Since when was your bed so small?

With a still hazy mind, you cracked open your eyes and saw a blurry image come into view. It took a moment for your eyes to adjust and then you noticed that the wooden ceiling you were staring at certainly wasn't the one you were used to waking up to.
Your body laid on a soft but slightly too short mattress, a warm blanket covering your form.
Jolting up in the unfamiliar bed only to wince and hold your head -where a large bump had formed- you tried to recognize your surroundings.
They seemed somewhat familiar… but how did you even get here in the first place? Weren't you…!!

The events from before suddenly came rushing back, drawing a somewhat loud gasp from you.

You had met a monster in the woods.

Well, maybe 'monster' was a bit harsh. After all, the blue bull seemed to be just as intelligent as any other human -or maybe even more-.
Did he… bring you here? If so, why? He could've just left you laying in the grass after knocking you out.
Come to think of it… Why did he even do that? You were sure that if it had been an attempt to kill you, then you would have never woken up again at all.
And yet you still did.
So, did he accidentally hit you? That sword did look pretty heavy. Then again it also looked like he had more than enough experience with handling the large weapon. Strange.

Utterly confused and still kind of shaken from that blow to the top of your head, you only now noticed that there were voices coming from the other side of the door, though only very faint and muffled.
It sounded like two people talking to each other in the distance with the low background noises of a TV running.
Since you had no idea what had happened, you decided to try and hear it for yourself.

You were sure that the people who lived in this house weren't villainous ones since they seemed to have taken care of you as you were unconscious.
They even put a glass of water on the table next to you, not that you noticed that in your hazy state.
You slowly got up from the soft bed you had rested in, swaying from the dizziness and pain in both head and body, before successfully moving to the door of the small room.

Just before you left it, you took notice of your backpack that was laid against the wall. The zipper was missing, seemingly torn off with brute force, leaving half of your bag open.
A small huff of wonder left your lips and you crouched down before it slowly, using the wall to support yourself. Your stomach let out a low grumble as you rummaged through it to see if everything was still there. Even your phone was right where you had stored it away.

With a relieved sigh, your (e/c) gaze brushed over the sandwich and you decided to to eat before leaving the room.
The simple snack was a bit squashed and deformed but the taste was still the same so you didn't complain.

After finishing the tiny meal you opened the door to find yourself in what seemed to be a quadratic hallway, a staircase leading to the floor below and two more doors to other rooms, one on each wall, leaving one wall with a wide window out of which you could see a backyard and the forest behind it.

Whether it was your confused view, your wild imagination or plain reality, you thought you saw large footprints in the dry grass outside, leading from the fence to the backdoor and then back again.
You shook your head, making your (h/c) hair sway with the movement before looking back to the staircase and listening to see where the voices had come from.

The voices came from downstairs and now that you could hear them more clearly, you realized why this room had felt so familiar to you.
You had been here a lot of times already but that was almost ten years ago now.
The wooden interior of the house still smelled of forest and dry wood and felt as smooth as ever as you brushed your fingertips over the railings in a nostalgic motion.

How many times had you dashed up these stairs in pursuit of the shorter boy, laughing and screaming gleefully like normal kids do?
And how long had it been since you last tripped and tumbled down these steps only to end up crying at the bottom floor and then be comforted by a plate of cookies and some 'get well' smooches?

Suddenly feeling a lot less confident but still seeing no other way, you made your way down the stairs cautiously, each step bringing forth an old memory. Not wanting to be overwhelmed by the past, you sped up and skipped the last step entirely, landing soundlessly on the thick carpet that stretched out through the narrow hallway.

Moving past the small kitchen to come to a halt in the doorframe of a regular living room, you looked up at the two people inside.

The voices you had heard before, and that had been growing louder the closer you got, now ceased as both speakers took notice of you silently standing there, with a blank expression, staring into the room and at the two.

It took a moment for them to react to the fact that you had woken up.

"Oh, dearie," said the short lady that had been sitting in a fluffy-looking chair as she adjusted her thick glasses and waddled over to you, her grey-haired buns swaying up and down with each small step, "how are you feeling, child?"
Your (e/c) eyes focused on her, trying to avoid the much more familiar boy on the couch.

"… Shaken," you managed to answer, watching as she formed a sympathetic expression on her wrinkled and kind face before patting your arm, that just loosely hung by your side, reassuringly.
"I'll go get you some cookies, dear. They'll make you feel better in no time," said the old lady with a smile and was about to leave toward the kitchen when you requested an ice bag for your head as well. She only smiled, nodded and left.

For a moment, you just took a good look around the room, taking in differences and similarities from the room you remember from all those years ago.
It appeared as though neither you or the boy on the couch knew how to start a conversation but you didn't want to stay in this pressuring silence anymore so you took it upon yourself to break the ice that had frozen over for years now, even though you kinda didn't want to.

"Hey, Toby."

Your surprisingly casual -yet somewhat cold- greeting seemed to have caught the chubby boy off guard, seeing how he stared at you with a bewildered look on his face before some words tumbled from his mouth clumsily.
"H-hey, (Y/n)… It's been a while, huh?"

