The New World: Old Habits

Chapter 8

A few weeks had gone by since Jim accepted some job he never elaborated further on. He would disappear for an entire day only to come back absolutely exhausted and sometimes would have blood on him. Grim was incredibly suspicious of Jim but whenever they went to go see where he was, Jim wasn't up to anything nefarious. Despite that, they still suspected Jim was linked to the recent murders of notable figures. Meanwhile Turg just hoped Jim would eventually quit the job as it was making everyone stressed. 
It was about an hour before sunrise when Jim finally returned from his latest venture. He woke Turg from his sleep to ask if he was awake. Turg rolled onto his back to look up at Jim, who was still blurry as he was still waking up. 
"Good, meet me downstairs when you're ready." Jim instructed Turg, who couldn't help but to notice that Jim seemed rather excited. He likely had some sort of surprise for Turg. Not wanting to keep Jim waiting, Turg quickly threw on a pair of grey sweatpants, his amulet and Jim's blue cardigan before heading downstairs. Upon seeing him, Jim said "I see you've stolen my clothes again." 
Jim was wearing a light blue sweater vest over a white collared shirt with a dark blue tie and light brown-ish grey pants. Turg smiled and replied with "Turg like."
As Turg moved closer he heard Jim mumble "They weren't wrong. Date a man and double your wardrobe or be forced to share it." 
Jim was leaning against the counter with a cup of coffee when Turg joined by his side. Turg hadn't seen him a while and he looked like he didn't sleep at all since he left two nights ago. 
"Hypothetically, if we could spend one more normal day before another inevitable tragedy, what would you like to do?" Jim asked Turg. Turg was curious to why Jim would ask that, though he was always willing to spend time with him.  
"What Jim want to do?" Turg decided to ask Jim instead as Turg couldn't think of anything. Jim looked away for a moment while tapping his cup, Turg thought he was nervous about something. Jim then looked back at Turg to also ask in response "Do you remember the spells I taught you?" 
Turg remembered a while back Jim was trying to teach him a few fire spells but he kept getting scared of it appearing in his hands. He shook his head in response. 
"Yeah, figured. I sorta forgot you're afraid of fire." Jim said as he placed his cup on the counter. 
"Jim want play with fire?" Turg asked again. 
"I'd rather just spend a normal day with you. Might be our last for a while." Jim answered as he rested his arm around Turg's shoulders. Turg was starting to become suspicious while giving Jim a confused look. Jim then took his arm off Turg and began pacing while explaining "Look, I screwed up again and it likely won't be as bad as all the other times but you never know."
Jim let out a nervous laugh while Turg wondered what he even did. Surely it couldn't be worse than causing an apocalypse and destroying an entire town three times. 
"What Jim do?" Turg had to ask. 
"I would rather not get into it now." Jim quickly replied before suggesting "Why don't we get ourselves something to eat and watch the sunrise, I guess." 
The two then did just that before heading outside. Turg found it odd how Grim hadn't appeared yet but figured they were just busy. 
It was nearing spring, or at least the weather was starting to warm up a bit before another storm that'll begin second winter, as the sun was starting to rise earlier and it wasn't super cold anymore. The sky had turned pink, giving the snow on the nearby mountains a pink-ish hue. Despite seeing it often, Turg still found it to be very pretty. The two were sitting under their big cottonwood tree as there was no snow under it. 
"Child me used to hate this colour. He would hate to see how I turned out." Jim said in attempt to start a conversation with Turg, who replied with "Turg like all colours."
"I do too. I look good in every colour." Jim continued saying. 
"Jim not like pink in past?" Turg asked out of curiosity. Despite knowing him for years, Turg still had a lot to learn about him.
"Yeah, I hated everything considered 'girly' back then. Now I embrace it. I look amazing in a suit and a dress." Jim explained to Turg, who agreed. Jim looked great in everything. Jim then sighed before telling Turg "You always find a way to get me to talk about my younger self."
Turg only smiled in response as he placed his hand on Jim's only to quickly recoil as soon as he looked. 
"We're married, Turg. It's okay if you want to hold my hand." Jim said as he held out his hand for Turg, who had a different idea. Turg grabbed Jim's hand and started running off into the field, bringing Jim with him by force. 
The two would spend the day mostly outside playing together as if they weren't two old married dudes. Either with random sticks they found or with magic. Neither of them cared if it was childish. By the time the sun was setting they were exhausted. Turg had decided to put on his red cape he got from his father after Jim had suggested they go to the magic realm for a bit. They had rebuilt the portal in their basement, it was in an oval/semi-circle shape and gold in colour. It was separated into three pieces and only worked if they were connected, each piece had engravings that Jim, Turg and Grim did. 
While in the portal room, Jim stopped to admire Turg's amulet. He jokingly said "I sorta get why someone was so determined to get this, it is very nice."
Turg put his hands over it as Jim continued "Then again, he tried to use it to kill me."
Turg wasn't sure what Jim was on about with the last part. He had no memory of whatever happened. 
"It is completely powerless when not in your hands, right?" Jim asked, Turg only nodded in response. 
"Good, good. Don't need a repeat of that." Jim mumbled before asking "No matter what happens, you'll still love me, right?" 
Turg noticed that Jim had become nervous again, his hands were sweaty as he grabbed onto both of Turg's hands while facing him. Turg nodded again, he was starting to get worried about Jim. He nervously laughed again and said "I don't know why I'm so worried, I'm sorry about that."
Jim then wrapped his arms around Turg and gave him a kiss. Turg did the same back as Jim told him "Turg, I'm sorry for what I'm about to do."
Both of them let go of each other as Jim activated the portal. Turg was confused to why Jim was apologizing for that. Jim stared into it for a few seconds as he took a deep breath before continuing with "It's for your own good."
Before Turg could react, Jim quickly turned around, tore off Turg's amulet and shoved him through the portal. Turg had fallen to the floor on the other side and when he looked back at the portal it had closed. He got back up to try to open it again but it wasn't working. Turg then tried using his amulet but when he tried to put his hands on it he realized it was gone. Jim had taken it and trapped him in the magic realm. He didn't know what was going on and it was starting to make him panic. Turg continued placing his hand on the portal in hopes of it opening but it would not. 
"About time he got to you." Turg heard Grim's voice. He turned around to see them in human form approaching from the hallway. Though something was off about them. Their skin had more colour, their eyes also had colour and the air didn't feel cold around them. It was as if they were alive.