#toasecretsanta2019

[squabasaurus]

Merry Christmas to @keepin-it-crispy for the @toa-secret-santa event!!!

She asked for some christmas-y jlaire, and I was more than happy to draw these love-bugs! I hope you enjoy it!!

[mintypupcake]

@nattikay Surprise!! For the holidays, I give to you a sweatered troll son with a toasty beverage.

[nattikay]

Merry Christmas @squabasaurus!! I heard you wanted to see the Trollhunters trio having a snow day, so here they are building a giant snow-Arrrggh! ^^ 

[stix-n-bread]

hey @earth-ambassador-jim ! for whatever reason your secret santa in the @toa-secret-santa event wasn’t able to make you your gift, so i did so!!

you wanted troll jim with your take on changeling!toby, i hope you like this!! :p

[moonlitwing]

Nutrition

Blinky shook his head and took a handful of utensils away from Jim, replacing the cutlery with three socks and a dead squirrel.

“Hey!”

“I’m happy to see you eating your minerals, Jim, but you need protein as well.”

The half-troll moved his food away from what Blinky had just given him.

“I don’t want to eat socks,” he complained. “Or raw meat.”

“The squirrel is roasted,” Blinky promised. He’d noticed Jim’s aversion to uncooked meat on the journey to New Jersey.

Cooking wasn’t as … omni-present in troll cuisine as it was among humans, but now that New Trollmarket was a bit more constructed, Klimp had been happy to prepare something for the Trollhunter at her new restaurant. (Blinky would have cooked the squirrel for Jim himself if he could trust the other trolls to go twenty minutes without having a crisis requiring their Elder’s intervention, but he hadn’t wanted to take that risk.)

“It’s still got fur on it,” said Jim, eyeing the squirrel mistrustfully.

Blinky sighed and rubbed Jim’s shoulder. “There are proteins in animal hair that differ from the proteins in the meat. A young troll will not thrive on metals alone.” And Jim hadn’t even been getting enough of that until recently. On the road, he’d mostly been living off discarded plastics he found.

Jim made a grumpy noise. Still, after he finished the spoon in his hand, he picked up the squirrel.

Blinky said nothing when Jim wrapped it in foil – he’d asked around, and of course done some reading, and including elements that were familiar increased the odds of success when introducing a new food to a fussy eater. (As long as they knew it was a new food, and weren’t being caught off-guard because they thought it was something they already liked and then found out as they were biting into it that something was ‘wrong’.)

He really should’ve started some lessons on basic troll nutrition as soon as the boy had been transformed (well, once the battle was taken care of), but Blinky had let it slide during the trip across country. It was hard to find enough food for a caravan of trolls, and never mind how healthy any of it was.

In that period of scarcity and distraction, Blinky had allowed Jim to form bad habits, letting the part-human keep his squeamishness about eating whole animals, when trolls needed the fur and bones just as much as the muscle and organs. He had to correct that now.

Jim raised the makeshift burrito to his mouth, lips pulled back in a grimace – and finally closed his eyes and took a bite.

Blinky rubbed Jim’s shoulder again as the boy chewed and swallowed.

“Blugh,” said Jim. “It didn’t taste as bad as I thought it would, but the texture was awful.”

“Perhaps a sock would be more palatable,” Blinky hinted. Jim shook his head and gulped down some water.

“It’s the fuzziness that bugs me. Socks would be worse.”

“Jim.” Blinky caught himself, and tried to make his tone gentler, less scolding. “You cannot restrict your diet only to ‘what tastes good’. You need to eat what’s good for you.”

“Strickler doesn’t eat socks,” Jim pointed out.

“Strickler is not a paragon of good decision-making skills,” Blinky countered. Jim smiled a little. His ears twitched when he did that now.

Jim haltingly ate his squirrel burrito. “I miss cooking,” he said. “I know I can learn again, but, it’s not going to be the same.”

There were a few things Blinky could say to that. This sort of conversation had happened several times since Jim’s transformation. Jim was already skipping ahead (and taking Blinky’s lines) by acknowledging he could relearn a skill as a troll that he’d had as a human and which his trollish traits made … different now. Blinky’s next line (or Claire’s; or Barbara’s, Toby’s, AAARRRGGHH’s, or Strickler’s, if it came up in a phone call or video chat) was that, even if it wasn’t the same, it could still be good.

