Their camera was acting up. The one deep in the woods.
It should've been as simple as that. Go into the woods, check on the equipment, come back. Easy.
Jim should have been in and out with no complications.
That's not what happened, though.
The Trollhunter had gone alone. Why wouldn't he? It seemed like nothing more than a battery issue, maybe also having been jostled by some wildlife, because their line of sight from the cam seemed off judging by the livestream feed. So, readjust the camera, replace the battery for good measure, head on back home.
He never expected that, on his way there, he'd run into a troll.
Not this troll.
.
He'd almost reached the Killahead Bridge portal spot, where their camera lay.
All was relatively quiet. Birds sung softly in the trees, leaves dappling through the light, cool breeze that swept past. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Until Jim heard a noise. A thump, far louder than what could be caused by any wildlife around here. Jim jumped, his amulet responding to him and donning his armour. Sword in hand, the Trollhunter turned to face the source of the noise.
The creature, a shadow in the trees, Jim struggled to see.
He could make out large, distinct horns, and a spiky hide… the colour blue, and a glint from the golden metal that was its right arm.
Jim's eyes went wide as could be.
Two yellow glinting eyes returned his stare.
Softly, the Trollhunter managed to find his voice.
"… Draal…?"
Like smoke slipping out of his grasp, Draal ran from Jim.
"Wait!" Jim bolted after him.
His half-troll body is so fast. Fast enough, he'd have thought, to keep up with a troll like this.
But every time he felt like he was getting close to that rolling blue spikeball, Draal slipped away, staying just out of reach.
What was only a short chase felt agonizingly long.
Jim had to catch up, he had to figure out what was going on, he had to-
-look where he was going.
Not paying any attention to the trees around him, Jim ended up tripping over upturned roots, tumbling down to the dirt. He picked himself up faster than he ever thought he could, but by the time he looked up again, Draal was gone.
No sign of him. No sound to speak of. Just… vanished.
Was he dreaming…?
No… No, he's sure he's awake…
Something's wrong, something's so very wrong, and Jim was helpless as to finding out what.
It took Jim ages of confused and emotional stumbling around before he eventually found himself at the camera location. The area was trampled, a few trees in the clearing bowled over, and he could guess that Draal must've been through here.
With that realization, Jim desperately rushed to find their camera. When he eventually found it, his heart plummeted upon seeing that it was cracked, Not only cracked, but completely crushed on one side. If it was Draal's barge through here that did this, Jim was shocked the camera was even still in one piece.
About frustrated to tears, Jim scooped up the pieces to see if any of it was salvageable. But it didn't seem so.
Then, oh then, he remembered. It had been livestreaming to Toby's laptop.
Obviously.
Without wasting a second, he shot like a bullet back to the Domzalski household, broken camera in hand.
.
Toby and Claire watched the salt-pepper screen in shock, gape-mouthed.
"Was that really…?" Claire started to whisper.
"No… Naw, it couldn't've been…" Toby tried at a reply, "I-I mean, it went by really fast… c-could've been anything, right…?"
"Any fast, rolling, bright blue creature?"
They both stared at each other, silent. Until Jim slammed the door open, and they both jumped and turned their attention to him.
"Please tell me that footage is saved." He said breathlessly.
.
"Wait, you're saying that Usurna actually thought that would work?"
"I had told both her and Gunmar that it wouldn't." Angor said with a shrug. "But no, why listen to the insight of someone who's actually observed his feelings towards the human first-hand?"
Dictatious scoffed. "Honestly. What kind of an amateur move is that? Even I can see Strickler wouldn't fall for that." Angor hummed in agreement as the Conundrum continued. "I mean, what even was the point of trying such flimsy trickery if they had the real Barbara Lake? Obviously that was enough to get him to activate the staff anyways. I swear, the second I leave, it's like they all forget how to think!"
"She did seem very… enthusiastic in her role to try and fool the Changeling." Angor mused, a half-smirk on his face.
Dictatious snorted with laughter at the insinuation. "Oh really? Do tell."
They continued roasting the dead queen as they wandered through town, but when Angor Rot went dead silent and completely stopped in his tracks, Dictatious had to pause too. "… Angor?"
The assassin didn't respond at all. His attention was completely taken by a human he caught sight of across the street. The human was walking along with a bouquet of flowers, not even noticing the two trolls. It was nobody Angor or Dictatious have ever spoken to or been approached by. But Angor recognized him.
