Ashley turned over in the bed, only to fall out and land on the floor with a loud 'thunk!' She grunted and moved to get up, only to stop halfway and drop back to the floor. Fuck it.
She reached up and drowsily began to pull the blanket on top of her. She didn't really expect Zach to land on top of her with a yelp.
And since she didn't expect that, she definitely didn't expect Jack to tumble over the side and onto her, right after little Z.
With a grunt and a wheeze, she pushed them off before grabbing them both and pulling them closer. She kind of wanted to ask why Jack had been in the bed, but... She didn't really care, to be honest. She just wanted to sleep...
But of course, no one ever lets her get off easy. The two squirmed out of her arms and sat on her. Jack sat on her back, and Zach sat on her legs.
She told them to get off of her, but her face was in the blanket and it came out more like, "Gerroff'ame."
"Gerroff died." Zach replied, having heard it all before and knowing just what to say to make her agitated. The boy laughed when she grunted into the blanket, and lightly patted her leg. "Come on, you got us up, it's only fair we make you get up. We can go raid the kitchen..."
Her head shot up, and she looked past Frost's skinny frame to stare and Zach drowsily. "They... have a kitchen here...?" When the boy laughed and nodded, she rubbed her eyes and stifled a yawn. "Okay, okay, I'm up..." She sat up, barely glancing over as the two boys slid onto the floor.
Ashley staggered up and cracked her neck before looking around. Her medals were safely resting on the bedside table, and it hit her that it was really lucky she missed that because that would have hurt.
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she took a step only to realize that she really didn't feel like walking, and plopped back down onto the floor. "Zach," She mumbled. "I don't wanna walk... Carry me...?"
Said boy laughed and lightly kicked her. "I don't think I can... I could drag you, if you want."
She nodded and held up her arms for him to grab. "Sure..." But before the kid could get to her, a certain Jack Frost lifted her up into his arms.
"I got her," Jack told him, "Don't worry about it. Just lead the way, bud."
Ashley gave him a look and raised a brow. "Aren't I heavy...?"
Jack snorted and grinned. "As a bear, yeah... But you've lost a lot of weight, so it's no problem."
The girl shrugged one shoulder and leaned her head against him, using his shoulder as a pillow. Jack glanced over at Zach to make sure he wasn't looking before lightly brushing his lips against hers, blushing a bit as he shot her a winning smile.
"Ugh, morning breath," She groaned tiredly, turning her head away. She'd meant it as a joke, but when she saw his face fall a bit, she reached up and ruffled his hair. "I was just playin', Frost," She assured him gently. "If it was really bad enough for me to point it out, I wouldn't have just turned away... I would have jumped out of your arms and run away screaming."
He grunted in confirmation, but dropped her nonetheless. What an ass-hole move... It struck her that he was acting a bit like a moody teenager, and she suddenly remembered that, oh yeah, he was one.
Despite the fact that he had a somewhat decent excuse, she couldn't allow him to get out of it so easy... So she sweeped his legs out from under him and barked a laugh when he landed roughly and particularly loudly onto the floor. Jack had a completely and utterly shocked look on his face, and something about it just cracked her up.
"Karma's a bitch, isn't it?" She laughed, only to yelp loudly when the boy tackled her.
She never would have guessed such a skinny guy could be so damn solid. It was like getting a backpack full of rocks thrown into her chest, and made the air in her chest whoosh out.
"Oh, so that's how you're gonna be, huh?" She asked dryly, "Well, that's fine by me." She flipped the both of them over with a grunt, pulling him into a headlock before a small wooden truck whooshed past her and right into Jack's head.
The winter spirit yelped, reaching towards his struck head. "What the-?!"
Zach's hunched his shoulders in guilt. "Sorry!" He squeaked, "I was aiming for Ashley, not you!" Said girl pointed and laughed at Jack, only to stop when the full meaning of words hit her.
"Hey!" She barked, trying to look mad but failing, "I'm right here, you know... I heard all of that!"
She could imagine the troll face meme as the young boy grinned at her. "You were supposed to!~"
Ashley harrumphed and stood up abruptly. "You're goin' down. And once you're down, I'm stomping you in the trachea."