Blinky imagined Jim was probably getting tired of hearing that. So, instead, Blinky simply agreed, “No, it won’t.”

There was a brief pause, and then Jim said, “I started watching the cooking channel when I was six, did you know that?”

Blinky shook his head.

“I found it by accident. I was looking for cartoons. There was this chef, dicing – I think eggplant, something purple – and I’d never seen purple food before, so I kept watching. I didn’t really, you know, get it, back then, but … Mom was busy a lot, and it was nice to have background noise when I wasn’t at Toby’s. And when I got a little older, I started trying things, and …”

Jim talked Blinky through some of his early cooking adventures and misadventures. He finished off his cutlery while talking and didn’t notice when he absentmindedly ate the socks as well.

Blinky did notice. It was why he hadn’t chided Jim for speaking with his mouth full. Nutrition came first. Etiquette could wait for another night.

(line break)

Even writing in Blinky’s perspective, I couldn’t work this into the narration without it feeling clunky, but basically Blinky is thinking to himself that when Jim complains about cooking not being the same anymore, Jim doesn’t want reassurance (“but it can still be good”), he wants sympathy (“yes, that is true and I can tell it bothers you.”) Blinky was right, which is why Jim relaxes enough to start reminiscing.

@toa-secret-santa, the gift exchange coordinators, and @misza07, who wanted a fic of Blinky parenting Jim, Merry Christmas! I figure this is the trollish approximation of “eat your vegetables”.

[keepin-it-crispy]

Hey @magic-and-moonlit-wings, I was your secret santa! You asked for something where Draal survives Merlin’s tomb, so I hope this works! I’ll gift it on AO3 too if that’s okay. Merry Christmas!! 

     Draal gasped, struggling to raise his head. The cut across his stomach screamed in pain as he shifted, trying to catch sight of the Trollhunter. He couldn’t let him out of his sight. He had promised to keep him safe. Draal finally saw Jim, curled up a few feet away, shivering and gasping as he tried to recover from his fight with Gunmar. 

     Something moved in the corner of Draal’s eye. Angor Rot snarled as he climbed on top of the crystal and staggering to his feet. Draal watched in abject horror as Angor raised his dagger over Jim. Jim looked up at Angor, eyes widening with fear.

     Fueled by rage, Draal pushed himself to his feet and lunged at Angor with a roar. He tackled him to the ground, restraining him. The dagger fell out of Angor’s hand, falling into the abyss below. Angor snarled, trying in vain to get out of Draal’s vice grip. 

     “No one. Hurts. My friend!” Draal roared. He climbed to his feet, holding tight to a struggling Angor. Draal made his way to the edge of the crystal and heaved Angor off the side. He breathed heavily as he watched the assassin fall to his death.

     “Draal? You okay?”

     Draal took a deep, steadying breath, turning to face Jim. “I’m okay. You don’t have to worry about the assassin anymore.” Draal said, nodding towards the edge of the crystal.

     A grin slowly spread across Jim’s face. He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by a loud crack. The crystal platform listed, throwing Jim off his feet. Draal tucked and rolled, grabbing Jim just before he fell off the side. He roared, leaping from the crystal as it fell and began scaling the walls. 

     “Master Jim! Draal!” Blinky’s voice echoed through the cavern. Draal turned in the direction of his voice and continued climbing.

     Blinky, ARRRGH!!!, Toby, and Claire were waiting for them at the top of the cavern. The other two fleshbags were huddled under ARRRGH!!!’s large body, which shielded them from the crystals raining down on their heads. Draal pushed Jim towards his human friends and turned to Blinky.

     “What is the plan?” Draal shouted. “This place is coming down!”

     “The exit is blocked!” Blinky shouted back. “We can’t get out! We must seek shelter!”

     Draal nodded, glancing around the cavern. Dust and grit fell from the ceiling, obscuring his vision. He finally spotted an opening a few feet away, just large enough for them all to fit through. 

