A/N: Hi, guys! Tumblr user serchooke suggested "a Winterhunt that started after defeating Automotones in the Copper Year. After that battle, Jasper and Call will realize that they liked each other...and things between the boys will become really awkward. If you can, put some cute and fluffy moments between them." And thus, this fic was born. Not gonna lie, I tweaked some things and had trouble with a point or two, but I hope serchooke and my fellow Winterhunt shippers will like it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go back to the dozen WIPs sitting in my pen drive. *laughs nervously as she hops into WIP hole*

Spoiler alert for "The Copper Gauntlet".

I also published this fic on AO3 (username: MidnightHalo27)

Disclaimer: The Magisterium book series belongs to Cassandra Clare and Holly Black, not me.

I hope you like it! Reviews, kudos, etc are awesome! Constructive criticism is very welcome, but flames will be used to roast marshmallows.

With a Little Help From My Friends

by: GakuenAlicefan27

Call hadn't meant to do it.

He really, really hadn't meant to do it; but he'd seen Celia's face getting closer by the second, and before he knew it he'd already blurted out:

"I like someone else!"

Which had stopped Celia right quick, but had also been an unfortunately loud statement.

He risked a glance around, hoping against hope that the overall noise of the party had been louder than his voice.

The first person he saw was Aaron, staring wide-eyed at him; then Tamara, who looked like she was gonna die from the second-hand embarrassment of it all. Beside them, Alex Strike was making a face that suggested Call could have handled that better, but nobody else was looking at him.

Call let out a relieved breath. It could have been worse, he supposed. Jasper could have –

And that, of course, was the moment his gaze went past a flustered Celia and found Jasper, standing to the left and looking at him with a constipated expression.

He felt the blood drain from his face. "I have to go." He said, to no one in particular, and all but ran out of there.

~x~

Tamara knocked on his door some twenty minutes later.

"Hello." She said, cautiously poking her head in. "Can I come in?"

"Yes." Call groaned into his pillow.

She hopped into the bed and patted him on the shoulder, as if to say there, there, the acutely embarrassing situation is over.

"Do you want to talk about what just happened?" She asked.

Call made a long-suffering noise. "I panicked. Please, take pity and leave me here to die."

"Nah." She lied down next to him. "We didn't survive Master Joseph just so you could die now."

"My life is such a joke that I might as well."

"It wasn't that bad."

"Yes, it was. You should have seen his face, it was…"

"His face?" Tamara frowned. "I thought you were worried about Celia?"

Call's face flushed. Right. Celia. Dear God, he hadn't even stopped to think about how she might feel about his running away. "You don't think she's very angry, do you?"

"At you? No. She seemed very mad at herself, though." Tamara cocked her head at him. "But don't change the topic. What did you mean by his face?"

Call grabbed a pillow and covered his head with it. "Nothing."

He waited for her to say something, but she didn't. He waited a little more, but she still didn't say anything, so Call peeked from beneath the pillow and saw that she was fiddling with a loose linen on the bedcover.

She saw him looking and stopped. "What?"

"Aren't you gonna say anything?"

"Do you want me to?" She asked. "Because you sounded really uncomfortable right now, and I don't want to pry and make things worse. We can just lie here in silence, or talk about something else." She looked at him. "Or I can leave, if you'd rather be alone?"

Call thought about it. He didn't really want to be alone, he realized. But he was glad Tamara had asked.

He wondered what she'd say if she knew what was making him so upset. He didn't think she'd be mean, but she might look at him with pity, and that was not something he thought he could stand.

He closed his eyes. "I need time to think." He said. "But stay."

"Okay."

He considered remaining silent. He had, after all, told her about his suspicions that his father had stolen the Alkahest and that hadn't ended well.

But then again, now she knew his worst secret, and she hadn't told the Assembly, nor did she seem afraid to lie side by side with someone who used to be The Enemy of Death.

He thought of what he could tell her: how to begin and when to stop, and decided to take the chance and be honest.

He opened his eyes and cleared his throat. She looked at him.

"When I told Celia that I liked someone else, the boy I like ended up overhearing."

Tamara looked pensive. "And you think he knew you were talking about him?"

Call shrugged. "I don't know. Probably not, now that I think about it."

"Then what is the problem?"

