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Let The Weirdness Ensue... (Wait, that's not right) CHAOS!

Chapter 2: High Tensions

May 23rd, 10:01 pm, Arcadia CA.

The next night...

Jim woke to the sound of the door opening and closing a few times. He got up and dug through his closet, finding a new zipper hoodie hanging on the rod, it was a dusty green. He pulled it on and zipped it up halfway.

He walked out of his bedroom closing the door behind him, only to close his tail in the door on the way out, which resulted in a healthy snarl. He moved it out of the frame and continued to the stairs. He took a deep breath before heading down, he knew who was down there, he could smell them. Toby, Claire, and his mother.

Jim didn't feel bad about going off on them like he did the night before, it was justified in his eyes. He was a troll and there was no changing it. Even if he wasn't happy with it, there should be no reason for him to pretend that he's human. And no one else should either.

He had no idea what to expect from them as he reached the bottom of the stairs, but he decided to follow Strickler's advice and act according to his troll self. He rounded the banister, and strut proudly on the balls of his feet. His tail making wide slithering motions behind him.

"Good night everyone, how was your day?" He smiled, and entered the living room.

"It was good, people are asking about you though." Toby said, hopping onto the couch.

"Cool, I'm a celebrity." Jim grinned, he walked up to Claire and nuzzled his face against hers and rubbed his horn across her cheek. His arms respectfully around her waist. "Hi beautiful." he smiled.

Clarie put her hands on his chest and pushed away, "While I like the compliment. The not hugging thing…" She breathed.

"Yeah, I found out it's called nuzzling. Pretty great right?" Jim forced a smile, he could smell she didn't accept the affection but ignored the hurt he felt. His tail started to curl around his leg but he stopped it, he wouldn't let himself feel small.

"Well, I'd rather if you just acted like you did before, with a normal hug?" She raised her eyebrows.

Jim slouched and wrapped his arms around her again, letting his tail make it's way around her waist a few times on it's own, and gave her a gentle hug. But nuzzled the crook of her neck just a little, "We can do those too." he grinned. He forced his tail off of her and moved to the couch.

He sat next to Toby and Claire joined him on the other side. Him mom was in the kitchen messing with something, and from what Strickler said she was probably hiding the utensils again. He let out a sigh, that was really more of a growl. "Mom, could you please come in here. I want to talk to you all." he shouted quietly.

He heard her sigh and a pan set down. Then soft footsteps to the open door. She walked in and leaned against the bookcase. Adjusting her glasses she said, "Ok. Talk." and folded her arms.

Jim was on the receiving end of a very harsh glare. He positioned himself and sat cross-legged on the couch. His tail draped over his knee and lay in a curled up pile on the floor. He put his hands on his knees and began, "look, I'm a troll now. I've accepted it, but whether you guys accept that or not is up to you. I have no control over how you think or feel. All I can ask is that you acknowledge me as a troll, and allow me to act as a troll. I want to and I'm going to. Whether or not you like it, it's going to happen. It's who I am now, and I can't… I won't ignore it." He looked around at his friends sitting on either side of him, and his mother who glared, but the lights reflection on her glasses lost the effect. Her scent gave off anger, rather than fear. After several minutes in silence Jim grunted, "Talk to me mom, please." he begged, the tuft of his tail began twitching. He got to his feet and walked toward his mother, "Mom, I want to work this out. And I can't do that by myself." He said, his tail swung slowly behind him. Barbara backed away from him and the once hidden smell of resentment became apparent as she stopped fighting the emotion. Jim froze and his tail fell limp on the floor.

His throat felt tight, and he felt salty tears prick at his eyes, a whine came from his throat instead of words. She looked away from him and instead looked at the floor. It was like someone had ripped out his heart and stomped on it, he felt like it was his fifth birthday all over again. Dad left and never came back, he didn't want or care about his son and he left. Leaving him and his mother behind.

Only now it was his mother who left, in a way. She didn't want him. The person that helped him get through his father leaving him, no longer wanted him. The whine persisted and he whimpered for a few moments.

Taking a step forward, Barbara spoke, quietly furious. "Why did you have to take the potion." she looked at him directly in the eyes, the glare of the light gone.

Silent tears began rolling down Jim's face. "I… I had to protect you…"

She raised her voice louder, "NO! Why did you have to destroy yourself!?" she screamed.