     “Come on!” Draal shouted, pointing towards the tunnel. He ushered everyone down the tunnel, pulling up the rear as another quake shook the cavern.

     The farther they traveled, the less the walls shook. Dust and rubble slowly ceased to fall from the ceiling. The group trudged on, climbing over crystals and sidestepping boulders as they made their way deeper into the tomb.

     A ripple of unease traveled through the group as the tunnel began to widen, opening up into a medium sized cave. A small shaft of light illuminated a low stone altar standing in the center of the room. Draal frowned, noting the mess of shining cobwebs that obscured an object laying atop it. 

    Jim looked between his amulet and the lump on the table. He took a hesitant step forward, holding his amulet out in front of him as if it was drawing him forward. Draal gasped as wispy blue balls of light emerged from the amulet, disappearing into the altar.  

     He took a step forward, trying to see what Jim was ogling at. The thing on the altar burst to life with a gasp, immediately falling into a coughing fit. Jim yelped, falling back from the figure.

     “Merlin?” Blinky whispered. The man on the altar turned to stare at him.

     “What’s it to you?” He croaked, letting out another cough. 

     “You’re Merlin?” Jim asked, his eyes wide. The old man nodded.

     “But, how are you alive?” Claire asked.  “I mean, you disappeared centuries ago. Every book I’ve ever read says you left to die.”

     “Do I look dead to you?” Merlin raised an eyebrow, coming closer to inspect the group. “Now, which one of you is the Trollhunter?”

     Jim tentatively raised his hand. “That would be me.

     “Ah, splendid. Now, use the amulet’s magic and get us out of here.”

     “Uh,” Jim said. “That might be a problem.” He reached into his pocket, pulling out the smashed pieces of the amulet. Draal gasped.

     “Oh, that is a problem.” Merlin said, leaning over to inspect the pieces.

     “How did this happen?” Draal asked.

     “I had to smash it.” Jim confessed. “We needed the blue stone inside to lead us here.” 

     “You did what needed to be done.” Draal nodded. 

     “Can’t Merlin fix it?” Toby spoke up. He glanced towards the aged wizard. “He did make it, right?”

     “Of course I can fix it.” Merlin scoffed. “It is my creation.”

     Draal snarled. “You would do good to tone down you pride, wizard.”

     “And who are you?” Merlin sneered.

     “I am Draal the Deadly.” Draal stood over the wizard, glaring down at him. “Son of your previous Trollhunter.”

     “Oh, him.” Merlin dismissed Draal with a wave of his hand. “He was a good hunter, but a bit rash. If he hadn’t gone out to face Bular twenty minutes before sunrise, he might still be alive today.”

     Draal fumed, his fist clenching by his side. Melin turned back to face Jim, holding his hand out for the amulet pieces. Before Jim could hand it them to him, Draal struck, punching Merlin in the face. The old wizard was flung back against the cave wall. 

     Everyone cried out is surprise, rushing to Merlins side. Draal stood back, laughing as the old wizard struggled to rise to his feet.

     “What was that for?” Merlin asked. He seemed rather calm for someone who’d just been punched in the face.

     “Do not speak about my father like that.” Draal growled. 

     “Like what? I was merely speaking the truth.” Merlin said.

     Draal took a step towards him, raising his fist again. Jim jumped in front of him, holding him back.

     “We need him to fix the amulet.” Jim said, looking pleadingly at Draal. “Can you beat him up later? So we can get out of here?”

     Draal huffed, crossing his arms. “Fine.”

     Jim patted his shoulder, giving him a small smile before walking back over to Merlin. He held out the broken pieces of the amulet.

     “Please, can you fix it?” Jim said as damp breeze blew through the cavern.

     “What was that?” Toby asked. ARRRGH!!! raised his head, sniffing at the air.

     “Moisture. Water coming.” He said. 

     “The flood gates must have burst with the tombs collapse!” Blinky exclaimed.

     “The water could rush in any minute!” Claire shouted. 

     “Cover the entrance!” Draal picked up a large boulder, throwing it into the entryway. ARRRGH!!! and Blinky followed suit, piling the largest rocks they could find into the entrance. Toby and Claire filled the smaller gaps with small rocks. Merlin spread the amulets pieces over the altar and began the reassembly.