It couldn't be. He must be mistaken… humans can look very similar to each other, after all, it can't be who he thought it was, could it?
But now the human noticed them. And before speedily walking away from the trolls, when his head turned their way to give them a weird look, Angor Rot was certain.
"… I need to speak with the Trollhunter immediately." Angor said. He quickly looked around, scouting for a shady spot to temporarily place Dictatious while he was gone, and spotted a bench underneath the shelter of a corner store's roof, nearby where some construction was taking place to fix yet some more damages from the Eternal Night. Taking Dictatious to the bench and sitting him there, he ordered, "Do not move. I'll be back as soon as I can."
"… Uhm." Dictatious frowned, confused and concerned, but before he could even begin to ask for elaboration, Angor Rot was already off. Ear twitching slightly, Dictatious raised an eyebrow as he watched the blur disappear from his very short line of vision. "… Alright…" He muttered to himself.
.
They must've watched the video a hundred times over by now. And now with Jim's account of what he saw in the woods, there was no doubt in any of their minds. Something was out there, and it looked exactly like their fallen friend. But they knew better than to be hopeful.
The trio had been on their way to Stuart's Electronics to try and salvage from the camera that was damaged, still chattering the entire way there. Obviously distracted, none of them noticed when Angor Rot eventually found them.
He could tell they were all distracted and frantic about something, but that didn't stop him from trying to get Jim's attention. "Trollhunter?"
"I mean, could it be a weird ghost spirit thing?" Toby suggested, none of the kids having noticed the new arrival.
"Well, maybe, but I don't think so…" Jim replied, frowning.
"Yeah, don't the troll spirits look a lot less solid?" Claire pointed out.
"Trollhunter."
"Besides, if it was the real deal, why would he run from Jim?"
"Maybe he didn't recognize him! He HAS turned into a troll and all!"
"I don't think that's the case, Tobes…"
"Trollhunter."
"Well okay, what else could it be? Not more freaky witch magic…?"
"I really hope not…"
Angor Rot sighed in mild annoyance… Oh, to The Darklands with it.
"JIM."
The Trollhunter jumped at the sudden raised voice directed at him, he and his friends finally taking notice of Angor Rot behind them. "Oh, uh…" He stammered, caught off guard by this troll actually using his name for once. "Sorry, I-I didn't see you there… What's up, Angor?"
"I regret to disturb you when you are obviously busy," Angor Rot went on, "but I thought it may interest you to know that your father is encroaching upon your territory."
Toby and Claire's expressions both jolted into ones of shock, but that was nothing compared to Jim's. An explosion of different emotions shot through the Trollhunter in an instant, most prominent that Angor could see in his eyes being, shock, confusion… and outrage.
A sinister growl pushed through his fangs, fists clenching, and Jim couldn't hold back the viciousness in his voice if he'd tried.
"WHAT?!"
.
Finding enough people willing to take care of the remaining Familiar children had been a taxing duty, but Strickler and Barbara were up to the task. While there hadn't been any problems yet, everyone knew that the Lake household had also been a place where shadow portals had once been conjured, and nobody wants to take chances of anything disastrous happening, especially with so many infants in the house. Luckily, the people of Arcadia were doing their part to help out.
Barbara had just gotten off the phone with another new volunteer when she heard the doorbell ring. Strange… the usual company she gets know they can just walk in, and she had nobody scheduled to meet today.
Just as any normal person would do, she went to the door to answer it. But she never could've emotionally prepared herself for the moments to follow.
When she opened the door, she froze. More emotions overtook her in that moment even than when she saw Angor Rot, a troll that nearly killed her and her son, needless to say, on her porch no less than three months ago. With great effort, she eventually spoke, her voice soft from shock.
"J… James…?"
It was him, alright. He wore clothes poorly suited for the warm weather, a gruff duffel coat hanging over long raggedy jeans. Umber brown hair draped over his wolfish face, dark eyebrows arching over even darker eyes, like that of a hawk's gaze. Eyes which lit up with joy upon seeing her. "Barb!" He exclaimed, his thick, deep voice chiming full of ecstasy. "You haven't aged a day!"
Barbara was at a complete loss of words. Whatever attempt at a sentence she tried to speak was lost within many layers of anger and confusion.
