From the author to you fabulous reader:
Wow; I am simply blown away. Might I just take a moment to sit back and wallow in all of the positive feedback I've been getting in just the last day, or so? Honestly, I am surprised at how well this caught on. I for sure thought that no one would care much for the Jack/Jamie scene, but your reviews have given me inspiration and have humbled me beyond belief.
My thanks to you all, especially to those of you who took the time to write such kind things and explain just what it was that you liked. The more feedback I get, the better at pleasing you I'll be, so I do encourage critiques, comments, questions, anything.
Some questions have come up and I did want to take the opportunity to shed some light onto them and ask for opinions.
Linables brought to my attention the whole M rating factor. I agree that perhaps an M rating is a bit too much for what ended up happening in this little story here. Perhaps I should not fulfill the erotic requirements that I was originally planning; and if you guys would like a delicious love scene between Jack and Jamie, I can simply write a oneshot that is unrelated to this story.
I want to hear your guys' opinion, though, before I get all nutty here. What would you rather?
I also know I've been getting a lot of requests to keep this going, and I'm hear to tell you to fear not; I do plan on making this into a full fledge story. I'm not sure how long it'll be yet, but I do have a end goal in mind. As we can all see, I'm a fairly long-winded individual, so there should be plenty to keep you occupied.
Disclaimer: My original statement about not owning this still stands.
Was it that he was frightened? Was he scared of that look, that taunting, beautiful face? It must have been. Jack did not think he feared anything. Surely one who had faced death, plummeted into the frozen depths and came back again would not hold fear of a mere boy and his bed time fantasies.
It seemed that Jamie did not know that Jack had been watching. Perhaps he did not even recall the dream. The boy slipped from his bed and shifted towards the shut window, smile on his exasperated lips. Jack stiffened as the window opened and the heat of Jamie's room emanated out towards him. It was rare that he ever felt heat, or maybe it was just the staining blush of his cheeks that caused him to imagine such an exhausting, sweltering warmth.
Jamie beckoned to him, smiled and welcomed him into that room where he had just been dreaming so pleasantly. He could have been a coward and turned, but something compelled him to face this growing Jamie. He floated forward and disappeared into the Bennet house.
He could smell the sweetened, suffocating scent of baking, sugar, frosting, peppermint; of course such a house would be prepared for the season of food and gifts. Jack's mouth moistened at the thought of treats and sweets, or at least he distracted himself to think so. He huddled in the room, hands promptly tucked away in his front pocket.
Jamie stood near him, looking him up and down with some mischievous grin. "I'm almost as tall as you now," he said as he leaned closer. Jack looked at him in return; it was indeed true and Jack only sunk further into his self proclaimed worries and miseries, but alas, he was quick on his feet and a natural at concealing emotions. He was a trickster, and as such, was a master in the ways of lies and playful deceit.
"I see that; pretty soon, I wont be able to come and visit you. You'll be all grown and old, and wont need me anymore," he said nonchalantly, a saddened smile tugged at his lips that went unnoticed by Jamie.
The boy was distraught by Jack's words, wrapped in their frightening truth. He stood still and his lip trembled just the slightest; Jack could see this. The soft glow of Jamie's nightlight helped to illuminate those glistening peddles of pink. Something else glistened on Jamie's face; it caught in his eye and danced for a second, then disappeared. A brief swell of tears. Jack's heart turned to a cold froth within his tight chest.
"I will always believe in you. Even when I'm old and dying in my bed," Jamie said rather stubbornly. His lip pouted and Jack couldn't help but feel a twisting, sickened sense of comfort in that simple display of childish behavior. Jamie.
He stepped onto the wooden floor which barely let out a whisper or creak against the feather-light weight of him and placed his hand on Jamie's shoulder. He felt that words would be a waste and simply offered a smile, small and reassuring.
After spending so much time in the frostbitten dark without a single whisper of his name, or kindness to his thought, he couldn't help but feel a nagging fear that he would loose it all. He believed Jamie and knew his words to be simple truth, innocent, or not. At least he could take comfort in that, wrap his mind in a security of Jamie's belief.
Jamie knew Jack's unspoken apology and laughed, touching his hand against the spirit's frozen one. Jack reclined at that touch; warm and light; alive. Very alive. He was suddenly aware of all of these things and shrank back, seeking sanctuary from his frosted pockets again. "Been busy?" he asked quickly, wanting to divert any awkward attention from his strange actions.
Jamie seemed to take no notice and simply rolled his head on his shoulders, thinking of what to say and where to start. Jamie was always cautious whenever he spoke; he always chose his words carefully and Jack had grown to love hearing him speak, no matter what it was. From his simple daily activities, down to his deepest fears and secrets. Jack loved anything that came from the boy's sweet lips. He hovered in the air for a moment and perched on a desk chair, full attention and widened eyes.
