Calamity's Lil Corner

|| Call me Cala~ || 23 || She/Her ||

[calamitycrown]

ᴍᴀꜱᴛᴇʀʟɪꜱᴛ ᴘᴏꜱᴛ [ᴡʀɪᴛɪɴɢꜱ]

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Welcome to the Master Post for all my writings! Feel free to leave requests for characters I've already written for, or ask about characters I have yet to write for <3 Criticism and ideas are always welcome too! I love getting people’s thoughts on my work so I can improve and get to know what I’m doing right. Or if you just wanna chat or brain about a certain story, I’m always up for that ^^

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𝕋𝕣𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕙𝕦𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤

✦ Enchantment [Draal x Reader] ✦ SFW ✦ ⭒ Multi-Chapter Work ⭒ Currently Unfinished ⭒ Content Warning[s]: Injury, Brief Description of Blood and Wounds ✦ Chapter 1 ⭒ Basement Dweller ✦ Chapter 2 ⭒ Two Steps Up ✦ Chapter 3 ⭒ Is This Even Legal? ✦ Chapter 4 ⭒ Training Trauma ✦ Chapter 5 ⭒ Terror Amongst Valor ⭒ Current Word Count: 32,290 ⭒ AO3 Link ⭒

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𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔽𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕜 ℂ𝕚𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕤

✦ Pierrot With a Reader Who Struggles With Love / Relationships ✦ SFW ✦ ⭒ Headcannons [request] ⭒ Finished ⭒ Content Warning[s]: Obsessive Behavior [canon typical] ⭒ Word Count: 1,543 ⭒ AO3 Link [n/a] ⭒

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ℙ𝕠𝕜é𝕞𝕠𝕟

✦ To Change the Heart and Mind [N x Reader] ✦ SFW ✦ ⭒ Multi-Chapter Work ⭒ Currently Unfinished ⭒ No Current Content Warnings ✦ Chapter 1 ⭒ The Wonder of the Woods ⭒ Current Word Count: 6,871

⭒ AO3 Link ⭒

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⭒ Links to Divider Assets ⭒

☾ Small Star ☾ Three Moons ☾ Moon + Stars ☾ Lines ☾

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[calamitycrown]

Pierrot x Reader — Pretty Little Obsession

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Note: I’ve gotten a few requests since my first TFC post, and I’m excited to write for them!! I will do my best to get to them in time. I’ve never written for some of these things before, but I’ll do my best to be accurate to the requests! <3

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Summary:

Although you’ve only known Pierrot for a couple of months, you find yourself falling for him.

You also come to find out that he fell for you hard ages ago. He’s driving himself crazy by holding back his confession.

You had already noticed he had somewhat obsessive tendencies, but you’re about to see just how much the thought of you has occupied his mind.

Pairing: Pierrot x Reader [The Freak Circus]

Warnings: Obsessive Behavior [canon typical]

Masterlist Post

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You stood behind the register, begrudgingly working your monotonous little café job as the only employee in the damned building. The other person that was supposed to be there to help you called in with some mysterious illness, and your boss had an unexpected, unmissable appointment pop up halfway through the final part of your evening shift. At least the daily rushes were over, or else you may have lost your mind then and there. You were thankfully able to get through most of it with your head still attached to your shoulders. Only one more hour to go and you’d be home free. 

As the flow of customers had slowed, you finally had a chance to do some tidying up; wiping down counters that coffee had been spilled on, cleaning parts of the most used machines, refilling syrups and beans, etcetera. Halfway through your tidying, you heard the familiar chime of the door bell warn you of an incoming customer. You inwardly groaned at the interruption to your momentary reprieve, tossing the paper towels you had been using to wipe up the cleaning spray you had used on the countertops before returning to your place at the register, 

“Welcome in, how can I help you?” You asked as cheerily as you could manage in your exhaustion, forcing a tired smile onto your face. As the customer began to speak, your ears instead picked up on a muffled noise. It sounded like it was coming from out front… 

You leaned to the side slightly to see around the customer in front of you, looking out the large windows of the shop to see something that immediately wiped your exhaustion away and woke your nerves up in seconds; Pierrot stood out on the sidewalk, flyers in hand, with an angry passerby shouting and advancing into his personal space threateningly. The poor Pierrot backed away, free hand up in surrender since he couldn’t speak in front of others – you being the exception, only when you two were alone – but the aggressor refused to stop. People on the streets had either stopped to stare or quickened their pace as things escalated quickly. 

You had known the Pierrot for a while now. He had unfortunately been in an all too similar situation during your first chance encounter; some belligerent man on the street began to shout at him, eventually escalating to slapping the poor entertainer. You had been the one to step in – literally, stepping between the two – and shoo the man off. Since then, you hadn’t gone a day without seeing or running into him someplace. You came to find he was actually rather sugary sweet, just a man trying to do his job. You had even visited the circus a few times using the special red ticket he had given you. His act was macabre, the first you had come to see involving some mannequin with rather realistic blood packets that exploded upon impact, or so you thought that’s how it was done. Unique, if not a little gore heavy. Despite that, you always enjoyed your conversations with the Pierrot afterward, and he seemed to enjoy having your company for a while, whether it be after a performance or when you two bump into one another on the streets. 

Knowing Pierrot wouldn’t stand up for himself in such a public area, especially with the whole silent act, you rushed out from behind the counter and stomped to the front door. The little bell chimed as you flung the door it hung in front of open, catching both Pierrot and the man’s attention. The latter seemed confused as he turned to face you, but the former was more surprised than anything, maybe even a little relieved. You walked around Pierrot to stand between him and the man, mirroring your first meeting with the Pierrot almost perfectly, and began to speak, 

“Hey, hey! Who do you think you are?” 

“Who do I think I am?? I’m a concerned member of this community, and I want this freak and his freaky circus outta town! Don’t you know they’re the reason people are going missing??” 

“Oh please. You people just don’t know a unique act when you see it. They’re just here doing their job, so leave Pierrot and the circus alone, or-” 

“Doing their job?? Well, I dunno what kinda job has crazy weirdos walking around nice towns in weird fuckin’ clothes like this is some sorta larp roleplay stuff! It’s disturbing, honestly!” 

“Their acts are literally meant to be disturbing and weird. Now I have to ask you to leave café property or else I’m-” 

“Or else? OR ELSE?? What’re ya gonna do, girlie? Call the cops on me? It’s that freak you better be callin’ the cops on-” 

As the belligerence went on, you turned your body halfway to look up at Pierrot, “Geez, people… Are you alright-” but your voice caught in your throat as you saw the state of the poor man; blood dribbled from a slash above his eyebrow, his white hair tousled with a few drops of blood in it. His sleeves were ripped in places, and the ruffle collar he wore was ripped nearly in half, as if it had been used to grab and tug him around violently. Your blood boiled as you observed every detail of every bit of violence he had endured before you had appeared. Looking into his eyes, you saw the concern in them, and your heart broke at how helpless he truly was in these situations he all too often found himself in… 

“Oh, Pierrot… Go inside, go to the back, and shut the door so no one bothers you. I’ll deal with this-” 

“HEY!!” 

You flinched at the excessive volume, anger returning as you turned back to the aggressor. Before you could speak, you felt a large hand on your shoulder. You looked up to see Pierrot shaking his head, as if asking you not to do this. You simply smiled, “Don’t worry, this is nothin’ in customer service~.” You half-joked, gently shooing him inside. Thank god he did as you said, your eyes following him as he hurried inside and into the back room. However, you saw him peeking around the door to keep his eyes on you. Well… Good enough, you supposed. 

“I can’t believe you’re defending that monster! You don’t know what you’re doing-” 

“Sir,” You sternly began, turning to fully face the man in front of you once more, “leave now before the police get involved. The station is just a few blocks away, they could be here in seconds.” 

Your threat made him laugh, “Oh, you’re done, little girl…” He mumbled, raising a fist to strike at you with, but he was sloppy and gave you way too much time to react. You easily stepped – or maybe more accurately, you stumbled – back to avoid the attack, raising your foot to easily kick the man in the gut and knock him straight onto his ass. You nearly lost your balance, but were able to steady yourself soon after. Just as he was moving to get up, a sharp, loud, crackling sound stopped him in his tracks. His expression became even angrier as his eyes landed on the taser you now held in your hand, thumb on the trigger as you released it, turning the device off. 

No words were exchanged – your glare and weapon at the ready said plenty – as you pulled your phone out of your pocket and dialed the police. As you had threatened, they were at the scene within a couple of minutes, sirens blaring and lights flashing. They parked, apprehended the man, and you gave them your statement. They asked for the security footage from the café to be delivered to them as soon as possible, to which you said your boss would have to get them tomorrow. With that, the man was hauled off by the police, leaving you to come down from the excitement. 

With a sigh, adrenaline beginning to wane, you walked back into your workplace, only to see customers leaning close to one another and whispering as they glanced up at you and the door to the back room. With a small huff, you reluctantly made a call that might get you written up tomorrow; “Alright everyone! I’m sorry, but I’m gonna have to close up shop for the day. Sorry you all had to see that. Thank you for your understanding and have a good day.” 

The people in the shop, especially the few who stood in line waiting to be served, disappointedly began to file out of the small public seating area. Some grumbled discontently, others whispered to one another about Pierrot and how you could protect someone like that, and others yet simply glared at you before walking out. Wow, this circus’ image was worse than you first thought. When the shop was cleared of the public, you shut the door, locked up, and brought all the blinds on the windows down. 

As you finished shutting everything down, you heaved out a sigh. Had you made the right decision in doing that? Both in shutting down shop for the day, as well as so openly defending Pierrot while on the job? Once you glanced behind the counter, seeing the poor man you had rescued peeking out at you from behind the doorway to the break room, you knew the answer was yes. Regardless of whether you may be written up for it later, you had done the right thing. 

You smiled gently, genuinely, as you turned and made your way towards the back of the shop. Pierrot was quick to duck out of sight as you did. You heard a chair scraping against the hard floor before you entered the small break room, eyes landing on Pierrot as he sat curtly at the small table on the far end of the room. 

“Pierrot~.” You said in somewhat of a sing-song tone, making the nervous man jump slightly. The bells on his hat jingled with his movement as his head slowly turned to look up at you. Walking up to him, you sat in the chair next to his, turning it to face him. Pierrot sat with his arms on the table, hands fidgeting with one another. The injured side of his face was turned away just enough to hide the wound from you. As you looked into his eyes, you wondered what he was feeling. Anxious? Upset? Scared? 

“Oh, hun… Face me? Please?” You asked in a much more hushed tone. Your soft voice seemed to entice him – you could see the way his eyes darted towards and away from you rapidly as if he was debating whether he should obey – but he ultimately shook his head lightly. Your brows furrowed on your otherwise soft expression, 

“C’mon, I need to see the damage. I already saw you bleeding, so there’s no point hiding it from me.” As you spoke, your hands came up to cup his face and your tone became slightly firmer. You could feel his skin heat up as you slowly, gently, turned his head to face you properly. You finally got a good look at his face; the cut wasn’t terribly deep, but still deep enough to bleed like a motherfucker, especially in such a vascular area. Blood still wept from the wound when his expression changed, following the preexisting trail over his eyebrow, to his eye, and down his cheek and jaw. Thankfully, the dark nature of his costume meant you could barely see the places blood had pooled and stained. 

“Oh, Pierrot…” You mumbled as you stood and took a step closer to the Pierrot, gently turning his face to get a better angle of the wound. You felt him flush further at your closeness, but paid it no mind, “Hold on…” You walked briskly to the other side of the room, unlocking your locker and grabbing a full first aid kit before making your way back to Pierrot. You opened it on the table, setting out a selection of items; alcohol wipes, medical tape, cotton pads, antibacterial cream, and the largest bandage in the kit. 

“Hold still, ‘kay? This’ll probably sting.” You warned before you got to work. The cotton pads were gently pat against his skin, freeing his pretty face of the blood that marred it. You were extra attentive when it came to the area around the wound in fear it would hurt him. However, Pierrot didn’t even flinch as your hands worked to fix him up. Once he was cleaned up, you opened an alcohol pad and lightly swiped it over the wound to thoroughly disinfect the area. You noticed how he shivered at the coolness of the alcohol evaporating on his skin, as you doubted it really stung with how high you had come to realize his pain tolerance was. Finally, you unwrapped the bandage, applied a generous amount of cream to it, and secured it over the wound with medical tape. All the while, Pierrot had been the best patient. It honestly somewhat surprised you how perfectly still he had been. 

Taking a small step back, you grinned at your handiwork, “There ya go, big guy! I did my best, but it’s probably not the greatest. You should change it tomorrow morning to make sure it’s not getting infected, okay?” You prompted as you turned to pack up the medical supplies, seeing Pierrot nod out of the corner of your eye. 

“Thank you, my lady…” He said quietly, voice slightly gravely due to his constant act of silence. You found the way his typically quiet tone and sweet way of talking juxtaposed his intimidating stature cute. When he first spoke to you, you would have never expected that voice to come out of him, but you had grown used to it over the couple of months you had known the guy. He only ever spoke to you in private – which didn’t happen to be terribly often, sadly – but you found yourself wishing he’d speak more often. 

“Don’t mention it. You would’ve done it for me.” You waved it off, as if it was a daily occurrence. Your feet carried you back to your locker to put the kit away. As you turned back around, you found yourself face-to-chest with Pierrot, having to crane your neck slightly to look up at him. The smile you had come to commonly associate him with had returned to his face, 

“You’re… Far too good to someone like me, my lady… You shouldn’t feel that you have put yourself in harm’s way like you did.” 

“Pierrot, I know damn well how you get pushed around by people like that.” You pointed your finger into his chest to accentuate your point, making your way around the man and into the other room in the back. He was quick to obediently follow right on your heels as you went on, “I haven’t forgotten how we met, and I bet you haven’t either. I can’t just watch you getting bullied like that, especially when you get hurt like this and when I know how sweet you are. I just wish those bastards would take a second to realize their cryptid skepticism bullshit is baloney…” 

“You… You think I’m… sweet…?” His voice came from behind you, soft and fragile. When you looked back at him, you saw his hands fidgeting with his gloves, head angled downward in a bashful way. God, how could such a physically imposing guy like him be so utterly sweet?? 

“Hun, you’re about as sweet as the milkshakes you always order.” You grinned up at Pierrot as you untied and took off your apron. You hung it up before fishing around in your pocket, finding your ring of keys and opening the back door of the shop. Pierrot followed as you walked out, waiting for you to continue as you locked the door as he wrung his hands together. You began once more as you walked side by side to your apartment, 

“You don’t deserve a fraction of the harassment you get. If anything, Harlequin should get to be the one who deals with these psychos. Honestly, it makes me so angry to see you being treated like that… Some people are just so afraid of the stupidest thing, like people they don’t know dressed up as something they don’t understand. Ridiculous.” You looked away from the man for a moment and smiled, “But I know you. I like you and the way you dress, the circus and your performances… They just don’t know what they’re missing out on~.” 

As you turned back around, you couldn’t see how Pierrot’s face went completely beet red, hiding in his gloved hands as he walked behind you. You knew you wouldn’t get a response in a public place like on your way to your apartment, but you kinda liked flustering the man while he was unable to say anything back. His reactions were adorable, after all. You could tell he was flustered even without seeing it; his eyes alone always gave so much away, and he could be incredibly predictable when you showered him with praise and sweet words. Although those who don’t know him may call him mysterious or strange, you could think of no better word to describe him than adorable. 

It didn’t take long to get back to your apartment. Pierrot was quick to snatch your keys away from you and unlock your door, opening it and standing aside with that smile of his as he motioned you inside with his arm. ‘Ladies first,’ you knew he was implying. You smiled and walked a few steps into the apartment, 

“D’aw, aren’t you such a gentleman? Thank you, dearest Pierrot~.” You turned and offered a mock courtesy as thanks, to which he happily played along by bowing deeply, one hand to his heart and the other tucked politely behind his back. He was always doing the littlest things for you, and you thought it was just the cutest thing, especially when he smiled at you so sweetly while doing so. You loved playing it up with him, especially since he’d always return it with enthusiasm. 

“You’re very welcome, my lady.” He gladly chimed as he walked into your apartment and closed the door behind him, able to speak again now that the two of you were sufficiently alone. As he turned to face you, the hand behind his back came to his front, surprising you with a bouquet of hand crafted paper roses. They were all the same deep red as his outfit, with one (color) rose standing out in the middle of them. This one was fuller than the rest, crafted with maybe double the paper petals as the others in the bunch so it truly stood out. 

A hand quickly came up to cover your mouth in surprise before you reached out to take the gift. As you pulled them closer, you noticed they smelled somewhat of iron, though you were quick to brush it off as you were overtaken with the kindness of the gesture, “What-?! Pierrot, you charmer!! This is way too sweet, you really shouldn’t have…” Your heart skipped multiple beats as your eyes scanned every detail of every flower. You could tell how much effort and thought he put into each one, each stem, each leaf and petal. Now it was your turn to be the flustered one. Even the smallest of his sweet gifts made you just a little flustered, as you had never been given so many thoughtful gifts by someone before… It made you feel special… 

Snapping out of your stupor, you quickly made your way to the kitchen in search of a vessel to hold the precious flowers in. You flung cabinets open and slammed them shut again rather carelessly, digging around and looking behind old or forgotten items in your search. All the while, you ever so carefully held the bouquet in your other arm, mindful to the utmost degree of how you moved so you wouldn’t crush even a single edge of a single petal. 

Pierrot found himself swooning as he watched you rushed about. How couldn’t he?? The most perfect, most wonderful, sweetest person in his world was excited about receiving his gift… He was over the moon! His eyes tracked every little movement you made, every microexpression that crossed your face. He committed every little bit of you and your mannerisms to memory. 

A light, hollow thunk! not far from him brought him back to reality, looking over to see you had placed a glass vase on the countertop and slid the bouquet of paper roses into it, adjusting it just so with careful hands. He looked to the side of it, seeing a smaller glass with the other roses he had brought to you over his couple of months of seeing and visiting you, along with the trinkets he had gifted you on other occasions. Redness coated his face yet again; you had kept everything he gave you…! Pierrot’s heart thrummed heavily against his ribcage, as if it were begging to be released. You truly were the world to him, and he only hoped you felt the same… 

“Pierrot.” 

He could only hum in response to your voice from within his own thoughts. He was only truly brought back to Earth when he felt your hand on his arm, gently shaking him to get his attention. He shook his obsessive thoughts away in favor of looking down at you, seeing the concern on your face. He nearly panicked in response, bending down slightly and grabbing your shoulders, 

“My lady, what’s wrong?? What’s that look for?? Is that creep from earlier still on your mind? You don’t have to worry about him anymore, I’ll take care of it-” 

“No, it’s not that…” You quietly replied. Reaching your hand up, your fingers oh so lightly traced over the bandage you had put over his wound earlier. The tape and adhesive of the bandage itself had both already begun to come loose, one corner already completely detached from his face. 

“Lemme try and properly bandage it for you, this one’s already coming off.” You more so gently demanded rather than asked. Your hand in his, you pulled Pierrot into your room and sat him at the edge of your bed. His weight sunk into the mattress, creating a rather steep dip. His height and sheer muscle tone made him a lot heavier than he looked. 

You walked over to and opened up your closet, reaching up on your toes to grab yet another stashed first aid kit. With it in hand, you returned to Pierrot’s side. He cocked a brow, “How many of those do you have stashed about, my lady? Surely you don’t injure yourself so often.” 

You grinned, huffing a breathy laugh in response, “No, I just like to have them in case of an emergency. One can never be too safe.” You responded, grabbing the same items you had earlier and setting them out, “But as often as you get hurt, im gonna have to make sure I keep them better stocked.” You half-joked. As you situated yourself standing between Pierrot’s legs, you turned your focus to the bandage that was slowly continuing to peel off of his face. 

You were completely oblivious to how Pierrot’s face was yet again set aflame by your proximity while you worked, especially by the specific place you had decided to stand. His hands, previously having been sat curtly in his lap, now hovered in the air on either side of you. He wasn’t entirely sure what to do with them, but god, could he imagine… 

The poor Pierrot’s mind quickly began wandering to places deep in his mind where only thoughts of you lived. Oh, how he wished he could lay his hands on your waist or hips as you worked… To have his claws gently digging into your shirt, into your skin, being able to feel just how supple and soft your form is beneath his touch… The thought alone sent bursts of electricity through him. 

How he’d do anything – beg, plead, bargain – to be able to rest his head against the crook of your neck, to take in your delicate scent and to taste your tender flesh. And god, how he’d give anything in the world to be given the honor – the privilege – of leaving his mark on your gorgeous skin… To let his teeth sink into your neck just enough to make you bleed, to lap his tongue over the wound and taste your undoubtedly sweet blood, and then to watch over the days as it bruised and healed. He’d feel much better letting you walk around the circus if you had his mark on your body… 

“All done!” 

Your sweet voice chimed before he could sink into even more depraved thoughts. Pierrot’s wide eyes darted up to meet yours as you looked down at him. He could feel the pressure of a new bandage and tape over his wound as he gradually regained his senses after his trip through lala land. 

“Uhm… Pierrot?” You said in a questioning tone, making the man look up. You were still oh so close to him, tantalizingly so. His hands could easily reach anywhere and everywhere he so desired. He wondered to himself why you hadn’t moved away yet? 

“Your, uhm… Your hands…” 

Huh? Oh… 

Oh- 

A quick glance down at his own hands revealed they were wrapped firmly around your waist. His claws dug ever so slightly into your shirt, just enough for you to feel their pointed tips through the fabric. Just as he had imagined. Oops. 

Pierrot immediately broke into a nervous sweat. Uh-oh… Had he crossed a line? How could he have acted on his thoughts without even realizing it?? God, he desperately hoped you wouldn’t think he was some sort of creep trying to make a move on you without your permission. That would be the last thing in the world he ever wanted you to think of him… 

The poor man flinched when he felt your soft, warm hands come to lay atop his much larger, colder ones. His fingers flexed slightly, eliciting a choked giggle from you. “Your claws tickle a bit…” You mumbled. His grip loosened as he went to take his hands away in a hurry, but your own kept them where they sat. Your eyes met his as he looked up at you, uncertainty behind the way he looked at you. The poor thing… So quiet, so shy, so cute… 

“You can, uh… Stay right where you are, if you want…” Your quiet voice spoke, your own nerves hiding behind your tone. Well, as long as he was being forward, you decided you may as well be, too. Your hands slowly slid up to his wrists, over his arms, to his shoulders, all the while you could feel each chill it sent through the Pierrot. Your touch occasionally lingered a bit here and there before finally settling on either side of his face, cupping his cheeks with a sweetness you assumed he had never felt before. You watched as his pupils went wide, fixated on your face as his hands began to tremble. Your thumbs gently rubbed across his cheeks, feeling the way they warmed as blood rushed to his face and tinged his white skin – mask? Makeup? – with a red-pink hue. Adorable… Absolutely adorable. 

At his height, even as he sat on your bed, he was only a handful of inches shorter than you. As such, when he kept unconsciously leaning towards you without you stopping him, his chin came to rest on your chest. It was as if you had a gravitational pull that so sweetly lured him closer. Goodness, how were you supposed to say no to that face… Sure he was pretty much putty in your hands, you squished his face lightly. All the while, his eyes never left your face, eyelids fluttering just slightly shut as he began to relax. He was so intently focused on you and you alone. His light, his world, his everything… 

Suddenly, as his tremors came to a head, Pierrot flung himself off the bed and to his knees. The sheer force with which they hit the hard floors made you jump, his hands sliding down from your waist to your legs to grip at your calves and shins, hands large enough to nearly wrap all the way around them. His posture slipped down into a deep bow as if he were worshipping you, groveling before a goddess about to smite him, 

“Please, my lady…! I- I can’t help myself when you look at me like that- with those soft, sweet eyes… When- when you touch me like that, so full of care… Please, you have to tell me-” He begged breathlessly, every bit of him shaking as if he was holding back from something. He sat there for a moment, chest heaving with effort, before his head slowly lifted to look up at you. His expression was the very definition of desperation; eyes clouded with adoration, want, need, need need NEED- 

Pierrot suddenly felt his body lighting on fire, tingling with electricity, his heart beating so incredibly fast and forcefully that he could feel it throughout every bone and muscle fiber in his body. He couldn’t help but stare as his senses were overtaken by you; you you you, only you, only ever you… Your scent, overpowering and wonderful, filling his nose with pure bliss. The way you looked at him, with such sweet care and attention, and the way he looked back with all the crazed obsession he’d been bottling up. How you felt under his touch, the way it made his entire body tingle in anticipation at the thought of touching you – or you touching him – in any way, shape, or form. 

He couldn’t keep holding it back… He’d drive himself mad – to the brink of insanity, and maybe over the edge of it – if he continued trying to stifle his adoration for you… You were like his drug, and he was so hopelessly addicted… 

Pierrot suddenly thrust himself to his feet and picked you up in one swift motion, before turning and throwing you down onto your bed. You bounced once before his hands came slamming down on either side of your body, trapping you between him, the bed, and the wall. No escape. His claws dug into the fabric of your comforter and threatened to shred it with ease, but didn’t, not quite at least. You could hear a couple of seams pop, could feel how the fabric was pulled by his weight, but he had a careful sliver of control in his strength. Despite how terrifying it was, you had never felt unsafe around him. And now was no different. 

In fact, your body felt maddeningly hot as you stared up at the man that loomed over you. His broad chest and shoulders blocked basically all the light from the room, casting both yourself and him in a deep shadow. His eyes glowed in the lowlight, the soft yellow of his irises that was usually welcoming now feeling like it was boring through your very soul as he looked you over. 

“Please…” His voice rasped more than usual between pants, “Tell me… Tell me that you love me, too… I-I don’t think I could go another moment without your love- I’ve held back for these two long months – tried to wait for you – but I’m this close to-…” Pierrot stopped himself. He seemed to choke on his own unspoken words with how he cut himself off. 

He remained silent. His eyes continued to look through you, focused like you’d never seen before, like a predator ready to pounce on its prey the moment it tries to run away. Moments passed with no words spoken… 

His eyes darted to your hand as it moved, watching intently as you raised it towards him. You gently flattened your palm over his chest, able to feel the way he tensed up, how he held his breath. His heart beat at an impossible pace in his chest, no doubt a cause of his erratic behavior. You turned your attention to his face again and met his eyes once more. There were things you couldn’t quite place going on behind those eyes… You knew he had his strange moments, but this was above all of that… 

He had displayed interesting behavior before, not to mention how he was almost certainly inhuman. His claws weren’t sewn into his gloves, his black sclera weren’t tattooed or lenses, nor were his unnaturally colored irises, his teeth were far too sharp and natural looking to be veneers, and you couldn’t find a definitive place where his mask ended and his skin began. It was pretty clear he wasn’t ‘normal.’ Then there was his possessiveness of you, the way you’d seen him every single day without fail, even on your days off, his way of speaking being almost predatory or threatening, but never to you. Yeah, he had issues, and probably was some sort of beast you’d never heard of before. 

But still… Even if it had only been a couple months since you met him, he seemed to have some sort of monopoly on your heart already… 

Suddenly, your hand on his chest balled into a fist, grasping the front of his costume before pulling him down to meet his lips with yours. 

