PATISSIER
Jack twisted his staff a little in his hands, uncharacteristically nervous. It wasn't a big deal. Really, this was something he'd been encouraged to do! So why was his stomach clenching with anxiety? He supposed that it could be chalked up to three centuries of habit about to be broken— weirdly enough, Bunny had actually told Jack (in his usual sarcastic, falsely nonchalant way) that Jack shouldn't be so hard on himself about taking some time to adjust. It was kind of expected.
But seriously! His body needed to get the memo that this was not a big deal!
Before he allowed himself to get sidetracked further on a mental kangaroo trail that would somehow cycle around to his talking himself out of the whole idea, he knocked firmly on the door to North's office, once, twice.
Then immediately felt stupid—despite North's eternal complaining about it, no one ever knocked before coming into his office. Now his mind seemed determined to sink into dumb recriminations and mentally kicking himself again, undoing all of his previous lackluster pep talk.
He was just distracted focusing on telling his brain to shut up when the door was wrenched open enthusiastically, startling him into jumping. The wind swirled around him comfortingly and he tried to briefly gather himself before—
"JACK!"
"Hi, North," Jack said awkwardly, rubbing his frequently deafened ears.
"Why do you knock?" the Russian scolded fondly, thoughtlessly contradicting his regular complaints. "You are always welcome! Come, come!"
Jack followed him into the office, absent-mindedly avoiding what looked like a floating robotic octopus and stepping over two quibbling elves.
"What is it you need, Jack?" North asked, settling back into his chair and fiddling with a block of ice and a pick that looked tiny in his massive hands.
Now was it. Jack squashed down the physical resistance that attempted to get in the way. He'd never had anyone to ask for anything (well, at least no one who could see him), so doing it for the first time since he'd become Jack Frost was more terrifying than he'd expected.
Frick it. He was asking. "North, do you think I could use the kitchen?"
North looked surprised. "What for?"
It wasn't a no, at least. "Well, Sandra and Jeff always make so many things for all of us, I wanted to try my hand at making them something nice, for once."
He'd gotten the idea when Sophie and Jamie proudly exhibited their messily decorated Christmas cookies and talked about making them for North and their mom. It had inspired him to look up some cookie recipes with the growing plan to learn enough that he could do something as a thank-you to the yetis who had welcomed him so warmly.
He shrugged with false nonchalance. "It probably wasn't the best idea, I guess. I mean, I don't exactly know my way around a modern kitche–"
"I think is excellent idea!" North announced loudly.
Jack spluttered a little in his interrupted acquiescence to an apparently imagined refusal. "Wait– really? You're sure? I don't really have any experience with baking; kitchens were too busy for me to risk getting trampled, so I'm really a complete beginner. I'll probably just burn everything."
A shadow passed through North's eyes before he smiled again, this one a little softer than usual. "Well, is no better time to learn than now! Phil can get you anything you need," he added, gesturing to the yeti just coming through the door and receiving a confused look from the furry creature in response.
Jack smiled a little, the expression growing to a beam of excitement as the last of his nerves and disbelief faded away. "Thanks, North," he said, the simple words full of depth that made the Russian smile fondly. Then he turned to the dubious-looking yeti and grinned with anticipation. "All right, Phil. We've got some work to do!"
***0***
A few hours after talking to Jack, North was chiseling at a block of ice that was tiny in his giant hands when a flustered yeti barged into his office, making him almost break the delicate legs of the carousel horse that was forming. "Argh! Bill! What is it?"
Bill garbled at a speed that would have left Tooth in the dust, waving his hands worriedly.
"Burning?" North repeated, his mind leaping with a small dose of panic to Jack. Was the winter spirit too close to the heat? Jack was usually pretty smart about his heat tolerance, but North felt the un-refusable need to check anyway. "Well, hurry up and show me!" he ordered Bill, hurriedly shoving his ice and pick onto his desk to stand and follow the yeti.
Bill led North to the kitchen, from which was coming a racket audible from rooms away. North flung the door open and stood in the frame staring, but no one even noticed him amidst the chaos that was the kitchen.
The windows in the room were all open with the frigid pole air pouring in and swirling the smoke in the air. A veritable hoard of elves were scurrying underfoot and climbing on everything. North saw several of them licking batter off various kitchen utensils, two of them fighting over a spatula, and sighed inside envisioning the little creatures' sugar-high idiocy that would likely endure through the rest of the night.