"He looked…disgusted, to say the least; like he couldn't believe someone like me had the guts to be interest in someone, which made me remember how much he hates me, and I just had to get away."

Tamara stiffened. He knew, at that moment, that she had figured it out.

"You mean…?"

"Yup."

"Oh." She looked kind of stunned, as if of all the things she'd been expecting, this had been the last, or hadn't even made the list. "What are you gonna do about it?

"Ignore it like a pro."

"Call."

"What?" He looked at Tamara. "What else am I supposed to do? He's still a jerk most of the time, and he detests me."

"He doesn't detest you."

"Yes, he does. He'll resent me forever for getting into Master Rufus' group. And for existing. He seems really offended by the fact that I exist." He avoided Tamara's eyes. "Remember how he acted when we found out there were only two mattresses in the barn? How quick he was to say that he wouldn't share a bed with me?"

Tamara supported herself on one elbow to take a good look at him. "He probably just said it to be annoying."

Call huffed. "Well, he got the point across."

She studied him for a moment. He didn't like it; it made him feel exposed and vulnerable.

"Crap." She said. "You really like him."

"Don't say that."

"But you do." She insisted, moving to sit with her legs crossed. "I have to admit, I'm surprised." She said, and then suddenly frowned.

"What?"

"Just to make sure, are you only upset that it's Jasper, specifically, or is there something else?"

"Something else?" He echoed.

"Like, the fact that it's a boy."

"Nope." Call said. "Bisexual and proud."

"Cool." Tamara said, leaning into the headboard of the bed. "So. Jasper."

"Jasper." He deadpanned.

"When did this happen?"

"On first year. Kinda." He made a face. "I think it began after he saved me from drowning, but then he went back to being a jerk and I sort of forgot about it."

Tamara raised an eyebrow. "Forgot about it?"

"It wasn't really a proper crush, just a tiny one. It was easy to push aside."

"What changed?"

He groaned. "That infernal road trip."

Tamara considered it. "You mean, being so close to him for more than a few hours at a time?"

"That too." Call sighed, lying on his back and covering his eyes with his arm. "But I was thinking more about when Automotones attacked."

"Really?" She said, and stopped for a minute, probably thinking about the attack. "Why?"

"There was a moment when Jasper stayed behind." Call clarified. "He put up a firewall and ended up exhausting himself. Then I tried to get him to stand up but I didn't have enough strength, and I thought Automotones was going to kill us both right then and there." He shook his head to try and rid himself of the mental image. "I've thought a lot about that moment since then, and it made me remember that he'd saved me before, which in turn made me think of the crush that I had been so good at forgetting."

"Oh." Tamara said, quietly.

Call snorted. "Yeah, oh. And then he kept travelling with us instead of going back to the Magisterium, and when we came back he didn't tell the Assembly about me being Constantine." He sighed. "And now I can't forget about this damn crush. It's like an annoying bug that I can't swat away."

"But what else do you like about him? Other than the fact that he can be brave sometimes."

His smirk."I dunno." He felt his face heating up. His sense of humor, when it's not at someone's (my) expense. "I just do. I don't really understand it." The way his eyes light up when he laughs.

Tamara narrowed her eyes at him. "Unhumnnnnn."

"Oh well, it's not like it matters. He likes you anyways."

She opened her mouth to retort, then closed it, then opened it again. "He can like more than one person."

Call appreciated her honesty; really, he did. But it still stung. "And it's not gonna be me."

There was a knock on the door. Call sat up. "Come in."

"Hey, Call. Have you seen Tam – oh." Aaron said, popping his head in through the entrance. He looked at Call, then Tamara. "What are you doing?"

"Talking." Tamara said.

"About?"

"Boys." Call found himself saying.

Tamara looked at him with wide eyes.

Call was wide-eyed too. "I didn't mean to say that, I just panicked."

"Do you always tell the truth when you panic? We need to work on that like, ASAP." Tamara said.

"Boys?" Aaron repeated, blinking owlishly. "I like boys. Can I join?"

"Holy shit." Call whispered, softly.

Tamara beamed and looked at Call for permission. He nodded, still a little dazed, and she motioned for Aaron to hop on the bed. "The more the merrier."

~x~

Jasper was not having a good time.

But then again, neither was Celia.