Jim winced, and his ears folded back then fell. "Mom, I… I'm still Jim…" He paused when he saw her face steel.

"No, you're troll Jim now. And there's no way to go back to the way things were before." She said, "I just want things to be normal again, Jim. Why can't we let them go back to the way they were?" She paused, and let out a sigh moving her line of sight to the floor.

With the sleeve of the jacket, Jim wiped the tears from his eyes. "Because, I'm not normal anymore, I wasn't a normal kid as a human. What teenager can use a sword made of Daylight, and kill giant trolls!? What normal kid defends the world? I had to make sure everyone was safe, I gave up my old life to ensure that. And now I'm paying for it with this." Jim spread his arms and looked around the room.

"I thought you liked being a troll, Jim." Toby mocked.

"I wasn't talking about being a troll, Tobes. I was talking about you!" Jim snarled. "All of you. I'm paying the price, with how you are all treating me like… like a fake? And…" He spun around and faced his mom, his tail moved to start wrapping itself around his leg and he didn't stop it. "And now my own mother," Jim bit the inside of his lip. "Doesn't even want me."

"Jim, that's not true." Claire stated getting to her feet.

"No, it is." Jim snarled. "I can smell it, it's rotten and sour. In case you were wondering, that's what rejection smells like. And it leaves a bad taste in the mouth." Jim spoke to Claire while eyeing him mom who still refused to look up. Then spoke to her, "You don't want this me, at least. Do you?"

"I just want everything to go back to the way it was before all of this, before you found the amulet. Before you became the Trollhunter…"

"Before I was a troll." Jim stated, "Well destiny had other plans mom," He said darkly. The tail around his leg tightened more and he got pins and needles in his foot, he had to focus so it wouldn't tighten anymore. "I took the hand fate dealt me, and I'm making the most of it." he growled.

"Look," Claire said quietly behind him, "I'll try. Ok? I'll try and be ok with all of it. I can't promise it won't be weird, but I'll do my best." Claire said. Jim stepped around to look at her.

"Me to Jimbo," Toby added. A small smile made its way onto Jim's face, he turned and looked at his mom.

Barbara didn't look at Jim, she only kept her head down. Subtly shaking her head.

Jim balled his fists and clenched his teeth. "Fine." He marched passed her in anger, but brushed his horn on her shoulder anyways. Then paused to speak to her, "I still love you, even if I am a troll. That will never change," then walked to the back yard. Leaving them in the thick silence.

The cool night air calmed his anger, the clouds covered the moon leaving complete darkness, his sharp vision outlined even the sharpness of the grass and he could see bats fluttering about in the sky, catching their dinner. It was weird how much more he noticed as a troll.

He paced back and forth for a few minutes and thought about what had transpired, while Claire and Toby said they would try, that doesn't mean anything definite. And his mother… the scent of rejection lingered in his nasal cavity. The bad smell prompted him to shake like a dog.

Jim wasn't sure why, but he wanted to be upside down. None of the trees near his house had strong enough, low hanging branches to support him. And he didn't feel like venturing deeper into the forest, not tonight. Jim glanced at his house, on the corner of the roof the rain gutter pipe sat. sticking out just enough that his tail might be able to get a good grip on it.

He easily jumped up to the roof and stalked carefully over to the corner, wrapping his tail around the aluminum pipe a few times and slid himself off the roof. He crossed his legs and folded his arms, dangling by his tail.

He closed his eyes, peace came to his mind, and he felt he could breathe easy. He listened to the constant drum of his heart, then he reached out further and listened to the heartbeats of the people inside. He was somehow able to tune out the words they said, listening only to the three sets of pulses, he didn't want to know what they were saying. All three were rapid with anger and high blood pressure. Jim stopped listening. He didn't want to think about that. As he hung upside down, he thought of only the good.

Stricker understood him, his physical prowess increased in every way conceivable. He had an entirely new way to show love and affection to his friends and family, he couldn't wait to figure them out. And his emotions fuled him like he couldnt believe. He had new things he could eat and now a new way to live, doing weird trollish things that just felt natural. The thing that he was currently loving the most, was his tail, and hanging upside down.

