Crystal Springs

by SafyreSky

It's been nearly a year since the Thaw and things are looking...not so great. Jack's powers are seemingly gone and the Dome covering the North Pole is melting. The solution? Enacting the Legate Law, bringing Jack and the sister he hurt so many years ago together again. With his powers gone and his sister on the fritz, saving everyone just got a little more complicated. [Rewritten!]

18. Chapter 17: Elemental Ball

Chapter 17: Elemental Ball

Knock-knock-knock-knock-knock.

Jacqueline groaned, cracking open her eyes. "What?"

Her voice came out super groggy. Gross.

"Good morning sleepy head! May I come in? I have a delivery for you from your father."

Oh goddess no, Jacqueline thought, sitting upright, catching the comforter before it fell down. Hefting it back up over her head she clutched the edges close to her chest, the comforter now a warm little cloak complete with hood.

"Hi Mommy," she sighed. "It's unlocked."

Winter gently opened the door, a shot glass in her hand. "Still abed at this hour?"

"Ye," Jacqueline replied, scooting to the side as Winter sat on the edge, placing the shot glass on one of the night tables. She caught a whiff of the liquid in the glass. Her nose wrinkled. "Ew, is that whiskey? Ugh, I had hoped he'd forgotten about that."

"Your father is like an elephant. He never forgets. Drink up," Winter smiled, booping Jacqueline's nose.

She grimaced, her face scrunching up. "I will not. How come he didn't come up to deliver it?"

"I hijacked it. I had a quick question for you, darling."

"Right. Market Day," she said, shutting her eyes tightly and rubbing them. "I'm still good to go but I will need a couple of moments to boot up, I think."

"Actually, I was hopping to make a little switcheroo, if that's alright."

"Oh?" Jacqueline asked, freezing the shot glass solid.

"I was thinking that I'd take your brother with me, instead, if you were okay with it. Jack, that is. I know this was supposed to be our year but—"

"Oh! That's a great idea!" Jacqueline perked up, placing the block of ice formerly known as a shot of whisky back on the nightstand. "I think you two could use some time together, all one on one and stuff."

"I was thinking the same thing! I didn't know how receptive you'd be though, so I came with a bit of a bribe."

"A bribe?"

Winter smirked, pulling another shot glass out from behind her back. "There's one here for your brother as well, courtesy of your father. I thought you may want to deliver it in exchange for vacating your spot."

Jacqueline wheezed (it was too early for a nice laugh). "Oh my gods, yes, I'd love that." she reached over, carefully taking the shot glass from her mother's hand. "Did you want me to tell him about your plan for the day?"

Winter looked thoughtful for a moment. "If you feel like it, sure. Or if he asks. It's probably better he has some time to mull it over." She slid off the bed, righting her skirt. "Thanks to your Aunts, it's going to be a much later trip than I had anticipated. I imagine it will be busy, but the more I think about it the more I think that perhaps it'll be better if the market is busy when we go. It's only a matter of time before the rumour mill starts churning, if it hasn't already. Might as well give them something to talk about, right?"

"He's gonna have so much fun," Jacqueline flopped forward on the bed, still wrapped in the comforter. "I'll go bug him after I do my thing."

"Of course! No rush, dear. Take your time. Everyone's had a bit of a slow start this morning. I'll see you downstairs," Winter said, blowing a kiss as she gently closed the door.

Catching the kiss lazily, Jacqueline glanced at the shot glass Winter had left for Jack and grinned. She rolled off of her bed, falling in a heap of comforter.

This was going to be a very fun morning.

---

Knock-knock-knock-knock-knock.

Jack groaned, cracking open an eye regrettably. "What," he snapped, groggy and slightly muffled.

He was face down in his pillow. He felt drained. His head hurt a bit; squinting and shifting so that he could see his room and not the white of his pillow, Jack wondered why his head was hurting. He didn't think it was the Dome. He was also fairly sure he hadn't consumed that much alcohol…had he?

"It's your favourite sister! Can I come in?"

"You don't sound like Fiera."

The door burst open, the SMACK of the knob into the wall briefly making Jack wince.

"Excuse you, that is so rude! So rude! I even knocked!"

Jack cackled (it was much too early for a nice laugh), lifting himself off of the bed just a tad, yawning. "You know, you are so easy to bother."

"I should be bothering you," Jacqueline said, by his bed now. "Anyway, I have a delivery for you from Dad."

Jack caught a whiff of the substance in the shot glass Jacqueline plonked on the end table and grimaced. "Ugh, is he still doing that? The man's like an elephant. He never forgets."

"Mom said the same thing," Jacqueline said. "She also said for you to drink up! But I wouldn't recommend it. It may help short term, but it doesn't actually help long term."

Jack was way ahead of her, having already frozen the glass solid and slid it as far away as possible from him, without having it fall off the table. "Did we have a shot off?" he asked, crossing his arms and leaning his head on them.

Jacqueline was quiet. "Maybe."

"Do you not remember?" Jack teased, perking up.

"I remember very well, thank you very much! I told you, I'm not a lightweight. I have a decent tolerance and if I remember correctly, Which I DO, I kept up with you just fine."

"Yeah, but I won, didn't I?"

"By half a shot! Not even! Good grief, you know, I came in here to be a very good sister and give you a very nice heads up for today, but I think maybe I'll just let you fend for yourself," she turned around and, with a careless wave over her shoulder, made to head out. "Tootles!"

"You're just going to throw me to the wolves? Like that?" he said, snapping his fingers.

Jacqueline chuckled, hand on the knob. "Like that," she said with a snap and a sigh. "I did actually want to stick around for a bit, if that's okay. I have a peace offering,!"

"Oh?"

She nodded, popping out into Jack's sitting room and back inside. "I brought you some toast! I thought it'd be better than Blaise's, uh. Rabbit thing."

"Hair of the dog."

"Whatever. It's gross and old."

Jack snorted. "Thanks, you."

"Of course!" She said with a happy smile, passing Jack the plate and then sinking down to the ground, leaning against the bed frame and mattress.

"So a shot-off, huh?"

"Yeeeeeeeeeep."

Jack chuckled. "I told you I could handle a burn better than you," he said, throwing the blanket over his shoulders and sitting cross-legged, starting in on the toast.

"Eh, it depends on the burn," Jacqueline said, ducking just in time for a lazy snowball to fly right over her head and land with a SPLAT in front of her.

"Ha! Missed me, old man."

"Only because I just woke up and am busy eating this delightfully dry toast. I'll get you later, just you wait."

Jacqueline laughed, her brown ponytail bobbing up and down, a few loose strands poking her cheeks. "You know, technically Dad won. You choked after finishing the last half."

"Of course he won, he's a summer sprite and the drink of choice was spicy! I'm not even sure it counts, you know. I'd call that cheating."

Jacqueline smiled, hugging her knees to her chest and resting her head on them.

"Copper for your thoughts, little flurry?" he asked, finishing the toast and putting the plate down beside the frozen cube of whisky.

Jacqueline tipped her head side to side, stretching her neck a bit as Jack sunk down beside her, joining her on the floor beside the bed, the blanket coming with him.

"Mm. Maybe."

"Is it about that heads up?"

"Yeah. It's market day," Jacqueline began, her head resting on the mattress.

"Market Day?"

"Yes. The Crystal Springs Winter and Christmas Market," Jacqueline said, hoity-toitily. "It opens up today! It's December first. Mom runs a bunch of important errands on opening day, and she usually brings one of us. She told me this morning that it was your turn."

"Really? She wants to go out? With me?" Jack's traitorous voice cracked a bit as he spoke. Way to keep your cool, he thought to himself, running his hand through his hair, surprised to find it very not frozen. "What?"

Scrambling up, blanket bunching up behind him, Jack rushed into the washroom. He looked in the mirror and screamed.

"What?" Jacqueline shot up, fists glowing. "What is it?"

"My hair!"

"What's wrong with it?"

"It's brown!"

Jacqueline rolled her eyes, shifting from her defensive stance to her you gotta be frosting me Jack stance, glowy hands subsiding. "So is mine."

"No, I don't think you're following, Jacqueline. See, it's not supposed to be brown! It should be frozen! A nice bluish whiteish!"

"It probably melted overnight. Mine always does."

"Well mine doesn't! At least, it never used to. I freeze dry it. With permafrost. Don't you?"

"With permafrost? Ew, no! I feel like it's bad for my roots. And I like the shade—it looks black sometimes, and sometimes it looks like this dark reddish. It's an enigma! I wouldn't want to ruin that with any potential bleaching thanks to permafrost."

"And regular freeze curling doesn't ruin that?"

"I mean, my hair still looks great after a thousand and a half years or so, so. You know."

"It does look wavier than I recall. Used to be bone straight. Great for braids."

"It is slightly wavier nowadays. It doesn't usually last the longer it stays thawed. Yes, it's probably because of the freeze curling, but I like the two or three waves. It has some movement," she said with a happy little smile. "And it still braids just fine! I just prefer it down," she shrugged. "Anyway, like I was saying, it melts for me every night. It's probably doing the same for you because you're using the ether," she pointed out, making her way over to the sofas in the sitting room. She sat down close to the door, curling up and burrowing deeper into her sweater.

"Right. Ether." Jack said out loud with a frown, poking at his hair in the mirror. The thought of yet another day of pulling from the ether was exhausting. Ugh. He mussed his hair up a bit more, eyeing himself in the mirror, and made a sound that could've been a shrug before finally speaking up again. "You know what? This is fine. I'll just redo it every day, and make it look better each time! Sleeker, sexier—not a problem."

"Great Goddess of the Springs," Jacqueline said. Jack could hear her eyes rolling. He chuckled.

"So. Errands, you say?" he said, starting his morning routine.

"Yep. Holiday ones, to be precise. This is the biggest market of the year, and Aunt Spring brings out the poinsettias. She always puts the nicest ones aside for Winter, and has a few volunteers tend to the stall while she worries about ferrying the plants over and, you know, other spring time stuff."

