#Jclair Mentioned

[rmg91]

Clearing the Air

Because we need more Douxie and Jim bonding moments. ...And I wanted to write these two mooning over their girlfriends.

Also on; AO3

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It was a normal day in Arcadia Oaks, or well...as normal as it got for our heroes nowadays with all that had been happening in the mortal and mystical worlds. Point was none of their current big threats were in front of them and they weren't being chased by goblins or gnomes so yeah, normal day for the Trollhunters. A day to try to catch up on missed homework, play video games or hang out with friends who didn't have the weight of the worlds on their shoulders. Or, in Jim Lake Jr's case, do a favor for your girlfriend because you couldn't say no when she called and begged you to help someone instead of her because she had to now watch her baby brother. Now here he was, assisting their newest team member organize some new books at the Arcane Books store.

He didn't mind helping, really, he was doing Claire a favor after all and he'd do practically anything for her and there wasn't really anything wrong with Douxie...The guy was a real life wizard of all things! And had known and worked under Merlin, the very same who had created his amulet, which was honestly just a little awesome he had to admit, but...but he still couldn't help but, well...be jealous of the guy! He was always so buddy-buddy with Claire and making her laugh and giving her little tips on magic and a ton of other things! And of course Jim knew Claire was her own person and not an object and could have other friends but he just...he just couldn't help thinking some days that she was his girlfriend and that this show-off, flirty wizard needed to back-off! Of course he couldn't -would never actually- say anything as he didn't want to upset the raven haired witch he'd been crushing on for so long.

Still he just couldn't fight that ugly, awful, tight feeling of jealousy in his chest whenever he saw the pair together or when the wizard would inquire about doing something with her.

“So Claire had to watch that little scamp of a brother, eh?” Came the accented voice of the, much older, teen as he came back down from the second level for more books.

“Yeah, guess her parents had something to do.” Jim shrugged, not really turning to face Douxie as he shelved more books. He scolded himself inwardly for the flat response, his mother would not be proud of him, but every time Douxie brought up Claire Jim felt the jealousy monster clawing it's way up his throat and he immediately went out of character.

Douxie blinked and tilted his head, still curious as to why the newest Trollhunter seemed to be always giving him a partial cold shoulder. The rest of the gang seemed pretty accepting, Toby was always begging him to see some magic and of course he had hit it off with Claire, but the teen across him seemed to be keeping him at arms length. And he kept feeling glares at his back from time to time. Unsure what he possibly could've done to the usually kindhearted and accepting teen, Douxie scratched at head, flashing a look at Archie (who was, of course, feigning sleep on the counter), before shrugging and collecting a few more books out of a box. He'd figure it out one day.

They worked in relative silence, every attempt Douxie made to converse with Jim to pass the time becoming stilted and stiff. He had managed to start a promising conversation about cooking with the talented young chef but then he made a little quip about how he must of charmed Claire real good with his skills and maybe he could teach him some things, the wizard was hopeless in the kitchen despite his many years on earth, but something he said had shut Jim right down again. Frowning, there had to be some way to figure out what Jim's problem with him could possibly be.

“Oh, yeah! Don't let me forget to pass on a CD for Claire. Was gonna lend it to her but since she's not here...” Douxie said, tucking another book away.

“Ah...sure. I'll try to remember.” Jim muttered, firmly not looking at him from the other end of the store.

Huh...Douxie wasn't sure if he was crazy or not but a thought occurred to him just then, that Jim seemed to get closed off and tense whenever he mentioned Claire. He knew from his time talking to the budding witch that there hadn't been any fight between the two and, obviously, Jim was here on her request since she couldn't be herself, so why...? Suddenly it clicked as he listened to Jim mutter to himself and he had to shake his head. He really could still be such a moppet. The boy was jealous.

“Hey, Mate.” He couldn't believe he hadn't seen it before now. The glares, the grumbles, the way he sometimes wound his arm tighter around Claire.

“Hmm?”

“You're jealous, aren't you?”

“What?! No!!” Jim said frantically, all but giving it away with his reaction. How in the world had he figured it out?! He'd been trying to hide it!

Douxie chuckled and shook his head, crossing his arms as he leaned against a shelf, watching the young Trollhunter try and sort himself out, “It's alright, Mate.”

“No. It's not!” Jim said, throwing his hands in the air, “I know I shouldn't feel jealous but I am and-and I don't want to do something that might push Claire away but like I-I just can't help it!” He couldn't stop rambling now, trying to explain his feelings and why he kind of disliked feeling so jealous because somewhere deep down he knew it was silly.

“Jim.” He looked up, blue eyes meeting Douxie's hazel. “It really is alright.” The mage held up a hand to prevent Jim from speaking before he was done, knowing what he needed to hear, “Clare and I are just friends. Honestly I kind of see her as a little sister some days.”

“Really?” So all this jealousy really was for nothing?

“Mm-hmm.” The older boy nodded before gesturing with a slightly flourish as he moved, “And I'll have you know I've been quite happily taken for the past five hundred years or so! So, you really have nothing to worry about.”

“Really? You have a girlfriend?” Jim supposed that shouldn't be as big a shock as it was but well...it was considering just how old Douxie really was.

“Mm-hmm...” Douxie hummed, face going soft with a mushy sort of smile that Jim knew he too wore whenever he thought of Claire. “And she kick my arse if I made such a colossal mistake of breaking up with her. Not that I'd ever want to, mind.”

Jim nodded, understanding that feeling, “Yeah.”

“So, we cool, Mate?” Douxie asked, holding out a fist toward Jim.

Jim returned the fist bump with a smirk, “Heh, yeah, we're cool.” And wow was it a relief to know he'd had been worried for nothing.

And with the matter settled, the two finished the rest of the afternoon sorting and shelving books, talking and gushing over their respective girlfriends. Archie merely rolled his eyes, watching unnoticed at the counter, and shook his head at the two lovesick men before going back to sleep.

~*~BONUS~*~

A few days later found Jim leaning against the counter at the cafe, sipping at the coffee Douxie had just handed him as they watched their girlfriends talking outside, Claire holding in laughter as Zoe gestured with her hands. “So...How much are we gonna regret introducing those two?”

Douxie chuckled, “Ooh-ho....immensely.”

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Just let these two bond over their amazing girlfriends! Also let them sleep because they go through so much. Anyway, hope you enjoyed!