Jim's ears twitched against his scruff, he heard light footsteps coming toward the door. It opened and out came Claire, her brows furrowed and a forced smile on her lips. "Hey, Jim?" Claire called, not able to see him.

"Yeah," he said quietly, not moving from his comfortable position.

Claire looked for where his voice was coming from, "Jim where are you?"

Jim opened his eyes and said, "Over here."

"Oh my gosh! Jim your eyes are glowing…" she walked in his direction.

"Wait!" Jim called out, holding his arms in front of him as she froze.

"What?"

"You about walked into a big rock," He chuckled. "I didn't want you to trip."

Claire relaxed and said, "Thanks, can you see in this dark though?" she held her arms out and looked around, "I can't see a thing."

Jim nodded, making himself swing slightly, "Yeah, but it doesn't look like how you would see it in light. It's like black and white with shades of the colors it would normally be," he grinded. "Take a few steps to the left then walk forward."

Claire did as she was instructed, and walked close enough that she could see Jim's position. "Jim… are you hanging by your tail?"

He laughed, "Yeah. So far it's the thing I like most, well this and the tail."

"Mhmm… so you really like being a troll?" she asked as if disappointed.

"Of course, what reason would I have to lie?" He tilted his head slightly.

Claire let out a long sigh, "Well, I'm glad you're at least happy with the whole predicament." she shivered in the cold of the night.

Jim's brows furrowed, he let his arms dangle and touched the ground. Slowly sliding from the pipe, he brought his legs to the ground and let his tail go then crawled toward Claire, his tail lay on the ground lazily around him. "Hey, you don't need to be upset, we can make this work." He smiled, and the glow of his eyes reflected on his grin. He gently grasped her shoulders and crouched down to her height. "We can make us work, no more Trollhunting for a while. There's no wizard, no troll, sorceress, goblin... well, goblin's do their own thing, but no dark force dangling precariously over our heads. We can just spend time together, and go on actual dates." His grin spread across his face. "Doesn't that sound amazing?!"

Claire giggled, "Yeah it does," than her face fell, "But how are we supposed to do that if you're a troll?" she looked into the dark.

"Just like we would if I were human, sure I'll have to avoid the sun, but that's not so bad. And apparently I won't have to hide from anyone since the whole town knows I'm a troll now."

"Half troll," Claire corrected.

"Pht… whatever," He waved it off. "The point is, I love you. And I want to be with you."

Claire went to speak but he cut her off.

"And I'm going to act like a troll, and do troll things to you. Like this…" Jim placed his forehead on Claire's arm and brushed his horn against her skin, his tail rippled in response, he pulled back to see her face. "I know you don't think it's right for me to do, because it's not a human thing. But I'm not a human anymore, I hope that you'll accept it one day." He raised his eyebrows at her smiling.

Claire nodded, "I'll try."

"That's all I can ask for." Jim breathed. Claire shivered harder, and rubbed her arms.

Looking around Jim noticed small frost crystals growing on the grass and rocks, he even had some on the tip of his tail. Promptly taking off his Jacket he wrapped it around Claire who graciously accepted, he pulled her close into a hug and wrapped his tail around her bundling her up in the coat that she was drowning in, and scooped her off her feet.

She pressed her head against his bare chest, her warm breath prickling at his skin. "You're so warm."

"Heh, thanks." Jim walked with her in is arms to the door. He scrunched his nose, smelling for who was inside: Toby, who was alone.

Walking in the living room he sat on the couch next to his best bud and brought his legs up. He set Claire next to him and let his tail off of her so she could come out of the jacket.

"Hey Jimbo, Dr. L went out for a bit. Said she wanted to clear her head." Toby said quietly while wringing his hands.

"Well, I hope she can figure some stuff out." Jim half smiled, "Do you want to put a movie in, and we can just chill."

Toby's face lit up a bit, he hopped off the couch, selected a movie and flicked off the lights. As he climbed back on the couch, Jim knocked his head against Toby's -softly- and he gave Jim a weird look but said nothing.

Throughout the movie Jim rested his arm around Claire's shoulder and every so often he would nuzzle her hair with his cheek, and he could sense her annoyance, but she didn't stop him. His tail sat across his lap for the most part, but in the end wound up gently around Claire's waist twice.

When the lights came back on, Claire took notice of the tail quickly. "Jim could you, um, not put that there." she pointed at the tail.

