so Jim, being the poor little self-sacrificing hero that he is spends VERY little time being a normal teenager.
But then Steve and Eli find out about the whole trolls exist stuff and start getting involved, and they just want to see all the stuff going on in the troll world.
But then Steve notices how over worked Jim is, because he looked like that while trying to please his (bio) dad via sports and injured himself while trying to be better.
And so then Steve just grabs Jim and drags him out of Trollmarket. Draal probably should stop them, but seeing Jim get bossed around by another teenager when he has fought monsters and gumm-gumms is very entertaining.
Jim thinks this is some new bullying thing, but then Steve drags Jim along on a bunch of random teenage stuff. probably mostly loitering around.
"Steve, were literally just sitting around doing nothing."
"Shut your face Lake, you're missing the point."
"we look cool while doing it."
But then way later after the eternal night and Jim becomes half troll, he is doing everything he can to rebuild Arcadia and is working really really hard, and in desperate need of a break, and everyone is doing their part to make sure Jim is taken care of. Like AAARRRGGHH making sure he gets sleep, and Toby making sure he's getting food, and Claire making sure he has decent hygiene. all the stuff.
but then Steve shows up and is like "okay, time to be a teenager." and just drags Jim to the surface (either at night or Jim has the sun stone) and they just go do dumb stuff. Steve drags him out to the Arcadia Lake Dam and they spray paint it or something. "hey, spray paint tastes pretty good."
Just imagine everyone sees Jim as this hard working good boy, but then as soon as Steve is at his side they're like "Oh boy, here comes the chaos."
eventually Toby, Claire, and probably some others get in on these chaotic outings, where all the kids just take a break from being big responsible heroes and do dumb kid stuff.
IDEA RECEIVED !! Sorry for such a long wait, I got really busy with college & my own fic (mostly college though). But I finally got some time to develop this properly and extensively
(1) First, you’re so right about Jim overworking himself as the Trollhunter !! It just really meshes well with his character and what he did before picking up the amulet. Like he was already someone who worked hard to take good care of the people he loved, like his Mom and Toby. He’s a good protector because he CARES so much
But the problem is that becoming the trollhunter expanded not just the number of people he had to protect BUT also raised the stakes by a lot. When it really sinks in how much Trollmarket and Arcadia depend on him doing a good job with the amulet …. it’s a lot
I mean, ⅓ of being a Trollhunter it’s always being afraid, so you’re always alert and ready to deal with whatever the world throws at him. It’s a good advice for not being caught off-guard in combat, just not good for relaxing or recovering in the long term
The more time he spends as a protector, the more he worries about the possible dangers and training, in order to be ready to face them. Boy got into high-gear like never before and hasn’t come down since, because failing means losing someone, and he really doesn't want that kind of thing to happen.
(2) Steve & Eli have been working to uncover the weird stuff which has been happening around in their town.It's cool but also a little daunting because whenever they get some answers they just end up with even more questions (even if they don’t always interpret the answers they get correctly).
Anyway, today they’re having a fitness test at school and Steve just LOVES those because he gets to break his records from the previous year, be the best and of-course gloat a little bit (okay, more than a little). He’s been getting better at not being a bully, but taking pride in his gains doesn’t hurt anybody right ? It’s also a really important part of working out (obviously)
They go about the exercises and stuff, with Eli doing a little better than Steve thought he would, particularly at the flexibility portion of the fitness test (Eli has experience getting in and out of tight or hard to reach places because of his investigation). Though the blonde is still thinking about making a beginner-friendly exercise routine for his new friend
If they’re gonna be running around all of Arcadia investigating creeps, beating and also potentially running away from them, then they could both make some good use of a little more cardio and strength-training. And when they’re not creep-slaying, Eli helps Steve with his homework and understanding what boggles his mind during school (so the exercise routine is a way for Steve to repay Eli for the tutoring and make-up for all the bullying too, is a way to show he cares).
