Douxie rocked up at Benoit's with the others in tow. He indicated for them to take a seat and walked over to the counter, talking to an employee.
Claire, Toby, Krel, and Aja sat at the table by the window. The silence was grating. Krel sat on his phone, occasionally shooting Aja annoyed glances. Aja stared stoically at Douxie, her focus unwavering. Toby and Claire continuously muttered things to one another.
"I don't like this one bit." Claire hissed at Toby very quietly.
Domzalski shrugged and whispered back, "Me neither, but don't think we can do too much about it until emo twink over there comes back. He seems good at de-escalating this sort of thing."
"Brunch is on me!" Douxie proclaimed loudly, desperately trying to use his over-the-top enthusiasm to mask the nerves.
Aja raised an eyebrow and stared at the tray of drinks and food before them. She watched as Claire took one of the tall glasses containing some form of brightly coloured liquid and placed it in front of her.
"What is this? Poison?" Aja hissed, suddenly throwing her hand in front of Claire's straw to prevent her from taking a sip.
Douxie looked mildly taken aback by this, almost amused, "Erm...no? It's just a tropical fruits smoothie."
"I will test it to be certain. My body is different, so I will not respond to your poisons the same way, assassin. I refuse to let you hurt anyone here."
Claire protested as Aja swiped the smoothie clean from her hands (Krel looked annoyed at his sister's behaviour) and took a sip. The girl's grey-blue eyes widened. Claire scowled in Aja's direction and snatched her smoothie back.
"Ay-yi-yi Aja...I do not think he is an assassin. We have already been over this." Krel lightly backhanded his sister's head.
"Yeah, he's a fudgeknuckling barista here too! Why would he be an assassin?" Claire snapped as she took a sip of her drink.
Toby remained silent, watching the chaos unfold. Man, if only I had popcorn...specifically the special Nougat Nummy popcorn... He thought to himself.
Domzalski wasn't particularly engaged with the present fight, he was more deep in thought about Jim. It'd been at least two days since Jim had straight up vanished. He couldn't shake the anxiety that something bad had happened to him, what if they never saw each other again? The thought caused Toby to well-up, but he choked back the tears to avoid drawing too much attention to himself.
"So," Douxie piped up, bringing everyone's attention to the present situation, "I think we all need to talk."
Claire clocked the young man's eyes glaze over a lurid blue for a brief second as he spoke. Whatever he'd done, it seemed to have a calming effect on everyone, drawing their focus to him. Well, it seemed to affect everyone but her. Instead, she felt a strange static-like buzz run up her spine and spread to the back of her head. She shook her head violently back and forth in an attempt to shift the bad feeling.
The resulting light-headedness caused her vision to spin. Then, she felt the feeling again but different. It was further away, but it was worse, more unpleasant, bordering on painful. It was pulsing through her like a ripple on a still puddle. Through her blurred vision, she could make out Douxie's face. He seemed to sense whatever it was, too. There was a disturbed expression across his features, very different from his usual calm or cocky demeanour.
Claire tried to stand up and escape the feeling. She could feel it pressuring her skull, every part of her body wanted it gone. She began to cry from the distress. Her body couldn't take any more of it, and she suddenly dropped.
"Claire-!" Aja's distant voice called out, fading away as her consciousness lapsed.
______________________________________
Toby stared at one of the window panes in the hospital. A slight rain had begun, the water running down the glass and leaving small droplets in its wake. Checking his watch, he sighed. It'd been hours.
Krel and Aja had been sat opposite him in deep conversation, before excusing themselves to leave and rushing off in a mild panic. Aja had made Toby vow to tell her when Claire awoke. That only left him and Douxie in the room together.
"Uhh...so...Douxie?" Toby stammered slightly.
Douxie was stood by the window instead of being seated, watching the rain. He turned his head a little. He winced in pain a little as he did so.
"Yeah?"
"Is Claire gonna be okay?" Domzalski asked quietly.
Douxie sighed heavily, "I...I don't know...I can't say. She hit her head pretty hard."
Toby's voice took on an annoyed tone, "Just drop the fucking act okay? I don't know exactly who you are or what part you play in all this, but as we all saw earlier...you clearly know more than you're letting on, so spill the damn beans!"
Casperan looked taken aback. His hazel eyes darted around frantically, trying to find some excuse. The kid wasn't really on to him? He'd sworn an oath to Merlin that he'd protect the secret of magic to his grave.
"Well‽ I'm waiting!" Toby snapped.
Douxie sighed heavily, slumping against the window frame, "Fine...I don't know much about what's going on here, but I know that it involves me, you, your friend Jim, Claire, and the Tarrons. We're all part of some larger destiny, but I'm not 100% certain."
Toby cocked his head like a confused puppy, "Larger destiny? I knew you knew something. Claire and I saw Jim head into that store you work at."
"Jim claimed he knew me, to some extent. He came to me for help." Douxie's voice sounded disinterested in the conversation.
Douxie's gaze had calmed, and he was simply staring out into the dull grey rain outside. Toby wanted to press further, he had many a burning question on the tip of his tongue. Yet, he didn't. Something inside him told him to stop the onslaught. The poor guy looked like he'd had enough. Hadn't they all at this point.
A nurse wandered in and briefly spoke to Douxie, looking over a chart and directing him to one of the plush navy blue seats. She scurried off to continue her ward duties.
"What happened?" Domzalski queried.
Douxie offered a pained smile at Toby, "Two things. On one hand, I've been given the all-clear pretty much and Claire's stabilised. She's conscious again and talking. We'll be able to go and see her soon."
"Scully's awake‽" Toby beamed a little, "That's a relief...glad you're okay too, by the way, even if you are a bit odd...and dress like a 2006 MySpace emo."
"Low blow!" Douxie chuckled in response, a weak quality to his voice, "Thanks, you're a bit odd too. I'm glad she's alright, I was more worried about Claire."
The two of them laughed together a little and eventually dozed off, waiting to be called in to see Claire.
YOU ARE READING
For Whom The Bell Tolls (Trollhunters continuation/Evil Jim AU)
Fanfiction"Time unfolds differently, like a flower. The Trollhunter will know what to do." James Lake Jr. is close to losing his mind. Nearly being driven mad by repeatedly resetting the timelines to save his friends, to save Toby from an inevitable fate. N...
