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There was something that felt off - Toby returned with a bone that wasn’t the same as the first one. it was nothing though - Jim was just ready to return to a body of stone. Jim was sure that it’d be fine, no matter what - being a troll was likely intertwined with his genetics at this point.
The femur Toby had brought back was a little longer, a little thicker, and Jim wondered what would happen - if there would be any noticeable change. His first troll form had ended up similarly to Blinky - and he didn’t know if that would be the case the second time around.
“Come on, we gotta get back.” Jim spoke softly, eyes flickering around the empty, sterile halls. It was always too strange here - though he himself had been here once before. Jim didn’t know how Toby or Claire felt being back in these halls again.
“Yeah - yeah.” Toby huffed, stuffing the bone into his bag. “ Can’t imagine what we’d be arrested for now, when all our actions are out of context.“
Jim glanced at him, slightly horrified. “Dude, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine - we’re just getting bones from dead changeling bodies, that’s all.” Toby patted his bag, as if grave robbing wasn’t already as messed up already. They were about to do something really unholy with the bones.
Jim nodded, going to Claire and Toby’s side as she popped open a rift in space to get out of the Janus Order's Arcadia base, giving one last look at the ruined base before stepping through to the other side.
Making the elixir wasn’t too horrible, there was the factor of grinding bone and general unsettled horrors because of it, but, you know - it wasn’t the worst thing that Jim had ever done. Methodical, almost. It would have been easier if they still had a FoodMagic 3000, but he had himself to blame for that, after all.
Kind of funny, looking back. He’d been so hungry, and the blender had just smelled so good to him and his stomach had rumbled. The next thing he knew, his mom was staring him down in horror as he crunched through its acrylic. In hindsight, acrylic kind of sucked; and glass was infinitely better.
However, upon his second bath and subsequent dumping in the middle of the forest of nowhere in particular, why it did that he didn’t know, he found himself hiking back and noting the differences. He felt taller than before, and a glance at his fingers left him reeling. They’d evened out this time with a human four on each hand, instead of the chunky three.
His skin was a little greener than before, as if someone had selected his skin tone and slid it a little more left on the colour wheel. a hand brushing over a horn left him with the knowledge that they still curved back and away from the face. he’d have to get a look in the mirror when he got home.
Stumbling there had been just as difficult as the first time - unbalanced on longer legs again, but this time they were a little more sharply bent, ready to crouch and hide - predator’s legs. They reminded him of Nomura. he’d seen another troll like her in Trollmarket - skin slate grey instead of shocking violet.
Some of his habits that hadn’t quite left him returned as if he were a troll just yesterday and not weeks ago, though adapting them to his altered body took a touch of time, mostly as he adjusted to the new pace he could go. He felt faster, though he probably wasn’t quite as strong as before - not as bullish. A little more sleek. He wondered if it was a side effect of the bones.
Leave it to Merlin to adapt something of Morgana’s and leave it weird. Claire didn’t want to tempt fates with the different spell - not to mention, there other... stipulations they didn’t want to attempt. He remembered his stomach churning as he thought about the process that the Enriques must have gone through.
Jim let his thoughts wander, picking through events of the past handful of days as he crossed through the darkening woods, feeling only a mild case of deja vu creeping up his spine, curved in a way that matched more troll than human. Fitting, now that he was back in rocky skin.
The fingers were something to celebrate, causing him to hop in place out of joy a few times. Fucker had stolen a finger before.
As he slowly made his way home, it wasn’t much farther to go, he knew it was down at the end of this street. It wasn’t long before he was home - making his way in without collapsing, on steady legs this time. Jim held his breath, waiting for the poke and call out from one of his family - but nothing came.
Jim crept up the stairs, quietly, seeing that they were in the room, chatting among themselves. He allowed himself to linger, listening to the conversation - it was lighthearted, soft and not too deep. They were waiting for Jim to come home on his own terms, be ready to show them. The group all focused on each other, as he saw when he crouched down briefly before finishing up his ascent to the bathroom to stare at his reflection in the mirror. Nerves frazzled as he approached a mirror that he avoided since returning to humanity – knowing that he was just as he was before it all began, but still, the anxiety shook his breath just the slightest amount.
His teeth were a little more crooked - though the gap in his upper teeth persisted this time. A second tooth poked up on one side in asymmetry, and a memory flickered into his mind of his beastly self - hulking huge with tusks poking out in horrifying spikes and nothing left of his humanity.
Jim could still see his human self in his reflection, even with a greener skin tone and his horns seemed like they stretched back a little further. His hair was still a deep blue mess, reminiscent of Blinky and he smiled. This time he looked like he had similarities with two of his father figures, and he wondered what caused it. Though, he was content if it was the inherent magic in the spell, or the bone they used.
Satisfied with how he looked ( and a good solid pat on the chest told him he was flat again, though his binder remained and he went to peel that off carefully. He could donate the binders, he wouldn’t need them now as he breathed so much easier with different weights off his chest ) - Jim crept downstairs. His family paused as he entered the room with a grin on his face.
They were on him in a second, grinning and hugging and laughing with him. Life felt good. Easy again and he buried his face against his mother's shoulder, sighing softly.