Jim itched. He didn't care. The sun was in the sky, and Claire was pulling him from stand to stand, delightedly pointing out things.

When Jim was out, it was in the early morning, late evening, or when the clouds were heavy enough that there was no chance of the sun breaking through, and many of the stalls were closed then.

Now they were all open, and Jim loved it. It was normal, with people running around, and even the dozens of cameras pointed in their direction didn't bother him. Claire was wearing her civilian clothes, in this case, jeans and a long-sleeved purple shirt.

"First we eat," she said.

"Um, Claire…"

"Don't you worry," Claire said. "I was prepared for this." She pushed him to one of the little eateries set up where you could get a look at the beach and rig.

She sat Jim down on a concrete bench in front of the table and then smiled as the waiter brought out pizza boxes. Jim stared, and then opened the box and…

Wait. Is that motor oil and chromium?

"Claire, how did you…"

"Miss Militia told me when Armsmaster and Merlin started, and I got prepared. Blinky helped make the pizza for you and we shipped it out here." She grinned. "Antonio kept it in the heater which is why…"

"Right, the biohazard sign." Jim lifted the pizza slice to his lips. "Oh, this is good," he said. "It's been…"

"Four months," Claire said. "The pizza you got out of the bin in Albuquerque."

"Not the worst pizza," Jim said. "But this, this is wonderful."

"Blinky wanted you to have fun," Claire said. "We both saw you sometimes, looking out just before the sun came up on the way to New Jersey."

"Yeah, it wasn't that bad." Oh, man, did they see me crying?

Claire shook her head. "Well, if that's the case we could always just spend the day shopping…"

"Oh, wait, it was sort of that bad," Jim said. Claire giggled.

"Okay, you're freed from shopping duty… Unless you want to see if we can pick out a swimsuit for me?"

Jim made a very happy noise.

"That's a yes?"

"Uh-huh," Jim said.

Claire laughed, as they finished their meal.

"Well, time to go back out," Jim said.

"Not that way," an unfamiliar voice said.

Jim and Claire turned.

"Um, sorry?" Claire asked, frowning at the blond teen sitting at another table.

"There's a band of tourists waiting to ambush you when you walk out."

"Ew," Claire said.

Jim agreed. There was being friendly and there was interrupting his Claire time.

"But if you take the walkway down to the beach, you'll miss 'em, because they're trying to be casual. They won't charge down after you."

"Cool!" Jim said. "Thanks!" He got up and then turned around. "Um, do you…"

She smirked and shook her head. "Nah, I'm not an autograph fanatic. I owe you for how you helped take down Skidmark and Mush. Ta!"

Jim smiled he and Claire took off down to the beach, being as sneaky as a seven-foot half-troll and his girlfriend could be.

The sand was actually warm under his feet. Jim felt like kicking his shoes off, but…

Nah. Not right now. Claire didn't have anything to wear, yet, and it'd be nice to save that time for when they had a whole day, a blanket, and a nice place to just sit out.

Jim was itching and it didn't feel great, but he could care less. Claire, however, was looking up at him. "It still feels bad."

"Not really."

"Yes, really, Jim Lake, Jr." She looked around and frowned, and then nodded. "Wait here."

"Claire, wha—" Jim blinked as Claire went to one of the booths, talked to the person, and then came back with the biggest, most gaudy umbrella he'd ever seen. Whoever had done the pink, blue and red birds on it had to be color blind.

"There you go. Between Merlin, Armsmaster, and your quick-thinking girlfriend, you are now protected."

Jim held the umbrella overhead, then opened it.

"Y-yeah, that does feel good. Why didn't I do it before?"

"Because before, if someone knocked it out of your hand, it was sunburn from hell time?" Claire smiled. "But now, you don't need to worry about that…"

"No… No, I don't." Jim looked down at Claire. "So you were thinking of getting a swim suit?"

"Yes." Claire grinned. "Wanna come along."

"Sure, because I think your eyes may have been damaged—you picked this color scheme?" Jim said.

"Oh, that's just so I can find my boyfriend, no matter how crowded the beach is," Claire said. "Let's go."

Jim nodded. "Let's go. I wanna see everyone's look when I come in with this."

"You and me both."

That was nice, Lisa thought as she finished her coffee. Just two people focused on each other.

Wonder how long it'll last? People always found someone else. Or wanted someone else. That was the way things were. But it was time for her job. She got up and walked out, keeping away from the crowd of tourists still waiting for the capes. Once she was far enough from any groups, she called her boss.

"Tattletale. I take it you made the meeting."

"Yeah. Your information was good. Short meeting, you want me to keep my options open, and I couldn't press too much without irritating them."

"That is acceptable. What did you find out?"

Coil didn't want powers. He'd gotten the PRT jacket on both of them, though parts were frustratingly vague.

"Well, they're disgustingly affectionate," she said. "But in the category of what you want to know, the Trollhunter has a low level of body dysmorphic disorder. He's aware this isn't a human body and it keeps reminding him. Not crippling, but maybe an in."

"And the girl?"

"She cares for him, worries a bit. I saw her working to make the day normal for him. Real good advice? If you're thinking of threatening either one to get the other's cooperation, think again. I bet they'd both default to deadly force, and they would be good at it."

"I understand. There is some concern about that in the PRT, could we use that?"

"I… No. When he went after us, he was soft-pedaling like crazy because he knew that Grue wasn't a brute, and the video for Mush showed the same thing. He's really aware that most people are squishy, and he is really good at keeping control in a fight, so don't expect him to fly off the handle and smear a normal criminal. Now if you can arrange a meeting with Hookwolf…"

"I doubt using deadly violence against Hookwolf would be seen in a negative light."

Looking for ways to snare them, to gain more control. Coil had agents in the PRT, that much Lisa knew, for his information, if nothing else. Did he have agents high enough to get control over a disciplined ward?

"Do you think there's any chance of splitting them off from the PRT?"

"Not right now," Lisa said. "And don't forget Mr. Blinky and 'Merlin'. I haven't seen them enough to get a good read on them, but I think Trollhunter and Shadowdancer would listen to them."

"Very well. There will be a bonus for you. I think that you should try to avoid them in any future crimes, or at least not try to annoy them too much." There was a click.

Lisa put the phone down. Reading Coil was difficult, but he was interested in them.

He'd had her do this with the rest of the wards, but it had been more of a "arrange to walk around when they were on the Boardwalk and send your thoughts in."

This was the first time he'd actually made the opportunity, telling Tattletale to be on the Boardwalk at a certain time.

Well, we'll see how things go. Hopefully, Coil wouldn't demand they fight them, because Lisa's power was only too happy to tell her much of what Trollhunter could do if you truly pissed him off.

And as for his girlfriend, Lisa didn't need her power to worry about what a girl who could open portals and use the Atlantic Ocean to give a cape a bath could do if she was really wanting to kill you.