Zach smirked. "Gotta catch me first!" He taunted before running away. He wasn't nearly as fast of a runner as he used to be, especially with the limp... but you know what...? She'd always just let him believe she couldn't keep up anyways, so it wasn't much of a difference.
"I'm gonna get yo-holy crap!" She yelped as she slipped on some conveniently placed ice on the floor. Zach looked back and started to laugh, only to slip as well. It was all fine and dandy... fun, even, until she noticed the quickly upcoming wooden door. Ashley started propelling herself forwards and shrinking her form to catch up to him on the ice and grabbed him, turning around to protect him from slamming into the door.
It was just in time, too, because what felt like milliseconds later she slammed into the door, taking note of a certain Jack Frost's wince.
"Whoops...?" The teen offered meekly.
She rolled her eyes and grunted, face twisting into a grimace after sitting up. "Ow... crap, am I bleeding...?" Reaching behind and lightly brushing her fingers over her throbbing back, she pulled it away and groaned at the dark red that stained her fingers. "Shi-I-I mean, poop." It wasn't really a lot, but still... blood is blood. She'd prefer to keep it in her body, thank you very much.
Zach gave her a guilty look. "Sorry..."
Snorting, she raised a brow. "What for, Lil' Z? You didn't do this, this was me and my idiocy. I could have rolled off the ice, but that didn't occur to me until just now. It's my fault, so don't even think about feeling bad about it." Then, a bit quieter and gentler, she added, "I'd rather have me hurt than you, any day of the week, whether it was my fault or yours... which it wasn't. Again, all me."
Jack lightly landed in front of her, sending a burst of air into Zach and her's faces as he did so. "Actually, it was me. My bad...?" He shittily apologized, holding his hands out to help them up.
Ashley started to tell him it was fine, but her legs slid out from under her just as she stood up, forcing her into the splits.
For a few brief seconds, she was silent. Her eye twitched once before she fell over onto her side and screamed. It was a raw, pain-filled scream that made everyone around her wince. The working yetis around her turned to look at her bewilderedly.
Jack and Zach panicked a few moments, turning left and right, unsure of what to do or where to go as the girl groaned on the floor.
"Ooh, my limbs shouldn't bend that way," She wheezed as the two boys kneeled down concernedly, "Oh man, I'm not flexible! I really need to work on that..."
Jack lightly brushed some hair from her face, trying not to look guilty as he meekly asked, "Are you okay...?"
"Nope," She grunted, gritting her teeth together, "I'm dying... God, it freakin' hurts..." Zach rolled his eyes to the ceiling and stood up.
"Yeah, she's okay..."
The girl huffed. "Thanks for the concern..."
Jack furrowed his eyebrows together and looked from Ashley to Zach. "I... How can you tell?"
"Oh, that's easy," The younger boy lightly rapped her in the head before continuing. "When she tries to make it seem like it's nothing, she's messed up bad and when she complains a bunch, you know she's okay. It's... reverse... reverse psych-psycho..." His eyebrows drew together as he tried to pronounce the word right. "Psychololigy."
"Psychology... almost had it,," Ashley corrected with a groan under her breath, 'Damn, I've gotta start stretching, man, this is ridiculously painful." She dragged herself up with some help from Zach, and winced as pain shot up her legs.
"Close enough," The boy dismissed, as he leaned against her shaky frame to help support her. "You sure you're okay...?"
She faltered with surprise and glanced down at the boy, whose eyebrows were drawn together in concern. Leaning down and kissing the top of his head, she gave a weak grin. "It feels like my legs are rubber bands that were stretched too much, but I've been worse, kiddo. I'll live... probably."
He smiled back at her and lightly elbowed her side. "Stop embarrassing me in front of Jack..."
The girl smirked as she glanced over at said teen. "Stop embarrassing you, eh...?" She grabbed Zach's face. "Hey, Frost! Check this out!" She then stuck her tongue out and proceeded to lick his face.
His face twisted with disgust, and he shoved her away as she laughed and slid back, holding her stomach as she tried to speak. "You should have seen your face!" She gasped between laughs, "God, I wish I had a camera to catch that!"
Jack snorted and grinned from besides her. "You're disgusting..."