"Oh, God, how am I ever gonna look Call in the eye again?" She said, covering her blotchy cheeks with her hands.

"Hey, it's okay." Gwenda said, laying a hand on her shoulder. "Call's not a mean guy. He's not gonna hold it against you or anything."

"I feel so stupid." Celia muttered.

"But you're not." Gwenda looked around. "Jasper, help me out here."

Jasper startled. He'd kind of hoped that the girls would overlook his presence and he'd be able to get a glass of water and go to sleep. If Nigel were there, at least he could divert their attention to him, but he was still out with Kai, which meant Jasper had no escape.

He liked Celia, she was a nice girl. But he really didn't want to be around her right now, not with how clear the image of her trying to kiss Call still was in his mind.

"You're not stupid." He managed to say, and looked down at his glass. "Gwenda is right. You shouldn't worry about it." Also, could you, I don't know, never again try to kiss the boy I kind of like a lot?

Gwenda gave him a thankful smile and Celia sniffed a bit.

"I should have known he liked someone else." Celia said, her shoulders hunched. "I bet it's Tamara. They're so close." She looked at Jasper. "Did you notice anything while you were travelling with them? Did something happen?"

Did something happen? Homicidal metal elementals, an impromptu car trip all the way to Maine, armies of chaos-ridden, Call being the Enemy of Death, almost dying a dozen times, what didn't happen?

He shrugged. "Nah, don't think so."

The doors opened then, and Nigel came in, humming a song under his breath. He stopped when he saw them all there in the living room.

"Hey!" He said, smiling and turning to Jasper. "Glad you made it back in one piece. Who would have thought you'd have done something like this?"

"Who indeed." Jasper said.

"I thought Master Milagros was gonna have kittens." Nigel continued, and then he took a better look at Celia and started fretting like the mother hen he was. "Oh my God, Celia, what's wrong? Are you feeling sick?"

Jasper took advantage of the distraction and sneaked to his room.

Crisis avoided. Now, he only had to deal with his own erratic thoughts.

~x~

The following morning, Call talked to Celia.

"Sorry for running away yesterday." He said.

He'd been worried Celia would be upset at him, but she just shook her head and gave him a small smile. "You don't need to apologize, Call. I shouldn't have tried to kiss you out of the blue, it was inconsiderate." She motioned to the spot next to her on the bench. "Now, how are things with you? Is your father well after everything that happened?"

Call smiled and sat down next to her.

Now, all he had to do was avoid interacting with Jasper for the foreseeable future. It was not, perhaps, the best course of action, but Call didn't trust himself otherwise.

~x~

Call didn't trust him.

Jasper knew that already, but having confirmation still hurt.

And it was confirmation, because why else would Call start acting wary around him after they returned from Maine? Why else would Call suddenly become quiet when Jasper came near? Why would Aaron and Tamara exchange knowing looks whenever that happened?

They didn't trust him, and that left a bitter taste in his mouth, but he couldn't find a way to change it.

That made him angry, irritable; it made him give Call the cold shoulder too.

~x~

Avoiding interacting with Jasper turned out to be easier than Call had thought it would be, because while they had bantered non-stop on the road, suddenly neither had anything to say in the presence of the other; and when they did, it was never anything positive or kind.

Sometimes, that made Call relieved; other times, he wondered if Jasper's brain had finally processed the fact that he was a mass-murderer.

It made sense.

It didn't hurt any less.

~x~

It took three months for things to come to a head.

The tension whenever Call and Jasper were together had gotten so palpable and uncomfortable that they'd taken to downright not being in the same room as each other, for their friends' sake. Most of the others took the hint and didn't do anything about it, but Tamara was not impressed at all.

Looking back on it, Call was somewhat glad that it had happened, because it had paved the way for them to go back to talking, but the actual moment of it wasn't pretty.

~x~

Call had been at the library, browsing through the shelves and having just picked out a book when Tamara and Jasper approached. Tamara, with a determined expression; Jasper, with a resigned one, as if he'd already tried to escape and been unsuccessful.

That was the first thing that annoyed Call.

"Hi, Call. Can we study with you?" Tamara asked, putting an emphasis on we and with a tone that dared him to refuse.

He tried anyway. "I – uh – was just about to head out." He pointed to the book he was holding.