"She's off right now though, isn't she? Summer's reigning down South, Mom has the North. Spring and Autumn are in the off season—what could they possibly have to do right now?"

"Spring does a lot of prep work," Jacqueline shrugged.

"What, like melting my gorgeous snow? Slowly turning wet flurries into rain earlier and earlier? Ignoring the groundhog?"

"Yeah, that sorta sleet. Anyway most of the volunteers are nice, but there are fairies and you know how some fairies are."

"All high and mighty and what have you. I imagine they'd be hard to haggle with?"

"Exactly. So, every year Mom makes it a point to go with one of us to intimidate the sleet out of them. And the other vendors, if she feels like it. Sometimes she picks up Christmas stuff, or Dad's gift if she sees something she knows he'll like, but usually we have our own day to all go together."

"And she wants me to go with her?" Jack said, turning away from the mirror, hair nice and frosty.

Jacqueline nodded, uh-huhing through a yawn.

"Huh. That's nice of her. I suppose I'll go, then. I mean. It'd be rude if I didn't, wouldn't it?"

"A little bit, yeah. And maybe a bit detrimental to your recovery," Jacqueline admitted. "I think it's how she's gonna talk things out with you, to be honest."

Jack sighed, taking a seat beside his sister, suit freshly frosted and ready for the day. "I figured as much." He crossed one leg over the other, throwing an arm over the top of the couch.

A comfortable silence fell. Jacqueline watched her brother carefully, head tilted.

"Copper for your thoughts, Jack?"

"What, you can't hear them?"

"I'm being polite," she sniffed, stretching her legs out.

"That's nicely out of character for you."

"Well APPARENTLY I have to win back my title of favourite sister, so, you know. Might as well be nice."

Jack laughed. "I was just thinking. About. Well. This whole deal with Mom."

"The cut connection?" Jacqueline flipped, her head dangling off the couch, legs up against the backrest, her feet hanging over the top of the couch. "Which, by the way. Sorry for harping on you about it. I didn't realize you were so hung up on it. Otherwise I wouldn't have been so, you know."

"Annoying? Obtrusive? Incorrigible? Insistent?"

"You could've stopped at annoying."

Jack hummed. "Could've, should've, would've, didn't."

"Wanna talk about it at all?"

Where would he even start? "I don't know," he said with a shrug. "Maybe? I can take it from the top, I guess."

"I'll listen and be very quiet and nice and respectful, I swear."

Jack smiled. "If you're sure. It was after the, uh, the day I left. I—are you sure? I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"I'm positive." Lifting her head up, Jacqueline surveyed him with a sort of...quizzical kindness. "We can talk about that day, you know. It's not going to hurt me again. Please go on. "

"If...if it does upset you, please tell me," Jack glanced down at her, his jaw tightening, only continuing when Jacqueline nodded. "Right. It was after I left. I went as far away as possible. I didn't want Mom and Dad to follow me, and I didn't want to face what I had done. And then, of course, the sprite sleep kicked in. It was a nasty one."

"Tell me about it," Jacqueline said. "It was a nasty one all around. I think Dad's was the worst. When he finally stopped two months after the fact, he was out for like, just as long."

Jack grimaced. "Yikes."

"Big yikes. Go on, though! You took a nasty sprite sleep."

"About a month long. Give or take a few days, of course. Woke up feeling...numb weirdly enough. I hadn't heard any news, so I checked in on our connection. And saw it was fine. You were fine. That was a relief. But beside it, though, my connection with Mom? It looked bad. I wasn't sure why it felt so weak, and I didn't want to think about the ah...implications, so to speak. So I did what any angry twenty something year old would do..." trailing off, he glanced away. "I cut it."

"Did you ever think of cutting ours?"

Jack shook his head. "No. Never. I couldn't bring myself to, not after what I'd already done. And I. Well. I didn't want to. So I made sure it was still there—that you were still here—and then blocked it off."

Jacqueline nodded in understanding, hands behind her head as she stared at the ceiling thoughtfully.

"Did you?"

"Hmm?"

"Did you ever think of cutting ours?"

Jacqueline shook her head. "No. Never. I didn't want…"

"Didn't want what?"

"Don't make fun of me," she said, sitting up. "I mean it. You make fun of me even a little bit, an iota, a single scintilla, and you're gonna see what this little flurry can do."

"Ou," Jack said with a smirk. "I'm shaking."

"I mean it!" she said, a little squeaky.

"Alright, no need to squeak. I won't make fun of you, I promise."

Jacqueline took a very big deep breath in and looked away. "I didn't want it to be gone in case maybe you reached out to me." She folded her hands together, pushing them down into the couch cushions. "I was little, and didn't really understand what had happened, right? Nobody really explained it, and it wasn't the first time you'd left in a huff, so I thought that maybe you would come back. And so I left it alone. And waited, just in case. But you were gone for good this time. I did a denial, admittedly. For a very long time. As I got older and the realization finally hit me, I became very, very angry and couldn't even look at it without atmospheric consequences so I just. Y'know. Blocked it."

Jack winced, thinking of little Jacqueline hoping that he'd come back for Lady knows how long. He inhaled sharply. "Jacquie, I'm so sorry, I—"

"If I hear one more sorry I'm gonna lose it. Shush. I know you are," she said, finally looking up at him. "Thank you. It's okay."

Jack smiled, sitting back in his seat. "Good thing neither of us did cut it, eh? Otherwise, this'd be a lot harder—two whole connections to mend!"

Jacqueline pushed her knuckles into the cushions, a little sideways frown on her face. "Do you think it can be fixed? It sounds like it's really in tatters, more so than it should be with one snip. The fact that one person could do that—" she stiffened suddenly, her head flying up. Her ponytail bounced as her eyes grew big. "You don't think that Mom maybe also—"

"That's exactly what I think," Jack interrupted, sitting back up. "It only occurred to me when I got home. It was like, I had all of these things to say to her, but had no idea how to start because all I could think was boy, I sure did cut the literal tie that bound! Why did I do that? That was silly. How can I say all this knowing that that big chunk is missing, you know? But the thing is, the thing is, she was acting the exact same way. It makes sense, right?"

"It does! Sorta! You're a little wordy but I think I get the gist of it," Jacqueline said, resting her back against the armrest of the sofa.

"I don't know. All these feelings are so...overwhelming, and new and...it's weird. I don't know how-it's. It's just weird," Jack frowned, pulling a face.

Jacqueline smiled. "Words are hard," she said with a shurg. "Finding the right ones for feelings that big can be...hard. You know, Jack, for what it's worth," she shifted forward, laying a comforting hand on his bicep. "I think you;re doing a pretty good job."

"Really?"

"Yep!" she dropped her hand, shifting to sit on the arm of the couch. "Truly."

Jack felt all warm inside again. "Thanks for the support, little flurry."

"Anytime."

"It's all a bit...scary, too, I'll admit." He exhaled heavily, slouching in his seat. "And don't you go telling everyone I said that. I mean it."

"Or what, I'll see what this sentient storm can do?"

"Exactly."

"Haha, okay. I'll be cool. My lips are sealed. Sprite's honour," she winked.

He glanced over his shoulder at her, sizing her up. She looked earnest enough.

"Come on, Jack. spill it."

"Alright, alright." He took a deep, deep breath. "What if. What if Winter refuses to talk to me? Or worse, what if she agrees to, and when I tell her everything I'm feeling and, and thinking, and going through, she gets upset and refuses to see if we can fix things? Even worse! What if she agrees and we can't fix it!? What if it's broken, forever, and we're stuck in this weird, clogged drain of emotional limbo forever?" Jack fell back into the couch with a loud groan, covering his face with his hands. "What have I done." His palms slid down his face slowly, landing on the couch with a leathery plop.

"Hey, hey, hey. It's okay! Chill out, brother of mine."

"That is physically impossible right now."

"That's funny, given that you—"

"INVENTED it! I know. Add that to the list of things I can't do right now, along with the magic and oh yes! TALK to my MOTHER."

"You need to cut yourself some slack, Jack," Jacqueline moved to the backrest sliding over until her leg was up against his back, placing a steady hand on his shoulder. "You were young. And upset. And it was a traumatic day. And you didn't have a support system to help process that sleet, so you did what you thought was reasonable at the time. How were you supposed to know that in fourteen centuries, you'd be back here?" giving his shoulder a tight squeeze before letting go, crossing her arms on the tops of her knees, hunching forward.

"Almost never! And now, here I am."

Jacqueline hummed in agreement, swaying in her seat. "Life is funny like that, isn't it? You find yourself in situations oyu'd never even dreamed of. Like, one minute you're the most fearsome pirate in the seven seas, the next your crew has been safely resettled as you embark on a quest to find the Amazons with the goddess of pleasure herself."

Jack blinked. "That is oddly specific."

"True story though."

"I'm sorry. You did what?"

"I helped Dite find the Amazons and then spent a good chunk of the year learning to fight like them alongsdie her?"

"You have lived quite the life, little flurry."

"I have! And that's the thing, isn't it? I didn't expect to find myself in half of these situations! But there I was. You never expected to find yourself thawed and back at home but here you are! I know you can't compare the Marvellous Misadventures of Jacqueline Frost to mommy issues—"

"Don't-it's not! They're not!" Jack let out a strangled grumble. "Don't call them that!"

"—am I wrong, though?"

"Yes! It's more like communication issues with my mother, not mommy issues. I don't have mommy issues."

"Okay, sure, fine, cool. Whatever. Look, Jack," she said, hopping off the back of the couch. "You're never going to know how she feels, if she'll say yes or no, or anything like that unless you talk to her. For all you know, she could be having the exact same dilemma!"

"That'd be some kind of dramatic irony, eh?"

"No, it'd be situational."

"I think you are very wrong, sister dear."