Although you couldn’t see him, you could feel the way the energy shifted; the trembling stopped, his muscles stiffened before relaxing, his hands gripped even tighter at your comforter before releasing. It only took moments for Pierrot to fully relax into you. One arm slipped under your back and the other under your head before he slowly lifted you into him, pressing you firmly against his body. It was almost as if he was trying to become one with you, to meld his soul with yours. 

Pierrot’s hands wandered, still holding you against him as they grasped and released, moved, grasped and released, over and over, as if he couldn’t get you close enough to himself. His kiss wavered between desperate, untrained, eager, and insecure, timid, and unsure. It was as if he was battling with two sides of himself, neither and both wanting to take you for their own at the same time. You couldn’t help but smile into the kiss, arms coming up to wrap around Pierrot’s neck so you could keep him close. 

He probably would have kept kissing you til the end of the world if you let him, but alas your lungs begged for air, and so you were forced to part. You opened your eyes to meet Pierrot’s unreadable expression. His eyes were blown wide, looking at you as if you weren’t real, and his hands gripped you as if you’d disappear when he let go. 

As he seemed to reign himself in, Pierrot leaned down and dug his face into the crook of your neck. You giggled at the ticklish sensation of his hair brushing up against your skin, and at how he allowed himself to be a little vocal. The vibrations of his incoherent mumbling and grumbling against your skin made you shiver slightly. However, you yelped when you felt a sharper sensation. 

Pierrot immediately jumped off of you, throwing himself off the bed and back onto the floor as he knelt. His hands found your thighs, his forehead sitting on your knees. You were quick to sit up at the unexpected reaction. 

“S-sorry- I’m sorry, my lady… I-I got carried away, I should have asked your permission to… to leave a m-mark on you… On your perfect body…” His speech was stuttered, probably because he was still trembling so damn much. Is this really the effect you had on this man? Damn, if that didn’t make you feel a certain way… 

You reached out and placed a hand on his back, gently rubbing circles in a rhythmic motion. He tensed again, but soon hummed softly, relaxing into your touch. His shaking hands now gently kneaded at the plushness of your thighs, head fully resting its weight on top of your knees. You could practically see the tightness in his body leaving. 

“Pierrot, you silly thing…” You began, your smile soft and welcoming, which he could tell even as he stared at the ground, “Can you answer something for me?” You questioned. His head slowly lifted, just enough so he could look you in the eye. 

“Yes my lady, anything for you…” His eagerness was the only thing that stayed the same throughout this whole disorienting ordeal. You tucked a hand under his chin, guiding him to look up further as you leaned down to be nearer to his ear as you softly asked, 

“Tell me… Do you love me…? Is that why you’ve been acting off today?” 

Pierrot shook briefly as an aggressive shiver wracked his entire body, his breath catching in his throat before he responded eagerly, “Y-yes, god- Yes, of course I love you, my lady. You’re the only one I have eyes for. You constantly overtake my thoughts and my senses, my entire being, my everything…!” Words spilled from his mouth like a waterfall, rushed and unable to be stopped, “P-please… God, please…” His hands slightly tightened around your thighs as he practically began begging, pulling himself even closer to you as he spoke, 

“Tell me you love me too, my lady…” 

A soft sigh fell from your lips, laced with nothing but the sugary sweetness you felt for him. You leaned in and pecked Pierrot just on the corner of the mouth. The man was left speechless, mouth agape at the action, eyes trained solely on you, chest almost heaving with breath as he eagerly waited for your answer. His body tried to follow as you pulled away slightly to respond… 

“Of course I love you, goofball~.” 

And so the rest of the evening – and far into the night, into the next morning even – was spent with you basically crushed in cuddles. Even when Pierrot offered you anything and everything your heart could possibly desire of him, all you asked for was a night in together. The two of you were always touching in some way; in the kitchen making a snack? Pierrot was draped over your shoulder, arms around your waist as he happily existed beside you. Sitting in bed watching a movie? He had you in his lap, cozied up in a blanket as you listened to the quiet, almost purr-like sound that came from deep within his chest against your back. Going to sleep? He let you get situated, then cuddled up in your arms once you opened them to him, happily burying himself in your neck. 

Smitten doesn’t even come close to how down bad this man is for you.

━━━━━━━ ⁺‧₊ ☽◯☾ ₊‧⁺ ━━━━━━━

[poppet-seed]

Their association with Flora.

One of royalty, the other of devastation. At least he never remembered the events afterwards.

[calamitycrown]

Hi, I’d like to make a request! Could you write a headcanon for *The Freak Circus* (Pierrot x Reader), where the reader has always been unlucky in love and is afraid of falling in love again?

It should have the same kind of vibe as Laufey’s song *From the Start*.

The lyrics go like this: Oh, the burning pain Listening to you harp on ’bout some new soulmate “She’s so perfect,” blah, blah, blah Oh, how I wish you’d wake up one day Run to me, confess your love, at least just let me say...

Pierrot With a Reader Who Struggles With Love / Relationships [headcannons]

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Aaa thank you for being my first request! I have so many oneshots already planned out for this goober and this is the perfect excuse to write for him even more-

Not entirely sure I captured the song very well, and this is my first time writing headcannons/in this style, so forgive me if it's a little rough or not quite what you expected!

Hope you enjoy~ <3

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Summary:

You were never very lucky when it came to relationships; all of them had ended on sour notes, leaving a bad taste in your mouth for years to come. As such, you swore off love for the foreseeable future.

However, your heart is challenged when you realize you have feelings for the quirky Pierrot that arrived in town with his Circus not long ago.

How will yours and his hearts alike be able to handle it?

Pairing: Pierrot x Reader [The Freak Circus]

Warnings: Obsessive Behavior [canon typical]

Masterlist Post

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Okay, so we all know just how crazy sweet lil Pierrot is for his love; he would set government buildings on fire and wait for the police to come and give him a life sentence in maximum security prison if you so much as hinted at the idea of wanting him to do such a thing. 

So it’s not crazy to think he’d be concerned when he starts noticing you acting off. 

He’s a stalker; man's got your schedule and habits memorized to a tee, which extends to knowing exactly what expressions you make when you’re thinking about something. So when you start talking to him less and making these micro expressions he couldn’t quite place, he’s gonna be overly concerned. 

While his brain tells him someone is being mean to you, bothering you, harassing you, his rational mind [what little he has of it when it comes to you] convinces him that he needs to approach the situation with much less intent to murder someone at the drop of a hat. 

He can’t go scaring his precious darling off, now can he? No no, that won’t do. 

Poor Pierrot really tries his best, but his strained smiles and strange questions when the two of you are alone after your closing shifts don’t seem to coax any answers out of you. 

In fact, they may even send more guards up, much to his dismay.

Your short answers and fragmented bits of conversation leave him desiring more than ever to fix whatever is wrong in your life, if not for your sake then for his because this man is gonna go stir crazy without you- 

Even his little gifts are met with simple sweet ‘thank you’s rather than the excitement you would show before… He can feel his heart practically shatter at the change. 

His mind whizzes with thoughts; what if you hate him? What if you never want to see him again, but are just too perfect and polite to tell him as much? What if you’re planning to disappear in the night never to be seen again, just to get away from him?? 

When it comes to a head, he basically busts down your apartment door one evening, grovels at your feet, grips your hands in his, and begs for answers;

“My lady, please- Is it something I did? Did I frighten you somehow?? I promise I can be better, anything- I can change everything for you! Just please don’t leave me, please don't pull away and leave me alone again-” 

The burning in his chest doesn't ease up as he spills every single word that comes to mind to you. No, it burns hotter, singeing his heart and lungs as his desperation tightens like a choking, red-hot collar around his throat.

The amount of sincerity and willingness to do anything that you can hear in his tone is almost pathetic- 

Probably ends up sitting in front of you as you take a seat on your bed to explain things, since you know damn well he wouldn’t take ‘I don’t wanna talk about it’ for an answer at this point. 

He sits politely with you holding his hands as his head sits in your lap, those big, hurt puppydog eyes staring up at you as they begin to tear up.

You can tell he’s been overthinking. It’s incredibly obvious just by the way he looks at you as if you’ll vanish the moment he lets go of you or takes his eyes off of you. 

You feel guilty for causing him so much distress… And in turn, he feels guilty for making you feel guilty by being distressed in the first place.

How he hates to be the source of your worries...

Pleaseee hold him gently as you explain what’s been going on; that you’ve been thinking about your ex-partners and all the ways you felt when they had broken it off with you.

What you don't disclose is the fact that these thoughts are cropping up again after all this time because you have feelings for him... No, you're not even sure you're entirely ready to admit that to yourself, let alone him...

With every detail Pierrot hears about how these partners hurt you, his blood boils hotter and hotter. You can practically see the steam coming out of his ears, his eyes focusing with deadly intent as he listens carefully to your melodic voice recalling this cruelty toward yourself. 

Those ex’s are lucky you don’t give names, or else Pierrot would have them all on the news come the next day. 

His hands squeeze yours lightly as he sits up straight, “My lady, those wretched excuses for partners do not deserve to take up any space in your mind. I can't stand to hear you speak of partners who have treated you like nothing! Forget about them and what they did. Let me heal the wounds they’ve left, let me show you how someone who truly loves you should treat you…” 

He can’t help but basically confess at that point; he’s already this far in, and he might hurt himself if he holds back any longer, to be honest. 

The confession comes out of nowhere and surprises you, but his words… Oh, how sickeningly syrupy sweet they were, how tempting it was to wholeheartedly believe him… You probably would if you weren't so guarded. 

Maybe your heart could take the brunt of another shot at love... Just one more time. You couldn’t imagine a world in which sweet Pierrot would intentionally hurt your already fragile feelings… 

If you reciprocate his feelings, he suddenly becomes as animated and ecstatic as a golden retriever pfff-

Basically vibrates as he word vomits all the things he’s been dying to say since the day you first saved him on the street, but had kept inside as to not frighten you with how forward obsessive he could be. 

He sits there, basically on top of you as he sits up on his knees, your hands grasped comfortingly tightly in his own as he leans over you. The bells on his hat jingle lightly with every jittery movement he can’t hold in. 

You stop him when his talk becomes a little too obsessive and possessive, but Pierrot is far too overjoyed to care. 

If you let him stay the night, he will absolutely become a cuddle bug. 

Ransacks your apartment to find all the pillows, blankets, and stuffed animals you have so he can pile them onto your bed. He’d meticulously sort them in a way that made a cozy little nest for you both to sleep in~. 

He looks so damn proud of himself when you shuffle your way into it and get comfortable. You can tell he’s doing his best to show just how much he loves and cares for you. It’s hard to miss; it’s practically radiating off of him. 

When you invite him to lay next to you, he’s a little taken aback, but is all too eager to accept once he snaps out of it. He eagerly pulls the covers back, slots himself next to you, and covers you both with the fluffiest blanket he could find. 

Wraps his arms around you, pulls you close, snuggles into the top of your head as he holds you to his chest. 

This is obviously very different compared to any of your past relationships in many ways. But… it feels safer, as if this is exactly where you belonged the whole time… 

Please snuggle back against him, you’ll make him the happiest Pierrot in the world- 

As days go on, Pierrot is showing you every bit of every love language he can think of. 

Every time you see him, regardless of whether it was in passing or not, he always somehow has a small gift ready for you. One time it’s a hand crafted paper rose, another it’s your favorite treat or snack, and so on. Lots of hand made trinkets. 

Every goodbye is punctuated with him taking your hand in his and bowing to meet it with a chaste kiss, so light you almost don’t feel it, then that sweet grin as he stands back up and waves before moving on. 

You come home or to work and find sticky notes with sweet nothings and the like written on them, sometimes with a doodle or another gift. 

In private, he’s constantly mumbling praises and sweet promises; “My dear, my love, my lady… You are the light of my every day, the thing I look forward to most. I love you, so so very much, please know I could never feel anything but love for you-” 

Lots of reassurance born out of the fear that you’ll suddenly leave due to your guards, but it doubles to slowly melt away the protections you had shrouded yourself in for so long.

Just let him in, let him stay, please, he can’t stand the thought of a world without you in it… 

Let him love you in every way possible. 

And in return, he’ll give you anything; his word, his time, his life, everything he is and could be… 

He’ll show you what it is to truly be loved. 

Even if that love is a little crazy. 

━━━━━━━ ⁺‧₊ ☽◯☾ ₊‧⁺ ━━━━━━━

[poppet-seed]

I can't believe i forgot to post this. Whatever go my god au.

[zus-a-fungi]

Dearest moots, if you have ponysona somewhere on your blog pLSSSSSS TAG IT

either i'm missing something or only 6 of my moots have one

[calamitycrown]

SLAMS MY HANDS DOWN-

Firstly, may I humbly say I love the way you’ve been drawing ponies, they look so tasty and your art absolutely feeds my drive to draw them hzksahdjod

@zus-a-fungi I’m like,,, 99% sure we’re moots, but I could be hallucinating that so ignore me if we’re not-

I’ve got this gal! Her name’s Calliope, she’s a pony-basilisk hybrid~

Also I will absolutely be yoinking your sona up and drawing them sometime >:]

[poppet-seed]

He's so bored! Can some new villain try to take over his kingdom again? Thanks!

[calamitycrown]

To Change the Heart and Mind - Ch. 1 - 'The Wonder of the Woods'

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Summary:

You wander out into the forest just as winter is melting to let spring emerge. You watch in hopes of seeing the Season Pokémon, Sawsbuck and Deerling, transition to their springtime coats.

Thanks to a mysterious green haired man you meet, you get to see spring's most beautiful gift.

Pairing: N x Reader

Warnings: None

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The turning of seasons have always been some of your favorite times of the year; the first snowfall when the chills in the air become crisper, summer greens fading to beautiful reds and oranges, snow melt feeding the earth as new flowers bud and bloom… It truly was a gorgeous sight to behold. And being in Unova, there was always a chance of seeing the ever so unique Season Pokémon, Sawsbuck, whose antlers and coats went through changes in coordination with the changing of the seasons, or its pre-evolution Deerling. You looked forward to it at the tide of each season! And as luck had it, the snow on the ground had just melted and made way for the lush greenery of spring… 

Although the air still held a certain nip to it, you continued to rush down the path which led out of the city and into the green fields and forests beyond. Stinging air whipped past your face in the early morning breeze as you sped your way towards the forest in hopes of catching your favorite Pokémon-related event. Your legs simply couldn’t carry you quickly enough…! 

Before too long, the broad dirt roads leading out of Driftveil City narrowed, trees and shrubbery now lining either side of the pathway as you entered the sparsely forested area of Route 6. Although the groups of forest were separated by bits of fields, Deerling and Sawsbuck still frequented the area, giving you a good chance of running into either, or possibly both if you were lucky! Although your main mission was to see a Sawsbuck, you looked just as forward to seeing a Deerling during this transition. And so, finding a nice spot to sit and wait, you passed the time on your phone. As grass and normal types, Sawsbuck and Deerling were more likely to come out as the day became warmer, and thus you had some time to kill. 

About an hour or so had passed before you saw any sort of Pokémon, the first of which was a group of Vanillite, enjoying the still-crisp air that lingered in the shade of the trees before midday came. You watched with a large, uncontainable smile as they danced and played among the trees and shrubbery at the edge of the small clearing you observed. 

As the happy Pokémon they tended to be, when one spotted you, it and the others weren’t at all hesitant to approach you. You watched with bated breath as the group floated through the air towards where you sat, cooing with joy as they began to play. The Vanillite twirled in the air around you, dusting you with tiny snowflakes which melted on your clothes and skin. You couldn’t help but giggle as you held your hands out, allowing them to play as they pleased in your presence, even as your fingertips became chilly. As much as you were enjoying your time with the tiny Pokémon, the group left after one wandered off back into the trees, the light streaming in from above as the sun continued to rise sending them towards the shade further into the cooler shadows the forest provided. Heart a little lighter from the sweet interaction, you turned back to the clearing and continued your watch. 

The next to come out were the tiny Foongus who had been burrowed into the ground overnight, previously hidden by the long grass. They popped out of the soil one by one, dusting themselves off as the sunlight of late morning hit their adorable heads. Dew still sat on their caps, sparkling in the light before being shaken off as they roused with stretches and yawns. You couldn’t help but awe at the adorable scene. 

Swadloon came out just before you began to see all other types of Pokémon making their appearances, swaddled in their grassy, blanket-like cocoons. They always looked so cozy, you loved it! You watched as they used their string to lower themselves from the trees above, and were rather surprised when one happened to land on your head. Gently, you reached up and grasped the Pokémon, bringing it down to the ground so it could join its friends. It didn’t seem one bit bothered as it simply waddled over to another Swadloon. Textbook unbothered nature for the species. 

Even though you were seeing all these different Pokémon – eight species in total so far – the ones you were hoping so desperately to see still eluded you. You shed your jacket as the sun rose high enough to blanket you in its rays, warming you and the forest floor significantly. Alas, even as you sat there for two more hours, not a single deer Pokémon crossed your path… 

Deciding they likely wouldn’t come around, you decided to be content with seeing the Pokémon you had already observed that day and stood, planning to head back into the city. 

However… 

The sound of a heavier creature moving through the brush caught your attention. Freezing in place, your head swiveled from side to side, looking all around yourself to try and locate the source of the sound. A flash of bright, unmistakable white among the greenery caught your eye! You moved ever so slowly as to not scare the Pokémon away, eventually being able to see it in its full glory; a Sawsbuck, still in its winter form with white, insulated fur on its legs and chest and barren branch antlers atop its head. Truly a glory to see, and your favorite form of Sawsbuck. Its head was leaned slightly down, as if munching on the shrubs, but something didn’t seem quite right… 

You continued to circle the Pokémon from a distance, eventually seeing that the foliage had been hiding a person who stood next to Sawsbuck, hand raised and petting the content deer. You could see his mouth moving, but whatever he was saying was far too quiet for you to hear. He looked somewhat peculiar, but not in a bad way in any sense; long, green hair spilled from his ponytail, tufts sticking out this way and that in a somewhat crazy fashion. His clothes were quite simple, just a black undershirt with a white button up overtop, beige pants, and a dually colored black and white hat. More interestingly, his accessories consisted of an almost Saturn-like necklace and a large cube attached to a belt chain which hung by his side, accompanied by a couple of bracelets around his wrists. His eyes… You could barely see the color of them, but when the light hit his face, you caught a glimpse of an almost otherworldly blue-gray color. 

With how in awe you were of this strange man, you were snapped back to reality when a Vanillite passed in front of your face, spinning as the breeze carried it. A small flurry of snowflakes wafted over your face as it passed by. Unfortunately, the chill of the ice-type made your nose tingle, and no matter how you tried to hide your sneeze, it was still rather noticeable. Looking up, you saw the Sawsbuck was now fully alert, staring directly at you. The man next to it was also now looking in your direction. He seemed surprised to see another person out here. Sawsbuck huffed a powerful chuff of air from its nose, creating a high-pitched sound. One of its hooves stomped threateningly on the ground. Warnings. The man turned back to it, gently petting along its neck and seeming to put the deer Pokémon at ease. He turned to you once more when it seemed the Pokémon was at ease, observing for a beat before beginning to walk through the sparse shrubbery towards you. 

You internally began to freak out; why was he coming towards you?? Did you do something wrong?? Were you making him uncomfortable by accidentally staring?!? You had half a mind to walk the opposite way, but were held in place by the Sawsbuck, who stood stock still where it had been left. You were afraid your sudden movement could spook the beautiful deer Pokémon off. Attention turning back to the man as he approached, you wrung your hands together, nerves wracking your body as your heart skipped multiple beats. Fear? Curiosity? Anxiety? You couldn’t tell. 

He came closer, closer, closer… Until he stopped somewhat uncomfortably close to you. You steeled your nerves and chanced a glance up, meeting his icy eyes as they looked down at you, as if judging your soul itself. A moment passed before he spoke plainly, 

“Who are you, and why are you here?” 

His voice was calm, almost enough to soothe your nerves, but his approach and way of speaking made him seem almost robotic, or at least under-socialized. You smiled as best you could as you formulated a response, “Uh- my name’s (y/n), and I just came out here to see the Sawsbuck and Deerling… That one is the only one I’ve seen today, unfortunately-” You pointed behind the man and to the Sawsbuck he had been beside, “- and I’ve been here since early morning. I’m- I’m sorry if I was staring or interrupted, I was just leaving…” Your voice dwindled towards the end, eyes evading his own as you spoke rather quickly due to the sheer anxiety you felt. 

The man in front of you took a moment, but nodded in understanding. “I see. My apologies if I frightened you at all. My name is N.” Again, his way of speaking was monotone, as if he was reading from a script. But his tone changed ever so slightly, as if he had realized how he came off and was trying to be less forward. You released the breath you hadn't realized you were holding, letting out a quiet sigh of relief and composing yourself before replying, 

“Ah- It’s nice to meet you.” You smiled as genuinely as you could despite the circumstances. Right after, your eyes drifted to the Sawsbuck whose gaze was still locked onto you. “Uhm, N… If you don’t mind me mentioning it, the way you were so close to that Sawsbuck a minute ago…” N tilted his head slightly as your eyes met again, indicating his listening. “That was… It was just amazing…! How did you get its trust? Sawsbuck and Deerling are the most skittish Pokémon around this area.” 

N’s expression changed ever so minutely at your sudden question. His typical detest of all humans made him wary to answer such a thing in fear of you planning to do something to the Pokémon, but the way your eyes shone… Somehow, it brought his guard down just enough, “I’ve always had a… close connection with Pokémon. Ever since I was little, I’ve been able to communicate and interact with them, tell what they’re feeling and what they’re saying. They inherently trust me, it seems.” He hesitantly explained, his own eyes darting from place to place in what seemed like awkwardness. Your response was immediate and excitable, yet still quiet as to not spook the Sawsbuck, 

“Really?? That’s incredible! Geez, what I’d give to have a natural connection to Pokémon like that…” You smiled at the thought, anxiety now completely blown away as your interest piqued. N’s brows knitted together slightly, seemingly confused in his own thoughts, not that you noticed. Your eyes darted back to the Sawsbuck who still stood still as an elegant statue, huffing and stomping at you once more as your eyes met. Your smile fell to a less exuberant one, 

“Seems like Sawsbuck doesn’t like me at all, it must think I’m something scary…” You mumbled, mainly to yourself, although N had clearly also heard. He was pulled out of his own head by your words. He glanced over at the Sawsbuck before shaking his head, “I don’t think that’s what’s going through Sawsbuck’s head. You’re definitely not scary, at least.” N reassured with the slightest hint of a smile tugging at his expression. You turned to look up at him, a little struck by his kind words. “Let me show you what I think its standoffishness is really about.” 

With a confident smile, N slowly got to his knees, motioning for you to follow his lead. You did, although you were definitely confused by what he was doing. How was kneeling supposed to make Sawsbuck less wary of you? Before you could even think to ask, he swiveled slightly to the side to look at a small cluster of bushes that sat in front of Sawsbuck, 

“Come here little ones, she’s a friend. She’s not going to do anything to you.” His voice became softer and much more gentle, a stark contrast from the robotic, monotone voice he had spoken to you with before. You raised a brow, briefly wondering if he was a little off in the head. 

Before you could question anything further, however, the bushes he had his eyes on rustled, grabbing your attention in an instant. Clearly Sawsbuck was standing still, so you had no clue at all what it could be. That is, until a small head popped out of the bush, adorned with a bright yellow flower on top. You gasped quietly, bringing your hands to your mouth as you processed the image before you. Another head popped out, followed by one more. Suddenly, there were three Deerling peeking out from the shrub, staring at you and N. He continued to coax them, 

“I promise everything is alright. This is (y/n). She said she’d like to meet you, if you don’t mind. I promise it’s safe.” The Pokémon seemed to debate for a moment longer, but soon enough, one brave Deerling took the first step out of the bush. It cautiously approached, looking between you and N, and eventually stopped in front of you. It still seemed cautious, leaning down to sniff at your clothes as you sat in front of it. You didn’t dare make any sort of move in fear of scaring the little thing off; this was a dream come true, and you’d be damned if you somehow managed to ruin it…! 

The Deerling seemed to finish its observation of you after a moment, simply looking up at you with its large doe eyes. You could only stare back, awe struck. That is, until N extended his hand and effortlessly pet the Deerling. It loved his attention, crying out delightfully as it smiled. N retracted his hand soon after, motioning for you to do the same. Although you were unsure of yourself, you ultimately reached out, ever so slowly bringing your hand closer to the Deerling and holding it there. It turned to your hand, giving it a slight sniff. It took a long moment to observe you and take in your scent. As much as you had expected it to be disinterested or run away, you found your heart doing leaps when it smiled and leaned comfortably into your palm. You nearly imploded then and there- 

“Hi there, little fella…” You whispered, scratching under the Deerling’s chin, earning you a quiet yet content cry. Excitedly, the Pokémon jumped and turned back to face the bush where the other two still stood, crying out in a way that made them both come running. You didn’t have time to snap out of your blissed state as the three of the full-force crashed into you all at once. The combined weight of them easily toppled you over, landing on you and unintentionally knocking the breath out of you. Although you were now on your back and covered with rather heavy Pokémon, your coughing fit subsided quickly and instantly turned into a belly laugh. Your hands found two of the Deerling and began to pet, 

“Wow, you guys are excitable, huh? It’s nice to meet you all!” You managed to say between giggles as they jumped off of you and romped about happily. As you sat up with a content sigh, you looked over to N, “If I’m dreaming, please never wake me up. This is like a fairytale from my wildest dreams.” You grinned uncontrollably. He seemed to chuckle lightly, 

“They were the reason Sawsbuck was chuffing and stomping; it was protecting them.” He explained, stroking one of the Deerling that approached him, “You’re definitely not scary if Deerling of all Pokémon are playing around you. They even seem to like you quite a bit, oddly enough. They’re typically quite choosy when it comes to people.” 

Huh. Maybe you just hadn’t gotten the full picture before. Maybe he’s right… 

Before you could respond, you noticed a shadow come over your body. A cloud maybe? However, when you looked in front of you, what you saw was a tall silhouette cast onto the grass. You froze up slightly. No way this could be what you thought it was… However, as you cautiously chanced a look up, you were met with the mighty form of Sawsbuck standing almost scarily close to you. One stomp from this Pokémon could easily send you to the Pokémon Center. But… You didn’t get the feeling that you were in danger. Its dark brown eyes stared down at you, and you up at it, both examining the other thoroughly. Although you didn't feel in danger, there was a little voice in the back of your head that told you this could all go very wrong, no matter how magical the moment was… 

After a moment that felt all too long, Sawsbuck lowered its head to be level with yours, sniffing your hair in a way that sent locks flying as it exhaled. You were frozen as you allowed the Pokémon to do whatever it pleased, soaking in the moment even as your heart raced. However, when Sawsbuck gently nudged your head with its snout, you heard a rustle in the grass beside you, then promptly felt a hand on yours. You nearly flinched, but stopped yourself in fear of scaring Sawsbuck away. Your eyes darted to the side to see N now crouched right beside you. 

“It’s just me. Sawsbuck trusts you enough. Just stay calm.” N’s smooth, composed voice came chillingly close to your ear, his hand lifting yours from the ground. Time seemed to slow down as he lifted your hand with his, bringing it to rest on the side of Sawsbuck’s jaw. Wow… You were actually touching this powerful yet gentle beast of a Pokémon. And it was allowing you to… In fact, just seconds later, Sawsbuck leaned into your touch just slightly, enticing you to gently scratch under its chin. 