Jack was in the middle of the mess, swearing fluently and rapidly in Russian (North had to chuckle at his creativity of expletives, but the boy best watch his mouth where Tooth could hear him) and stuck between reassuring the agitatedly hovering Phil and shoveling smoldering lumps of charred cookies into the trash bin. "It's fine, Phil! Really, the windows are open, and if North needs more charcoal for the naughty list, we can definitely supplement his stocks," he said sarcastically, opening a smoking oven to scrape blackened batter off of the racks.
Jack dumped the mess in the trash can and straightened, his face flushed, before finally catching sight of the figure in the doorway. "North!"
North chuckled, his worry abated into amusement. "Is not going well?"
Jack huffed a short laugh. "No, it's really not. I accidentally used tablespoons instead of teaspoons to measure the baking soda– I never had access to ingredients and an oven, so this is actually my first time baking. Why would they make the names so similar?" he complained. "What was I saying? Oh, anyway, so the cake overflowed and burnt onto the racks. And I was distracted icing Dingle's foot where he tried to walk over the oven vent on the stove and forgot to set a timer, and Phil bumped the temperature knob– it's alright, Phil! I know it was an accident!- so both batches of cookies are beyond burnt," Jack finished, throwing his hands up a little before dropping them, looking extremely frazzled.
North couldn't help it. He laughed loudly. "Is truly an overload of mishaps!" he acknowledged. "Is alright, Jack," he added more softly at the sour look he received, resting his giant hand on the winter spirit's small shoulder. "Just open windows in next rooms to get bad air out, and Phil can help you clean oven.
Jack glanced up at the Russian, and a wry smile finally cracked his frustrated expression. "Thanks, North," he said with a soft sigh. "Oh, and don't lick any of the batter," he added when he saw the older Guardian's eyes resting on the cake-covered spatula set nearby. "It's salty from the baking soda. Yeah, the elves like it, which is why I'm never asking their opinions on anything I bake. Jared!" he broke off. "Don't eat the cookies! I am not icing your tongue again, and they're not even edible!"
North boomed another laugh and patted Jack's shoulder. "I leave you to it!"
"Yep, thanks," Jack said distractedly. "I am warning all of you! If you break your teeth, I will not protect you from getting furiously lectured by a very tall, angry hummingbird lady!"
***0***
The next morning, North pushed loudly into his office, followed by Stu, who was rattling off an update in rapid yeti. North was nodding along, but he stopped listening when he saw the platter of cupcakes that was placed on his desk.
The icing was dark red and slightly messy, topped with green, red, and white sprinkles and a wobbly red icing "Thank You" spelled out in Russian, one letter for each cupcake.
North felt a warm smile split his bearded face as the familiar feeling of fondness swept through him. He turned to Stu and held up his hand to stall the still-flowing stream of information. "Stu. You know where Jack is?"
Stu grunted and pointed to the couch in the corner that North had just walked past. (North had put in a couch after several occasions of Jack falling asleep helping him with translations for too long.)
A still slightly flushed Jack was curled up fast asleep on the cushions, white hair spikily messy and dark circles under his eyes. Despite his exhausted appearance, the youngest Guardian's sleeping face was peacefully content.
North smiled again. Moving more quietly (although it seemed unlikely Jack would wake from the noise if he hadn't already), he tiptoed over to open the window and allow the icy wind to swirl through the office. He glanced affectionately over at the sleeping winter spirit once more before slipping on his big coat and returning to his desk.
He picked up the а cupcake, consuming nearly half of it in one bite, and his bushy eyebrows lifted. It was delicious! Tooth would be having stern words with him if Jack decided to make this a habit!
A/N: I'm aliiiiiiiiive! It's been so long! College semester one was really good. But it and work collaborated to whoop my ass in energy, motivation, and creativity, so that is why I have been MIA for months. I said in my profile I'd be back, though, and here I am– I meant it!
I intended to finish a barely started chapter that furthered the Mrs. Bennett storyline, but this chapter let me write it much more easily, so this is the one that is here! It's entirely unedited and un-beta-read, but I wanted to get it out today, so I will likely edit this later. (Also I fell victim to the fluffy sleeping ending again. Oh well. I accept it at this point.)
I hope that this little silliness makes you smile, especially if Christmas is a time that is difficult for you. Wishing all a gentle Christmas season. Love you all! Elen out.
