Jack looked like shit.
He knew it, North knew it, everyone who passed by him on the streets knew it. Before, he never really felt self-conscious about it, thinking he'd rather look and smell like a rotten sandwich than to starve. That changed in the past twenty minutes, for when they finally pulled over to a fairly large mansion, Jack suddenly became very aware of the fact that he hadn't showered in a rather long time. How did North not gag, Jack couldn't figure out.
Stepping out of the car, Jack finally got a good look at the orphanage, or rather, the North Pole Orphan Home. For some strange reason, Jack used to think that orphanages looked like juvenile detention centers or even prisons – buildings with no life, lacking warmth and comfort. North's orphanage was the exact opposite of that. It was obvious that the building wasn't built with the intention of housing dozens of children. Rather, it looked as if it were a former mansion turned orphanage instead, looking large, intimidating, yet warm.
Jack could imagine seeing this place as a home, and the thought made him shiver. North seemed to mistake his shiver of fear for one of cold.
„Let's get you inside, yes?" They walked towards the front door, with North continuing his monologue, „I will show you your room, you can take shower... or three... and then, I will introduce you to the gang!"
„The gang?" asked a very confused Jack.
North turned around and gave him a big, wide smile. „I can't handle fifty children on my own! We have employees and volunteers, people who help. But yes, we also try to encourage the teenagers to help the younger children."
Jack smiled a little, North's mood a tiny bit infectious. „Isn't fifty a bit too small for an orphanage?"
North grinned. „Very smart, Jackson, very smart. Yes. I will explain later. For now, let's just say that it is, for a government institution. However," he continued, his accent becoming more pronounced with each word, „this orphanage is privately owned and run."
„By you?"
North nodded. „And a... second party, yes."
And with that, he turned around and opened the door. Jack stood frozen in place, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.
He couldn't do this. He couldn't.
Could he?
After nearly half a year of living on the streets, without home. After nearly two years of having no family, no one to rely on but himself. Could he actually be able to have something nice?
Not a family. Definitely not. He would never have that again.
But.. maybe, just maybe, he could have a home.
„Are you coming, Jackson?" asked North, his eyes kind.
Jack released a shaky breath and straightened his back. With a false sense of confidence, he walked in, letting the warmth envelop him, to nearly overwhelm him. He shut his eyes tight, and when he opened them again, North was looking at him with a small smile on his face.
„Let me show you your room."
They walked upstairs and stopped by the second door. North gently knocked on it, waiting a few seconds before opening it and stepping inside, with Jack on his heels.
„Sandy? I'd like you to meet your new roommate. This is Jackson," North said. Jack stood beside North and looked at his future roommate – a short, plump blond boy who looked to be a few years older than him. A man, then, rather than a boy. Sandy waved, and Jack waved back.
„Sandy is mute," North explained, „but not deaf. You can talk to him, and he can talk back by writing or ASL, or anything in between. Now, I believe I should show you the showers... I will take your clothes to the.. uh.. laundry room?"
North looked at Sandy for confirmation. Sandy nodded. „Yes, laundry room, that's the word. We have some spare clothes that should fit you. Do you want me to throw your hoodie out?"
„No," Jack answered immediately, clutching the hoodie tight. „N-No."
„Okie," answered North, unbothered.
After showing Jack the bathroom on their floor, North left him by himself, and boy, was he glad for it. Jack looked at himself, sans clothes, for the first time in a long time, and barely recognized himself. His ribs were clearly visible, dark bruises and smoke remnants covered his sickly pale skin. His cheeks looked a little hollow, the skin paper-thin.
„I used to be hot," he muttered. „The fuck happened? Oh, right."
Jack chuckled a little to himself. He sniffed his armpits and recoiled. „Jesus on a horse. God, I don't know what's worse. The state of my hair, the fact that I stink like a sewer, or that I'm actually talking to myself."
