#which is why i think shed fall soooo easily into being at the short end of a manipulative toxic VILE relationship

[sifutoph]

thinking abt t0ph actually being so easily manipulated………..

[earth-ambassador-jim]

Changeling Loyalties: Chapter 4

Butterfly Wings

Toby is quite happy with his life, but then the Amulet of Daylight just had to choose his human friend. What’s a changeling to do? Good thing Toby never really liked Gunmar anyway.

Fanfiction - AO3

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The walk back from Trollmarket was quiet. Toby and Jim had once again donned their disguises. Aaarrrgghh accompanied them, keeping a look out for Bular, who was fortunately nowhere to be seen. It gave Toby time to think over the events of the evening and make some plans.

Bular would now be watching for them, they would have to be more careful. It was also time for Toby to make sure the trolls stopped coming over to Jim and his houses. The longer they kept coming the more likely the goblins were to notice them, or vice versa. He wasn’t sure which would be worse…

They reached woods behind Jim’s house and Aaarrrgghh stopped.

“Hey big guy?”

Aaarrrgghh turned to look at him.

“I was wondering if we could maybe start meeting somewhere else? Or maybe we could have one of those horngazel thingies?”

“What for?” Jim asked, readjusting his werewolf mask.

“Well I was just thinking… that Bular guy?” It felt weird calling him that. “Well he was waiting for us outside Trollmarket. Maybe he can’t get in but what if he follows us home?”

“Being careful,” Aaarrrgghh said.

“I know, but can’t he track your scent?”

The large troll blinked, understanding dawning on his face.

“I was just thinking that Jim and I could go somewhere and put on our disguises there and then meet you. If you’re not with us Bular won’t be able to follow us home because we have the scent masking pendants.”

Aaarrrgghh hummed thoughtfully.

“Will ask. Where meet tomorrow?”

Toby glanced at Jim.

“How about at the library?” Jim suggested after a moment. “We can work on our homework there and no one will think it’s suspicious that we’re hanging about late. Do you know where the library is?”

Aaarrrgghh nodded, eyes crinkling as he smiled.

“Yes. Blinky love library.”

~~~~

Toby waited until he was sure Jim was safely in his house before entering his own. He stared at it forlornly. He really wanted to just go to sleep, but he couldn’t have his house smelling like trolls.

He sighed, went to the cleaning closet, and began taking out the supplies. With one last longing glance toward his room he got to work.

After he’d scrubbed and mopped every inch of the house, he snuck out to the shed to stash his disguise and retrieve the lawn fertilizer. It would mask the troll scent out there. If the goblins’ smelled them in the woods they would hopefully assume then that the trolls had simply passed by.

He got his lawn done and then did Jim’s for good measure. If Blinky and Aaarrrgghh didn’t go with either of his suggestions they were going to have the greenest lawns in all of Arcadia.

The sun was already peeking over the horizon when he returned to the house to vacuum.

He finished that, emptied the bag into the outside trash and came back inside just in time to hear his alarm go off upstairs. Toby groaned and leaned his head up against the wall.

“This is so not awesome sauce…”

After a moment he removed himself, grudgingly resigned the fact that he would be running on zero sleep, and went over to the coffee maker.

~~~~

“Hey Tobes?” Jim asked hesitantly as they tied their bikes up outside the school.

“Hmmm?”

Toby took a sip of his… well coffee would probably not be quite accurate. It was really just caffeinated sludge.

“Did you get any sleep last night?”

“Yes,” Toby lied, as he chewed on some grounds.

“Because if you didn’t you might want to…”

“Lake! You flipping buttsnack!”

Toby closed his eyes and counted to ten. Maybe it wasn’t too late to just go home…

“Where have you been?” Steve demanded, stalking toward them. “I scheduled your buttwhooping for yesterday, jerkface, and you didn’t show.”

He leaned into Jim’s space and Toby was immediately reminded of Draal.

“Tick-tok. Remember?”

