Hey everybody! Hope you all had a good New Years (if you celebrate that)!

Requested by meladi1

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Paper Plane

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Jack had never really considered how he felt about planes. He'd never needed to, really; what use did he have for them when he could fly anywhere he wanted, and usually faster than them, too? There had been a few times where he hadn't been paying attention and had nearly flown into one, but beyond that he'd barely come into contact with them at all (not including a few curious trips to the airport when they'd started gaining popularity). But now he decided that he was going to form an opinion. Jack did not like planes.

His newfound opinion had been thoroughly ignored. No amount of reasoning or logically stating that he could fly, thank you very much seemed to make a difference. He still found himself squeezing down the aisle between the seats behind Mrs Bennett and in front of Jamie and Sophie. Jack, who owned so few items he could count them on his fingers, was the only one without carry-on luggage.

"Who wants the window seat?" Mrs Bennett asked, coming to a stop facing a cluster of three seats to her left.

"Me!" Jamie and Sophie crowed simultaneously. They immediately turned to each other, whipping up their fists in an intense game of rock, paper, scissors. Jamie won, and smugly slid into the furthest seat while Sophie grumbled under her breath.

"Jack, you next," Mrs Bennett insisted.

"I still think this is entirely unnecessary," he said, not moving.

"Your opinion has been noted."

"But not valued."

"Your opinion is always valued," she responded sweetly, but then, with a smirk, "but this time we're ignoring it." She pressed her hand to his shoulder and shoved him towards the seats.

Mrs Bennett was not a wealthy woman. It was costing her a lot to fly them all out to England, and in fact she probably wouldn't have been able to afford it at all if not for the relatives they were intending to visit having pitched in half of it. But said relatives did not believe in Jack Frost, and Mrs Bennett could not justify purchasing a fourth seat that would, for all intents and purposes, remain unoccupied. Which meant that Jack was going to have to sit smooshed up between Jamie and Sophie. Not that Jamie and Sophie were at all complaining. Jack hadn't stopped complaining since they'd sprung it on him.

Jamie smiled at him as he settled down over the miniscule gap in the seats. He could feel the arm rest - in the upright position - digging into his back. Sophie was quick to clamber in after him, and just like that he was pinned between them. He was already feeling antsy and they hadn't even taken off yet. How long was this flight supposed to be again?

Mrs Bennett stowed their luggage in the lockers overhead and then sat down in the aisle seat. She gave them all a stern once-over. "Now no shenanigans, please."

"Who, us?" Jack grinned back. "Shenanigans? Never."

Sophie and Jamie matched his expression, aiming for disarming but failing miserably, if Mrs Bennett's pursed lips were any indicator. But she had wanted him to join them on the flight (something about being 'part of the experience'), so any 'shenanigans' would readily be blamed on her. Not that he was planning any.

...Yet.

It was another ten minutes before the cabin doors were sealed. Another five after that, the stewards starting doing their pre-flight routine. There was a safety demonstration that Jack did not pay attention to, and then they were coming down the aisles to check that all tray-tables had been put away, the blinds over the windows were up, and the armrests were down. Jack grimaced.

One of the stewards stopped at their row. "Please put your armrest down for take-off," she said.

Jamie and Sophie looked at each other, Mrs Bennett, the steward, and then Jack. Jack sighed. Maybe they should just store him in the overhead lockers like a piece of luggage. As it was, he jumped up from between the kids and sat up on the back of the seat in front. The man sitting there shifted, glancing up in his general direction as he no doubt felt the sudden decrease in temperature.

Jamie obediently pushed the armrest back into place, and the steward moved on.

Jack raised a pointed brow at Mrs Bennett. He didn't need to say anything. Mrs Bennett had the nerve to shrug.

And then the plane started moving. Jack leaned forward to stare out the tiny window, watching the terminal building inch past them as the plane lined up at the start of the runway.

"How long is this flight, again?"

"About eight hours," Mrs Bennett replied.

Was it too late to sneak off?

The plane lurched as it began accelerating, and Jack clutched the chair he was perched on to avoid falling forwards. It was nowhere near as graceful as his own take-offs, and he hated how disconnected he felt from the wind. There was a heavy pressure as the tires left the tarmac, and then they were in the air.

