A/N: Wow, is this title misleading or what? I typed this up randomly at school, so no songs were used to inspire me this time around. Eventually I'll come back and revise these chapters someday, maybe even make them longer, but probably not until I wrap it up.
The little main room of the cottage is warm, despite the chill in the air outside. Over the fireplace a pot with the lid is humming, and the delicious smell of a beef stew is humming inside, placed a thirty minutes or so there to cook when Gloria had last stopped by her home. As Jack stepped into the cottage with a look on his face, as he had not expected a welcome inside, his eyes took in the comfortable look of the home. An arm chair sat near the fire, and to his left, but a step down, there was a small kitchen with a stone floor. A ladder led up to a landing on the other side of the cottage, and there he could make out a shape of a bed and a few shelves, while a tall book shelf rested beneath its floor. A door on the right wall led to another room of the house, and mostly it was dark inside its walls, save for the flickering of fire light and the glow in his host's eyes. The feel of the cottage was nothing like the busyness of North's workshop, which was somewhat homey but a little too full of Christmas joy for his tastes, nor was it decked in darkness and containing a sort of chill of Pitch's domain. Instead the darkness only made him aware of the weariness trying to take hold of him even then, and he saw that this was not the haven of an ever busy immortal, but one of a human being that had managed to find a place called home.
Gloria watched as Jack stepped into her abode, closing the door behind him and hanging her cloak up on a hook on the wall. Having Jack in her home brought about a feeling of nakedness that was less to do with her mishap earlier, and more to do with the fact that it had been quiet some time since there had been anything resembling another human being stepping into her territory.
"Nice place you have here," her guest said, his back towards her as he wondered over to her arm chair. Gloria said her thanks, somehow managing to seem calm despite how her nerves jumped under her skin. Placing a kettle on the stove, she asked if he wanted tea or hot chocolate and was turned down, but he immediately perked up when she held open the lid of her cooking pot and the delicious smells of beef and vegetables wafted out, making her taste buds run wild as well. As the two found seats on the cobble stone floor before the fireplace, and their hands full of a warm bowl and a spoon apiece, Jack Frost questions returned and she found that she had no other way to be rid of them other than answering them in full.
"So, who are you, anyways? How long have you been living near Burgess? Why haven't I seen you? And what happened with Sophie, anyways?" Jack asked all of these, but Gloria didn't interrupt, completely fine with all the questions he posed, as if she had done this a million times before with someone else.
Still, she looked down at her bowl when she answered; paying more attention to the beast within her that whined for a taste of the meat she saw in the soup rather than Jack's shining eyes. "My name is Gloria. I've lived in this forest for as long as I can possibly remember. I keep out of the business of humans and even my kind, but when things happen, like that little girl getting lost in my forest, I help when I can." She finally raised her face, shrugging as quietly as she had spoken, "And that's all there is to it." Gloria finally gave into her desires and began to eat, resisting the urge to lick her spoon clean after every mouthful.
"Gloria…" Jack spoke, and she hesitated with a full mouth, somewhat liking the way her name flowed off his tongue like silk. A hard swallow later and she found herself looking away again. It had been awhile since the last time her name had been spoken by anyone, and she really thought that she had to start spending more time with other people if she was going to keep acting the way she did around Jack!
"How long has it been since…ya' know?" Jack asked, and Gloria automatically knew what he meant.
She thought for a moment, mulling over the days in her head. "A hundred or so years, maybe three?"
His salt and pepper eye brows flew up at this, and he put aside his bowl, his hunger forgotten, "Really? If you woke up here and it's been that long then maybe we knew each other! Maybe we both changed at the same time!" Jack Frost sat up, brining himself close to her like he had hours before, and just like before she felt her jumpiness return. Yet his words made her wonder, and thoughts of what could have been filled her mind.
"Do you remember anything? Anything from before when you were a kid?" Jack saw the way he golden eyes looked away with his, and momentarily he was distracted by the way they burned. But as he watched they began to grow tarnished, and a frown formed on her face. He backed away a bit, caught off by the way her expression became shadowed, and then by the sound of her voice.
"I…I don't remember very much," Gloria began. "When I first woke up, I actually didn't remember anything at all. Eventually I knew my name, and then a few things came back to me, but…"
Gloria recalled these things, feeling a sense of sadness and regret, feelings from another life she could barely remember. She had died, she had known that much, but something had happened before hand, something terrible that made her heart ache. A small voice in the recesses of her memory remained, along the smell of baked bread, an image of a dog near her fireplace, and the feel of a man's stubble on her forehead. Something was burning, and although she didn't know what had caused the fire, she knew what was being turned to ash. After all, its remains stood all around her.