     “Hurry!” Draal shouted, the sound of rushing water growing closer as the seconds passed.

     “I’m working as fast as I can.” Merlin said. Draal could practically hear his eye roll in his voice. “It’s been centuries.”

     “Work faster!”

     Water began to trickle through the cracks in the rocks. Everyone backed away from the make shift wall, moving to the back corner of the cave. ARRRGH!!! pulled Toby and Claire under him and faced his back towards the door. Blinky held on to ARRRGH!!!’s arm, hoping the bigger troll would keep him from getting washed away. Draal stood in front of all of them, keeping watch on the door. Water was already beginning to pool on the floor, and the worst had yet to hit.

     “Got it!” Merlin exclaimed, holding up the newly constructed amulet. Jim snatched it out of his hand.

     “What do I do? How does this get us out of this?” Jim fidgeted with the amulet, glancing between Merlin, the rocked in doorway, and Draal.

     Merlin shrugged. “You’re the Trollhunter. You alone can unlock its true potential.”

     A rumble shook the cave as the sound of water grew impossibly loud. Jim glanced back at Draal.

     “Get behind me!” Jim shouted. “Get everyone behind me!”

     Draal nodded. He rapped on ARRRGH!!!’s back, pointing to Jim. ARRRGH!!! nodded in understanding. He picked up Toby and Claire, lumbering over to stand behind Jim, who had turned to face the entrance. Blinky followed, cowering slightly behind Draal.

     Jim held up the amulet. “For the glory of…” He glanced at Merlin. “Well, you, Daylight is mine to command!” Blue smoke obscured Jim from sight as the armor wrapped itself around his body. 

     When the smoke cleared, Jim held Daylight out in front of him. The cavern shook as the water blasted from the doorway. Jim raised Daylight above his head, bringing it down just as the water reached them. Draal gasped as the water parted around them, creating a safe pocket just large enough for them all to fit. Draal heard Blinky yelp as the water came together just behind him. 

     The water ceased several minutes later. Draal looked up, seeing the starry sky through a newly broken section of the cave. His companions whooped, jumping for joy at the sight of the outside world.

     Draal turned to Jim, a grin on his face. The grin fell as he noticed Jim was on his knees, slumped over. Draal put a hand on his shoulder.

     “Are you okay?” 

     Jim glanced up, a tired smile on his lips. “I’m fine. It just... took a lot out of me, you know?”

     Draal nodded, pulling Jim to his feet. He helping him over to the caves new exit. Draal took a deep breath of fresh air. “You saved us once again, Trollhunter.”

     Jim chuckled. “Yeah, I guess, but it was close this time. We could have lost someone.” Jim shuddered a bit at the thought.

     “We could have, but we didn’t.” Draal said. He clapped Jim on the back. “Come on, let’s join the others. It’s time to go home.”

[akozuheiwa]

My @toa-secret-santa gift for @stix-n-bread! You wanted either reckless Aaarrrgghh!!! and Blinky or Draal Christmas stuff, so I ended up doing some Draal Christmas stuff! I really hope you enjoy! <3 <3 <3

---

Jim would like it noted, for the record, that it was actually his mom’s idea to bring Draal with them to get a Christmas tree. Now that trolls were well-known in Arcadia, most local businesses had at least some late-night hours in case they wanted to drop by, and the local tree farm was no exception.

“Explain it to me again,” Draal demands as they walk towards the farm.

“Every year, we go to this tree farm to pick out a Christmas tree,” says Mom. “We chop it down and bring it home, and then we decorate it.”

“Hmm,” says Draal. His eyes light up. “So you murder a tree and decorate its corpse! I think I like this fleshbag tradition.”

Mom opens her mouth to explain that’s not really how it works, but Jim shakes his head. Some human things just don’t translate. If Draal wants to refer to it as tree murder or something, who are they to stop him?

They reach the tree farm. The person working there – there only seems to be one at this hour – looks a little surprised to actually see a troll that isn’t Jim. Draal looks around as Mom grabs the measuring pole.

“I will find us the largest and best of these trees,” he says. “It will make for a worthy trophy for your home!”