“Woah…” You couldn’t help mumbling in awe. This was easily the highlight of your entire life. “Hello, Sawsbuck. It’s an honor…” You grinned from ear to ear. Never would you have thought you’d be able to get so close to a wild deer Pokémon, let alone have one allow it to touch you like this. It was so calm, so elegant, yet powerful and imposing. It made your heart beat faster out of excitement rather than fear and anxiety. 

N stood after a moment that seemed to last forever. Snapped out of your focus, you looked up at the green haired man, watching as he extended his hand to help you up, which you took before returning your attention to Sawsbuck. It seemed to grow less and less guarded, seeing as it now pushed its head into your shoulder. You laughed a bit at the action and gladly brought your hands up to cup the Pokémon’s face once you were standing. 

“This is absolutely the most magical moment of my entire life… I can’t thank you enough, N, really-” You began, but cut yourself off when you saw N go from standing at Sawsbuck’s side to jumping onto its back in one swift motion. Your jaw dropped to the forest floor at the action. First he so easily and effortlessly gains the trust of one of the most skittish species of Pokémon in the region, and now he’s riding it without issue?? Just who was this man?!? 

“Sawsbuck wants to apologize for being so standoffish, and is offering us a ride.” He explained. His words were followed by a short huff from Sawsbuck itself, as if confirming what N said. You grinned yet again, turning back to the Pokémon, 

“Awe, you don’t have to apologize for that, big fella. I understand you were just looking after the Deerling, and I forgive you.” You leaned up and planted a kiss on Sawsbuck’s snout, earning a small, happy chuff from it. “May I?” You motioned to its back, to which it nudged you towards its side. 

N couldn’t help grinning too; it was so rarely that he met a trainer who asked Pokémon for permission in regards to anything. Much more commonly, he’d see trainers who bossed their Pokémon around like lackeys doing their bidding, or as tools to do a certain task. This… You, were a breath of fresh air, even if he was still cautious, as was his nature. 

“Uhm…” N was pulled from his thoughts by your voice, looking down at you, “How exactly do I… get onto a Pokémon like this? I’ve never…” You smiled sheepishly as you stood by Sawsbuck’s side. The Pokémon’s withers were easily as tall as you were, its back just slightly shorter, and you doubted you could jump up that high on your own. Without hesitation, N slid off of Sawsbuck’s back to stand next to you before placing his hands on your waist and lifting you onto the Pokémon’s back with relative ease. Your hands flew to grasp his arms as he did so, the sudden and unexpected action making your heart jump briefly. The feeling of being lifted off of the ground was unexpected and new, it felt as if you’d fall at any moment. Thankfully, you were on Sawsbuck’s back in seconds. Your poor heart… And it wouldn't get a break, as N followed you soon after, hoisting himself up and sitting in front of you. The closeness surprised you a bit. 

With that, Sawsbuck began to slowly walk on, but your heart – goodness, YOUR HEART – felt like it was racing a million miles an hour! You oftentimes avoided touch from others aside from maybe the occasional handshake, and never had ANYONE EVER put their hands on your waist like that! You could feel your face start to heat up to the point you’d think it was summer if you didn’t know any better… 

You were unexpectedly thrust forward as Sawsbuck made a maneuver of some sort, causing you to instinctively wrap your arms around N to keep yourself from falling off. Looking back, it had apparently decided to jump over a small offshoot of the stream that had blocked its path. 

“Ah- sorry, I probably should have warned you to hold on before. We’re almost there.” N apologized, glancing back at you before returning his attention to what was ahead. Rather than reply with words, you simply nodded slightly, now flustered from before as well as from grabbing at him so suddenly. He didn’t seem to notice – considering his behavior, he seemed to not know what social cues were and how things like this typically affected people – which was probably for the better in that moment, lest your poor heart suddenly give out on you from embarrassment. 

In an attempt to distract yourself, you turned your attention to your surroundings; the forest had become slightly denser, the only light illuminating the greenery being dappled as it filtered through the canopy above. It gave such a scenic atmosphere to the impromptu trail ride you were currently on, making your surroundings look like you had been transported into a vibrant oil painting. As you went on, you also began to notice the flowers; while there had been relatively few where you had been, this path Sawsbuck was taking seemed to get continuously denser with all different colors of flowers, their beauty only accentuated by the spotty light. Foongus, Leavanny, Deerling, and other Pokémon began to appear more frequently, all taking advantage of the warmth the afternoon brought the forest. 

Suddenly, a brighter light hit your face. Looking up revealed the canopy had opened up a significant amount, and looking forward, you were met with a gorgeous sight; one large, clearly old and mighty tree stood in the middle of a somewhat large clearing. Its leaves had not yet grown in, but leaf buds were on every branch, ready to sprout and grow when spring came in full force. The greenery and grass were dotted with flowers of all kinds. Many Deerling and Sawsbuck, still in their winter coats, were gathered in groups as they grazed, played, and relaxed as they pleased. Their dark coats soaked in the sunlight the afternoon brought with it as the Pokémon happily went about their lives. It was by far the most extraordinary sight you had ever seen… 

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Asked N, glancing over his shoulder and seeing your wide eyes taking in absolutely everything they possibly could. You nodded without looking, too enraptured to look away from the sights before you, 

“It… It’s more than I could have ever hoped to see…” 

You felt Sawsbuck come to a stop, putting you right under the huge tree which sat at the center of everything. N slid off it with ease, turning to help you down by basically catching you as you clumsily slid off of the tall Pokémon’s back. You thanked N before turning to Sawsbuck, cupping its face in your hands ever so gently and pressing your forehead to its own, “Thank you, Sawsbuck. You’ve been kinder than I could have ever asked. You’ve made this day one I’ll never forget.” With a happy chuff, Sawsbuck gracefully walked away, leaving you and N under the tree. You looked up to its branches, bare save for the green buds which were just waiting to grow into bushels of leaves. 

“This tree is amazing…” You mumbled, “I bet it’s beautiful when all the leaves and flowers bloom in spring. I can only imagine.” N looked down at you, taking in your awestruck expression as your eyes wandered to and fro in an attempt to gather every little detail. He remembered the utter whimsy he felt when Pokémon had first been so kind to him, when they had first started bringing him to their secret places like this. In a way, you reminded him of himself. Or, at least, a younger version of himself. 

“I’ve been here a couple of times before when this tree is in full bloom,” He mentioned, gaining your attention in an instant, “It was certainly something to behold. It’s a scene I’ll always remember.” He raised his hand into the air, as if reaching for the tree’s branches, “It was the end of spring the second time, one of the times this tree is at its fullest. I climbed it with the Swadloon and sat in its branches with the Tranquil and Emolga. All the Pokémon in this area are so kind… It’s one of my favorite places in Unova, undeniably.” 

The look on his face as he recalled the memory was so content, as if he was living that day again. He looked as if he was remembering better times, an oh so subtle sadness hidden behind his smile, as if something had gone wrong since then. 

“You’re so lucky…” Your voice came quietly in the peaceful clearing, catching N’s attention with ease. He turned to look at you as you spoke, seemingly listening intently, “I’ve always wanted to be friends with every Pokémon I meet, it was my dream to be friends with every single one when I was little.” You chuckled dryly, “I was a little eager back then; Pokémon would run away when I’d come at them, screaming ‘Please be my friend!’ I learned pretty quickly that you can’t approach them like that. I’d sit at the edge of the forest near my house, totally still, not making a sound, hoping that the forest Pokémon would walk by. I ended up befriending a lot of them, even one that came on my journey with me. But…” You turned to look up at N, “I’ve never had the kind of charisma you seem to with Pokémon. I wish so badly I could understand them better. I try, but… it doesn’t always work, y’know? Well actually- I guess you might not know.” You laughed briefly, turning your attention back to the Sawsbuck and Deerling in the clearing. 

“This is just… something really special, and I’m honestly jealous that you get to see stuff like this. The way these Sawsbuck and Deerling are living away from people, completely in nature and completely free… It’s fascinating. So, so beautiful. I want to travel to all the corners of Unova and see as much of this beauty as I can…” 

N quickly became conflicted inside due to your rambles. Hadn’t trainers always been bad people? Hateful and selfish and horrible people who make their Pokémon battle for no reason. He’s seen the worst of trainers and how they treat their Pokémon. How could there be people that act otherwise? His stomach turned this way and that as his truths were mangled and challenged right before him… 

Snapping both you and N out of your thoughts was the wind, picking up and rustling the grass and leaves around you. It was a welcome breeze, gentle yet refreshing, and with it came a certain calmness. The grass swayed in a way that made it look like waves on water, and the scent of wildflowers wafted your way. 

N’s hand on your shoulder grabbed your attention, causing you to turn and look up at him once more. You saw him pointing towards where the wind was blowing from, “Something tells me you don’t want to miss this.” His cryptic words had you at a loss for a moment, but soon enough, you were graced with an extraordinary event you could have only ever dreamed of witnessing… 

As the wind blew into the clearing, newly opening flowers began to sprout along its path, turning the flower dotted fields and shrubs dense with color and vibrance. As the wind moved, it pushed the wave of budding blossoms towards the two of you, until flowers began popping up at your very feet. You couldn’t help but crouch down to get a closer look, observing with wide, practically sparkling eyes as flower after flower gracefully unfolded itself below you. A tap on your back made you look up, and boy were you glad it had. 

You witnessed the most spectacular thing; the tree’s branches grew colorful as they began to explode with life! New leaf buds on each branch unfolded into lush, emerald green foliage, moving in a wave with the wind to cover the entirety of the once barren branches with new color. Long, wispy branches grew to reach the grass, swaying around you and N, encasing you in your own little space away from the clearing. The dense leaves on the long branches only let so much light through, dappling what light that came through. The sound of branches swaying and leaves rustling around you was one of the most serene you’d heard. 

Following closely after, a wave of blossoms were quick to replace each leaf, bundling together on each hanging branch to create lovely, full bunches of vibrant golden hues. Long bundles of seeds and petals made it look as if the branches were covered top to bottom in fuzzy caterpillars, the sweet scent pleasant as the breeze brought it to you. 

A willow tree… 

Just outside the cover of the tree as the swinging branches created gaps you could see through, you could see the Sawsbuck and Deerling all looking to the sky. The Deerling’s coats became more vibrant, lightening and gaining color until they became a soft baby pink hue to compliment the yellow flowers on their heads. The Sawsbuck, however, were the spectacular thing you had come in hopes of seeing; every Sawsbuck simultaneously leaned down and shook their heads, their white tufts of fur and white velvet on their antlers shedding easily as they did so. Their coats got slightly more saturated, turning a more milk chocolate color, and their antlers… 

As their heads shook and the velvet from the winter shed, in grew a bushel of wonderful pink flowers. Your typical spring Sawsbuck will have rather sparse flowers on its horns, but at the beginning of spring, their growth is at its peak. The energy they’ve stored over winter explodes into new growth, causing a cascade of pink flowers to sprout from their branch-like antlers, even more full than the set of leaves they get in the summer. It truly was a spectacle, even among the other three already amazing transformations the Pokémon goes through each year. Petals from the Sawsbucks’ shaking blew into the wind, the sheer abundance apparently not all being able to fit on their antlers. Over time, these flowers will shed to the typical amount you’d see any other time of spring, shedding and regrowing throughout the season, but never being so spectacularly abundant as now… 

It didn’t take long after that for the winds to subside as the blooms came into their full glory, the sunlight from above filtering through the willow’s yellow blossoms to create a golden glow inside the tree’s long, dancing branches, swaying softly in the subsided breeze. You watched the golden light around you dance through the gaps between flowers and branches. Looking over to N, you watched it pass over his face, giving him an almost otherworldly appearance. He looked quite calm, serene even, as if he was right at home. 

His eyes unexpectedly met yours as he tilted his head to look down at you, “Ta-da~.” He said with a somewhat sing-song tone, causing you to laugh quietly, 

“N, that was the most exceptional thing I’ve ever seen! Honestly, how do places like this exist outside of fairytales…” 

“Well, Pokémon are amazing creatures. Of course it makes sense they’d live in equally amazing places like this.” You nodded in agreement, supposing it made sense. In a world of such a wide array of magnificent creatures such as Pokémon, with their abilities and ties to this and that, there were bound to be places like this. 

“... N?” 

“Hm?” 

“I…” Your hands wrung together nervously as you tried to find the right words to even begin to describe how you felt in the moment, “Geez, I don’t even have the words… I really can’t thank you enough, for all of this I mean.” You gestured widely to the gorgeous willow tree and Sawsbuck that surrounded you two, “I came to the forest hoping to see a Sawsbuck or a Deerling go through the winter-to-spring change, and I was about to leave thinking I would miss it this year. Then I saw you and thought you being able to so effortlessly interact with Sawsbuck was the most amazing thing ever. Then I even got to see Deerling and a Sawsbuck up so close, thanks to you… And now… Well, this is beyond anything I would have thought I’d ever get to see! It’s really the most gorgeous, unique things I’ve ever seen in my life, and I bet nothing I’ll ever see again will be able to top it… I’m… far, far beyond grateful for all of this. I still wish I could connect to Pokémon like you do so naturally, but it was nice to get a taste of what it must be like.” 

The way you smiled so sweetly up at him, tears pricking the corners of your eyes and threatening to spill over any second, and the unbridled honesty and truthfulness in your voice… It made him rethink so, so many things. He kind of hated it in all honesty, but couldn’t bring himself to push all his preconceived notions of trainers onto you as he’d done for so long. You’d broken his perceived truths in so many ways, all within the span of maybe half an hour. He truly couldn’t comprehend it all right at that moment. 

However, he reasoned with himself… 

He might be able to change his mind about a trainer. Just this once. Just this one trainer. 

N smiled brightly with such kindness, cheeks tinged just slightly with a warmness he hadn’t felt before, “I’m glad I could give that to you. And maybe, if we meet again, I could teach you a few things about Pokémon.” Suddenly, his mind was overwhelmed with every reason you may never want to see him again. His eyes fell to look at the flowers beneath him, causing you to worry slightly. Why the sudden change? 

“However, I do have to tell you that my life is… well, I suppose it’s quite complicated. You may end up not wanting to be around me.” His shoulders slumped as he spoke, his hand coming up to pull his cap down to cover his eyes. If you were to ever find out, you’d probably tell him to never come near you again, or worse, you could be put in danger due to being affiliated with him. 

“What??” You exclaimed, taking a few steps so you stood in front of the green haired man. He tilted his cap further to hide his face from you. Shame washed over him. “N, I know we’ve just met, and this may be a little forward, but you’ve been nothing but kind and sweet and friendly. You’re a good person! Pokémon love you, and they’re the absolute best judge of character! I can’t think of a single thing that would put me off someone as thoughtful as you.” 

His expression soured greatly, although you couldn’t see it, “I can think of dozens… Please, just…” N let out a sigh, his thoughts moving faster than he could keep up with, “I can’t tell you everything that’s wrong with me, but if you ever find out… please, if you end up hating me, don’t lie about it…” 

At his words and shame filled tone, your brows knit together in worry. What in the world could be making him so hesitant to see you again? 

“Okay… I promise, no lies. But…” You brought your hand up, gently taking the brim of his cap between your fingers and lifting it. N tried to look further away, seemingly unable or unwilling to look you in the eyes. You leaned over so you were at the edge of his vision, forcing him to glance at you out of the corner of his eye. Once you had his attention, you lifted the cap off his head and planted it right on yours, taking him by surprise, 

“I also promise that I’ll never hate you~.” 

The confidence in your statement, the smile on your face, the way you seemed so completely and utterly genuine… He could hardly believe it. Just what kind of trainer – what kind of person – were you… 

“I…” N began, eyes darting this way and that as you continued to smile up at him. You felt your cheeks grow hot; how could he be so innocent and sweet?? He took a deep breath, his eyes coming back to meet your gaze, 

“Do you… have some time to spare? We don’t have to leave yet…” 

Your smile grew even wider at his invitation, to which you gladly accepted. You and N spent the rest of the afternoon under that willow tree with the Sawsbuck and Deerling as he taught you a few things about how he makes friends so easily with Pokémon. Most of it is his natural ability, but he gave you good tips and tricks. You’re even able to test them on the Pokémon that came by the clearing! By the end of your time together, you were surrounded by friends; Swadloon, Deerling, Sawsbuck, Tranquil, you name it and you had befriended it with N’s help! 

As you parted ways, N warned that with how he travels Unova, the two of you may not meet for some time. Of course, in typical you fashion, you reassured him you didn’t mind so long as the two of you actually met again, telling him how he shouldn’t stress about it with how mysteriously chaotic his life seems to be. 

As you tried to return his hat before going your separate ways, he held his hand out in protest. Keep it, he said, you can give it back to him next time you meet. Like a promise for the future. 

With that, you headed on your way back to the city. However, there was suddenly a lonely feeling following you. You took his hat off of your head, holding it in your hands with care. You found yourself sitting at the forest entrance after you followed the path out, maybe hoping to see him walking out behind you? You honestly didn’t quite know. 

Placing the hat back on your head, you waited a few more seconds, before steeling yourself and walking away. 

A promise is a promise; you’ll be seeing him again, surely. 

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[calamitycrown]

Enchantment - Ch. 5 - 'Terror Amongst Valor'

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Summary:

A peculiar start to your morning sets the tone for the rest of the day. However, nightfall brings the most dangerous threat you have yet to face, a threat you are clearly not ready for yet.

Pairing: Draal x Reader

Warnings: Injury, Mentions of Blood

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6

Masterlist Post

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Jim’s wide eyes stared at you as you stood in the kitchen doorway. 

And you stared back. 

And so did Strickler, past the dirty sock dangling in front of his face being held by your brother. 

Your fingers gently pinched the bridge of your nose as you tried to think of what could have possibly happened to have landed your brother in this situation. 

"Jim..." You groaned quietly, more annoyed than upset. Maybe it was due to the copious amount of reading you had been doing frying your brain, but you weren't quite in the mood to deal with your little brother's complicated - not to mention evil - changeling teacher. You looked back up, hoping maybe this was a hallucination from focusing too hard for too long. Alas, there said teacher sat, tied to a chair in the middle of the dining room area, with Jim clad in his armor standing guard next to him. What on Earth was this hostage situation? 

"(Y/n)!" Jim suddenly smiled - albeit in a guilty way - and dropped the sock he held, taking a couple steps toward you, "Well- ah, uhm- actually, you see..." He fumbled over his words, to which Strickler rolled his eyes. You shot the changeling a glare before looking back to Jim, 

"C'mon, you promised you wouldn't keep secrets about trollhunting from me. Spit it out before I start shoving that dirty sock in your face." The teen seemed rightfully disgusted as his posture creased, seeming to crack under your elder sibling stare,

"Yeah, I did, I know..." He took a deep breath in, readying himself for what was to come, 

"Strickler found a ring called the Inferna Copula which had the soul of a really strong, really angry troll called Angor Rot in it and sent him after me, but I accidentally destroyed the ring and his soul with it so now he's hunting Strickler for revenge, and he asked me to protect him because he's under a magic binding spell so if he gets hurt, so does Mom..." 

… 

Wow. Just wow. 

You could only stare on as you took in the information that had just been spewed at you. Jim's sheepish smile widened, while Strickler looked more annoyed than anything, "Really, young Atlas, keeping secrets from your allies? Your sister, no less? For shame." Said the changeling with a smug grin. Jim turned and scowled at his ex-teacher, only validating him further. 

"While I have your attention, could you so kindly untie me?" He asked with quite an unkind tone, "I asked you to protect me, not to torture me." With a heavy eyeroll, Jim walked behind the chair and used Daylight to cut the rope holding Strickler captive, freeing him and allowing him to stand as he rubbed his raw wrists. 

"And I said I'd keep you safe, not comfortable." It was Strickler's turn to roll his eyes ever so slightly. His gaze shifted to the sunlight that filtered through the trees and in through the window,

"Well, the sun is up. You'll have until sundown to get me as far away as possible." Jim stretched as if he had been up all night - which you assumed was the case, and you’d probably berate him for later for it - and allowed his armor to disappear,

"Fine. Lemme call the team." Your brother walked over the kitchen counter, picking up the walkie talkie that sat on it, "Trollhunter to War Hammer, you copy?" 

Strickler scoffed, "Oh goody, the Puberty Patrol is on the case. I feel sooo safe." Sarcasm practically dripped from his tone as he spoke. Your expression hardened as he took a step closer, angling your staff slightly towards him, a silent treat. The man paused in his tracks as the walkie talkie crackled to life, 

"This is War Hammer, what's up Jimbo?" Toby's voice came across, fuzzy with a hint of static. Before Jim could speak, Strickler stepped forward and snatched the device from his hands. Your brother, looking incredibly offended by the action, turned in an attempt to grab it back. You jolted forward a step out of instinct, having to stop yourself from grabbing him and yanking him away from your brother. The last thing you wanted to do was escalate, but damn did you despise this man… 

"Do you really think your friends will have any chance against that killer?? They'll be a liability!" Your brother grabbed the walkie talkie just as you pushed Strickler a few steps away, the most you could do without hurting him. His glare harshened at you before he returned his attention to Jim, "May I remind you, you destroyed Angor's soul. He'll be out for blood, be it yours, or theirs." Realization flashed in Jim’s eyes. He hated to admit to himself that Strickler was right; Angor’s grudge was with him and no one else. 

While the changeling made a good point, you hesitated to agree with him. He could be trying to lure the lot of you into a trap, or deceiving you with reverse psychology and Jim's care for his friends. On one hand, you knew they were a great team. On the other, this Angor Rot fella sounded powerful, extremely so. The conversation surrounding him even seemed to have Strickler, who you had observed to be a decently powerful and quite intelligent changeling, on edge. You didn't have much time to mull it over before the walkie Jim held relayed Toby's voice again, 

"Jim, hellooo?" 

"Uh- Yeah, uh, Tobes. Get everyone together, see what you can dig up on finding that last Triumbric stone." Jim pivoted, completely nixing his initial intention of asking him and Claire for help getting Strickler away from Arcadia. 

"The one the GumGum's stole?" 

"Yeah, I need you guys down in Trollmarket. I'll catch up when I can. Over and out." 

With that, Jim returned the device to its place on the counter. You could tell Strickler’s words had his thoughts scattered. Had he really just done that? While it wasn't necessarily a lie, it was certainly omitting the truth. 

"Smart choice." Said Strickler, making his way over to the coffee pot and picking it up, "For once, you're learning." 

"Hey." You interjected, grabbing both his and Jim's attention, "You better watch it. Jim might have said he'd keep you safe from this Angor Rot guy you let loose, but I'm not past throwing you out and letting you walk your way out of Arcadia-"

"(Y/n)! The binding spell..." Jim reminded you, gently placing a hand on your arm in an attempt to calm and ground you. You grumbled frustratedly under your breath. With all the information that had been thrown at you, you had totally forgotten about that. Damn him... Still steaming a little, you resorted to simply crossing your arms and glaring daggers through the changeling bastard in your kitchen. He seemed to get a splash of satisfaction from seeing you in such a state. 

"And for the record," Jim began, grabbing a box of cereal and putting it in Strickler's free hand, as he had realized the coffee pot was empty, "Angor Rot destroyed his own soul." The two locked eyes for a moment, only a moment, until Strickler put the coffee pot down and began searching the cabinets and drawers in search of a bowl and spoon for the cereal he now held.

As he did, you couldn't take your eyes off of him. One of Jim's most dangerous enemies was in your kitchen, technically a guest - or maybe more of a hostage? - and also protected under Jim's word… Just the thought of it rubbed you the wrong way. Not to mention the spell he was under, which made you want to protect him as well, although just the thought of it nearly made you sick to your stomach. 

Your intense glaring was interrupted when you felt the floors begin to shake slightly. Breaking out of your hostile thoughts, you gripped your staff tighter in anticipation, but relaxed slightly soon after recognizing the way the shaking came in a rhythmic pattern. Footsteps. Big, clunky, familiar footsteps. Your scowl lightened just slightly as you realized it must be Draal coming back from Trollmarket. He was late, remembering he said he would be back before sunrise, but that was the least of your worries. 

You sped your way over to the basement door and opened it with a little more force than you had intended, walking down the first few steps before stopping and crouching down to see the one and only Draal the Deadly. He looked up as he entered the basement from the tunnel he had dug- wait, a tunnel? He had gouged the entire wall into a tunnel?? Well, you hoped he didn’t hit any electrical wiring or important pipes… Regardless of your initial shock, there were bigger fish to fry that distracted you. A grin played on the big blue troll’s features the moment he met your eyes, 

"Good morning, fleshbag." You couldn't help but grin just a little, picking yourself up so you could walk the rest of the way down the steps, "Good morning to you too, Draal. You're late, though. And that tunnel?” You looked past him, “We will definitely be talking about later." You jested, not truly meaning anything by pointing the two things out. He waved a large hand dismissively, 

"Bah, it only leads to the sewers. I alone know about it. And it’s only minutes after sunrise, negligible really. The Trollhunter can handle himself for one measly morning." Your relaxed expression tightened slightly, bringing you back to what exactly you had walked in on not long ago. Geez, how were you supposed to tell the greatest warrior in Trollmarket exactly what was going on? 

"Yeahhh, sorta... So there's actually been a, uh... development this morning, you could say." Although you were fighting to look anywhere but at Draal, you still caught the way confusion took over his face, one brow arched as if asking what the hell had happened in his absence. Your hands wrung together anxiously, knowing his reaction wouldn’t be a pleasant one. 

And so, you did your best to explain.

But didn’t end up getting too far, go figure. 

Right after Draal heard that Strickler was in your home, his eyes went wide with what you could only assume was battle-ready rage. He went barging past you and barreled into the kitchen with violent intent, ready as ever for a good fight. 

Thankfully, you were able to put a barrier up between him and the dining room, just before he could reach Jim and Strickler, who were both very unprepared for him to come barging in with a battle cry like he did. You came rushing up the basement stairs after him, "Draal, wait a second! You can't hurt Strickler-" 

"Why not? And why is he in your home?? Why are you trusting this changeling when all he's ever done is betray you??" His intense gaze turned to Jim, awaiting an answer. 

"Well, you see... We kinda have to. He's under a binding spell, so if he gets hurt..." 

"So does our mom." You finished, coming to stand next to the warrior, "And Strickler’s got a huge target on his back; he's being hunted. So as much as I'd love to hand him over to this Angor Rot fella myself..." You paused, eyes narrowing sharply at the changeling that stood in your home so casually, "We can't. Not until the binding spell is broken, at least." You brought a hand up to rest on Draal’s arm, feeling just how tense he was and how ready he had been to absolutely eliminate the threat at hand. He turned to look down at you, seeing the fear and concern in your eyes. Such an expression on your face... He found himself hating it. 

Draal took a deep breath in, huffing onto the barrier that still stood in his way, making his bullring sway and the surface of the barrier fog slightly. His eyes held a promise to make quick work of the changeling as soon as he was free to do so. Strickler - although protected by Jim's word - lost a little confidence at the intimidating promise, you could tell. Good. He was getting too cocky for his own good anyway. You lowered the barrier as Draal took a step back, a silent agreement to not harm Strickler. However, his beyond intense glower remained. 