"Pity." Jasper murmured, without even looking him in the eye.

That was the second thing that annoyed Call, and the thing that threatened to turn him from annoyed to angry.

Tamara huffed, dropping all pretense. "Oh, come on. What's with you two? We're friends."

"Are we?" Call asked, staring at Jasper.

At last, Jasper looked at him. For a fraction of a moment, he looked hesitant.

And then it was gone.

Jasper sneered. "Why would I want to be friends with a villain?"

And that was the third thing; the one that pushed him over the edge from annoyed to angry and all the way to furious in a second.

Because this is how it works: it doesn't matter how many mean, hurtful, or cruel things you say to someone; whatever you do, just don't accuse them of something they believe in. Nothing's gonna cut more.

That and, when you call someone a villain, they might decide to show you what that word means.

"Why would you want to anger one?" Call hissed, taking an unconscious step towards Jasper before his own words caught up to him and he balked in horror.

"Call," Tamara begun, but he was too busy shaking his head and trying to get rid of the pinpricks of chaos magic that had begun forming in the tips of his fingers.

He let the book fall and fled.

~x~

Tamara dragged Jasper out of the library and whirled in on him as soon as she found a secluded spot.

"What's your damage?!" She barked.

Jasper had the decency to flinch. "It just escaped."

"You're a piece of work." She spat.

"I have a lot on my mind, okay?"

"I don't buy it." Tamara crossed her arms. "You've been mean to Call since Iron Year, and you never say this kind of crap to other people. What's it about Call that makes you so nervous?"

Jasper averted his eyes. "He doesn't make me nervous."

"Ha. Nice try. I've known you since we were kids; you're always your meanest when you're nervous."

Jasper made a noise that he hoped sounded dismissive instead of panicky. He felt his face flushing. "I think you're seeing things."

"No, I don't think I am." She narrowed her eyes. "Why are you going red?"

"It's hot." He said, lamely.

"Jasper."

"I didn't mean it, okay?" He said, at last. "I didn't mean to make him so upset; I just can't control my mouth when I'm around him."

Tamara's eyes widened, and Jasper knew that he had said too much.

"You freaking idiot." She said.

He looked at the ground, cheeks aflame.

"Do you like him, yes or no?"

"I –" He begun, ready to say no, but then he realized Tamara wouldn't believe him anyway. "Yes." He admitted.

"Then let's make one thing clear." She took a step closer, looking very serious. "Pulling someone's pigtails may work in the movies and the books, but in real life? It's not cute." She shook her head. "It's awful, do you hear me? Call doesn't deserve that. No one does."

"I know that." He whispered.

"Then get your act together and stop being a jerk. You're pushing him away when you do that." She raised a finger and pointed at him in a menacing way. "And I mean that, regardless if you want to pursue a romantic relationship with him or not. That's just basic decency, Jasper."

His shoulders slumped. "I know. I don't want to hurt him. I swear I don't."

Tamara sighed. "Look, I'm not gonna talk about this to Call or anyone. Your feelings are your own to tell."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me for doing that. Once again, it's just basic decency." She ran a hand through one of her braids. "You're my friend, Jasper, but Call is too, and his self-esteem is low enough without you adding fuel to the fire."

"You don't think he really believed what I said, do you?"

Tamara gave him a pointed look. "He has an evil overlord list."

"What?"

"An evil overlord list. He doesn't even know I know about it, but he uses it to keep a tally on how evil he is."

Jasper blanched. "That's ridiculous."

"Yeah." She said. "It is." And left.

~x~

He found Call sitting by himself in a corner of the Gallery, looking so dejected it was a miracle other people weren't looking at him with concern.

Jasper felt his heart squeeze. "You did that, you idiot." He thought, as he cursed himself for the hundredth time.

He walked to Call, stopping just in front of him, and the other boy raised his head to stare at him, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

Jasper didn't know how to begin that talk, so he just thrust out the book he'd been carrying and said: "I have your book."

Call eyed it warily, as if he thought it might bite him. "It's a library book."

"And I checked it out for you. It's due back in a week."

"Thanks?" Call said, reaching for it at last.

"Can I sit here?"

"I guess."

Jasper plopped down next to him, feeling the tips of his ears burn when he realized how close they were.

He cleared his throat. "I came here to apologize."

