Sorry about the short chapter, just had to get it out.
As always, I own nothing... except my OC's and my laptop. Be grateful I own my laptop.
I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 10: Claire's P.O.V.
*Beep… Beep… Beep*
"Ugh, Jim why'd you set an alarm?" I moan, not wanting to open my eyes. I can feel Jim's body heat around me.
"It seemed like a good idea at the time…" he grumbles. "But now I just want to sleep." his body tightens around mine.
"Is it going to turn off?" I ask, trying to ignore the repetitive sound.
Jim mumbles something incoherent about sleep, but having to get up. He gets up, leaving me to silence the phone on the counter top. The temperature around me drops significantly. I pull his jacket tighter around myself. Then the ringing stops.
I hear his light careful steps come toward me, then they press on the blankets. I feel his nose rubbing in my hair.
"We have to get the paperwork from Skinner. And some clothes and food." Jim says into my hair. I hear the grumbling in his stomach, "Definitely food. So if you don't get up I'm going to have to take drastic measures." I can hear the playful grin on his face.
I roll over and his nose brushes my cheek before I open my eyes. I stare up at my mate's trollish face, his contagious smile infects me immediately. Than I notice his bare chest, I feel the heat rising to my cheeks. He's ripped.
I must have be staring, because Jim says, "Hey, my eyes are up here." he snickers.
My eyes flitter up to his for a moment as he falls on his haunches, but they move back to his arms, chest and abdomen. "I don't think I care for your eyes much anymore." I tease, pulling my attention away from his muscles.
"Ooh, glad you like my more natural state. I didn't feel like wearing a shirt."
"Well it doesn't bug me." I laugh, shaking my head with a grin far too wide plastered on my face.
For some reason, not a lot of things bug me. I mean, I freaking let Jim give me a bath, with his tongue. And it felt really nice, which is so weird, and my hair is so soft now. I like the nuzzling, it's better than a regular hug by a long shot.
It hurts me to see him look down on himself. I've come to terms with him being a troll, I just hope he can too.
Jim's voice pulls me out of my thoughts, "Well, that's good. Because when we're here and it's just us. There will be no shirt." he declares dramatically.
"I'm glad to hear it. Now, about those drastic measures?"
In one fluid motion he scoops me in his arms and drags his soft tongue along my jawline. I can't stop myself from giggling.
The weirdest thing is that this doesn't bug me. It's a pleasant sensation, not quite like a kiss, but still oddly enjoyable. He sets me down.
He goes into the bathroom and comes out with his shirt. He tries it on but it gets caught on his horns, his arms stick up at a weird angle, trying to grasp at the fabric. I bite my thumb nail, trying to hide a laugh.
"Jim, come here. Let me help you." He freezes and holds his arms still, I walk in his direction and guide him to my level. "You look so cute when you're struggling to get your shirt on." I carefully guide a piece of the torn collar on the shirt off one of his horns.
"Glad you think I'm cute." he scoffs.
I giggle and free the other side, and slide the shirt over the rest of his face. His normally wild hair, is even more wild. Standing on ends at all angles. I run my fingers through his fur trying to get it to settle with no luck, other then the quiet purr that sounds in his chest.
I pull my hands away so I can get a better look at his face. And just smile at him. He smiles right back.
"You know," Jim says, "You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." his ears flick against his wild locks. And I still don't know what that means.
"And you are the most handsome troll or human to ever walk the earth, but let's not get too mushy before we go to town. You're all dressed so let's head up." I look around the room for my things, "Jim, where did you move my stuff?"
He stands and speaks, "I put them in the other room, I figure it's going to be a bedroom so I moved them in there."
I nod and enter the room to get my backpack, I empty it of things I don't need, leaving only my wallet and the horngazle. I walk back to Jim, loosely holding the Glamour mask.
"K, I'm ready. Let's go."
We walk up the crystal staircase in comfortable silence.
Skinner said there was about two weeks before their school starts, I'm just too excited. Meet new people, learn things I'll never again use in life, get to know the teachers. Humans. And Jim is coming with me, for me. I can't believe he's doing this for me.
