Disclaimer: Jack, North, Tooth, Bunny, and Sandman (aka Sandy) and The Juilliard School does not belong with me. Copyrights to respective owner
Summary: Elsa's aria seemed to be sung in maestoso, full of forte and all of its majestic grandeur. Jack's cadenza sounds like it's played in allegro con brio, vibrant, energetic and full of happiness. But when her voice and his notes are played in a duet that echoes through the bright lights of the stage, perhaps the glass shards of their past will be mended to a dignified fine. [Jelsa AU]
Chapter Two
"Libiamo, ne' lieti calici, che la bellezza infiora, e la fuggevol ora, s'inebrii a voluttà ."
Drink from the joyful glass, resplendent with beauty, drink to the spirit of pleasure which enchants the fleeting moment.
- Libiamo ne' lieti calici (Drink from the joyful cup) by Giuseppe Verdi
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Jackson 'Frost' Overland has been a barista of a small and humble coffee shop, the 'Man in the Moon' for a few months. He's not exactly the most popular or important person in his neighborhood; in fact, he was nobody in particular. Jackson, or Jack Frost, his nickname since childhood, is an university dropout due to his mischievous personality and grades- which every single one of it is a failure. He never liked university life anyway. For Jack, university is all serious and deadlines (which he utterly hate with the bottom of his heart) while he's all about... Snowballs and fun. But the fact is, besides the inevitable seriousness and deadlines in university, he also hates university because of the subject his father chose for him; bussiness. "Ugh, I hate bussiness", Jack used to mutter a complaint everyday without fail when he was still in university. Therefore, his naturally prankster personality combined with his hatred for college, he got kicked out from university and pissed his father off; his father is so infuriated that he only agreed to pay for the rent and give a bit of pocket money- he refused to give anything more than that. Well, a father is still a father and still needs to perform his job as a ftaher, no matter how dumb his kid is. A mission well done, Jack always bragged to his co-workers, earning him a few rolls of eyes, especially from his least favorite co-worker from Australia, dearly nicknamed 'Bunny' or sometimes 'Kangaroo' by Jack. The both of them always find a topic to argue about- even if it's the most childish thing, such as what they think the best holiday is.
"Easter! That's the best holiday!" Bunny once spat.
"Are you fucking joking at me?! Seriously, the holiday where you find eggs is the best holiday? Christmas is literally the best holiday!" Jack countered stubbornly.
That bickering last for ten minutes- the childish argument between the both of them would wage even longer if the both of them are not separated by another co-workers, nicknamed Sandy and Tooth, and even their boss, North. And after that, the both of them refused to talk, let alone cooperate with each other for the rest of the week.
Jack always dearly loved the winter- a reason why he died his hair white like the snow. He waited and counted the days and months until winter came to greet New York. For him, winter is like the calm after the storm; so serene, so gentle and yet, so fleeting and ephemeral- a true masterpiece and wonderland by Mother Nature. Pure white snow and snowflakes, each with a different and unique pattern of its own bleed from the sky, covering the barren earth- it's as if the world and time froze and come to a halt, just like the water upon contact with the numbing coldness of the air. Jack couldn't imagine a better ending for the soon-to-be passing year than the chilly and beautiful winter. One of the little things that he adore about winter is how frost seeps on the edges his windows. He can spend several minutes just to admire those hundreds of small white ice crystals and play with them, his big and long finger drawing on the frost, clearing the frost that's on his finger's way, and finally revealing a picture of something kids would draw, such as a bunny or a house with a triangular rooftop, rectangular door and square windows. Or if there's not enough frost for him to draw on, he would stick his pale cheeks on the icy window, as if that action would multiply the frost on the window. He may be 21 year old college drop out, but he have a heart and personality of a cheeky and happy child.
But alas, gone is the daydream of winter. It's August now, which is four months apart from the chilly December. Which means that it's still summer time, where the sun blazes the strongest- and Jack never liked a tiny bit of it. His forehead, would immediately trickle with millions (that what he always thought- or perhaps, exaggerate) of beads of perspiration if he is upon contact with the too tenacious and intense sunlight of summer sun, and he always felt weak and sluggish. "The worst season of the year." Jack always whine when summer comes. Even though cute and pretty girls dress the lightest during this season (male hormones, as Jack always claims), which he won't deny the fact that he 'likes' to... See it, Jack still loathes summer. Whilst the cold didn't exactly bother him, the heat bothers him like college. Jack still can't decide whether he hated college or summer more. 'College and summer, the ultimate hell if combined together.' Jack once thought grudgingly.
Jack grumbles about the heat while he heads towards the coffee shop where he worked at, the 'Man in the Moon'. His black backpack is strapped on his broad shoulders, adding weight to his weak shoulder that he felt that it's going to melt anytime soon. It's still pretty early in the morning, but his so-called 'sensitive to sunlight' skin can feel the heat dripping from the sun. His long legs walked quickly on the pavement, bringing him closer to the coffee shop each second. Since today is the start of most schools, the streets are bustling with numerous amounts of vehicles, and the pavement is pretty crowded with citizens walking and running to wherever their destination is. Right now, to advert his attention from further cussing at the weather, he's thinking about why his boss, that's actually named Nicholas North, named the small coffee shop 'Man in the Moon'. Like, there's nothing wrong about it, but really? A couple (nonsensical) suggestions popped up in his thicker-than-the-piling-snow head, such as that North was high when he named the place, or that he magically saw a random flying astronaut waving from the moon. His thoughts dissolved when he arrived at the front door of the coffee shop. The cool air from the coffee shop's air conditioners blared to his dying skin, rejuvenating them once more. 'Thank God for whoever invent the air conditioner.' Jack silently thanked whoever invented the glorious air conditioner that Jack didn't know the name (or bother to look it up in Google), which is actually Willis Carrier, for saving his skin from making an Olympic sized pool of sweat, not literally though.