With that settled for the moment, Jim quickly regained his thoughts and crouched down to rummage through a cabinet. Meanwhile, Strickler smugly ate the cereal he had made for himself. You could feel your eye twitch at the mere sight. Draal huffed through his nose once more, clearly just as furious as you were. The fact that he seemed just as ready to be rid of the man was satisfying in a way. The very second the binding spell was undone, you'd be sure to be the first to punch him square in his stupid face before allowing Draal to have his way. 

Jim's exasperated groan caught everyone's attention, interrupting the three-way stare-off you, Draal, and Strickler had been apparently participating in, "Is this really all the canned food we have?" 

Draal was quick to grin, replying smugly while side-eyeing Strickler, "You need more? Mmm, we should chop him into little pieces and can him right now." 

"Draal, please," You pat his arm, "Do you really think he'd be any good? I bet he'd be tough to chew and taste rotten." You grinned at your own malice-laced response, which also earned a quiet, yet unsettling chuckle from the troll next to you. 

"Indeed, not even gnomes would partake in his flesh." You both quietly laughed together, both at the joke you shared and at Strickler's face as it contorted into disgust. 

"Guys, please, I don't even wanna think about our Mom getting hurt..." Jim pleaded, standing and closing the cabinet he was just in before beginning to search through one of the top cabinets. Well shoot, now you felt bad. You didn't want your guys' Mom to get hurt either, but damn, did you want to let Strickler have it in any way you could manage while you were stuck protecting him... 

"So," Draal addressed Jim, now more serious, "what exactly is the plan, Trollhunter? You can't keep this changeling here forever. Will Bar-ba-ra not be displeased to have a stranger - especially such an ugly one - in her home?" You nearly snorted at the worked-in jab. 

"She's still at work, so the plan right now is to get him out of Arcadia before sunset. Then we'll have more time to uh... to figure things out." Jim replied, though his confidence seemed to waver as he went on. Even you knew you couldn't keep Strickler safe forever, especially if Angor Rot was so cunning and downright dangerous as to make him ask your brother for help. And where on earth would you guys take him? To a hotel during the nights, where you couldn't properly fight or defend yourselves? Surrounded by prying human eyes? As much as Jim was trying to keep it together, you could tell he was struggling. 

"Say you do get him out of town, What's stopping Angor Rot from finding him?" Draal followed up, to which you silently thanked the stars you didn't have to ask these questions yourself. 

"I dunno, we... disguise him." Jim replied. hurriedly. His tone seeming to become gradually more annoyed and rushed, shutting the cabinet door with slight force and turning to hastily open the fridge. 

"Disguise? Angor is a cunning and ruthless assassin, you think he'll be fooled by a hat and mustache?" 

"Then I guess we fight him. Far, far away from here." He seemed to be grasping for whatever came to mind at this point. It hurt your heart to see your little brother trying desperately to find a solution to everything. There were so many things to  consider, especially with all this talk of Angor Rot being so powerful and smart witted. You were truly starting to become concerned as the weight of the situation dawned on you rather suddenly... 

"I do not like this plan,” Draal leaned over Jim's much smaller form, "Angor could strike at any time and in any place. He would have the tactical advantage!" Suddenly, Jim forcefully shut the refrigerator door and whipped around, facing Draal once more, 

"Then I don't know, okay?? I don't have all the answers..." Brows knitted, expression twisted with frustration... You pushed past Draal to hold your little brother in a hug, just enough to be comforting but not enough to be smothering. Enough for him to know you're there for him. To remind him he’s got people who will help him figure all this out. After a short moment, Jim sighed, separating himself from the embrace, 

"Sorry, I know it's not a well thought out plan, but we have to leave." You squeezed your poor, overburdened brother's shoulder as your hand came to rest on it. You only wished you cold do more. 

"Take a second, Jim. It's still early in the day; we've got daylight to spare." You spoke in a cool, even tone, "I know this is an impossible situation to judge, but let's not make any sure decisions just yet. Not while we're all so worked up over everything." At your words, Jim seemed to calm down, just enough to take a deep breath and nod in agreement. You looked up at Draal, "That means you, too." He looked taken aback as you spoke, eyes growing comedically wide with sudden surprise, "And you, Strickler." The former teacher only rolled his eyes. 

"Me?" Draal caught your attention once more,

"But I-" 

"No but's!" 

"We need to-" 

"The only thing we need to do right now is take a second and calm down. Good decisions are never made when everyone’s panicking and stressed. Are we on the same page?" Your stern gaze said all he needed to hear; the burly troll slouched slightly as he accepted your word as law. Your gentle smile returned, "Thank you." 

The tension was split when Jim's phone began to ring, the phrase 'I Am Gun Robot' that you had always teased him about repeating as he reached into his bag and grabbed the device. You both read the caller ID; Mom. Quickly, you both held a finger to your lips, signaling the other two in the room to stay silent. As Jim answered the call, he handed his bag to Draal and brought the phone to his ear. He walked the short distance into the dining room and yawned performatively into the speaker, 

"Uh... Hey mom, how are you? I just got up." You listened intently as he spoke, but were distracted when you heard a strangely crunchy chewing coming from beside you. Looking over, you caught Draal red handed as he picked one of Jim's things out of his bag, presumably to eat it as well. You quickly smacked his stony hand, to which he dropped the item back into the bag and put it down on the counter, like a puppy caught in the act. You shook your heat disapprovingly and silently shushed him once more. 

"Sorry I didn't come home kiddo, it's been crazy over here at the hospital." You could hear your mom's voice come through the phone’s speaker, "Looks like my night shift is turning into a weekend shift." 

Your focus was broken yet again when you noticed Strickler walk up behind yourself and Draal, separated by the windowed wall that separated the kitchen from the living room, "Nice arm. Did you get that at the toy store?" He questioned smugly, rasping his fist against Draal's prosthetic a couple of times. Before you could do anything to stop it, Draal shouted in Strickler's face at full volume as his prosthetic's fist clattered harshly onto the table. His shout turned into a deep growl afterward, only bringing a smirk to Strickler's stupid smug face. You tried to push Draal back, but he was far too heavy and strong - not to mention angry - for you to do so, 

"Can it, both of you...!" You whisper-shouted in a fruitless attempt to shut them up. Jim rushed over soon after and hurriedly hushed the two, resulting in Draal's growls only slightly lessening in volume. You gained a slight bit of headway in pushing him away, but only because he voluntarily stepped back, just a smidge. 

"So you're gonna be gone all weekend...?" Jim asked aloud, grabbing everyone's attention, "Oh, that sucks Mom..." Despite his words, his face betrayed him, a smile growing on his and Strickler's features.

"I know, but you and (y/n) can take care of yourselves. Just hunker down in the house, stay safe."

"Suuure, sure, we can hold down the fort."

"Ah, you're lifesavers." 

"We'll add it to our resumes. Okay, bye mom... Yeah yeah, I love you too." 

With that, Jim hung up. You could sense a newfound hope in him, much different to the doubt and overwhelm he had been feeling just minutes ago. You grinned as well at the thought. 

"She'll be out of the house, all weekend?" Asked Strickler as soon as Jim was off the phone, to which your brother nodded eagerly, 

"Yeah, which means the house will be empty." That was all they spoke between them before Jim grabbed his bag and began to unpack the cans and whatnot he had put in it. Did he decide not to take Strickler out of Arcadia? You glanced up to Draal, who seemed to be just as confused as you were. He crossed his arms, the fingers of one hand drumming on the other arm’s bicep impatiently, 

"... Fine, I have rocks for brains. Will someone tell me what's so obvious?" Draal's question interrupted the silence, his arms crossing as he stood there awaiting an answer. 

"Yeah, I'm a little lost too. Are you not leaving anymore?" You pitched in, brow quirked in a questioning way. 

"We are gonna hold down the fort." You could hear the sheer intent behind each word Jim spoke. There's the confidence you knew he had. 

"We survived one night. He's not going to survive the next." Strickler added. At this, Draal seemed to catch onto whatever the two were planning seemingly telepathically between each other,

"Right... We fight here. Take back the tactical advantage! An ambush! I like it."

Ahh, now it made sense! Though, you had some concerns for how your home would come out of an epic brawl with a 'ruthless assassin,' as Draal had called Angor Rot. But nevertheless, the advantage of fighting on your own grounds that you knew better than the enemy would definitely make your chances of success much higher. Although the house might become a sacrifice in the midst of it, that was worth the difference between what could possibly be life and death. Thank gods your mom had called and given Jim such an idea. 

"But," Jim interjected, placing himself between Draal and Strickler, "we're gonna need supplies." 

"We've got tons of old stuff in the attic and basement, maybe some of it could be useful." You suggested. 

"Yes, and I know of a place where I could retrieve some helpful items." Draal chuckled as a grin spread across his face, clearly enthused at the mere thought of participating in a vigorous battle against a 'worthy opponent,' as you always heard him say. 

With that, the lot of you split up to gather whatever you deemed useful to your cause. 

You followed Draal to the basement while Jim and Strickler headed up to the attic in search of useful items. You were always surprised how the old wooden stairs creaked and groaned under his weight, but never broke or splintered. Shaking the thought away, you wet straight for the old gardening equipment your mom had bought when she was sure she'd be growing her own garden one summer. Sadly, the plants all withered away, regardless of how much research she did on how to properly take care of them. You began pulling the larger tools; shovels, pitchforks, manual tiller, and the like. Smaller tools were in a couple of buckets on the floor, which you also pulled out. Amongst the metal clanging of the tools, you noticed that Draal was oddly quiet. 

Turning around, you saw him leaned back against the wall in the tunnel he had dug without your permission, arms crossed, looking blankly at nothing. The vigor that had been behind his expression just moments before seemed to have never existed. Huh. You hadn't seen him look so distant before, especially while preparing for a fight. 

"Draal?" Your voice cut through the silence, grabbing his attention as he tilted his head to look at you, a semblance of an expression coming across his face. "Could you grab that tote up there for me? I don't wanna get squished trying to drag it down." You asked of him, though you would usually at least make an attempt to grab the thing yourself before asking. You were honestly just looking for an opening to start a conversation. With a grumble and a nod, Draal made his way slowly over and reached up, easily grabbing the tote and setting it down on the floor. 

"Thanks! You uh... You look a little spacey, is everything okay?" 

"Hm?" He huffed slightly, "'Spacey?' What do you mean by that." 

"Y'know, you were kinda just looking at the wall. It looked like you were thinking about something, like you were in another world." 

"Oh." He glanced away for a moment before looking back at you, "I suppose you could say I was... 'lost in thought,' I believe is how you've described it before." Oh. You had more so expected to get some sort of excuse or retaliation, not an admission. Not that you were complaining at all. It just struck you as a little different for his character. 

"About what? You can tell me, if it'll make you feel better." You suggested with a friendly smile, bending down to take the lid off of the tote he had so kindly grabbed for you. Glancing up, you saw the troll looking off to the side for a few beats, seemingly in his thoughts once again. You dug through the contents of the tote in the meantime, allowing him to gather his thoughts. 

"I... He eventually began, taking your attention from the task at hand in an instant. You paused your rummaging and looked up at Draal, silently urging him to continue. His eyes briefly met yours before flickering off to the side again, his chest heaving with a heavy sigh, "You're not gonna like this, but I'd much rather you not be here for the battle with Angor Rot." Well, he was right, you certainly didn't like that. Why on earth wouldn't he want more backup in a fight against such a formidable opponent? As a warrior, wouldn't he know how much of an asset allies could be? 

"What? What's that supposed to mean?" Amongst the seriousness of the topic, you couldn't help but make light of it just a little, as you're an expert at doing so, "Don't tell me... The great warrior, Draal the Deadly, accomplished and decorated to the moon and back, is worried for me? Lil' ol' human me?" You grinned teasingly. Draal seemed to become a bit flustered by the sudden change in your tone, eyes wide as he whipped around to look at you once more. His mouth hung open as he stumbled to find the words to deny such a thing with, or so you assumed. You couldn't helped but chuckle lightly at his sudden change of attitude. 

"I- Look, it's not- Fleshbag, I swear, if you do not cease your laughter..." He groaned, annoyance clearly taking over his mood. You nearly snorted as you stifled the last bit of your giggles, nodding in agreement, 

"Sorry, sorry, I've just never heard you really be concerned for anyone before. At least not like that. Usually it comes out as battle tips, strategy plans, and maybe an inspiring story of one of your old battles here and there." 

"Well... I have nothing to compare this to, and in truth, I'd strongly prefer you didn't fight this battle at all." Well, that was much more truthful and forward than you had expected, too. Who had your Draal been replaced with all of the sudden?? Your teasing attitude was washed down the drain by his sincerity. 

"What? You really don't want my help in this fight?" 

"You've not had enough training to fight a foe of this caliber, for starters." He blatantly pointed out. Ouch. Before you could retort, he spoke again, "Angor Rot is among the most ruthless and cunning of foes I have ever heard of. Though I have yet to battle him myself, the tales of entire communities and tribes of trolls being wiped out within days, hours... The way he systematically stalks his prey before striking and leaving no trace... He has been around for centuries, since the time of Merlin, and was gifted his powers by the Pale Lady." The troll paused, leaving you a chance to put in your two cents, 

"But that's exactly why I should be there! You guys are gonna need all the help you can get. Even if I'm still learning magic, I still know enough to help you guys. Jim is heading the battle, he's human too, so why are you singling me out?" 

"Master Jim is the Trollhunter, he has been training for quite some time and has the advantage of the enhanced strength and agility the amulet provides. You have no armor, no enhancements, and Angor Rot is extremely well versed in magic that it may as well be second nature to him. He will surely find a way to counter your spells-" 

"But I can't just sit around while you and Jim are fighting someone so dangerous!" Your voice began to get a little strained, suddenly realizing you could very well be put in time out for this fight and left only to witness the sheer chaos this mysterious assassin could bring about, "I need to be there to protect Jim like I promised, I'd never forgive myself if something happened to him while I was doing nothing!" 

"Both myself and the changeling will be there to fight alongside him. While I can understand doubting the changeling, do you doubt my ability to keep him safe?" 

"No- no, of course not, but still! The way you've been describing this Angor Rot guy is terrifying!! I just- I can't... What if something happened to him? Or you??" Draal's serious expression shifted to one more fitting of surprise at your words. And the next moment, it turned a little more casual. More teasing, even, 

"Oh? Me? I thought you just said you didn't doubt my abilities." The smug smirk that tugged at his mouth as he crossed his arms broke through your spiraling thoughts, your climbing heartrate pausing. Did he... really just turn the tables on you? 

"What- I mean, I don't doubt you! I just... Y'know, I just care. Is that so wrong?" The smallest hint of a grin was starting to form on your expression, Draal's own smirk seemingly contagious, "I don't wanna see Jim hurt, or you... Strickler can honestly get stabbed and I probably wouldn't care too much." You began to joke slightly, earning a quiet chortle from the troll in front of you, "But... I know we used to really be at each other's throats. If I weren't so fragile compared to you, I'm sure you would have picked a fight with me pretty much every day. But I'd like to think we've gotten past that, and maybe even become friends? Or at least amicable acquaintances?" You pushed down the want to be more than just that as you spoke... 

Your sincerity seemed to catch Draal off guard, his preciously composed and teasing attitude fading slightly. He honestly looked surprised to hear you say such a thing. He hadn't thought of it, not ever since the two of you stopped quarreling on sight. The warrior cleared his throat, 

"Well, I suppose we've grown more tolerant of one another in the past months... I hadn't noticed." 

"Me neither, it happened so out of the blue... But I'm really glad we could get past that and be how we are now." You smiled sheepishly, avoiding his eyes, "Now we work together to protect Jim, you've really helped me get the hang of battle basics, and it's just... nice to get to know you as more than a utensil munching, stony brick wall living in the basement." A laugh escaped you at your own wording. Man, you had forgotten how bad things used to be between yourself and the troll you had previously had such an aversion to. You used to dread seeing the troll out of the basement, but now, you found yourself actively looking for him in the house whenever you returned. All this change in the span of months. Who would have guessed? 

"And it's been uh... nice getting to know you as more than a nagging fleshbag." Draal joked back, "But... Ah, trolls don't really have 'friends.' It is a human concept, and those in Trollmarket only know of the concept at all because of Mater Jim's use of the word." Draal admitted, tone awkward as if he was trying not to outright deny you calling the two of you friends. However, the way your expression seemed to fall at the seeming rejection made him switch gears immediately, "I mean- I'm not saying it's impossible! I suppose one could call us... friends, if that's what you want..." Although saying so seemed to be tough for the troll, it seemingly made you happy, as your smile returned in full force. 

"I think I'd like it if we were friends. For a hunk of rock, you're not half bad company." You jested, bumping his arm with your elbow in a friendly manner. Recovering from the previous awkwardness, Draal smiled back with a chuckle.

"So... Maybe we can fight together? As friends? I promise I'll be careful; I'll stick to just support, I won't get anywhere near Angor Rot or jump into the middle of the fight! I just... I really feel like I need to be there, to do what I can... Otherwise, what have I been working so hard for?" Welp, if you were going to be transparent, you may as well let it all out, regardless of how uncomfortably vulnerable you felt doing so, "I'm... so scared for you and Jim, and in general too... But I'd be even more scared if I wasn't there to back you guys up!" Draal's expression hardened slightly, his bullring swaying lightly as a puff of air escaped him. 

"Well... You do make a good argument, now don't you?" Draal considered, "Hmm... Fine. If you can stay out of the fray, it could be useful to have a sorcerer on our side, especially against another magic user." 

Your eyes lit up in an instant, smile widening as the weight that had been looming on your shoulders lifted, "Yes! I'll be careful, I promise, you won't regret it-!" 

"And you have to promise to run if things get too dangerous. You are undoubtedly brave for wanting to fight this battle, but don't let bravery become stupidity. You're not protected like Jim is by his amulet, or I am by my skin and horns. You're still much more vulnerable than us. We can hold our own should things take a turn for the worst, and you must trust that as I am trusting you to keep your word." D'aw, he was looking out for you. Honestly, you felt touched by the concern... Eagerly, you nodded in agreement.

A newfound energy suddenly overtook you, as if you couldn't sit still. As such, you turned on your heel, grabbed armfuls of the garden tools you had dragged out, and sprinted upstairs. Draal shook his head as he watched you come back, grab more, go back up, and repeat til you were out of breath. You seemed fine, so the warrior quietly took his leave, making his way through the tunnels he had dug. 

After some time, the sun was beginning to dip towards the horizon, shades of yellows, reds, oranges, and pinks painting the sky in brighter and brighter hues as dusk quickly came. Traps, tripwires, and all the like had all been set throughout the living room and upstairs hallway, curtains on every window had been drawn, and furniture had been moved up against any and every entry point in the house. In Jim's room, multiple UV lamps lined the higher shelves, all aimed squarely at the center of the room. Laid on the floor was a circle of glowing yellow crystals, though you didn't know their use and didn't intend to ask in the moment. When you and Jim went down to the basement to retrieve a few things, he nearly panicked over the gaping hole in the wall. Yeah, couldn’t have hidden that forever… Draal brushed it off as he returned from Trollmarket with supplies in tow, reassuring Jim that nobody else knew about it and that it was completely safe. However, you were more worried about what your mom would think should she meander down to the basement one day and discover it. Regardless, you were all forced to move on and continue work on preparing for Angor Rot's arrival. 

As Jim and Strickler set up a rope trap by the front door, Draal sharpened his axe on his prosthetic arm, sat at the bottom of the staircase. You stood next to him in the hallway, leaning against the railing as you skimmed through your spell-notebook. Though you were good at the few spells you knew, you had been practicing more, and thus knew you'd probably forget some part of a spell or jumble incantations together by accident sometime or another. So, not wanting to risk mixing them up in the heat of battle, you resigned to your fate of endless studying yet again. 

As you read and reread, you vaguely took notice of Jim and Strickler having a back and forth. As much as Strickler enraged you, you held your tongue and continued reading through your spells, mumbling each line you read under your breath in hopes that would help the information stick. 

As Draal stood, he looked closely at the edge of his axe, figuring whether it needed to be sharper or not. However, an oddity caught his eye; in the reflection, he noticed something on the stairs that didn't belong. He turned, eyes locking onto a small black and white orb, 

"What..." He began slowly, catching everyone's attention, "... is that??" 

As your eyes met the now moving orb on the stairs, you yelped and jumped a ways away, to which Draal brought his arm defensively in front of you. What looked like a disembodied crystalline eye stared right back at you. With its black sclera and faintly glowing silver iris staring you down, shivers wracked your body. Was this something of Angor Rot’s? 

"It's his eye!!" Strickler shouted, also taking a step back. Jim looked from the eye to Strickler,

"Gunmar's eye?"

"No, Angor's! He's been watching us, get it!!" 

Shoot, he had been spying on you all this whole time?? With his own detached eye?! Well, so much for all the special traps you had set. 

Draal was the first to reach out for the damned thing, however, it rolled between the railings and onto the floor with a crystal sounding 'thunk!' It all became chaos from there; the four of you running around, bending down at awkward angles while sprinting as you tried to grab the slippery thing, not to mention the way it jumped onto chairs and tables. Draal's fists came down in powerful blows, but were just too slow for the speedy eyeball. Anyone who tried to step on it or block its path with their feet were either tripped or somehow managed to trip themselves up. You tried to use your staff to trap it in a barrier, but you couldn't predict its movements. The thing was just way too fast and moved too unpredictably! 

Eventually, the eye made a break for the kitchen sink, launching itself into the air to avoid being grabbed as Strickler and Draal had lunged for it. Just before the little bastard could make it down the drain, surely never to be seen again, Jim grabbed a glass and managed to catch the eye only seconds before it could disappear forever. He quickly topped the glass with a plate so the eye had nowhere else to go, successfully ending the Looney Tunes scene you had all just played out. 

Jim brought the glass up to look at the eye as it rattled around angrily within its confinement, "How long has he been watching us?" It seemed as if your brother's question was answered when the front door's knob began to jiggle, making all of you flinch. 

"It's him! Everyone get into position!" Jim whispered, prompting everyone to take up their designated spot. 

Not too long after the initial jiggle of the knob, the door opened. Although, it opened far too typically… 

"Hey kiddo!" A feminine voice you could always recognize chimed. 

Oh no. No, please, anything but this- 

"Wanda messed up my schedule again, guess I have the day off after all." Barbara announced as she closed the door behind her, moving to the coatrack to hang up her purse. How she didn't notice the boards nailed to the front door's window or the thick length of rope tied to the coatrack, you will never know, but you did know that your mom was about to be in the middle of a very deadly trap. 

"Mom, watch out!" Your brother shouted, lunging forward from his concealed place near the door and haphazardly tackling your mother to the floor. She fell with a gasp and a yelp as the rope released from the coatrack and hurtled an axe straight into the front door. You could feel your heart skip multiple beats, all the muscles in your body tensing at once, and you were sure your face had gone ghostly white from the sheer terror you had felt. A heavy, unbelievably intense feeling of dread shocked your system as you realized your mom could have very well just died. 

"Woah! Holy-" She began, only to be shocked into silence as she turned around to see a giant battle axe wedged into the door, right where she had been standing. Barbara gasped before shouting, "Why is there an axe in the door??" Jim sat up as you rushed to his side, both of you making sure she was okay. Strickler poked his head out from the barricade lined with spears, crossbow in hand, and he seemed just as astonished to see none other than Barbara on the floor rather than Angor Rot, 

"Barbara! Are you alright??" He asked with concern, though you were sure his presence would only confuse her more. 

"I-I'm fine... Woah!" She exclaimed as you and Jim helped her to her feet, her eyes scanning over your brother's glowing armor, "Woah, holy, how- What is...??" When she proved to be rather speechless, Jim just chuckled and smiled meekly, not particularly knowing how to go about the situation at hand. Then your mother's eyes wandered over to the giant wooden barricade, spiked with spears and with none other than the changeling you so loathed behind it, "Wa- Walt? Why are you here-? Why are you holding a crossbow??" As she pointed to the glowing weapon, Strickler promptly hid it behind his back, pretending as if no such thing existed, 

Amongst the confusion and minimal chaos, and as Strickler began telling a horrible lie, chaos incarnate barged through the basement door and ran straight at the lot of you. You and Jim put yourselves in the way of Draal as he charged forward, shouting for him to stop, and although he did come to a halt, he still opened his big blue maw and roared with all his chest into Barbara's face. In return, as is natural, she screamed back. Draal was rather quick to come out of his battle-hungry rage, thankfully - though the damage had already been done - and realized what he had just done. 

"Oh. Uh... Hello. Sorry." He said uncharacteristically kindly and quaintly. If it had been any other situation, you definitely would have had a good laugh about it, but as of now, Draal was now being pepper sprayed in the face. As he roared once more - this time in pain - yourself and Jim soon followed suit, the spray wafting through the air and into your guys' eyes as well, seeing as you had put yourselves directly between the two. As Draal clambered back in pain, clutching his eyes as a searing hot pain he had never experienced before overtook his eyes and nose, he knocked over furniture and sprang traps. All the while, you were chasing after him and trying to get him to stop moving around so damn much. It wasn't until he hit the floor with force that the chaos finally ceased, though your mom was still screaming in the background. 

Lovely. Just lovely. And you hadn’t even asked ‘what could go wrong?’ 

After some time of Jim getting your mom to calm down - and you washing out Draal's eyes in the sink until they no longer 'seared with the pain of a thousand red hot suns,' as he put it - you, Jim, and your Mom sat across from each other in the hallway. Her hands shook as she held the glass of water she sipped on. You waited until she was ready to talk, which was apparently after she chugged an entire pitcher of water when offered a refill. 

"So let me get this straight..." Barbara began, "There are good trolls... and bad trolls... and somehow you?" She looked between you and Jim as he spoke. You could tell her mind was frantically searching for answers, even as she remained rather calm with all things considered. 

Strickler took the pitcher from her hands, "If I may-" 

"You may shut it, Strickler." You cut him off unapologetically. With a disdainful look, the changeling disappeared into the other room, 

"I suppose I shall give you three some privacy, then." Not that it was very private, as he sat in the living room not too far away, not to mention Draal sitting in the kitchen as he recovered from the pepper spray. 

"This is all so... I can't believe this is what you two have been doing!" Your mother began in disbelief, "All those late nights? Getting arrested? You in the hospital, Jim... Why are you this... Troll Fighter?" 

"Trollhunter." Jim corrected, though it didn't really help as your mom continued to stutter, clearly lost,  

"You two should be worried about... dating and school, not this-…" She took a few breaths, "Can't you just… ask someone else to do it?" 

"I'm afraid it's a... permanent position...?" Jim explained, questioning his own wording. You decided it was about time you got a word in, embracing your big sister roll and taking the lead of the conversation, 

"Mom, I know it's a lot, but Jim was chosen. It's like some sorta... destiny stuff, y'know? And not just anyone can be chosen." You glanced down at Jim, seeing the relief in his eyes as you spoke exactly what he was thinking. You put your arm around his shoulders and brought him into a side hug, "The trolls need him, he's the only one that can protect them from what's coming." 

"From what's- There's something coming??" You realized your lapse in judgement too late; maybe that hadn't been the best wording you could have used... 

"Well- That's a conversation for another time... But Jim is special, and he can do this. I've seen him in action, and it's... Honestly it's amazing what he can do, you wouldn't believe it unless you saw it for yourself." You wiggled your brother around just slightly in a playful manner, "But you have to trust him. Lots of people- er, lots of trolls, are relying on him to protect them." 

