, however, that for a split 3 seconds, she's fooled. Genuinely fooled.

"Luz! Oh my god, what happened?" Eda rushes to her, moments from heaving her up in her arms, before she pauses. Luz stops writhing on the floor, to glance up at Eda. Then she eases one eye open, and her gaze is questioning.

Eda pokes her. Luz squirms like she's dying (except dead things don't squirm), and adds another, "Ah, my leg!" for good measure.

Eda's look is unamused (but also very amused) "Really? I broke my leg falling half a foot from the couch? I was supposed to believe that? Where's the blood?" She shakes her head, "And where's King?"

"In the kitchen"

"With a fake knife sticking out of his back, probably?"

"No…"

King scowls, as they gaze at their chalkboard of schemes, later that day. He wipes at the artificial blood stuck in the fur on his back, scowling harder at the stickiness.

"I'm not sure why we thought that would work" Luz muses, as she erases the board, and grabs the chalk to start anew.

"It would have, if you just knew how to sell it" King retorts, though they both know that's… definitely pushing it.

"The knife in the back was definitely too much" He concedes, after a moment.


Scrapbooks. The key was scrapbooks, Luz and King decided.

First they had to ensnare her, with a good ol' fashioned Owl Lady trap.

"Apple blood?" Luz offers, voice innocently sweet.

Eda's eyebrow arches. They're both pretty sure she's on to them. She's not called the Owl Lady for no reason, after all, and her yellow eyes are sharp.

"Sure, kid" She accepts the drink, sitting down on the couch to nurse it, and Luz grins.

Step 1 down.

Next, Luz and King sit down on either side of her, King scrambling up the side of the chair, and snuggle in. And what are they holding- scrapbooks! They both have scrapbooks. That's the entirety of the plan, really.

King opens his: it's of Eda's school days, and it has her parents, and her sister, and family memories. Luz cracks hers open too, and points out the first picture her fingertip grazes.

"Look, Eda, it's me, you and King, at the rat leg shack" They're grinning up at her, shining faces forever immortalized. Luz feels a soft, comforting warmth in the pit of her stomach.

"Yeah, that was fun" Eda says, voice particularly soft.

"This one is of you and your mom" King pipes up, slamming a claw against the laminated picture.

"And she made me get those god awful pigtails. I remember"

An hour passes.

"Here we are again. We just got chased out of the market" Luz says.

"Another of you and Elder Clawthorne"

King hums, as if considering something very deeply.

"You know, you reminded me a lot of your mother in that last one, Eda"

Luz nods eagerly, "Yeah. The mom energy is undeniable"

Eda huffs, standing unceremoniously. "Nah, I'm nothing like dear old mom. Way too stuffy" She sniffs, staring in her mug as if staring down a black hole, "And I'm out of apple blood anyway. That's enough reminiscing for one day, yeah?"

She sweeps out of the room, leaving Luz and King to stare after her from the couch, scrapbooks still sitting in their laps.

"Dang it! So close" King snaps, and he jumps up off the couch and stomps off.


They stop, once they reach letter P. They're not quitting, Luz says patiently, because quitting is bad for the psyche. They're just taking a break, until they can come up with a better plan. A fool proof plan.

"Mom?" Luz calls, with very little thought. She's doing some of her very, extra exciting Hexside witch homework, and while it's not actually as exciting as she would have thought, it makes up for it in difficulty. She direly needs some assistance.

Eda is understandably speechless. Luz absolutely understands, in hindsight.

"Did you just call me… Mom?" Eda exclaims, voice so quiet Luz finds herself straining to hear.

She has to consider that for a moment, before she nods. "Yeah, I did. Is there something wrong with that?"

Eda gapes. Her mouth opens and closes, like a fish, but no sound comes out. Then she snaps her mouth shut and just stares.

"No" She finally manages to say, "I just… you think of me as like… a parental figure?"

Luz smiles, "Well, yeah. Of course. You watch over me, and teach me stuff, just like a parent does. Not just like any parent, though, 'cause it's better"

Eda laughs. Then she kneels, and the kitchen floor is cold enough she can feel the chill through her robe, sending shockwaves through her bones, but she doesn't care.

"Come here, you little snot gobbler" Eda says, voice trembling with tears, warm with affection, arms opened wide.

And Luz hugs her.