“Hang on, buddy,” laughs Jim. “It’s gotta be one that fits.”

Draal harrumphs. “I suppose.”

“And once we find it,” says Mom, “I brought this.”

She hoists up the chainsaw they only ever break out of the attic for getting a Christmas tree, which is probably for the best because Mom with a chainsaw year-round is a kind of scary thought.

Draal tilts his head. “What is that… contraption?”

Mom turns on the chainsaw. Draal’s eyes light up. The only thing Jim can think is, oh, no.

“Perhaps you humans do have a few good ideas,” he says.

“Okay,” says Jim, before Draal can actually get his hands on the chainsaw. “Let’s find that tree, shall we?”

They venture farther into the tree farm, where the somewhat bigger trees are. Draal inspects each one he passes with narrowed eyes. Mom uses the measuring pole like a walking staff.

“We want one that’s not too sparse but not too dense,” she says. “Not crooked, either, and nice and green.”

Draal nods solemnly. “Understood, Bar-bu-rah.”

Mom pats Draal on the forearm and Jim shakes his head in amusement. She’s all but adopted Draal as a second son. Jim knows Draal secretly loves it, especially when Mom cooks for them – turns out her cooking tastes great to trolls. Even Jim was pleasantly surprised.

It’s kind of weird this year, for a lot of reasons. Jim’s never been to the tree farm in the dark before, for one thing, and for another, he’s a lot taller. As tall as some of the trees, even. Draal is the tallest, of course. They probably don’t even need the chainsaw – Draal could rip the tree right out of the ground.

“Here’s one!” Draal exclaims. Jim has to do a double-take when he realises Draal has wandered several yards away from them. Maybe he should have been paying more attention. He and Mom walk over to join the troll. Mom stands the measuring pole next to the tree and nods.

“Looks pretty good,” she says. “Alright, boys, what do you say we chop this thing down and get it home?”

Draal grins as Mom starts up the chainsaw again. He steps out of the way.

“The Bar-bu-rah would fit right in among trolls,” Draal says.

“I mean, she does live with three trolls,” Jim points out.

“No,” says Draal. “You and Stricklander don’t count the same. I mean the trolls of Trollmarket.”

“Alright, fair,” says Jim.

The tree falls with a tremendous fwomp. Mom turns off the chainsaw. “Do you think you boys can carry that?”

“Easily!” Draal exclaims. He hoists the tree over his shoulder. “I will carry the spoils of our tree hunt back to the house, where we will decorate our prize.”

“Well, first we have to pay for it, big guy,” Jim says.

Draal huffs. “Fleshbag customs. Pah.”

They bring the tree back to the front of the farm to pay for it. Luckily – since they walked here – Draal doesn’t seem troubled by the weight in any way. Jim offers to help him carry it but this gets a sarcastic remark about how small he is for a troll, so he lets Draal carry it home.

“Bring it in the living room,” says Mom. “I’m going to go get the boxes of ornaments. We’ll have to put up some of the ones Jim made when he was little.”

“Oh, no,” says Jim.

“Oh, yes,” says Mom.

Draal chuckles delightedly as he brings the tree in. Jim scowls.

“I’m going to ask around until I can find stuff from your childhood,” he says.

Draal’s grin turns sharp. “I’d like to see you try, Trollhunter.”

“Is that a challenge?” Jim shoots back.

“You should know by now,” says Draal, “everything is a challenge.”

“Then you’re on,” Jim says.

Draal sets the tree down on the carpet, which Mom’s not going to be happy about. They’re going to have to clean up all the needles now. The big troll clasps Jim’s shoulder. Even now the act nearly bowls Jim over.

“Thank you,” he says with an awkward cough. “For including me. Don’t make it weird.”

“Never would,” says Jim. “And of course we included you. You’re family.”

Draal’s returning grin is brighter than lights hanging outside. Jim lightly punches his shoulder.

“Come on,” he says. “We better stand this thing up before Mom gets back.”

“Yes,” he agrees. The two of them lift up the tree and start setting it in the stand. “For a human, your mother can be… intimidating.”

Jim laughs. “She definitely can be.”

[astartlinglackofpotential]

Hello @ginger-le-gay , I was your toa secret santa this year! Here is my drawing for you—Morgana unmasked. Happy Holidays!

