Joey set the troll down on his couch and got out his cell phone. He punched in Gail's number and paced while waiting for her to answer.
After a few rings, she answered her phone. "Oh! Hey Joey!"
"Hey Gail… Um… I have a problem… A big one." He said, looking at the troll.
"I'm sure it's not that bad. What is it?"
"I have this troll at my house-"
She cut him off. "Oh, you got a pet in the end! That's great! Was it one of the strays from the shelter?"
"It was a stray but…" He trailed off.
"But?"
"I found him on the streets. He was all beaten up and it was too cold to leave him out there. I didn't know what else to do."
"Well, you've gotta take it to the shelter to get help. Oh, and by the way, is it a boy or a girl?"
"I think it's a boy, but does that really matter?"
"I was just curious. Now go down to the shelter, I'll be there in twenty minutes."
"Okay. See you there." He hung up the phone. He looked back at the troll who was now sitting up and watching him.
"Wh-who's that?" it asked quietly.
"What's that?" Joey could barely make out what it was saying.
"Wh-who were you t-talking to?" it clarified, a little louder..
Huh. It can speak. "It was my friend, Gail."
"F-friend?" it asked. Had it never heard of friendship?
"Yeah, she cares about me and I care about her...' He thought for a second, trying to figure out what to ask it now that it was speaking. "Do you have a name?"
"V-Vognez… What y-yours?" Every time it spoke it looked like it was preparing for something to happen to it, but nothing came.
"I'm Joseph, but you can call me Joey…" Another pause. "Where's your owner, Vognez?
It looked down as tears started to stream down its face. "Hey- it's okay- don't cry- oh jeez…" He walked over to it and sat next to it, racking his head for an idea to calm it down. He thought he'd heard somewhere that a good way to relax a troll to rub its horns, so he thought it was worth a try. He reached over and started to rub its cone shaped horns, and it froze. After a few seconds of rubbing, it calmed down and began purring.
"That feel good?" he asked. It nodded in response. "I'll keep that in mind…" He looked over the troll a little more carefully, trying to assess its injuries. He was no expert, but he knew that he needed medical attention.
"Hey, I want to take you to see a doctor. Is that okay? They'll help you with your bruises."
It thought for a second before responding. "W-will they hurt me?"
"No, they only want to help. At most, they might have to give you a shot, but those only hurt a tiny bit and they protect you from getting sick."
"...O-okay."
"I'm gonna have to pick you up, okay?" It nodded, and he carefully and slowly lifted it up. He held it carefully in his arms, and continued rubbing its horns as he left his house to walk down to the shelter.
Multiple people gave him weird looks as he walked with the troll, seeing as they were pretty rare to come across. A few people walked by making comments about how that 'thing' should be put on a leash before it hurt someone. He kept walking without acknowledging them.
Gail was waiting outside of the shelter, looking at her phone. She looked up right as Joey approached with Vognez. "Hey! There you are; I've been waiting for you guys!" Vognez started to cower at the sound of her yelling.
"Hey, Vognez, it's okay. She's my friend." He looked up at Gail as he walked up to her. "I wouldn't yell around it; it gets scared pretty easily."
"HE gets scared easily," she corrected him. "He's not an 'it,' Joey."
"Sorry."
Vognez looked over at Gail curiously. "Y-your name is G-Gail, r-right?"
"Yep, that's me. What's your name?" she asked in response, amazed that it could speak.
"V-Vognez," he replied quietly.
"Aw, how cute!" She kept her voice level low but used the same amount of excitement as always. "Let's get you inside to see the doctors, okay?"
"O-okay."
Joey carried Vognez in after Gail opened the door for them, and Gail followed right behind. Gail went ahead of them to the desk to talk to the person behind.
The waiting room was pretty simple: there were a few chairs to sit at, one of which Joey immediately sat in, a few stereotypical motivational cat posters, including the all-famous "Hang in there" poster, and the sounds of barking dogs and meowing cats were audible. Joey wasn't sure if they had any trolls or had ever dealt with a troll before, but he didn't have much hope otherwise. He looked over to see a vet walking towards him, along with Gail.
Gail introduced her. "Joey, this is Mary. My friend I was telling you about. She happens to be the huldraetician here too! That means troll doctor by the way."
"A pleasure to meet you, Joseph. Abigail has told me much about you." She spoke formally, but with a friendly tone and a smile. "Is this the troll?" She pointed at Vognez.
Joey answered. "Yeah. I found him out on the streets. He was all alone."
She looked at the troll. "Why were you out on the streets young man?"
Vognez looked down sadly. "I don't think he's ready to talk about it…" Joey rubbed his horns a little to calm him back down.
"Well… Alright. I'll take him to the back so I can examine his injuries and treat them to the best of my abilities." Mary reached out for Vognez. He looked towards Joey.
"It's okay, Vognez. I'll be here when you get back. I pinky promise." He held out his pinky.
Vognez looked confused at first, but he quickly figured out he was supposed to interlock his pinky with Joey's. He finished off the pinky promise, and Mary took him out of Joey's arms. She carried him into the back room, and Joey and Gail were left to wait.