A moment of silence, before Barbara looked to Jim and spoke once more, 

"But who will protect you...?" 

"Well," Jim spoke up, "Y'know, (y/n)'s been doing a pretty great job. She's working really hard to learn all kinds of stuff, and she's always been there, whether I was the Trollhunter or not." 

You nearly teared up then and there... Your little brother was the sweetest...! Regardless of the stinging in your eyes as tears threatened you at knifepoint, you nodded in agreement, "I mean, look at that staff. You think that's for show? Plus, despite all the things we think about trolls from movies and books and all, they can be surprisingly kind." You didn't dare look over your shoulder as you spoke such a line. Yeah, you may be sugarcoating it juuust a little, but she didn't need to know the brutish, grotesque side of trolls. Not just yet, at least. 

Your mother smiled, holding a hand to her heart, "Oh, you two have always been such a great team. I just... I still don't..." 

Suddenly, Strickler barged his way into the conversation, laying his hand on Barbara's shoulder, "Barbara, I do hate to interrupt, but you must leave. It's-" 

The sound of clanging cans cut him off, all eyes turning to the collection of cans that sat on strings above the basement door. Shit, you had completely let your guard down. If this wasn't another false alarm, you could really be screwed, especially with your mom of all people here. As the lot of you moved away from the cans, they suddenly burst into a cloud of pink smoke, sending shrapnel across the house. Strickler had thankfully shielded your mother, and you had shielded Jim, no harm coming to anyone. Not just yet, anyway. The force of the blast sent all of you tumbling to the ground in a heap. Draal immediately shot up and stood at the ready, his warrior instincts kicking in as he stood readily with his axe in hand, eyes still squinty from the pepper spray. A low growl came from deep within his chest. 

"Shoot, the basement!" Jim exclaimed, eyes glued to the still shut basement door. 

"What's in the basement...?" Barbara hesitantly asked, as if she didn't really want to know what sort of troll or creature or thing could have caused such a strange explosion. And honestly, you thought it was best she didn’t know, but alas, it looked like she was about to meet one of Jim’s most powerful enemies to date. 

"Draal was supposed to guard it." Strickler grumbled, glaring at the blue troll, though it did little to nothing to get under his skin. No, the decorated warrior was dead focused on beating some assassin head in as soon as he showed his face and stopped hiding like a coward. 

"We were all distracted, whatever! Just get ready!" You shouted with a slight growl in your voice, grabbing your staff and sitting up on your knees, ready to fire off an attack or conjure whatever you may need in the moment. When the door creaked open just slightly, out rolled a singular, pitch black ball surrounded in a blue aura. It stopped in the middle of the floor, but was only still for a moment; electricity surrounded the ball for just a second before the lights went out, followed by the energy from the ball fizzling into nothing. 

Everyone yelped, surprised and confused. "What happened to the lights??" Barbara shouted fearfully, only for the next moments to be lit up with strange bursts of cloudy pink lights all around the room. A deep, raspy voice could be heard echoing from every which way, speaking some sort of incantation. Jim was quick to grab a flashlight, while Strickler led your mom behind the spiked barricade he had hunkered down in earlier. You backed up close to Draal, both of you straining to see in the darkness of the kitchen even with the small amount of light the Heartstone in your staff gave off. The figure you could hear bouncing off the walls and whose footsteps thrummed across the floors was near invisible in the blackout. 

You could feel Draal's hand press against your side, moving you to stand behind him, where you positioned yourself to be back-to-back with the troll. You weren't entirely sure this sort of configuration actually worked well in combat, but hey, it's the best you could come up with on the fly. You’d be surprised if he couldn’t feel your heavy breathing and rapid heartbeat; this flashy show of power had you more scared than you thought you’d be. If this troll assassin could spare so much magic and had the sheer confidence to do all this, who knew how powerful he could possibly be… 

Once Jim spoke his incantation and summoned his armor and Daylight, things became ever so slightly easier to see. "Jim, you're glowing! How are you glowing??" Your mom whispered in shock.

"It's armor, Mom. It's part of the job." He casually responded as he got into a battle ready stance. Not much time was left for him to react when a pink ball of flames was thrown at him, followed up by a handful of others, all of which he was quick to deflect. One nearly missed the barricade Barbara was behind with Strickler, causing both you and Jim to yell out for her. Geez, why did things have to go so wrong? 

"Stick to the plan! You know what to do." Strickler instructed. You could just barely make out his and your mom's silhouettes as they hunkered down behind the barricade. Draal nearly charged into the living room with his axe at the ready, but you conjured a barrier to stop him. He turned angrily towards you, 

"What are you doing??" 

"You can't go barging in there yet, you could hurt our mom! You need to wait." 

"But-" 

"I said wait!" You demanded with more conviction, peeking out from behind the window that separated the kitchen and living room to take aim with your staff. Though you couldn't see very much of the enemy, you aimed as best you could and fired, shot after shot of bright orange light brightening the room until it hit a wall and fizzled out. However, even this combination of you and Jim fighting didn’t seemed to phase your aggressor. 

"Strickler, get her out of here! We can hold Angor off, just keep our mom safe!!" You yelled, continuing to shoot so they had an open and safe path to the basement. 

"What?? No- Jim! (Y/N)!" You heard her yell desperately as Strickler basically had to drag her to the door and down the stairs. You had to force yourself to pay it no mind as you continued to focus on protecting your brother. However, this strategy wasn't working; every single shot missed! He was just too fast and agile, and it was far too dark to get a good look at where he was or where he was going. It was as if he was a shadow rather than a troll. 

Just as you paused your fire and began to think of a new strategy, Draal let out a raging roar and charged into the fray, banging his battle axe against his fist with a series of deep metallic 'clangs!'  With both him and Jim now fighting against Angor Rot, you took the moment to attempt to think of a new way to approach the fight. 

However, as you watched the two begin to slowly but surely overpower the assassin, you noticed his eerie glowing eye constantly flashing towards you. Oh shoot, you didn't have much time now- 

And you sure didn't; almost as quickly as you had realized what he planned to do, the troll was suddenly in front of you. In a reaction of pure instinct, you threw yourself backwards, your back painfully slamming into the counter behind you as you conjured a haphazard barrier between yourself and the enemy. As it had been made in a panic, the barrier shattered the moment he impacted it, and you could feel the sheer amount of force he put into throwing himself into the spell run through you. 

The only reason he wasn't able to slash you clean open at that moment was because Draal had grabbed his leg at the last moment, able to pull him back and swing him into the furthest wall. As Jim readied himself to launch his next attack - or to defend against Angor's attack - he  looked between you and Angor, and seemed to connect the dots, eyes going wide.

"(Y/n), get out of here! He's targeting you!!" 

Before he could react, Angor threw Jim to the ground with a series of fireballs and kicked Draal clear across the house with terrifying ease, past the kitchen where you were hiding and against the back door. Wood splintered as the wall caved around his large figure. You had expected him to get back up in moments, but it seemed the attack had been powerful enough to have him down for the count. You wanted so desperately to rush over and make sure he was alright, but all things considered, you had far bigger concerns at hand. You had time to create a proper barrier spell that completely surrounded you this time, which Angor was on top of quicker than you could register. One foot pressed against the side, one hand's claws digging into the magic as the other held the sun poison dagger, twisting it so the tip slowly made its way through the conjuring you had created. This close, you could clearly see every detail of the sadistic smile that spread across his face. His singular piercing eye stared into yours as you fought your instincts to look away. You now truly began to understand why he was revered as the most dangerous, ruthless, cunning assassin... 

Your thoughts were shattered as he let out a deep, throaty, predatory chuckle, "Ahh, a little mage I see... A human one, no less." His awful voice rasped, like sandpaper in your ears, "I'm impressed this amateur spell is holding up against me as well as it is." You managed to rip your eyes from his to glance to his claws, which had now begun to pierce the barrier, and then to his dagger, which was gradually slipping further and further through. 

"The human spirit sure is a neat thing, huh? It's the only reason this barrier is still intact, keeping you from death at my hands." With each punctuation of his words, he dug his claws and the dagger deeper, 

"I could easily break this anytime I wanted..." A pause. The fear you felt in the moment was so real, so intense. You could swear you already felt his claws digging into your flesh, his dagger slicing through skin and bone with ease. This... was terrifying... 

"And I think..." He spoke again, face getting closer to the barrier, causing you to shrink back involuntarily as your knuckles turned white from clutching your staff with such force.

"... I. Will." 

Just as your adrenaline peaked, the barrier shattered into fragmented pieces, dissipating into the air. All you could do was watch helplessly tears in your eyes as the assassin came down upon you... 

But death, as he had promised, didn't come. 

Rather, you were saved from death incarnate by a blast of teal light your staff emitted without you even thinking of it. Though it wasn't the most powerful thing, it was enough to throw Angor Rot a small ways away, just enough to make you feel somewhat safe again. The assassin landed on his feet with ease, but seemed distracted for a precious moment by the sudden and unexpected spell. Could you even call it a spell? You hadn't been the one to cast it, and it hadn't even been the same orange hue as all your previously practiced spells... 

The moment of reprieve didn't last for too long, sadly, as Angor snarled with rage and lunged for you at an incredible speed. Just as you thought death was embracing you for real, yet another miracle appeared, this time in the form of Strickler. 

Now in changeling form, he threw himself at Angor Rot, tackling him away from you and back into the living room. As both recovered, Jim was able to get back up and summon Daylight once more, which was quickly taken by the assassin. Your brother summoned his daggers instead, effectively flipping the script. You watched, vision slightly blurred as your ears were overtaken by ringing, as the three fought for a moment more before leading the troll upstairs. 

The pounding footsteps and sounds of vicious back and forth battling barely registered as you stared at the staircase, wondering if he'd come back to finish you off in your vulnerable state. But thankfully, he didn't, at least for long enough to let you come down from the gallons of adrenaline that had been dumped into your system in just moments. Hell, you didn't even notice when your mom snuck out of the basement with a shovel in hand and followed them upstairs. 

The only thing that somewhat brought you out of your catatonic state was a deep, pained groan from nearby. You jumped, nearly shouting, and whipped your head around to face Draal. He lay in the now dented wall, seemingly coming back from a brief unconsciousness. Finally finding the will to move, you rediscovered your arms and legs and began to scoot your way over to the troll. You were pretty sure your legs would collapse beneath you if you dared to stand. Once by his side, you took in his condition; ragged, tattered, definitely out of it, and probably feeling the effects of a painfully splitting headache. Gods, how could you have let this happen... You were supposed to be their backup, to help them, but here Draal sat with the wall basically collapsed on him... 

You hesitantly reach out, hand hovering above his stony skin before coming to rest on his arm. The touch seemed to wake him further, watching as he stirred and groaned painfully. You were too distracted by your own thoughts to realize the soft, almost nonexistent teal glow that emitted from your palm that rested on his cool skin. As you continued to blame yourself, you felt his muscles twitch. Attention suddenly all on Draal, you watched as he seemed to regain some vigor. The warrior brought a hand to his head before slowly opening his eyes,

"Augh... Damn that assassin..." He mumbled in his bleary state, large horns swaying as he shook the fuzziness from his head. You leaned on his arm to get a better look at him; nothing chipped, nothing missing, just hit really hard, it seemed. When Draal seemed to regain more of his consciousness, his eyes met yours. You could tell they were still irritated from the pepper spray Barbara had unleashed on him earlier with the additional redness they held. 

"(Y/n)?" He asked, but got no response. You urged your mouth to open, your voice to speak, but nothing came of it. It was like your body had been stunned into near total stillness. Your face didn't even make an expression as you looked back at the troll. His brows furrowed in confusion as your reactions failed you, leaving you staring at him with utter fear still lingering in your eyes. 

"You seem unusually still, and quiet…" It took a moment for the troll to process everything, but once he did, he jolted up with a sudden wave of animated energy, "What happened?? Are the others still in battle? Are you okay??" Draal moved to sit up, grunting with the painful effort it took to release his spiked back from the splintered wood of the wall. Once he had situated himself in front of you, his large hands hovered around you. It was as if he wanted to help but didn't know how, or was scared to touch you should your fragile human form be damaged by his rough, stony touch. 

Anything you may have wanted to say was lost amongst your disorganized thoughts before your attention was ripped to the ceiling; your mom’s voice let out what sounded like a mix between a battle cry and a scream, followed by a 'thwack!,' then chatter, then chaos. Your mom... Oh no, you hadn't even thought to stop her... 

You whipped back around to face Draal once more, 

"Go!!" 

Your voice, strained and shrill, came out more as a bark than a shout. Draal was taken completely off guard for only a moment, recovering from his shock quickly and doing as you said. The troll swiftly rose to his feet and was trampling up the stairs in moments, which was followed by even heavier sounding chaos above. 

A new wave of adrenaline perked you back up for the most part, allowing you to follow Draal with decent speed. However, as you reached halfway up the stairs, you were met with the sight of Jim helping your mother downstairs, followed closely by Stricker. Both adults held their necks tightly as if they had been wounded. Shit, what happened?? 

You could tell they were speaking as they passed you, and you saw Jim attempt to say something directly to you, but it was as if your brain refused to let you hear anything clearly. Voices, sure, but not individual words or complete sentences. You vaguely made out 'Trollmarket,' but not long after, they were gone. 

You could only stand there, thoughts racing with worst case scenarios about what had happened to your mother. Grief struck you prematurely, but you didn’t have any time at all to even begin to think about it as crashing upstairs kicked your body back into fight mode. You stumbled up the stairs and into Jim's bedroom, where the commotion was coming from, only to see Draal frozen in the ring of yellow crystals Jim had set as a trap for Angor. Clearly something hadn't gone quite right. 

Angor stood at the edge of the ring, grinning down at his 'catch' in that same way that made your stomach turn itself into knots not long ago. You couldn't take your eyes off of the gray troll, frozen in place yet again. Damn, had he really scared you so much? It's as if you were a deer in headlights, aware there was a deadly car barreling towards you yet unable to move out of the way, forced to face it head on as your insides twisted in preemptive horror. As you stared, limbs beginning to tremble, his eye met yours. 

Not again, no, please no... 

Terror rushed through your body all over again as he approached you, a confident swagger in his walk. The sound of Draal grunting, shouting, fruitlessly fighting against the spell which entrapped him registered to you. Alas, it all faded into the background as your ears rang painfully loud. You could hear your own blood rushing, your heart thumping against your ribcage, your thoughts screaming at you to do something, anything...

His hand reached out slowly, deliberately, and stroked from your temple down to your jawline. His touch wasn’t light, but it was definitely gentler than you'd expect someone as ruthless and violent as Angor Rot to be. It sent terrible shivers up and down your spine. Before you could process it, his hand was around your throat, lifting you onto your toes as he leaned in sickeningly close to you, 

"Ahh, the little mage girl returns. Though, mage is too good of a thing to call such a pathetic thing." He laughed to himself, moving to Jim's desk to drop you harshly onto your back. You felt your wrists being grabbed and pulled behind you and around one leg of the desk as you were forced to sit up, then something cold and stiff being twisted around them far too tightly for comfort. You swore you could feel a pop of some sort, followed by searing discomfort and strain. Despite your fear, you found you still couldn't take your eyes away from his. 

The troll grinned as he leaned down and brought his face right up to yours, unsheathing his dagger and holding its pointed tip to your shoulder. He pressed it to your delicate skin, applying pressure slowly until he was satisfied with the depth of the wound. Even as you were actively being stabbed, your voice could only produce a pathetic whining sound. It made him grin all the wider. All the more sadistically, 

"So sorry I cannot fulfill my promise just yet, there are other matters which require my full attention. But... Consider this something to remember me by in the meantime..." His awful voice burned your ears. With a slight twist, he pulled the dagger back out, blood following in a steady stream that soaked into your shirt. Though you should have screamed, you could barely feel the wound in your sorry state. 

"I'll finish the job next time we meet. I promise." 

With that, he stood upright once more, turned, and was gone out the window in moments. 

With the cause of your terror now gone, your body slowly began to come down from autopilot; your back ached, so did your wrists, and you could feel the way your throat would certainly bruise in time. Most of all, the sharp pain you finally noticed was coming from your shoulder began to sting unbearably. You craned your neck to look down at the wound, watching as your shirt stained deep red from soaking the liquid up. You chanced moving your shoulder, only to flinch harshly and bite your tongue to stop yourself from shouting. You tried moving your wrists, but they didn't move at all against the metal that had been bent against them, basically crushing them together. 

Draal grunted something, grabbing your attention. You looked up, seeing him frozen exactly where Angor Rot had left him. You couldn't make out what he said, or what he tried to say after, but you knew you needed to get him out of there. You could tell you were fading fast, but if you could free Draal, he could go help Jim and your mom. This was the least you could do. You had to do something, to try as hard as you could before giving up… 

You braced your legs out in front of you, the heels of your shoes digging into the rug as you pulled yourself forward with your remaining strength. The strain on your wrists as they dragged the desk behind you was nearly unbearable. But you did it again, and again, one more time, until you were within reach of the crystals that held Draal captive. You stretched your leg as far as it could go, kicking with your foot. The very tip of your shoe touched one of the crystals. You reached again, a little closer, just a little bit closer, come on... Until you succeeded in kicking one crystal away, freeing Draal from the trap. 

He fell to the ground with a hefty thud, immediately scrambling to free you. He reached around and unbent your makeshift metal shackles as delicately as his un-dexterous fingers could. It still hurt like hell despite his attempts to be careful, but you couldn't complain about being freed. Your eyes screwed shut and you stifled a pained noise in your throat as feeling returned to your now free hands. You took a breath at the sudden relief, bringing them around to your front and cradling them in your lap as you hunched over. Your chest heaved for breath, body and mind alike exhausted from everything you had been through in such a short time. A blue knee entered your vision as you recouped, followed by two large hands on either side of your own. You felt your body relax, knowing that hue anywhere, realizing you were now safe in his company. 

"Are you alright? What has he done to you?" A gruff, very much welcomed voice reached you. Finally, words you were able to understand. You looked up to meet Draal’s gaze as your vision finally came together to make out his familiar, very welcome features. It looked like he was concerned... Worried, even... 

His eyes scanned over you; they first landed on your wrists, which he took ever so carefully in one of his large hands. Darkening purple marks already decorated your skin, surrounded by yellowing discoloration and indentations from where your restraints had dug into your flesh. When you attempted to flex your wrists slightly, you hissed in pain, coddling your left hand. That pop you felt must have been something more... Draal flinched at the sound of your pain, his hands moving away from you as if he had been the one to cause you harm. You watched as his wide-eyed gaze moved to your neck, finding somewhat lighter bruising there as well. You could feel the soreness of the still-developing bruises and the pinpricks the assassin troll’s nails had left without even having to see it. You had no doubt each of Angor's fingers would be visible tomorrow. He seemed deeply troubled by these markings Angor Rot had left on you. You supposed wounds like yours were entirely new to Draal, a troll whose skin didn’t bruise and didn’t break very easily. It was understandable he was freaked out by such discoloration and whatnot, never having experienced such things as a troll. 

As the troll’s hand came to rest on your shoulder, you crumpled in on yourself to get away from the pain, choking a squeal as it rose in your throat. Draal flinched away, but quickly recovered and gently urged you to sit up again. His expression contorted as he observed the still bleeding wound that had been left in your shoulder. 'Something to remember him by,' as he had put it. The bastard... Though he didn’t bleed, you were sure that he’d been educated at least somewhat on how humans worked, and that bleeding wasn’t optimal for a human's health. 

"That bastard is as good as dead when he shows his face next..." Draal mumbled, mostly to himself, "Quickly, we need to get you to Trollmarket." His large arms carefully positioned around you to hold you against his chest, and you found yourself being rushed through the sewers soon after. You held your hand to the wound Angor had left you with, bringing your fist up and grasping the cloth around the wound to bunch up your shirt. You used what strength you had left to press as hard as you could bear against the injury. Though the bleeding slowed, you still felt incredibly faint. It seems that was all you could manage to do, as you found yourself unable to even think of what else to do. Weak, helpless, and beaten, being carried along as your legs couldn’t carry you, what could you even manage if you tried? Adrenaline, blood loss, shock, fear... It all culminated, zapping any energy you may have had left and leaving you with barely enough will to keep your eyes open. 

Your head lulled back against Draal’s arm, your head simply too heavy to hold up anymore. You came to focus on his face as he ran, taking in his expression. You hadn’t seen him make such a face before. Nothing came even close. It was determined, which you had of course seen in the past, but also looked troubled, anxious... Do you dare say the warrior looked almost scared? 

It seemed like only moments passed before you were surrounded by beautiful crystals. They whizzed past your vision in bright blurs as Draal ran, but you'd still recognize those anywhere; you had reached Trollmarket. Sine when had it been so close to your home? Or had your exhaustion just made you lose track of time?

Jim said he was coming here, didn't he? Is your mom here too? Are they okay...? 

The blue-purple light of the crystals suddenly turned golden, your sluggish mind coming to realize you must be at the Heartstone. Familiar voices came to surround you, and your bleary mind could vaguely make out faces as your head lolled to the side to scan the area around you. Jim, Blinky, Toby, Claire, and Aaarrrgghh, all there looking down at you. Everyone seemed to be a bit panicked - well, that may be a tiny understatement - but what panicked you was how you didn't see your mom amongst your friends and brother. You reached out, grabbing Jim's sleeve and tugging him closer. He leaned in, 

"(Y/n)? What's wrong??" The concern in his tone was almost palpable. You couldn’t blame him; you’d be an absolute mess if your little brother had been injured in any way. 

"Mom..." You managed to mutter out, "Where is... is she okay?" You asked with what strength you could muster to speak, chest heaving for a breath after each sentence. Jim smiled, but his brow remained furrowed, 

"Yeah, she's okay, she's with Vendel now. You should probably come see him too…" His smile dropped as soon as he looked up to Draal, who nodded in agreement before following Jim further into the Heartstone to where the older, much wiser troll resided with your mother. You tried to stay awake, you really did, but your body felt so heavy... Your mind was so fuzzy... Fingers tingled, eyes unfocused, ears ringing... 

You were safe. In good hands. Someone would know what to do. You trusted them. 

And so, you let yourself fall into the waiting, welcoming arms of sleep… 

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[calamitycrown]

Enchantment - Ch. 4 - 'Training Trauma'

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Summary:

When the possibility of a larger threat looms over Arcadia, Jim suggests doing some training to sharpen everyone's skills, regardless of whether this threat is real or not.

Things go well… for the most part.

Pairing: Draal x Reader

Warnings: None

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6

Masterlist Post

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“Well that sure doesn’t sound like anything good…” 

Blinky mumbled as he took in the information you had relayed to him; such a congregation of goblins all in such a rush, running through Arcadia in a manner that almost gave you the idea that they had been frightened of something. You stood with Jim, Draal, and Aaarrrgghh as the smartest among you rifled through his plethora of shelves in search of a book, though it seemed he couldn’t find it as he eventually sighed and turned to the lot of you, 

“I had no idea I owned so few books regarding goblins… I'll have to remedy that when I have the chance to do so…” He mumbled in passing before returning to the situation at hand, “ Nevermind that! There is only one plausible reason which could explain such highly unusual behavior; they must have been running to – or on the other hand, possibly from – something. My best guess is the latter, but what on earth would cause such panic among them?” Blinky crossed both sets of arms as he voiced his internal dialogue, one hand resting on his chin as he dug through his thoughts to find an answer to this strangeness. Wow, this issue must be big if the smartest troll in Trollmarket couldn't give you a ready answer. 

“Maybe they realized goblins not welcome?” Aaarrrgghh suggested, ever the pacifist he is. Blinky didn’t even look up to his friend as he began to pace, the issue of not having a book to look to seeming to get to him, “No no no, that couldn't be. Goblins are simple and violent creatures; they have absolutely no sense of whether they are welcome or unwelcome in any given place, taking whatever they please without a care as to whether they are wanted or not…” Aaarrrgghh let out a quiet, disappointed grumble as his idea was struck down, and your heart ached for the big softie. You gently pat his furry shoulder in a comforting gesture, to which he grinned slightly in return. 

“Blinky,” Jim spoke up as he took a step forward, “if you think something big is gonna happen soon, then we should prepare, whether it’s a false alarm or not. Right? That way we'll be ready whether something comes up or not.” At his young master's logic, Blinky's demeanor seemed to brighten in an instant, “Ah, yes, young Master Jim! A splendid thought! You truly are becoming a competent Trollhunter. I am so proud!” He said, happily slinging one arm over the hunter’s shoulders as he led the way out of his library, “We must ensure your skills are as sharp as ever in order to take on whatever challenges may be lurking in the shadows of the near future! And in the meantime, it will provide me ample time to find a reason for these goblin's strange escapades." 

“I shall be your sparring partner, Trollhunter.” Draal commented gruffly, straightening up as he loudly cracked his stony knuckles. You could tell by the tone of his voice alone that he was ready for a brawl. The smirk that played on his face as he passed you only confirmed what you already knew; clearly he was more than eager to get into the arena and have a good duel. As much as training with Jim at your home has helped to keep his skills sharp, fighting in a large, open, challenging, and unpredictable area such as the Forge with obstacles and challenges out the wazoo would definitely be better at allowing the troll to fight with his full, unbridled force. Oh, this was definitely something you had to see. You began to follow the group out of the library when Blinky suddenly stopped, 

“And dear (y/n)!" Blinky’s voice cut through your thoughts as he paused ahead of you, turning back and rushing to your side as fast as his short legs could carry him, “I would quite like to see what your studies have culminated in! If you don’t mind, I would love to have you demonstrate the fruits of your labor.” 

Oh boy… 

You hugged your staff closer to yourself, suddenly feeling very unsure about your abilities, "Are you sure? I mean- I guess I don't mind giving a demonstration, but do you think I'm really ready to start training like that? I'm not really sure…" You mumbled slightly, eyes avoiding Blinky's as all the things that could go wrong ran through your head. You could be crushed, have bones broken, be flung off the edge of the arena and into the pits below, never to be seen again…! 

"Nonsense, miss (y/n)." Blinky said matter-of-factly with a wave of his hand, resting another comfortingly on your shoulder, "You must begin your combat training somewhere! Theory and studies can only take one so far, you know." The troll encouraged gently, "I am confident you are much more capable thank you may believe. You've read book after book of magical studies - my books, no less - and I've seen your dedication. Please believe an old troll when I say you have great potential! You simply have to allow it to come to the surface." 

Ah, crap, why did he have to be so wise and so right? If you ever stood any chance of helping Jim and the others save the whole damn world, you'd have to patriciate in training of some kind sooner or later. And with this new, mysterious threat looming over you, it would probably be wise to start sooner, even if your nerves jittered and your heart thudded against your ribcage at the thought. 

"I guess you're right, Blinky… Just- can you ask them to take it easy on me please?" You asked of him, grinning nervously in an attempt to hide your fear. 

“Yes, of course, miss (y/n)! You have my word, no real harm will come to you. Training in combat is a gradual process, especially for your much more fragile and delicate human form. We will take the upmost caution to ensure you remain safe." He clasped his hands together happily, the smile on his face ever growing, "Now! Come along - the lot of you - we must begin at once!”  With that, you all followed Blinky as he made his way through Trollmarket and to the Forge, a newfound pep in the multi-eyed troll's step, and to a lesser extent, in yours as well. 