"I know it's been a long time…" James went on upon seeing the look on her face. "I-"
It was the second James took a step towards her as he spoke that Barbara whipped out her pepper spray, spritzing it directly into his face without a moment's hesitation. The man yelled out in pain, near tripping down the porch stairs as he staggered backwards.
"Oh god, why-?!" He shouted, dropping the flowers he'd brought and rubbing at his stinging eyes. "What
the hell, Barb?!"
"What the hell, James?!" She shouted back in a rage. "What the HELL do you think you're doing here?!"
"Is it a crime to see my family?!" James uttered out, irritated, and squinting trying to open his eyes even a little.
"IT'S BEEN TEN YEARS, YOU SON OF A-!"
"Barbara!" Having heard the enraged screeching of his partner, very uncharacteristic for her, Strickler had rushed downstairs as soon as he could. "Are you alright?!"
Barbara was shaking with rage, looking about ready to punch their unexpected visitor's lights out. Strickler was by her side in a split second – he looked the man over, and while it took him a moment, he did recognize who it was from photos. His eyes narrowed, a hostile growl rumbling in his throat, and one of his wings moved behind Barbara with a slight curl around her shoulder.
When James's vision finally cleared, he took one look at the Changeling and cursed in alarm, jumping back further. "Jesus, what the fuck is that—"
"Oh, he should be the LEAST of your worries right now!" Barbara snapped, aiming the pepper spray at him again.
James saw that and immediately waved his arms up in front of him as a meager defense, shouting "Nononodon'tdothatagain—!"
But before she thought to spray him again, she took pause, both her and Strickler's expressions softening with concern as their attention was taken by something behind James. The man turned around to see what had them stopped, and saw a face he knew he could recognize, despite how much it had changed.
His son stood across the yard, along with that strange troll he saw staring at him earlier in town… but his focus wasn't with that one right now. His son's blue eyes, like Barbara's, were filled with confused anger. His eyes, one feature of his face that stayed the same past his transformation. Despite the child obviously being upset, his father still smiled at the sight of him. "Jamie…!" He started to say, but Jim snarled a noise so threatening, it shut his father up instantly.
"It's Jim."
Tense silence overtook the yard. The viciousness in his child's voice caused James the slightest moment of hesitation. He'd even winced at the snarl.
Like an absolute fool, James attempted to 'lighten the mood', chuckling nervously, "H-Hey now, is that
any way to speak to your old man?"
Again, he made the grave mistake of stepping towards his kin, only to be met with bad reactions all around. He could hear the Changeling behind him snarl again, Barbara making an indiscernible noise of anger alongside him, pepper spray rattling in her clenched grip, Jim stepped back, his amulet reacting to his emotional distress and he was donned with armour in an instant. Even the one-eyed troll lingering behind his son pulled out a knife in reaction to his attempted advance towards Jim. At all of this, James went completely still.
Claire and Toby had finally caught up to Angor Rot and Jim by now, witnessing this uneasy sight. Slowly, the both of them made their way to Jim's side to be in support of him, eying his father suspiciously, and neither of them saying a thing.
Jim's hardened gaze of unadulterated hatred was fixed to his scumbag of a father, the only thoughts going through his head about how he'd abandoned them, the pain he put his mother through, the pain he put him through. His eyes narrowed. "What kind of nerve do you have to show your face around here again?"
The sight and sound of his furious son was a discouraging but not surprising one. James cleared his throat to find his voice again. When he spoke next, it was with a more earnest purpose. "I… I know I've wronged you." He said lowly, then looked back at Barbara as well. "Both of you. I haven't been the best husband…" Eyes back to Jim. "…or father… I never should have left you in the first place."
Jim glared on with less and less patience, baring threatening fangs. "Then why did you?!"
James bit his tongue, and looked away. "… I was selfish. Foolish. I left behind an… an amazing wife and child… all because I was tempted by temporary pleasure-" His son growled, and he could feel Barbara glaring daggers into the back of his head. He winced again, then sighed. "Jim, when I saw you on the news, fighting those… those monsters, I…" He shook his head.
Taking his father's words with a grain of salt, Jim scoffed under his breath. Sure, there were recordings of the Eternal Night that ended up getting publicated, how could there not be? But he'd be willing to bet this ass wouldn't have even recognized Jim had his name not also been made known. Still, he begrudgingly listened as his father droned on.