[imafrickinfox]

Merry Christmas from your Secret Santa!

Hi, @mintypupcake​! I’m your secret santa for the 2019 Tales of Arcadia Secret Santa! As requested, I made some Jlaire art for you! Some flirting before and after the events of season 3, hope you like it!

Special thank you to @toa-secret-santa​ for hosting this event!

[littlegreenpinetree]

Dinner

So, this is my gift for @blueawy who wanted some Jlaire fluff fic. Now, I wouldn’t say it’s perfect, but my friend, who helped me check for grammar mistakes, liked it, so I hope you’re going to like it as well! Also woah, it’s been years since I’ve written a proper fanfic. Anyway, here’s your gift, have fun reading and happy holidays!

UPDATE: I finally got myself to make ao3 account, so now you can read this fic also here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22175350

@toa-secret-santa

Claire isn’t very good at cooking. She isn’t terrible, she’s not the “can burn even water” type of person. No, the food she makes is edible. But she doesn’t feel very confident about that - especially since the other person who cooks is Jim.

Jim’s cooking is the best, despite him not being able to savour it anymore. He still has years of experience and knows exactly what to do to make everything perfect for any human. Claire sometimes lets herself tease him that this is the reason they are still together. Jim then raises his hand to his chest dramatically and pretends to be hurt. Now she does it after trying some bolognese he’s making. Jim wipes a nonexistent tear from his cheek.

“If this is the case, I will not stop you from achieving your dreams. I won’t be an obstacle between you and the true love of your life,” he sighs theatrically, gesturing at the pot full of sauce.

“Then so be it. This bolognese at least won’t be eating cutlery,” she teases.

“I am so not appreciated here,” Jim scoffs, turning away from her.

Claire laughs, but then hugs Jim from behind and ruffles his hair.

At first, Claire didn’t bother asking about what exactly went into his food. At the very beginning, she thought she didn’t even have to know, especially after she saw Jim sniffing a pencil, shrugging and breaking it into little pieces he threw into the cake batter. But then, after giving it some thought, she realized that it must be terrible for Jim - that to him her disinterest might mean that she doesn’t accept his troll part, which wasn’t true. So she started to sit with him even more when he was cooking, especially for himself, saw what he was adding to his meals and began asking how it tasted for him. On one evening, she made them both sit at the table and apologized for her previous behaviour. At first, Jim got nervous and tried to shrug it off, saying that it wasn’t a big deal and he didn’t mind. Then they talked longer and Claire finally got Jim to admit that it was much nicer when Claire showed that she cared. The biggest change happened when they were baking a cake together. Or two cakes, to be precise. Well, mostly Jim was baking. She was helping of course, but Jim was the one to rule in the kitchen and tell Claire what to do. The only area where Claire can rule is preparing guacamole.

And then, as Jim was wondering what to throw into his part of the cake, Claire jumped up from the chair where she was sitting and ran off, grabbing a bag full of things she bought earlier. Colourful paper clips, staples, packets of sequins and various buttons - some more classic, having one colour and two or four dots, some being fancier, decorated with patterns, material or shaped like flowers. Also glitter. Like, a small bucket of glitter.

“We can try how it all tastes like to you and then you can decide which ones you want to add. I mean, I won’t be eating this so I wasn’t sure what you’d like, but I observed what you were eating earlier and decided that these are worth a try,” she explained, feeling very stupid.

But Jim was so happy, he almost cried and he hugged her so hard she thought she wouldn’t be able to ever catch a breath again. Then they sat at the table and laid out all the stuff Claire bought and he tried them all.

“Paper clips are classic, I’ve eaten them before,” he said. “But these are cooler, this plastic, colourful layer on the outside adds something more smooth to the taste. It’s hard to explain,” he said, putting the box of clips aside. “Buttons are also cool. I might or might have not eaten a few of those spare ones you are sometimes given when you buy a new shirt,” he explained, sending Claire an apologetic look. She only smiled at him.

“It’s not like I would have ever used them anyway,” she pointed out.