But if Eli surprised him a little at the fitness test, then Jim and Toby surprised Steve a LOT. Especially Jim, who not only managed to keep up with the blonde during some of the tests but surpass him at some, like the mile run and …… what the hell ? Since when can Lake run so much with those skinny legs of his ? And when did his legs get less skinny ? Like, he knows that Jim is way stronger than he looks (hard not too, with the way dude knocked out one of his teeth with only a punch). Maybe he picked up another sport or started playing baseball/softball again ? Still, his athletic senses are tingling, like there’s something more about all of this, hidden just beneath the surface
A quiet but strong intensity that feels familiar to Steve for some reason. So he wants to investigate along with Eli !! It also wouldn’t hurt to learn what kind of exercises Lake has been doing. Because whatever it is, it’s working really well
It takes some talking and even more snacks as bribes to convince his creeper-slayer partner that there’s something weird enough about their classmates worthy of an investigation (it’s not stalking or creepy, not if their classmate got body-napped and replaced by a creep). So they tail Lake ….. and watch him draw a portal under the bridge ??? That’s more or less how the duo finds out about Trolls, Magic and that Lake is fricking magical warrior chosen to protect both humanity and trollkind from evils long sealed away
Steve knew it !! He knew that Jim was doing some kind of special work-out >:D !!
Eli’s is just baffled because after all they just learned, THAT’S what the jock is focusing on ? The truth is even crazier than they thought (failed government experiments that got out and found their way to Arcadia Oaks). There’s literally a whole settlement of magic creatures beneath their city, but instead of thinking of the ramifications Steve just wants to know if he can use the hero-forge as extra practice for football
He’s aware of all the wonders and questions that arise with their discovery. The blonde just has his priorities
(3) The creeper-slayer duo LOVES Trollmarker !! The forge is the coolest training device ever, though he hasn’t gotten a cool and badass magic weapon yet. What do you mean that’s not exactly guaranteed in the “You’re in the know about trolls and magic” package? Jim, Toby and Claire all got some !! So of course Steve has to get one as well
OOH, maybe he could get a lightning axe? Swords are cool but kind of overused (no offense jimbo) and he can’t get a lightning hammer for obvious copyright reasons. Toby already has a gravity hammer, thus he wants something cooler !! Either a lightning axe or flaming gauntlets
Eventually the jock goes to the forge again so he can bother lake about getting that upgrade, he doesnt mind if an epic and dangerous quest is needed for such. Honestly he would love an epic and dangerous quest even if there wasn’t an equipment upgrade involved in such process
But before he can bother (I mean ask) the Trollhunter again, Steve notices something
Jim is overworking himself, beyond just feeling the burn or until failure to surpass his limits later, it’s not that. The Trollhunter movements are getting stiffer, breath laboured and plenty of sweat collecting on his forehead. And yet Jim continues using the forge and attacking the training dummies without sign of stopping soon, that quiet but relentless intensity making itself known once more
It clicks, this is why it felt so familiar. He trained the same way when he was trying to please his bio dad through sports, working tirelessly for any scrap of love or approval he could from the man. But then that resulted in him getting his ankle sprained and not being able to play for 2 whole weeks and what happened after ? It was just so disproportionate
On good days he could barely get a “good job” from his father, so much so he almost began to doubt if his dad truly liked sports despite all the sports channels he watched. But when he sprained his ankle ? He was so mad, berating him for getting hurt in such a stupid way and calling him a pansy for not being able to man up and play through it
Back then, he feared that Coach would be mad at him too. But Lawrence just gave him tips on how to take care of the sprain, and that even after the 2 weeks of recovery time, he wouldn’t be able to jump straight away, back into the team, to not risk getting hurt again. Still, Coach promised to help him through every step of the way, he was gonna recover well and be playing before he knew it
Steve still got an earful for pushing too hard and not resting like he should, but it came from a place of care and concern rather than demeaning disappointment
