#jlaiby

I feel like Claire would have discovered and come to terms with her sexuality comparatively early. But she wasn’t able to truly express it till later. She’s intelligent, well read, and pretty self-aware. The issue is with her parents. Her parents both seem fairly traditional and her mother is on the City Council. The eyes of the town are on them all the time. Or at least that’s how it feels to her mother. The daughter of Ophelia Nunez just can’t have a girlfriend. They barely trust the boy she starts to date. I feel like her parents wouldn’t be outright opposed to her bisexuality, but they would highly discourage her from exploring it.

It wouldn’t be till well after the Eternal Night and the fall of the Gunmar that she actually gets a girlfriend. At that point she is away from her parents long enough to be open about how she feels about other girls. Also she’s dating a half troll. If her parents are going to allow that than they have no right to be upset about any girl’s she decides to be with. And she is a bit of a hero, both with the fight to save Arcadia and from personally banishing Morgana to the Shadow Realm. Any citizens that might have had a problem are willing (or forced) to ignore anything they might not like.

Her first kiss was with either Mary or Darci. The  girls had sleepovers all the time growing up. Maybe it was dare, or just in the heat of the moment. Either way it confirms how she has felt inside for a long time. But it doesn’t go further than that with either them. She knows what her mom will say, what her dad will say. Sometimes when she goes to the movies with Darci, or helps fix her lipstick the other girl will want to say something, to bring up the kiss they shared, to share another moment, but she never does.

After the Eternal Night, Claire returns to Arcadia. By now she’s long accepted that Team Trollhunters is only big poly love circle. Jim is so happy to see Toby again that they immediately share a kiss. Claire is next, the skype conversations have been nice, but she misses Toby almost as much as Jim does. Darci is a little surprised to see her boyfriend be kissed by first a giant half troll then her best friend (Toby and Darci talked about opening their relationship and she’s fine with it. Still surprised to see it happen in front of her). Claire is embarrassed for a second, then thinks fuck it. And kisses Darci as well. They all laugh and hug. Then go to one of their houses for some private time. Time to kiss, to hug and to finally have some long put off conversations.

I bet the golden Trollhunter trio are the biggest cuddlers. All three of them a super physically affectionate. All three of them are quick to hug or hold any of their friends. Their time together is always going to be just as physical.

On his own Jim will always sleep splayed out over the whole bed, but when the others are there he becomes a die hard little spoon. Claire isn't so much the big spoon as she is the affectionate anaconda. When ever they share a bed or have a movie night, or are just sharing in each other's company she is found completely wrapped around Jim, arms and legs encircling him.

Toby will almost always sleep flat on his back, dead to the world. So often Jim will end up on one side and Claire on the other. Each resting on him in their own way. When they watch movies Toby is always warm and Claire is cold so she will lean on him while Jim leans on her.

After Jim's transformation the cuddles are put on a bit of hiatus. Jim is uncomfortable with his body and worried about hurting Toby or Claire with his new strength. But they both love him no matter what he looks like and insist that it resume. Unlike the other trolls whose skin is a little cool to the touch, Jim is warm, like his body still remembers his time in the sun. Now Toby and Claire will both sit with their heads on his broad shoulders.

His fear that he would hurt them wasn't entirely unfounded, there were a couple of accidents. He gave Toby a black eye once when he rolled over in his sleep. The worst was one time when they had been watching the stars. Claire had wrapped herself around Jim, one arm behind his back, then fallen asleep, as she does. When he laid down to fall asleep she was still wrapped around him, her arm now trapped between his stony back and the root of the tree they had been leaning on.

When she woke up at first it felt like any other time one of the boys had fallen asleep on her limb. It was the risk of being the affectionate anaconda. But this time it started to get worse. Her hand hurt in ways it never had before. And she couldn't pull it out, Jim was too heavy. She woke up Toby on Jim's other side. Neither of them could wake Jim, he was a boy who could sleep through three alarms, he could sleep through them. Toby finally helped wrench her arm free.

Jim woke up to Claire's cry as blood and feeling returned to her hand. He jumped up with a snarl ready to kill who ever had hurt her, then he saw her arm. From elbow to finger tip her arm was mottled with bruises, the skin scraped off in places, the cuts and scrapes slowly oozing blood. Jim knew without looking that some of that blood was on his back as well.

He got Claire to his mother for treatment than disappeared into the woods. It took them a couple of days of searching before they found him. Claire's hand was bandaged and almost back to regular mobility, but Jim still felt terrible. Claire told him she would be more careful where she out her arms. Toby said he would bring an air horn to bed next time.

I already described Toby’s first gay kiss when I described Jim’s. However this wasn’t the most defining moment for Toby like it was for Jim. Toby was doing everything he could to make Jim’s day better. It was completely obvious that the kiss was what Jim needed and Toby was willing to give it. However at this time he didn’t love his friend. This was why he didn’t mind when their relationship didn’t progress past that one kiss. It was why he didn’t mind when Jim dated Eli, no matter how briefly. And it was why his tears worked in the antidote for creeper’s sun poison. From his perspective it had not been a kiss of love any more than kisses from his Nana counted. (Spells are weird that way). When he desperately tried to say that he had been kissed he had thought about the kiss he shared with Jim. But Claire didn’t know about that kiss, and Toby was not about to out his friend that way. He was honestly surprised that his tears worked for the potion. And when at first it didn’t seem to cure AAARRGGHH!!! he thought that was why.

When his tears did end up curing his wingman, he had to stop and think about that. He had a lot of time to think about Jim during those two weeks he was in the Darklands. He and Claire had talked about his jealousy of her joining the group and his fear that she would take his place, but he hadn’t yet discussed it with Jim himself.

After Jim is rescued from the Darklands, there just isn’t the right time. They already have one awkward conversation after saving Gnome Chompsky from the goblins. Toby is more hurt than he lets on, but he’s trying to fix things with Darci, and there are more than enough Trollhunter problems to keep them all busy.

The conversation finally happens after the Eternal Night. Jim and Claire are several states away shepherding the trolls to New Jersey. First Toby talks with Darci. Tells her about the kiss he shared with Jim. And how often he thinks of him, and not just as a friend anymore. He doesn’t want to hurt Darci, but he can’t live with these feelings being unaddressed. After seeing how important this is to him Darci is accepting of the idea of opening their relationship. The next time Toby calls Jim he asks to speak to him alone. He talks at length about how much their relationship means to him, about the kiss they shared, how hurt he was to be left behind in Arcadia. At the end of the conversation Toby panics and hangs up.

Jim calls several times trying to continue the conversation then in frustration eats his phone. When Toby eventually calms down enough to call Jim back, it goes straight to voicemail scaring him even more. Jim and Claire sit down and have a private conversation as well (which is easier said than done with all the trolls around) neither of them are opposed to opening up their relationship. Honestly Claire is glad that all the feelings are out on the table.She’s seen the writing on the wall for some time. They manage to call Toby back on Claire’s phone. Toby is ecstatic that Jim isn’t dead and doesn’t hate him, so it takes some time to explain the conclusion Jim and Claire have reached.