Title: Monsters
Rating: T
Pairing: Strickler/Jim Lake Jr
Summary: Jim awakens in a strange living room and sees a part of Strickler he had never imagined. Strickler meanwhile struggles with strange feelings.
Well hello readers! Nice to see y'all again! Enjoy this chapter!
The first thing Jim was aware of was a pounding in his head. It felt like he had been thrown into a wall by Draal. He cracked an eye open and groaned. What the hell happened last night? Jim closed his eyes, struggling to remember. He remembered coming home, of being tired, and...Claire. Claire.
Jim sat up, rubbing his horns. Claire was gone. She had abandoned him...and he had gotten drunk and gotten into a fight. And...Jim vaguely remembered Mr Blinky however the rest of the night was a blur.
Jim looked around, taking in his surroundings. This was not his hut In Trollmarket nor was it Toby's living room. Nor his mothers, nor the Nunez's. He found himself in quaint living room, with two large windows that were mercifully covered by dark shutters. There was a fireplace with an ornate mantle, covered in odds and ends. A simple bookshelf sat in the corner, filled with historical texts and cookbooks.
The Trollhunter stood, stretching and slowly meandering around the room. Who's home was he in? He wandered into the white tile kitchen, searching for water. Attached the the fridge was a piece of ruled paper. The handwriting was familiar, and made Jim's stomach sink.
Hello Young Atlas. As I'm sure you don't remember the events of last night, let me clue you in. You quite nearly made a fool of yourself in front of the Nunez residence late last night. I was given the most pleasant charge of attending to you in your inebriated state. I am currently performing my professional duties, however I will be home well before nightfall. I shall return you to Trollmarket once evening sets. Don't do anything foolish, Young Atlas.
-W. Stricklander
Jim's stomach turned as he gazed around the kitchen. So this was where Strickler made his home. Somehow he had envisioned something more akin to a medieval torture chamber than a cozy, modern homestead. Jim put both hands on the sink, considering for a moment his mismatched hands. One hand had still looked relatively human, except blue, while the other was distinctly trollish. He gripped the sink, feeling it crack under his hands. Claire. She was gone. Tears stung his eyes and fell steaming into the sink. His stomach suddenly gave a sharp twist and the lad violently puked into the sink.
He gagged and spat, face contorting at the smell.
"I see you're awake." A voice behind Jim made him turn suddenly, wiping his lip.
Standing in the doorway to the kitchen, just as cool and regal as Jim remembered him, was Walt Stricklander. He had the same arrogant half smile and sharp aquiline eyes.
"Feeling better, Trollhunter?" Strickler asked, placing his briefcase on the kitchen table before seating himself and resting his chin on his hands.
"Yeah. What time is it?" Jim stalked around the side of the kitchen table.
"Almost 5, the sun will be setting in a couple of hours. Also, please do relax. I'm not here to hurt you." Strickler motioned to the chair across from himself. Jim sat uneasily, still watching his former nemesis closely. "And once the sun is set, I can take you back to Trollmarket and you shall be free of me once more."
Jim chewed his lip, looking almost sorrowful. "What if..." he cleared his throat and tried again. "What if I'm not ready to go home yet?" The words shocked Jim as much as they obviously shocked Strickler.
Strickler raised an eyebrow curiously. "I'm sorry? Care to elaborate?"
Jim sighed. "Claire left. And I don't want to be left in that empty hut yet. And I don't want to talk about it. Tony would just ask me for details and play video games, my mom would just want to talk about Claire. I just want to...be." Jim paused, and awkwardly glanced up, "does that make sense?"
Strickler stood, and began making tea. As he poured tea into two cups, he finally responded. "Yes quite. However, if your mother, and Toby are out of the question, where pray tell do you plan on staying?" He placed the tea cup in front of the young Trollhunter. Reflected back in the smooth dark surface was both of them. Strickler wanted so bad to just to brush the boy's thick hair from his eyes.
"I don't know." Sighed Jim, resting his head on one hand.
Strickler was quiet for a while, and then finally spoke, "You'll just have to stay here, then, won't you?" He patted his charge on the shoulder.
Jim looked up in shock, "Really!! Why?"
Strickler sat down, and smiled kindly, "You showed me extraordinary kindness many times, Young Atlas. Is is the least I can do. And I know how deeply heartbreak can hurt."
"My mom?" Jim asked, his nose curling.
"Ah yes," Strickler sighed deeply, "Barbara is an incredibly gifted, beautiful woman. I only wish I was worthy of her." Strickler began to daydream, lost in rose colored memories.
"Uh...Strickler." Jim jogged the man out of his day dream. He looked down. Somehow his hand had fallen over Jim's trollish paw. He snatched it back as if burned, and stood up sharply.
"Well, are you hungry? I am quit accomplished in trollish cuisine." Offered Strickler.
Jim's stomach grumbles in response. Strickler chuckled in response and began fetching pots and pans. "You are more than welcome to watch tv or something while I prepare dinner."