“Right. That’s what I thought. Anyway, so buttons are cool, but I’ve only ever eaten classic ones. The ones that are decorated with fabric are less crunchy, sort of… Salty?” he rubbed his neck, avoiding her gaze and struggling to explain. “The shaped ones are awesome. Their taste is sweet and heavenly and I bet they look better on the cake.”

“What about sequins and glitter?” Claire asked. She was especially curious about those two.

“I don’t know, I’ve never eaten any of the shiny stuff before, so I’m gonna try it now,” Jim answered, smiling at her and shoving a spoonful of sequins into his mouth. “Oooooh, this is good! Like… Like crunchy and sort of sweet, but also sour?”

“I have no idea where sequins can have the potential to be sour,” Claire laughed, rolling her eyes.

“They have a LOT of potential, thank you very much,” Jim answered, grabbing the packet protectively. “No, but I'm serious. Thank you, Claire. It… It means a lot to me. I mean, I know it’s just me eating stupid sequins, but still.”

“It’s not stupid. You need to eat, you know.”

“I know, I know. Okay. Time for glitter.”

Glitter turned out to be “something between sugar, cinnamon and ginger” which Jim seemed very happy about. They baked their two cakes, one for humans and one for trolls. And, as Claire and Toby were later eating their normal cake, she couldn’t help but smile, seeing Jim, Blinky and AAARRRGGHH relishing their troll version. “Paper clip and glitter cake,” as Jim called it when taking it out of the oven and grinning at her.

Then it became their routine. Claire would often buy something new and Jim would try it and give her feedback. And having a half-troll boyfriend had its perks. For exampke, she didn’t have a problem when having to dispose of her old credit card.

“It is like the absolute best dessert. I have no idea what is even in there, but Claire, you should totally get rid of your cards more often,” Jim said then, after sniffing the card and taking a bite.

After a while, she learned his tastes and could usually more or less predict whether he was going to like something or not and how it could taste to him - despite never being able to taste these things herself. It’s not like she wanted to eat paper clips, but it would be helpful to know exactly what to look for when picking something new for Jim. But, both of them had some difficulties. Jim couldn’t taste human food anymore, but was the best at cooking anyway.

Even now, this bolognese. Claire’s is obviously spaghetti and tomato sauce with minced meat, but Jim’s? Boiled shoelaces (“they are softer and better warm, Claire”), sauce… Well, she guesses it does contain some tomatoes. As well as red paint, erasers and adhesive gum - the very same one she used to stick a poster to the wall two days before. They sit at the table, each one content with their own plate.

And if Claire has to be honest? She wouldn’t have it any other way.

[perrypixellette]

@taggerbug hey I’m your secret Santa for @toa-secret-santa

She asked for art of Jim and/or Krel so I drew both. Jim is trying to convince Krel that wearing Christmas sweaters isn’t that bad (wasn’t bc I really like Christmas sweaters or anything hehe xd)

[yellowmagicalgirl]

utter my love when it counted

Hello, @astartlinglackofpotential! I’m your Secret Santa, delivering you the Steli fic you asked for! I hope you like it.

…yes, I used the Hozier lyric title generator

This takes place between “Creepslayerz” and “In the Hall of the Gumm Gumm King”. It contains mild injuries, Steve’s dad being an offscreen homophobe, and past bullying.

AO3 (if you have an AO3 account, please tell me and I’ll gift this fic to you on there)

FFN

“You look like a little kid in that,” Steve said.

Eli rolled his eyes. He was wearing one of Steve’s jerseys, because Eli had gotten stabbed by a creeper and a large portion of his own shirt had gotten blood on it. Steve had taken Eli to his house because, unlike Eli’s, it was empty becuse Coach had taken Steve’s mom on a date. Steve had bandaged the smaller Creepslayer, and then taken the shirt to wash with a small load of Steve’s own laundry so if his mom and Coach came home early they wouldn’t be suspicious. Eli hadn’t wanted to be shirtless, so he grabbed one of Steve’s jerseys, which almost came to his knees. It didn’t help that his hair and shoulders were somehow still damp from the rain. It was late spring, it shouldn’t have been raining, but perhaps the drought was finally ending.

“Quick question,” Eli asked.

“Quick answer: no, I don’t think I have anything that would fit you better.”