I think back to what he had yelled at Blinkey, and he's right. I am human starved.
I don't know why I curled in on myself, it was a week move on my part. Something about seeing Blinkey so mad, it was disturbing. But why did it make him so mad? I thought he would be excited for Jim and I to continue learning. Guess not. I'm curious why Jim hasn't asked about it, but I'm grateful he hasn't.
Since becoming a troll he's been more confident and expressive of his feelings, he's sure of himself. More aware of my feelings as well as others'.
We reach the top and he pulls out the horngazle, and draws the practiced semi-circle with the blood red totem. Opening the doorway to the 'real' world. The sun is just lowering itself behind the horizon. And the sky is a light grey
"You ready for another ride?" Jim lowers himself for me to climb onto his back. I smile and oblige.
"No jumping please. My arms are sore from the last ride in."
Trollmarket is a good three miles away from the city, and it would take awhile if we were to walk, and we need all the time we can get with businesses closing at night. But man! My arms are sore.
We arrive a few minutes later, behind the old warehouse. Jim slips on the mask, and I frown a little at how he looks with it on. In his human form, he licks his significantly smaller canines, opening and closing his mouth while getting a feel for it. He looks kinda silly.
"Alright," he says. "I'm ready to go shopping. Where to first?"
We walk out from behind the warehouse and walk on the sidewalk. I lace my fingers in his, "Let's go to the thrift shop first." I feel a buzz in my back pocket and pull out my phone. "My mom just texted, 'Barbara told me that you and Jim will be attending school in New Jersey. That's excellent. I sent you some money for new cloths and school supplies and food.' Did you finally remember to call your mom?"
"Yeah, she was kinda panicked that I hadn't called. She's sending me some money too. Stickler is also glad we're going back to school."
"Well of course he is. He's our teacher." I snicker. "How much did she send you?"
"I haven't checked. You?"
"I'm checking my account now… Oh my gosh! She sent me $1000!" I turn to Jim, he's looking at his own phone, eyebrows raised.
"Well, our mothers do both have really good jobs, and work extensive hours. I got a grand too." He says, returning his phone to his pocket, I do the same.
"Maybe one day we'll figure out how to live on our own" I laugh.
Entering the thrift shop, a little bell rings near the door alerting the person on shift of our presence. Jim glances at our surroundings.
"Welcome to Cherish Thrift, can I help you find anything today?" A girl with curled dark blonde hair, smiles from behind the counter. She's wearing a fuzzy white sweater, a bit of lattice along the sleeves, and a keyhole neckline.
"No thanks, we've got it." Jim says, brushing her off.
I roll my eyes and drag Jim up to the counter, "We're looking for some new clothes, some for me and some for… uh, my uncle. He's really tall, do you have anything for really tall people?" I ask eagerly.
"Yeah, we do." She smiles and gets up, coming around the counter. She's wearing a pair of light blue stonewashed jeans, with sharpied flowers climbing her legs from the ankles. A pair of white lace wedges on her feet, with… rainbow paint splatter? Anyways she looks fabulous, a slim runners build. "Follow me." she says.
We follow her to the back of the store, she sorts through the rack "Any specific style?"
"Cargo pants, plain T-shirts." Jim shrugs.
She nods and pulls a few things off the rack. "Think these will do?" She hands them to Jim who looks over each and drapes most of them over his arm, but hands a few back.
"These will work great. I… he'll like them." Jim says.
The girl turns to me and says. "So, what can I get for you… wait…" She eyes me carefully. "Didn't you come in a few days ago?"
I smile and nod, "Yeah, that was me. I really liked the selection and the prices, so I'm back. We're just getting a new clothes before school starts."
"You're going to attend CCH? Wow, that's awesome. What grade?"
"We're juniors this year." Jim supplies.
"Me too. I'm Amanda, by the way. Did you guys just move here?"
"Yeah, we did. And I'm Claire."
"I'm Jim." he says.
"Oh my gosh!" she shrieks, Jim winces at the sound. "You're Jim?"
"That's what I go by." Jim becomes uncomfortable under her gaze. "Why?"
