A few weeks later, and Jim was able to remember most, if not all, of the details from his night of drunkeness. It really wasn't as bad as he had feared; he hadn't been rude, or loud, or obnoxious to anyone (thank God), but it was now well-known throughout Trollmarket that he — a big, strong troll — had been outdrunk by a weak, human teenager. Only Glug and a couple of other trolls had actually met Sarah, and they had no idea who she actually was, and Jim had declined to share that information when questioned over it. Blinky and NotEnrique were the only ones who knew who Sarah really was, but they had yet to actually meet her, and Sarah had been a little too nervous around a bunch of unknown creatures to ask for anyone's name.
His night with Claire came back to him in full detail, with a little help from his mate treating him to a 'reenactment' when the baby finally went down for her nap, and he could understand why she had blushed. She had said that he was 'amorous,' but that was an understatement — he'd been mortified to remember that he had been nothing more than a horny mess when Sarah had helped him back from the pub, and he'd nearly undressed Claire right in front of his laughing sister before his mate had used her magic to hold him in place long enough to make a travel charm for Sarah. It was a good thing that Ellie was a hard sleeper, because he'd pounced on his wife as soon as he'd been released from her spell. They'd been wild, rough, and not at all quiet. In fact, they had woken the baby at one point, but Claire had been quick to soothe her before Jim could drag her back to him. He wasn't sure if the resulting crack in the kitchen counter could be repaired, given that it was carved into the surrounding solid rock.
"I think you're coming down with something," Jim mused aloud as he watched Claire trying to wrestle Ellie into one of her dresses. The baby thought it was a great game, and was wiggling stubbornly while screaming with laughter.
"Wh-what?" Claire replied, looking up at him in distraction. Ellie noticed and managed to fling a booty off across the room. Claire growled in frustration and glared down at the baby, who just giggled in response. Looking back up at Jim in exasperation, she continued, "What makes you think that?"
"You smell weird," he replied, shrugging and then laughing at the affronted look that she shot him.
"Gee, thanks," Claire said in a flat voice before turning back to the baby and making another attempt to pin her arms down.
"No, I mean..." Jim laughed again, rubbing the back of his neck in an awkward gesture. "You've got this... sweet scent... coming from you; but it's wrong — too sweet, like sickly."
Finally managing to get Ellie into her dress and buttoning up the back, Claire lifted the baby up and hugged her to her chest, bouncing her lightly. Walking over to Jim, she passed the baby to him and went to retrieve the booty that had been flung off. "I don't feel sick."
Jim hummed to himself thoughtfully as he leaned down and blew a raspberry against his daughter's cheek. The baby squealed and babbled happily in response, her little hand gripping his shirt in a tight fist. "Maybe it's just a cold or something."
"Does Ellie smell different?" Claire asked, coming back over and deftly slipping the lost booty back onto the baby's foot. She pressed a gentle kiss to Ellie's forehead, and Jim knew that she was feeling for a fever. She brushed her hand through the baby's downy hair, rubbing gently at the base of one of her horns, and Ellie purred happily in response, her eyes drifting closed in lazy pleasure. Jim and Claire both chuckled at the look, and the baby grinned back at them. "She seems fine."
"No, her scent hasn't changed," Jim replied, pressing his own kiss to his daughter's forehead. "The scent's coming from you."
"Well, you know..." Claire said, giving Jim a fond smile before turning away and walking over to her dresser and grabbing her hair brush. Her hair had grown in the past year, now falling to lie mid-back, and she brushed it up into a quick and high ponytail, taking a moment to put on a thin coating of lip gloss. "My cycle's been all weird and non-consistant since the baby was born... maybe my body is just now starting to readjust itself. I do have a bit of cramping... maybe that's it?"