"You may not believe me…" James said, taking note of his son's skeptical look, "… but I mean it when I say I was terrified."
Jim's eyes narrowed again when he caught the flicker of shame that passed his father's expression as he spoke. He wasn't sure what to make of it.
"When I saw those videos, and I realized my son could've died, and I never even…" He took a shaking breath in. "… and I'd never even had the chance to know who he came to be, I…" Shaking his head with another look of shame written all over him, "I just… I knew I had to come back, at least make an effort to know the man you've grown to be… even if you want nothing to do with me. I had to at least try."
Everyone was quiet again. All eyes were on Jim, save for Strickler's and Angor Rot's, those two keeping a firm, suspicious stare on James.
The air itself felt heavy in his lungs when Jim slowly inhaled, holding the breath in as if it was something his father could steal from him. He exhaled just as slow, and met his father's eyes with an iced stare of his own. "Stay away from my mom." He growled. "If I ever want to talk to your sorry self, I'll call you."
More silence along with tense stares. James pursed his lips, nodding very slightly. "Well, I'll… I'll be at the Parkside Inn for a while, so you know where to find me. You know, if you change your mind?" He offered a hesitant smile.
Jim's stone-cold expression didn't change. He just nodded back in the hopes it would get his father to hurry up and get out of here already. It felt to everyone like James was moving in slow motion as he finally left the property, but at least he knew better than to hang around when obviously dangerous individuals are giving him death glares.
When he'd gone, Toby spoke up first, immediately checking in on Jim. "You okay, Jimbo?"
Sighing, Jim nodded his head. The armour that had covered him faded away when he felt Claire's hand on his shoulder, too. He looked to his mother with concern, to see that she was giving him a similar worried look. The kids walked over to the porch, Angor Rot following a little further behind, and Barbara stepped outside to meet them, Strickler following with his wing still around her and casting glances across the street where James had gone.
"Are you okay?" Jim asked her.
She sighed under her breath, but nodded, giving Jim a reassuring smile and brushing some hair out of his face. "I'm sorry he put you in that position, honey." Barbara said, a small level of tenseness still in her voice due to the encounter.
Jim awkwardly smiled back. "Maybe I didn't have the best reaction to that… 'family reunion', but…"
"You handled yourself well, Young Atlas." Strickler said in benign disagreement. His yellow eyes still peered down the street every now and then. "You laid out your boundaries with clarity. Hopefully he'll be smart enough to respect them."
Barbara was quick to nod in agreement. "And if he ever tries to approach you unwelcomed again-"
"Oh, don't you worry, Dr. L…" Toby spoke up to assure her, patting his friend on the back, "He's got loads of backup should Mr. Scuzzbag McSleazeball ever try and cross any lines."
"You can say that again." Claire agreed, all for supporting Jim and honestly liking the sounds of getting a chance to deck that guy in the face should he ever do anything unacceptable. "I've only seen him for, like, two minutes, and he already bugs me."
Strickler and Barbara both chuckled in amusement of the children's enthusiasm. Jim smiled too, warmed by his friends' support. "Thanks, you guys…" He said, "If… If you don't mind, I think I need to stay here for a bit. Can you guys get that camera to the shop?"
"Absolutely!" Claire said, pecking him on the cheek. "You can count on us."
"I know I can." Jim said, smiling warmly at her.
Toby took a hold of the broken camera, ready to head on back to Stuart's, but he paused when he saw the dropped bouquet of flowers from James, then smirked at Barbara. "Hey Dr. L, you keeping these?"
"Oh, definitely not." Barbara replied, welcoming Toby to them.
The redheaded child grinned wider, picked up the flowers and reared his arm back, yelling, "YEET!" as he threw them as far as he could into the yard. The outcome he hadn't forseen was the one where the bouquet came undone midair and scattered flowers everywhere, many landing on an unimpressed assassin that had stood nearby.
"… Oops." Toby cracked a sheepish smile. "Sorry, Angor."
Angor Rot just rolled his eye, brushing the flowers off of himself. "It's alright, whelp…"
When Toby and Claire were ready to go again, they said one last goodbye to everyone, and dutifully trotted away to head back into town. Angor Rot watched Jim out of the corner of his eye, and saw a noticeable shift in demeanor as the Trollhunter shakily sighed, his shoulders slumping.