Toby was way too tired to deal with this.

“I’ve been busy,” Jim said looking almost as tired as Toby.

“Well I guess it’s your lucky day,” Steve said. “Because I’ve rescheduled to now.”

“What?” Jim’s eyes widened. “Now?!”

“Of course. It’s not like you have anything better to do.”

A crowd was starting to form around them. Eli, Mary Wang and some kid Toby didn’t recognize were already watching with anxious expressions. Darci Scott and Claire Nuñez rounded the corner and Claire held up an arm to stop her friend.

“Well? You ready?” Steve was getting more wound up with the attention.

“You know what?” Jim said, straightening up. “No. This is stupid.”

“What did you just say?” Steve sounded both shocked and incredibly slighted.

“I said this is stupid. There are hundred things more important than fanning your ego.”

Around them the crowd was whispering. Toby could relate. It seemed that taking on a couple trolls had really helped Jim get over his fear of Steve. To be fair Steve was kind of underwhelming after once one had met Bular.

Toby shook his head to clear out the cobwebs and moved to stand more squarely beside Jim.

“He’s right. This is stupid… Especially for you.”

Steve shot him a glare, but his attention remained on Jim.

“If you get caught fighting, you’ll get a mark on your record. Get enough of those and you can kiss your spot on the football team good-bye.”

Okay now he had the bully’s attention.

“Don’t flipping threaten me,” He snarled at Toby.

Jim tensed beside him, hands curling into fists.

“Then stop threatening us,” Toby responded easily.

He took a sip of his caffeine sludge and stared back at Steve, giving him the most vicious glare he could muster.

Steve paled, all the fight going out of his expression to be replaced with fear and confusion.

“What the… What the flip was that?!”

Jim and Toby exchanged a puzzled expression.

“What was what?”

“The thing you just…”

Steve took a step back and then straightened up, resuming his usual sneer. He would have looked intimidating, except that his gaze kept darting back to Toby every other second.

“You know what?” He said throwing his hands up. “You’re right. This is stupid. I have better things to do than deal with you buttsnacks.”

And with that he stalked off.

“Well that was weird,” Jim muttered.

The crowd broke into a cheer and everyone rushed forward. Toby couldn’t remember ever being this popular. It was kind of nice. He should tell off Steve more often.

Unfortunately their moment of glory was cut short by the bell.