Oh boy, here we go… You were sure you'd wake up completely bruised and battered in the morning. That is, if you survived… 

You stood beside Jim, with none other Draal the Deadly facing you clear on the other side of the arena. Jim had manifested the amulet's armor, ready as ever to fight, as if- well, actually, this was pretty much how his every day went. You, on the other hand, were quietly panicking on the inside, frozen where you stood with your staff clutched tightly in your hands. All the spells you had been studying so diligently suddenly vanished from your memory, as if you had never learned them in the first place. Poof! Gone! Vanished in an instant! You were pretty sure your knuckles turned white beneath your armor-clad gloves as the grip you had on your staff tightened in a fruitless attempt to calm your nerves. 

Jim glanced over to you as he stretched in preparation for what was to come, smile fading into confusion with a hint of concern as he saw the state of you. As your little brother, he knew exactly what you were feeling at almost any time by just looking at you, not that it was very difficult to tell how you were feeling in that specific moment. 

“You alright, (y/n)?” He asked, brow quirked in a questioning manner. Your heart jumped at the sound of his voice, already on edge as adrenaline preemptively began to seep into your veins. If you were any more nervous, you were sure your armor would be clanking against itself in a pitiful display of cowardice. You vigorously shook of your head in response to your brother's question, 

“I don't think I am, Jim… I’m really second guessing this- I mean, I’m just getting the hang of hitting still targets most of the time. How am I supposed to fight a seasoned warrior like Draal the Deadly??” 

“Well… Who said you had to fight?” The sentence struck you; it was so simple, yet it could be the answer you needed to calm your raging panic. You raised a brow, "Well, it's a fight. Isn't the point to fight back?" “I mean," Jim paused for a moment, as if finding the right way to put his thoughts into words, "a fight’s not all about offence. Defense and support are important too, and what better person to do that than someone who uses magic? You always see magic being used like that in video games and stuff after all. Shields, levitation; a lot of what you’ve been studying so hard isn’t just useless in combat, y’know." 

Ahhh. The realization hit you like a truck, changing your way of thinking in seconds. He was right. What's that saying? 'The best offence is a good defense?' Maybe that was more true than you thought. 

You took a deep breath, standing up straight as you tried to have some semblance of confidence, “Yeah… You’re right Jim. Thanks, I think I really needed to hear that. You're the best little brother I could have asked for." At your praise, Jim laughed a bit and quietly looked away, waving his hand dismissively, "You're just saying that because you're my sister… Now, are we gonna beat Draal into the dirt or what? I bet he's getting impatient." Jim jested, looking forward to see Draal readying himself; his fists struck his horns, with a hefty 'thunk!', after which he let out a deep, almost monstrous sounding bellow. Wow. That was certainly a noise you hadn't heard from him before, but damn, was it intimidating. Though it should have given you a sinking, twisting feeling in your stomach, you felt butterflies once again. 

"Well…" You mumbled, but put on as brave a smile as you could manage, "I'll do whatever I can, but I make no promises… Don't get hit, okay?" 

"Ohh, trust me, I try my best. Draal is a lot faster than he looks, though." 

With a nod from Jim up to Blinky, the six-eyed troll officially began the battle. 

With the start of combat, Draal was eager to make the first move. The troll took off from his position with more speed than you'd expect from a troll his size and stature, running full speed towards the two of you, the sheer force of every thundering footstep he took throwing dirt up into the air behind him. He looked like a charging bull, large, intimidating horns at the ready to make contact with his target. 

Your first move was to use a spell to teleport yourself a decent distance away. Draal could easily still change course to aim for you, but he didn’t, seemingly focused solely on the Trollhunter for the time being. With the sheer amount of energy he was exuding, you could tell he was simply looking for a hard hitting fight that would let him go all out, which was something you couldn't yet give. He was cutting straight to the point; Jim. Regardless, you decided to make the second move and use your only offensive spell; a bolt of energy shot towards Draal, traveling fast, but not fast enough. Though you had been aiming for him, the shot landed just behind him. Damn, you didn't account quite enough for a moving target.

You aimed and shot again, resulting in the same thing. Your grumbled frustratedly. However, just before you went in for another shot, you noticed the dust and debris that your missed shots had kicked up, and with quick thinking adjusted your aim and fired. A large, thick cloud of dust was thrown up between Draal and Jim, just where you had intended it to. Alright! You couldn't help but celebrate a little at your first ever successful spell cast in battle, smiling widely as you watched Draal charge through the cloud. Jim was able to take advantage of the low visibility his opponent had and dodged, readying himself once more aways away. 

He let out a heavy chuff, swaying his bull ring and blowing the dust that hung in the air away. As he stared Jim down, he shook himself off, dust that had accumulated on his skin and horns falling back to the ground. Despite his failed attack, Draal's smile grew ever the more wild as he readied and charged again, this time starting too close to Jim for you to think of what to do next. The warrior slashed at your brother, who deflected each blow with the blunt side of his sword, both exchanging blows which didn’t land or were parried by the other as they exchanged ground with their movements. Neither could seem to get the upper hand. 

Eventually, Draal managed to gain some ground by swiping Jim’s legs out from under him, causing the hunter to fall backwards with a heavy 'thud!' The troll took the moment of weakness to raise his fists together in preparation for a powerful strike, to which Jim raised his sword to act as a shield. However, both were surprised when Draal's attack landed halfway on something other than Jim or his sword. Jim opened his eyes, seeing that Draal's devastating blow had been completely stopped by a translucent barrier. Though it had stopped the blow, large cracks in its for radiated from where Draal's fists lay, still bearing down with much force. Jim and Draal looked over to you, albeit only for a moment, as this was still an active fight. You thought you had seen something new in Draal's expression… Maybe you had him on the ropes already? 

Draal reeled back once more and completely shattered the conjured barrier upon impact a second time, his fist exploding through before landing heavily on Jim’s sword. It was a battle of strength and endurance now, of whether Draal could crush Jim beneath his own sword before Jim could somehow get himself out of the situation. Or rather, that’s how it would have been if they were sparring as they normally did. This time, you were present as Jim’s backup, and as such, you had to think quickly to find a way to get him out of the situation he found himself in. Geez, you wished you could catch a break. 

After a moment’s thought, you cast a spell to levitate Jim’s sword in an attempt to give him the upper hand against Draal’s overwhelming strength bearing down upon it. You instantly felt the resistance against your staff, as if it had gained a significant amount of weight in seconds, and you struggled to catch yourself and the staff, bracing your arms and legs as you began to pull upwards. Your limbs strained with every ounce of strength you could muster, and slowly but surely, you were able to begin gaining some way, slowly pulling your staff and Jim's sword up against Draal's unmatched brawn. Even when the troll warrior bore down with even more strength and all of his weight, you and Jim managed to continue fighting against it. You watched as Daylight pushed further back against Draal's powerful fists with your help, finding yourself rather surprised the spell had actually worked in the way you intended, as you had never used it in this context before. To hell with it though! If it works, it works! 

Though Draal tried to push back, yours and Jim’s combined strength allowed Jim to push his opponent back enough to duck and roll out of the way, retreating a ways back with his sword held at the ready once more. You finally released the spell, arms and back aching from the physical strength it had taken to perform the task. You honestly weren't sure you'd be able to win against the sheer power Draal had been bearing down on Daylight with. As much as you would have loved a second or two to catch your breath after such a feat, you were granted no such luxury as Draal charged yet again. This seemed to be his go-to move to get closer to his opponent, as you had already observed each time he began an attack. You wondered if you could somehow interrupt his dash. The attacks that came from your staff were still too weak to do much to throw the seasoned troll of course, but maybe you didn’t need to outright attack. After all, like your brother had said, offence isn’t the only way to fight. 

You cast the levitation spell again, this time directly on the ground within Draal’s path. Just as you had done before, you used all the force you could muster to lift your staff. You felt resistance momentarily before the tension snapped, almost sending you flying back and simultaneously causing a sizable chunk of stone to suddenly jut up from the previously flat ground. As the troll was so solely focused on Jim, the unseen rock caused him to trip up mid-run, allowing an opening for Jim to charge and catch the warrior troll off guard. The Trollhunter took control of the battle then and there, releasing a relentless onslaught of slashes and jabs on his opponent. Draal was surprisingly made to retreat slightly, slowly being pushed back as his ability to keep up with the sheer speed and agility of the attacks waned. He couldn't seem to find an opening to dodge and get far enough away to use his charge again. Seems like fast, close-quarters combat wasn't his strong suit. 

With another well placed rock jutting out from the ground, you caused the troll to trip once more, this time backwards. Finally, Jim was able to thrust his blade towards Draal in a winning move which ended the battle. One touch from Daylight would cause the troll to turn to stone, easily giving Jim the checkmate. 

All was quiet in the arena for a solid moment as the two warriors silently stood off. However, the sound you hadn't at all expected to break the silence was Draal's loud, mighty belly laugh. Huh. You had more so expected him to either be upset in some way about losing or to brush it off as a fluke. Yet here you were, listening to his laughter echo through the Forge as he laid pinned beneath certain death. This was certainly a type of laugh you hadn't heard from him yet. Sure, he had snickered or chuckled around you before, even laughed at a decent volume once or twice, but this one was filled with passion. He had clearly enjoyed getting to brawl with few no limitations again. It was nice, getting to see him so fulfilled, engaging with his passion after so long of holding back and being confined to the basement and backyard. 

“Ahh, good fight, Trollhunter!" He praised in the same unbridled tone, able to stand back up as Daylight disappeared, "You’re lucky I was going easy on you for her sake.” The troll chortled slightly, jutting his head in your direction as he slapped Jim on the back a few times, the sound of his stony skin against the armor echoing. Oh right- you had been part of this fight too. You had nearly forgotten in the adrenaline-filled state of near panic you had been in the entire time. You walked towards the two once you came to, as did Blinky and Aaarrrgghh. 

Accolades were thoroughly given by Blinky, while Aaarrrgghh merely said ‘thumbs up’ while giving you both a thumbs up along with his signature sweet smile. Draal kind of shook the praise he was given off, shrugging as he made it seem like it was all in a day's work. Guess he didn’t find satisfaction in being praised for a fight he basically threw, how humble. Then when you weren't expecting it, the attention was suddenly on you once again, 

“Oh, dear (y/n)! Wonderful, talented dear (y/n)!!” Blinky began as he shuffled his way in front of you, arms exaggerating his words as they waved this way and that with excitable energy, “Your magical studies have truly paid off, as you have demonstrated today! Although it may not be flashy or grand, all it takes is a few well timed and thought through spells to turn the tides of any clash. Congratulations on winning your very first battle…! Ah…” The six eyed troll suddenly began to choke up, smiling and wiping a tear away from one of his many eyes, “Goodness me, it seems I am tearing up…! My apologies miss (y/n), I am simply so proud...” 

You couldn’t help but let yourself laugh quietly to yourself at his antics. Was he really so impressed and proud of you for using a few of the simplest spells in the book? Well, guess you’ll take that over nothing. 

“Blinky, don’t be silly. Jim did all the heavy lifting, and Draal was going easy on us. I appreciate that you think I’m good at the spells I’ve learned so far, though. I wouldn't want your teachings to go to waste.” 

“Oh, nonsense!!” All four of his hands shot out to grasp your singular hand, “You have come further in the time you have had than many could dream of! You should be very, very proud of yourself! You will be able to hold your own in a true battle in no time at all at the pace you have set.” With a gentle pat to the back of your hand, Blinky released you, clearing his throat and straightening himself up, “Now then. Why don’t you take a break on the sidelines while I coach these two more in depth? We can have a one-on-one lesson later if you would like, hm?” Although he tried to hide it, you could see the eagerness to teach you and help you hone your skills seeping through, barely contained. You grinned at his excitement, glad you could make him proud, 

“Sure! That sounds great, Blinky- ough-!” You suddenly had the breath knocked out of you by a harsh hand coming down onto your back a few times, having to use your staff as support so you wouldn’t topple over. You knew that motion well and easily recognized it. Glancing over your shoulder, you caught sight of Draal looking down at you with a wide, toothy grin, 

“You did good out there for a first timer, fleshbag, even if I was going easy on you. Keep at it, soldier.” He ended his praises with one last, slightly stronger blow to your back, which made you stumble forward a step even with the support from your staff. Though you knew this was him being friendly in a trollish way, the aches and bruising that always inevitably came with it was less than desirable. Alas, you never corrected him or asked him to stop. How could you when it was his way of showing praise? When it was his way of being friendly and supportive? You had just become amicable with one another, like hell were you gonna say the wrong thing and take you both back to the days of scolding and spitting venom. 

“Ah- Thanks, Draal! That means a lot coming from the greatest warrior in Trollmarket.” You thanked him, giving a smile which attempted to hide the lingering pain you now felt in your back. The big, spiky troll’s expression flashed something too subtle and quick for you to recognize before he swiftly turned the other way, saying something about readying himself for round two. Huh. You hadn’t seen him act that way before. Maybe you complimenting his title had taken him off guard, since trolls weren't very open creatures. Or maybe you had flustered him slightly? Guess compliments on the battle prowess he was so well known for were a weak point of sorts. 

Regardless, you took your leave with a wave to everyone and retreated to the arena’s stands. You found a prime spot to watch the action and leaned forward against the railing in anticipation. As it was built for a troll's much taller stature, you had to stand on your toes slightly to see over it properly. Though you tried to study both Jim and Draal equally as combat commenced, your gaze always seemed to be drawn to Draal and his unique ways of fighting. Rolling, running on all fours, headbutting with his massive horns, using his proportionally larger arms to deliver devastating blows. It was all much more animalistic than a human would – or physically ever could – fight, all thanks to his stony troll body. Having skin that can’t be pierced by much other than a weapon like Daylight must be a great asset to have in battle, even if it didn’t necessarily make him completely impervious. And having those crystalline spike growths on his back gave him a very unique advantage that you didn’t see many other trolls having. In fact, he may be the only troll you've yet to see with that trait. His roll attack, if not countered, could induce massive damage if landed correctly. It was honestly such a sight to take in as you watched intently. 

After each victory, you would cheer for whoever happened to win. You didn't take notice when your voice subconsciously became louder and more energetic when Draal was the one who came out on top, always eliciting a small bout of showing off; flexing, posing, banging his fists against his chest, and the like. Each time, his over-the-top theatrics were directed towards you. And each time, you happily played into his ego. You even managed to make a firework from magic during one of his victories! Of course, you then had to do it for every victory regardless of who won from there on out in order to be fair, but that's beside the point. 

As you watched the fights go on, you noticed a little something; about every other time Draal landed a blow on Jim, he’d look up to you in the stands, assumedly to make sure you were watching. And every time he landed a particularly massive blow, he'd grin up at you. Huh. Back at home, Draal was usually so engrossed in the spar at hand that he never took his eyes off of his enemy. Maybe he was just in the mood to show off today? Maybe your compliments about his prowess and experience had given him a cocky sort of confidence boost? Who knows. All you knew was that it made your stomach do flips whenever his eyes met yours… Gosh, you hated to admit how much you were staring- 

As time went on, the arena began to come to life, bringing with it threats and challenges such as uneven and moving terrain, projectiles, weapons swinging from the ceiling, and so on. Typical Forge things. Each time there was a victor, the Forge grew more dangerous and more difficult to navigate. However, Jim and Draal seemed to have no issues fighting under the ever changing conditions. 

At one point, when Draal was retreating from an attack, he curled up into a tight ball and began to rev up a spin attack. However, as he darted forward and collided with Jim’s sword, a loud, sharp sound could be heard reverberating throughout the empty arena. It was a mix between the twang of Daylight and the collision of Draal’s spikes against the object, ringing through the Forge and bouncing off of its stone walls. 

The fight immediately halted; the Forge stopped all at once, returning slowly to its usual static state. Draal came out from his rolled form and took a staggering step back, shaking his head as if he had been dazed for a moment. Jim checked the length of his sword, seeing no damage that could have caused that loud of a sound. Once the ringing subsided, Jim, Blinky, and Aaarrrgghh were all quick to run into the arena towards Draal as he steadied himself. Just as you were about to go running as well, you found yourself… in the air? It was a brief feeling, as you soon began to succumb to gravity, bracing to hit the stony floor… But it didn’t come, thank god, or else you may have a bruised tailbone to go along with all your other bruises. Instead, you were caught by an equally firm surface that gave way, a type of stone you’d happily take over the unforgiving ground. 

Looking up, you were met with yellow and red looking down at you, just as shell shocked as you seemed to be. Your mind was quick to put the pieces together; you must have unintentionally teleported yourself to Draal, but as you hadn’t meant to cast the spell, you weren’t focusing. Thus, you must have spawned in the air above him, putting you here in this situation. 

Your little staring contest was cut short by the others arriving by Draal’s side. He quickly set you on your own two feet before standing up straight once more, trying to turn his head to see his own back. Unfortunately for him, his large muscles and overall wide, stocky frame prevented him from seeing much, not to mention the way such actions made him wince ever so slightly. 

“Draal! What on earth happened??” Blinky’s worried shouting cut through the air, his little legs quickly rushing him to Draal’s side in order to begin checking him over, “That sound was certainly not normal. Do you hurt anywhere? Where were you hit? Did Daylight graze you?!” 

“No, no- I'm fine, Blinkous. I just feel a bit strange..." He continued trying to crane his neck to see behind him, but he just couldn't. After a moment, the warrior gave up with an aggravated huff, turning his back to the group, "Would someone find the bloody problem? Something feels… loose, almost." 

Blinky was quick to step forward to examine the troll’s back, eyes searching among the plentiful spikes which jutted in every which way before seeming to find the source of Draal’s discomfort, "Aha! What have we here, hmm?" The troll leaned forward to get a closer look at one spike in particular. You, Jim, and Aaarrrgghh - the curious things you were, or maybe nosy would be more appropriate, mixed with concern of course - all did the same, seeing that the tip of this particular spike had a stress fracture permeating horizontally a small ways down from the tip. It went clear through from one side to the other, and looked as if it could fall off at any moment. Blinky looked for a moment more, then grasped the tip of the spike between two fingers and swiftly broke it off at the fracture line. You flinched, wondering if Draal was hurt at all by the action, though he seemed to at least be able to hide any reaction he may have had. 

"There you are, Draal! You should feel much better now." Blinky held out the broken fragment to Draal as he turned back around to face the group, taking it in his much larger hand. "Although this was only a small fracture - thank goodness - we should still take you to see the repair smith. We wouldn't want that fracture to be exaggerated by anything now, would we? That could lead to disastrous consequences, possibly the loss of the entire spine in the worst case." Before anyone could object or agree, Blinkous was already briskly making his way towards the Forge's exit and into Trollmarket, Draal's arm grasped in all four of his as he led the warrior along beside him. Without question, everyone followed. 

It took no time at all for the lot of you reached the repair smith, as Blinky had called them. It was a singular troll working in a hot, kiln-like environment from a spot dug deep into a cave wall. Funnily enough, the sign above the business read in Trollish, 'The Kiln,' Blinky had informed you. Fire and molten metals were being worked with from the very back of the hollow as smoke from the work spilled out along the ceiling and out into the market, sparks flying from deep within. The surrounding trolls didn't seem to be very affected by the emissions, while you and Jim had a coughing fit as the group approached the mouth of the hollow. A rasp of Aaarrrgghh's huge knuckles against the wall by the entrance caught the working troll’s attention. They removed their mask – a mask which was akin to a welding mask that humans would use – and grinned, 

“Evening, fellas! What can I do ya for?” They asked kindly. "Well, you see, our friend Draal here has had the unfortunate luck of breaking the tip of one of his crystal spines off." Said troll opened his fist to show the small piece of crystal as Blinkous spoke, "We were wondering if you could inform us on how to go about this."

The repair smith took one look at the fractured piece of crystal and visibly winced, “Oh! Yeowch big guy, how did ya manage to do that to yourself?” 

“Oh, y'know, just beating the Trollhunter into the dirt during a spar is all~.” Draal jested with a cocky smirk, receiving a harsh yet joking push to the side from Jim, both smiling at the friendly banter. 

"Well..." The repair smith mumbled, walking around to Draal's back in order to examine the damage, "Hm... Welp, I'd say ya came outta this pretty lucky!" You could feel the whole group collectively relax at the news, "You've got a nice, clean break that's easily fixable. Ya just need a cap on that there spike so it's protected from bein' damaged any worse and you'll be good as new." You could practically feel everyone's worry wash away, your overthinking mind put slightly at ease by the good news. Not knowing all the ins and outs of troll anatomy, you had been worrying that something like this could lead to more serious complications. Your overthinking mind could rest easy. The repair smith chuckled at the group's reactions to such a small injury,

"Y'all were real worried, huh? No need; crystal fractures are pretty common, even in high quality, near unbreakable crystal like your buddy's. They sure can feel weird when they break, though." They turned back to Draal, "You should probably take a soak in the mineral springs too, just t' be safe. But let's get that cap on first so ya don't get any more fractures, yeah?" Draal nodded along as the troll led him into their workshop, but turned to look over their shoulder for a moment as they walked, "You fellas should take a lap around Trollmarket, I should be done by the time ya get back, yeah?" 

As the forge troll worked, you trailed along beside Blinky, who you had asked about the whole 'bits breaking off of their bodies' thing. Apparently it was pretty common to get chips and dents as a troll grew older, especially those of a softer variety of stone. Sometimes reattachments were possible, other times not, as is the case for Draal. Seeing as Draal was battle-worn and scarred, you figured his spikes had just endured so much over the years that one had finally given out. Nothing to be worried about, so long as it wasn't too large of a gouge or in too sensitive of a place, Blinky explained. The new information left you able to calm your worries even more, even if it still freaked you out a little to be able to be so casual about losing a part of your body forever. It made you see the chunks and divots in Draal's stony, battle-worn skin a slightly different way. 

Whenever the group stopped at a stall to buy or look at wares, you took a seat wherever you could. Conveniently enough, one of the shops had been owned by a troll who collected and sold nothing but chairs, so you had no problem finding a place to sit there. However, you had no such luck as you sat on a rocky protrusion situated next to yet another troll's stall. Deciding not to give your mind time to conjure useless questions and concerns that would inevitably take over your thoughts, you retrieved a small notebook from your pocket. You had been keeping this travel-size book in order to keep a sort of cheat sheet in regards to spells and the like. It only explained the very bare bones of things, but it worked for you. 

"What're you up to, sis?" Jim's voice echoed slightly off the barren walls you sat in front of. He took a seat next to you on the rock which jutted out from its surroundings. You looked up at him for a moment before your gaze returned to your notebook, tilting it slightly so Jim could see what was on the page, 

"Oh, y'know, nothing much. Just studying more magic while we've got some downtime." You replied rather blandly. A small wave of your staff conjured a small ball of light, which fizzled out soon after its creation, "I need to perfect my spells if I'm ever gonna stand a chance sparring against Draal. And with whatever was up with those goblins... If it's something big, I need to learn as quickly as possible." 

"Geez (y/n), I don't think I've seen you doing anything other than studying for weeks. Maybe you should take a break?" Jim suggested, concern clear in the tone of his voice. You couldn't deny that it was true, but you had to be invested. You had to protect your loved ones and friends, because Jim could eventually be unable to handle every little thing on his own. He was still just a teenager, after all, and had a life outside of this world saving troll business. You wanted so badly to be able to take some of that huge burden away. 

You let out a breath you hadn't realized you were holding, closing your notebook and grinning at your sweet little brother, "I appreciate you looking out for me, Jim, I really do, but doing this is the only way I can look after you. You need support, friends, people- or, trolls-" You stumbled over your words briefly, "- allies that can cover your blind spots and take some of the load off of your shoulders. You're so young- you should be out there with your friends, watching movies and sneaking out at night to go do normal teenager stuff, not saving the world." You explained as your arm came to rest across Jim's shoulders, pulling him in for a side-hug, "... There's gonna be a day when you aren't able to be everywhere all at once to protect everyone. You need all the help you can get, little bro. And as your big sister, I have a job to keep you safe and help you out. You come first." You grinned, glancing out of the corner of your eye to see Jim's overthinking face. You squeezed him tighter in an attempt to pull him from his thoughts, 

"I promise I'll always be there for you, Jimbo. Always. And even when the world's at stake, you'll always come first in my book... You don't have to be the Trollhunter all alone..." 

You felt Jim relax, his head leaning into your shoulder as he took a deep breath, "I know... Thanks for reminding me though, (y/n). You're a pretty great sister." 

You gawked, "Only 'pretty great?' Man, I go out of my way to learn magic for you and I'm not even super? Not spectacular, or wonderful, or awesome even? I'm wounded, young Master Jim...!" You feigned, holding your free hand to your heart in a dramatic display of false hurt, wiggling your brother as you did so to emphasize your point. You heard him start to laugh as he tried to push you away and escape your hold on him, 

"Alright, you've made your point! You're the very best sister ever, happy?" 

"Yep, that'll do~." You grinned, dropping your act in seconds and letting go of Jim. He sat up and straightened out his hair before elbowing you lightly, playfully. You were glad you could still have these little moments of reprieve with him, regardless of his serious big-boy job. 

"Master Jim! Miss (y/n)! Come, Draal's cap should be finished by now, let us retrieve him!" Came Blinky's voice from a couple of stalls away. You and Jim were quick to catch up to him and Aaarrrgghh, walking alongside them with much higher spirits. 

As the repair smith's hole in the wall came into sight, you were a little disappointed to not see Draal anywhere. Did something go wrong? Had it just taken longer than expected to install the cap? No matter, the repair smith stood outside, seeing a troll - assumedly a customer - off before spotting your group approaching. They raised an arm to wave, "Welcome back! All went well, your buddy should be back t' fightin' and brawlin' after a few days o' rest."

"Ah, marvelous! Thank you very much for everything you have done for our dear fried." Said Blinky, smiling widely at the good news, as were the rest of you. "Where might he be, if I may ask?"

"Right here, Blinky." 

The familiar gruff voice had you all turning your heads towards another hole in the wall a small ways away, from which Draal emerged. The grin he usually wore now back, he seemed to be back to his normal self, if not a little more relaxed, likely from the mineral soak. You assumed it acted like a sort of spa day for trolls, especially seeing as his stony skin appeared to be slightly brighter and even a little glossy, if you looked close enough. He rolled his shoulders in a relaxed motion as he exited, making his way to the group. 

"Draal!" Jim exclaimed, meeting the troll halfway, "You look great! How do you feel?" "Ah, I feel like new, Trollhunter. Nothing like a good mineral spring soak to loosen the ol' joints." He laughed heartily as he nudged Jim only slightly less harshly than usual. "Indeed," Said Blinky as he approached with yourself and Aaarrrgghh right behind him, "Your stone looks good as new! Now, let us see that cap, hmm?" He asked, to which Draal turned his back to the lot of you. A silver plate of metal adorned his damaged spike, covering the top and extending down a couple of inches, held in place with a few carefully drilled screws. "Another beauty of a battle scar, isn't it?" Draal stood proud, as if it was an accomplishment to have received such an injury. 