"Then let's agree to disagree, oh brother of mine," she said, hanging off the doorknob of the sitting room door. "Anyway, mom said some time to mull it over wouldn't hurt, so no pressure. It was my turn this year anyway, so if you're not ready yet you can say no! I'll go with he rinstead. And, if you do agree to go I could go with you, if it helps. I was thinking of popping by Xander's today since I'm technically off the hook for market day, but if you need me—"

"No, no. It's alright. I mean, thank you for the offer, Jacqueline. I appreciate it. A lot." He paused for a moment, searching for words. "It's nice to have someone looking out for me. Despite the fact that it should be me looking out for you. I mean, we've barely scratched the surface of those storms of yours."

Jacqueline growled, letting go of the doorknob and giving Jack the sassiest look he had seen on her as of yet. "Can we like, maybe not? Talk about it right now?"

"Fine, fine," Jack threw his hands up in surrender as he got up off the couch, making his way to Jacqueline's side. He ushered her out the door, closing it behind him once they were in the hall. "I just want to make sure we're taking the time to help you too, you know. I think maybe you," he said, poking her sternum, "should cut yourself some slack, little flurry."

Jacqueline made a face between a frown and a pout, shooing his hand away. "Get your own advice," she snapped, ducking under his arm and heading towards her own rooms.

"But yours is right there and free for the taking. And you should really take it!" he shouted after her, as the door slammed. He sighed, switching to the direct line in their mindscapes. It's only a matter of time before Blaise and Winter turn their attention to you, you know.

You sound bitter about it, Jacqueline shot back.

"Ou. Touchy, touchy," Jack said out loud, with a thoughtful frown. Did he? Was he?

Sorry, I didn't mean to be so nippy, Jacqueline thought back. It's just. What good is their help when we have nothing to go on? I don't remember anything about the blackouts.

Something is better than nothing, Jack thought back, moseying towards the staircase. Any help is. Well. Helpful. Besides, I was there too, you know. for most of them. I caught most of them. Maybe if we tell them both sides of the story, they'll figure something out?

He paused at the landing, hand on the banister as he waited for a response. When he didn't hear a sound, he sent her one final thought.

I won't let you face them alone, and I'll make sure they don't pressure you. We'll do it together. And if it gets to be too much, just let me know and I'll take care of it. I'll wait as long as you need. Just…start thinking about it, okay?

There was a creak behind him. With a small smile, Jack turned towards Jacqueline's room door just as it opened up, her now frosty head poking out.

She gave him a small smile. Thanks. I will.

Of course, Jack replied, waving over his shoulder carelessly as he headed downstairs, her door softly clicking shut behind him.

---

Mid-run to the ground floor Jack stopped, straining his ears. He could faintly hear Jacqueline shuffling about in her room upstairs. Below him, in the kitchen, he could hear the clatter of dishes and a jovial hum, heavier footfalls heading farther away from the entrance.

Jack went down a step or two, leaning over the banister just in time to watch Blaise's fiery head disappear out the sliding door. With a smirk, he ran down the rest of the stairs, turning right at the base and heading down the hall towards Blaise's office.

He strained his ears yet again. No sound of Blaise. With a grin, Jack tried the office door, biting back a little yes when he found it unlocked.

The door opened quietly, the heat from the fireplace hitting Jack immediately. "Woof," he said, fanning his face. It was toasty. He shut the door behind him quietly, giving the room a brief look about before locating the small bar cart in the far corner of the room and striding towards it.

A quick once over and he found what he was looking for easily enough. Glasses were just below the decanters. With a sneaky grin, he grabbed a shot glass and topped it up, placing the whisky back on the upper shelf of the cart.

Now, if he remembered the layout correctly, the door closest to the small table would take him right into the lower half of the sunroom…and success, he thought, swinging the door open wide.

Sunlight poured out, the room somehow both hotter and colder than Blaise's office. Touching up the frost in his hair and on his jacket while balancing the shot glass carefully, Jack shut the door quietly and walked through the heaps of plants. He made his way across the room, dodging wicker furniture as he made his way around the stairs to the other door, cracking it open to reveal a still empty kitchen.

Grinning, Jack slid over to the counter tops alongside the wall that gently opened up into the kitchen table nook. He could hear the humming coming closer and closer with every confident step his father took.

Blaise stepped over the track, sliding the screen door shut. Just as he turned the corner, Jack stuck out his arm, stopping Blaise in his tracks.

Blaise frowned, side-eyeing Jack as he pushed himself off the countertop, revealing the shot glass.

"Hair of dog?" he asked with a sneaky grin.

Blaise laughed, deeply and loudly. With a smirk, he took the glass from Jack and downed it, placing it upside down on the counter top behind him.

"That is disgusting. I can't believe you still do that," Jack said, stepping to the side as Blaise made his way over to the counter by the sink, grabbing the cups from last night.

He chuckled. "Hey, if it works, it works. Especially for this reigning champion of shot-offs."

"I'll beat you one day, old man."

"Not if Jacqueline beats us both first," Blaise said with a familiar smirk, clicking his tongue.

Jack laughed, the kind that ended with a breathy, satisfied sigh. "Ah. She probably will."

"Probably will what?" Jacqueline asked, sliding into the kitchen all frosted up. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail, frozen strands fast falling out. She was in her work clothes this morning: a light blue sweater that fell down to her mid thigh, white leggings disappearing into her usual blue boots.

"Get her frosty butt kicked for sticking her nose where it doesn't belong."

"Oh, please. I'm the one kicking your butt these days," Jacqueline said confidently.

"Them's fighting words," Blaise joked, popping outside again.

"He'll have to get in line if he wants to throw down," Jacqueline slid around Jack, splitting her ponytail in half and pulling it taut. "I've got a one o'clock butt whooping already booked. There may be a three o'clock opening if you'd like one of your own. I'll have my people call your people and we'll do lunch." Miming a phone with her hand, she grinned, hopping out onto the deck. "ALRIGHT HOTHEADS! YOU ARE GOING DOWN."

Jack chuckled as Blaise came back inside, whistling once more. He wore an orange suit today. the suit seemed to be cracking, revealing a darker orange, almost but not quite red, shifting below the lighter colour. Jack discreetly flicked his hand, a swath of frost heading to the back of Blaise's blazer. It hissed as it hit the material, dissipating into the air before it could even settle.

"Your Mother does the same thing whenever I wear this old thing," Blaise said with a chuckle.

"Speaking of, where is she?"

"Getting ready for market day! I think she has a quick call with Spring, then she'll spend a good chunk of time figuring out how to top last night's look, then I suppose she'll be off. Has she—?"

"No, but Jacqueline gave me a heads up."

Blaise nodded, leaning thoughtfully on the counter. "Mulling it over?"

"Eh, a little bit," Jack said, opening up the ice box. Ice box? "What is up with this fridge? It's ANCIENT!"

"But it works!" Blaise shrugged. "I've been meaning to update the appliances, just haven't gotten around to it. Have you eaten yet?"

"Just some toast."

"Get yourself some leftovers; I'll warm 'em up for you."

"Sure," Jack said, pulling the leftovers out of the fridge and staging them on the counter top beside it. "I was actually hoping we could chat," he said, trying hard to hide the flush he felt in his cheeks.

"Funnily enough, so was I," Blaise agreed, passing Jack a plate as he closed the fridge. "Want some company?"

"That'd be delightful," Jack said. And found that, surprisingly enough, he meant it. "And I mean it. I'd, quite like that, if you're not too busy."

"For you Jack, I've got all the time in the world," Blaise said earnestly, grabbing himself a plate, completely unaware of how much that simple sentence meant to Jack. "And I'm off on Saturdays. Lady help anyone who tries to bring work to me on the weekends," he added darkly, sitting sideways in his seat with a stony look. "Here, allow me!" he said, chipper once again, grabbing Jack's plate. It wasn't long before steam started coming off of the food, pops and crackles following suit.

"I think that's good, thanks," Jack said, sliding into the seat closest to him and his Father.

"Anytime," Blaise said with a smile, placing Jack's plate down in front of him. He sat thoughtfully, his leg swaying gently as Jack tucked in.

"I heard you had, ah, quite the sprite sleep after I left."

Blaise squinted for a second before his memory caught up to him. "Ah! That! I did," he said, swinging his legs under the table as he spun in his seat. He gently blew on his own plate, the food steaming as well soon enough. "I think I hold the record among the six of us, though your sister has come close multiple times." He had a quick bite before continuing. "Last day home on your mind, son?"

"A little bit today, yeah. It's…weird," he said, nose wrinkling. "Sorry about the uh, the hibernation there, Dad."

Blaise waved the apology away. "I appreciate it, son, but it wasn't your fault. Someone had to watch Jacqueline. Your Mother managed to stabilize her before succumbing to her own sprite sleep. Fell asleep right by her bedside! So, I stayed up while she hibernated," he said with a small shrug. "She was up and about a week or so later, and took over from there. Would've been a relief, but there were only so many sprites capable of melting a ton of ice, so Summer and I had a lot of overtime in the months that followed. I don't even wanna think about the work Mother Nature had to do!"

Jack found himself feeling a little bit ashamed. "I can't believe I caused all of that."

"You were young and angry and out of control, and your parents certainly were no help whatsoever," Blaise said. "And a curse on top of that? I'm surprised we even managed to repair all the damage. Sorry about that, by the way, Jack."

"Hmm? Oh! For the curse, right?"

"Did you think I was apologizing for righting the climate after you wronged it?"

"For the briefest of seconds, yes."

Blaise chuckled, the throaty laugh ending in a sigh. "Nah, I was talking about the curse. I'm sorry I downplayed it so much, Jack. Maybe if I hadn't, I'd have been able to be there for you, instead of being there to watch you, you know?"

"Dad, you don't need to beat yourself up over it now. I mean, curse aside, I did some pretty messed up things."

