Chapter Text
His armor clanked as he paced the length of the basement. Back and forth, back and forth, back and--Jim scrubbed his face with his hands. His eyelids drooped and no doubt the bags under his eyes had an even darker hue than usual, but he refused to sit, to rest. Not until his friend was awake again.
Draal.
The Troll was on his back, all the cushions from the couches under him. Every blanket and pillow in the house was in a pile around him. As an extra touch Claire brought her stuffed rabbit over. Anything to help when they were helpless. The gash across his chest stopped glowing that ethereal shade of purple hours ago, but the gauze was still stained through. But, his chest still rose and fell with his breath, and that, that helped. Jim stopped where he stood and looked down at his dirt-covered hands. The smell of sweat and blood bombarded him, and the heaviness in his limbs weighed his movements down.
Footsteps pulled him out of his thoughts. His head jerked in the direction of the staircase as Blinky stepped down onto the cement floor. The troll clasped his hands behind his back and joined the boy next to their unconscious friend. Silence stretched between them. Jim’s armor retreated back into the amulet, all its host’s energy sapped away. He let it fall to the ground.
“Master Jim,” Blinky said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “A boy your age needs rest.”
A sigh. The teen shook his head and stooped down to pick up his fallen amulet. “No, I don’t. Not until I know he’s okay.”
“I will tell you when Draal wakes up.” Blinky dropped his hand to Jim’s back and nudged him towards the stairs.
Jim stayed, feet rooted to the spot. “You don’t get it. This is my fault, Blinky, and because of me Draal is hurt. He almost died.”
He shivered when he thought about how close Angor Rot’s blade came to Draal’s heart. After that--Jim shoved that thought down as soon as it popped up. Blinky tried to push him towards the stairs again, but he stood his ground. Not yet.
“Almost being the key word, Master Jim. You saved Draal’s life.”
“But a Trollhunter’s duty is to protect people.” Jim choked on his words, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes. “I, I let Gunmar out of the Darklands.”
The troll blinked all six eyes, taken aback by what Jim had said. Then, he rolled his hands into fists. “I will not stand for this. Believe what you will, but Gunmar left the Darklands on his own accord. Without you, Gunmar would already have won. Now, and mind you this is not a suggestion, take care of yourself.”
Jim stood there for several moments, clenching and unclenching his fists, until he turned on his heel and trudged up the stairs. With each step he glanced back at Draal, at Blinky. Once he realized Blinky wouldn’t be going back on his word he slammed the door shut behind him.
With a sigh Blinky turned back to Draal and shook his head. He plucked a pillow from the foot of his makeshift bed and placed it beside the cot. Blinky settled down with one hand on his satchel and the other adjusting the blanket the Children placed over him. A soft smile stretched across Blinky’s face at the thought of them, but he had other business to attend to. The bandages on Draal’s chest needed changing, and by Deya he was going to take care of him. Blinky peeled back the tape holding the gauze together and unraveled it. Barbara’s handiwork did more for Draal than Blinky could at the moment, with supplies and magic running so low. Plus she taught him the proper way to wrap a wound. For that, he was grateful. While he worked he let his mind wander off to simpler times.
“Blinkous, I trust you will care for him while I am away?”
“As if he were my own, old friend.”
Simpler was the wrong word for it. The day Kanjigar’s life fell apart stood out in Blinky’s memory as if it were yesterday. Brave Kanjigar, the hero to so many. The loving partner, father, and friend only ever dared to tell his trusted friend the truth. Blinky sighed. He taped the gauze on Draal’s chest down and leaned back to admire his work.
Fate rarely gives one time to grieve, and Kanjigar was no exception. Days after his partner of four centuries fell in battle, the Amulet called him forth to serve Trollkind. He accepted it with grace and none the wiser Trollmarket continued on about its business. But, Blinky watched as his dear friend threw himself into his work and as the years passed by it broke him. Young Draal came to live with him and his own partner when Kanjigar found that the battlefield followed him home.
“There, that should do.” Blinky draped the blanket back over Draal.
Of course, life is never all bad. He recalled late night conversations between friends. The way Kanjigar confided in him still made Blinky feel that warm flutter in the pit of his stomach. Then he felt regret. For still harboring those feelings despite having bonded for life with his own mate, or the way he relished in stealing time for himself from the Trollhunter. Then Kanjigar pushed the world away and Blinky went with it, and that’s when Draal popped into his and AAARRRGGHH!!!’s life.
Draal loved stories so much. When all the work for the day had been done, they would go back to the small house AAARRRGGHH!!! and Blinky kept up in their off-time, arms full of books. Blinky reached into his satchel at the thought, and his fingers brushed against the aged cover of the one book he'd managed to save. The book they'd never finished. Not for lack of trying, of course, for many a night they'd spent awake, reading into the wee hours of the morning. Blinky and Draal would sit wrapped in blankets, and AAARRRGGHH!!! took up his place behind them, arms draped around the smaller trolls.
And then young Draal grew too old for nonsense such as that.
A shout dragged Blinky away from his thoughts. His eyes widened when Draal sat up and tore the blanket covering him in half, deep gouges left in the fleece. The elder Troll reached out to rest a hand on his shoulder.
“You’re in good hands now.”
Too bright eyes focused on him. Draal’s chest heaved with every breath, and the young Troll’s muscles tensed. Blinky’s mouth fell open, eyebrows creasing. He took in the tremoring troll before him with cold dread growing in his stomach.
“Blinky?” His voice strained, and Draal’s eyes slid shut. He grimaced. His fingers brushed against the gauze around his chest. “I never thought I’d be happy to see this place again.”
A beat. Silence stretched between them until Blinky pushed Draal back down onto his bed. “Ah, ah. It would be a shame to ruin Doctor Lake’s work. Rest.”
“No,” Draal shouted. He sat up again, struggling against Blinky’s hold. “Not while Gunmar lives. He will pay.”
“Draal, please.”
Realizing he was going nowhere, Draal fell back with a low growl. Blinky picked up the bottle of water that Barbara left beside the bed before she left for work. He opened it, placed it in Draal’s hand, and crossed his arms over his chest.
“I do hope you plan on drinking that,” he said.
“No need.” Draal set the bottle down. He pressed against his forehead with the palm of his hand and winced.
When he opened his eyes Blinky gasped. They flashed blue and then switched back to their original colors. That cold stone in the pit of his stomach returned, followed by a boulder and several good sized chunks of concrete. New scars mottled the young Troll’s arm, but when Draal noticed him staring he propped himself up with that arm behind him. Silence stretched between them.
Blinky shook his head. “Deya’s Grace, what has Gunmar done?”
“I--” The fire from earlier vanished and Draal’s shoulders fell. He reached for his prosthetic arm, but he found empty air instead. Draal dropped his hand down onto his knee instead. Without looking up he answered, voice soft. “Enough.”