Fabulous readers,
So I've taken a 30 day OTP challenge. I know they are usually meant for drawings and artists, but the rules did say that I could write—though they said it was only meant to be prompts. Well, I'll just settle for writing little one-shots. I'll mostly stick within the realm if Jack and Jamie, but the whole 30 day thing wont be dedicated to them entirely. There are a few situations where I don't see Jack and Jamie playing into too well. I'll be sure to inform you of these OTP switches in the chapter before they happen; that way there is no confusion.
If you should find yourself interested in me or what else I can offer as a writer, I'll have you know I'e started up a tumblr. If you're interested in my writing beyond fanfics feel free to join me at aaronsdream. Pop in, follow me, ask me, make requests, whatever you like!
I don't own any of this. Consider yourselves disclaimed.
Day 1: Holding Hands
He often caught himself pining at the window, sitting by the cill and waiting for a certain tuft of white hair to appear off in the distance. It really wasn't very good that he did that, but on days like that day, it was very hard not to. Jamie sighed and scooted closer to the furnace that sat beneath his frosted window. It was cold, dark, and lonely that night.
The sun sunk lower in the sky and threw lights of reds and purples across his floor. He didn't bother to get up with the last lights of the sun disappeared; he merely sat, content with blanket around his shoulders, by the window. Occasionally, a car would drive by and send its searching, golden lights across his face, lighting up his room for only a brief moment before disappearing again and leaving the room just as it was before.
It used to be a shock when Jack came to visit, but not his visits has been so frequent, that Jamie thought it odd whenever Jack didn't come.
Jack would come often; and when he did, he would bring him presents and whisper sweet words in his ear. Jamie was being courted by the very spirit of frost. Courted. Really, it was all very extraordinary when he thought about it. It wasn't anything like the annoying cluster of emotions and hormones that came along when dating in the high school. Jack would come knocking and bring him little gifts. Nothing girly, but little trinkets from his travels. A bit of wood from a tree far off on the other end of the world. A seashell from some romantic cove on the cold coast. Each of these gifts became Jamie's treasures. He was so grateful for them; and he was just as grateful for Jack. Their relationship has blossomed into something beautiful. He would never trade it for the world.
That night was supposed to be one of their meeting nights. Jame sat patiently, happy to just sit and watch the world roll by. School was busy, friends made him busy, work kept him busy. On promised nights were Jack came to visit, Jamie could simply lean back and relax. He smiled and pulled the blanket around his shoulders and sighed, his breath fogging up the old glass of his window.
Snow had begun to fall; it danced around in the wind before landing on the ground. Jack was coming. Jamie pulled his legs up onto his chair and hugged his knees to his chest for a moment before standing and opening his window, allowing the cool night air to roll in, bringing with it the crisp, aching scent of frost. Snow glittered around his room, coming in in small gusts of wind and Jamie laughed. He always knew when Jack was near; he could feel it in his bones. "Jack!"
The boy emerged from the snow, great oak staff in hand and hood pulled round his head. "You'll never guess what," he said breathlessly.
"What?"
Rather than speaking, because speaking was sometimes a waste, Jack grasped onto Jamie's hands and held them up. "I have a present for you, but you have to close your eyes," Jack said, eyes aglow with a frozen fire of wonder.
Jamie trusted Jack; he always had ever since he first uttered his name those many years ago. Though he was a mischievous spirit at the worst of times, he would always be a guardian. Jamie's eyes closed and he gripped those cold fingers tightly as he felt himself rise from the ground. There was a cold wind. Jamie was out of his room and up soaring in the sky towards the heavens and snuck away into all of the majesty of the world. He did as he was told, and kept his eyes closed until Jack whispered in his ear that he could open them again. He let out a gasp as the clouds rolled on below their bodies. Jack guided him, hand in hand and showed him the way through the magic sky.
It was like soaring through a never ending misty world, poke-a-dotted with tiny lights. Everywhere he looked, Jamie could only see the shinning stars of the universe; it was all so big, but the only world that mattered was right there holding his hand and helping him along his path. Jamie's heart soared with each swoop and dip of Jack's guidance.
They danced in the clouds, danced to a step that only a spirit could know. Jack was perplexing to Jamie. Such an old spirit who had seen the world three hundred times over, yet he was always young, entertained by the simple joys, a child's laugh, or a mother's song. Jamie could get lost so easily in his eyes; and he did. He looked up and stared longingly at the other. The scene before him was prefect. Jack's pale face in the light of the moon, a cascading display of glittering lights behind his head. Clouds so prefect all around, some milky white, and others grey and full to the brim with snow.
"It's beautiful," Jamie breathed, his breath fogging up the air around him. It was cold outside, but Jamie was always cold; and in being cold, he was always comfortable and safe. He loved the cold, and therefor could withstand almost anything.
"Oh, this isn't your gift," Jack said as the wind carried them on to some far off place.
"No? You could have fooled me. What have you up your sleeve Jack Frost?"