And Jim is doing more or less the same thing (though instead of trying to please a deadbeat father, Jim is overworking so as to not disappoint anyone as the trollhunter). And that won’t do at all !! Guess it falls to him, to be the hero (which he will totally be humble about it) and save Lake from himself
Though he did have to cook up a plan with Eli and Toby to ambush or get Jimbo out of trollmarket, Steve likes his teeth where they currently are, thank you very much
(4) I love the idea of Steve saying : Get in, We’re going shopping
Jim thought the Arcadia Oaks mall was being attacked by a pack of goblins or infested by pixies, possibly both by the messages he received (the guys did not coordinate). He gets to the mall and there’s no screams, as one would expect as the result of a goblin and pixie attack
Still the other guys convince Jim to grab lunch with them (Steve, Eli and Toby). And I like to think of jim as a bit of a food-snob ? In the sense that he wouldn’t want to eat junk food because it’s unhealthy and not as good as the home-made stuff, which he can totally do
But let’s be real, there’s just something about (good) fast food that HITS differently. It’s so good in its own weird way. Jim has a bacon cheeseburger and nachos dripping with cheddar and he’s HOOKED
By the way ? Toby has been trying to do that for years (introduce Jim to fast food, but actual good fast food options which have not fallen prey to the evils of modern capitalism). He would be a little more salty about how long Jim has been ignoring his wisdom, if victory didn’t taste so sweet
Also it’s something he can eat, even after becoming a half-troll (surprisingly enough). He doesn't know how the food is made so it’s edible for both humans and trolls (still not the healthiest thing though) And you know what ? He doesn't want to learn, let him enjoy those fries in sweet ignorance, c’mon, he’s a growing half troll
There’s also an arcade and movies !! He used to go there with Toby sometimes, but haven’t since becoming the trollhunter. Also the cinema has a special section for old movies like “The return of the swamp monster 3, slimier than ever” and it’s so bad but also so good at the same time !! They come out of reenacting the cheesy scenes and special effects
(5) (this happens when Jim is a troll). There’s a moment where Steve tries buying a candy-bar from a vending machine, but the snack gets stuck. So the blonde asks if the half troll can use his super strength to bust open the accursed metal box so he can get his spoils (a very reasonable request)
Jim is not gonna break the vending machine open, but he does agree on at least trying to shake the vending machine a little bit, maybe the candy-bar will fall off ? Except that the trollhunter greatly overestimates the durability of the contraption (or underestimates his own strength). Because he actually left dents in the thing, and when he stopped, not only did the candy-bar finally fell off to be collected, but also a bag of chips and a soda
Jim of-course panics because he did not mean to do that and tries to pay for the extra snacks and soda they got. But the machine just drops even more food as a result
Cue for Jim panicking even more while Steve is picking up the rewards and knighting the trollhunter with the candy-bar that started it all, saying that the half-troll it’s the official vanquisher of faulty/mean vending machines
(6) Also I just have this idea where Steve wants to show his awesome bike tricks (he doesnt need a vespa to be cool) but then Jim shows his own bike tricks (this is when Jim is still human) and the blonde goes like
Steve : Damn Lake !! I didn’t you were cool COOL
Jim : Wait What ? You discover that I got chosen by THE Merlin’s amulet, to be the protector of both trolls and humans from ancient evils ….. but what makes me cool it’s my bike tricks ?
Steve : Of course. You can be a butt-kicking warrior and still be a lame dork. I don’t discriminate
Finally the trollhunter can’t take it anymore, the whole situation it’s just so Steve-like that he ends up doubling over in laughter. It has been a while since he laughed like that
I really like the idea of Steve helping Jim feel like a teenager and have just mindless dumb fun !! The blonde helps him relax and have some fun, or when he becomes a half troll and feels out of place
Also Yeah !! I feel like Steve would say “Catch”. Throw the can of spray-paint to Jimbo and instead of catching it with his hands, he does it with his teeth and the thing bursts open (and it’s good, like orange juice and lemonade). Cue for a paint fight that leaves their clothes more colorful than a rainbow, like an improvised tie-dye clothes event (they look pretty cool, if messy)
Ask Answered >:D !! Hopefully this was worth the wait ? I loved getting this