She pointedly ignored the comment, still laughing at Zach who was furiously wiping his face. "Dude, gross! Now I have Ashley germs! I'm infected!"
"Pssh," She snorted, "I gave you awesome germs. And if you really wanna get infected with something, go have Nate lick you. You'll be infected in no time..."
Jack rolled his eyes and placed a small kiss on her cheek. "I'm gonna go before this gets any weirder... Try to stay out of trouble...?"
"Of course... not. Being in trouble is too much fun!" She shot back, laughing when he smacked her upside the head and lightly pushing him. "Yeah, yeah, I was just kidding... Get outta here before I kick you out."
Despite wanting to, he didn't retort. Instead, he shot her one last playfully warning look before being lifted into the air rather haphazardly and shooting off.
Looking back at Zach, only to double take at the odd look the boy gave her. His eyes were narrowed suspiciously, and if intense staring could set someone on fire then she'd be rolling on the ground, screaming at the top of her lungs.
"Dude..." Zach said slowly, "Are you two... going out, or something? Jack's been acting kinda... different to you, today." At seeing her freeze and blush lightly, his eyes widened. "Shut the front door! Are you?!"
She rubbed the back of her neck and shrugged one shoulder. "I dunno... yes, no, maybe...? We didn't really confirm anything..." The boy's jaw dropped, and her face warmed up even more as she threw up her arms in defense, "He was the one who wanted it! He pushed for it, with his sad back story and his puppy eyes and-and the peanut butter and jelly!"
The boy blinked and cocked his head to the side. "I... what...?" He started to question what she meant by that, but stopped himself and shook his head. He knew better than to ask... But still, the question rang clear in his mind-"Why didn't you tell me?!"
Ashley dared to look from her feet to Zach, expecting to see anger... but that wasn't the case. Instead, she saw a whole lot of hurt swimming in his eyes. Betrayal, even... And, well... that wasn't sitting well with her. She walked-or rather, limped over and wrapped her arm around his shoulder. "Hey, c'mon now, babe," She murmured, "Don't be thinking that I was trying to hide it from you or anything..." She ran her fingers through his hair once before scooping him up in her arms and nuzzling the top of his head. "This just happened, honest to God."
The boy gave a curt grunt, and that would have worried her a bit... if he hadn't have leaned into her nuzzle while he made the noise. "Okay..." He sighed, "You'll... you won't ever lie to me, right? Because... I-I never lie to you."
"I know you don't," She assured softly, "I... I hate lying to you-you know that, but... Sometimes, Zach, sometimes there are things that you'd be better off not knowing. There are some things I'm not gonna tell you about." She quickly added when he opened his mouth to protest, "I've had a lot of things going on, baby, and... there's just some stuff that-that I don't even like to think about. It's not that I don't want to tell you, it's the fact that it hurts to talk about," She exhaled shakily and rested her forehead against his, "And I know it's gonna hurt you, too."
When he didn't reply, she kissed his nose. "I love you more than anything... you know that. I'll never do anything to hurt you, even if that means I have to keep a few things to myself. When I do things, it's because I think I'm doing what's right for ya..."
He didn't look very enthusiastic, but Zach finally nodded and wrapped his arms around his neck. It hadn't been exactly what he'd wanted to hear, but he was glad she told him the truth. And he knew she was... He didn't know when she lied, but he knew when she wanted to but didn't. Her eyes got this weird, solemn, almost scared look to them when she was telling the truth when she really would rather say a lie."Alright... I... I love you, too." He started to say something else, but his stomach growled. And moments after, Ashley's stomach snarled viciously in response. The boy gave a sheepish grin and rubbed the back of his neck. "Can we go eat, now?"
She grinned as relief pooled in her eyes. "Kid, I thought you'd never ask... Let's go eat! I'll find us some grub!"
"That... is a huge, mo-foing yeti." Ashley finally uttered as she overcame her shock.
They had just walked into the kitchen when they noticed a giant yeti hunched over an oven. He was the biggest damn yeti she had yet to see-bigger than North, she was pretty sure he was even taller than Aleksei! Pure white fur all over, a pink nose, and blue eyes, yet a grumpy, sour look was on his face as he scolded several of the weird little elf things, holding a tray of cookies above his head.