"I've been beating myself up about it for years!" Blaise admitted, a little too grand for such a serious statement. "In retrospect, I think that not resting and going until everything was taken care of was part of that process. It was a distraction—sure, work had to be done, but it didn't have to be done at once. We could pace ourselves. Unfortunately, I did do it all at once. Did not pace myself. I'd rest after I finished, I thought. Let's take care of the beaches, then maybe I'll rest. The port? Okay, let's melt that, then I'll rest. Then it was the hospital, city hall, the teleportation points, and it went on and on and on and I found myself not taking the rest I kept promising myself! I thought I could keep burning this candle at both ends. Turns out, I couldn't. You're hardly to blame for my own hubris, Jack."

Jack smiled. "It's nice to hear you say that. Thanks, Dad. Shame you passed it on to me though."

Blaise laughed. "Unfortunately, I do not control the way the genes get passed on. Probably a good thing too; the twins are a handful as is," Blaise said, with a quick glance outside. Firelight flashed across his face, a shout coming from the yard just below the deck. Unfazed, he turned back to Jack. "Ah. We are both too proud and too stubborn for our own good, I'm afraid. I'd always thought I'd be a better parent than both of mine were. Turns out that that's not entirely true."

"I disagree," Jack said. "I mean look at us! Formerly estranged, and now we're having lunch together, talking about the past far more civilly than we used to."

Blaise laughed. "That is true. Nobody's perfect; and we don't get it right on the first try. I mean, who does?"

"Tell me about it. Do you know how many times I've tried to come home before this one?"

"Not at all."

"I'd say this is attempt number three. Maybe four. And the last time I tried, I messed it up really, really badly. It's a miracle Jacqueline hasn't kicked my butt right into Rosehaven."

"She missed you," Blaise said. "But you didn't hear it from me," he winked.

Jack chuckled. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course!"

"It's about the curse."

Blaise's hair flickered, like a candle caught in a brief draft. "Ah. I'll do my best to answer. Go ahead."

"From a purely warlockian standpoint," Jack began, "what was up with Uncle P's curse? I mean, sprites already can have a hardened heart, like you said. So what does a curse of the same name add to that effect?"

Blaise frowned thoughtfully, leaning back in his seat, mulling his thoughts over as he finished the slice of beef he'd just cut. "Well, when tailored, it targets a specific kind of sprite. The aim of the curse of the hardened heart is to keep the targeted sprite like that, forever, with no chance of recovery." Blaise leaned forward in his seat now, placing his knife and fork down and folding his hands, looking at Jack very seriously. "This makes it even more severe then a regular case of hardened heart; regular signs of one are worsened, shoving the cursed magibean closer to the evil side of the alignments. It amplifies all of the negative, and pushes down the positive even more. So much so that the usual things that offer help for a hardened heart more often than not, don't work."

"That's really, really, shitty," Jack said, the source of all magic agreeing enough to let the swear slide. "Having a hardened heart is hard enough as is, but having it be forced upon you? And then it's permanent? That's frosted up." Jack paused, a hiss and pop from the backyard tickling his ears. "Darn. I was really hoping I could get away with that word too."

Blaise laughed through his nose. "Me too. Because you're right! It's so frosted up. It's one of the most hateful curses I know," he admitted, his hair dimming. "What a slight, eh? Here I was, thinking that I could reason with your Uncle. We grew up together. We were once as close as Fino and Fiera. Eons ago, of course; your grandmother made sure to stomp that out as soon as she could. I spent a good few decades trying my best to talk to him, letting so much devastation happen because I had hoped that maybe, just maybe, he still had some reason left. Then he revealed us to the ordibeings, took your mother and aunts as prisoners, and upset the balance enough that the elves actually cared enough to interfere! And on top of all that? To add insult to injury? He landed a final devastating blow with that specifically tailored curse, because it meant that now, when my first son was born, he'd be doomed to a hardened heart for his entire life and I wouldn't be able to do anything to help him, the way I should've helped Pyros."

"Oh," Jack said, a sort of strange warmth brewing deep within his core. "Oh, Dad. I could not begin to tell you how much it means to me to hear you say that."

"Means?" Blaise said, looking genuinely perplexed as his hair extinguished. "How is any of that heartwarming in the slightest?"

"Because despite it all, you had hope that your brother would change! And despite it all, you hoped that you could somehow help me, even though the curse said you couldn't. And sure, it didn't seem like that at the time. I'm sure fear was holding you back. But even with all that fear," Jack said, an excited glint in his eyes. "You still held out hope. You held out hope for me, and for your brother. And sure, I didn't know it at the time. And maybe you didn't, either. But we both know it now."

Blaise smiled. It was a very warm, earnest smile; it showed his age. His eyes even looked a little wet! He cleared his throat, rubbing them and clamping Jack's shoulder. "Your old man has a lot of hope deep in his core," he said with a wink, patting Jack's shoulder once more before leaning back in his seat.

"Well someone's got to," Jack pointed out. Outside, there was a familiar icy shink; followed by several shouts and a cackle that sounded very much like Jacqueline. "Should we be, uh, concerned—?"

"Nah, they're fine," Blaise said, not even looking. "Trust me. You learn to recognize the danger noises fast with those two."

"I'll take your word for it." They lapsed into silence for a bit, thinking over bites of leftover as the seemingly violent noises continued to drift in from outside. "It's nice to know that all of that was coming from a place of hope, Dad. I'm sorry I never cared enough to notice."

"And I'm sorry I didn't do more for you."

"Well, you tried! Really! And curse aside—though I'm happy you're acknowledging it and not just waving it off, that means a lot to me—I was definitely a problem child. I mean, look at our age difference!" Jack said, gesturing outside as Jacqueline whooped right on cue. "It took the mass extinction of two cities to even humble me enough for you two to even think of having a second child."

Blaise laughed at that, then sighed. "I wonder if you ever felt like you were being shafted. Or replaced."

"I'm starting to think that I may have been a little resentful at the attention she got, yes. I think that's why my last day home's been heavy on the mind today. Jacqueline actually said something this morning that got me, um, thinking that maybe I was a bit jealous of her. I loved the attention she gave me, but I think I got really upset seeing the attention she got from you both, especially on the day I left."

"Jack, I—"

"Logically it made sense," Jack continued, unabashed. "I was a mess! And admittedly, if I were in your shoes, I'd put Jacqueline first, too. She was just a kid! I had just stepped into adulthood. I may not have had all the answers, but she was like, a baby in comparison! And I was. Well, we both know how that went."

"Regardless, I should've checked in on you after Winter split us up. We should've looked after you that day, too. I'm sorry about that."

"Well, better late than never," Jack joked with a sly grin, Blaise laughing. "I do appreciate the apology. But if I'm being honest? I don't think you two would've been able to stop me from leaving. Even if you had managed to talk to me the way we are now, I wouldn't have stayed."

"I bet there was a way we could've," Blaise said with a soft smile. "This time, I'll do it right. We will, once you and your mom talk."

"That's the spirit," Jack said with a nod, finishing off his food. "Thanks for all of this, Dad. I appreciate the level headed discussion."

"Not as much as I do," Blaise said. "I'm getting too old for elemental blowouts," he added, weary.

"Yeah, well, growing up, and then getting a curse broken and a frozen heart thawed in the same night does that to a guy. And I'm getting up there in age too," Jack admitted. "I'm sorry for being so pushy about the curse stuff yesterday."

"You were still hurting, son! I'm glad you pushed. It cleared the stage for this," Blaise said, gesturing to the two of them seated at the table, plates empty, hearts happy. "You had a point. And you have a right to feel the way you do. It gave me a little kick in the ass, too. And I'm sure there'll be plenty more moments like this," Blaise added, as a swath of packing snow suddenly hit the glass of the sliding door with a hefty thunk, startling Jack out of his seat.

"Okay, really, what the heck is going on out there?" Jack asked, his heart racing as he watched the snow slowly slide down the glass, horrible squeaking noises included.

"Why don't you come see for yourself?" Blaise stood up, hair reigniting as he pushed in his chair. The hit had not fazed him in the slightest; he opened the sliding door, gesturing Jack through. "You are going to love this."

---

The backyard had been cleaned, the residue from the nutty game of fire tag completely cleared. It looked like Winter's work. She was nowhere in sight, Jack realized, as he and Blaise came to a stop on the edge of the deck. Blaise flicked back his sleeves, resting his elbows on the railing and leaning forward, his suspenders dangling at his sides the way Jack sometimes wore his.

He had never really noticed how alike he and Blaise were. It was a very weird realization, Jack decided. He wondered if maybe, like his father, hope was his thing?

His core didn't reply.

Guess I can knock that one off the list, he thought, turning his attention back to the field.

"They call it elemental ball," Blaise said, as Jack looked over the railing and out into the backyard.

In the middle of the yard, not too far from the deck, a field of sorts had been set up in the snow. It was marked the same way as a soccer field, but about half the size. Jacqueline stood on the left side of the field where the goalie of a soccer game would be, the Twins on the right side in the same position.

Intrigued by their stances, Jack leaned on the railing, taking in the game. Uncustomary to the way she usually conducted herself when wielding her magic, Jacqueline stood straight and still in a fighting stance, arms out and fingers outstretched. She moved her fingers like she was guiding puppets; sure enough, she was (sort of). Small humanoid snowy shapes surrounded her, running away from small humanoid flames, keeping an icy sphere away from the red-hot monsters.

Jack turned his attention to the other end of the field, where Fino and Fiera stood giggling madly in the same position as Jacqueline. They bounced around each other, controlling little flame monsters with practised ease. They were trying their hardest to get their players onto the icy sphere, which he was fast suspecting was some form of frozen ball.

"What now?"

"Elemental ball! It's a game they came up with a few decades back. Best I can explain it is like foosball, but the players aren't on sticks and the ball is on fire most of the time."

"So like soccer? Or football? What do we even call it here?"