"I'd say I did some pretty good work on that there piece myself!" The forge troll piped up from behind you, "Yep. It wasn't too simple to affix a cap t' a strong, rugged crystal like that, but I'd call that there some o' my best work." Well that was reassuring, at least. You'd expect crystal like Draal's to be somewhat frail, since they're relatively see through, but considering he had the tips of the rest of his spikes, you guess it had to be a pretty durable material. Especially considering the amount of force his roll attacks could generate. Whatever concerns you may have had were put to rest at the troll's confidence. "Thank you." You smiled up at them, getting a smile in return.

"No problem lil' lady! It was my pleasure." They brought their hand down on your head to gently ruffle your hair before returning to their forge. 

You turned back to the group to see Draal bantering with Aaarrrgghh, Blinky, and Jim. It was good to see him back to his normal self. In fact, he kind of seemed better than normal; his posture was straightened, chest puffed out, head held high, and you noticed he was telling a story about another battle scar he had gotten some time ago. You were glad that he was able to bounce back so quickly, and that the loss of a small piece of himself didn't bother him seemingly in the slightest. 

As you stood there, content standing behind the others as they spoke with Draal, you noticed the blue troll's eyes shift past the others to land on you for a moment. Not expecting the sudden eye contact, you simply mustered up a quick wave and smile. His grin widened a bit before his attention turned back to the others, "Y'know what? I think I'll take the rest of the day off from sparring. The repair smith did say I should let the thing settle in before going back to anything too rough."

The chatter went silent, broken by Jim speaking up, "Draal the Deadly, not wanting to go back to battle straight away? Do I even know you anymore?" "Indeed. Draal, are you sure you haven't hit your head as well?" Blinky asked with complete seriousness. Draal chuckled at his words, finding it humorous, 

"I'm fine, really, it must be the mineral springs if anything. Trollhunter," Draal looked down at Jim, "I believe you still have some training to get to, yes? We all need to be prepared, should something end up happening with those goblins and all." "Yes, Master Jim, we should continue your training! No moment should go to waste." The six eyed troll agreed eagerly, leading the way back to the Forge with Jim and Aaarrrgghh in tow. Jim turned back to shout over his shoulder, "Glad you're feeling better, Draal!" "Yes, do take care of yourself!" Blinky added, then they were chattering between themselves about training and whatnot. 

Just as you had taken the first couple of steps to follow them, Draal held you back with a large hand to your shoulder. His stony skin felt unusually warm, likely due to the mineral springs. Knowing how hardy trolls could be, they were probably boiling hot. You turned to face him, confused, but curious too, "Hm? Need something, Draal?" "Not exactly, but I did want a moment to speak, if that's alright."

He wanted to talk? To you, no less. Was it about the training you had joined in on earlier maybe? "Oh, sure, I've got plenty of time. What is it?" You asked with a smile, happy to listen to whatever he had to say to you. However, the first thing he did wasn't speak; rather, it was to reach into his pocket and present you with... 

"The... broken piece of crystal from your spike?" "Sure is." You took a moment to look at the chunk of crystal while it sat in his hand. It was now a pyramid with a jagged bottom, with a handful of chips and scratches across its surface from his rough-n-tough, battle-ridden lifestyle. The transparency of it made it so whatever you saw on the other side was slightly warped and tinted the same blue as the rest of his crystalline spikes. His hand made a motion towards you, urging you to take it, which you did. It was heftier than it looked, and rather smooth all things considered. You ran your thumb across the surface, feeling the difference of the smooth sides compared to the chipped divots. You had never in your life thought you'd be holding a piece of a troll in your hands. 

"It's... kinda weird to be holding a bit of you, honestly." You commented, making Draal laugh for a brief moment. "Yeah, I guess it would be pretty strange for a soft creature like you to hold part of someone else. But regardless, if you want it, you can have it." "What?" Your head immediately shot up to look at the troll. "I mean- sorry, is there any specific... reason? Or just..." You questioned, turning the chunk over in your hand as you fidgeted with it.

Draal shrugged, eyes occasionally looking away as he explained, "Well, I thought you might be able to use it in some sort of spell, or something like that, y'know? Might be useful for something, and I don't have any use for the thing." You thought for a moment. Could you actually use a part of a troll for some sort of spell? The Heartstone was just a crystal too, so maybe... 

"Huh, I never thought of that. I'll definitely look into it, thanks Draal." You grinned up at Draal, who grinned back, seemingly slightly softer than usual, though maybe that was because he was so relaxed from the mineral springs. "Don't mention it, fleshbag. Now, I'm actually gonna keep my word and have that day off. This'll be... what, the first in a century?" Your eyes widened at the number he gave.

"Well, guess I really am due for a day off. I'll be back at your dwelling before sunrise, don't miss me too much." He joked with another hearty laugh as he turned and made his way into Trollmarket. "Ah- Alright! I'll let Jim know, see you later Draal!" You spoke slightly louder above the noise of the market, standing there for a good moment. 

"Did Draal the Deadly just give you th' bit that broke offa his spike?" The forge troll was suddenly behind you, making you jump and nearly make a very embarrassing surprised noise. You turned to face them, calming your heart as you smiled, "Uh- yeah, he did. He said maybe I could use it for a spell, or something." "Well I'll be! Don't go losin' that there now, you've got yerself a keeper!" A keeper? Well, you guess you could refer to it as that. You could only imagine what kind of a spell could need pieces from a living troll. You'd have to find some sort of book on such things later.

"In fact," The troll snapped you out of your thoughts briefly, "lemme make a nice chain for ya, yeah? On the house! That way ya won't go losin' it unless yer tryin'." They laughed a bit to themself, holding out their large hand to take the piece from you. "Oh- if you're sure, I'd be really grateful, thank you!" "Great! Thank ya much, miss, I'll be done in a jiffy!"

And so you handed over the crystal chunk, taking a seat to the side of the mouth of the cave to avoid the smoke that billowed out of it. As they promised, it didn't take much time at all for them to come back out with the finished product; the crystal was now more like a wire wrap pendant, made to securely hold the crystal in its place. The jagged base of it that had previously connected to the rest of the spike had been decorated in wire patterns, connecting it to the bail, which had a sleek chain looped through it, held closed with a simple adjustable clasp. You marveled at the finished product. 

"Ta-da! I hope ya like it, I took some creative liberties with a few things." The forge troll mentioned, dropping the pendant into your waiting hands. Your fingers ran over the still warm metal, realizing now that the wire was actually thin strands of steel, much stronger and more durable, not to mention much more impressive. This thing was sure to never come apart, unless you put it through a nuclear blast maybe. "This is gorgeous, thank you so much!"

"Ah, don't mention it, it's my craft! I'm glad ya like it. Good luck!" With that, they returned to the depths of their cave. Good luck? Did this troll know something about what spells this crystal could be used in that you didn't? Regardless, you happily attached the pendant to your staff just below the Heartstone before heading to Blinky's library. Oh boy, more study time, just what you wanted.

And as you searched through books for the information you were looking for, you found your hand on the pendant, fidgeting yet again. 

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[calamitycrown]

Enchantment - Ch. 3 - 'Is This Even Legal?'

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Summary:

Feelings are finally realized! Well, at least on one side of the coin. Is it even legal to say you have a crush on a troll?

In other news, something unknown to you and your allies seems to be lurking in Arcadia, and is headed your way…

Pairing: Draal x Reader

Warnings: None

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6

Masterlist Post

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Ah, shit. 

You had fallen for a troll… 

From 'studying' Draal's movements during his spars with Jim to finding yourself looking for his stony blue mug first amongst crowds in Trollmarket, the amount of time you spent looking his way was ludicrous. Not only that, both you and Draal had been making more attempts to communicate with one another; a simple hello in the hallway, a cheesy joke here and there, sometimes even the singular word 'fleshbag' uttered by him as he passed you, followed immediately by an impish grin and stifled chuckle as you feigned taking offence to the word. It was hard to believe that the two of you could have been seen as mortal enemies not too long ago. Maybe his offer to help you learn how to use your staff that apparently-fateful night had been all that was needed to break the initial tension that had kept you and Draal at odds. 

The sudden nature of these developments alone had your train of thoughts in knots whenever you thought about it; never in your life would you have thought you'd actually be befriending and getting along with Draal the Deadly, of all creatures. Yet here you were, all because of one simple offer which you had accepted. Would you have continued being standoffish to one another had you declined his offer? Better yet, could a battle hardened, brutish, stone cold troll such as him return any feelings you as a human might have? 

Your chronic overthinking got to the point where you didn’t catch yourself lost in your own chaotic mess of thoughts until the front door was slammed open. 

You quickly jolted upright in your spot next to the kitchen counter, nearly dropping your staff as you did, but managed to composed yourself just before the terrible trio walked into the kitchen. Toby was first, walking in backwards and going on and on about the adventure they had just returned from, as he very typically did. Meanwhile, Claire and Jim were telling him to calm down as they came in after him, but also spoke about what an adventure it had been. You grinned at their 'special' way of getting along. Once you calmed your racing heart, you greeted them, 

“Hey guys! Did you all mange to come back in one piece?” You jested warmly as you leaned slightly against the counter. 

“Hey (y/n)!” Toby shouted in his excitement, bouncing around the kitchen as he re-enacted the day’s events, “Yeah, it was so cool!! You should have seen Jim with his sword, and- and Claire with her Shadow Staff- OH!! And my hammer! You- you just had to be there, it was beyond awesome…!” He rambled with seemingly endless energy, though he seemed to thankfully be coming down from the rush. The scene made you chuckle; you always loved how they interacted together. The three of them were definitely a match made in heaven if you’ve ever seen one. You were glad they had each other, even if you wished kids didn't have the fate of the world on their shoulders. 

“Ah, the stuff you guys get up to… I’m just glad you’ve all got your limbs intact and your heads on your shoulders.” You commented with a grin, walking over to Jim to ruffle his hair in a singling-like manner. Though he seemed a little annoyed, it was all in good fun, hearing him chuckle as he fixed his hair. “I’m gonna get in a little more practice with this thing,” You tilted your head towards your staff, “so if anyone needs me, I’ll be in my room. Oh- Also, I just got back from the store, so snacks are all restocked~.” You chimed in a sing-song tone, knowing they’d likely destroy the plentiful amount of snack foods you’d gotten just for them. Growing kids fighting to stop the end of the world at bay need their sustenance, right? 

Toby, of course, was the first to the pantry, followed closely by Jim as Claire stayed behind and simply rolled her eyes, giving you a look that clearly said ‘guys, am I right?’ You snickered with a nod and a look that read as ‘good luck’ before retiring to your room. 

You sighed as you shut your door, grabbing a certain book from your desk as you passed by, before sitting down on the edge of your bed. You got comfortable as you gazed at the book’s decorated cover for a moment, as if debating on even opening it. Eventually, after much internal debate, you ended up cracking it open to the bookmarked page. Your face turned red soon after you began to read, though it was by no fault of the book itself.  

It didn’t take more than a few minutes of reading, rereading, then rereading again and still not being able to get your brain to properly comprehend the words on the page for you to get fed up and shut the thick book with force, as if you couldn’t close it fast enough. You slammed it onto your bed and pushed it to the other end, before grabbing a pillow and slamming it onto the cover in frustration. You glared at the title as it stared back at you, having oh so conveniently escaped the pillow’s clutches; 'Troll Behaviors.' 

You had been curious about the topic in general, but lately you had specifically been studying the chapter about courting behaviors and the like. Aka, how to tell if a troll likes you. Trolls, as is pretty clear to see, aren’t the most emotionally outright creatures. And that’s fine! It’s just their nature. It just made identifying if one liked you and in which way they liked you extremely difficult to understand to the eye of anyone other than a fellow troll. Hell, it’s even cited in the book that other trolls will sometimes have trouble telling if they’re being fancied! So how are you, a human, supposed to know?? It was honestly tearing you apart more than you’d like to acknowledge. You hadn’t even told Blinky you were borrowing this book in fear of being questioned, that’s just how embarrassed you were about the whole ordeal. 

You huffed exasperatedly, using your staff to levitate your thickest, comfiest blanket on over to yourself, ripping it from thin air and hastily wrapping it around yourself. It was all you could do when you felt like you could shatter apart or explode any second. The comfort of the blanket physically kept you together, or so you told yourself, and allowed you to stew in your thoughts for as long as you felt the need to. 

You grumbled lowly to yourself as you began to idly trace your fingers along the ridges of the stone in your staff, resulting in it glowing under your touch as little strings of glowing golden magic began to spill out. You watched with annoyed, half-lidded eyes as they drifted lazily into the air, creating swirls that overlapped with one another in beautiful moving patterns. They slowly grew in number until your room was filled with them; from wall to wall, ceiling to floor, the entire space was lively with these golden strands. Watching them somehow comforted you and your troubled mind. At least there was some beauty to be found amongst your struggles... 

You felt a little more at peace, watching them swirl slowly, beautifully… 

A good distraction… 

Just as you were coming down from your discontent with yourself, a hard, solid knock rasped at your door. You looked up, moving your blanket away from your mouth to speak clearly, “Who is it?” 

“None other than Draal the Deadly~.” His voice held a certain amount of vanity, followed by a chuckle from the other side of the door. The troll clearly took much pride in the descriptor his name held. You could practically see him posing confidently through the wood of the door. 

Your heartrate immediately spiked once more as panic immediately flooded your body. You grabbed and threw your blanket to the other side of the room in one swift motion and stood up, waving your arms to and fro in an attempt to disperse the magic that still floated around your room. Fruitless; the strings simply broke and reattached to one another. It seemed to be staying until it decided to go, much to your chagrin. Well, at least the yellow-orange hue of the light they gave off would hide some of your reddened completion. With a small sigh, you plopped yourself back on your bead in defeat, took a breath in, and called out, 

“Come in…” 

Oh boy, this may very well be a very big mistake- 

The moment he entered the room and shut the door behind him, the golden hues of the magic in the air highlighted everything wonderful about him; the swirls that decorated his features, the scars and divots in his horns, the lines that defined his stony muscles, the way his eyes followed different strands of light… You could already feel that heat beginning to creep back up your neck again. 

“Woah, what’s all this? Some sort of new spell you’re learning?” Draal asked as he walked through the lights, each strand parting as his body hit them. He made his way over to sit next to you on your bed, which creaked and dipped quite a bit under his immense weight. You quickly scooted away just slightly so you wouldn’t fall into him, that’s how deep the dip he created was. You’d probably implode if such a thing happened. At his question, you shook your head, 

“Ah- no actually. I just got a little lost in thought and… well, this happened. I like it though, it’s cozy…” You mumbled slightly, looking off into your room to avoid gawking at him any more than you already had in the short time he had been in front of you. 

“Mmhm, I agree.” Draal hummed, also admiring the beautiful swirling lights, “It’s quite… you. Y’know? It reminds me of you for some reason.” He grinned, watching as a swirl passed in front of his face. He chuffed lightly, changing its course to fly away from him, his eyes following as it joined the other swirls in the room once again. You couldn’t help but look over at the scene. You could feel your heart just… melt. 

Geez, you really were a goner if you were already this smitten… 

“So, ah…” You began, forcing yourself to tear your eyes away from Draal, “Is there any particular reason you wanted to see me? I mean, there’s nothing wrong with it, I just- usually you’d prefer to be out training Jim for the next fight, or doing… troll… stuff… So it’s just a little peculiar to have you coming to see me instead…” Expression slowly morphing to one that was painfully embarrassed as you went on, you internally scolded yourself for sputtering out the question like you had. Wow, what a great conversation starter (y/n), not awkward at all! Not to mention your half-baked ‘reasoning’ for asking in the first place… 

“Oh, that. Uhm…" The troll glanced away from the lights to you or a moment, looking away once more as he shifted in place and cleared his throat, "I just noticed that you’ve been a little more… distant, as of late.” Draal paused between words, as if piecing together his own thoughts in real time as he spoke, “I wanted to make sure everything was alright. Y’know, so you don’t start worrying Master Jim again.” Draal’s normally confident and louder voice was unusually quiet and less boisterous than usual as he spoke, though every word he spoke seemed entirely genuine, if not a little out of character. Regardless, seeing that an accomplished warrior such as Draal the Deadly could be just as much of a mess as you allowed you to inwardly sigh in relief. A smile tugged the corners of your lips upwards.

You allowed yourself a moment to imagine that he had come to check up on you for the simple reason of making sure you were okay, and part of your heart did believe it could be true, despite his cover of 'making sure Jim stays focused.' A few months ago, you would have thought that he’d never be capable of being soft in any sense of the word. But now, seeing a peek at it firsthand, it had your heart beginning to turn to mush, even if it could very well being your mind looking for things that aren't really there. 

“I haven’t been going too hard on you during sparring, have I? I haven’t hurt you?” Draal asked rather suddenly when you failed to respond, his tone changing as he leaned closer to look you over for any hint he may have accidentally damaged your fragile skin. You leaned away slightly as you came back down to Earth, before chuckling at his sudden concern, 

“No, of course not. You may be a fearsome warrior, but I’m fine, I swear.” You reassured kindly, even offering your arms for him to look over. No bruise, no cuts, not even a blemish caused by your spars with the big blue troll. He seemed to relax at your reassurance, but then looked back to you for an answer as to what was going on. Your brows furrowed. You knew you’d have to give him an honest answer, no matter how much your fluttering heart and overthinking mind screamed at you not to. Your arms came back to rest in your lap as you mentally prepared yourself,

“It’s just that… There’s actually been something on my mind lately, and it’s got me a bit worked up about how to approach the situation, or if I should approach it at all.” You admitted quietly, looking down at your hands as you fiddled with your fingers. You could feel the troll turn slightly to look down at you just as you began to rethink your choice to begin this conversation. You glanced over at Draal to gauge his reaction, knowing that trolls didn't handle feelings and emotions terribly well. You caught sight of his slack jawed expression for a moment, as if he was surprised to hear you confide in him, but he quickly righted himself; back straightened, hands in his lap, jaw no longer slack and ready to catch flies, 

“Oh- I mean, uhm, really now?" You grinned slightly against your own will as he struggled to find his confidence, clearing his throat briefly before speaking again, "Well, I know trolls aren’t known for their listening skills, but uh… I’ll try to help if you want to, ah… If you want to talk to someone? To talk to me, maybe, possibly. If you want.” Though his trollish nature wasn't built for such things, he was trying his hardest, and was clearly as prepared as he could be to listen to your woes. You found it sweet how he was so nervous about how exactly he should help you in this situation, how he so intently looked over at you with the intention of being of aid. You couldn’t help but think back to all the little arguments and shouting matches you had with him when you first learned of him living in the basement. How he was always so stubborn, crude, but now… Just the look in his eyes as you looked into them… It was completely different from the Draal you used to know. Different from the one you now pined for. 

Even so, your mind whizzed with concerns, doubts, horrible thoughts that made your heart race with anxiety-fed fear… 

“I…” 

Your hands fiddled with one another, nails digging into your skin as adrenaline poured into your system by the bucket, making your heart rate skyrocket to abnormal levels in moments. You couldn’t do this - not now, maybe not ever - you just couldn’t for one reason or another, or all of them- 

“I just… I was having doubts about my sparring, y’know?” 

The words came out slowly, finally giving your hammering heart a break as you instantly felt a little less anxious. Damn you! You just couldn’t get up the gall to say what was really on your mind. The overflow of adrenaline in your veins began to steadily stop, gradually bringing your body and mind out of fight or flight, nerves beginning to regulate with it. The pit you still felt prevalently in your gut was unmistakable, however. 

Regardless, Draal seemed to relax at your words, as if relieved he wouldn't have to figure out how to comfort an emotional human on the spot. Sparring troubles was something he could certainly deal with! His body loosened and his cocky grin was right back on his face, “Feeling a bit insecure, huh? Well, I can see why when you’ve got a warrior such as me to spar against~.” The battle-hardened troll gladly flexed his muscles for you, grinning that half-joking cocky grin you had come to see much more of lately. Despite how heavy your stomach felt, you couldn’t help smiling at his little display. He had taken to showing off a little more as of late, probably because you wouldn’t scold him for being a cocky bastard anymore. You found it a bit funny how he tried to act so humble, but deep down wanted to be acknowledged for his strength and title. 

“That’s true. I could never measure up to you in strength, no matter how much sparring I committed to.” You admitted with a chuckle, only to sputter when a large, rather rough hand landed on your back once, then twice, three times, all accompanied by a hearty laugh, “Don’t fret too much; no human could measure up to a troll’s raw strength. Besides, you’ve got that fancy wand of yours to make up for what you lack in brawn.” He motioned to the staff which leaned against the wall next to your bed. 

“Yeah…” You sighed quietly. Your mood suddenly dropped, likely due to the overwhelming amount of adrenaline that had flooded into and then rushed out of your body in such a short time. Every bit of overthinking and doubt suddenly flooded your mind all at once, buzzing like an unbearable colony of angry bees in your skull, trapped and unable to be ignored. The laces of light that still floated idly about the room began to fade, falling into pieces before crumbling into thin air and ceasing to exist. Draal took notice, watching as it happened before turning to you in hopes of an answer. If you had met his eyes, you may have noticed the concern behind them. Alas, you only stood, grabbing your staff and walking to your door before turning back to look at the troll. Confusion was plain on his face as he looked at you. 

“I think…” Your hand squeezed the doorknob lightly, “I think I’m gonna go for a walk, get some fresh air." You looked over your shoulder to smile at Draal, who stood from your bed but made no move to approach you. "I appreciate you checking up on me and listening. Hold down the fort while I’m gone, ‘kay?” You didn't wait for an answer before you stepped out, closing your door quietly behind you. From what you could hear, Draal stayed put, the absence of the creaking of your floorboards telling you so. You grabbed a jacket, put your shoes on, and walked out into the crisp autumn air.

The breeze nipped at your fingers and face as you walked, a feeling you hoped would bring some sort of answers to your dilemmas. However, all it did was make your nose run. Just your luck. 

Your nails continued to dig into your skin as you strolled down the sidewalk. Frustration, confusion, questions upon questions, none of which made sense; it all clouded your head in a thick fog you couldn’t seem to shake, so thick you couldn't manage to focus on a singular issue to think through, making things even worse for yourself. With every new thought that came and went, it only became thicker and harder to navigate, adding to a heap which you couldn't begin to sort out. It soon got to the point where trying to untangle and separate it all became impossible. Each thought was a thread, and tens of them were already tangled and knotted together, tension growing as more joined the messy, unmanageable bundle. 

Breathe… 

You slowly filled your lungs with the chill autumn air, held it for a few seconds, then let it out. 

Momentary peace, fleeting silence… 

You did your best to push the fog away, to regain some semblance of clear thinking. Some thoughts you could reason with, others you could put off, and others still you managed to reason were irrational and unnecessary to give any more thought to. But that still left so much to detangle… 

A rustling from the bushes caught your attention briefly. Then another, faster, more, pulling you out of your head at last. You stopped in your tracks on the sidewalk, stationed between two houses. You looked between them to see all the way back to the bushes that decorated the tree line. You finally noticed just how violently the shrubbery was rustling, much more so than any stray or wild animal could manage to make. You squinted through the darkness in an attempt to see what the hell could be doing that… 

A flash of bright green that didn’t match the shade of the leaves it ran through, followed closely by another flash of green, before these streaks of green were all you could see between the bushes. The dark made it near impossible to make out anything else. Listening as best you could over the noise of the leaves, you could faintly hear… gibberish? You maybe expected to hear the sound some sort of animal may make, but there wasn’t an animal on earth you knew of that could make these kinds of sounds. 

Suddenly, a yellow glow shone through a space between the bushes. You cocked a brow in confusion; cats maybe? What else could possibly have bright yellow eyes like that- 

A head popped out of the bush suddenly! Lime green and gangly, attached to a scrawny body, screeching at you before following the others that still ran through the bushes. Goblins… You had encountered a few since first finding out your brother was the Trollhunter, but they always scampered off, and you had never seen them in such large numbers before. This could be some sort of goblin thing you didn't know about, but they seemed almost... scared... Could they be running from something? 

When the rustling subsided and it seemed all the goblins had moved on, you quickly came to the conclusion that this couldn’t be a sign of anything good. The others needed to know about this right away.

Turning on your heel, you ran back towards your house to inform Jim and Draal of your strange findings.

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[calamitycrown]

Enchantment - Ch. 2 - 'Two Steps Up'

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Summary:

Blinky bestows upon you a generous gift to aid you on your path to help Jim save the world. Wielding magic as a human turns out to be more of a challenge than you anticipated, until someone with a little more battle experience comes and lends you a surprising helping hand.

Pairing: Draal x Reader

Warnings: None

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6

Masterlist Post

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The day after your encounter with Draal, Blinky had asked to see you in Trollmarket. You were a bit confused, and your first thought of him wanting to give you even more books to study made you internally groan, but you went anyway. He was helping you after all, who were you to refuse? 

You had gotten quite used to entering and exiting the underground town, always so enchanted by its lovely colors and the soft glows the crystals gave off. But still, you had a tendency to walk rather briskly through the roads to avoid unwanted attention. You were still an alien to them, after all, and not everyone was so tolerant of humans being in Trollamarket. 

You thankfully made your way to Blinky’s library without issue. You rasped your knuckles against the wood of the shelf nearest to the entrance of the dwelling, as it didn’t have a proper door, “Hello?” Your voice would typically echo in the underground market, but the plentiful amount of books lining every last shelf deafened any echo there may have been. It seems your voice carried through the space just fine, however; you heard a crash, followed by your tutor’s disgruntled muttering, then saw a familiar six-eyed head pop around the corner, smiley as ever at the sight of you, 

“Ah! Hello Miss (Y/n)! As always, it is a pleasure to see you again, my dear.” He greeted you warmly with his typical brisk and proper pattern of speech as he ran over to you, taking one of your hands in two of his and tugging you lightly so you would follow him, “I’ve been eagerly awaiting your arrival! You see, in order to protect yourself and Master Jim with the plentiful spells I have provided you with, you’re going to need-“ 

“A source of magic since I don’t have any inherent magic of my own or connections to magic, and will also need a way to focus and cast that magic. I remember, Blinky.” You had cut him off with a bit of a laugh lacing your words and a grin tugging at your lips. Blinky promptly paused in his rushed pace and whipped around to face you, seeming delighted by your interjection, “Yes! You remembered! If only Master Jim had inherited the same memory. But- Anywho! I have something very special for you…” 

He released your hand and sped over to the table that sat amongst the many bookshelves surrounding the two of you, something which had been carefully wrapped in cloth laying in the center. It was long, with a swell at each end and a subtle taper in the middle. Your eyes widened in disbelief as realization hit you, 

“Blinkous Galadrigal, you did not…” 

“Oh ho, but I did, my dear!” The troll grinned from ear to ear as he ever so gently picked up the elongated object with one set of hands, the other beginning to unwrap the cloth that surrounded it, “For you see, as Master Jim’s sister, it was always inevitable that you’d be roped into our Trollhunter’s duties in one way or another. As such, it is imperative that you are kept safe, especially when nobody is around to keep you protected, lest the unthinkable happens and you are put in the unkind, unrelenting face of danger…” 

The end of the staff was uncovered as the cloth slid off of it, revealing a beautiful, dark shade of red wood, varnished to a glossy shine and carved with many intricacies. “And in order to keep you safe from Gunmar and his allies, you will need something far greater than any human weaponry; something far greater than most troll weaponry, even” 

As Blinky continued to unravel the wraps, the cloth slid completely off, revealing the other half of the gorgeous wood-carved staff. It was truly the work of a craftsman, not a single blemish or impurity among the staff’s surface. Your eyes scanned over every detail as it sat in its full glory and beauty before you; the deep red of the wood was carved into with precision you hadn’t before seen, and at the top sat what appeared to be a piece of the ever so precious Heartstone, glowing gently with its orange-gold hues. Chiseled roughly, it maintained the appearance of the Heartstone’s imperfect surface, contrasting wonderfully with the smoothness of the wood it sat perfectly nestled in. You couldn’t seem to look away for the staff that now sat in Blinky’s four hands, extended towards you for the taking. The overwhelming gratitude and honor of receiving such a gift — the trust that you could dutifully wield such an item — was like an arrow straight through your heart. 