Jim thanked Strickler before retreating to the living room. As he sat down on the couch he had a sudden thought. He stepped back into the kitchen where Strickler was dropping several large quartz stones into a pot of boiling water. "Think I could use your shower?" Jim asked. Strickler glanced up, and was he blushing?
"Yes of course. Towels are in the Hall closet." Stickler waved him away as Jim sniffed at the stove. "Bugger off, Young Atlas." Strickler thrust his shoulder into Jim, forcing the younger to move out of the way.
Jim chuckled and quietly left Strickler to his work, heading up the stairs and into the hallway. He found several fluffy grey towels in the Hall closet and stopped to examine them. Curiously, he pressed his nose into the fabric and inhaled deeply. They smelled like black tea and musk and something indescribable. Jim's troll instincts shuddered and rumbled deep in his mind. He quickly drew the towels from his face, feeling the heat rising in his cheeks. No, nope. This wasn't happening. Jim quickly entered the bathroom at the end of the Hall and turned on the light.
The bathroom, like the rest of the house, was quite plain yet homey. All white tiles with grey details and ornate fixtures on the bathtub and sink. Jim stripped from his ripe smelling sweatpants and crumpled them in a pile on the floor. He turned on the shower, letting a spray of burning hot water hit the walls of the shower. He quickly got under the spray, enjoying the hot water on his stony cold skin. Jim examined his options as far as cleansing. He chuckled. Of course Strickler had an array of high end hair and body products. There were also a few in small pots with Trollish writing on them.
"Moss moisturizer", "Horn Conditioner", and "Stone Shiner" were amongst the labels. Jim considered them for a moment, before turning to something more familiar. He lathered his coarse hair with shampoo and proceeded to wash the grime and filth of the last twenty four hours from his body.
Strickler was having a hard time focusing on his preparation of dinner. Upstairs, in his bathroom, was a very naked Trollhunter. His mind wandered, trying to imagine what the boy's naked body looked like. How the water would roll over the contours of his striking face, his muscular, lithe body. How would it drip off those onyx horns?
His sensitive ears picked up the noises of splashing water, and of relaxed sighs. Strickler shook his head, trying to block it out. No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
He would not entertain such thoughts about his formal pupil. His straight, eighteen year old, former pupil who for a long time wanted the Changeling dead. Strickler sighed, and tried to focus on his cooking, not on the half troll showering upstairs.
Jim finished his shower, having finally given in and tried the "horn conditioner". He turned off the water, and stepped out into the steam filled room. He shook his head, splattering water on the walls. He breathed in deep, enjoying the smell of the water and fragrant bath products. He wondered briefly that he smelled of Strickler now, not of Trollmarket, or the cheap soaps he kept stocked in the hut. It smelled...nice. Comforting. The troll in him rumbled and flexed. Jim's mouth turned into a grimace as he battled with his still foreign instincts. He quickly dried himself, rubbing the towel into his hair, making it stand on end. He located his sweatpants on, regretting that that was all he had to wear. He pulled them on, and hung the towel back on the wall.
He exited the bathroom in a billow of steam, and immediately he was hit with an amazing fragrance coming from downstairs. Still slightly dripping, Jim descended the stairs and was met with somehow, an adorable sight.
Haloed in steam and smoke, eyes sharp with concentration, and wearing a pale blue apron, was Strickler. He was staring deep into a deep pan, stirring slowly.
Jim followed his instincts and followed his nose, determined to find the source of that delicious smell.
Strickler jumped as he felt an inquisitive presence behind him. He turned and found a still damp Jim, pupils blown, sniffing around at the pots and pans.
"Something smells amazing." Jim murmured, curiously peaking into one of the pots. It was all herbs and clear broth and several chunks of dark, spotted stone.
"Yes, it's called dinner." Strickler smoothed his hair back. "Though I suppose it's breakfast for you." He swatted Jim away from the pans. "Let me finish. Shoo!" He brandished a pair of tongs at the boy and Jim laughed, backing away. "If you insist on being underfoot, make yourself useful and set the table." Strickler motioned to a cabinet above the sink.
"Whatever you say." Jim pulled plates and two bowls from the cabinet and set them on the table. He spent some time fiddling with them, just as he would with the dinner plates at his old home with his mother. His mother...
Jim's heart hurt for a moment. He hasn't seen her in close to two years. But he really just wanted to hide away for awhile. Jim shook himself, ridding himself of such heavy thoughts.
"Is it ready?" He asked, turning his attention to Strickler.
Strickler was distributing the meal into serving trays. "Impatient boy." He muttered, still smiling out of one corner of his broad mouth. He laid the serving dishes on the kitchen table. "Please sit." He motioned to one of the chairs. Jim sat, and peered curiously at the dishes before him.
Strickler elegantly portioned food onto Jim's plate. It was a collection of several minerals, stones, and herbs. The human in Jim was revolted, however the troll in him roared with excited hunger.
Strickler finished serving himself, sat, and then motioned. "Well Trollhunter, dig in".