"School, homework, Christmas break, so all of the afore mentioned items are the farthest thing from my mind; you know," Jamie said as he counted on his fingers, listing all the things that mounded up into his life. He winked, and a fluttery laugh bubbled out from his crooked lips. Jack could feel himself staring dreamily at those lips and straightened, shaking his head and nodding in agreement. Jamie looked him up and down again, mulling over his thoughts. "Hear to bring the Christmas, winter holiday cheer?"
For a moment, Jack faltered; he had almost drifted off and lost grip on their conversation. Those eyes of Jamie's were very alluring in the soft glow of the room; and the brushes of pale light from the window only helped to captivate his enchanting beauty. His face seemed to glow and glitter softly. Every pour, every dimple, every freckle, Jack could see it all and he was impressed, stricken. He looked like a porcelain doll, perfectly painted with wide chocolate eyes, and rosy red cheeks.
Jamie did not seem to mind Jack's attention and simply waited patiently, tucking a stray strand of hair behind his ear. His lips twisted into a lopsided grin and he raised his eyebrows. Those jeweled, brown eyes spoke worlds to Jack, and it was the look of them that made him realize that he needed to speak.
He sapped to attention and replied. "I think I did a good job of it too," he said. He turned away from the other's face; his eyes screamed to be ripped from such a beautiful sight, and he turned to look outside. Giving a cheeky grin at the frost that crept along the wooden sidings of the window.
"Oh, Jack; it's beautiful." At these words, Jamie fell forward and pressed his hot cheek against the cool surface of Jack's handy work. He looked out at the curtain of cotton balls as they danced along their long path from the heavens down to the solid ground.
"You really think so?" Jack said as he slid from his perch. He tip toed closer to Jamie and stood at his side.
"I really do." There was a pause and the two boys stood in the pooling white rays of the moon, marveling in the wondrous scene that sparkled and shimmered before them. It felt natural, peaceful and Jack had this uncontrollable urge to reach out and grasp onto Jamie's hand, pull him close and hold him tight. He focused on the sound of their heart beats and used the sound of Jamie's breathing to calm him. Jamie was so warm and he wanted to experience that again. He let his hands fall from his pockets. His fingers twitched in the warmth of the room and he curled them towards Jamie's soft hand. The young teen's voice shattered the quiet peace and caused Jack to jolt.
"Come on! Lets go! We'll be the first to leave our footprints, and by the time morning comes 'round, no one would know because all signs would be filled with the freshly fallen snow. It'll be like our little secret."
"Secret," Jack repeated as he floated off of the ground, wanting to be as far away from it as possible.
Jamie turned and dashed around the room, pulling out socks and gloves, sweaters and hats. He strung them about his body in their respected places in a hurry and grabbed his old ice skates from behind his door and slung them over his shoulder. Jack was unable to comprehend what it was that was happening until Jamie was already lifting his leg over the window cill and jumping down from his second story window. Jack floated out, being sure to close the window behind him. He lowered to face Jamie and gave him a wicked glare.
Jamie shrugged; "I'm 16. I sneak out all the time. It's become a hobby I think."
Right; Jack had almost forgotten that it had become some sort of right of passage to sneak out of the house late in the night, to go off galavanting around town with girls. That thought struck Jack oddly and he floated along Jamie silently for a while. "Sneak out to meet girlfriends?" he asked, hoping he was being tactful.
Jamie laughed, choked, really and wiped his reddened nose with a mechanically stitched glove. The snow already gathered about the ground in powdery heights and it crunched beneath Jamie's booted feet. "Not quite. I don't really need to sneak out to be with my friends; I like to sneak out to enjoy the evenings," he said simply, avoiding the question of girls with ignorance, or clever smoothness; Jack was unsure of which. "It's quiet at night and that's what I like."
"So no girlfriends that've got you sneaking off to court and sweetly banter with?"
Again, Jamie laughed and his cheeks flashed a bright candied red. "No. Why so interested in my nonexistent love life?" he asked with a cocked eyebrow and a suave expression.
"As your guardian, I find that I have a right to nose in on these things," Jack answered coolly. It was true; maybe.
It was obvious that the other could respect his answer and Jack found it appropriate to change the subject and distract the teen with stories of his winter bringing adventures. As he usually did when he came to visit, he told Jamie about the interesting places he had been, bringing cold and ice around with him wherever he went, gliding on the wind and traveling to distant lands. He told him about the capped mountain tops in the south, the small little villages tucked away in the east. He talked and talked; and as always, Jamie listened, occasionally adding in bits of his own: things he had learn from school, or things others had told him.
Just as natural as the snow around them, Jack and Jamie's conversation drifted and flowed with a wonderful airy ease. Jamie gladly followed Jack who lazily floated through the air, avoiding lamp posts and trees as he went along, laying on his back and crossing his arms behind his head. Though there were a few times that Jack found himself distracted by something in Jamie's eye and he would crash into something, bonking his head and brushing it off as soon as it would happen.
The two boys eventually came to a pond, the very pond that Jack had said his first goodbye to Jamie so many years ago. The boy huffed and flopped onto the ground, pulling off his shoe and placing it under some brush where the snow would leave it untouched.
