Learning to Care

Chapter 3

Since Claire was the only one with real babysitting experience (Jim's ill-fated episode with Notenrique didn't count) she was the natural expert on what to do with baby Blinky. Since it was almost dark, and Claire's parents were getting ready to head out of town for the weekend, they decided to bring Blinky to her house instead of running the risk of him getting lost in Troll Market. Blinky's clothes hadn't shrunk with him, so Jim got one of his older shirts and cut two more holes on the sides for Blinky's lower set of arms, adding to some shorts that Claire's parents were saving for Enrique. Of course, Notenrique though it was hilarious, almost crying from the exertion of laughing as Blinky ran around the house yelling random words in Trollish.

Aargh was bewildered by his intelligent friend's current state, and was no help with coming up with games to play. He seemed to be afraid of hurting Blinky, since Aargh himself was so large and Blinky was so small. "Aargh, he's not going to break if you touch him you know. Just relax! We'll have our friend back in no time." Jim said consolingly, patting Aargh on the shoulder. After that Aargh was much better, but he was still clueless on many things. Such as what to do with tantrums.

It had gotten late, and Jim had had to leave to make dinner, leaving Claire, Toby, and Aargh to manage Blinky. The tiny troll tot was getting pretty tired, and as a result he was getting cranky. Things escalated quickly when Claire gave Blinky some blocks to play with and Aargh accidentally knocked down some of them. The tiny troll threw a tantrum and wouldn't stop crying at the top of his lungs, only quieting when Aargh gave him one of Enrique's noise making toys. That soon proved to be very annoying indeed, but it was better than the crying. Soon after, Blinky crawled onto Aargh's knee and fell asleep. Aargh seemed intimidated by the fact that something so small could trust him so much, but it warmed his heart. After all, Blinky was still his friend, no matter what age he was. Aargh carried his infant friend upstairs, where Claire and Toby made him a tiny bed out of extra blankets and a large couch cushion next to Claire's own bed. 

Aargh slept on the ground next to Blinky the entire night, unwilling to leave his best friend's side for even one second. As he looked upon the tiny troll beside him, Aargh vowed that he would protect him at any cost, for as long as he should live.