"These ain't fer ya, ya rotten li'l bastards! Be gone with ya! Go on, git! Go do somefink wif yerselves, eh?" He growled. "I swear, I'll kill ev'ry one a ya if'n ya don't scat!"
Zach leaned closer and nudged her, knowing she was the only one who could understand the yetis, "What's he saying?" The boy whispered in fear of angering the yeti, "Should we just go...?"
"I dunno," She whispered back, "He's cursing out the little things. I guess they want his cookies..." She cleared her throat, bringing the yeti's attention to her despite Zach clearly wanting the opposite of that.
The yeti raised a furry brow. "Wot do ya want? Another scrounger huntin' fer more food, like that pale lad with the stick?"
"Erm, no... well, yeah, sort of..." She shrugged as Zach hid behind her. "I was actually coming to cook some stuff for me and my boy here," She gestured to Zach, who was peeking from behind her arm. "We're hungry. I was thinking of making some..." She trailed off. She hadn't even thought of what she was gonna make... "I dunno yet. Bacon pancakes, maybe?"
The yeti cocked his head to the side, asking in his strong cockney accent, "Wot now?" He shifted the tray to his other hand before continuing, "I've 'eard of eatin' bacon with pancakes, but... together? 'Ow in the hell do ya do tha'?"
A grin crossed her face, and Zach rolled his eyes as he slapped his palm to his forehead. He knew that look. "Please don't do what I think you're gonna do..." She opened her mouth to sing, but Zach slapped his hands over her mouth. "I like them, but if you sing the bacon pancake song one more time, I swear I will beat you with a cane..."
She raised her arms in challenge, shouting 'bring it!'. But since she had her mouth covered, all that came out was a muffled, garbled mess. Zach laughed and raised a hand to his ear.
"What? I'm sorry, I can't understand yo-ow!i" He quickly pulled his hand to his chest as he gave her a bewildered look. "You bit me!"
Ashley hummed thoughtfully and nodded. "Yes. Yes I did..."
His eyes narrowed a fraction of an inch, and he stayed silent for a few moments before letting out a battle cry and jumping on her back.
She yelped and staggered to the side, chuckling as she tried to reach back at the boy who was pretending to punch her silly, only to get scolded by the very large, intimidating yeti.
"Oy! No fightin' in my kitchen, damnit!" He roared impatiently, "I got e'nuff ta worry about without ya two scrappin' in 'ere!"
Zach flinched, but Ashley barely even cast a glance at the angered giant. "Sure, sure," She sighed, "My bad... I'm Ashley."
"Vert." He grunted in response as he glared distractedly at the elves scrambling around his feet. "An' I swear I'm gonna send ev'ry last one a ya li'l bastards to hell if ya don't stop tryin' fer my damn cookies!"
The girl raised a brow but nodded to herself. She knew what to do. "Oh hey, speaking of cookies," She jumped up suddenly like she had just remembered something important, "I left a ton of cookies in my room." And once that came out of her mouth, every single elf turned and stared at her...
It was actually pretty damn terrifying.
And after a few tense moments of staring, they took off, screeching and squealing. Once they were all gone, she visibly shuddered. "I don't know if those things are adorable or terrifying. They're like... the gremlins or something."
The giant yeti-Vert, gaped at her. "Ya... ya made them leave... you made 'em leave, just like that." He blinked. "Did'ja... did'ja do that fer me...?" When she nodded, he picked her up and crushed her to his chest in a hug. "Bless ya, lass. Ya said ya two were hungry? I'll make ya a bloody feast."
She glanced over at Zach and gave him a thumbs up as she wheezed, "Told you I'd get us some food..." She winced as his arms tightened, and she pat his chest. "Yeah," She coughed, "I love you too and all, but... you're kind of killing me here, man."
Vert's eyes shot open, and he dropped her. "Whoops... sorry, girlie, I didn' mean it..."
Gasping for sweet, sweet oxygen, she nodded as she put her hands on her knees. "Yeah... it's all good... Ribs are for squares," She waved a hand dismissively as she tried to laugh, but ended up coughing, "Who needs 'em? Agh..."
The huge yeti coughed awkwardly as he fidgeted with his hands. "Erm... Would ya like fer me ta get ya some ice...?"
