Thank you to everyone who has read and commented. Hope you had a lovely Christmas.
It boggled the mind slight to see Santa Claus wearing jeans. Not that there was anything unsuitable about them except for, well, they were jeans. Denim. With rivets. On Santa. Red denim, as though that made it better, though a relatively sober shade of red. They were carefully cut, too, in a style that befitted a man of advanced years and that particular physique which could only be described as 'comfortable' without giving offence.
Jack Frost, nee Harkness, was the very last person in the universe who would consider offending Santa, and only then if absolutely required in the defence of the person Jack had just this morning begun referring to as his eternal life partner, over said partner's plaintive objections. Partly due to the way Ianto's nose crinkled whenever Jack used the phrase, but mostly because it was true. Which was mind boggling in the best of ways.
There were quite a few items boggling Jack's mind lately, as it happened. On a fairly regular basis. As in, daily, often before breakfast. Like this morning, for instance.
He supposed right now counted, as well. Casual Santa. Retired Santa, wearing jeans and something probably meant to be a hoodie, whom Jack had always been privileged to call Nick.
Except that everyone called him Nick now, by his own request. Even the elves.
Those damned elves. They were everywhere, which was only to be expected, but Jack would have preferred not to extend to his and Ianto's private living quarters. Ianto had promised to talk to them about it. As though Jack had ever needed Ianto to fight his battles for him.
Jack sighed to himself, swallowing down lingering frustration before slipping quietly through the door of the reindeer's stable to where Nick lounged on a bench against wall, eyes all a-twinkle as he watched Ianto stroll along a line of fidgeting reindeer, pausing now and then to tweak some harness or scratch between a pair of antlers.
Stable, Jack thought, shaking his head fondly as he surveyed the structure wherein the flying reindeer were housed in luxury as would make the most pampered of racehorses gnash its teeth in envy. Ianto spoiled those creatures rotten. Jack would've had words with him, except that the reindeer repaid the pampering by working their hearts out, if only for a brief flurry once a year. Jack had seen them at the end of the run, all those years ago in Cardiff, legs trembling but heads still high, and he supposed they had earned their comfort. He didn't like to contemplate how much worse it must have been for them before Ianto trained up the team of kangaroos.
Kangaroos. Living at Santa's North Pole. Jack's mind swerved in self-defence from contemplating the dust-storm generated just for the excuse of shipping he-didn't-want-to-know-how-much red earth to cover the floor of the 'roo enclosure. Sorry, 'habitat'. The heated one. Though in fairness, the heating was due to the fact that the 'roo habitat had been cleverly situated to share a wall with the chamber where the elves forged all the metal toys and jewellery. Jack smiled fondly. No doubt that had been Ianto's idea.
It was hard to reconcile Ianto, his Ianto, the one who had noticed the melted snow outside the forge and immediately began planning to utilise the radiant heat, the same one laughing as a reindeer butted his shoulder for more attention, with the mysterious red-coated being who could twist the elements to his bidding. That kind of power was frightening in the extreme. Then again, Jack thought, as Nick beckoned to him with a gloved hand, Ianto had used it to keep his kangaroos warm so they could deliver presents to kids living amongst that same sort of sand, so on balance it appeared the Universe knew exactly what it was doing.
"Is this seat free?" Jack whispered, gesturing to the bit of bench not occupied by Nick's august, ermm - presence.
Nick brushed off a layer of snow and patted the cleared spot in invitation. "Come to watch the show?" he asked, eyes twinkling brightly.
"Apparently," Jack agreed, settling down into the cleared patch before the snowflakes drifting in through the doorway could cover it again. The bench retained the cold, biting at his legs even through the layers of trousers and greatcoat, and Jack couldn't restrain a wince.
"Cold?" Nick asked a tad too casually. "You might want to ask the elves to run you up something."
Jack shot Nick a sideways glance that would have earned him a spot at the top of the Naughty List, if Nick hadn't been retired. "My coat is fine, thanks," he responded, pointedly turning up the collar to shield his neck.
"Hardly waterproof," Nick said dubiously, brushing off the flakes that had collected along the shoulders.
"Snow on the coat, not on me," Jack retorted. "Now c'mon, Nick," he added, changing the subject hurriedly as Ianto noticed his presence and waved. "Tell me what Ianto's up to today and spare me the grief I so richly deserve for letting my eyes glaze over during breakfast."
Nick chuckled, that belly-deep chuckle which never faded. "It's the first trial flight of the second-string team," he supplied, wagging a reproving finger when Jack's brows creased in confusion. "And you should know about it, Jack, breakfast shenanigans or not. Ianto has been training them for months."
Jack squinted at the reindeer, only now noting the variations which showed they weren't the same animals he'd grown used to greeting each Christmas Eve. Younger, for one thing, which explained all the fidgeting going on as Ianto and the attendant elves dodged twitching hooves while trying to hitch up the sleigh. Old Dasher and his team would never be so skittish. They knew better than to waste their energy.
"So that's what he's been up to all that time," Jack mused. "I have to admit, Nick, whenever Ianto got his head together with his two best elf-buddies, I tended to give them their space."
"So you could chew on your own spleen in private," Nick suggested, clapping a hand onto Jack's shoulder. "Always knew you were a foolish boy, Jack."
"It's been noted," Jack retorted sourly. "By Ianto, within the last hour, in case you didn't know, which I suspect you do."
Nick favoured him with an expression of angelic innocence which didn't fool Jack for a second. The old fox had been exercising his 'sees you when you're sleeping' privileges, which in his case was done from love and didn't disturb Jack nearly so much as the notion of elves sorting through his underwear. Which they had, because no-one else would have rearranged them according to colour.
"I confess that I have been blind and untrusting," Jack announced, because Nick appreciated grand gestures and the occasion seemed to call for it, "and am newly resolved to do better from now on, or did you miss that bit?"
"Tuned out when you started playing footsies under the table," Nick agreed cheerfully, clapping Jack on the shoulder with enough strength to slide him further along the bench. Jack didn't mind, given that Nick had been showing increasing signs of weakness those last few years before he'd officially handed the reins over to Ianto. It was comforting to see his old friend gaining back some ground.
"Even if that means continuing to take an interest when he's ranted about the same thing for so long that the idea of chewing off my own ears becomes appealing," Jack continued dolefully.
Nick smiled. "He does tend to fixate somewhat, doesn't he?" he agreed.
Jack rolled his eyes. Across the compound, Ianto ducked beneath a thrashing antler, slapped a flank in reproof, and then turned towards them, his breath escaping in huge puffs of steaming air from the exertion.
"In the spirit of which," Jack continued, in a more sober tone, "I can't help wondering why he's going to all this effort. You managed fine with one team, and it's not as though the old guys are anywhere near retirement." Not the most tactful comment, Jack realised, wincing even as the words left his mouth. It was unfair that Nick had been forced to retire yet the animals remained unaffected, but as Nick himself would say, the universe worked in strange ways. "Besides," Jack added, moving on hurriedly, "He's already got the kangaroos. Is another team really necessary?"
The levity dropped from Nick's face, which looked wrong without it. "You really should have been listening, Jack," he said gravely.
Jack returned the sombre gaze with one of his own. "I'm listening now, Nick."
"So you are," Nick agreed. "And to be fair, he'd probably not have told you that part, anyway. It's..."
Jack frowned. "Nick?"
"Tricky," Nick concluded abruptly, as Ianto strode towards them, flushed and grinning. "Later."
Hope you enjoyed. Only one chapter remaining, which fingers crossed and muse permitting will be posted by New Year.