Trollhunters: Never Alone

Savage Customs

I'm not going to lie. I might of shed some tears as my little bro hugged our very confused and angry mother, but thankfully she let us off the hook for missing 'only a day'. When Mom had to go back to work later that night, Jim and I spent the majority of the evening filling each other in on everything that had happened, until Jim understandably retired to his room due to exhaustion. It worked out for the best since I still had papers to grade.

I thought that I would be relieved when I saw Draal down in the basement where my work desk was, but, instead, I had the uncanny feeling that this was going to be an awkward night.

The basement was quiet, except for the sounds of pen scribbling along the homework that I was grading and the sharpening of Draal's ax in the corner. It was amazing that I could focus on grading at all while my mind processed the day's events, particularly, a certain memory that kept pushing itself to the forefront of my mind. The memory of Draal calling kissing a savage custom. I didn't think it would upset me as much as it did because I recalled when Jim was nervous about his first kiss with Claire and how uncomfortable the very notion made trolls feel. But, now that Draal and I were getting closer as a couple, it was becoming something that I couldn't ignore anymore. Next thing I knew, I found myself breaking the silence,

"It's great to have Jim back."

Draal stopped sharpening his ax and looked at me while saying, "Yeah. It is great." Then, he went back to sharpening his ax. I tightened my grip on my grading pen in frustration.

"So... wasn't it sweet to see how close Jim and Claire are getting as a couple? That kiss was so romantic, right?" I questioned.

Draal slowly set his ax down and asked, "What is this about, Monica?"

"I just wanted your thoughts on kissing. What do you think about it?" I wondered.

"I do not find it appealing." Draal admitted.

"I believe the exact words were 'savage custom.'" I corrected. Draal exhaled a long sigh, but failed to respond. So, I continued heatedly, "Because the very idea of kissing a human is repulsive, especially for a troll." There was dead silence that was filled with enough tension that I'm pretty sure Merlin himself was stirring in his grave.

Finally, Draal stood up and walked over to my desk and stated, "I understand you're angry, but I can't help how I feel about it. It's just not something that troll's do."

"Well, you're not dating a troll, are you?" I retorted.

"And I'm not a human, am I?" Draal snapped back. That dang silence returned. Suddenly, the anger that I felt steamed out and all that I was left with was uncertainty,

"You... have a point," I admitted, "It's just... how are we supposed to make this relationship work when everything that is supposed to make a relationship romantic only feels natural to one of us?"

Draal took both of my hands in his and stated, "Monica, you know I love you, right?"

"Of course I do, and I seriously love you, but how are we supposed to have a serious relationship when-" I was suddenly cut off by Draal bringing his face to mine, kissing me. I was stunned to say the least and when he pulled back, he stated softly,

"Our relationship will work because we're going to find what makes it work together."

Then, we heard a slight cough coming from the stairs. It was Jim. He just looked at us and we stared back until Jim muttered, "Okay, then." And went back upstairs. So much for knocking. My brother must of lost all of his manners in the Darklands.

Well... that takes care of me having to tell Jim about Draal and I dating at least.