Jack decided not to dwell on it. Instead, he stripped himself down completely and hopped in the shower, the feeling of hot water on his skin borderline orgasmic. He groaned, letting his stiff, overworked muscles relax for the first time in months. Grabbing a bar of soap, he scrubbed himself down, dirt and grime coming off him in waves, ever so slowly beginning to feel clean and human. He had to wash his hair three times to get rid of all the grime and oil, but God, it felt satisfying.
Once he got out, Jack looked at himself once again – his skin was still on the unhealthy side of pale, and he still had deep bags under his eyes. But his hair looked soft and silver again. He looked clean and fresh.
Jack grinned.
Twenty minutes later, dressed in a pair of sweatpants a tad too big for him, and a t-shirt that probably belonged to a girl half his size, Jack was introduced to the rest of the staff.
Or, North attempted to introduce him to the rest of the staff, for before he had the chance to do it, a small torpedo barrelled into him, nearly knocking Jack off his feet.
„You're here! I can't believe it! You're actually here!" yelled the boy-shaped torpedo Jack immediately recognized as Jamie.
Hesitantly, Jack hugged him back. „Yeah, kiddo. I'm here. How are you doin'?"
Jamie looked up at Jack and gave him a toothy smile. „Miss my parents a whole lot! But there's so many nice people here! I made so many friends, told them all about you!"
Jack smiled a little, seeing himself in the kid more as each second passed. He hoped the kid wouldn't lose the innocence, the enthusiasm, the ability to see joy in all situations.
„I admire you, kid," said Jack quietly, „you're a lot braver than I am."
Jamie beamed at him, and Jack smiled back, ruffling his hair. It was only when someone cleared their throat, did the two of them notice they weren't alone in the room. Looking around, Jack saw what he guessed was the rest of the staff looking him. Jamie squeaked a little and skittered away, while Jack blushed sheepishly and ran his hands through his hair.
Awkwardly, he waved, „Hi. I'm Jack."
The awkwardness was quickly broken by a girl a few years older than him, who rushed over to Jack and hugged him. Jack, stunned, didn't hug her back. The girl let go a second later and introduced herself, „Welcome, Jack! It's to nice to meet you! I'm Toothiana, my parents had a weird sense of humor, but you can call me Tooth! Everyone here does it! I work here as a teacher slash caretaker."
She had to take a deep breath after the ramble of an introduction. Jack's lips quirked up slightly, „It's nice to meet you, too, Tooth."
„Aww, aren't you just the cutest thing!" She pinched his cheeks. Apparently, she was the mother hen type of friend. The bubbly mother.
„You've met Sandy, I believe?" Jack nodded, and Tooth continued, „Good! This is Aster, our resident cook!"
Slightly leaning towards Jack, she whispered, „He's Australian."
„Heard that," said Aster, who looked rather intimidating with his arms crossed.
„Nice to meet you, Aster," said Jack.
„Whatever, mate. Just don't get in my way, a'ight?" he grumbled, turning around and walking away. Jack shot a questioning glance at Tooth.
„Oh, don't mind him. It takes a while for him to warm up to new people," she explained.
„This is an orphanage."
Tooth sighed, „Yep."
„I have questions."
„Shoot," said Tooth.
„So, there's only five of us here?" asked Jack. „North, you, Sandy, Aster, and me?"
Tooth looked at him and smiled. „Yes, we are the full time staff. But we also have lots of volunteers that are here basically every day. You'll get to meet some of them tomorrow tomorrow."
There was a mischievous glint in Tooth's eyes. Jack decided to ignore it.
„What do they do?"
„They usually just spend time with the kids, take them out, play games. There's more than fifty children here right now, Jack, and there is only four of us. Well, five, now," she grinned.
„You're the teacher. Aster's the cook. North's the one running it all. What does Sandy do?"
„He's our guidance counselor, I guess? He is a psychologist by degree, and trust me, he's a good one. There's lots of stuff going on in that quiet brain of his."
„Okay, last question.. for now."
„Shoot."
„What will I be doing?"
At this, Tooth stopped and grinned, „You will be our Jack of All Trades."