You nodded blankly and the TV kept on playing in the background, filling the following silence with at least some kind of noise.
"Toby," you began again, combing your fingers through your (h/c) hair as the boy nearly flinched, hearing you call his name, "how did I end up here?"
Tobias looked to be somewhat relieved that you had asked since he was now able to talk about something without having to be awkward with what to say. Also because he had been kinda scared you'd say something he wouldn't want to hear.

"Nana found you passed out on our back porch so we brought you into the guestroom..."
It was clear that he wanted to ask how you got there in the first place but it looked like he was afraid of upsetting you in any way so he kept his questions back.
"You slept for about two hours."

Rubbing your head in deep thought -making sure not to touch the painful bump- you thought back to what you could remember, connecting the dots slowly.
That bull dude must've carried you to the next best house he could find after rendering you unconscious; and that just happened to be Toby's home.

This was one strange night, alright.

"I see…" you mumbled out before adding an internal 'thanks' and a small nod.
Lucky for you, Toby's Nana returned just then, saving you from any weird silences and carrying a tray of freshly baked cookies, cool milk and, as requested, a bag of ice.
"Come, dear, take a seat," said the friendly grandmother and ushered your taller form toward the couch, where she put the tray into your lap and handed you the ice bag.
"Make sure to eat up and then get some more rest. That lump must surely hurt, you poor thing!"

There wasn't much to say or do against the old lady and her -in your opinion- much too friendly personality and soon enough, you found yourself munching on the famous cookies you used to eat so many of as a kid while the ice laid upon your head, numbing the stinging pain pleasantly.
Toby, too, slightly relaxed next to you, even snatching a cookie from the plate while he thought you weren't looking to quietly eat it while watching TV in a now less awkward silence.

This had gone strangely smooth in your opinion.
After all, you expected the green-eyed teen to be a bit more closed off toward you.
He actually just seemed a bit scared. If it was because of you or because of him not knowing how to act was unclear to you though.

Once all the cookies were eaten and the ice was partially melted, you could feel your mind drift to what you had experienced in the woods.
Sitting here, watching TV and drinking milk made it feel so unreal. As if it had only been a strange dream, a distant memory of something that never actually happened.
Yet again, the stinging pain in your head, the lingering feeling of the tree's bark pushing into your soft flesh and the fleeting coolness of the night air that still clung to you, told you that it had not been a dream but, indeed, a reality.
May it seem impossible or crazy, it did happen.
You were sure of it.

"Why don't you two get to bed for the day, hm?" Nana asked Toby and you, turning off the TV after the movie had ended without you even realizing it.
The brown-haired teen answered with a nod and a long yawn, showing his shiny braces.
You also nodded even though you were barely tired. There was just too much running through your head to even think about sleep right now, leftover adrenaline still pushing through your veins.
Despite that, you slowly got up and followed Toby upstairs after saying goodnight to the elderly woman.

Standing before the rooms' doors, you halted momentarily. Your lips were already parted as you were about to say something but you stopped before a word could slip off your tongue, resealing your lips tightly.
With a heavy gulp, you mumbled a quick goodnight and were about to slip into the guestroom when Toby turned and called out, "Hold up, (Y/n)!" he said, looking a bit unsure, "if you don't wanna sleep just yet, we could play some games?"

He was playing with the hem of his shirt nervously as he continued, looking anywhere but at you and shifting from one foot to the other like a child that was being scolded for the first time.
"I just got a new game but it's a multiplayer so..? Of course, only if you want to." He added the later part in a hurry, as if he were scared you might get mad at him for asking such a dumb thing.

Frankly, you were relieved he asked, not that you showed that though.
Had you tried to sleep now, you would have surely gone mad from your confused mind running a whole dang marathon within the confined walls of your skull.

"Sure, yeah," was what you told him in response, not smiling but instead only shrugging leisurely, as if you didn't care.
Toby looked just as relieved as you felt.

He had been scared you would decline and make him look like a fool, or worse, get mad and yell at him.

Now that you agreed, he tried a small smile and dashed into his room, calling over his shoulder for you to grab the blanket and a pillow for more comfort.
You did as he suggested and soon enough, the two of you were sitting or laying on the floor in Toby's room, both a controller in hand as you played the game he had mentioned.

It had been quite some time since you played video games with other people, especially in the middle of the night.
Though it must almost be morning already and you could begin to feel tiredness creeping into your limbs.

Laying on your stomach with a blanket covering your athletic form and a pillow underneath your arms to support them, you couldn't help but smile lightly at the boy's enthusiastic comments on the gameplay. He was making snarky remarks toward the in-game villain and mocking the fake enemies boldly as if he could take them on in real life too.
It was quite amusing.
He seemed to have forgotten about the previous awkwardness altogether.

It felt as if you had never stopped being friends.
That thought was kind of nice actually and it kept your mind focused on the current situation and task, which was simply relaxing for once.

Toby let out a triumphant laugh and a 'thanks!' next to you as your character punched away an enemy that was about to attack his own character and he smiled broadly while staring at the screen.
After a short while, you noticed how he never actually looked at you though.

