eachdraidh | first snowball ❅ video (open to both courts; post feast)

[There's a boy with white hair, quite obviously rather young however, staring with eyes blue and wide, a curiosity coursing through him as he peeks through closely. There's a moment where he seems quite anxious, as if he's unable to speak, but as he pulls back, it passes fast, a notable smile blooming suddenly on his face. The video shakes from his apparent bouncing, peering into the locket with nervous excitement.]

Hello! The name's Jack Frost, and if you can hear me, if you can see me—I really hope you can see me—please say something, anything, really.

[Fifteen years and he's only ever spoken to another spirit or two. Oh, how he longs for conversation! To be able to hear responses to questions, laughter towards his jokes, anything to let him know that he's heard, that he's seen.

He lifts a hand, hesitating for a beat before a small wave of frost lifts from his finger tips and he blows it forward. A hearty laugh soon follows, quite pleased with the act.]

I don't know much about what's going on out there, but I've got a huge stash of ammo for the best snowball fight you'll experience in ages. Heck, we can even go ice skating or sledding! We'll slide down hills or even mountains of snow. Anything goes.

[His smile grows ever wider with talk of his plans, a slight excited laugh escaping him as he continues to gaze with delight.] Look, wherever you are, it doesn't matter—I can get you one of the best snow days of your life. You'll have a blast. I promise.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hey now, I never said it was because I thought we were too grown up. [...granted that's probably what Sharpay thought and he went with it but details.] It's sort of just how things happened. We got busy and we don't get enough snow where I'm from to try every winter.

Maybe it's a little naive but I don't see what's wrong with that. It's like...it's kind of like boosting team morale, isn't it? I think if you have a gift of making people--[Do not say 'chill out'] relax, then you should do it. It's almost not fair to expect all of us to turn into hardened soldiers or whatever people think needs to happen here. Even in normal war times they always brought in fun and entertainment for the troops that were overseas right? It's sort of the same thing.

Boosting team morale. Sure, I'll take that. [If it'll cheer people up, he'll more be than happy to do it.]

Besides, there's probably more people, like you, who haven't seen enough of it, so maybe when the weather's chillier, I can give the folks something a little more exciting to deal with than fighting for a while.

Not sure what else I'd call it. If you had to pick a better term, what would you use?

[But that sounds promising and maybe it's a little dumb, maybe it's really naive and not the point but part of why he was excited to finally be in New York was for the chance to experience an actual winter. Having that here? It'd be great.] Everything in this world kinda revolves around fighting. Maybe you should just stage the biggest snowball fight in the history of Drabwurld and call it good.

This probably sounds really weird but…are you actually Jack Frost?

And that's exactly what I'm going to do. Give me a month or two. Maybe three, depending on the general weather, of course. I can make a few snowballs almost anytime, but I'm still a bit dependent on Old Winter if I wanna go for a huge bang.

[Because even if he was a winter spirit, he still wasn't the winter spirit. Even he had limitations.]

As far as I know, that's me. Bringer of snowballs and fun times.

Can't say I know what the weather's going to be like in a few months. I've been been here about two myself. You could probably ask around and see who's been here long enough to know about the winters here. [Shrug. But. Butbutbut Jack's talking about Old Man Winter and snow and things he distinctively recognizes as a different kind of magic and let's be honest, he grew up watching movies about Jack Frost. ~~Just thankfully not the movie this Jack is from.~~ He kind of gets what the lore is behind it.]

That's…wow. I never thought you'd be pulled to a place like this. [Because as far as he's concerned, Jack has a really important job.] Good to meet you. Or. See you, I guess?

Yeah, that makes two of us. [Though in all honesty, it's actually been a pretty positive change for him.]

Same to you, though. You know me, but what's your name, kid?

[Eyebrow lift. But it's fine, considering who Jack is? He probably is a kid by standards.]

It's Ryan, but I'm not really sure I'm still considered a kid.

Oh, I don't know. Kid tends to do more with the spirit than how long you've been around. Personally, I tend to like kids a little more than most.

[Adults can be so booooooring.]

Because kids are more likely to throw snowballs than adults? [Because he could get behind that.] Or is it something else?

Well, while snowballs do tend to be my forte, it's not just about that. It's just really about not taking life too seriously all the time. To enjoy what you've got instead of consuming yourself with worry. Life's too short to spend it not trying to be happy, you know?

[Well, maybe not his life, but he's seen people's lives come and go far too often in his experiences.]

Try telling my sister that. [It's said without really thinking about it and he sort of shakes his head to brush the subject off.] Trust me, you don't have to tell me twice. I believe it. What's the point in worrying about stuff you can't control? Focus on what you can do and figure out how to use it to do something bigger and better.

[Granted as long as Jack doesn't try to convince him of that when Ryan's stressing out over classwork or auditions or anything that philosophy stands. Otherwise...]

Until the winter hits though, what are you going to do now?

Right, exactly. [The response makes him smile, glad to see that someone's on the same page as him. He's seen so many people overly frustrated here that it's a nice change to see a little more optimism.]

Ah, well, there's still plenty to do. I'm staying out of the fighting of course, but it looks like there's still a ton of people for me to go out and meet. With a world as big as this, it'd be ridiculous to just sit around by myself.

You're from Earth though, aren't you? [Maybe? He's actually not that sure but it sounds right because all of the legends he's heard about Jack are set in his world.

Though, stupidly, he belatedly realizes that it could just be because they're Earth stories. For all he knows there could be alien planets that have their own alien version of people like Jack. Or Peter Pan. Or whatever.] I mean not that it matters, I just mean it's a pretty big world, too. Didn't you get to meet a lot of people there?

Ah, so you're from Earth too then. [Alien Jack Frosts would be all sorts of cool though, let's be real.]

In the sense that I saw a lot of people, then yeah, I did. The experience was a little different than how it is now though.

Yup. Southwest of the US but I just moved to the northeast. I wasn't supposed to see snow for another couple of months. [But hey, at least he sounds more thoughtful than annoyed. He thinks back to what Jack's initial message was and it suddenly clicks.]

Welcome to the world where you're not invisible, Jack. And the weird part is that new people arrive every couple of months so you'll never be short on people to meet. Enjoy it.

[He's not sure what the US is, from a time where it was still too early for that name to come about, but he doesn't ask about it, having picked up on the fact that people come from different times just as easily as different worlds.

But he's grinning when he hears it said outloud: you're not invisible. It was still a little hard to believe.]

Well, thanks for the welcome. I'm actually kind of enjoying the new scenery a bit. War stuff aside and the fact that not everyone's too thrilled, but hey—it could be worse, I guess.

first snowball ❅ video (open to both courts; post feast)

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