"It's all over town, Dr. Cross was furious, he said some kid named Jim was at the police station helping Detective Skinner with some supernatural thing and that he had, and I quote, 'no respect for adults and he's pretending to be a supernatural expert who is in why over his head'. Justin was the only one who was there, but he said that Dr. Cross is full of it and that he attacked you. He said you stopped him without even trying. Now Dr. Cross is refusing to say anything about it, and denying anything ever happened. And now, Jim, you're the talk of the town. Nice to meet you." She smiled brightly.
"Well Jim, you did say you wanted to be a legend." I smile at him.
"This isn't what I meant." He slumps his shoulders.
"Well, anyways. What can I help you find, Claire?"
"First, I need to know what the weather's like on this side of the country. We moved from California." I say, noticing the weather's already been getting colder.
"Woah, that's quite a move. The weather is going to get cold soon, so you'll need something warmer than the clothes you bought last time. A winter coat and a pair of snow boots will be important. But winter's not for a few more months, so if you don't see anything you like today than it's ok to wait a bit longer." We follow Amanda to a different section of the store. "The town's been talking, ya know, and they say that they haven't seen any adults with either of you. Where are your mom and dad?" She asks, digging through some cloths.
Jim and I glance at each other, I whisper so only he can hear me. "What are we supposed to say to that?" We look at Amanda who isn't paying attention.
Jim smiles and whispers, "Redirection." He pretends to be interested in the clothes. "Amanda, do you have any Pappa Skull T-shirts? It's Claire favorite band."
"Really?" She looks up, "My best friend loves that band."
"Yeah, I basically used to live in their shirt. But it kinda got… destroyed." I think back to the end of the first month on our trek across the country, It was covered in sweat stains, dirt, and was torn in all sorts of places.
"We might have a few things. I'll go check in the back, you look around see if there's anything you like." She turns and walks out of sight, her long hair bouncing behind her.
"Nice." I say to Jim, he smiles and does a half bow.
"I've had lots of practice." He smiles.
I begin looking over the racks of clothes in my size. "You know, I'm fairly sure she thinks we're siblings."
"We look nothing alike." Jim says flatly.
"Yeah, but she said, mom and dad. Not parents. There was no plural in that question." I snicker.
"Pht… You're right. You going to correct her?"
"Hmm, not right now. She might get a bit too curious, and we know where curiosity got Justin." I laugh, half heartedly.
"Yeah let's not do that again." He says, looking at a pair of womens winter boots.
"Oooo, those are cute." I take them and turn them over, "My size too. Thanks Jim." I take the shoes and peck Jim on the cheek. Their pair of black boots that come mid way up the calf, fuzz lining and a elastic tie.
Amanda walks back with a T-shirt in her hands. "This was the only one I found that would fit you. What do you think?"
It's the same pink shirt I had three months ago, "OMG! It's perfect." I take it from her hands and admire the shirt. "Thank you."
"Glad you like it, if there isn't anything else. I'll be up front." She turns and leaves.
"You're going to live in that shirt again aren't you?" Jim smiles at me, head tilted.
"Yes, yes I am. Now find yourself a warmer jacket, I don't care if you're a troll. You still need one."
He sighs, walking past me and casually brushes his head on my shoulder, letting me hear a quiet purr.
Subtle Jim, real subtle.
"Ok, so we got the clothes. And got a suspicious amount of meat from the store, along with other groceries. NOW, we can go get the paperwork from Skinner." I say.
We walk down the street with a few bags of clothes and two heavy backpacks, weighed down with raw meat.
"I'm pretty sure the grocery store clerk wanted to murder us for coming in so late." Jim laughs.
"He looked so mad." I reply, "And I'm still sure Amanda thinks we're brother and sister." We laugh, hand in hand, and enter the police station.
Skinner is at his desk talking to a man with reddish brown hair. The man is yelling about the night before. Skinner only looks annoyed. The man bangs his fist on the desk, loud enough to get Jim to wince.
The man yells, "I want answers, Ryan! Why would you bring in a child to do your job? Why would you allow him to dictate what happens in this police department. Where did you even hire him?"
