I Remain (Trollhunters)

1

Jim grunted slightly as he sat down on a rock, sighing heavily as he closed his eyes and leaned his head back. His fangs jutting out of his lower jaw tickled his upper, something he still wasn't used to. Huffing through his nose, he opened his eyes again and looked down at his blue troll hand. Sixteen years, he was human. Now it had all been thrown away in one night. Now he was troll.. in a way. In another, he was really neither. Had the transformation been worth it? Absolutely. Jim knew that he most likely would never had been able to defeat Gunmar and Morgana without his new abilities. And not to say he didn't like it. He felt closer to the troll kind he was protecting than ever before, and the perks were pretty awesome.

Still, it didn't mean he didn't miss his old life.

Sighing again, he crouched and put his chin in his hands, pouting slightly. Today had been long and tiring, and he was looking forward to actually getting some rest this night. The underground tunnels were a bit stuffy, but up here, in the forest, the air was a lot fresher, and the night was cooler. Trolls didn't really have the same sleep pattern as humans, but all of them were certainly tired after the long journey, and it had only been about five days or so since they had departed.

"You okay, Jim?"

The Trollhunter perked up immediately when he saw his girlfriend heading his way, not brandishing her armor for once, instead in some normal clothes, dressed for the warm night. She smiled brightly and sat next to him, taking his hand and squeezing it. He smiled at her, a tiny purr escaping his throat, another thing that he wasn't really used to.

"Yeah, just a bit tired, Claire," he said softly, taking his head out of his free hand and leaned close. "Thanks for asking. You?" he asked as he placed a small peck on her forehead.

She chuckled slightly, brushing some hair behind her ear. "Doing just fine. Probably as tired as the rest of you." She shivered slightly as his stone skin tickled her forehead as it brushed against her, the fangs feeling slightly out of place as he kissed her.

Jim grimaced and backed away sadly. "Sorry. I bet that feels weird..," he mumbled as he looked away with a slight blush on his face.

Claire frowned at him, slapping his shoulder. "Oh, don't do that," she said with a smirk. "It'll just take some getting used to, that's all." Her other hand reached out and took his cheek, turning his head so he was facing her again. "I love you, no matter what you look like."

His face erupted into an even brighter red, a silly grin opening up as he chuckled nervously. This time, Claire leaned in and kissed his forehead, brushing away some of his mane first. Jim tried to contain his swelling heart, smiling bubbly and squeezing her hand tightly in his fondly.

"Oh, my," came a curious voice. "I did not know that trolls could turn such a color on their faces."

The couple turned their heads quickly, both of them startled and embarrassed. Blinky and Merlin stood a little farther off, watching with curious expressions. The six eyed troll touched his own face with two of his hands, blinking innocently a few times as he obviously wondered if he could do that. Merlin's expression became amused and he lifted a few curled fingers to his mouth in an effort to hide his chuckle.

Claire pouted a little for a moment, but shook her head and smiled again. "I'm not sure if all trolls can do that, Blinky," she said. "Jim is a special case."

"Indeed," Merlin agreed with a nod of his own head. "Jim was once human, now part troll, thanks to me. He still has a few things to discover about himself. Don't you, Trollhunter?" he added, throwing said Trollhunter a smile.

Jim frowned, his face still a little red in embarrassment. "Yeah, yeah," he huffed as he inched away from his girlfriend, who only looked at him mischievously. "What are you to doing anyway?" he asked the troll and wizard.