"My home, this home, it's made up of the structure that I found when I woke up. I was so confused at the time, that I left it for a while, but when I came back, I used it to build this cottage over time." Gloria failed to see the light that had left Jack's eyes as he took in her words, as she was far too distracted with her own thoughts. "I don't know what happened, but I think that it was my home once, but I couldn't rebuild on the damaged soil, I didn't want to. I don't remember much, but when I do, it's in my dreams. I had a family once, but they're long gone."
Her eyes drifted upwards and she looked at Jack. His once boyish and happy grin was replaced with a saddened frown, and regret swam in his eyes. He looked like he felt terrible for what she had taken the time to admit, and she was struck with how empathetic he seemed. She had just met the boy, and yet he cared more about what had happened to her then she would have ever thought possible in that moment.
"I had a sister once, and a mother." Jack said, and she listened. Jack told her about his trip to the small pool of water outside of Burgess. His sister had been with him, and he had promised that he would teach her to skate on the ice. His lesson had gone sour though when the previously safe looking ice of the water cracked, and suddenly his one priority had been getting his little sister to safety. He had made a game of it, trying to scare away her fears when his heart thundered in his chest and her teeth chattered in the cold. Taking up what would become his staff later on, he had managed to swing her over to a safe area on the ice, but at the cost of his own life, as the thin ice gave way under his bare feet and he had been plunged into a cold, inky darkness. Gloria was amazed by how he had managed to pull this off and save his sister, and he had tried to make it fun while he did so! Somehow in the short time that she had known Jack, this seemed very much in character of him, and she wished then that his smile would return again.
Her gaze fell to his lips, and it was then that she realized how close they were sitting to one another. Jack had left his spot that he had taken in front of the fire, his back against her arm chair, and instead he was sitting directly in front of her with his bare feet touching hers. During their talk, it had been impossible to tell how oddly close they had become, but in that moment it became very real, and a thought slipped into her mind when she looked back up into his eyes: three hundred and so years of life, and not once had she been kissed.
Kissing was an intimate thing between two people, a thing that animals and trees had no place in nor ever would in Gloria's mind, but as for Jack…
Somehow Jack Frost's eyes cleared and shined in curiosity, and the idea that maybe he had been thinking the same thing scared the daylights out of Gloria. She flinched back, jumping to her feet and swiftly moving over to her kitchen. Frost blinked; startled by her sudden departure. He wasn't really sure as to what happened. One second they had been talking, in the next they had been looking into each other's eyes, and then suddenly she was across the room, placing her bowl in a sink and nowhere close to touching him.
Gloria turned around, speaking to her guest and trying to remain calm, "It's grown late, so maybe you could stay the night and-"
His eye brows flew up for the second time that night and she quickly back tracked.
"-I mean, I have a pare bed in the loft and you have to be tired and I don't know how far your home may be but you can stay as long as you like—"
A smile began to slide onto his face, and as Gloria noticed it she put her hands together and began to fiddle with her fingers. "-Not that you don't have things to do, but you have to be tired because I'm tired and I really, really don't mind if you stay." She finally finished, silently cursing and at the same time questioning how amused her looked at her distress.
Jack Frost stood up, taking his staff and walking up to her with his empty bowl, "I don't mind at all." Jack handed over his bowl and she took it quickly, glancing away from his face but looking back a second later.
"Good. Well, there are blankets and a pillow already up there and waiting." These words were less rushed then her last ones, and she was grateful to find that she was calming down, despite how close he had become once again.
"Thanks," he merely replied, and walked over to the ladder, giving her a glance over his shoulder before ascending to the loft.
Gloria hurried up with washing the bowls and mostly dousing the fire, and soon she was in the doorway of her room and looking towards the landing. Surprisingly she found Jack watching her, and butterflies filled her stomach. Goodnight, Jack." She called to him.
"Goodnight, Gloria." He replied, his hand propping up his chin as he lay on his stomach and watched her, still smiling. She nodded awkwardly and finally stepped into her room, closing her door behind her back as she went.
As she stumbled into bed, oddly ignorant of the corners and whatnot of the furniture in the small room she had occupied for so long, her thoughts were muddled. Welcome of her pillow and her soft blankets, she snuggled in and tried to forget about the shining blue eyes of the boy in the next room. She failed miserably, of course, and would stay up for a while before falling asleep.
Jack Frost changed positions in his own bed, rolling over and tucking his arms behind his bed. Thoughts of the night flew through his mind and he smiled eager for the day to come. Jack Frost had a feeling that spending time with the immortal girl was bound to be fun.