It was going to be a long eight hours.

Mrs Bennett started flipping through a magazine she'd pulled from the seat pocket in front of her. It looked generic and themeless, but she didn't seem to mind. Jamie and Sophie's attention was plastered to the rapidly shrinking world below. Jack had seen it countless times and from a better perspective. He opted to focus on the people sitting around them.

There was an impressive array of people. Some looked like they were taking business trips and had just forgotten that business class existed, some just average people taking a trip. There were a fair number of kids - unsurprising, given that it was currently the school holidays. He could hear a baby crying somewhere a few rows away.

As soon as they reached cruising altitude, Sophie pulled a handheld game out of her pocket. Jamie opted to continue looking out the window.

"You can sit down now," Mrs Bennett said, briefly glancing at him over her magazine. She was reading an article about cheese.

"I am sitting down," Jack pointed out.

"In your seat."

"You mean in my gap between the seats."

She gave him the Mom Look. Jack stared back and tried not to fidget. It shouldn't work on him. He was the ancestor, and technically the authority. How did she have so much power? Was there a class that only moms knew about? Would they let him in as an exception? Why wasn't there an Uncle Look?

And oh he was fidgeting. His fingers were tapping against the headrest, leaving tiny trails of frost. The man occupying the seat turned sharply, and Jack quickly scooted back down to his gap.

You win this round, Mrs B.

Sophie's elbow jabbed him harshly in the ribs. She was becoming increasingly animated in her playing style. Jack peered over her shoulder and found out why. It was that one boss from Rainbow Quest she'd been trying to beat for weeks, but always ended up rage quitting. She was too stubborn to ask Jamie for help. But Jack suspected it wouldn't be long before she either surrendered her pride or threw the console into a wall. He didn't know which; it was hard to tell with her.

When her character died for the seventh time in under ten minutes, she thrust it at him. "Here! See if you can do any better!"

Jack was notoriously bad at video games. If he somehow managed to beat it, she would only be more pissed off. And he really did not want to spend eight hours shoulder-to-shoulder with an eight year old with sharp elbows and a grudge.

"I don't know..." he said pensively.

"It's okay," she said. "I know you suck. Watching you fail will make me feel better."

"Gee, thanks."

She was right, though. He beat her death record in five minutes alone. But at least she seemed a little more cheerful than before. Who'd have thought she'd turn out to be a sadist? He hoped it wasn't his fault.

"Give it here," Jamie, Master of Rainbow Quest, sighed, holding out his hand.

Sophie snatched the console back before he could take it. "No!"

"I can beat it for you!"

"I don't care!"

"Stop yelling," Mrs Bennett cut in, not looking up from what must have been a very fascinating cheese article. "Put the game away if you're only going to fight over it."

Sophie, miraculously, shoved it back in her pocket. It was very mature of her, but at the same time it left them with nothing to do. Jack was the first to get bored. He was always the first to get bored.

"How long has it been?"

"About forty-five minutes."

He groaned, sliding down in the gap. This was torture. She was torturing him and disguising it as 'a family experience'. Family torture. That must be where Sophie got the sadism from.

Flee, your descendants are a bunch of sadists. He wondered how she'd feel about that. Knowing her, she'd be amused. Maybe she was also a sadist. It was a family curse.

Mrs Bennett glanced over at him. "You would think that the so-called Guardian of Fun would be capable of amusing himself."

"There is a distinct lack of fun in this entire plane," he grouched. He could feel it. He was surrounded by people but almost all of them were content or bored. No fun. It was draining. He perked up a bit. Maybe he could do something about that.

"No shenanigans," Mrs Bennett repeated, also straightening. Her Mom Powers were activated again. She was reading his mind.

Jack made sure his expression was entirely neutral. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Mrs Bennett narrowed her eyes. She didn't believe him. She was right to doubt. Not that he would ever admit it.

"Do you think there'll be many spirits in London?" Jamie asked suddenly.

Mrs Bennett made a face that was somewhere caught between 'I am interested' and 'oh god I hope not'.

"There's spirits everywhere," Jack shrugged. "May lives in England. Not London, but not far away."