She nodded to the floor and raised a finger. "That would be lovely..."
Vert snorted and rolled his eyes as Ashley put another scoop of chocolate pudding in her bowl. "How in the bloody hell are ya still eatin'?" She shrugged without turning her attention from the bowl, and the yeti raised a furry brow. "Where does it all go?!"
"I dunno." She mumbled through a mouthful of cookie, "Maybe there's a black hole in my stomach?" The yeti scoffed, and she laughed into her spoon. Zach rolled his eyes at the chortling girl.
"You're gonna choke..."
She rolled her eyes and grinned. "No I'm not! Choking is for squa-" She suddenly got a coughing fit as she inhaled pudding through the wrong tube. Tears welled in her eyes as she coughed and choked, reaching for her throat instinctively. Karma...
As she dropped out of her chair, coughing and gagging and choking, Zach rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "See...? I told you... I guess this means you're a square..."
"I'm not a square!" She choked out between coughs, "I'm a mother-fucking oval! And I'm dying..."
Zach shared a look with Vert as he lightly tapped her back with his foot. "Breathe, Ashley, breathe..."
"It's hard!" She wheezed. "I think I need the Heimlich!"
"No you don't," The boy sighed exasperatedly, "You can still talk... This happens every other week, you should know what to do by now... As long as you're coughing, you're breathing."
"I can feel the love radiating from you," She muttered weakly into her hands. "Aren't I fortunate to have such a loving, caring brother...?"
"Yup!" He giggled. "Because only I would put up with you!"
She groaned and glared at the window, only to freeze... There was a boy out there... A pale boy with silver hair, and maybe it was the light, but it almost looked like he was faintly glowing.
Feeling the muscles in her back tense and hearing her sudden silence, Zach peeked down at her. "Hey Ash, are you okay...?"
She glanced up at Zach before looking back to the boy out the window. He was gone... "I... Did you see that...?"
His eyebrows furrowed together. "See what...?"
"That boy. The one looking through the window..."
Vert's voice floated from the other side of the table. "I do believe ya had e'nuff ta eat there, Ash..."
She jerked up. "No, no, no, wait! Wait just a second! I'm not even half-way full!"
"No... I fink you've gone way over yer limit, there. Take it easy, ye'h?"
"I will not take it easy!" She barked as she staggered to her feet, "You're taking away my sustenance, here! I need food, I'm a growing girl!"
The yeti scoffed. "Growing girl, she says... Yer about as grown up as yer gonna get. Ya 'ad e'nuff... Hand me yer bowl."
Instead of retorting or protesting, she quickly grabbed her bowl, stuffed some cookies into her bowl and mouth and took off, screaming at the top of her lungs. "You'll never take me alive! Liberty or death!" She heard Vert protest loudly and run after her as she cackled to herself. She sprinted through the halls, ducking under passing yetis and leaping over toy cars that raced by. She got a few odd looks, but... she was running so fast, she didn't have the time nor the desire to dwell on it.
Seeing a good spot, she leaped up and used a yeti to propel herself into the direction of the nearby balcony, shooting a quick 'sorry!' to the yeti before slipping through the narrowly opened doors.
Her breath billowed out of her mouth as she panted in the cold, a crooked grin on her face as she laughed. Damn, that was fun!
And so she stood there, laughing at her own brilliance, when she noticed something. Or rather... someone. Standing out on the balcony, staring. At her... And she had never seen him before, so she wasn't sure if she should have been worried or introducing herself or what...
He wasn't saying anything... just, kinda staring at her, with a curious expression on his face. So she decided, hell, she would, too.
He was a thin, wiry-looking guy, whose pale skin that glowed. He had the brightest, most vibrant green eyes she had ever seen, with a calm, friendly, almost child-like look to them. His hair was silvery-messy, with a few random long strands that curled at the ends... It looked a bit odd, but it kinda fit him. His clothes were... uh... They were like nothing she had ever seen before, that was for sure. Black, and they kind of reminded her of some space-age armor or something, with all these complex swirls and little designs. It was pretty fucking cool, actually. He had a spear tipped with some kind of crystal or diamond.
These spirits really seemed to like spears and staffs and such...