"You'll see. It'll be right there in front of your red little nose before you can blink. Just over these clouds and through the stars."
Jamie laughed, he was teasing, and nothing more, though Jack had certainly been right; just over the last tufts of clouds, Jack began to lower them. Jamie watched eagerly for the ground, but saw nothing. It was so dark around him, like a never ending void. The moon had slunk away behind the clouds, hiding his face playfully. He could smell the sticky sap and pine, the musky scent of the wild. Jamie's feet touched into the snowy earth and the air around him swallowed him whole.
A forest, but he couldn't see anything and Jack's hand had left his own. He groped out into the darkness. "Jack this isn't funny," he said as the darkness caressed his cheek.
Jack's voice sounded from behind him in his ear once again. "Come on." There was Jack's hand again. Jamie sighed with relief, thankful for the help and reassurance that he was still there.
They walked or a short while, trudging through the deep snow. Then Jamie heard it. A call in the night; ear shattering and high pitched. It went on like the highest note on a violin, starting off low then rising higher in pitch. Like a ghostly whine; the voice in the dark grunted, this time sounding more like a horse that was out of breath. Jamie was confused as to what creature could make such an eerie sound. He held on tighter to Jack's frozen hand. "What's out there?"
"It's and elk," came Jack's voice.
Jamie didn't know what an elk looked like; he made a funny face, but followed the lead of Jack's hand until it stopped. They stood still in what must have been the heart of the forest. The air was thicker and the trees around them stooped over their tiny bodies. It was a still silence, an engulfing one, the kind that could be heard. Or maybe it was just Jack's breathing that Jamie heard. He focused on the world around, taking in one breath at a time and letting time tick by at its natural pace. There was the sound of an exhale and the clouds brushed away from the full moon's face; and Tsar Luna sent moon beams down to the world to see if all was well. These beams were proud, they shone with only the best amount of light that mixed with the snow and caused it to shimmer softly, reflecting the bright light and illuminating the world around.
They were nothing but two small figures amongst a sea of giants. Thick black trees stood around them, closing them in and holding them for safety's sake. Jamie's eyes adjusted and he look out onto the quiet scene before him. He almost didn't see it. If it hadn't been for the snow that caused it to shake, Jamie would have assumed it was something apart of the scenery and not an animal.
Oh, and what a glorious animal he was too. He raised his massive horned head into the air and sniffed, curling its upper lip up as he tasted the scents on the wind. He shook again, his large ears flopping from side to side of his head, his long, pronged horns cutting through the snow with each swing. The elk walked forward and opened his mouth, grunting, then releasing another pitched scream. Jamie shuttered. What an eerie thing to hear, yet it was so beautiful.
He jolted after the wave of shivers and gripped Jack's hand tighter, caressing the cool surface with his thumb.
"Do you think he lost something?" Jamie whispered. The elk raised his head and looked towards them, but when Jack and Jamie made no move, he deemed them not a threat and continued about in the snow, sniffing and grunting.
"They usually make calls like that when they're looking for their mates. Poor fella just doesn't want to be alone tonight," Jack said. "They'll find each other; I'm sure."
For a while, they followed the elk who seemed plenty content with leading them through the woods. Occasionally he would stop and stare at them. He'd pause, then call again.
After a long while, though, Jamie spoke up. "What about you?" he asked. "You didn't want to be alone tonight either, did you?"
There was a frozen pause before Jack spoke. "No; I didn't want to be alone. I've spent a long while alone, and I don't very much care for it anymore," he said. "Hey, watch this," he said as he cupped his hands over his mouth and called out to the elk, mimicking the screaming whine.
The elk turned and trotted towards them, happy to hear the sound of something familiar. He seemed to know Jack, and greeted him like an old friend would, bowing his head and nudging his face with his shiny, cold snout. Jack took Jamie's hand and brought it to the Elk's fur.
It wasn't quite what Jamie imagined it would be like. It was more coarse, cold and riddled with bits of frost and twigs, but it was amazing. He laughed and toyed with the thick fur, Jack's hand never leaving his. Their fingers twisted together in the fur and they both seemed to be lost in the moment of it all. The elk snorted and trotted off, nudging Jack as it went by before slipping off into the darkness of the trees. "You're not alone anymore, you know."
There was that boyish smile again in the corner of Jack's eye. He floated up and gripped onto the side of one of the trees nearest to them. "So you're saying all I need do is just call you and you'll come?"
"It might take me a while to figure out where the call came from, but yes," Jamie laughed.
"I've spent so long calling, and no one ever heard me."
Jamie stepped closer. "I hear you now."
Jack held up his hand, palm facing Jamie to which Jamie pressed his own smaller hand. His fingers weren't quite as broad at Jack's, nor were they as long, but their hands fit perfectly. Although that palm was cold, Jamie was a glow with a humble warmth that Jack had chosen him. He smiled and turned his hand and fit his fingers between Jack's.