After the initial… disagreement and a few strongly-worded messages and apologies, Walter and Barbara settled into their relationship with way more comfort than before. In between he went through some Order-betrayals, switching sides, and started working on… general goodness and niceness that he used to think he wasn't capable of, but it was working out, somehow.

Honestly, he was surprised she hadn't dropped him the moment Jim told her about what he was, that she insisted they could work it out if he only stopped his "evil deeds", and by Gorgus, it did.

He still had no idea what kind of charm prompted him to betray the order and help the Trollhunter… although he had an inkling. Sure, he wasn't allergic to emotions, quite the opposite, but… love seemed a little… too strong of a word usually. Yet it definitely was what he felt for Barbara. That was the only explanation why he went through all… that.

But it was worth it.

He couldn't remember when was the last time he experienced such care and gentleness, when was the last time he experienced such happiness, just because of being by someone's side. Through good and through bad, through hard days and peaceful ones, he felt overwhelmingly joyous to the point where he felt himself smile whenever Barbara entered his vision.

He fell quick and deep and he didn't even want to pick himself up from the floor where his logical thinking splattered itself all over it.

And that's why he wasn't too bothered when she asked him about his past. There was no use trying to hide it, and she seemed genuinely interested, as well as non-judgmental about it. A perfect mix that made the retelling easier.

But it didn't mean that sometimes her questions wouldn't catch him off-guard. Like this one.

"Do you perhaps know if anyone named James Augsbury was one of the changelings?" It came from nowhere, they were just sitting on the sofa after dinner and she just— asked. Simply. The name managed to freeze him up a little though because… how has she known it?

"Yes actually," he began carefully, eyeing her for a reaction. She was tense, eyes blown wide— "He was stationed in Arcadia before me, I was put here as his replacement…" She stood up as he trailed off, startled. "Barb? Are you okay..?"

He hasn't gotten an answer as she walked out of the house, face carefully blank.

He was understandably worried, but he knew better than to follow her. She would be safe, she just needed time to process… whatever additional information he gave her with that statement.

When she came back it was late evening already. And by Gorgus did she stink of the alcohol. He hasn't seen her like that during their entire relationship. Thankfully she didn't seem either violate or on the verge of sicking on the floor, but he still helped her to the couch and got a glass of water, which she accepted without a complaint, if sluggishly.

"Barbara, are you—"

"All my partners were trolls," she rasped out between the gulps and he could only blink at her. What? "Literally all of them. What the fuck. All, all of them."

"Barbara, I don't think you—"

"No, no, you need to hear this," her words were slurred, but mostly coherent. She threw her hands on his shoulders and slowly murmured, "I have dated trolls before you."

"Oh, well, that's—" That would actually explain quite a lot of things, like her complete lack of fear of his less humane features. If it was true, of course. He somehow doubted it. "—good? I guess?"

"A lot of trolls," she insisted with… uh, urgency? He couldn't pinpoint what exactly she wanted to say, so he just nodded, and she nodded back, apparently satisfied with it, cause she also took her hands away from his shoulders, and leaned back on the couch instead. "Like, so many trolls. It was ridiculous."

"Any names you want to drop?" He was nearly sure she would stop with the made-up story if he asked for details… and then he nearly choked on his own saliva when she nodded and proudly said:

"Kanjigar."

"What?" No, no, she was joking, surely.

"That was a mistake. But he was decent. Kinda a dick though." She had a loopy smile on her face that would probably look adorable to Walter if he wasn't focusing on her words so much. "And he hasn't told me he has a wife until like… the second month. A total dickhead." That… That was an uncomfortable amount of details. It sounded less and less like a made-up story. Oh no. "I guess you wouldn't know Gurpur, he died young because he miscalculated how much time it would take for him to get from my house to the tunnel and the sun got him." He… He actually knew that one. He cleaned up his statue after it got dumped on his lawn… Welp. So that was true. "Mmmm who else was there… Pari was nice… not much to say about her. Nena was also nice… Teldur was kinda a whore not gonna lie… Begun… eh, Begun, begin, begone. … And then there was James apparently." Her voice was growing in volume steadily. She was getting worked up. and Walter was having an existential crisis because if she was saying the truth—

"You… dated James Augsbury…?" he asked delicately, and she sent him a bewildered look, laughing out loud.

"Dated? I married him!" ...Wait.

"Is… Is Lake your maiden name?"

"Yep. I see you're starting to see the picture."

"You were the one who compromised one of our best agents!" Holy mother of trolls— This woman was too fucking powerful.

"Oh, I did?" she looked way too happy about it. Way too happy. "Cool. Girl power."

Walter didn't have much commentary to make on that. He was just completely and utterly stunned because what the hell.

"Mmmmm but yeah, I thought that I have dated two humans in my life," Barbara continued unbothered. "James, which, well, no, and you so… you can see the problem here." Yeah, he kinda could. "I've managed to date two changelings. Never a human."

"Unlucky you." She nodded at him energetically and finally finished her water, so he could take the glass from her.

And then he nearly dropped it when she asked:

"Does Jim qualify as a half-changeling?"

"Pardon?"

"Does Jim qualify as a half-changeling?" she repeated incredulously as if it was a completely normal thing to ask. "Because you know, I had him with James. Who was a changeling. I don't know how the magic works, perhaps you do? Have you ever had children, Walt?"

"I— No— But— I— Uh—" he felt as if his brain was physically buffering and his hands itched for a good troll-made ale that could knock him out faster than any human vodka. He was not ready for a conversation like that. It was just so… bizarre. Could Young Atlas transform at some point even without a familiar? Did he have any trollish traits? Perhaps the sun burned him more easily than a normal human being or something like that?

Newer and newer questions appeared in his mind and he knew it was overloading. If he lived in a cartoon there would be steam coming out of his ear right now. The glass slipped from his hand and bounced softly on the sofa, spilling the leftover droplets of water around.

He put his face in his hands, feeling the questions buzz in his mind like a hive of aggressive wasps.

"Barbara, what the fuck?"