He didn't fully understand all the history and specifics of what happened with this family, but he could see as plainly as anyone else that the father's presence brought everyone intense discomfort. After watching Toby and Claire head off, he glanced at Jim once more, and double-checked, "Are you sure you're alright, Hunter?"
"I'm okay. Just a… a stressful day so far…" Jim assured the assassin, awkward grin still on his face, though it softened slightly with gratitude. He turned to go inside, but before he did, he made sure to say, "Thanks for letting me know he was slinking around here. I appreciate your help."
Angor Rot responded to the thanks with a simple nod, and, after having reasoned the Trollhunter would be okay, he went off to get back to Dictatious. Jim was in good hands, anyway.
.
Well… there are worse places to be stuck.
Dictatious sat quietly outside the corner store, eyes closed as he listened to all the sounds around him. The air was crisp and warm, carrying the sounds of heavy machinery from the construction site nearby, the occasional honking car horn blaring over it. It all eventually blurred into a dull mesh of white noise in the background.
… Wait.
His ear flicked upwards, capturing whispers nearby. Eyes opening, he tried to look around through squinted, foggy eyes. Then, one of the voices spoke louder.
"Hey! Hey, you!"
The noise was coming not far from where he sat, two blurry splotches in his vision coming gradually closer, and that voice sounded… annoyingly familiar.
The second one spoke up in response to his confused look.
"Yeah! We're talking to you, ugly!"
… Ahh, there's no mistaking those voices dripping with teenage snark. It's those snide boys that had been caught following them around more than once.
Wonderful. What bushigal have they come up with today?
"The weather's real nice today, innit?" The first boy said, nudging his friend and casting cocky looks Dictatious's way as if he had concocted some endless supply of 'savage' quips in preparation for this moment. "You should come on over and join us! Bet you'd look a lot better in the sunlight."
"Clever." Dictatious said with the faintest of smirks. "Did you come up with that all by yourself? It really shows."
Oh, the fleshbag didn't take kindly to his sarcasm. "Ohh sure, 'it really shows' says the blind guy." Smirking back, he said, "Say, were you born that ugly or did it come from walking into so many walls?" He and his friend high-fived.
"Jest all you want, but you actually make me thankful that I'm blind." The unfazed Dictatious replied, his grin widening. "At least this way, I don't have the awful misfortune of having to see your face."
Brody had to throw a hand over his mouth to muffle the snort of laughter he let out at that. Kyle shot him a glare, smacking him upside the head before glaring again at Dictatious. "You think you're soooo funny, don't you!"
"Well, funnier than you, at least." Then Dictatious laughed. "But that's not a very difficult feat to accomplish, now is it?"
Now the guy was pissed. Unfortunately, anger combined with teenage troublemaking and unpredictability can yield fiendish results sometimes. The boy's eyes landed on a pile of rubble left from the nearby construction. He nudged his friend and gestured to it. Brody nodded in understanding with a mischievous grin of his own. He untied the hoodie from around his waist, grabbing armfuls of the rubble and using the fabric to carry it. Meanwhile, Kyle kept trying (and failing) to heckle Dictatious.
"You all should just crawl back to the sad little holes you came from!" He snapped hatefully as his friend was returning to his side. "Letting you monsters up here was a big mistake!"
"You know, if you're interested in talking about big mistakes," Dictatious chuckled, not missing a single beat, "you should consult your parents."
That was a snapping point. *"Why you little-!"* He immediately reached over to grab a chunk of broken concrete, a malicious glint in his eye as he looked back at the troll he knew was stuck under the awning's shade, with nowhere to go. "Eat rock, jackass!" He exclaimed, lobbing the concrete at Dictatious.
At least the boy was stupid enough to give a verbal warning. Dictatious shot an arm up just in time to shield his face. Still not discouraged from making sneering comments though, as he made clear in the seconds that followed. "And here I was hoping for a battle of wits, but you appear to be unarmed in that regard-" He barely got the insult out before getting hit with more cement, both the fleshbags throwing it now. Couldn't help but chuckle again despite it. So easy to get under their skin.
"Not such a smartass now, are you?" The second boy jeered, picking up more rubble as his friend kept throwing. "This'll teach you how to respect your superiors!"
Ha. Were they seriously referring to themselves?
