chapter word count: 345

noir heart: thirty

The clinking of porcelain and the boiling of a kettle provides a percussive rhythm from the kitchen behind him as he scrutinizes the myriad photographs on the mantelpiece, but he clearly hears her as she remarks, "You seem different, Jack."

"Oh really?" he scoffs disinterestedly as he scrutinises a picture of Elsa with her left arm draped over the shoulders of, presumably, her sister Anna. "What gives you that idea, then?"

"During the interview you were calm and focused. On the journey here, you were silent and thoughtful. Now you're curt and taciturn, ever since that phone call." Elsa explains confidently as she pours water into a pair of mugs.

"Is that so…" he mutters apathetically, reminded that she is quite possibly every bit as observant as he is.

"I can't help but wonder," she takes his guarded response as permission to continue, "precisely who that person was, if they were so easily able to darken your mood."

Tearing his eyes from a picture of Elsa on her wedding day – oddly, sans the groom – dressed in a stunning shoulder-less bridal dress that flowed and rippled behind her, shimmering blonde hair in a tight bun and a smile that couldn't be more forced if someone taped the corners of her lips to her ears, he turns and fixes her with a challenging glare while she curiously observes him over her left shoulder.

However, he secretly thanks her for the distraction - he was beginning to wonder if Rapunzel's smiles on their wedding day were like that.

"Nunya."

"Nunya…" she repeats slowly, a prompt for him to continue.

"Business." he finishes, brows raised as if to say "are you done?"

"Ah," she raises her eyes to the ceiling with a smile, as his meaning dawns upon her, "none of your business—how trite."

"What can I say?" he says flatly as he returns his attention to scrutinising the photographs, "I'm a simple guy."

"Now that I very much doubt." Elsa says with such blunt playfulness that sends tension throughout Jack's spine.

lunasnoir: :D thanks.
msnatsumichan: thank you so much, your review really means a lot.
stefalove: ta-da! here you are.
eburnim: I'm glad you're enjoying it!
fantasy oh yea: Hmm. I wonder what you could be implying...
riverfall: thank you, though my mind is my worst enemy at this point - and yay, chocolate!
hornedgoddess: sent you a PM to clarify - but thank you for your support.
oninoko: haha :D that she is. You might be surprised by how it ends (if I can summon the desire to continue). Make you a deal - I stay awesome if you stay awesome.
mikifubuki: wasn't too bashy, it was actually quite logical. Normally I'd've shrugged it off, but being vulnerable at that point caused problems. However since then I've given it some thought, and the points raised in that post were exceedingly flawed. The person is doing better, yes.
jpbake: Getting there, thank you.
zero-xxx: talked in PMs. I don't know why, but I'm picturing you at the bow of a sinking ship, stubbornly saluting as it sinks (ooh, alliteration!). Superb? Let's not get carried away.
e-teens: well, I didn't want to be the kind of author that just disappears out of the blue. you all take time to read this collection of words and sentences, so I felt it was fair to keep you guys updated (though, without details).

Oh, I found something out today, courtesy of wickedgreenphantom. According to William Joyce, Jack can physically age (to a point) or become younger at will, so in your face, naysayers that say Jack looks too young for Elsa.