As they turned to rush off toward class Toby noticed Claire was watching him.

~~~~

The first half of the school day passed quickly. Mr. Strickler’s class was the only one Toby was truly awake for. Nevertheless he was still thankful when the bell rang signaling the end of third period and the start of lunch.

“Hi Mr. Strickler.”

Jim’s voice started Toby out of his dazed state.

“Hello Jim,” Strickler said with an easy smile.

The smile flickered for a moment as he turned his gaze to Toby.

“My apologies for interrupting, but I need to borrow your friend for a moment.”

Suddenly Toby was very awake. It took all his self-control to keep a somewhat calm demeanor and paste on a smile.

Jim, unaware of the potential conflict brewing, nodded and started to turn away.

“Okay. I’ll go get us seats. See you, Tobes!”

He gave Toby a wave and disappeared down the hall, leaving him all alone.

“Follow me, Domzalski,” Strickler said sharply, dropping his façade now that they were alone.

Toby swallowed and obeyed, falling into step with the older changeling. They reached Stricklander’s office and Toby hesitated for a moment before following him in and closing the door.

Mr. Strickler took a seat behind his desk and indicated with his head for Toby to do the same.

“Soooo? What’s up?”

“I believe we’ve talked about the importance of not revealing your true nature to humans?”

Toby’s fear was abruptly replaced with confusion.

“…Yes?”

“Then why in Gunmar’s name would you go and flash your eyes at a teenager?”

“…I what now?” Clearly Toby needed another cup of coffee. He had probably fallen asleep and was dreaming this conversation. Nana would wake him any time now.

Mr. Strickler sighed and folded his hands in front of him.

“This morning,” He said pointedly. “I believe Mr. Palchuck was trying to start trouble with you and Mr. Lake. Apparently you flashed your eyes at him to make him back off.”

Toby blinked, slowly processing. Now that he thought about it that would explain Steve’s reaction.

“Oops?” He said giving Mr. Strickler a nervous smile. “I swear it was an accident?”

Mr. Strickler sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I suspected that was the case,” He frowned and stood up from his chair. “That being said, I can’t have changelings carelessly exposing us to humans because they can’t keep their wits about them when a bullheaded adolescent tries to goad them into a fight. You are lucky that Steve was the only one to see. It was a small enough thing that he will likely write it off as a figment of his imagination and we won’t have to do anything.”

“Sorry, sir,” Toby said, also standing up.

“Sorry isn’t enough, you must learn from your mistakes.”

“It won’t happen again.”

“I’m glad, but just to make sure, you will be on call for cleanup for the rest of the month. Starting now. Hopefully that shall drive home the importance of secrecy.”

That was going to make things complicated.

“But …”

“Do you have a problem with my decision, Mr. Domzalski?” Strickler asked in a pointed tone.

Toby quickly straightened to attention.

“Of course not. No sir, Mr. Strickler, sir!” He added in a salute for good measure.

Mr. Strickler rolled his eyes.

“Good,” he said, settling back down into his desk. “You are dismissed.”

Toby waited until he was out in the hall and well away from Mr. Strickler’s office to heave a sigh of relief. He decided to drop by the bathroom before joining Jim; he needed some time to calm down and stop shaking.

He had honestly thought that Stricklander knew. That he was going to try to force him to spy on Jim for the Janus Order.

A month on call for clean-up still wasn’t good, though. There was no way something wouldn’t happen in that amount of time. Toby needed to start planning excuses so the trolls wouldn’t get suspicious if he missed training at Trollmarket or had to leave abruptly.  

He groaned and started digging around in his backpack for a Nougat Nummy to soothe his nerves. Things just kept getting more and more complicated.

Hopefully Mr. Strickler was right and Steve would just forget about the whole thing instead of adding to the mess.

~~~~                 

Jim made it through all of his homework before it got dark. He glanced at the window and leaned back in his chair to stretch. To his right Toby was sprawled out across the table snoring away, a little line of drool seeping out of his mouth. Jim probably should have woken him up hours ago so he could get his homework done, but given how tired his friend was he felt it was better to let him rest. That and Jim felt rather guilty that it was really his fault that Toby wasn’t getting enough sleep.

Blinky and Aaarrrgghh would arrive pretty soon… or would it be just Aaarrrgghh tonight?

He glanced outside again. It was dark. Time to wake Toby.

He tried calling his name but had no success. Jim glanced around until he located a piece of scrap paper. He grabbed it and backed up until there was about a table’s length of space between him and Toby. His friend had been on edge with all the craziness going on so better safe than sorry. He wadded the paper into a ball and aimed it at Toby’s shoulder.

His little league experience had stuck with him and he hit his target on the first shot. As soon as the wad of paper made contact Toby burst out of the chair with yelp, swinging his fist in the direction of the disturbance. Encountering only air, he twisted around eyes darting rapidly until they landed on Jim.

Jim gave a little wave.

“Hey Tobes,” He said keeping his voice soft. “It’s dark out. Time to go.”

Toby blinked a few times, his expression relaxing for a moment before his brows furrowed.

“Wait… How long have I been sleeping?”

Jim moved to stand beside him.

“About three hours…”

“Three hours!” Toby squawked, before wincing when several people turned to glare at him.

“Three hours?!” He repeated more quietly, giving Jim a slight glare. “Why didn’t you wake me up? Mr. Strickler’s not going to be happy if I turn in my essay late.”

Jim wasn’t quite sure why he wasn’t worried about his other classes. Maybe his grade was down and that was why their history teacher called him to his office earlier.

