A Trollhunter turned King

training and research

Toby knew Jim like the back of his hand. the stout teen knew every way to comfort his best friend. playing with his hair was one of them. back when they were around 8 years old, Jim's mom had gotten so into her work that she completely forgot to get the kid a hair cut for months. his hair had grown out just below his shoulders. he got made fun of at school a lot but whenever the two boys would have sleep overs, Toby insisted on practicing his hair stylist skills. he would braid Jim's hair all the time, and once Jim almost fell asleep with how much it calmed him down.

Toby applied that knowledge to the current situation, running his hands through black hair. Toby noticed his hair was longer and fluffier. probably a troll thing, take ARRRGGH! for example. Jim's sobs turned to just heavy breathing as he started to calm down. his face still buried into Toby's chest. in a different scenario, Toby would look like a tomato with how much he would be blushing, but his friend was hurting both physically and mentally.

after a few minutes, Jim slowly pulled away from the hug. Toby smiled at him, trying to cheer him up. Jim gave him a weak smile back. Toby took notice that his horns were a lot smaller, almost unseen in the mess of hair. his fangs no longer sticking out of his mouth. the stone skin on his arms was down to his elbows instead of his neck and the glow from his chest was barely noticeable through the bandages. 

"i know this isn't exactly the best of cases, but feeling any better?" Toby asked with a sideways grin. Jim huffed a small laugh, rubbing his face to get rid of the excess tears. when he felt something wet from his hand, he looked down, seeing it was bloody. 

he couldn't remember what happened on the way out of the museum but he did remember his freak out barley a half hour ago. panic set in again, he couldn't even imagine hurting Toby with his own hands. the thought alone made him sick. Toby saw this and was fast to ease his mind, he knew where Jim's mind went. 

"Jimbo, its ok." the brunet said, reaching for the others hand. Jim almost pulled away but let him grab his hand, although he clenched his fist, curling up his fingers in an attempt not to hurt anyone again. Jim looked up wide eyed.

"Whose blood?" Jim rasped as he couldn't get the whole question out. it hurt to talk, especially after all the crying. Toby grimaced and pointed to the slim boys chest. Jim looked down, confused. his ears pinned back against his head. that small movement caught Toby's attention. Jim's ears were pointed like elf ears, with the tips going the same blue-ish-gray as his arms. 

upon seeing his bandaged torso, Jim put the pieces together. it was his blood. memories of the museum came back, how they got there, what happened during, and how they got out. he felt so guilty. he had nearly killed Nomura and probably scared Toby to death in the process.

"Tobes," he croaked but paused from the pain in his throat. "I'm so sorry, i. . . i can't- i . . " stuttering wasn't helping his pain. Toby was about to say something as he reached up and put his free hand on Jim's shoulder, as his other hand still held the bloody one, but Jim continued. "I'm sorry, i don't know what's going on. i can't control it." he said tearing up again.

"oh, no, no, buddy, it's not your fault. none of this is your fault. don't apologize, this is my fault." Toby said. Jim looked up in shock, how could Toby possibly blame himself? " i told you about trolls, dragging you into this rabbit hole of danger and now you're hurt because of it. im sorry Jimbo." Jim wanted nothing more in that moment to tell Toby about the time travel thing, to tell him it was Jim's own choices to turn troll, that it wasn't his fault, not by a long shot. but it didn't come out.

Jim leaned against the wall, using it as leverage to push himself up. ignoring the pain and Toby's complaints, he stood up. his best friend right there to catch him if needed. standing at his full height, both boys noticed Jim had grown a few inches taller. he was now maybe 5'11, where he was 5'6 that morning. not nearly as tall as his half troll form but very much noticeably taller.