“That wasn’t what I was gonna ask. When did I ask for your opinion?”

It was funny to see just how many frowns Steve could make when he was trying to think of an answer other than, “No, Eli, you never asked my opinion and I’m being a buttsnack.”

“I mean, you asked my opinion when that creeper slashed me,” Steve said. Eli frowned, remembering the incident. He wondered if maybe they should start wearing jackets while Creepslaying. Black leather jackets would fit their uniform and protect them from both Vespa crashes and creepers, but Eli’s mom would get mad at him for wearing one. Then again, she was already annoyed that he riding a Vespa at all. Protection would make her happier.

“You asked if I should go to the hospital,” Steve continued.

“I suggested that you go to the hospital. And you refused.”

“Yeah, because Lake’s mom works there; she’d tell him about us. Besides, you got stabbed. Shouldn’t you be the one getting checked out?”

“Jim’s mom might not know; I didn’t tell my mom about us. Besides, there was more blood when you got cut.”

“Yeah, well, I’m bigger so I can lose more blood than you and stay healthy. Also, you didn’t tell your mom because you’re cool, Pepperbabe. Lake, though, I bet he told his mom on day one of having the armor and stuff. Besides, he has those creeper’s in his basement. How’d he get them in there without her noticing?”

“You do have a poin… wait. What did you call me?”

Steve’s eyes darted about the room. “What do you think I called you?”

“Pepperbabe.”

“Oh, uh… promise you won’t make fun of me or anything?” Steve asked in a small voice, eyes darting for an escape.

“I promise.”

“Okay.” Steve took a deep breath, and then another. “I…” Steve looked away, and when he looked back at Eli his gaze was scared and intense. “I have a crush on you.”

Eli blinked. While that wasn’t what he had been expecting, it honestly made more sense than anything else, given the “babe” part. Though, it made Eli feel a little uncomfortable, like he had in third grade when his teacher told Bekki Watkins that the reason Donovan Lum pulled on her pigtails was because Donovan apparently had a crush on Bekki.

“How long?” Eli asked, trying to keep the suspicion out of his voice. As uncomfortable as he was, Steve looked infinitely more so. Eli wondered if it had something to do with Steve’s dad, but he wouldn’t ask.

Steve blinked. “What?”

“How long have you had a crush on me?”

“Since I saw you waving around that medieval weapon the night of our first mission together.”

“Oh.” That made Eli feel much better.

“This… this isn’t going to change things between us, right?”

“Not unless you want it to. I mean, I had a crush on you the start of freshman year.”

“What happened, to make you not have a crush on me? Since, y’know, you said had.”

“You shoved me in a locker.”

“Oh… right. I’m sorry about that, I was a real buttsnack for shoving you in there.”

“Thanks for apologizing. And, I guess that crush had never really gone away, or maybe it did, and then came back, since you went from ‘tall guy with nice hair’ to ‘Steve, who bullies me’ to ‘Steve, who’d protect me in an instant but still is a buttsnack to me at school so we can keep our cover’. So, yeah. If you want to stay just friends, that’s fine with me, but I also wouldn’t mind being more than friends and Creepslaying partners.”

“I’d like that. The second version, that is.”

The alarm on the washing machine went off.

[toa-secret-santa]

Posting your gift

The time frame for posting gifts will be between the 24th and 26th of December. When you post it, make sure to tag the person you’re giving it to, and please  tag this blog and/or put toasecretsanta2019 in the tags. I would like to reblog the gifts here so everyone can see them. If you haven’t received your gift after the time frame passes, please message me. 

[forthegloryofdragons]

ToA Secret Santa 2019

Hi there, @arisi! 

I’m so sorry for the delay, but Merry Christmas! I’m your Secret Santa! :D

I wrote a fic for you. I hope you like it!

You can read it here! 

Happy Holidays! :)

@toa-secret-santa

[stix-n-bread]

gift for @lighterstike in the @toa-secret-santa event!!

she wanted blendel.... i made blendel.... stike, i hope you love this like i loved making it :D

[keepin-it-crispy]

@toa-secret-santa

Secret Santa is up! Click on name above to learn participate! More info in the description