Ashley blinked and cocked her head to the side. The boy mimicked her, which made her smile. He smiled back, and she chuckled. Oh yeah... if he was a threat, he would have tried to pull something. And to be completely honest with herself, something about the guy made her automatically like him.
"You want a cookie...?" She offered, holding out the sugary confection with an easy grin. He took it, and flashed her another small smile before taking a small bite. She studied him curiously, as he did her. She shifted her feet a bit awkwardly. "I'm, uh... I'm Ashley."
He nodded, a familiar look in his eyes. Almost like he... already knew. And he didn't say anything, either...
She swallowed a bite of pudding before asking dryly, "So... do you wanna tell me your name, or am I just gonna have to start calling you Glowy?"
The boy opened his mouth before shutting it and nodding.
Raising a brow, she cocked her head to the side. "What, are you mute or something...?" When he raised his hand and gave the 'sort of' hand motion, her face fell and the sarcasm melted from her voice as her shoulders slumped. "Oh wow... look at me, making friends all over with my lack of sensitivity. I'm an ass, I'm sorry..."
He gave a silent laugh and smiled as he patted her shoulder, silently telling her (she hoped) that it was okay. As he took another bite, her curiosity got the better of her.
"So, Glowy... Should I know you, or... Like, are you a Guardian?" He pursed his lips in thought before shrugging, and the girl snorted. "Yeah, you're helpful... Thanks, man." Glowy gave a sheepish smile and shrugged one shoulder.
She glanced up at the sky. Despite the fact that it was around the middle of the day, the moon was out. Jack had mentioned something about a man in the moon... Maybe the kid knew something about it...
"Hey, is there really a man in the moon, or is that just an expression?" He nodded, and her eyebrows shot into her hairline. "I-wait-what-really?" He nodded again, and she looked between the boy and the moon. "Can he... can he like, hear us? Right now?" An amused grin come on his face as he nodded once more. Woah...
She blinked several times before looking up at the moon and biting her lip. "You... you're kind of an ass." Glowy's eyes widened, and he choked on his breath. She raised her arms defensively as she alternated between looking at the boy and the moon. "It's true! I mean, yeah, he was the one who got North to help me (I think) but he's been freaking horrible to Jack! Three. Hundred. Years. All alone. What kind of dad is that?!"
Glowy gaped at her and made several hand motions for a while before heaving a breath giving her an exasperated, if a bit amused look. There were so many emotions in his vibrant green eyes, but one look stood out above them all. This guy had so many tales to tell. But he couldn't. Or maybe he just wouldn't. She couldn't be sure. Maybe he was the kind of guy who didn't tell stories-rather, the kind that went out with people and made them.
Blegh... Pitch must have knocked some eloquence into her when he stabbed her in the back or something. Shaking her head vigorously to clear her head, she looked up, only to have her shoulders slump as an unamused look came over her face.
Aaand he was gone. Of course...
"Do you freaking people have something against saying 'bye', or what?!" She harrumphed, only to stagger forward as a large weight suddenly slammed into her. Yelping as she grabbed the railing to steady herself, she turned her head, completely ready to beat some ass, only to stop. Fucking Zach, man... "You're gonna end up killing me one of these days, boy, I swear it!"
Zach laughed as he wrapped his arms around her neck. "I'm sorry," he grinned, "Except... not really." He nuzzled her arm as she set the bowl down. "Santa said that I have to go back home tomorrow morning... Mom and dad are freaking out..." His eyes met her and a big, goofy grin crossed his face, "So can I get that bear ride now...?"
Ashley hummed as she idly scratched her neck, glancing over at the spot Glowy once was before turning her full attention to Zach. "We might break some stuff, you know..."
"That just makes it all the more fun!"
She laughed and held out her fist, which he tapped with his. "I am so proud of you, babe. I've raised you well!"
He smiled back. "Yeah... you really did."
Zach hollered and cheered at the top of his lungs from atop the charging polar bear. The bear tried not to run into things and all, but... accidents happened. Some yetis may or may not have ended up screaming at the duo as they raced by, knocking down an already disgruntled yeti that had a lot of toy trains that were on the floor because of Ashley. Just a whole lot of chaos all around.
She ran and clambered and slid until she got to a window closer to the ground and promptly leapt out, Zach's hands tangled in her fur as he laughed.