“Sorry,” Jim said, holding his hands up. “I was just worried because you’ve looked so tired all day.”

Jim frowned.

“You could stay home tonight if you…”

“No!” Toby said quickly, tensing. “Not happening.”

“Okay,” Jim said.

He really should have argued some more. Jim was the one the amulet had chosen, Toby didn’t need to be missing sleep for him but… but he was really glad Toby had decided to come with him. He felt safer with his friend beside him. He knew he was being selfish, but somehow he just couldn’t really make himself do anything about it… Besides… Toby was happier knowing what was going on anyway so it wasn’t like he was forcing his friend or anything.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Jim tossed Toby the bag with his cloak in it and they left the library to look for a place to put on their disguises.

~~~~

The first thing Blinky did when Toby and Jim arrived at Hero’s Forge was to lead Toby to an alcove he hadn’t noticed before.

“If you are to be joining Master Jim in his training, you must have a proper weapon.”

Toby felt a grin slowly forming on his face. His fingers twitched as his gaze darted over the weapons before him. He’d never had access to such a selection.

There were axes and swords and spears… and a wrench? He wasn’t sure what to make of that one... But Toby’s gaze was immediately drawn to the large hammer resting on the floor. It had a long pole with an orange crystal head. Reminded of his own warhammer, Toby immediately grabbed it. Unfortunately, after struggling to lift it, he was forced to acknowledge that it was too heavy for him to wield in his current form. Not effectively anyway.

He staggered back to the weapons rack and dropped it with a resounding thud.

After a moment of contemplation he picked out a small double headed battle ax. Toby checked the head and, finding it to be in good condition, gave it an experimental swing. He grinned. The balance was right.

“I’ll take this one,” Toby said, turning back to Blinky.

He found himself face to face with Aaarrrgghh instead. Toby let out a yelp and stumbled backward, nearly dropping the ax.

“Sorry,” Aaarrrgghh said. “Blinky with Jim.”

Toby looked where the Krubera was pointing. Sure enough, Jim was standing in the center of the arena with Daylight drawn. Blinky appeared to be correcting his posture. Toby hefted the ax over his shoulder and began walking, Aaarrrgghh moved to follow. Toby tensed then shifted to the side and slowed his pace slightly so the large troll was beside him instead.

Aaarrrgghh glanced at him, ears drooping slightly.

“Sorry.”

Toby looked at him in surprise before realizing that how he had likely interpreted Toby’s actions.

“No, no!” He said with a slightly awkward laugh. “You didn’t do anything… It’s just that…” Come on, Toby think up a good lie. “It’s just when I was little there were a lot of bullies and…”

“Bull lies?”

“Bullies… Um… Mean people,” Toby clarified. Aaarrrgghh made a sound of understanding. “They used to play nasty jokes on me, so I get a little jumpy about having people behind me sometimes.” Not completely a lie. He just hadn’t specified that it only applied to trolls and other changelings… and Steve. The jerk had tried to give him a wedgie a few times. After he had gotten his payback that hadn’t happened again but he still didn’t trust the boy.

“Oh,” Aaarrrgghh said. He frowned slightly, then tilted his head up slightly giving Toby a sincere look. “Won’t do that. Toby friend.”

Toby stopped, caught off guard by his gesture and words. He blinked quickly.

“Th-Thank-you.”

“Welcome,” Aaarrrgghh said and smiled at him.

“Tobias!” Blinky called. “It’s time for the first lesson.”

Toby and Aaarrrgghh hurried over. Blinky turned to look at them and nodded.

“You have chosen battle ax, I see. A respectable choice in weaponry, though I fear I shall have to instruct you on its use separate from Jim as swords require very different training,” He clapped his hands together. “Fortunately our first lesson will carry you through the perilous world of Trollhunting regardless of your weapon.”

He straightened up and half his eyes focused on Jim and half on Toby.

“It is time that you learn the Three Rules of Trollhunting.”

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Subplot is a go! This should be fun.