"Huh." Call said. "Tamara ripped you a new one, didn't she?"

"I deserved it."

Call raised his eyebrows in surprise. "That must have been one hell of a dressing down."

"She didn't tell me anything I didn't already know." Jasper sighed. "But I guess I needed to hear it anyway."

Call tapped his fingers on the spine of the book. Technically, they weren't supposed to bring library books to the Gallery or Cafeteria, so Jasper hoped nobody reported them to a Master.

"You're not a villain."

Call huffed. "Sure. Perhaps you should revise your lessons on the last Mage War."

Jasper turned his head and looked straight into his eyes. "You don't need to tell me how horrible Constantine Madden was. I grew up around mages."

"Then you know I'm the bad guy."

"No." He clenched his jaw. "You were the bad guy. Now you are not. There's a difference."

"Constantine wasn't evil at my age either." Call retorted, stubbornly. "Maybe I'll become just like him in a few years, have you considered that?"

"You will not."

Call smiled sardonically. "How can you know?"

"Because you're sitting here right now, worrying about all of that."

Call looked the other way. "Did you even hear what I said to you at the library? Is that the kind of thing that a good person says?"

"You think biting back makes you a bad person? The world isn't black and white like that."

Call didn't respond, just crossed his arms and stared ahead. Jasper wondered how it was possible to want to strangle someone and run your hands through their hair at the same time.

"Look," He tried again. "The way I see it, wanting to bring his brother back from the dead was not what made Constantine evil. Nor was it wanting to defeat death. It was the road he took to do these things, and all the people he hurt and all the lives he destroyed; it was the fact that he was aware he was doing monstrous things, and every day he had the chance to turn his back on them, but he chose to keep doing them instead."

Call's head tilted minutely to the side, as if to indicate he was listening.

"It's about choice, and the fact that Constantine chose wrong and then kept choosing wrong. But this is your second chance, and it doesn't really matter if you have bad thoughts every once in a while, as long as you choose not to act on them."

"It can't be that simple." Call mutters.

"If someone you loved died, would you try to bring them back?"

Call looked at the ground. He thought for a while. "Probably."

"Even if it meant hurting an innocent person?"

"Of course not." He snapped.

Jasper smiled. "There you have it."

Call's face reddened, for what, Jasper didn't know. "I'd still have tried to mess with things I shouldn't though." He muttered. "Played God to get what I wanted."

Jasper hummed under his breath. "What if it was not you, then? Supposed you died," An icy feeling went down his spine. "And Aaron tried to bring you back. Would that make him a bad person?"

"No, but – "

"And the fact that he can have a nasty temper sometimes, and that when he gets angry, he gets really angry, does that make him a bad person?"

"No, but that's different."

"How so?"

"Because it is."

"Ah, yes. That makes sense."

"It makes sense to me, and to be honest, it's really strange that you're sitting here trying to convince me otherwise when you've been giving the impression that you would have loved to tattle me out to the Assembly. It's like I'm having some weird dream I'm gonna wake up from any moment now."

Jasper was quiet for a while, and Call thought that would be the end of the conversation for good, before he said:

"Is this why you've been avoiding me?"

"What?"

"You've been avoiding me." Jasper said, shrugging to try and make it seem as if it wasn't that big a deal to him. "Aaron and Tamara too, to an extent. Well, they haven't been avoiding me exactly, but walking on eggshells around me." He frowned a little. "Is that because you think I want to tattle you to the Assembly? Because I don't."

"No." Call said, because he didn't like the way Jasper's voice had slightly wavered at the last sentence. "It's not that at all. It's just –" That I told them I like you and they suck at hiding it. "It's just that we're still on edge after the whole Maine thing. I'm sorry if that's been bothering you, I didn't notice."

Jasper's eyes narrowed.

"It's nothing bad about you, I swear." Call said, hoping that somehow his tone of voice would convey he was being truthful.

Jasper thought about it for a moment, then nodded.

Rafe came up to them then, interrupting their conversation, but both felt like something had shifted that night.

~x~

Telling Aaron about his crush on Jasper was a mistake. Like, at least an eight in the Richter Scale of Mistakes.

