Barbara the Belonging

The Return to Trollhunting

It had been two days, and Barbara was starting to feel a little better.

However, she still tends to blank out for a couple of moments here and there and has acted a little slower than usual.

Jim had noticed his mother's strange behavior before leaving for school and hoped that she wouldn't doze off at her job.

Right. Her job.

Barbara forgot how much she missed the slow mornings and the usual early check-up appointments.

The only thing that kept her from blanking out was having a nice cup of coffee, but she didn't want to overdose on caffeine.

That wouldn't be very responsible of her to do.

So, she had to take small drinks, hoping the tiny amount of energy would keep her active and alert throughout her whole shift.

Thankfully, Barbara just made it out of work without anyone noticing her unusual behavior.

She just hopes that her mind will slowly clear up soon, as she doesn't know how much she can keep this up.

After work, Barbara decided to head over to the Café.

Once she was there, she found Lucas there too, who was enjoying a good donut and a milkshake.

"Hey sis. How's it hanging?" The man enthusiastically asked as Barbara sat at the table.

"Oh, you know. The usual. Which... is exactly how I like it. Just plain old normal. I mean, being at home is normal, work is normal, and Arcadia hasn't really changed a bit. Exactly how it was before." She answered with a sigh of satisfaction.

"Sure. That's one way to put it. But, you've been through a lot, and I think you should take it easy." Lucas cautiously spoke, which the woman brushed his concerns off.

"Please, I feel fine. All I need right now is to have a normal day."

It didn't seem to convince her stepbrother, as he slowly began to notice something off with her.

Her voice pitched anxiously, like she was hiding something but quickly covers it up by her optimistic attitude.

"After briefly being in the Darklands, I too could use a normal day." He spoke and finished eating his donut.

Barbara decided to order something for herself, just to nourish her brain from going blank again.

"Have you noticed something wrong with Blinky?" She asked.

"No. Why? Did something happen?" Lucas replied as he drank his milkshake.

The woman sighs and looks out the window, feeling really worried.

"That night. During dinner, he seemed fine. But after, he looked like he was in a hurry and... upset. Do you think it has something to do with me, or...?

"Nahh. I don't think he's upset because of you. Maybe there is something going on in Troll Market that has him on edge. You know, he probably has a lot on his mind, just like you."

The more she thought about it, the more it seemed reasonable.

Suddenly, the waiter approaches and serves Barbara her order.

"Here you go, miss."

"Oh. Thank you very much."

"No problem. Have a magical day." The young man smiled and walked away.

What a weird thing to say to someone...

"But what worries me the most is how is he handling it? I don't want him to bottle up whatever is bothering him. I mean, you know it's not healthy."