AN: For TwigCollins on tumblr, because sometimes I need prompts to get the ball rolling.
Jack squinted, leaning in until he was hovering inches from his subject. "So then I just . . . tap?"
"Yes, yes, like that." North watched over his shoulder, somehow making cheer into something that loomed and filled the room with its presence. Not that it was hard to do in the Santoff Clausen, anyways. Jack thought the whole place exuded good moods somehow, like it was part of the ever-present aroma of evergreens and baking things. Not that you could tell from the yetis.
Maybe they were immune after living here all the time, but that didn't explain the elves. Then again nothing explained the elves.
Jack winced as the chisel slipped across the ice block, not quite scoring where he wanted.
"Grip stronger, strike harder! You must be delicate but firm, like with small child."
"Dude, I hope you don't do this with kids." Jack tried again, this time making a small corner fall off as North made encouraging noises. "Kinda likely to lose a finger."
"Pssh, is easy. Only takes patience and the eye!" North clapped him on the shoulder when Jack stopped and looked back at him, dubious. "You have eye for beauty, Jack. I know. I see it in your frost!"
Aaaand now he felt like a fraud. "Yeah, the frost just . . . happens like that."
North beamed at him, not the least put off. "Then just let happen!" He patted Jack's arm again, "I leave you to it, da? See heart of wonder in ice." He picked up his own set of tools, heading for the half-carved whatever-the-hell he was working on a few benches over. "Right here if you need me."
"Right. Thanks." Jack tried hard not to feel like an ungrateful idiot as he stared down his block of ice. He'd wanted to do this ever since North had told him that all the toy prototypes started as ice sculptures. He could remember carving wooden toys for his siblings when he was a kid, except, if he got this right, it could go on the grand scale. One sculpture could become a toy for hundreds. And . . . that was kind of really awesome. To know that your work would make so many kids happy.
No wonder North was so cheerful all the time. That had to be the best job in the world.
Except. . . kind of a lot of pressure, at the same time.
Jack breathed out a gust of cold air, firming up the ice that was threatening to melt on the side closest the window, and set to. He could do this. He could totally do this.
North whistled some classical song from the other side of the room and Jack lost track of time as he tackled the ice block, trying to think back to the skills he'd learned whittling with a chunk of pine in his hands. The ice behaved nothing like wood, though; it sheared, it cleaved, it melted. And when it fractured, he had to desperately refreeze it solid, groaning when ice-crystal spikes formed from the air and stuck out at odd angles.
And it just. . . was not anywhere near as easy as North made it look.
Jack slumped back from his angular and awkward creation to watch North in his element. North hummed along happily, big hands making small deft adjustments that shaved just a curl of ice off here, planed an edge smooth, nicked out the slightest details there. What had been unrecognizable before was now clearly the model of a knight in armor, with delicate filigree work decorating the plates.
He abandoned any pretense of working and perched on the end of the table, wrapping his arms around his knees. The knight was cool- hell, everything North made was perfect. He'd have been thrilled to get even the simplest thing from Santoff Claussen as a kid. Except, hah, the little detail of his always being on the naughty list.
Jack grinned into his crossed arms. He'd had a lot of fun, right? That had to make up for it. And this- this was a whole different kind of fun.
He almost forgot about his original purpose there when North set the knight on the table, placing a tiny, perfectly-scaled sword in its hand. "There!" North laughed when Jack clapped, watching the knight take its first steps, swinging the sword in measured practice strokes.
"You have finished already, Jack?" North blinked at him, apparently coming back out of his intense focus. "You are much quieter than yetis. I did not notice you were there."
Jack shrugged, awkwardly hopping to his feet as North strode over to his work bench. "Yeah, uh, for a given value of finished. I guess I'm done."
North observed the rough angles and tilted his head at the carving, walking around it. "Is not bad for first attempt, Jack. You make a toy building?"
"Uh." Jack winced. Yeah, it was exactly as bad as he thought it was. "I was hoping. . . a sled, y'know? For kids to play in the snow."
"Ahh." Understanding dawned on North's face and he nodded. "Perhaps a sled was not in heart of ice, da?"
Jack shuffled the almost-forgotten tools awkwardly to his left hand, leaning his hip against the table. "I guess. I've got forever to learn, right?" He trailed off, not able to hide his disappointment completely. "I just wanted to make something cool."
"Hmm." North tugged on his right hand, placing it against the half-carved mess of the ice block. "Close your eyes. What do you see?"
Jack thought about sniping back "Black" but. . . hell. He'd humor North. He'd been so patient with Jack, after all. He couldn't help thinking about the ice knight that North had carved. He wanted to make something like that, something kids would play with and look at with wonder. Something like. . .
For an instant, he had it.
A cold wind gusted across his skin, familiar but out of place in North's workshop, and Jack opened his eyes, frustrated, "I can't-"
Oh.
The ice block had reformed into a dragon crouching with spread wings. Its muzzle wrinkled into a snarl over perfect fangs, sharp delicate horns graced its head like a crown of icicles, even its skin was patterned with tiny scales. The ice dragon was exactly the right size for the knight. Jack resisted the urge to touch it, afraid he might accidentally break whatever magic made something so unexpectedly fragile. ". . . Huh. I can."
North burst out laughing, deep from the belly, and clapped Jack on the shoulder as he passed him to inspect the work. One prod from North's finger and the dragon stretched, tiny claws scratching the hard wood surface. North leaned back from the work bench speculatively as the dragon took flight, landing to quietly menace the ice knight. "Excellent for first attempt!"
He met Jack's stunned gaze to wink, "Except somehow I do not think it is first."
Jack didn't resist as North tugged the hammer and chisel away, setting them down on the bench behind him. He replaced them with Jack's own staff, deliberately folding his cold fingers around it. North smiled broadly as Jack looked at him uncertainly. "These are your tools, Jack."
He tapped Jack's hands, then again over his heart. "Remember. Your heart and eye know beauty."