"Depends on the magibean. But no, not like soccer. There's not as many rules. It's surprisingly simple, actually! The object of the game is to keep the ball under your element for a specific amount of time. They usually go with five minutes, but it can vary, depending on how long you want your game to last. During the five minutes the other team is allowed to use any means to steal the ball back, though they are not allowed to touch the conductors. Conductors being your siblings."

"And how do they steal the ball back?"

"Each team has their set of elementals, called motes, which they create and control. The motes must touch the ball enough to completely overcome the element the ball is currently under in order to switch it to theirs. Look closely now; the twins have Jacqueline on the ropes. The switch is starting to happen."

Jack turned his attention back to the game. Jacqueline's face was furrowed, her nose scrunched up, eyes darting back and forth from mote to mote. Her snowy players were melting faster and faster. The ball was being attacked by flame mote after flame mote, the ice slowly beginning to chip and break away.

"The Twins have a specific play. They keep attacking Jacqueline's players, hoping she'll focus too hard on fixing them and either lose her energy, or not pay attention to the ball. Then they sneak past her defences to reclaim the icy ball, melting it in favour for their fiery one."

"Ou. That's equal parts sneaky and clever."

"They could give you a run for your money," Blaise joked.

"I'd like to see them try," Jack scoffed, his father laughing.

"Jacqueline I'd say, nine times out of ten, loses her energy fixing the players. She rarely stops paying attention to the ball. This lets the twins sneak on in and take the ball for their team."

Sure enough, the snowy motes were barely reforming now. They were being overrun by the little flaming men who were starting to melt the ice on the ball. In seconds, the last bit of ice evaporated with a sizzle, and the flaming motes ran off with the ball, fire encompassing it.

"HA! We got it back!" Fiera shouted.

"We're gonna wi-in! We're gonna wi-in!" Fino sung with a devilish grin, whipping up some fresh motes while Fiera ran circles around the snowy ones with the motes that had survived the changeover.

"You shush your little flamethrowers," Jacqueline snapped back, focusing on freshening up and strengthening her own mote supply.

"And Jacqueline? What's her strategy?"

"She uses the Twin's flaws to her advantage. They put a lot of power into their players, but don't do enough maintenance. She weakens their motes, then uses those opportunities to throw as much ice as possible onto the ball. It's very slow and steady but sometimes that's the way to go. Of course, both of them run all sorts of plays, but those are the most common ones I've seen them do. And given that Jacqueline is doing it on her own, I'd say she's doing a pretty good job."

"She waits for the opportune moment, then goes in for the kill. Nice. Sounds like what I'd do."

Blaise chuckled, turning his attention back to the game. They watched for another minute or so; Jacqueline almost had the upper hand, but unfortunately for her, the Twins were on top of mote maintenance. After all, it's easy to keep your motes strong when you don't have to fling them at the ball to take it back—just at the opposing motes.

"THIRTY SECONDS!" Fino shouted, he and Fiera looking a little sweaty. Though Jacqueline didn't look as sweaty, she looked very, very tense.

The ball got hit with a few more snowy motes, but the fiery ones kept it in their possession easily enough.

"FIFTEEN SECONDS!"

Faster and faster the snowy motes ran, only to be tackled by two or three flaming motes before they could even catch some air time.

"TEN SECONDS!"

Jacqueline's arms were moving about wildly. The snowy motes on the field looked stronger, and stronger, but with five seconds left on the clock it wasn't looking very good for Team Jacqueline.

"TIME!" Fino finally called out, and all three sprites stopped immediately. The motes stopped; the snowy ones fell to the ground limp, becoming piles of snow. The fiery ones went out, little puffs of smoke drifting up into the air. The ball fell, rolling towards the middle of the field and stopping, embers still cracking.

"Haha! We WON!" Fiera shouted, running in a little victory circle with her hands above her head. "In your FACE!" she continued, stopping her victory twirl to point very rudely at her sister.

"Well you don't need to be such a sore winner," Jacqueline said with a pout, hands on her knees as she caught her breath.

"You're just being a sore LOSER!" Fiera yelled back, blowing a raspberry at Jacqueline, sticking her thumb on her nose and wiggling her fingers.

"Then what do you call THAT?" Jacqueline demanded, springing up and gesturing at Fiera's funny faces.

"I call that I know who had the last cup of coffee this morning," Fino said with a knowing look.

Fiera gasped. "YOU TAKE THAT BACK! You have NO proof!"

"How do they keep time?" Jack asked, as Fiera tackled her twin down.

"Usually they do it amongst themselves. Winter and I supervise," Blaise said, tapping his head. "And if either of them mess up, Winter makes sure to call them out. Sometimes one of the Time Keepers swings by; seems Jacqueline knows a couple of them well enough to warrant them knowing that a game's about to start and a referee is appreciated."

"Time Keepers?"

"Yeah, you know. There's Day and Night, and they each have their three apprentices? Midnight's the one who usually comes by, but Noon's come by a couple of times, too."

"Oh! Okay. Father Time calls them Time Lords and Ladies."

"Really now?"

Jack nodded.

"Doctor Who fan?"

"The biggest, I'd say. And since it returned? It's like the sixties all over again with him. The last non-emergency Council meeting happened to fall during casting announcements, and baldy had a lot to say about those, that's for sure. And during the Christmas briefings the last two years? If they fall on the same day as a Christmas special?" Jack swung his hands up in the air, palms out. "He goes on and on and on. Honestly, sometimes the things we talk about are so pointless—"

Blaise chuckled. "You should see Assembly meetings. They're just as bad some days, if not worse. You'd be surprised at what makes it past the moots."

Below them, Fiera resumed her gloating as she got up off the ground, Fino righting himself with a devious little smirk. He could see Jacqueline starting to get very annoyed as she begun to clear the field, the Twins taking care of their side. Jack went through all of the game-related info in his head, his decision just about made as Fiera started up again.

"Ready for the final round?" Fiera asked.

"Final round? There's still two more!"

"Fino and I have this game under WRAPS! You may as well forfeit now and let us win," she said with a smug little smirk.

"The only reason you guys win so much is because you outnumber me! Every! Time!"

"Well, that settles that," Jack decided. He shrugged off his jacket, placing it carefully over the railing before launching himself over it, landing with a bit of a dramatic flourish just outside of the field. A ripple of snow blew across it, catching the attention of all three siblings. He stood up from the superhero landing he had nailed, waving excess snow off of his vest. "I think it's time we evened the playing field."

Jacqueline lit up. "Really?" she asked, the lopsided grin nearly kicking Jack back to a time long before the day of darkness, painfully reminding him of the tiny little sprite she'd once been.

Jack cleared his throat. "Yeah, really. I think it's about time the trash talk went two ways instead of one. Deal me in, or whatever it is you do. I'm on Jacqueline's team. Obviously," he said, stopping beside her.

"CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!" Fiera shouted, her hair flaring up behind her in excitement, sparks flying.

"Fair is fair!" Fino said cheerily. "You know how to play?"

"I got the gist of it. Dad gave me a run down."

"Here's the dealio anyway!" Fiera began. "The point of the game is to keep the ball under your element for five whole minutes."

"The other team can and will steal it back from you," Fino continued.

"We're a two-twin army!" Fiera shouted.

"You can't touch the ball at all. You stay in the conductor zone and direct your motes, who are allowed to touch the ball with basically their whole entire body. But you cannot touch it yourself."

"NO TOUCHING THE BALL IF YOU'RE A SPRITE!" Fiera yelled.

"Got that," Jack shouted back.

"We're keeping time ourselves, today! You have to be fair or Mom will know and then she will call you out and the other team wins by default."

"That's called Winter's Law," Jacqueline added.

"And it's the WORST!" Fiera supplied.

"It would be for a cheater like you," Jack shouted back with a smirk, knowing full well that at present he was exempt from that law.

Fiera gasped. "How DARE you! I'm gonna melt that smirk right off your frosty face!"

"Not if I put you on ice first, hot head." Jack grinned, getting into position. "So, what's our game plan?"

Are you sure you wanna do this? Jacqueline asked silently, mirroring Jack's stance. It's a lot of effort.

I think with the two of us on the same team, it'll be a breeze.

No, I mean for like powers! It doesn't look like it but it uses a lot of magic. It's gonna be a decent amount of drawing from the ether.

Well then, more practise for me, Jack thought with a shrug. Besides, it's starting to feel a bit easier to do, he added.

Jacqueline smiled. Oh! That's reassuring! Shall I start the countdown then?

Jack nodded, game face on.

"READY?" she shouted.

"READY!" the Twins shouted back, hopping into fighting stance.

"On my count?"

"Yep!"

"Yeah!"

"Three…two…one…" Jacqueline paused for a minute, staring at the twins for a second before finally yelling, "GO!"

And the field immediately came back to life.

With a stomp in the ground, Jacqueline sent a pillar of snow up below the ball, launching it several meters into the sky. As the ball floated above them, the snow whooshing away below it, the Twins got to work summoning their motes.

We can only have twelve on the field at any given time, Jacqueline thought at him. No going over, or it's a foul!

Got it, Jack thought back, pulling some hefty motes out from the snow in front of them. Strategy?

I usually focus on mote upkeep. The better the upkeep, the more snow they'll throw on the ball when we get a chance to jump it.

You keep the motes in one piece; I'll get us that ball.

Sounds good to me! This is going to be fun, Jacqueline thought, her face determined as the ball hit the ground.

The Twins were fast, but Jack was faster. Before the fiery motes even made it to centre field, Jack sent four of their own flying. They jumped on the ball; with a quick flick of his wrists, the snowy men coated the ball—it was theirs before the twins could even blink.

"TIME!" All three siblings called, and the five-minute countdown was on.

Jack focused on the ball, doing his best to keep it frozen as he tossed it back and forth between their snowy motes. Now that half the work was taken off Jacqueline's back, she was able to focus more on mote upkeep and began helping Jack keep the ball away from the fire motes.