Clearly not 'learning the lesson', Dictatious didn't falter even slightly with the amount of sass he was pumping out. "Now now, calm down…" He purred patronizingly, "Why don't you take a deep breath… and hold it for about an hour?"
"Oh, shut up already!" This time, the teen threw a big enough chunk with enough force to actually knock the troll off his bench with a well-aimed strike at his head.
The teen laughed cruelly at the sharp yelp of pain he finally got out of this troll. He was about to throw another chunk of concrete, but his friend quickly stopped him, eyes staring wide across the street.
"Shit shit shit, the scary one's coming back!" He frantically babbled, yanking on his friend's arm.
Well, the sight of Angor Rot eyeing them from the crosswalk as he returned from Jim's place was more than enough to scare the two boys off. They retreated far enough so they weren't in knife-throwing range, then went back to laughing about their actions.
Angor Rot raised an eyebrow skeptically as he watched them in the distance. When he found himself back at Dictatious's side, the first thing he noticed was all the broken pieces of concrete on the ground by the bench, then the good few pelt marks they had left on Dictatious. Knowing enough about those stupid fleshbags and about Dictatious's personality by now to understand what this meant, he gave the smaller troll a dry stare. "Can you not be left alone for ten minutes without getting into trouble?" He rumbled, leaning down to help Dictatious up.
"Hey, they started it!" Dictatious pointed out, brushing himself of as he stood. With a smirk, he added, "Besides, who could pass up an opportunity to give two such dolts a little humbling?" He snickered to himself, then winced slightly, rubbing part of his head where the rubble had hit him. "Though, for fleshbags, they have pretty good throwing arms…" He admitted sourly under his breath. Still worth it though.
Angor Rot sighed and rolled his eye.
The arrogant laughter of those two boys, Angor could still hear as he and Dictatious started to make their way back to Toby's house. So arrogant about what they did.
It grated on his nerves. Only cowards prey on those who can't fight back.
He stared in their direction, slowing his pace. He saw the other piles of rubble around the two boys, the wet concrete laid to dry nearby, how they roughhoused with each other like the rowdy children they were…
They think that they can do whatever they want to someone, to hurt someone under Angor's watch when he's not there? They think they are free of consequence if they simply keep their distance from him?
Under his breath, ever so softly, Angor mumbled a foreign incantation.
"Did you say something?" Dictatious asked, ears perking at the noise.
Angor didn't reply right away, preoccupied with the sight of the first boy immediately tripping over rubble and falling directly into the wet cement. The second boy yelped something profane, going over to help, only to fall in too.
Angor's attention returned to guiding Dictatious, the smallest of smirks tugging at the corner of his mouth. "No." He replied. "Nothing important."
Enjoy your seven days of bad luck, fleshbag brats.
.
Cooking helps Jim relax. Right now, he didn't care that he couldn't eat the food himself.
He just needed a distraction. Any distraction.
Barbara sat quietly in the dining room, watching her son with increasing concern. When Strickler came back down from settling the Familiars again, he looked into the kitchen, where the distressed Young Atlas kept speedily cooking without noticing him at all, with a frown as he went to sit by Barbara.
"He's been like that the whole time?" Strickler asked quietly, to which Barbara gave a slow nod. The Changeling glanced to Jim again with more concern. He loudly cleared his throat, finally catching Jim's attention. "Young Atlas… perhaps you should come sit down."
His offer was met with a hesitant, maybe even slightly nervous chuckle. "No can do, Strickler, I've got stuff on the stove that can't be left unattended-"
"Jim."
The teen stilled, biting his tongue. Strickler had stood up again, entered the kitchen and, keeping an eye on the trembling Jim, turned off the stovetops.
"Come sit down." Strickler said again, his tone sympathetic, but insistent.
With a resigned sigh, Jim followed Strickler back to the dining room table and sat with them. It was an uncomfortably long moment of silence before anyone spoke next.
"… I don't know James like you both do, obviously." Strickler eventually spoke up, talking softly and carefully. "I know he abandoned you. But he's here in Arcadia right now. That can't just be ignored. So…" Looking between Barbara and Jim, "what do you two want to do?"
Truth be told, Strickler's first thought when he saw James on that porch was bloody murder. Alas, that kind of conflict resolution would not be welcomed here… unfortunately.