Skinner was about to talk, but Jim speaks first.
"You're just upset because I showed you up." He snorts, the man's head whips around fast enough to give him whiplash. "And on my turned back nonetheless. Doctors are supposed to 'do no harm'. Now I know you were a world class fighter before. But attacking a kid with his back turned, that's low Cross. Real low." Jim smiled as if he were about to run into a fight. Guiding me by our held hands, we walk up to Skinner's desk, the man, Cross, shrinks as Jim walks up.
Now I'm beginning to be curious about what happened last night.
"Randy," Skinner says. "You didn't really try to attack him. Did you?"
Randy looks between Jim and The detective, "He's just a kid. He doesn't know what he's talking about!" He straightened himself.
I roll my eyes, "Bull." This gains me a death glare from him.
"He's a kid that knows and has seen more than you would hope to never see in your nightmares." Skinner sighs.
"Dr. Cross, I suggest…" Jim gets in his face and quietly growls. "You scram."
He steels his face and walks out without arguing.
"What happened last night?" Skinner says.
"He got nosy, and he kept questioning my ability. He also wouldn't shut up." Jim grins an evil smile. "He was literally rolling up his sleeves to fight. I said if he wanted to fight he could have the first punch. He walked toward the door, and I turned my back for a second, I heard him running at me, I spun around and caught his punch. I asked him if he wanted to fight someone who's seen the end of the world and he finally backed down. I scruffed him and literally dropped him outside the door, than locked it behind him." Jim grinned maliciously. "It was fun."
"Jim." I try to give him a look of disapproval but can't help but smile.
"No wonder he's so mad." Skinner gave a deep laugh. "Com'on, let's go into the interrogation room so we can talk. I've also got it covered so you can take off the mask."
Jim lets out a long breath of air, "Thank you."
Once inside and the door securely shut, Jim pulls off the mask then looks himself over and licking his teeth again. We place our backpacks on the floor. Jim's eyes keep drifting back to his bag, which is full of meat.
"Alright," Skinner says. "We gotta get this paperwork in as soon as possible. But we need some copies of your documents. Do you think your parents could send those over soon? I have a fax machine they can send it too."
I stare at the detective, brow raised. "Dude, it's the 21 century."
"Yes, but it's the best way to get the document here."
"I'll message my mom, she has a fax machine in her office. If she's not at work she'll send them over like that." Jim snaps his fingers.
"My mom never leaves her office unless she's out doing work for the mayor or something." I roll my eyes.
"Alright, here's the fax number." He pushes a piece of paper in our direction with a few numbers on it.
A few minutes the detective re-enters the room after leaving to get the papers. "That was fast." He says.
"Told you." Jim smiled, but his eyes kept drifting back to his bag. Skinner notices.
"Jim, what's in your bag that's got you so distracted?"
"Uh, food." he says, and as if on cue, his stomach growls.
"You sound hungry, just eat it already." the detective says looking over the paperwork, not knowing what kind of food is in Jim's bag.
"I don't think that's the best Idea." Jim says shyly. Glancing at me for help or out of embarrassment, I don't know.
"Jim, I've seen you eat my own nasty, moldy, sweaty old gym shoes. What could you possibly eat that would gross me out more than that?" He says, sounding tired and exasperated.
"Hey look, paperwork!" I say, "let's get this filled out so you can go home and eat. M'kay Jim?"
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." he nods and focuses his best on the paperwork.
We quickly fill out the information, and as soon as Skinner says he has everything he needs, we walk back to NTM.
As soon as we pass the warehouse Jim takes the mask off again. He runs through the forest with me on his back, but not like he normally does. Normally he runs and dodges trees like it's a fun game, now he's running with a sense of urgency. I can hear his stomach growling louder than before.
After what felt like forever we finally reach our cave, he dashes into the bedroom with the heavy backpack. He turns around in the doorway and says. "You stay out here."
I roll my eyes, but respect his wish. I set to putting the other groceries away, but the noises coming from the bedroom are a bit… disturbing.