In order to keep up with the ice men and come even remotely close to the ball, the twins had to break apart their hoard of motes, spreading them out. This was not something they were used to; as a result, it was a lot harder for them to even attempt to throw some of their own motes onto the ball and melt even a bit of the ice. They got a few hits, but not enough to change the ball over.

This continued for a while, until Jacqueline called halftime. The Twins shared a glance, nodding. They redoubled their efforts, their faces identical grimaces as the flames on their army grew higher, the icemen melting faster now.

Their efforts were in vain, of course. Having her focus undivided was proving to be a huge help. Jacqueline managed to keep their players from melting as the fiery opponents swarmed, Jack masterfully keeping the ball away from the opposing team, the five-minute mark approaching faster and faster.

"One minute!" Fino shouted, frantic. He and Fiera began moving their arms a bit faster, now throwing all of their players towards the ball.

Jack was losing energy, but seeing the Twins redouble their efforts only for Jacqueline's face to break into a determined grin spurred him on. He moved faster; they would win this! Even if he had to sleep for a whole day or two. It'd be worth it to have the satisfaction of kicking the younger sibling's butts at a game they invented. Even more worth it for how happy Jacqueline would be.

Jack serpentined the ball, the fiery motes crashing into one another as the twins tried to cut him off on the next swerve. The last minute of the round had a LOT of fire. Fino and Fiera managed to get one or two players on the ball, but Jacqueline quickly froze any bit of melting that their motes begun.

In a last ditch effort, Fino and Fiera brought the motes around, a large hoard heading right towards the ball. They launched the hoard into the air side by side, aiming for the ball in an arc as wide as the field, but the seconds were ticking away and as they approached the ball, the snowy motes swung back, rushing off with the ball to throw off the careful aim of the fiery motes and—

"THAT'S TIME!" Jacqueline shouted.

Once more, all game activity immediately ceased. The large flame ball of motes extinguished in the air; the icemen turned into snow and disappeared into the ground. On top of the snow pile they left behind sat the ball, still covered in ice. It sparkled in the midday sun, not a single singe or crack on the surface.

Jacqueline made a fist; the ice on the ball shattered, dropping down into the snow pile and leaving the ball small and grey in the start position for the deciding round.

"Quick question for you, Jacqueline," Jack began.

"What's up?"

"There's still a smirk on my face, right?"

"Yep!"

"Not gone in the slightest?"

"I'd actually say it's even smirkier."

"I seem to recall someone saying they were going to melt it right off my face," Jack said, looking directly at Fiera.

Fiera opened her mouth wide and promptly erupted into flames for the briefest of moments. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Angry because we won?" Jacqueline said, sticking her tongue out at her younger sister.

"Beginner's luck!" Extinguishing with a hiss, she planted her hands on her hips, surveying the snowy siblings. "We still have one more round! And I am going to crush you! Fino too."

"I'm just here to have a good time," Fino threw his hands above him in surrender, ash poofing right off of their side of the field. "But now that I know what to expect from the both of you," he sounded chipper now, wagging his finger in the air. "I will not make this last round easy for you two."

"Wouldn't dream of it, kid," Jack replied.

"Loosing team gets kick off," Jacqueline said, waving away the pile of snow below the ball. It twirled below it, the ball gently falling onto the clear ground with a rubbery bonk.

"This time we're gonna melt your butts," Fiera said with a sure nod.

"Good thing I'm trained in fire safety," Jack taunted, his Legate snorting.

Fiera's eyebrow shot up; she laughed, throwing her head back grandly. "This is going to be the start of a be-a-U-tiful sibling rivalry. READY?"

"READY!" the snowier siblings shouted back, hopping into their starting stances.

"ON MY COUNT?"

"Yep!"

"Sounds good!"

"Quit stalling!"

"THREE…TWO…ONE…" Fiera paused, glancing at her twin. Fino nodded; he was in horse stance, fists at the ready. She glanced across the field. Jack and Jacqueline were ready to rumble, too. With a grin, Fiera stomped her foot down on the ground. "GO!"

A line of fire billowed out from under her foot, circling the ball and shooting it upwards on a pillar of steam. Fiera waved her hand and the flames extinguished, the ball shooting up, up, up, and falling a little closer to the fiery side of the field.

"Oh no you don't!" Jack yelled, and, with a wave of his hand, summoned three of their twelve motes on the opposing side of the field. Fino yelped, immediately sending three of their own after the three that Jack had spawned.

The snowy motes ran and ran, jumping just out of the reach of their pursuers and hitting the ball with a snowy crunch. The momentum shot the ball forward, and Jacqueline immediately sent three more motes from their side of the field to meet the ball halfway.

They hit with a snowy smack; the ball was covered in snow before it even hit the ground.

"TIME!" Jack shouted, getting into the spirit of the game.

Fino cackled. "Nice play! I think I'll add that to my repertoire," lifting a hand, he summed motes behind enemy lines as well. They immediately assassinated two of the snowy motes, Jacqueline scrambling to make up the numbers. More fiery motes appeared, reducing the snowy ones to puddles. The twins managed to deplete the motes very fast—but the ball remained in snowy hands!

The fiery motes swarmed, puddling through enemy lines to throw themselves at the ball all at once. the ice began to crack. Jack wasted no time in whipping up some fresh motes while Jacqueline repaired the ones still in play, manouvering the ones holding the ball away from the onslaught of fiery motes.

The final round continued in much the same way. Fino and Fiera threw everything they had at the snowy motes, but now that Jacqueline had help, they could not seem to get that sweet, sweet weak point they were so accustomed to getting from their older sister as she repaired the players. The ball stayed snowy for most of the time, though the twins came close to taking it back twice!

The game was also a bit more violent than usual. Now that they realized they could summon their motes anywhere, fiery and snowy blobs popped up all over the place, never exceeding twelve, brawling amongst themselves.

The last thirty seconds had the audience on the edge of their seats! In a stunning display of camaraderie, the twins had managed to knock the ball out of snowy hands. It was a spark's breadth away from being fully engulfed by the flames, when the snowy motes that had just gotten melted popped up right under the ball, shoving their fiery counterparts away and straight up stealing the ball.

The flaming motes were sent flying across the field, extinguishing in the air. The snowy motes rolled the ball away from the opposing side, once again covering it in snow. The changeover had not happened; the ball managed to stay cold the entire time, and with ten seconds left on the clock, looked like it hadn't even been singed.

"And that's TIME!" Jacqueline yelled as their mental timers hit zero. "We did it! We actually did it!"

"NOOOOOOOO!" Fiera yelled, dropping to her knees and looking up at the sky as the last flame motes poofed into smoke and drifted away. "We've been…defeated," she croaked, closing her eyes and dramatically falling over, right into Fino's outstretched arms.

He gasped just as dramatically, a sardonic smile on his face. "Oh no! You've killed her dead!"

"Bleh," Fiera said, sticking out her tongue.

"Lady of the Springs, we WON!" Jacqueline shouted, jumping up. "We did it we beat them we won! Ah! Thank you thank you THANK YOU Jack!" And, before Jack could even reply, he found himself nearly bowled over from the force of the hug Jacqueline had hit him with.

It was a tight hug, and Jack once again found himself completely caught off guard by it.

"Thank you for joining me, Jack," she said, still hugging.

Jack smiled softly, squeezing her back. "Anytime," he finally said, breaking off the hug. "After all, these pint-sized terrors definitely needed to cool off a bit," he said, just loud enough for Fiera to hear.

She miraculously came back from the dead, springing up. "No, YOU!"

"She LIVES!" Fino teased.

"Does she though?" Jacqueline asked, doubtful. "I mean, no you? Really? That's the best you can do? That's how I know we absolutely hailed all over your parade," Jacqueline said with a smirk.

"Ha, nice."

"No! Don't compliment the enemy, Fino! I have been betrayed by mine own twin," Fiera said with a sigh, flinging herself facedown into the snow.

"Ah, ah, ah, Fiera, what did we say about good sportsmanship?" Winter shouted from the deck.

Fiera rolled over with a sigh. "That I should be a good sportsman," she admitted, sitting up in the snow and taking a deep breath in. "Good game, Jack. Especially for a first timer who is also an old timer."

"Like I haven't heard that one before," Jack said, making his way across the field and offering her a hand. "Truce?"

She looked at it suspiciously, with a funny pout that made it so much less serious. "For now," she grabbed his hand, pulling herself up.

"Thanks for letting me join you three," Jack said. "It was a lot of fun."

"Thanks for joining us!" Fino said excitedly, grinning with his hands on his hips. "I cannot BEGIN to tell you how many tricks you just taught me! We'll get them next time, Fiera," Fino said with a supportive nudge.

"Heck yeah we will! You know all their tricks and I'm gonna practise so hard," Fiera said with a determined little fist pump.

"Wonderful game!" Winter said, joining the kids on the field. Blaise followed behind her at a leisurely pace, Jack's jacket over his arm.

"Those last thirty seconds had me sweating!" Blaise said, passing the jacket over to Jack. "On the edge of my seat! What a comeback! What a save!"

"Yes, bravo!" Winter said, clapping.

"Thank you, thank you. All in a days work for myself, of course."

"For you?" Jacqueline demanded, trudging through the snow to join everyone. "Oh, please. I did all the work!" she said, tossing a snowball Jack's way.

Jack caught it midair without looking, throwing it right back at Jacqueline and hitting her right in the face. She blinked away the snow in a very cartoonish fashion, peeping out of a pile of snow. Jack turned around with a sly grin.

"Told you I'd get you later."

Jacqueline burst into laughter, waving the snow off her face. "I'll get you one of these days," she said, the snow falling beside her with a plop.

Winter laughed, the twins rushing by her to tackle Blaise. "You certainly managed to keep up with your siblings just fine, Jack dear."

