It bothered Jack a great deal more than he cared to admit. Jadis, that was, and her reaction almost immediately after their kiss. When was the last time he had kissed someone anyway? He couldn't recall. Was it his first? No, impossible…but it had been the first in a long, long while. And the singing…he was a bit floored when he thought about how he had willingly entered a duet with her.
What was wrong with him? Maybe it had something to do with the de-Santafication process. Yes, that was it. It had to be. He may not be able to get sick as a Legend, but he was losing his Legend status, wasn't he? That was what the process, the hurry of finding a wife, was all about. Maybe he was getting ill from it.
But to have Jadis react so…to see her do a complete one-eighty…it just…he didn't…ugh, he didn't understand women! To kill the next day, he went to his hotel's spa. Still, even with all the lovely blondes to look at, he found his thoughts revolving around the woman in the woods. The woman with the snowflakes on her temples. The woman who praised his work when it wasn't really 'his' work.
How she just…became so sad, so upset…so distant…
He glanced at his watch. Five. Five left. Less than two weeks remained. Eh, he figured, she would say yes anyway so it didn't matter. He had half the magic and half the time. He was good to just coast. Maybe, he thought as he sunk deeper into relaxation, he might have the elves build a spa just for him back home…
It was just shy of the evening the next day when Jack appeared at Jadis' place. He caught the tracks of a truck, Patrick's he assumed, in the snow. They would be gone in the next night or two. Another storm was coming. He got out of his car and as he walked to knock on Jadis' door, he thought that Patrick too would soon be out of her life. Just as soon as he proposed…explained it all..
No one answered.
He frowned. That was odd. He went to look around the edges of the forest, listened for any sign of a hunter returning. Nothing. When he turned around, he noticed that the chimney emitted smoke. So she had to be inside! The tire tracks weren't that fresh, after all. So then why didn't she answer?
Maybe she didn't hear. Perhaps she had something cooking or had some music on. Maybe she was bathing. Or perhaps she was…Jack frowned. Injured? He didn't like that idea. In fact, it sent a knot to his stomach. His concern, he told himself as he marched back to the house, was that he'd have to find another woman to marry if this one up and died on him. Too much work since he had invested so much effort and magic into this one already.
Plus, she was the only one who could tolerate to sing duets with…and kiss.
He knocked again, harder this time. Nothing. He scowled. Was she ignoring him?! How dare she! Didn't she know who he was?! Oh, no, no she didn't…not yet at least. For fun, he tried to turn the door knob and – was surprised when it turned. Didn't she lock the door? Would he got shot if he entered? Only way to find out.
He pushed the door open and called out into the silence house, "Jadis? Are you here? It's Jack." He shut the door behind him, taking his shoes off. "Jadis?" There was something over the crackle of the fire. What was it? It sounded…familiar.
When he entered the living room, he stopped in his tracks. There was Jadis, alive and warm. She sat in her chair closest to the fire, her feet propped up on a box. What caught him by surprise was her posture. She was slumped in the chair a bit sideways. Her eyes were open but cloudy, swollen, and red. She stared into the fire. Although there was nothing in her ears to keep her from hearing his earlier knocking and calling, she seemed to be oblivious to him. And most importantly, in her hand sat a freshly poured cup of something dark. That something dark, as he realized from looking at the table next to her, was from a bottle of black spiced rum.
"Jadis?" He raised his brows, unsure of how to proceed.
She turned her eyes towards him slowly, as if they were heavy and a burden. She blinked and sat up a bit. "I didn't let you in." Her words were slurred. "Get out. Trespasser. I can shoot you if I wanted."
The blue man glanced back at the bottle. If he assume it had been full to begin with, then it was very likely that she had consumed about a third of it already. How long had she been drinking? Better yet, he frowned, why? "I don't think you could get to your gun – or bow and arrows – even if you wanted to." He walked over in a calm manner. "Anyway, if I wanted to I could overpower you before you succeeded." He paused just as he reached the other chair. "Did you…receive bad news from the doctor?" Was that it? Was she sick?