"Who's May?" Sophie piped up.

"The spring seasonal," Jamie explained. "We met her a few years ago."

"And no one invited me?!"

Jack grimaced. "I wouldn't have invited anyone if I'd had a say in it."

Mrs Bennett put down her magazine. "Do I want to know?"

Jack and Jamie shared a look. "Probably not."

"Can we visit her?" Sophie asked.

It was leading up to Christmas, so the northern hemisphere was in winter. By now May would probably have returned home for the season, if she hadn't opted to stay elsewhere (which she likely hadn't, knowing her). Whether or not they could visit her was a different story, though. She probably wouldn't appreciate them dropping in on her unexpectedly, and she wasn't a fan of the cold.

"We'll see," he settled on. "There are plenty of other spirits to keep an eye out for, even if we can't."

"I'd like to meet her."

Jack's attention darted over to Mrs Bennett. Her expression was thoughtful.

At his obvious surprise, she added, "What? I'm still new to this. I might not get as excited as these two but that doesn't mean I'm uninterested. I didn't even know there were other seasonal spirits."

"If there's one for winter, there's gonna be others."

"True."

He looked down at the magazine on her lap. "Are you done with that?"

She passed it to him wordlessly before reaching down to pull a travel pillow out of her handbag. Jack flipped through until he found the article about cheese.

It turned out to actually be quite interesting, and he was so engrossed in it that he didn't even notice Mrs Bennett had fallen asleep until he'd finished it.

He smiled. It was time.

Jack carefully tucked the magazine back into the seat pocket and rose to his feet, stretching. Jamie and Sophie looked up at him curiously.

"What d'ya say we have some fun?"

Their matching evil grins were the best response he could have asked for.

"Wait here."

He scooted out into the aisle and started a patrol up the length of the cabin. Only some of the kids could see him, but those that did watched with excitement. He winked at them, motioning for silence. There was enough of them that his plan would work, and combined with the rest of the kids and teenagers - who would doubtlessly join in once things got underway - it would be all too easy. All he had to worry about were the adults. But he had contingencies in mind.

He found what he was looking for up near the front, where the stewards were preparing a food cart. When they weren't looking, he snatched a paper bag from the lower shelf and scrunched it up until was nice and round. He couldn't risk creating any snow inside, but that was fine. He could substitute.

Jack jumped up onto the back of one of the seats and made eye contact with Jamie several rows away. He tested the paper ball's weight, then lobbed it at him. Predictably, Jamie caught it, looking confused. Jack raised a brow expectantly.

'What?' he mouthed.

"What, you've never played volleyball before?" Jack leapt to a seat in the next aisle over. "Hey, kids! If you wanna play volleyball raise your hands!"

A good dozen kids' hands shot up, much to the blatant bewilderment of the surrounding adults. There was a roughly even number in each section, thankfully.

"Okay," Jack stood. "Each section is a team. Three teams. If you manage to get the ball to touch the floor in an opposing team's are, you get a point. Got it?"

A dozen nodding heads.

Jack turned back to Jamie. "Go on then."

Jamie grinned, throwing the ball over the heads of the other passengers to the furthest team. The kids adapted quickly, with Jack jumping in every now and then to whack the ball with his staff, just to keep them on his toes. Inevitably, though, it was less than a minute before the adults started intervening.

"Stop it," one mother grouched. "This is a plane, not a playground."

Jack blew a fun flake over her as he passed by, and smirked when she was the next one to toss the ball.

It quickly devolved into chaos. Every time someone tried to stop them, Jack would give them a hefty dose of fun until even the stewards were joining in. He'd long since lost track of the points, but he had a feeling no one else knew the score, either.

But, of course, there was one thing he hadn't accounted for.

The ball arched over the cabin towards the Bennett's side. Sophie lunged for it, only to miss it by mere inches. The paper ball landed squarely in Mrs Bennett's face. The whole plane seemed to freeze as she jolted awake.

She was clearly disorientated, blinking slowly as she took note of the paper ball in her lap and the tense stares of a mass of other people. She looked up, meeting Jack's eye from where he'd frozen in the centre aisle.

The Mom Look was back.

"What did I say about shenanigans?"