"Jack, you're early again. Good!" A loud, baritone voice with a thick foreign accent, Russian, probably, boomed in the air when Jack closed the door.
"Yeah. Gotta reach here before before the sun burns my skin off." Jack joked and looked at the towering man who addressed him before, his boss, Nicholas North. North maybe old- it is very visible from his wrinkles on his forehead and his long beard that is as white as my hair, but his eyes contains happiness and joy- as they said, 'the eyes are the window to the soul', or something like that. The jolly old man laughed merrily, which sounded like 'ho ho ho', in reply to Jack's joke. For some odd reason, North reminded Jack of Santa Claus, from his white beard, sound of laughter, and the happiness aura his boss radiates. Except that Santa Claus doesn't have a tattoo on his arm. Jack swallowed down his saliva whenever he sees the tattoo- on his left hand, the word 'naughty' in big, capital letters, and bold font is permanently tainted to his skin in black ink, while on his right hand, the word 'nice' is inked on his hand instead. Jack quickly gazes back at North, this time amused by how the light is reflecting on North head that's bald on the middle, giving a shiny gloss. 'Next time, I'll look at my reflection using his head, not the mirror.' Jack planned in his head, his mischievous personality activating.
"Well then, go ahead and change!" North nudged Jack to the staff room, "Bunny and Sandy will be hear in a couple of minutes, so better hurry up!"
"What about Tooth?" Jack asked, confusion attached on his face.
"Oh, Tooth? This is her first day of her third year at her university. So, she's going to be a part time starting from today." North answered.
"University?" Jack said in disbelief and he almost choke on his saliva. His facial expression is a mixture of utter horror and disgust, his dark brown eyebrows furrowed and mouth gaping sightly in response. All complaints about the unbearable heat immediately perished from his head "And also, third year? North, you are not pulling my leg, right?" Jack couldn't imagine that a person can deal with university, three years to make it worst! He recalled his extremely not pleasant time at the university, which made him harder to belief that Tooth, the most feisty and outgoing girl he have ever met, can deal with two, and today, three years of university!
"Well, not everybody hates university Jack." North shrugged while pulling down the sleeves of his shirt, which results his tattoos to be covered with the long white sleeve of his shirt. "She likes her subject."
"What the hell is that subject that made her okay to go to university?!" Jack demanded from North loudly.
"Calm down Jack." North started, trying to calm down the skinny boy in front of him that looks ready to faint at moment's notice. "She chose music. Vocal, to be exact. And more to the classical vocal instead of pop."
By the time his ear that is covered with his messy hair heard the words 'music', 'vocal' and 'classical' , Jack's look of bewilderment are gone, as if it's nothing but an ephemeral emotion.
"Vocal? That's interesting." Jack commented. "What university is she studying at?"
"Juilliard. Ever saw the building that looked like Noah's Arc that got stuck in the middle of New York? Yeah, that building." North answered Jack's question. "And since you looked like you're interested, why don't you deliver a cup of coffee to her?"
"What am I? A delivery boy, no longer a barista? Cool." Jack retorted sarcastically, but then his pale lips part to continue his words. "But fine. Crashing in to a university sounds fun." He ended with his grin, showing off his perfect pearly white teeth (that Tooth, for some odd reason, always fangirl over).
"No, you are not to crash in the university and cause a ruckus in the university." North sternly said to Jack, which results to Jack making a pouting face. "By the way, Bunny and Sandy is going to arrive here in a couple of seconds. Hurry up and change your clothes." North steered the conversation away from the topic of Tooth's university.
"Right, right." Jack sluggishly walks to the staff room. Once he's in, he change his blue t-shirt which has frost pattern on the top part of the shirt (ironic indeed, considering that it's summer) to his work uniform, which is also colored blue. Because the uniform doesn't not include the pants, Jack still uses his brown pants that sort of clings to his feet tightly.
'Music, huh? Must be fun.' Jack pondered with a faint smile blooming on his handsome face, lighting up his blue eyes. 'If only...' He could imagine a perfect ending of his life if his life is colored with the melodious sounds and chords created from the piano. He still remembered vividly of that time when he was still a little boy, when he was so proud that he can play Claude Debussy's 'Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum' flawlessly. The feeling of sadness, anger, fear, and other negative emotions washed away when his fingers brushed against the white key of the piano. How his little sister would praise him non-stop for the rest of the day when he performed 'Flight of the Bumblebee' in for her.
"Flight of the Bumblebee..." Jack muttered, remembering when he played it for his little sister in it's original tempo. For a little kid, it's supposed to be a very difficult and hardly possible feat- but not impossible. The song, when played in its original tempo which is somewhere between allegro vivace and presto, will result the song to sound similar to the hum of a bee's wings flapping together frantically. The pianist must have nimble and skillful fingers and must be in complete control of it- from the quick and feathery touch to keep up with the incredibly fast tempo and the accuracy of every single touch- the song is mostly composed with chromatic, and it's easy for your fingers to slip when you make that dangerous fast turn of your wrist or when your finger is jumping from one key to another.
So as you can see, Jackson 'Frost' Overland has an immense talent in piano- only that he left it behind a few years ago. When he, for the first time, is unhappy with the piano. "It's better this way." Jack finished his thought as he went out from the staff room. The thought of having the grand ending colored with music is trampled on his mind. Music- the piano- is no longer a source of happiness for him. As much as he wanted the unhappiness to reach the end- he felt like it will never be done.
"Well, this is it, my future." His eyes are now clouded and foggy like the white thick mist in winter, making everything beneath it look vague.
The show must go on.