"I am truly a fountain of boundless energy," he replied, ignoring the fatigue that had begun to settle as he touched up the melted parts of his jacket before throwing it on. "I'm glad I joined," he admitted quietly as the twins hounded Blaise with all the cool details of the game, re-enactments included. He laughed loudly as they explained what had happened, keeping them very well distracted, Jack noted.

"I am too," Jacqueline added, beside Winter. "It was nice to have a teammate for once."

"It was nice to be one," Jack said with a grin. "Especially with something that somehow managed to top yesterday's snowball showdown."

"Well I do hope you aren't all funned out," Winter said. "I don't know if your sister mentioned, but I was hoping I could steal you away for the afternoon, Jack dear."

"She mentioned, yes."

"Brilliant! I have a fun little errand planned for this afternoon, and I was hoping you'd accompany me."

"Right. To the Market?"

"The special seasonal one! Today is the grand opening," Winter said. "Officially it's the 'Crystal Springs Winter and Christmas Market' but there's hardly an emphasis on the holiday itself. Just more artisans and guilds than usual, given the gift giving spirit of the season."

"That's reassuring," Jack said. "I'm very sick of Christmas. I feel like I've been celebrating all year. D'you know they play Christmas music twenty-four seven up North? It's maddening."

"I'm surprised nobody has implemented a casual day, where they play anything but."

"Fridays," both Jack and Jacqueline said at the same time.

"Let me guess," Winter said, looking between the two with a soft smile. "Elle's influence?"

"Yep," both sprites replied with a nod.

Winter hummed. "Good. They could use a little break from the holidays up there. Quite frankly, so could I. and they haven't even rightly began yet. Anywho, I've got a couple of things saved to pick up from the market on opening day, and some wintry wrath to impart on the vendors that draw my ire," she said, in that cold but chipper way. "Usually I take someone with me for back up, and I was hoping you'd come along this year, Jack dear. If you feel up to it."

"Of course!" Jack said. "I'd love that."

"Oh, good! I wasn't sure that you would, given the Christmassy undertone and all, but—"

"Oh, please. Shopping? Bartering? Bringing down frosty wrath on people that mildly inconvenience me? Sounds like a usual day in Gstaad."

Winter grinned. "Excellent. Now then!" she said, turning around to face the twins, who were now climbing all over Blaise. "You two must be hungry."

Both twins brightened, quite literally, at the thought of food, hopping off of Blaise's arms and onto the ground.

"Starving!" Fiera said.

"I could eat a cow," Fino added.

"I could eat two," Fiera replied.

"We can split the third one."

"Well, off we go then. The three of us need to have some lunch. Would the two of you go ahead and pull out the leftovers and set the table?" Winter asked.

"Sure!" Fino said.

"Aye-aye, captain!" Fiera said, with a silly salute.

The Twins ran off, beelining up the deck and boucnign around one another as they hopped into the kitchen. Blaise watched them closely as Winter joined his side. "I hope they nap while you're out. I'm tuckered out; they've been a handful all day."

Winter lifted her foot, a small step of snow boosting her enough to kiss Blaise's cheek. "Thank you for your noble sacrifice, Blaise dear. I'm sure they'll take it easy this afternoon. They're bound to crash, after all. They were up as late as we all were."

"One can only hope," Blaise said, kissing Winter's forehead. "So, who's the lucky sprite this year?"

"That would be me," Jack said, joining his parents by the steps up. "It's probably about time I stepped into the city. I'm sure by Monday the other seasons will have mentioned yesterday's dinner to lady knows how many magibeans. May as well get a head start, you know, stir the pot a bit."

"You probably won't have to do much to cause trouble. I think you'll get people talking just by being there."

"I do so hope so," Winter said with a laugh. "And then we'll see how much they have to say once I get my eyes on them," she threatened, heading up the deck steps. "Now then, I still have to eat, and get changed. I've already heard back from Spring about who's watching the stall, so we're just about set. Should be about an hour if that works for you Jack?"

"I'm ready when you are."

"Brilliant," Winter said.

"Sure you'll be okay on your own? I could still come with you both, just in case," Jacqueline said, pulling her hair down and shaking it out

Winter and Jack shared a look. They didn't say anything, but they didn't need to. They both knew what needed to be done.

"I think we'll be just fine," Winter said with a soft smile. "Come along Jacqueline, you should eat something too before you head out for the day. And as for you two, was that Elevenses, or Luncheon? Should we set some plates out for our resident hobbits?" Winter teased, heading up the steps.

"Mom, please. I'm short but not that short."

"I could go for round three," Blaise said.

Winter laughed. "Of course you could."

---

Santa sat at his desk, frowning down at the swath of paperwork below him. Tucked in a carrier on his belly, Buddy kicked his legs, a little bit fussy. He had been trying to climb Santa's desk and was a little miffed that his daring adventure had been cancelled. It was much more fun to climb a desk than it was to sit at one, but alas, he only knew a few words and could not express this clearly enough to his dad and Bernard. He threw his little stuffed lizard in protest; it stopped magically in midair, zipping back into Buddy's hands. He stopped fussing, eyes delighted as he grabbed the lizard out of midair, clapping and giggling.

"I don't get it," Santa finally said. "All the data says that things are slowly getting back to normal levels. And the photos," Santa said, standing up. He placed the reports back down and spread out a handful of photos on the other side of his desk, giving them a careful once over. "That's the cleanest we've seen it all year. Everything looks good, Bernard. Why are you so worried?"

"Hmm. Well gosh, Santa, I don't know," Bernard began, heavy on the sarcasm. The lizard went flying again; it stopped in midair once more, floating back towards Buddy. "Maybe because it was only a partial enactment of the Legate Law? Meaning that Jacqueline isn't fully in charge of the Dome, meaning that chances are, unless the two of them worked a miracle in three days or so, there's still a leak. Did you forget what Mother Nature and Father Time said at the meeting?"

"Of course not! That sort of thing is hard to forget." He sat back down at the desk, one hand on Buddy, the other stroking his beard as he remembered what had been discussed. "If the Deliquesce happens, the Pole becomes exposed, and an outpouring of uncontrollable magic will destroy everything. I live here! I don't wanna see it destroyed, and I'm certainly not going to forget a fact like that when it's a possibility."

"And yet…" Bernard trailed off, gesturing with both hands at all of Santa.

"I'm just looking at the facts, Bernard. Seems like everything is coming up normal," he said, rifling through a pile of charts on his desk. "The magic is stabilizing, the snow is extra fluffy, ice levels are where they should be and the borealis are just about at full power, with a steady uptick since the Winter Garrison did whatever it was they did to fix the Dome."

"The what now?'

"The Winter Garrison! You know, Jack and Jacqueline? I was thinking that they needed a cool kick a-uh—butt," Santa corrected, looking down at Buddy. "Kick butt name."

"And you thought Winter Garrison was it?"

"It's not that bad."

"Garrison? Really? Don't you think that's maybe a little too militaristic?"

"Says the guy in a green beret. Don't think the meaning of that went over my head," Santa said, sitting down at his desk.

"Hey! It's a symbol of my seniority, Santa. One that you should take into consideration, too."

"Don't make me put you on the naughty list."

"I'd like to see you try," Bernard snapped back.

Santa chuckled. "Alright, let's talk turkey," he said, sitting forwards and clasping his hands to look at Bernard seriously. Or, well, as seriously as you can with a baby on board, who, with a giggle, tossed the lizard again.

Bernard sighed, the lizard once more stopping in midair. This time, instead of going right back to Buddy's outstretched hands, the lizard bobbed up and down, hopping towards Buddy and around his head. The baby clapped, laughing as the lizard did a loop-d-loop, before it finally landed on top of Buddy's head.

"Nice with the loop-d-loop," Santa said.

"Thanks," Bernard said, letting a small smile grace his face. "Let's get back to the issue at hand though, yeah?"

"Frosty duo?"

"Not that issue. Though that one's good."

"Noted and ah, forwarded to management," Santa pointed to himself with a chuckle, pleased at his own joke. "Look, you've said so yourself—no leaks, no cracks, seems just about normal," he said, picking up his cocoa and sipping it. "Mm. That's the good stuff." He placed the mug back down on the coaster. "I really don't see a problem with bringing the family up again this year!"

"Because that's not the problem, Santa. The problem is this year's extenuating circumstances. I'm just concerned that you're not worrying about them enough. Sure the family would love to come up! But I don't think they'll be loving it anymore when one of them gets crushed by a falling chunk of ice."

Santa looked at Bernard, aghast. "Graphic, much? There are children present, Bernard!"

The head elf rolled his eyes. "You know I have a point."

Santa sighed. "Yeah, I know. Well, look. The Snow Patrol seems to have fixed said extenuating circumstances," Santa said continued. "I mean, the data shows that everything seems normal!"

"Yeah, seems normal. Santa, you know as well as I do that we don't just operate on facts here in Elfsburg. We operate on magic too. Optimal output is when both the facts and the magic are telling us the same thing."

"Are they not?"

Bernard shook his head.

Santa sighed, throwing his head back and twiddling his thumbs. Buddy tried to look up at his dad. When that was unsuccessful, he poked Santa with the lizard.

"Yes Buddy?"

"Sads?" he asked, shoving the lizard in Santa's face.

Santa chuckled, taking the lizard. "I'm just fine, champ. You hold onto him for me, alright? Emphasis on the hold. That's more than enough throwing of things. Mommy would NOT be happy."

Buddy laughed at that. He chomped on the lizard's tail, his legs kicking about again.

"So. What's the magic saying, then," Santa asked, dreading the answer.

"There's still a leak," Bernard said.

"Still? But it feels normal to me!"

"But it's not. Look, Santa, we are surrounded by Christmas magic 24/7, alright? So if you really wanna feel it out, you'll have to dip down because it is tiny—but that doesn't make it any less of an issue."