“Blinky… How did you even manage…? Is that part of the Heartstone?! How did you- Where did-” You struggled for words as a wide, uncontainable smile crept its way onto your features, eventually falling silent after words failed you. Blinky laughed heartily at your reaction, 

“Oh, no need to speak of that… Really, please don’t speak of this.” The troll asked of you in a hushed tone before clearing his throat, “What matters is that this is your staff now. Use it carefully, wisely, have respect for the powers it holds, and I have no doubt in my mind you shall be well on your way to becoming an astounding sorceress!” He went on as he stepped closer, arms remaining extended for you to take the staff he held. 

You reached out, but hesitated half way, almost afraid that something would go terribly wrong the moment you so much as ran a finger along it. However, the confidence Blinky had in you was enough for you to reach forward and gently take the staff from him. You brought it to stand upright next to you as you more closely admired the craftsmanship of the item now that it was in your hands. It truly was a work of art; an item of both beauty and power. You felt honored to simply hold it. 

“It’s beautiful… Thank you so much Blinky, I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you would trust me with something like this…” Your eyes grew glassy within moments, your hands clutching tightly at the staff like it would disappear if you dared to let go. Blinky was quick to notice your overwhelming emotions, wasting no time in moving forward to bring you into his embrace. Although trolls tended to have poor perception of human emotions, you noticed that Blinky had always stood out from the crowd, as was shown in this moment. 

“Oh, my dear (y/n), no need to cry! It has been my absolute pleasure to teach you and aid you on your path to help protect Master Jim and yourself, and it is an ever greater pleasure to be able to provide you with such a tool to help you do so…” He was quick to try and calm you, his four arms all wrapping tightly around you in a soothing hug. You sat there for a moment, leaning into him as you wiped your eyes so you wouldn’t burst out crying in front of him. Once he released you, you took a step back, your free hand held comfortingly in two of his as you smiled up at him, 

“Thank you Blinky… I know I keep saying it, but I really can’t thank you enough. Not only for helping me keep Jim safe and for tutoring him so well, but also for just… being there for him… You’re like the father figure he never had, and I really appreciate you looking after him, especially where I can’t.” 

The troll’s expression dropped for a moment, seemingly in shock at the unexpected, hard hitting information you had just given him. However, Blinky quickly became animated again, twice as jovial as before as his two remaining free hands came up and tightly grasped yours, “Why, you’re very welcome Miss (Y/n)!! I had no- absolutely no idea I had an impact on Master Jim in such a way! I am very happy — exuberant, even!! — to give him guidance and advice whenever he may need it…!” His hands seemed to shake slightly as he spoke, probably from his sudden excitement. You grinned widely at his eagerness to take care of your baby brother. It was a nice feeling, having someone that cared as much about Jim as you did, knowing he’d always be safe in Blinky’s company. Stepping forward, you pulled him into one last hug before you had to be on your way, 

“We’re both so grateful to have you in our lives, Blinky. Thank you for everything you’ve done for us. I’ll visit soon and show off what I’ve learned, promise!” With that, you released him and were off towards the door, headed for the books stacked on your desk back home that no longer seemed like such a miserable task. 

You practically jogged the whole way home, eager to finally have the chance to use the very magic you had only read about up til now, and nearly slammed the door open as your excitement got the best of you. Although, your mood was abruptly thrown off when you happened to intrude on Jim – clad in his armor – and Draal roughhousing in the kitchen. Halfway into Draal’s maw was a severely dented kitchen pot, and on his back was Jim, perched amongst the blue crystalline spikes as he gripped the troll’s horns as if he were a cowboy trying to ride a big, blue, bipedal bull. They both paused when they heard the commotion you had caused, turning with wide eyes to face you. The three of you had a short staring contest before you spoke up, 

“Okay, I won’t ask what on earth is going on here… But Jim! Look what Blinky gave me! I can protect you guys now!!” Your smile quickly returned to your face as you showed off your new staff, completely ignoring the troll in the room and disregarding their current ‘battle.’ Jim’s expression quickly became a smile as he hopped off of Draal’s back, snatching the pot from his mouth while he was distracted, 

“Really?? That’s great sis! Have you used it yet? What can it do?? And is that… part of the Heartstone…?” His expression contorted into confusion as his eyes trailed up to the centerpiece of your staff, his hand coming up to lightly trace over the uneven stone’s form. 

“Probably, Blinky said it wasn’t important though. What is important is that I can now protect all our kitchenware from big grumpy trolls trying to eat them~.” You mused, grinning smugly and tilting the staff forward to aim the staff’s head at Draal. You watched as he flinched slightly away from it. The action made you and Jim laugh lightly as he composed himself once more, glaring slightly at you and your sense of humor, 

“Careful with that thing. You have no idea just how much damage it could cause, fleshbag.” He huffed gruffly as he stepped forward to push your staff to the side, relief seeming to come over him once it wasn’t pointed at him anymore. His expression only hardened as he watched you roll your eyes, nostrils flaring as he chuffed annoyedly once more. 

“Relax, I’m gonna practice before I actually start using it for anything serious. Speaking of, I’ll be in my room if you need me Jim. And you-” You turned and pointed to Draal, “no more trying to eat the cutlery.” You side-eyed the troll pointedly as you ended your sentence, only receiving an eye roll in return as he turned his spiked back to you like a child. You grinned, triumphant, and sauntered your way over to your room in which you hulled yourself up for the rest of the day to practice the most basic of spells. 

You had all but mastered a small levitation spell within the hour after you had gotten home — a spell you had studied well — then began to work on small barriers after, which was definitely trickier. Such a spell required you to imagine the barrier’s defined edges clearly, or else it could rapidly expand to an uncontrollable size… Or simply collapse if you were lucky. You would know; you learned the hard way after experimenting while trying to change the barrier’s shape halfway through the spell… 

But no matter! You pushed on until you were able to create barriers of multiple shapes and sizes! Albeit they were relatively simple shapes and small sizes, it was still something worth celebrating! 

Next spell, a small attack; a short, quick burst of energy released from the staff, focused in whichever direction the user pointed it. Seemed simple enough. Though, you probably shouldn’t be practicing that specific spell in your room, lest you wake your Mom or worry Jim, not to mention the very real possibility of putting a very suspicious hole in the wall. So, after the sun set that evening, outside you went. 

Stepping outside, you were greeted by darkness, the backyard solely illuminated by the small overhead light that sat atop the doorframe. You scanned the yard to double check that nobody was around before grinning widely. Opening your notebook, you memorized the spell before tossing it onto the steps and moving into the yard. You pointed your fancy new staff at a large tree which sat at the forest’s edge, specifically aiming for a hollow that sat in the middle of the trunk. The perfect target. With a deep breath in, you whispered the spell aloud, watching in awe as the Heartstone glowed with power before a burst of energy was launched towards the tree. 

Sadly, however, you watched as the shot managed to miss by a decent margin. It sped through the trees, fizzling out before it could hit anything. You huffed, but shook it off. You’re a beginner, not a professional marksman. You needed to practice. And practice you did; shot after shot was fired off at the tree, adjusting your angle after each failed attempt until you finally grazed the edge of the tree’s bark. You gasped, silently cheering to yourself at the accomplishment, “Alright! Alright, just need to get even better now…”  

“You’re not gonna get any better with that stance.” 

An all too familiar voice grumbled from the doorway. You nearly jumped out of your skin as you whipped around, expression falling when you saw none other than Draal standing there, leaning against the doorframe cockily. His stony skin was illuminated by the white light above the door, giving his furrowed brown even more of a dramatic effect with the harsh shadows they cast over his face. His eyes practically glowed in the darkness as he stared down at you from the doorway. You grimaced at the smirk that sat smugly on his face. 

“Nice to see you too, Draal… And I’m soooo sorry that I’m not exactly the best at aiming this thing. I’ve never really shot magic beams out of a magic staff before.” You chided sarcastically, tone more than clearly annoyed as you turned your back to him. You held your staff up once more, adjusting your stance with a huff as you haphazardly aimed before missing the tree once more. Now with someone watching – let alone with it being Draal, who was surely judging your failures – your frustrations began to get the better of you, an exaggerated groan rumbling in your throat. You could practically feel that stupid, condescending look on his face burning into you. In one fluid motion, you twirled around to face the troll once again, 

“Okay! If you know the right way to shoot this thing or whatever, then why don’t you show me?” You crossed your arms, not giving him the satisfaction of turning around so he could see the sour expression you held. And it only soured further as you heard a deep chuckle resonate within his broad chest before he spoke, 

“Alright, no need to get your horns in a twist. Ah, wait, humans don’t have horns. Would it be… Don’t get your hair in a twist?” He grinned, tugging lightly on a lock of your hair in jest as he approached. You tugged yourself away and swatted at his hand with your staff, glaring daggers that simply bounced off of him rather than digging in. 

“Alright, easy! Wouldn’t wanna damage that beautiful new staff you’ve got there. Someone put a lot of work into that, y’know.” He nudged the staff away with his hand, “Now, show me how you aim.” You grumbled under your breath as you got into position, feeling his eyes scrutinizing every bit of how you were standing and holding your staff. Instead of the condescending laugh you had expected, you heard little more than a disapproving hum, 

“Mmm, you’ve got everything all wrong.” Gee, tell us something we didn’t know, genius. “You need to keep your legs further apart — more stable that way — knees bent, and your back should be straighter.” One of his stubby legs came forward and pushed your feet apart, nearly toppling you over, but a hand to your back quickly righted you and straightened your posture. You squirmed at the feeling, not exactly used to huge, stoney hands on you, let alone coming from the big oaf you beloathed. 

“Good. Now square your shoulders, almost like you’re shooting a bow and arrow. Make sure the staff is level with your eyes so you can properly aim.” His hands moved to your shoulders, completely engulfing them as he positioned them just so. He then moved your arms to help you guide your staff into position. Just one of his hands could easily cover the entire length and diameter of your forearm, and it indeed did so as he nudged you here and there to subtly adjust your stance. You shivered slightly at the cool feeling of his rocky skin against your much warmer, softer skin. Goosebumps you hoped he didn’t take notice of spread across your arms. 

“There… Now aim and shoot. Confidently.” 

You shook yourself out of the strange trance you had fallen into, taking just a moment longer to aim for your target before letting loose a couple of bursts. They hit the side of the hollow, not nearly as off target as your first attempts had been. You stood there for a second, bewildered that you had improved so much just by learning the correct stance. Your eyes were soon drawn to the troll that stood next to you. He seemed rather pleased with himself, nodding slightly as he eyed the scorch marks that had been left in the tree’s bark from your attack, 

“Not bad, fleshbag… I reckon you’ll be a fast learner.” He remarked, surprisingly without any snarky comments or jabs at you. A rough hand came down upon your back a few times, intended as a friendly gesture, though with his troll strength and rock hard skin you were sure you’d be a bit bruised tomorrow. That wasn’t the thing at the forefront of your mind, however. 

You were left miffed — both from the interaction and from having been able to hit the target — as he looked down at you with a content expression. However, he raised a brow at the way you looked up at him, “Is everything alright, fleshbag? Didn’t blast yourself, did you?” He joked, nearly pushing you over as he nudged you. You quickly shook yourself back to reality, 

“Ah- I’m fine, yeah, I’m good… Just a bit surprised you’d come out and help me is all.” Draal looked at you questioningly. “Not that I’m ungrateful! I just… thought we didn’t get along very well.” You rushed to explain, which got a hearty chuckle out of him,

“We don’t, do we? But that doesn’t mean I want you to go and get yourself hurt with magic you don’t understand, or get someone else for that matter. Besides, it would be an asset if you could somehow fight beside us in battle. The Gumm Gumms are strong, so are the Changelings. We need all the help we can get.” He shrugged a bit as he spoke, moving to stand in front of you, 

“Now, so long as I’m out here, how about a bit of sparring? Master Jim had other business to deal with this evening, which I could not aid in, so I haven’t had the chance to get out much.” You cocked your head slightly to the side at the offer. Sparring? You had exactly zero experience in the field, and he was suggesting you spar against him?? The one who literally had ‘Deadly’ as a title, whose father had been a Trollhunter?? You were half afraid he was just trying to find an excuse to rough you up a bit for all those times you had scolded and argued with him. The expression on your face made the troll chuckle, 

“Ah, don’t worry kid. I’ll go easy on you… For now~.” His grin turned mischievous, for what reason you didn’t know, but it made you relax slightly. Same old Draal. Usually it would infuriate you, but somehow it comforted you to know he could be lighthearted deep down. 

“Y’know what? Sure. I’d love to learn how to beat your butt in a one-on-one someday.” You commented, lightly rasping the stone of your staff against his shoulder. Your response got an excitable laugh out of him as he threw his head back, rolling his shoulders a couple of times and taking a good few steps away from you, 

“Oh, you can try. In fact, I think I’d love to see you try.” 

And that’s the reason you woke up with every muscle in your body aching the next morning, as well as with a few bruises to spare. 

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[calamitycrown]

Enchantment - Ch. 1 - 'Basement Dweller'

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Summary:

After learning of your little brother's nightly escapades, you decide you're going to find a way you can help Jim and his allies fight against the fast approaching, very possible end of the world.

However, when a big, crude, unruly troll moves into the basement of your house, things start to get a little messy.

Pairing: Draal x Reader

Warnings: None

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6

Masterlist Post

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You grumbled under your breath as you stared at the pile of books on the desk in front of you. Two and a half sizable towers of pure information sat before you, all courtesy of a troll named Blinky and all detailing every bit of knowledge you’d need to absorb before beginning your training as a sorcerer.

Why would you need to become a sorcerer? Well, y’know, having your little brother constantly in danger of being killed or mortally injured at any moment without warning is a pretty good reason, if you do say so yourself.

You had only found out about Jim’s secret world-saving occupation because your worrywart self followed him out of the house late one evening. His behavior had been nothing short of strange and suspicious, and knowing your little brother, he wasn’t just going out to some sort of party or the like. So what exactly could a good, socially awkward kid like him be sneaking out for?

Unfortunately, you had just so happened to choose the worst possible night to enact your stealthy operation, as you soon found yourself the gawking spectator of a raging battle. On one side was your brother, his best friend Toby, and a handful of giant, stony, horned creatures who seemed to be his allies. Rallied against them was a group of even stranger looking beasts — two tall and lanky, one extremely large and particularly evil looking, along with a handful of smaller creatures you soon came to learn were easily splatterable — who were actively trying to kill them. As the cherry on top, there was a magical bridge of sorts that seemed to be the center of the brutal  battle. You later were told that this bridge structure led to “The Darklands,” which would unleash a horrendous, war-hungry monster that could destroy the world as we know it if unlocked. 

So yeah.

Overall, that was one hell of a peachy night… At least he wasn’t doing drugs, right?

Although, you wondered if you had accidentally been exposed to some, considering the absurdity of what you had seen… 

Your hands slid down your face as you recalled the events, fresh in your mind as they had taken place just over two weeks ago now. Not to mention the whole ordeal was thoroughly and permanently burned into your mind. At least you no longer worried over Jim sneaking out at night. Rather, that was instantaneously replaced by worry about whether he’d come home alive, let alone unharmed and in one piece…

Your thoughts were jostled out of their spiraling when a familiar voice came from the vent on your floor. Oh yeah, Jim and his troll friend that he had welcomed to come live in the basement. He had supposedly made the troll this offer as thanks for saving his life or something? Regardless, you found it quite jarring to suddenly have this troll in your house 24/7, especially when you could hear him talking to Jim whenever they were near the vent. Speaking of, you could tell Draal was confronting Jim about something. Well, at least he wasn’t off slaying deadly beasts, evil trolls, and conniving changelings, which was a nice change.

Deciding you needed a good distraction – and that you’d like to know if they were planning to go off on some sort of other life-threatening endeavor – you rolled your chair over to the vent, being able to hear their voices more clearly as they echoed through the ductwork. What they were saying was a bit distorted by the echo, but was easy enough to make out as you listened in,

“I’m just… I’m worried about her, y’know?” Jim’s voice met your ears first, “It just seems like she’s getting worse and worse… She’s clearly not sleeping enough, the dark circles under her eyes are getting darker, she barely comes out of her room anymore… Do you think she’s okay?”

Aww, your little brother was worried about you… Even through all this chaos in his life, he still thought about you. It touched your heart. Unfortunately, the warm feeling was gone when a deeper, much more gruff voice spoke,

“Ah, don’t worry yourself with it too much. You’ll get yourself killed if you start worrying like that.” The sentence made your stomach churn at the whole ‘get yourself killed’ bit, your mind bringing you back to the brutal battle of the bridge, where Jim could have so easily been crushed, mauled, slashed, or even worse… You ignored the pit the memories left in your stomach and did your best to push it out of your mind in the moment. Draal’s returning voice was a somewhat welcome distraction,

“You said she’s a strong one, right? Doesn’t give in easy? Sounds to me like she’s just worried for you, what with how you fleshbags always have to be worrying about every little thing. I mean, she did just find out about your escapades by witnessing the world nearly ending and your head almost being sliced clean offa’ your shoulders. All considered, I’d say she’s handling it pretty well.”

You grimaced rather harshly, remembering the scene Draal spoke of vividly; Bular, as Jim had called him, had your brother pinned to the top of that horrid bridge, a giant sword to his throat, poised and ready to end his life at his leisure if he so pleased. Thankfully it didn’t end up coming to that, but the image… It made your mind run wild with what could have happened, and very well still could happen in the future.

Your brown knitted together at the latter part of his final sentence; you were handling it pretty well…

This whole time, you had been telling yourself the same thing, but you knew it had left a deep scar in your mind that would never fully go away. You were coping at best, and masking at worst. You were keeping yourself together well enough, but like a broken vase whose pieces have been glued, you were worse for wear; sleep evaded you as nightmares encroached on your dreams, any sudden noise flooded your body with adrenaline in a fight-or-flight response, your thoughts ran wild with all the terrors he could run into every time Jim wasn’t with you…

For Jim’s sake, and in a way for your own too, you had been burying everything.

You had to, lest the intrusive thoughts waiting at the edge of your facade pounce and send you spiraling. 

“If you want my advice? Forget about it.” Draal’s echoed voice slapped you back to reality, “You can’t be focusing on one measly fleshbag so much that you get this distracted.” You couldn’t help but huff at the troll’s harsh words. How dare he speak to your brother like that? Especially about his family?? Shaking your head disapprovingly, you opened your mouth and leaned closer to the vent,

“I can hear you two, y’know.” You said clearly into the grates. All was silent for a moment before Jim’s meek voice came,

“Sorry (y/n)… I love you…?” His awkward teenage voice squeaked out, more as a question in hopes you’d let the troll’s uncaring attitude slide than a statement. You could imagine Draal rolling his eyes and shaking his head at your interruption. Your lips tugged up into a grin, having to suppress a chuckle as you spoke back,

“Apology accepted, love you too~.” With that, you flipped the vent’s grates closed and rolled your chair back over to your desk. Newly refreshed, you plucked a book from the top of the shortest stack and flipped to the first page. You noticed you could still hear the boys talking downstairs, although they were barely audible and you couldn’t hear what they were saying this time, having probably moved away from the vent. It sounded like they were arguing. You had half a mind to beat some sense into the rude troll, alas, you doubt you could even out a tiny chip in his stoney armor.

You ultimately decided it was best to give them their privacy, so you slipped your headphones on and began to play whatever playlist you felt like listening to. That, and you didn’t want to hear anymore talk of Jim at risk of being killed. Your poor heart could only handle so much…

All the more reason to crack down and get studying like Blinky had told you to.

Later that night — much later, around 4 in the morning — you had gotten through two rather short books. Well, short in comparison to the others that were still stacked in front of you at least. A notebook filled with your handwriting sat on the desk as you spun slightly in your rolling chair, your eyes trained on a thicker third book sitting open in your lap as you skimmed along the pages for important or standout information. You’d have to try some of these things out if you were able to, but before you could do any sort of magic, Blinky said you’d need a magical item to actually cast any spells since humans didn’t hold any inherent magical abilities or connections. So until then, it was study time.

And boy, had you been studying…

Multiple notebook pages had been filled out front and back with scribbles of how to cast spells, how to control their effects, certain elements of certain incantations that were important to casting it correctly, etcetera etcetera. Your hand had started to ache, and your eyes began to burn slightly from staring at the pages for so long, dry and somewhat red as your lids hung low from exhaustion. You could almost feel the dark circles under your eyes growing darker as you read on. You always insisted they were genetic, but maybe staying up into the wee hours of the morning straining your eyes wasn’t helping to lessen them.

Just as you began to lose the fight of staying awake, you felt your chair jerk backwards as it was forcefully swiveled around. The action jolted you awake with a harsh start. Coming to, you rubbed your eyes briefly before looking up to meet the intense eyes of the basement troll, as you had oh so affectionately dubbed him. Draal the Deadly unexpectedly stood before you. Your eyebrows knitted together in confusion as you swiftly swiped your headphones off of your head. Why would he be out of the basement? And why in the world would he be in your room of all places??

“Uhm… Hi, can I… help you…?” You asked, unsure of how to respond to seeing him looming over you after just having snapped you out of your near sleep. You couldn’t for the life of you think of a reason behind his actions; you were still very not used to having him in the house, let alone seeing him, and further yet seeing him in your room. The troll responded by letting a puff of air escape his nostrils, his bullring swaying slightly with the action. His golden-red eyes never left yours, the unwavering confidence of a warrior behind them,

“You’re interfering with Master Jim’s duty as the Trollhunter.”

“Wh-” You sputtered briefly at the nerve of him before jutting a pointed finger out towards the troll, as if calling his audacity into question, “Excuse me, but I’ve done nothing but encourage him. He’s trying to save the world! How exactly am I interfering with his work, hmm??” You spat, bloodshot eyes going wide with a sudden sleep derivation-induced anger as you stared back up at Draal from your place in your chair. The book in your lap thumped to the floor as you leaned forward, neither of you acknowledging it as your gazes remained locked on one another. Draal’s expression didn’t waver one bit at your sudden outburst, his voice calm and uncaring in response to your aggression,

“He worries for your wellbeing far too much and far too often; it’s clouding his judgement and plaguing his mind. Do something about it, preferably by leaving.” He practically demanded of you, cold and stony as his battle-scarred blue skin in both tone and demeanor. That said, he released his grip on your chair and made his way towards your bedroom door, his business regarding you apparently finished.

“Now hold on a second!” You semi-yelled, not wanting to wake your Mom or alert Jim to the happenings in your room, but also needing to catch the troll’s attention. You shot up and stomped towards him, only prompting him to turn towards you slightly with a bored expression, as if you were nothing more than an inconvenient fly to him. Words fell from your lips before your mind could catch up to them,

“I can’t help that he worries for me, and I can guarantee that I’ve been much more worried about him than he’s ever been about me, especially now that I know he’s been out and about risking his life for a race of trolls he didn’t even know existed before that stupid amulet found him! That is my little brother you’re training – a teenager, a kid – that’s putting himself in danger to save you and, oh yeah, the entire world. He’s a kid that’s willing to put his life on the line just so he can save…” You paused as your hands began to flail about while your mind searched for the right way to phrase your thoughts, “- trolls of all things!!” Your voice cracked slightly due to the strain in your throat, dry after having not spoken for hours beforehand. You noted how Draal’s eyes widened slightly at your sudden unbridled outburst, a subtle but new change in his demeanor. However, you weren’t finished,

“And I’m still his big sister. I have to keep it together for him. I have to, or else who around here is he gonna be able to turn to?? Trolls don’t know a damn thing about humans. Claire and Toby are great friends, but they're also just kids; they’re not mature enough to give him proper advice. And our Mom doesn’t even know you exist!!” Your hands gestured wildly yet again as your hoarse voice rambled on, unable to stop yourself, a spike of exhaustion-induced adrenaline coursing through your veins and your heart rate reached its peak, “So he’s allowed to be worried! Let him worry, because…”

Because what? Why had you stopped yourself?

‘Because I’m not okay...’

You stopped in your tracks, rant brought to a halt as your mind finally caught up to what you were saying. You had nearly spilled too much. Hell, you already had. You just vented your frustrations to a troll — a rude one who had basically asked you to get out of your brother’s life at that — even if it had begun as a berating. Your lungs filled with a much needed deep breath before letting it out, bringing a hand up to run over your face in frustration as you finally began to come down from your anger. Draal’s previously stiffened posture loosened slightly, allowing his posture to relax and slouch slightly, as he normally did. Jim had told him that women could become beats of great power in just moments. Although he had been skeptical, he wasn’t so sure if he wanted to risk witnessing that transformation firsthand…

“Worrying for others…” You began once more, tone much more subdued, yet still plenty stern as you made your point, “… especially the ones you care about… It’s just part of being human. I dunno if you can understand that, but it is. And it can’t be changed. I’ll talk to Jim if you want, but neither of us will stop worrying for each other…” With that, your voice was being lost, throat clenching as if you were about to cry and voice becoming meek as soreness set in.

You turned your back to the troll and motioned from him to leave, busying yourself with picking up the book you had dropped and finding the page you had left off on. You could tell he was still standing there; the floorboards would have creaked and groaned under his weight if he had made any move to leave. Your brows scrunched further together as he just stood silently.

“… If he will not stop worrying for you, then I believe it would be in everyone’s best interest that you start looking after yourself better.” The words made you stiffen slightly. Were they really coming from Draal, the cold, harsh troll who had never shown an ounce of care for anyone, as far as you knew? “Master Jim said you’re beginning to look sickly. It’s best not to worry him more than you must.” Ah, of course he’s not actually concerned for you. What reason did he have to be?

With that bit of advice — though it sounded much more like a demand than a suggestion — the hulking troll maneuvered his way out of your doorway and shut your door behind him, the floorboards creaking heavily under his weight as he made his way back down into the basement.

You stilled, taking his words into consideration.

You did want to do what was best for Jim… Maybe it wouldn’t be a terrible idea to listen to what he had said.

With a heavy, exhaust laden sigh, you bookmarked the page you left off on in the spellbook and put it with the two you had finished, flipping your notebook shut and laying it neatly on top of it. You shut your lamp off, pushed the covers back, and laid down somewhat restlessly. Your eyes glanced at the vent for a moment, mind flicking between different thoughts about the troll you had just spoken with. You didn’t know much at all about trolls, but that interaction…

A yawn eventually came to break you out of your tired train of thought. With that, you shimmied under your covers, got comfortable, and turned in for the night…

━━━━━━━ ⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺ ━━━━━━━

[spookyuu]

she found you

[meltesh28]

let's hangout together for the rest of our lives or something dude

[porr0ki]

The goddesses!!

[8um8le]

I aged 🔥