„That was the worst pun I've ever heard."
„Thank you."
„I brought you some clothes that will definitely fit you this time," greeted North, carrying two bags.
„Why are you so nice to me?" asked Jack.
„Because you deserve some light in your life."
Most of the people in the orphanage left Jack to his own devices for the day, deciding to let him settle in at first. Jack's first day of work would start tomorrow.
Jack was lying on the bed – his bed, he still couldn't believe it – staring at the ceiling with his hands behind his head. His smile turned to a frown when he realized he'd need to ask North to help him acquire an ID, as his had been lost along with his stolen wallet some months ago. Jack still felt bad about that one, letting himself be so stupid as to actually leave it unguarded. He couldn't believe he had been so obtuse, once. Not that long ago, really.
Jack was abruptly pulled out of his musings by a paper ball hitting him in the cheek. Startled, he looked at Sandy, who only gave him a shit-eating grin and motioned at the paper. Jack straightened the mess of a ball, realizing it actually had words on it.
Dinner's in half an hour.
What are your plans for tomorrow, as your first day?
-Sandy
Jack gently crumpled the paper into its former position and put it on his nightstand. Looking at Sandy, he answered his questions, „Helping Tooth with her classes, apparently. Something like an assistant? I don't know. But first, I'll apparently have to sign some papers for North, so that I can.. you know.. like, actually work and live here. I don't know, I'll have to ask him to help me set up stuff? Could I actually ask that of him? He's already done too much for me and he doesn't even know me, for fuck's sake."
Sandy watched him with an understanding expression, and Jack immediately remembered his roommate's background. „And yeah, I'm starving. Thanks for the heads up, Sandy."
Sandy smiled at Jack, his gaze approval. Jack felt slightly validated at that, for some strange reason.
The dinner, to Jack's surprise, wasn't as loud and crowded as he thought he would. Honestly, what had he been thinking? Fifty children and five adults eating at the same time? In hindsight, it was obvious that dinner was separated into groups. Right now, Jack was in the second group, the first one having had dinner half an hour ago.
He and Aster might not see eye-to-eye, based on their introduction, but damn, the man could cook. Jack felt as if he was on cloud nine, the food was so delicious. He hadn't had a warm meal in months, maybe even more. It was heaven, and Jack was sure he'd groaned after the first bite, making the rest of the table laugh.
The atmosphere was very friendly, Tooth as bubbly and cheery as always, talking to some of the older kids who dined with them. One kid in particular, a quarterback-size boy named Kristoff, caught his eye. Kristoff joked around with the rest of the table in a similar way Jack used to do with his family.
The small smile on his face turned into a frown. Luckily, no one noticed.
Unluckily, Kristoff seemed to notice him in general, and while he was nice and all, the boy had no tact whatsoever. „Hey, Jack, what's with the dots on your forearms?"
Jack froze, his eyes widening. Casting a look at his arm, he realized that halfway through dinner, he'd taken off his hoodie, leaving him in a short-sleeved t-shirt. Hastily, Jack grabbed the hoodie and put it on.
„Nothing for you to worry about, Kris," he answered coolly.
Kristoff raised his arms in apology, immediately changing the subject. He didn't miss the surprised look Tooth shot him. He was just lucky North wasn't here with them, elsewise he wouldn't know what to do. The rest of the dinner passed in awkward tension, at least for Jack.
A few hours later, just before Jack wanted to turn in for the night, Kristoff approached him and apologized. Jack forgave him immediately and clapped him on the shoulder, seeing the relief in the other boy's eyes.
Later that night, Jack closed his eyes, feeling safe for the first time in forever.
The next day, or at least the first half of it, was a blur to Jack. Sandy and North woke him up fairly early, but Jack, being used to getting up despite being dead tired, persevered without any issues. The day consisted of him signing lots of papers, such as filing out his permanent residence and his contract for a full-time job with the orphanage, which he had read thoroughly. He trusted North as far as he trusted anyone, but he wasn't stupid. He and North also went to the DMV, but not before North had asked him whether he knew his Social Security Number and if he had a driver's license.