Not that Aaron reacted badly or anything (he did gape like a fish for a good forty seconds, but Call couldn't blame him), it was just that, now that he knew, and Call and Jasper had switched from open animosity to painful awkwardness, he'd taken it upon himself to give "helpful nudges", like including Jasper in all of their conversations, or arranging it so that Call and Jasper were nearly always sitting side by side.

And he wasn't subtle about it.

At all.

"Hey, Jasper!" Aaron yelled, loud enough Call wondered if his father had heard it all the way in North Carolina. "There's a seat here!" He pointed wildly at the space next to Call.

"Kill me now, Tamara." Call said, fighting the urge to hide his head under the ground like an ostrich. "Please, I'm begging you."

"But then how else would I be entertained?" She asked.

Jasper walked to them and raised an eyebrow. "I get the feeling that this has been happening a lot lately."

"Really?" Aaron asked. "How fortuitous."

"Fortuitous." Call mouthed.

"Oh yeah," Tamara said, bringing a mushroom to her mouth. "Grade A entertainment."

Call groaned, then looked at Jasper and did a double-take.

"Jasper, why are you looking at me like a cross-eyed eagle?" He asked.

To which Jasper huffed, sat down, and muttered something that sounded like: "It's called The Smolder."

And Tamara choked on her mushroom.

~x~

"So," Tamara said, walking up to Jasper after dinner. "How's it going with your wooing?"

Jasper spluttered. "Wooing? Who says there's any wooing going on?"

"Oh, please, Jasper. The Smolder, really? That thing you invented when we were ten?"

"I'll have you know that it's always worked very well."

"Cross-eyed eagle."

"Except with Call!"

"Just be yourself. Spend time with him, test the waters."

Jasper looked at the ground. "I don't know why I'm even trying. He likes you anyway."

"Oh, for the sake of –"

"He does!"

"I have it on good authority that he does not."

"Well, he does like someone; that's what he told Celia. Knowing my luck, it's gonna be someone I can't compete with, like Aaron."

He shook his head, then waved good-bye and went to his chambers.

"Boys!" Tamara hissed. "Why are they like this?!"

~x~

"We're making ice cream!" Aaron said, sprouting up from behind Call and scaring the crap out of him.

"With what?" He asked, once his heart had gone back to beating normally.

"Snow, of course."

"Snow?" He repeated.

Aaron frowned. "Did you never make snow ice cream when you were a kid?"

"I can't say that I have."

"Well, you're about to get lucky then, because it's one of my favorite childhood recipes and I've been dying for some."

"We have ice cream in the Gallery."

Aaron looked like Call had just said a blasphemy.

"It's not the same!" He exclaimed. "Come on, Tamara's already waiting for us in our chambers.

Call thought of refusing, but that thought died a swift death when he saw the look of glee on Aaron's face.

He sighed. "Okay, but it better taste good."

~x~

Aaron had, of course, forgotten to tell Call that Tamara would be waiting for them with Jasper.

"Jasper, it's so good of you to come!" Aaron said. Call sent him a scathing look that he avoided by sticking his head inside the refrigerator to look for ingredients. On the counter, a bowl filled with snow and a glass of sugar were already waiting.

"Is this even safe?" Jasper asked, eyeing the bowl a little dubiously.

"It's snow." Call said.

"But is it clean snow? Did you get it after it had already fallen on the ground?"

"Jasper, stop criticizing my favorite childhood treat!" Aaron yelled, face still stuck inside the refrigerator.

"I made the snow using air and water magic." Tamara said.

"Uhm." Jasper said.

"Uhm? What does that mean?" Call mocked.

"It means that I'm questioning my life choices."

"It can't be worse than that time I stole a naked mole rat and ruined my town's parade." Call said, pouring a little bit of sugar on his hand and licking it.

For a moment, Jasper seemed to follow the movement, and Call immediately felt self-conscious, but then he caught on to what Call had said. "I'm sorry what?"

"What part didn't you understand?"

"Please tell me you just made that up to try and be funny." Jasper said, sounding exasperated, even though there was something in his eyes that looked almost fond.

"Uh, no." Call automatically said, still trying to figure out what that something could mean.

"Oh well." Aaron said, coming up to the counter. "I found some milk, but I guess it would have been too much to ask that I find vanilla extract as well."

"Just put everything in the bowl and mix it up. It has sugar, it can't go wrong." Call said.