Jim didn't really say anything, just tiredly stared. Barbara shifted in her chair, conflicted, but mainly focused on her son. She had been the next to speak.
"Jim…?" Her soft voice tried to get his attention. "What do you want?"
It took everything within Jim to hold himself together. He stiffly shrugged, shaky voice muttering, "One drama-free week would be great."
His parental figures exchanged worried looks. Jim sighed, burying his face in his hands.
He'd never really known his father. He'd resented his father for leaving him and his mother behind all those years ago. James Lake Sr. had abandoned the responsibility of a child, of a family. They'd never heard a single thing from him for over a decade. He was like a ghost, hardly a memory to Jim.
Now he's here. Right in Arcadia.
And, according to him, he came back trying to make amends. Because his son came close to death. That's what it took to drag him back here. Would he leave again when he got bored of being ignored? If he figures Jim's life isn't in immediate danger anymore?
Was this the only chance Jim was ever going to get to talk to the father he hates, but never truly knew? How was he supposed to feel about any of this?! And why did his damned father choose the worst possible time to show up?!
He felt a hand on his shoulder, and Jim realized his mother had moved to a seat closer to him. She didn't say anything, just rubbed his shoulder as an act of comfort. Another sigh left Jim's chest, and he placed a hand on his mother's. "I don't… I don't know what I want to do…" He admitted, voice softer than he'd ever intend. "It's like… I've never wanted anything to do with him, but I-I have questions, I want to know if he's even changed or if he's still—" Jim bit his tongue, and a heavy sigh fell from him. "Why did he only care enough to come back now…? If he really cared, wouldn't he have-?" Again, Jim cut himself off with a sigh, elbows on the table to prop his head up, face in his hands. "I just don't know." He mumbled.
Strickler and Barbara shared a look of worry.
"… Well… whatever you choose to do, Jim…" Barbara spoke, rubbing his shoulder, "We'll support the decision."
Jim's lips pursed, then loosened into a hesitant but grateful smile as he lifted his head to look at them. "Thank you…"
They both returned the smile. Then, the noise of a Familiar's crying sounded off from upstairs. Strickler started to get up, but Jim beat him to it.
"I got it," Jim said, walking towards the stairs, "Be back in a flash."
He was up the stairs and out of sight immediately.
Strickler slowly sat back down, looking again to Barbara. "… You're sure about all this?"
She sighed softly, looking away. "I'm not going to stand in the way of his first opportunity to know his father." Her gaze hardened, and she added, "I just don't want him to be hurt again…"
Her hands were taken into Strickler's, and she returned her stare to him.
"He's braved through unimaginable hardships already." Strickler pointed out, rubbing his thumb along the back of Barbara's hand. "Whatever happens with James, as long as Jim has his friends and family, he'll be okay."
Barbara was quiet, unspeaking for a while as she took comfort in the gentle touch, but she did eventually smile at him. "I know… you're right." She admitted. "I just… worry."
"As most mothers do." Strickler replied with a small smile in return.
The two of them shared in a quiet laugh. "I guess you're right again…" Barbara agreed.
The pair's attention turned to the stairs as Jim came back down them,
"The time bombs have been diffused… for now." The teen joked, getting another laugh out of Barbara and Strickler. "So… who wants omelettes?"
"Breakfast for dinner?" Strickler raised a brow, smirk still on his face.
"I like to live dangerously." Jim smirked back, going back into the kitchen to continue his cooking that had been halted.
It seems the talk helped a little, as Jim's clearly relaxed a bit now. He still had a lot to consider… but he'd figure it out. He always did eventually. He wouldn't let his father monopolize his thoughts, not in the heat of everything else that Jim needed to stay strong for.
And he needed to stay strong when the day came for who he was planning on talking to next.
.
Not a word was said between the Trollhunter and Changeling as Jim pulled up the footage he'd told her about.
Nomura stayed deathly silent the whole time she was shown the blurry video of what looked to be her fallen mate, Draal.
It was never Jim's intention to trouble her. But he knew he wouldn't feel right not telling her about what he saw in the woods, and when she insisted on seeing the video… well, who was he to deny her that?
"The camera got roughed up pretty bad…" Jim mumbled as the video cut off, "… but Tobes and I have made at least ten backups of this by now, and… and we're hoping the electronics shop can salvage the actual tape, and…"
He trailed off when Nomura stood from the couch. "… Thank you for showing me this, little Gynt." She said. Her voice was soft, low, but incredibly tense. It was an unusual combination for her.