Damn, he didn't like the idea of finding another woman to break in so suddenly.
"Leave." She whispered. "Leave me before you suffer too."
Jack sat and couldn't help the snort that left him. "Melodramatic drunk aren't you?"
She shot him a look – or tried to. "Bite me." She drank without much of a grimace.
"Let's start with, what brought this on first?"
Jadis didn't speak, not right away. She was staring at nothing, at the flames, without blinking. He was beginning to wonder if she had that weird talent to sleep with her eyes open when she moved. She ran her free hand over her face. "Cat was right." She mumbled. "About you. You won't be in too much pain…being half frozen already."
Jack's eye twitch. He was suddenly getting familiar strikes of irritation that reminded him of his pre-Claus years. Perhaps he should get drunk too, it might make it all easier. "Is this about whoever that woman mentioned? What was his name, Bob? Jeff?"
Jadis stomped her foot, the loud noise shattering the quiet. "Dave! His name was Dave, you jerk!" Her grip on the glass tightened. "And shut up. Leave me alone."
He had to keep chanting 'five and two weeks' a few times to keep his cool. It was tempting to leave, but…she might get alcohol poisoning. Or she might… "They said you lost him, your ex? How so?" He paused. "How does the half-frozen comment come into play?" Or the doctors, did that have anything to do with this? He scowled a bit. He loathed being left in the dark, ignorant to matters.
She shifted in her chair. Her elbows rest on her thighs as she leaned forward. For how much she looked tired, her grip was tight on the glass. Again, there was a long stretch of silence that Jack started to question whether she was awake or not. "This was Dave's house. Ours, but his name was legally on it." Her voice was low, hushed, and slurred. Still, he was able to understand. "I moved over here from another state. Dated three years. Cat's his friend…was…since middle school. She hates my guts." Pause. "I hate my guts." This watery admission made Jack become more alert.
He blinked and waited. Nothing. She seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. "Why?" He asked.
"I killed him…it's my fault…all my fault he died." Jadis sniffed. She was staring at the floor, at her feet. "First winter we moved in here…I got sick. Pneumonia. One night, one of the storms hit and…I got a fever. Bad fever, on top of all that coughing." She rubbed her face again with her free hand. "Sick…maybe nearly died…I should have died." Jadis scoffed. "Midnight came and fever wouldn't go under…a hundred something. Forget. Was high enough where Dave went to get help.
"We didn't have a car…no truck…he went to get Patrick. It's only a couple miles, ya know? Walk wasn't that bad. They'd drive back." Pause. "I don't…remember what Dave said as he left…I remember that he kissed my forehead…and smiled…left bundled. Right into the storm, he went." Her breathing hitched as a few tears fell from her eyes. "Died…in the storm. Guess he got turned around from all the snow, lost in his own backyard almost. He…they…found him frozen…huddled over…frozen…"
Jadis wiped her free hand over her eyes as she hiccupped. "My fever broke about four that morning. Slept til noon when they knocked, the cops. He…Dave died trying to get me help." She wouldn't, couldn't, look at Jack but she wore a bitter smile. "I joked a few times…since then," she hiccupped, "that Dave was killed…out of jealousy…by Jack Frost…for falling in love and taking his biggest fan away." Jadis laughed without humor. "B-but I…I never fucking blamed him…Frost…not really. It was my fault for getting sick. It just…I…"
Just as she made to consume more of the rum, Jack's hand landed on her forearm. She looked up, blinking away the tears to see him. It startled her at first, the look of concern on his face. It wasn't just the emotion, but the…the sincerity of it. So far, his expressions had been, for the most part, fairly shallow unless it was about him or a prank. But this…this look was true. Deep. Honest.
Her lips parted. She would have dropped the glass of rum had he not taken it from her hand and put it aside. The retelling of Dave, the alcohol, the emotions…his emotion…it all broke her. She stood with him, stepping forth while wrapping her arms around him. Despite the slight tension in his stance from the unexpected touch, he slowly placed his hands on her back. Then without shame, without retraint, and much like a child, she cried.