Chapter Text
It was logic. Really. It was. Jim didn’t want another Dad cause dads sucked. Ergo, it made perfect sense that if he was going to have another parent, it would have to be another Mom (cause Jim loved his mom, she was great). The only question was who.
The answer came on the first day of the new school year. Jim had been nervous about meeting his new teacher right up until the moment he saw her for the first time. People tended to react not-so-well to him. The best ones just asked some questions (what was wrong with him anyway? Was he born like that? Weird.) that Jim never liked but his Mom always answered politely through a smile that could very easily twist into a grimace. The worst treated him like he was some sort of fascinating thing that existed for their entertainment (oh, look at the little guy, isn’t he adorable? Can I get a picture with him?). Jim tended to hide behind his mom from those ones (when he was little) or scowl at them (now that he was older). Teachers were not excluded from these categories, though they tended to fall somewhere in the middle.
Experience had taught Jim that meeting a New Person was an anxiety-inducing event, especially if that someone was a teacher who he’d have to see Every Single Day. So, when he nervously walked into school for the first day of third grade and saw his new teacher, Ms. Nomura, for the first time, he’d been happy. Very, very happy.
Ms. Nomura was like him.
She was a troll. Ok, a changeling, but all that meant was that she could shapeshift into a human form if she wanted to. Anyway, Jim wasn’t a full troll either since Mom was a human, so they really were similar. In a move that had surprised everyone, Jim had hugged his new teacher.
That, however, hadn’t been enough to get her to be his New Second Mom, which was somewhat disappointing. But it was okay, Jim had just realized that Ms. Nomura was The One. It was gonna happen. Eventually.
After two days, he got tired of waiting for it to happen on its own. Plus, Ms. Nomura and his mom barely spent time together (they spent like no time together ever except at the end of the day for like two seconds when Jim’s mom came to pick him up). So, Jim decided this must be like one of those task things he’d get a gold star sticker on the big poster at the back of the classroom for if he did. A quest.
“I think,” he told his new best friend, Toby, one day while working on an arts and crafts project, “My mom and Ms. Nomura are supposed to be in love, like a fairy tale.”
“Really?” Tobes was interested in less than a second. Ever since he’d gone on an enthusiastic rant the first day of school, Jim had known he loved fantasy and magic. Ergo, Tobes was the best person to help him in his quest. Also, he was Jim’s Best Friend Forever and Jim would choose absolutely no one else for the task.
“But we gotta get them together ourselves cause they aren’t doing anything about it.”
“Thank you for coming in on such short notice.” Nomura let Jim’s mom, Barbara, into her classroom. “I hope we can find a solution to our, uh, little problem.”
Barbara sighed. “You mean the fact my son seems determined to matchmake us?”
“Well, yes. That.” Nomura sat down behind her desk. In the beginning it had been understandable, and almost cute. As a half-troll, Jim didn’t have many adults to look up to who had an appearance remotely similar to his own. So his fixation on her, a changeling, made sense. However, his attempts to have her and his mom get together, arguably to have her take on a more parental role in his life, had quickly gone from minor things like making her valentine’s cards “from Barbara” to leading the entire class in a mission to trap them in the supplies closet together and refuse to let them out until they realized it was ‘True Love’.
It was almost scary how easily her students could forget their petty squabbles and work together efficiently toward a common goal when properly motivated. Now, if only she could get them to do that when it was literally anything other than ‘True Love’.
“I don’t suppose you have any ideas?” Barbara asked. “I’ve tried talking to Jim, but he’s, ah, very determined.” She winced. “Sorry.”
Nomura frowned. “As his mother, I was hoping you did.” She straightened her schedule book on her desk. “Not that I blame you for any of this, ” she hastily added. “Does he do this sort of thing often?”
“No. No, this is a first for Jim.” Barbara sat down in the chair opposite Nomura. She rubbed her temples with her hands. “Generally, he doesn’t like it when I date. The last time I did, he protested until I broke it off with the guy.” She shrugged at Nomura’s questioning expression. “What? I’m not just going to continue dating a guy my kid hates.”
“That’s fine.” Nomura said. “But I’m curious now as to why he’d try to get us together if you like—”
“Oh, I’m bisexual.” Barbara interrupted her. “I explained it to Jim a year or two ago for Pride. He’s sort of assumed it means I can fall in love with everyone, which I suppose is true in a way, but I wasn’t really expecting him to take it to this point.” She paused. “Are you…?”
“I’m gay,” Nomura clarified. “But I’d appreciate it if you didn’t spread that info around. Some of the parents here aren’t exactly open to such things.”
“Trust me, I won’t.”
There was a moment of silence where both women were thinking. Then, Nomura said, “I have an idea.” When Barbara looked at her, she continued, “You can veto this if it makes you uncomfortable. But since Jim is determined to see us together, I think it’s worth a shot. We could go on a date. A pretend date. Let him think he’s finally gotten us together. Then, when it doesn’t “work out” between us, we could use it as a learning experience that sometimes things don’t always go the way he wants.”
Barbara mused on the idea. “I like it. Knowing Jim, it just might work too.” With a wry grin, she added, “So are you free this Friday night?”
“Pick me up around 8?” Nomura answered.
“I did an appendectomy for the owner of a local, romantic restaurant a while back so I can probably get us a reservation on short notice.” Barbara took out her phone. “Can I have your number so I can call you later with the details?”
“Sure.” Nomura took out her own. “And call me ‘Zelda’ now. If we’re doing this, we’re going to have to be convincing.”
“Alright, Zelda.” Barbara handed over her phone so Nomura could add in her number. “I’m looking forward to seeing you this Friday.”
“Likewise.”
It was a simple plan, really. With very few ways for it to go wrong.