The white, powdery snow flew up into the air she tramped through it, running through particularly large mounds of snow and sliding down hills, a particularly light and bubbly filling her chest as she did so. It wasn't until Zach slipped off her back did she finally stop.
She padded over to the boy, who was up to his chest in the deep snow and nuzzled him. "You okay...?"
Zach giggled as she crooned to him. "I can't understand you."
The bear blinked. Oh yeah... She just couldn't seem to ever remember that people couldn't speak bear. "Well, that's your problem," she retorted as she gave him a furry smile. "You should learn bear, kiddo. Gotta give your ten cents, ya know?"
The boy wrapped his arms around her neck and buried his face into the soft fur. "I love you..."
As she put her massive paw around him protectively, she purred. Now, if you were to ask her if she purred, she would deny it... But there was no mistaking it. A soft, gentle hum rumbled from her throat as she nuzzled the top of his head. Ashley was more than content to just stay there... She could have, and maybe would have... If a snowball hadn't hit her furry shoulder.
Her head shot up, ears erect as she caught sight of the assaulter. Jack mother fucking Frost. He was standing around ten meters away, and he was going down.
The winter spirit smirked at her before throwing another snowball. It landed right in her face, and she quickly decided that damnit, she had had enough. She stood up and sprinted over, sliding to a stop right in front of him and roaring right in his face.
Jack raised on salt and pepper brow. "You know... that might have been a lot more intimidating if your breath didn't smell like pudding." Oh, so he wanted intimidating, eh? Well she could do intimidating! She reared up to her full height and glowered down at him. Jack hummed. "Okay... that's a little more effective."
She landed heavily back onto her paws and snorted in his face before grabbing him by his hood with her maw, and threw him up into the air. Jack yelped in surprise, only to be caught by the bear's arms. An amused look shone in her eyes, clearly taunting him, 'You were saying...?'
"Okay..." He admitted reluctantly, "That wasn't too bad." A furry smirk crossed her scarred face, and she dropped him to the ground before walking back over to Zach.
She flopped to the ground next to him, and Zach scrambled up her side to lay on her back. Jack came over and sat against her side, pulling his legs to his chest as she curled around him and smiling.
Zachary folded his arms behind his head as he stared at the crisp, blue sky in with content. Jack ran his fingers through her fur, and Ashley stared at the snow-covered mountains and plateaus, trying to ink the sight into her brain.
It got pretty quiet. Not an awkward quiet, just a calm, companionable silence. It wasn't quite on the same level as those days she'd spend with Zach on her day off, playing video games and cracking jokes. It wasn't quite as exciting and adrenaline racing as boxing, and being satisfyingly sore the next day. It wasn't taking BumbleBee for a spin... But nonetheless, it was still nice. Damn nice.
But there was still just one problem. One little tick, nagging at her from the back of her mind. Zach was going to have to go back home, to school-to mom and dad. How was that going to work out...?
Pssh, knowing her... It was going to work out in the absolute worst way possible.
Author's Note~
Yeah... I'm not sure how many chapters I've got left in me. One, two maybe three, if I really stretch it out. I was thinking maybe the last chapter being during Christmas, many years later. Zach died a few days ago, and it wasn't until Christmas that she found out, then some doom and gloom and then some hugging, angst, and more angst. Then going to Zach's house to see his kids, putting on a game face for them...? I dunno... That seems a bit dark. Maybe I'll just... I don't know :/ I'll figure it out. Hopefully. Probably not, because... I kinda like to pretend in my mind that nothing bad ever happens to Zachary and he lives forever. It's not very realistic, but I just got so attached to the little guy.
So... can I just say that I love you guys? Because I do. THERE IS THREE HUNDRED SOMETHING REVIEWS WHAT. RIDONKULOUS CRAP, MAN. Let me love you all!
As always let me know if I made any mistakes! Seriously, the next three days after publishing a chapter, I'm probably editting and adding to it, rather than working on the next one. And I hope my goofy little tale made you smile :)
ʕ´ᴥ`ʔ Bear with me, I'm trying my best! (Anyone sick of the bear thing yet? Cuz I'm not! I think it's quite brilliant, myself ;P)
,Blue