Jim curiously took a bite of what looked like quartz. His eyes immediately lit up. Strickler cracked a smile curiously. "Well?" He asked.
"It's fantastic!" Jim exclaimed around a mouthful of rocks.
Strickler laughed, a full, lovely laugh. Jim paused, caught in the magic of Strickler's laugh for a moment. "I'm glad you enjoy it, Jim." Strickler sighed, and a shiver ran down his spine. "I hope you don't mind, but I'm not able to enjoy trollish cuisine in this form. I do apologize." In an instant, the handsome middle aged man was replaced by a lean, mossy green troll with glowing yellow eyes, and sleek dark horns.
Jim stared at him for a moment, taking this form in. He realized he had been staring with his mouth open and quickly filled it with another bite of food. "It's fine." He muttered, feeling heat in his cheeks.
"I know this form isn't nearly as visually pleasing at the other, but-" Strickler was cut off abruptly by Jim.
"Your beautiful!" Jim immediately turned a darker shade of blue, and ducked his head. "I mean, it's cool. Whatever you're cool with." Jim sighed, and peaked out from under his thick brows.
Strickler smiled, and lifted his water glass to Jim. "I appreciate the compliment, Young Atlas." Strickler considered for a moment and then quickly went to another cabinet and produced a dusty bottle of red wine. "Care for a libation?" He asked Jim. "It's no trolldraught, but I'm quite fond of it."
"Uh, sure." Jim responded.
Strickler retrieves two long stemmed wine glasses and set them in front of himself and Jim. He poured deep burgundy wine into each glass.
He sat back down in his chair and raised his glass. Jim mirrored him. Strickler considered for a moment and then smiled at the boy. "To being exactly who you are meant to be." They clinked glasses and each took a sip.
Strickler watched Jim sip his wine. The boy grimaced and Strickler laughed again. "It's an acquired taste."
"Yeah...you could say that." Jim smacked his lips. He took another small sip, and shrugged.
They fell into easy conversation, as if they had been friends for a long time. They spoke of the war against Gunmar, as well as those times that felt so long ago, when Jim was just Jim the high school student, and Strickler was just Mr. Strickler the history teacher. And the wine began to flow as easily as the conversation.
"Ugh," Jim sighed dreamily, "I'm so full!" He sat back in his chair, lazily sipping wine. Strickler has been right, the wine really was delicious.
"I'm glad you enjoyed everything." Strickler patted Jim on the shoulder as he cleared the table. A low rumble emanated from Jim's chest, a trollish purr. Strickler paused, feeling muscles ripple beneath his claws. A moment passed, and them Strickler pulled his hand away, finishing clearing the dishes. "Shall we adjourn to the sitting room for after dinner entertainment?"
Jim stood, wobbling slightly. "It's called a living room." Jim said was a laugh, "and it's called Netflix and chilling." Retrieving his wine glass from the kitchen table, Jim went into the living room and comfortably flopped onto the couch. He turned on the TV and scrolled until he found some horror movies about giant trolls. He laughed at the title "Trollhunter". Strickler joined him after a moment, sitting on the opposite end of the couch.
"Interesting choice." Strickler commented before settling back into his human form, and sipping his wine.
Jim shrugged. "Looks funny."
And indeed it was. Perhaps partly due to the wine, within minutes of watching, the film had the Changeling and the half troll howling with laughter. Jim was clinging to Strickler's shoulder, tears running down his face as he laughed. As the credits rolled, the laughter too began to quiet. Strickler sighed, suddenly aware of their closeness. Jim too seemed to have realized how they sat so close together, Strickler's arm around Jim's shoulders. They breathed each other's air for a couple of moment.
"I think," Strickler croaked, his throat suddenly going dry, "I need another glass of wine." He moved slightly, and suddenly, Jim lunged forward and kissed the Changeling square on the lips. Strickler froze, his eyes wide. Jim Lake Jr, Trollhunter, savior of the world, was kissing him. His lips were warm and hard, framed by his upward fangs. Strickler gasped, and let his instincts take over. He grabbed Jim by his hair and mashed their faces harder together. Tongues danced and Jim tasted like wine and toothpaste and quartz. Strickler moved so that he was half laying across Jim. Jim's kisses were hungry and hot, begging for more. Strickler's hands trailed down Jim's bare chest, enjoying every gasp and sigh. And then suddenly, Jim's eyes flew open, and he shoved Strickler off of him.
Jim looked panicked, eyes wide, hair disheveled.
"Jim..." Strickler wheezed quietly.
"Oh my god." Jim muttered. He turned his wide eyes towards Strickler. "Oh my God!" Jim jumped backwards, wavering on his feet for a moment before racing to the backdoor, flinging it open, and disappearing into the darkness.
Strickler sat alone on his couch, touching his lips gently. What had he done?
Alright we got a kiss! Maybe not the perfect first kiss, but hey, love isn't perfect! Next chapter will be up in the next couple of days.