"Dip down? Is that the technical term?"

"I need you to take this seriously, Santa. If we want to make sure it's safe for your family to come up, we need to make sure that the magic is stable. You need to learn to do this now."

Buddy stopped bouncing, gazing up at Bernard, mouth open in baby shock.

"I don't appreciate your tone," Santa said, moving Buddy's little fist up and down, the baby's little pointer finger sticking out.

Bernard inhaled. "Sorry. It's just, this is a lot bigger than it seems," he said, with a nervous laugh. "So if you could just do this little thing with me, that'd be great. I'd really appreciate it."

"Alright. Sure, Bernard. Show me how to dip down."

"Thank you. Okay. Close your eyes and just feel, Santa. You can too if you want, Champ."

Buddy gurgled, closing his eyes as well, legs once again kicking about.

Santa took a deep breath in, shutting his eyes and trying to just feel. He settled into his chair a bit more, arms around Buddy. He tried to feel out the magic around him. It was pretty easy, once he focused. Christmas magic felt warm and prickly, but not in a way that hurt. It kinda tickled, sometimes, and smelt a bit like baked goods and cinnamon.

"The way magic works is like a blanket," Bernard began. "A big, fluffy, static blanket that covers the World. It originates from Crystal Springs, deep within the Springs themselves at the source of all magic. From there, it stretches all across the world. Now, along this magical blanket that covers the world, are places where magic sorta gathers up in large quantities."

"Like a bump."

"Exactly."

"So what I'm feeling right now is the bump where the Christmas magic has gathered?"

"Exactly! You're doing great, Santa. Now," Bernard continued, and Santa didn't have to open his eyes to picture Bernard shifting his weight and explaining with his hands. "The problem with these bumps is that they disrupt the flow of magic across the world. So, when these magic lumps gather, magibeans establish a control point as soon as they can."

"A control point?"

"Usually a structure of some sort, with another type of magic, generally seasonal or natural, that helps ease the magic out of the lump and through the blanket in quantities that won't upset the threads. Wanna guess where I'm going with this?"

"The North Pole is one of those magic lumps? And the Workshop is the control point?"

"Try again, Santa. We were talking about the Dome."

Realization dawned. "The Dome is the control point. Right! Right, we talked about that at the beginning of the meeting!"

"Ding ding ding! We have a winner! The Dome eases out the Christmas magic in proper quantities, keeping the blanket—known as the ether—safe from a giant outpouring of magic. If something happens to the Dome, then the Christmas magic can get a little out of control. We've seen that throughout the year; the Dome got weak, and it warmed up, because the magic was leaking out of the dome, and Christmas magic runs hot. Which is why winter magic tends to be the best magic to ease out the Christmas magic."

Santa could feel the winter magic as he focused on the magic around him. It was sort of happy; it felt cooler, but had a bit of warmth to it. Some sort of togetherness? Feeling? It would've felt nice, overall, except for that the more Santa focused on it, the more…stressed it seemed.

"So that's what that is! It feels kinda stressed," Santa said, cracking open an eye. Bernard looked grave.

"Because it is."

"Even with what the Ice Brigade did?"

"That's somehow worse than Winter Garrison."

"Alright, alright." Santa looked thoughtful for a moment. "So it's still leaking. Hence the stress," he said, Bernard nodding. "But it has only been three days! It could change still. It could get better," Santa finished, standing up thoughtfully.

"It could also get worse."

Santa sat back down in his chair, frowning in thought. "Bernard. The family has to come up. It would mean the world to Carol, to see everyone again. It would mean a lot to me, too."

Bernard exhaled. "I know, Santa. But their safety is my top priority. Their safety, as well as yours and all of the elves living here. So you can see why I'm a little worried about the Dome."

"Okay. We know it's not too serious yet. If it was, the Dome Watch would have come up by now, right?"

"Dome Watch?"

"Not jiving it?"

"Sounds off. I keep thinking of Baywatch. I think this one's a hard pass."

"So Frosty Duo still reigns supreme. Alright. They'd sense it when the Dome was cracking again, right? Since they're linked to it?"

Bernard nodded. "They'll know right away."

"And evidently, since they haven't reappeared, we can assume the waters ahead are smooth. For now. The magic may still be leaking, but it hasn't gotten worse."

"We'll need more time to see how permanent this fix is. And the Frosty Duo will too, to make sure they're both back on their feet."

Santa tapped his fingers together thoughtfully, Buddy dozing off in the carrier. "Let's make a compromise," Santa finally said, looking at Bernard.

"Sure. What do you have in mind?"

"Let's give it another week. It's only the first of December. Lucy still has two weeks left of school, and I'm not sure about Charlie's exam schedule. If nothing happens in that time, then we'll agree to bring up the family."

"And if something does happen?" Bernard asked.

"We keep them home, nice and safe, and call over the Frosty Duo. Is that the one we're going with?"

"It's just a bit off the mark, I think. It's missing a bit of pzazz."

"It's good enough for now! So, what do you say, Bernard? Do we have a deal?"

Bernard thought for a moment. "One week to make sure the Dome is safe, with another week in between to prep for their arrival?"

"And keep tabs on the Dome. And if anything, anything happens in between now and then, we call it off; they stay home and we figure out how to permanently fix this, with or without help from the Frosty Duo. Sound like a plan, champ?"

In response, Buddy seemed to let out the tiniest of snores. Santa softened, gently sitting up. "Well would you look at that. Looks like the dipping down was a bit too much for him," he chuckled.

Bernard smiled. "He'll get it one day. Here, let me help with that."

Santa carefully pulled the now snoozing baby out of the carrier, Bernard helping him pull it off without disturbing baby Buddy. He watched thoughtfully as Santa went over to the bassinet, gently placing the snoozing boy down, pushing back his hair and tucking him in.

Two weeks would be more than enough time to confirm that the Dome was secure.

It also gave Jacqueline a good amount of time to help Jack figure things out, and vice versa, which was the other circumstance Bernard was heavily considering himself. Last Elle had heard from the kid, once they got home, they had figured out Jack's problem in under twelve hours. His essence was shot; a magibean identity crisis if there ever was one.

It checked out, of course. Jack had gone from bad to good very suddenly, and if that was what was fuelling his powers? It's not gonna do much when you've renounced your evil ways and started working hard to make up for your (many) past mistakes.

So they had two weeks. Two weeks for Jack to make up with the family, get to know them, and hopefully get to know himself again. Two weeks for Jacqueline to see if she could figure out what had caused those blackouts for her. Two weeks to make sure they were safe in the long run.

"So," Santa said with a light clap, careful not to startle Buddy awake. "Whadaya say, Bernard. Two weeks?"

Bernard tilted his head thoughtfully, shifting his weight. "Yeah. I think we can work with that. It's a deal, Santa."

"Yes!"

"But if so much as a single sliver of ice falls from that Dome, we call it off. Full stop. Got it?"

"Got it. I wouldn't want Charlie or the Millers to get squashed."

"Or the in-laws."

"Ehhhhh…"

"Or the in-laws," Bernard repeated, sternly.

"Personally I think Bud could use a snowball or two to the head. It'd be good for him. I thought of asking Jack, but I think the tables would turn on me and they'd gang up, you know?"

"Santa."

"Alright, calm down, Bernard. don't get your beret in a bunch. Look, Bud's not that bad. He's Carol's dad! She loves him and he loves her! I get it, I get it. He's just. You know. Infuriating!"

"Well good news for you, Santa. We've got a contingency plan for that. We can distract him when he starts pushing your buttons."

Santa sat back in surprise. "Really?"

"Oh yeah. After last year, we figured this would end up becoming a yearly occurrence. We've done our research, ran the scenarios. We've planned for everything. Well, except the Deliquesce. But we can work on that assuming everything goes well in the next few weeks."

"Nice job number one!"

"Well you know what they say," Bernard said with shrug, clasping his hands behind his back.

"We deliver."

"We sure do. Speaking of," he stepped up onto the balls of his feet, feet tapping on the ground. "I've got to go deliver the news to a bunch of departments. the dome Reconnaissance Team, various department heads, Elfland security...we're good here?"

"Yeah, yeah. We're good. We're cool. We're chill."

"Stop that."

"Sorry."

"Keep an eye on that magic, Santa. Got it?" Bernard said with a stern look and sterner point.

"Got it."

"Good."

And with that, Bernard turned on his heel and left the office.

---

A/N: Edited as of August 12th, 2022 (and again in September 2023). RIP the snowy mote that got yeeted to the back door, you will be missed but you HAVE been avenged!

Okay so first of all, I actually caused psychic damage to myself after writing the hearts happy line? Had to actually SIT BACK and stare like :"]? So like, sorry (not sorry) to you, lovely readers!

Secondly, the hair of dog thing is a real thing and the wikipedia page about what it's called in different cultures is an amazing read, I loved every moment of it. My Avô used to do that to my Mom and her friends after a night of drinking! I thought it'd be funny to have Blaise do the same to the cold front, haha.

THIRDLY, the three times Jack tried to make amends/reconnect with the fam:

1. RoE takes place both before and after CS; when RoE starts, he did not go back home-chickened out.

2. Post-Watchverse, even though he HAD a second chance, he chickened out once again.

3. Frostmas! He made it to the house and got absolutely dunked on by every single Frost, so no, that did NOT go well :)

This one was fun to rewrite! The Blaise and Jack scene was therapeutic, holy shit. The Santa and B-Man scene was a BITCH. I almost cut it. I still may cut it. It's making me angy. It's on thin fucking ice. It's a reason this chapter didn't go up on Monday. I'm feeling murderous.

Next up: Winter and Jack, which I can see taking me all August. BUT I am DETERMINED to have fresh CS by December so FINGERS CROSSED! I AM GOING TO SCREAM!

R&R little flames and flurries alike! I love reading the reviews as much as I love writing these fluffy chapters that STAB (in all the good ways) :D.