"Head up! Don't block the blow: redirect it."
Eli tries to comply but it's hard when his arms feel like they're made out of jelly. Instead of being redirected Jim's staff pushes Eli's down causing him to bop himself in the forehead with his own weapon.
Eli topples over like a load of bricks and lays there. A low whine seeps through his lips as his tailbone pulses with pain from hitting the ground too hard. That will be another bruise for his collection.
He's actually managed to get more bruises training with Jim than he has from Steve. Which is really saying something.
"Are you okay?"
He opens his eyes to see Jim hovering awkwardly over him, staff still in hand. He's shifting back and forth on his feet in a way that tells Eli he's debating whether to keep pushing him or end the session here.
Eli doesn't really want to disappoint him, so he tries to sit up. All his muscles protest. He lays back down. Yeah, he isn't going anywhere. The training montages in movies really fail to capture just how much pushing oneself to the limits hurts.
"We'll stop for the day," Jim decides.
He sets his staff against the house before retrieving Eli's and setting it there too.
"Can you get up?" Jim asks.
Now that he's not in training mode he stands a little less straight and his expression softens from his previously sharp focused gaze.
"Yeah… maybe," Eli says, his voice squeaking a little. "Just a second."
Eli lays on the ground just breathing and trying to summon the energy to make another attempt at standing up. He knows he's going to be sore in the morning again.
He honestly wants to give up. Clearly he isn't cut out for this.
There's movement to his right and Eli looks over to see Jim laying down beside him. The blue skinned troll blends in almost perfectly with the night; except for his eyes which glow a faint, ethereal blue. He settles on his back, head propped just slightly up by his horns.
"So…" The troll says slowly. "You were telling me that human constellations are different than troll ones?"
Eli nods slightly, unable to look away. His glasses slide down his nose. He quickly pushes them back up.
"Do you want to compare?"
"Really?!" Eli squeaks, surprised.
Next to exploring the strange and unusual, stars and space has always been one of his greatest interests. Something about the vastness and boundlessness draws him. He studies every book he can get his hands on.
This is a chance to learn what a being that isn't human sees. That's… that's something beyond his wildest dreams.
But more importantly, it's a chance to talk about something that he loves with a friend.
"Eli?"
Jim is looking at him rather nervously. Eli realizes that he's teared up.
"I'd like that," He says. He pushes his glasses up to swipe at his eyes before giving Jim a smile.
As predicted, Eli is very very sore.
He spends the day limping through his classes. He wonders if this is what old people feels like. He's so glad when it's time to go home.
His arm positively aches as he transfers the textbooks he doesn't need to his locker. As much as he enjoys spending time with Jim he's glad that the Trollhunter won't be over tonight. He doesn't think he can take another round of training.
He plans to take it easy when he gets home. He can get his homework done and then he'll see if he can snag enough of his friends from the forums to play a round of Among Us.
Eli flinches as a hand lands on his shoulder. Without turning around he already knows who it is. Automatically his shoulders draw up toward his ears as he pulls his arms in close to his chest.
"What do you want Steve?"
"Why, I was just worried about my favorite nerd," The blond bully says with mock sincerity. "I haven't heard any of your wild conspiracies and was starting to be concerned about your health."
Eli hasn't been sharing his theories and discoveries since meeting Jim because he promised Jim to keep trolls and the other creepers… creatures running around Arcadia secret. He still discusses aliens but he's been sticking with his friends online and Jim now, since they don't laugh at him.
He figured since he had been keeping to himself Steve would ignore him, but now he's seeking him out because of that.
There really is no winning, he realizes.
"Can't you just leave me alone?" Eli asks quietly.
Steve doesn't appreciate that.
The blond bully shoves him and he hits the locker hard sending a violent jolt of pain through his back. His books fall out of his arms and scatter on the ground.
"Don't talk back to me butsnack."
Eli glances around but there's nowhere to escape in the crowded hallway and, as usual, no one seems inclined to help.
"I think you need to spend some time in your locker until you remember your manners," Steve continues with a glint in his eyes.
A whimper escapes Eli at that. He doesn't want to spend another hour stuck in the locker again. His eyes dart around frantically.
Steve reaches for him and takes a step forward, his foot landing just in front of Eli's spilled textbooks.
"Use your surroundings as a weapon." Jim's voice whispers in the back of his mind.
With no other options presenting themselves, Eli kicks Steve in the shin as hard as he can. The bully lets out a yelp and grabs at his injured leg. Eli doesn't wait for him to recover. Ignoring the protests of his aching muscles he shoves him hard in the chest. Normally it would have done nothing but Steve, already off balance, stumbles and his foot lands on Lord of the Flies. He topples over backward and slams hard into the ground.
The hallway goes completely silent.
Eli stares, his heart still racing. He can't believe it. He actually managed to take down Steve.
Steve Palchuck! The boy who's been tormenting him since kindergarten.