Because Jack's mother was a tiny bit paranoid, Jack could rattle off his Social Security Number in his sleep. And luckily for him, he also had a driver's license.
The process was slightly tedious, the waiting atrocious, and the lady at the front desk fairly rude. Nevertheless, by three in the afternoon, Jack and North found themselves on the orphanage grounds once again, with Jack going off to help Tooth with her last lesson of the day.
Suffice to say, it went quite well, even though Jack felt anxious throughout the whole thing. While he was good with kids, he wasn't sure he was really good with teenagers, which most of the late-afternoon class consisted of. One could barely call it a class, it was mostly them sitting in a circle and talking, discussing Shakespearean literature and, for some strange reason, featherless bipeds. Jack understood the philosophy reference immediately, Tooth laughed along, while the kid who made the reference grinned.
„Nerd," teased Tooth, her voice affectionate.
The kid grinned wider.
The class ended with Tooth patting Jack on the shoulder and congratulating him on a job well done, despite him not really having done anything. Jack spent the next few hours playing board games with some of the younger children, including Jamie, who loved destroying Jack at Uno.
They were in the middle of their fourth game, with Jack losing spectacularly, when North joined them.
„I will take over, Jackson. There is a couple of volunteers I would like you to meet some our most.. how you say.. frequent volunteers. They come here a few times a week, and I think you should get to know them a little, yes?"
Jack nodded, „Where are they?"
„Right now? The main hall. Chop chop, Jackson!"
„Anna, Elsa, Hiccup, there's someone I'd like you to meet," grinned Tooth. Elsa quirked an eyebrow at the girl, her curiosity peaked. Tooth, in all her hyperactive glory, was rarely this excited about the prospect of introducing them to a new kid.
Elsa first heard him before she saw him, and when she finally got a look at him, her eyes slightly widened. She blushed and turned her gaze away immediately, strangely shy around the handsome stranger.
„You're an adult woman, Elsa. Can't get distracted by a pretty face," she muttered to herself. Anna shot her an amused look, also obviously noticing the boy's looks, yet not affected by him in the least.
„Guys, this is Jack! Jack Ove-" the boy interrupted her, his voice rather deep.
„Frost. You can call me Jack Frost."
Tooth shot him a surprised look, he just shrugged. The boy, Jack, then turned to look at them, assessing them. Most people wouldn't notice, but Elsa saw through him in an instant. He was guarded, his body language coming off as tense and uncomfortable.
Was it because he was meeting new people or was it because he didn't trust anyone in general?
Elsa was intrigued, now. However, before she had a chance to offer him a handshake, Hiccup grinned and went in for a fist bump.
„Yo, I'm Hiccup! Nice to meet you!" he grinned.
The boy, Jack, startled. Elsa watched him with careful eyes, noticing the way he flinched slightly at Hiccup's enthusiasm. However, in the span of a second, the Jack smiled back, the smile small yet genuine, as far as Elsa could see.
„Jack," he said, fist bumping him.
Her sister introduced herself next. „I'm Anna! Oh my gosh, it's so nice to meet you! Are you a new kid?"
Elsa's eyes widened a tiny bit at the honest question. Jack, however, answered without hesitation, „A new employee, actually. Nice to meet you, Anna."
He looked at Elsa, then, not saying anything. Offering him her hand, she said, „I'm Elsa, Anna's older sister."
Anna rolled her eyes. „Always have to mention she's older, SMH."
„Did you just...?"
Anna nodded, grinning. „Yep."
Jack seemed too amused for his own good. „Nice to meet you, Elsa," he said, his voice a tiny bit softer than around the other two. Jack accepted the handshake.
His hand was warm and fairly calloused. It fit hers perfectly.
„Now, let's get this show on the road, shall we?" grinned Tooth, clapping her hands together.
„Aye, aye, Cap'n!" saluted Hiccup.
Jack grinned.
guess whos back, back again
pls review im lonely asf