Jim looked at the blue snake like appendage, "Oh, sorry. I didn't do that." He laughed, "It has a mind of its own." he shrugged.

"Well, can it remove itself?" She said standing, she held her arms held out at her sides waiting for it to move.

Jim tilted his head and grinned some more. "I think it likes it there, I like it there too. And…" Jim pulled Claire with his tail and brought her back to his lap. "I like you, right here."

"Eww! PDA Jim!" Toby scrambled off the couch half grinning half looking grossed out.

"Oh stop it Toby," he smiled, "It's not like I'm kissing her or anything." Jim slowly brought his face closer to Claire's and kissed her on the cheek while eyeing Toby.

"Hey, I'm the one who's supposed to be getting the attention." Claire whined. "Look at me when you kiss me." she put her arms around his neck.

The tuft of fur sitting next to Claire's hip twithched quickly, "Oh, you mean like this?" Jim smiled.

Suddenly, his tail brought Claire's body closer, his strong arms wrapped around her petite body, and his four fingered hand climbed into her hair as he pressed his soft stone lips to hers.

Toby averted his eyes and promptly left through the front door.

Jim's other hand replaced the hold of the tail temporarily as it unwound from Claire's waist, and circled around them both, pulling Claire closer to Jim. Then he moved his hand to support her back, he pressed against her lips, being mindful of his tusks which brushed against her cheeks as he kissed her lips. She did the same, being less gentle, she had her hands in his scruff on his neck and head. Jim made it so his tail slithered around Claire's wrist and pulled it up so her hand would rest on his horn.

Gasping for breath Claire whispered, "Jim, your tail is doing things again," then pushed back into the kiss.

"No, that's me," Jim replied. "I want you to hold onto it." he put his hand on hers and wrapped her fingers around the Keratin structure, he spoke against her still lips.

Claire let out a breath and Jim took in her scent. Committing it to memory. "Jim, don't you think that's a bit weird?"

Jim shook his head, "No, wonderful girlfriend of mine." he smiled. "I don't. We were just making out, and you had your hands all up in my scruff, so what's so different about that?"

"Well, it just feels weird, they feel weird. And scruff?" she pulled her hand away from his horns.

He felt hurt, but he couldn't force her into anything. Jim sighed and unwound his tail from around their bodies. "Well, It's getting late. You should probably head home." He slid Claire off his lap and onto the couch next to him.

Claire quickly stood and returned the jacket she'd been using as a blanket, Jim slipped it back on. "You're right, I'll see you later." She smiled.

"Alright, good night." he hummed and stood. As she was walking toward the door he stepped in front of her and nuzzled her shoulder with his cheek and horn.

Claire, after ward, brushed off her shoulder as if there were dirt on it. "You have a good night too Jim." and she left.

Alone. Jim stood in the empty entryway and growled loudly to himself. Sure he kissed Claire like he'd never kissed her before, but she refused to touch his horns. She had even told him that they felt weird. He raised his hand to touch one of his horns, sure they felt different, but horns covered in soft ridges that smoothed toward the tips, gave Jim a sense of pride.

He shook his head and made his way upstairs after grabbing a tape measure from the garage, he had some planning to do.

Picking up a pencil and a notepad, he took down the measurements for his bedroom window and for the width of his room. He drew a separation line and wrote 'Shopping'. Under that he made a list of all sorts of meats he wanted to try, making sure he put some raw drumsticks on. The crunch of the bones was really quite satisfying. He also wanted an umbrella, so he could be out in the sun a bit, it worked for the trolls during the siege of Trollmarket. So it could work for him. Pants was something on the list too, he needed pockets for his phone and the amulet. Jim tapped his pencil against his chin in thought. He added the ingredients for his mother's favorite dinner.

Maybe he could get some brownie points if he made her a 'normal' dinner.

He looked at the clock on his phone, he still had hours until sunrise. He wanted to talk to Strickler, but he was probably asleep. Then again, he wasn't asleep the night before when it was almost three in the morning. Did Strickler even sleep?

Jim decided to talk to him tomorrow, right after the sun went down, but in the meantime… He wanted to go mess around with the amulet and his new trollish body.

Still weird? I know, just... bare with me a few more chapters till it picks up! I swear it's a great story. Review please.

-Chaos