Around him all the other kids start murmuring.
Then someone cheers and then the whole crowd is whooping and hollering.
Steve seems to have recovered from his shock and is getting up. He's turning a violent red and it's pretty clear that he's going to get revenge. Eli has the feeling he won't get lucky a second time.
"Hey! What's going on here?"
Eli is about ready to collapse from relief when Coach Lawrance's voice breaks through the noise. The crowd of students disperses like cockroaches. Steve backs off, shooting him glares.
Eli gathers his books and slinks off to get his bike with the distinct feeling that this incident will come back to haunt him.
"Can you believe it?" Mary squeals.
Her fingers are darting rapidly over her phone. No doubt she's already uploading a video to one of her many social media accounts. Steve is going to be livid.
"Girl, I saw it but I still don't believe it," Darci says.
Eli Pepperjack getting one up on Steve was the last thing she had been expecting out of school today.
"What do you think Toby?" She says nudging him in the ribs.
Since they've made it to high school and have Claire and Mary to hang out with, she's determined to get him to come out of his shell.
Toby blinks and looks up from his phone.
"Yeah it was pretty cool," He says, eying the other two girls hesitantly.
Claire give him a friendly smile and he awkwardly smiles back before quickly returning his attention to his phone.
Darci sighs and shoots Claire an apologetic look. Claire shrugs in response and then she, Mary and Darci continue to discuss the strange happenings of the day sans Toby's input.
"Would it hurt you to try to be a little friendlier?"
Toby winces. Yeah he deserved that one.
"Sorry," He says, a slight flush crawling up the back of his neck.
Darci lets out a little huff.
"You should be, Mary and Claire are the best. Come on TP you've got to give them a chance."
Toby doesn't reply. Instead opting to instead focus all his attention on the game. His fingers fly over the controls. He understands what she's getting at. He really does but well…
"I guess I'm just not ready for new people."
There's a ping as they reach the end of the round. Toby hazards a brief glance up and sees Darci looking at him with a puzzled frown.
"But you know Mary and Claire," She says. "I've been friends with them for as long as I've known you. You've hung out before and never had a problem with them."
"I know," He mutters. "It's just…"
He doesn't want to admit it. It's pathetic.
"It's Jim, isn't it?"
Toby gives her a weak grin.
"Have you been taking lessons from your Dad? Cause that was some real detective work there."
Darci snorts.
"It doesn't take a detective to figure that one out." She gives him a little poke on the shoulder to emphasize her point.
Toby sighs and drops his controller.
"It's not just Jim," He admits in a subdued tone. This is something he's thought about a lot. "It's Mom and Dad, too… Heck even Dr. L just up and left. It was fine hanging out with them once in a while as your friends but what's the point in me becoming friends with them? Once we get done with high school everyone is just going to move on. I just don't want to deal with that."
It would be bad enough when Darci moved on.
He can feel her staring at him.
"You know I'm not going to abandon you, right?" She asks.
Toby winces. It sounds bad out loud. She puts her hand on his shoulder and he glances up hesitantly. She's smiling at him in a very gentle and sad way that makes his chest ache.
"Even if we end up on opposite sides of the world I'll keep in touch. You won't lose me okay?"
"You don't know that." It slips out before he can stop it.
Darci sighs.
"Look I… I guess there really is no way to know for sure but do you really just want to give up? Just like that? To spend your whole life alone?"
"Not really…" Toby says slowly.
"Then can you give them a try? For me?"
He can't resist those big brown eyes.
"Okay," Toby says. "I'll give them a chance, but no promises on results."
Darci's smile and quick hug makes it worth it. Toby just hopes he won't regret this. He clears his throat roughly and focuses his attention back on the screen. He starts another round hoping he can drown out the uneasy feeling in his gut.
"You know I really could use a larger audience to practice my magic for. You know all of my tricks anyway."
Darci claps her hands together
"Oh! That reminds me. Mare told me there's a new bookstore in town. She was going on and on about how cute the guy who was working the counter was, but, more importantly, she mentioned there's a huge selection of magic type books. Want to go check it out?"
"Sure," Toby says. "That sounds like fun."
He doubts there will be anything real there but maybe he can find some cool props to use for the next talent show.
Author Notes:
Steve has really come a long way. He was a major bully back in the beginning of the series. Hopefully we'll get to see more character development for him in Rise of the Titans. (Also more CreepslayerZ! I miss the CreepslayerZ.)
Jim grew up with Kanjigar and Merlin's training so his version of "going easy" is still really pushing it for an inexperienced human. It's going to be a while yet before Eli is not sore again.
Jim learned the Trollish constellations from Kanjigar. While he never took him to Trollmarket, Kanjigar did start taking him outside within Merlin's barrier. Stargazing was Jim's absolute favorite thing to do with him.
Next chapter we get to see Jim's visit to his old home before he became a troll!