Jim only nodded, and watched quietly as she headed for the door.
Before she left, she took one last look at him and said, "I'll help you figure this out however I can. Whoever it is that's messing with us now, Morgana or otherwise…" Her eyes narrowed, and she looked away, walking out the door. "… they'll be sorry."
.
Perhaps 'Goblet of Fire' wasn't the happiest choice of movies as a de-stressor. But they'd already gotten their troll friends watching the Harry Potter movies, so why not pick up where they left off?
Toby and Claire teamed up to round everyone up together. It took a while for them to convince Jim, but he was the one who needed another break the most. After all, he can't just keep trying to cook his problems away.
And it's not like 'Goblet of Fire' didn't have its fair share of funny moments. The kids had been laughing all the while Harry and Ron struggled to get dates for the Yule Ball, Blinky ridiculing all the student's manners of looking for partners the whole time. Dictatious and Aaarrrgghh just quietly listened, amused by the rantings, and Angor Rot had been squinting at the screen in confusion for a while now, trying to make sense these strange fleshbag antics.
"I don't understand these flimsy, convoluted mating rituals…"He eventually muttered, the kids laughing lightheartedly in response.
"Well, some people do make it harder than it needs to be," Toby snickered, shooting a teasing glance at Claire and Jim, to which both of them stuck their tongues out at him.
"But why are they trying so hard with humans they barely know?" Angor said, puzzled. "What is so important about this event that they'd rush choosing a mate of all things? They'll never find a suitable companion that way, let alone one with mutual interest."
"Well, I think in this case, it's more about the status of the event than the person they're going with." Claire pointed out, still grinning even when Angor gave her the most confused look ever.
"That is ridiculous." His confused stare became directed over at the couch where Dictatious sat, and he went on, "I thought you said humans went on these 'dates' to relax."
"Hm, well, most of the time." Dictatious chuckled, shrugging and giving his tutor an unbothered smirk. "It's hard to tell with fleshbags sometimes."
Angor scoffed. "These courtship customs are awful."
"Well, how do trolls indicate interest, then?" Claire then asked, chuckling.
Angor paused for a second to think about that. "Well… admittedly, it's been a long time since such things mattered to me. Customs may have changed by now, but in the past, when a troll had developed interest in another, the most straightforward way to demonstrate that interest was through nipping."
"Ah yes," Blinky confirmed. "It's a rather outdated tactic nowadays, but not entirely unused."
Jim's eyebrows raised up. "Like, legit biting people?"
"No. Just nip." Aaarrrgghh said with clear distinction.
When Blinky could see the kids seeming confused on what they considered the difference to be, the Conundrum explained further. "Trolls used to commonly use that motion as a display of trustworthiness as well as romantic interest. The more sensitive the spot being nipped, the more intimate the gesture. If the courter hurtsthe one they're attempting to court, it's taken as them being untrustworthy with the other's wellbeing, and as such were far less likely to be reciprocated… Or, if there's simply a lack of interest on the other's part, they're at least then given the opportunity to make that clear."
"I… guess that makes sense…" Jim halfheartedly conceded, one brow raised in skepticism. "Still weird though."
"At least it is more direct than labyrinthine methods these fleshbags are using…" Again Angor squinted at the screen. "Did somebody mention using 'love potion'?"
"Yeeeaaah, gotta admit that one's a little creepy." Toby awkwardly laughed, scratching his head. "The sixth movie is definitely going to weird you guys out."
That put a concerned look on the face of every troll in the room, but the kids couldn't help breaking down into a fit of giggles again at their confusion, but still managed to utter out reassurances that things wouldn't get too weird – no weirder than already, anyway.
Well… At least the children seemed happy.
Not that Angor's entirely sure why that's started to matter to him.
But still… he had to admit he was starting to see the appeal of these… 'group pastimes'. Even if he didn't always have lasting energy for it or fully understand what the fleshbags were on about…
Eventually his wandering eye fell to Jim. The boy had seemed off since his father arrived in Arcadia, just slightly. Enough for one to notice the mental shift. But here, amidst his closest friends, he seemed to be at ease again.
Hopefully he appreciates that peace of mind for the short time it'll last.
