A/N: Hello all! Long, long time no update. I found myself looking over my stories, most unfinished, and grimaced. Not only that, but dear lord my writing style! Ha. Anyway, I'm hoping to update some of these stories, if not complete them (if I'm so lucky). If I still have your interest, then yay! If not, then oh well. I present you the next chapter of Frostbitten Beau.

A sigh.

"Well Mr. Jack Claus…a certain winter mischief maker has destroyed the lines to my landline with last night's storm." Which normally wouldn't be a problem honestly if it wasn't for Jadis' current company. "So it would seem as though calling Triple A isn't an option right now."

A man in a blue suit and icy hair named Jack Claus sat in a chair across from her. While she was seated closer to the fire, as her heater had been frozen over, he was a bit further away from the flames. When Jadis had found out the man's last name, she had scoffed. "Claus? Like…Santa Claus? I'm sorry to hear that. Guess your parents didn't hate you though, they could have named you Nick instead of Jack."

Jack couldn't help but feel himself perk when the woman diagonal of him referred to…well, him. Jack Frost. Every time she said his name or mentioned him, even without realizing the irony, he felt his annoyance slip further away. "Then a neighbor perhaps? A cell phone? Surely you have more than one mean of contact with the outside world. How else would you handle danger if it met you out here in the wilderness?"

Jadis' green eyes narrowed slightly, bringing more attention to the ever so light snowflakes on her temples. "I shoot it." Truthfully though, she didn't think Jack Claus would do her any harm. If she had, he would have colored the snow outside and not in her home with her. "Neighbor is about five miles off and a cell phone doesn't have reception out here."

The blue suited man grumbled. "Great."

Jadis looked over his tie without a hint of guilt. "Anyway, it looks like we're stuck here for a bit until the telephone company fixes their shit." She stood. "Care for hot cider, hot chocolate, tea, coffee…booze?" She half-joked at the end.

Jack rest his elbow on the arm of the worn, but comfortable chair. "Only one?" He teased back with a grin. "Surprise me." As she walked to the kitchen, not far in the small house, he looked after her with a curious expression. Jadis…with the black hair, odd snowflakes, fascination with him, and kind hostess. Would she make a good wife? Well, she was certainly making her way up to the top five.

When she returned a few minutes later, she placed a warm cup in his hand and went to sit back in her chair. She noticed that he was further from the fire and, more so, that his hair hadn't changed despite the warmth. Wasn't he freezing cold after traveling a few miles outside? And only in that suit of his, no jacket! Something was off, but she couldn't figure what.

When Jack took a sip after watching her down a gulp, he raised a brow. "Spiked cider?"

"Just a bit of rum. It gives the illusion of warmth, tastes pretty good, and is usually in stock here." Pause. "Can't have the rum being gone." She shrugged before sitting back in her chair. "You seemed more of a rum and cider guy than Bailey's and chocolate. This has more spices than sweetness to it."

Jack smiled slowly. Spices. How accurate, he thought. "You thought right." He took a bigger drink this time. "Is this how we'll spend the rest of the day, until the phone is fixed?"

"It'll help pass the time until dinner." Jadis shrugged, stretching her legs out to get her feet closer to the fire. Even with two pairs of wool socks, the cold was numbing. "I figure it would give you a good break to warm and recover from your trek." She sipped from her mug. "Although it looks like your hair is forever petrified."

"Hm?" Jack blinked before catching on. "Ah, yes, my hair. It's freeze-dried…all the rage in…New York." He mumbled into the mug as he drank. "What about yourself?" He asked to divert her suspicions. "Do my eyes deceive me or are those snowflakes on either side of your eyes?"

Jadis grinned and reached up to touch her temples. "I had just turned eighteen when I decided to get a tattoo or two. Everyone kept telling me to make sure it was something I wouldn't get sick of looking at a year later, to make it count. So I got them where I couldn't see them." She laughed.

Jack mirrored her smile, a softer chuckle leaving him. "But why snowflakes? Any…significance?" As if he hadn't heard her talking to 'him' earlier. His ego just wanted to be stroked and he felt no shame in fishing for compliments.

A charming blush came across her cheeks. "Oh, well, erm. Yes, they…I…" she paused but at seeing the man wasn't going to relent, she sighed sharply. "Alright, fine. I got them because ever since I was a kid, I've been fascinated with Jack Frost. You know, the legend of the winter prick who likes to play jokes on people and…evidently take down phone lines and heaters?" She shrugged with a grin.

"I've heard of him." Jack said with a wide grin. Ah, she knew him well then. At least, she knew him well by legend. "What's so…amazing about him? Isn't he just another old guy, like Father Winter?" How most people, of those few who heard of him, thought of him. A branch off of another legend, always in someone's shadow and never standing tall by himself.

Jadis drank before answering. "Nah. I mean, he may be old in appearance, but he's a child at heart. Pranks, simplicity, pleasures…that's Frost. That's part of the reason why I so adore him. Plus, truthfully…he gets to make beautiful things from a bit of cold and water. He's an artist."

An artist? Him? Jack nearly purred at the compliment. "I see. I think they look good, the snowflakes."

Jadis smiled a bit, nodding to acknowledge his words. After draining her mug, she stood. It crossed her mind briefly at how at ease she was with this man so far – perhaps it was the rum. Yes, it had to be the rum. "Enough of that, I'm bored. I've got an extra jacket if you want." Pause. "Care to build a snowman?"