Jack stepped down onto the frozen water and sloshed the loose snow, rubbing his hands together. The frosted spirit knelt and whispered to the snow. With lips that were puckered ever so mischievously, Jack let out a small stream of air. The snow scattered and dashed away, spreading out like the scene inside of snow-globe after a few rough shakes. The snow circled around the air and remained still, stuck in place in mid air, leaving the lake's surface clean and bare.
For good measure, Jack rolled on and touched the tip of a single finger to the ice to ensure its safety. He crossed his legs and looked to Jamie, smirking from the proud work he had just done.
Jamie laughed; "Show off," he said as he stepped out onto the ice with freshly sharpened skates.
Through the air, one could hear the gentle rocking and swaying of tall trees as the wind danced along, but in the incasing snowy globe that Jake had created, all was still. Nothing move, nothing spoke, only the sound of ice and blade as Jamie kicked off and trotted around in lazy figure 8 about the pond. He smiled as he circled around Jack who spun in the air to greedily keep him in sight.
There was an unspoken bond between the two boys; their bond could have been one between a guardian and his pledge, or something else—something that could only be understood by the age and experience of life. Jack was unsure, but something drove him to want to know the answer.
Jamie twisted and turned in flawless movements, skating backwards, then twisting forward and doing little spins. He was not a professional skater, no, but his movements held Jack's attention and enchanted him. Jamie had become a little frozen dancer. The pond: his stage, and the moon: his audience. Jack rolled forward, skating on his toes with the ease and grace of a swan.
Fore a while, the two skated along side one another and Jamie's skill sharpened; he grew playful and taunted Jack, trying to outdo him at any chance he could get. They reached for each other and grasped each other's hands, coming together. Neither was flustered or worried, they simply did what came natural. Jamie held tightly onto Jack's cold-abused hands and Jack took the ample opportunity to show off; of course he was a natural in the art of fluid movement out on the open ice. He needn't even touch his toes to the cold surface beneath, but he wanted to have that sense of reality. That aching, familiar cold at the soles of his feet.
He traveled along seamlessly; the couple darted along in harmonious joy. That flash of red touched upon Jamie's cheeks once more. Jack could feel his heart burst, freeze over and quiet in a dying peace. He smiled and Jamie spoke.
"You know, I had a dream about this, I think. I don't remember all of it, but I remember you. I think we were skating like this, or playing in the snow. Something like that," he said lightly.
Jack raised an eyebrow, not wanting to let on that he knew something. "Oh?"
"It was nice, but I hate how a dream can be so easily forgotten." They swayed and moved together. Occasionally, Jack would push Jamie off and spin him in a tender way; This of course, was only for the sake of appearances, and the great joy of seeing him full in the brightness that followed them as their own private spotlight.
He took in the sight of Jamie and crowded near, gliding to him and holding him close. It did not seem strange to Jamie that Jack should hover so near. He was strangely calm in Jack's arms; and he felt prefect against his cold body. So natural, all of it: their movements, the way the fit together, down to that very last stitch upon Jamie's warming wool coat. Even in his flaws, when he stumbled brief on his skates, he was prefect.
Jamie smiled and leaned his chin on Jack's shoulder, letting out a little sigh of contempt. "We were just like this," he whispered.
The night drifted on; and outside of their silent bubble of protecting snow, the wind picked up and whispered. The frosted tips of trees swayed in joyous mimicry of the two boys' movement. The wind lapped at the snowy barrier and tussled the still snow; it swirled and weaved, swerving between them.
"Just like this?" Jack asked as his snowy world came falling down. Puffy cotton balls danced along through their hair and gathered along their shoulders and forearms. He motioned for Jamie to look down and when he did he laughed.
They were floating, suspended in the air with the snow gently passing them on its way hardened water. Jamie laughed for joy, his bright teeth shown and glimmered just beyond his pink lips. Jack noted the rosy color of his nose and couldn't help what came next.
He closed his eyes and pressed his lips to Jamie's nose, kissing him and making it glow brighter with the frosted cold of his touch. He pulled away, finding joy in the feel of his skin against his lips. He flashed a cheeky grin and reveled in the simple sight of Jamie's bliss.
Jamie's eyes glittered and glistened with all the wonder of the world; just as they had done all those years ago when he first took in the sight of Jack.
Upon Jamie's lips came a song and he laced his fingers with Jack's as they swayed to the pace he set with his soft, young voice. It needed to be said; after such a kiss. He sang of chestnuts roasting, and Jack hummed along to the familiar tune.
If they listened carefully, they could have heard the lazy rhythm that the brass instruments dictated being carried on the gentle, pesky wind, but they were hardly in the mood for paying any attention to what was around them. They were lost, intoxicated by the look of each other. Jack's hand slipped lower on Jamie's waist, and the young teen responded by boldly leaning forward and pressing his lips to Jack's.
So soft. So sweet.