Your (e/c) eyes flickered over to the chubby boy, noticing his happy expression and relaxed posture that contrasted his lack of attention toward you.
Or perhaps that was just how he was while focusing on something?

As you thought about it, you didn't even realize that you had stopped playing the game and instead were only staring at Tobias blankly.
The much shorter boy turned his head and looked at you, meeting your dull gaze with a casual smile.
"What's up, (Y/n)? Something on my face?"
You blinked and shook your head in response.
"Nah," you mumbled, pressing a button on the controller to activate your character's weapon, "just thinking."

Having your attention back on the game, you bit your lip and chewed on it lightly.

Could it be that, just maybe, Toby wasn't angry at you at all?
You always believed the short teen to be upset about your decision to cut him off and never really thought about it in another way. It would've been understandable if he hadn't wanted to talk to you ever again, much less play games that were probably meant for himself and Jim to enjoy.

You yourself wouldn't have talked to someone who had done and said what you had back then.
And still he did.

So what if… what if you had been wrong all this time?

It made you feel a bit hopeful and yet, at the same time, you were uncertain, not wanting to get your hopes up only to have them pummeled into the dirt.

Deciding to simply see where this would go, you refocused on the game once again and didn't even notice how your lips grew into a faint smile over time.

You didn't realize that your head had sunken onto the pillow either, eyes barely keeping themselves open.
The events from the day before had caught up to you and now that you felt safe again, the adrenaline from before was fading, leaving you with nothing but exhaustion. However, the adrenaline drop and muscles ache didn't even get through to your brain anymore since you had already fallen asleep right on the spot.

---

Toby only noticed the girl's lack of awareness when her character in the game kept running into a tree for no reason.
He turned his head, about to make another silly comment, but spotted her sleeping form next to him, controller still in hand but eyes shut peacefully.
Without the usual frown on her now relaxed face, he thought she looked, well, normal. Like the friend he once had -just a bit older- and not like the shut-in teen that had refused to acknowledge his existence until a few hours ago.

A softer smile came upon his face and he saved the game to turn it off, leaving the room in a pleasant silence. Dark enveloped the room with only the faint light of the street lamps and a bit of morning sunlight illuminating part of the ceiling and wall.
Removing the controller from the older teen's hands -making sure not to wake her- Toby somewhat clumsily moved to his bed, his short legs nearly stumbling over the (s/c)-skinned girl's feet. He assumed that she must've had a pretty rough day and needed the rest now.

If only she would talk to him though, maybe he could've helped more?

Leaving her to sleep on the ground, since she looked pretty comfy there, he felt kind of bad for not having a mattress for the athletic teen to sleep on but didn't want to wake her up just to tell her to get to her own bed.
Who knew how she'd react to that. The thought made him shiver momentarily.
Surely she'd be ok with one night on the floor. After all, she had a large pillow and a soft blanket to keep her cozy.

As he laid in his bed, listening to the soft noise of the girl's breathing and thinking that this was a new chance to become friends again, Toby felt similar to how she had felt. Hopeful but uncertain.

He fell asleep shortly after with a little smile on his face.

---

~A few hours before you woke up~

Kanjigar held the young human in his -in comparison- large hands, he had taken off the armor to avoid unwanted attention before nearing the closest human settlement he could smell from his position in the woods.
With the small female and her backpack also, which he had found not too far from their original meeting spot, he stood by a tree and gazed into the backyard of a wooden human nest.
He always wondered how they felt comfortable to live so visibly above the ground.
Wasn't a nice dark cave much safer?
Well, humans were quite different than trolls as he had learned over his long long life so their homes being these 'houses', as they call them, didn't seem to be all that strange.

Shaking his horned head and letting a breath out of his stony nose, the blue troll refocused.
He wasn't here to philosophize but to bring this peculiar human whelp to safety.
Unsure if he could just drop her off at any random building, the trollhunter let a sigh slip while trying to stealthily sneak to what he thought to be the back entrance to this nest.
It was a bit difficult considering his size and weight but he managed. Somehow.

With surprisingly gentle movements, he placed the unconscious human girl onto the ground before the door and then quietly dropped her backpack -which he had tried to zip close earlier; and accidentally broke the tiny metal clip during that rather sad excuse of on attempt- next to her.

Letting his yellow eyes drift over her small form to reassure himself that she wasn't hurt -aside from the growing bump on her head-, Kanjigar then tapped the door to alert the humans inside and hurried back into the shadows by the woods, covering his broad body with trees and bushes.

He watched as the door opened and a short and chubby female human appeared, calling something which he assumed to be a pet's name, before discovering the unconscious girl. He also stayed until the old human had moved the girl into the nest with the help of a younger -just as chubby- human boy, hoping they would keep her safe.

Feeling relieved to have gotten the human whelp out of any possible danger in the woods at night, the bull-like troll gave a curt nod to himself, as though he was proud of himself after a successful mission, before turning and disappearing into the shadows, unaware that the short moment he had touched the human had been enough to get his scent onto her and her clothes. And with that, enough to make her a target to just the troll he had been trying to keep away from humans.

He would soon enough see that for himself though.