~x~

"You jinxed it." Jasper said.

"Shut up, you're the only one who's complaining." Call accused, pointing his spoon at him.

"Take one look at Tamara and tell me she's liking this monstrosity, I dare you."

And indeed, while Call and Aaron were wolfing down their ice creams, Tamara had barely eaten two spoonfuls.

She made a face. "It's a little too sweet for me."

"A little? I got cavities just looking at the thing."

"Now, now, I confess I didn't remember exactly how much sugar I should put, but it can't have been that much more than the recipe asked for." Aaron said, in between bites.

"I think it's pretty good." Call said.

"You can take mine then." Jasper handed him his bowl.

"Gladly."

Jasper glared at him, but then their fingers brushed while holding the bowl and both averted their eyes.

Tamara cleared her throat. "Say, how about we try again, with less sugar this time?"

"There's no more sugar." Aaron said.

"Let's see if we can ask for some then." She said, getting up from the sofa. "Come on, Aaron."

"Wha – oh, okay!" Aaron beamed, and before Call could so much as blink they had booked it from the room, leaving him alone with Jasper.

"Traitors." He muttered.

~x~

"You what?" Tamara asked, after they had managed to make some decent ice cream and Jasper had already gone back to his chambers.

"Just stayed in total silence for the whole thirty minutes that you were gone." Call replied, and then glared at her. "Quite a long time you took to find some sugar."

"You were supposed to use that time to talk." Aaron said, putting the milk away.

"So I figured!" Call snapped. "But I couldn't think of anything to say, and he didn't say anything either, so I just finished the ice cream while he played with Havoc."

"You're hopeless." Tamara said. "Absolutely hopeless."

~x~

Ironically enough though (or perhaps not), the moment Call and Jasper found themselves alone without any kind of external interference, was the moment they managed to get their act together:

"Oh, hey." Call said, turning a corner and bumping into Jasper.

"Hey." Jasper said, at the same time that Havoc made an impatient whine at their unexpected halt. "Taking him out?"

"Yup." Call shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Want to come?" He asked, not really thinking Jasper would say yes.

But he just thought for a moment and said: "Sure."

And to the Gate they went.

~x~

In the first minutes, no one said anything, and it seemed like it was gonna be just the same as the ice cream episode. But there was something different this time; perhaps it was the fact that they had been naturally alone, or the fact that Call always felt better outside, with the night wind humming, or the fact that he really didn't want a repeat of the last time, but he found himself talking, quietly, tentatively, about small stuff, like the classes, and the new games at the Gallery, and the jokes that had been made during dinner.

"The Masters are talking about giving us awards." Jasper said, when they were just about to turn back the way they came, Havoc trotting ahead.

Call scrunched up his nose. "Awards?"

Jasper shrugged, getting more comfortable in his winter jacket. It was too big on him, and most likely a hand me down, but the berk still looked handsome anyway.

"As far as they know, we ended a war."

"Oh, well, I suppose I should be grateful they don't want to throttle us anymore."

Jasper gave a half-smile. "I think they want to award your father too."

"Crap, I hope dad doesn't freak."

"He really hates the Magisterium, doesn't he?"

Call made a gesture that could be taken for a shrug. "I think most of it was the Constantine thing but, I dunno, I think he just has a lot of stuff that never really healed."

Jasper nodded. "You could tell him that he's gonna get to see the constipated faces of all the mages who dislike him while they pretend to be thrilled at giving him an award; that might encourage him."

"You know, it's not actually a bad idea. If nothing, the food is probably gonna be better than what they serve at the Magisterium."

"That's not hard." Jasper made a face. "This place could do with being a little more like Hogwarts and having a decent feast for the students."

"But if we were at Hogwarts, we'd be sharing a dorm, can you imagine that?"

That startled Jasper. "What? How can you know?" He asked, his face getting flushed.

Call shrugged. "I have a hunch that we'd both be sorted into Slytherin."

Jasper's face became thoughtful. Call guessed he didn't dislike the sorting. "Explain your reasoning."

Call raised an eyebrow. "Can't you guess?"

"I know my reasoning, but I want to hear yours."

"You're ambitious, and you can be cunning." Havoc came back holding a stick in his mouth. Call took it and threw it; then he seemed to think of something else and said: "I guess I can see a bit of Gryffindor in you too, but I think you value the Slytherin traits more."

"I do like Slytherin." Jasper said. He looked at Call from the corner of his eyes. "Do you?"

Call smiled wryly. "I don't think of it as the evil house, if that's what you're asking, even though I admit that sorting is something Constantine and I have in common. I –" He cocked his head to the side. "It's just not for the same reasons, you know?"

"Oh?"

"I don't know about being ambitious, nor cunning; but the part about using any means to achieve an end stands out to me, and I used to think that was a bad thing, but ever since we talked I've been thinking it over and I decided that it doesn't have to be." He put his hands in his pockets. "I mean, how much of it is actually bad, and how much of it is just me overthinking things? I think I always had the traits I have now, but none of them bothered me before I found out about the Constantine thing."

"I'm glad." Jasper said, and smiled at him in a way Call had hardly ever seen him smile at anybody else.

Call's heart skipped a beat. Overall, he did not like having a crush. It was irritating not to know how to act around Jasper anymore, as if he were waiting for something that he didn't know what, coming and coming and coming and just over the edge but never quite getting there.

But he thought he saw something, back when they'd been bickering over ice cream, and he thought he saw it again now, and it gave him pause, and made him hope, because maybe having a crush wouldn't be so bad if it were reciprocated, however unlikely.

Jasper continued. "Also, regarding our talk, I don't know what you told the others, but thank you."

Call blinked. "What do you mean?"

Jasper frowned. "Aaron has been going the extra mile to include me in everything, so I assumed you talked to him about what I said; you know, about me not wanting to tattle you to the Assembly."

It was a logical assumption. It made sense. If Call wanted, he could have taken that opening to pin Aaron's over the top behavior on that, and he wouldn't have to worry about Jasper getting suspicious anymore.

If he wanted to, he could've; but to his surprise, he found himself hesitating rather than agreeing.

He already had to lie about so many things, to so many people; perhaps he could afford to let go of this truth, at least. He might not like what came after, but at least it wouldn't be stuck in his throat anymore.

He stopped walking; his hands were getting sweaty, but he still said: "I didn't talk to him about that."

Jasper stopped too. "Really?" He asked. "Then I'm confused."

"It's because I like you."

Jasper stiffened. Call did his best not take that as a bad sign, but it was not a promising one.

"What?" Jasper asked, sounding as if his throat was dry.

"I have a crush on you." Call said, though he couldn't believe he was still talking. "And I told Aaron and Tamara about it. Aaron was discouraged from doing anything while you and I were fighting, but after that calmed down he decided to be a wingman of sorts." He wringed his hands. "And that's why he's been acting all weird."

Jasper, whose face had gone steadily redder as Call talked, was now openly gaping.

Call winced. "Sorry for making you uncomfortable."

That got him out of his stupor.

"No!" He exclaimed. "I –" He gave a sort of lopsided, smitten smile that Call would never have expected to be directed at him. "I feel the same. I have for a while."

Call didn't know what to say to that. He had hoped – well, he wasn't really sure what he had hoped for when he told Jasper his feelings. He'd be lying if he said he'd thought it was a hundred percent hopeless, but apparently the pessimistic part of his brain had been bigger than he'd guessed, because he was having trouble computing Jasper's answer.

"Oh." He ended up saying, eloquent as ever. He thought he might have a stupid, smitten grin on his face himself.

"So," Jasper said. "Date? Tomorrow, at the Gallery, after dinner?"

"Yeah." Call answered.

They kept on walking, not saying anything, but Call didn't feel like it was a tense silence. To be honest, he didn't feel the silence at all, too busy wondering if it would be a faux pass to kiss Jasper before they even went on their first date.

If it were, neither seemed to care, as proved by their quick but very satisfactory peck just before going their separate ways for the night.

A/N: In case anyone is wondering, no, Nigel is not an OC. He's a character from the Iron Trial who gets chosen for Master Milagros' apprentice group, along with Jasper, Celia, and Gwenda, and then proceeds to disappear from the narrative with no explanation whatsoever even though he's from the group that interacts the most with the golden trio over the books. No, that doesn't irritate me at all, why do you ask?

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!

You can find me on tumblr as agarotado27dejunho, be it to discuss anything Magisterium related or just say "Hi!"