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VI. JINGLE ALL THE WAY

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DECEMBER 16TH

HUMANS WERE VERY peculiar beings compared to those from other worlds. Blaise and Noel didn't interact with very many humans aside from Sunny and Jack, and the occasional few they bumped into or ones they recognized from the nearby suites on their floor, but they were learning more and more about all of them the longer they stayed on Earth. With the other Realms, they were unique as well, but they were. . .the brothers already knew everything there was to know about them and their people. They were like Earth in some ways, but the one thing that set Earth apart wasn't that the humans were weaker than other beings or that their laws sometimes worked against its own people, but it was that they constantly hoped.

Hope existed within all of the other Realms, and quite a lot of it too, but it was on Earth that hope was the only thing that some people had to hold. When the skies above them began to turn gray and frightening darkness loomed in the distance, they remained still and held onto hope ━━━ hope that the storm would pass and things would be okay in the end or that the storm would diminish before it rained down on them. The brothers never had much reason to hold onto hope, or that it was the only thing they had left, but through their very own eyes, they could see why there was so much ━━━ especially around Christmas time. They still didn't quite understand it, but even they could see that peoples' spirits were being lifted and good deeds were being done more and more.

Blaise and Noel were weaseling their way into Sunny's heart even more than they already had, becoming more comfortable around her and letting their guards down; but only a little. Jack was still very keen on despising the brothers as if it were a new personality trait of his, picking any fight possible with them until Sunny intervened and directed him to his bedroom. It was rather tiresome, but there was something about it that made Sunny wonder if there might've been another reason as to why Jack was so adamant on making enemies out of the brothers.

"Listen here, you hot dog, I don't━━━"

"Must we keep this going?" Noel groaned as he entered Sunny's suite, the woman went to the store in hopes of getting some more ingredients to make homemade cookies. Blaise and Jack were behind him, harshly glaring at each other after Blaise made a snide jab about Jack's wrapping abilities. Noel headed towards the kitchen table, a small smile appearing on his lips when seeing a snow-themed wrapping paper taped around a square box with his name written in cursive on the name tag. With a heavy sigh, he sank into a chair, looking towards Blaise and Jack. "Our morning's just starting, and I'd prefer it if I could simply relax before having to listen to you two idiots."

"Says the number one idiot," Blaise harshly sneered, sitting in the seat opposite of his brother. His eyes flicked aside, doing a double-take at Jack. "Well, you two are tied for first place."

Jack breathed out a forced laugh, rolling his eyes. "Very clever, hotshot," he irritably said, grabbing a handmade mug from the cabinets behind the table. "If only your insults brought as much heat as you thought they did."

Noel chuckled under his breath, smile faltering when Jack glowered in his direction. "What? Am I not allowed to laugh?"

"I don't know what's so funny to you, Frozone," he said, raising a brow.

Noel made a face, brows knitted together. "Frozone?" he repeated. He stole a look towards Blaise to see if his brother might've understood the reference, but Blaise didn't meet his eye; he most likely didn't understand it either. "Do you expect me to understand that?"

"You two've never seen The Incredibles?" Jack asked in bewilderment.

"Is that some kind of. . .film?" Blaise suggested. "With the. . .fake stories?"

Jack just puffed out his cheeks as he turned his back towards the Miser brothers, ignoring the question; he didn't feel like explaining the entire plot to him and Noel, or how movies actually worked. So instead, he headed towards the coffee pot plugged in at the end of the counter, a tense silence enveloping the room as the three boys sat still with only the sound of coffee pouring to fill their ears. The TV in the living room was turned off for the first time in days, and it was the first time Blaise and Noel had seen it completely black as if the positive light in the suite had left along with Sunny. Lucy was off sleeping in Sunny's room, having decided not to pester the boys that morning. Noel then turned his gaze to his hands, fiddling with his cold fingertips. Blaise tiredly rubbed the back of his neck, his gruff hands rather warm and comforting him in the tense environment.

Jack briefly looked aside, thin lips twisting as his eyes fell on the empty place by the TV stand that Sunny had cleaned out for a tree. His face visibly softened, adjusting his grip on his mug. Five stockings were strung up on the wall beside the space, each a different color for Sunny, Jack, Blaise, Noel, and Lucy. Jack peered at the empty space again, the gears in his brain beginning to turn and grind together. Now, Sunny hadn't been expecting them to go anywhere while she was gone, but she'd never thought Jack would take it upon himself to go and get a tree for her.

The only downside was that he'd have to bring dumb and dumber along with him (as he'd labeled them in his head).

Then again, he felt like he owed it to Sunny to do this for her after all she'd done for him ever since she took him in as a lonesome teenager. And, if Blaise and Noel wanted to prove to Sunny how sorry they were about the store debacle, then they'd agree to tag along; hopefully, they'd find a tree before they killed each other.

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All three boys were fuming as they traipsed through a tree farm, trees filling up the entire land as families, couples, and people alike searched for the perfect tree for their home. Pure white snow covered the wet ground, stuck tight in the towering trees and fluttering in the wind whenever a gust flew by. Thankfully, no more snow was falling from the clouded sky and the boys were able to weave their way through people and the trees in their search to find one that would fit just right in the suite. Faint music played from speakers screwed into the light posts that stretched through the entire farm, a jolly tune attempting to lift spirits, but it wasn't doing anything for the three grouches that made their way towards the smaller sized trees ━━━ ones that would actually be able to fit through the front door.

"I swear, if I hear one more complaint, Blaise, I'll━━━"

"You'll what?" Blaise sharply interjected, green eyes burning with profound rage. His hands were tightly holding onto his biceps, a thick coat covering his arms and a beanie on his head. A fluffy scarf was tied around his neck, gloves on his hands and keeping his fingers warm. Even through the many warm layers he was wearing, it just wasn't enough. He hated the cold and being out when the weather was even colder than it had been all month, he was no doubt on edge with everything capable of pushing him to his full extent. Jack turned his head, matching Blaise's deadly glare. "Are you an immortal being with abilities as well, Jack? Perhaps you can replace━━━"

A loud shout left his lips as he was suddenly thrown back through nearly six rows, harshly colliding with Noel. They crumbled to the ground in a heap of agony, low groans emitting from their lips.

Jack's eyes were as wide as possible, a smile working its way onto his lips as he gaped at the brothers' crooked bodies. He carefully peered around to make sure no one had seen the unexplainable event, letting out a shaky breath when seeing they were in the clear. He returned his attention to Blaise and Noel, snickering as they pushed and shoved each other while they clambered back onto their feet. Jack slowly made his way towards them, his smile never faltering the entire way, arms smugly folding over his chest.

Noel sharpened his eyes towards Jack, gently dusting the globs of snow off his jacket. His scarf was loosely clutched in his hands, nose slightly pink from the wind that had picked up in the last few minutes. "If I had my powers, I'd wipe that smug smile off your face in an instant," he sneered, lazily hanging the scarf around his neck before adjusting his gloves. Blaise did the same, grumbling as some snow had managed to sneak into his shirt and cling to his skin like a nasty parasite.

Jack nonchalantly shrugged. "I'd like to see you try."

Noel clenched his jaw, zipping his jacket up some more as his breath circled in the air until it was swept into the distance. Blaise rolled his eyes and took a few steps away; he thought it was best to keep his mouth shut or else he wasn't sure if he'd be able to close it. Noel's eyes followed him, shaking his head.

Part of him wanted to call out to his brother, but he decided against it. It wouldn't do them any good.

So Noel and Jack watched him walk away, stopping a few feet away before he disappeared around a tree. "Does he want to get yanked back to you?" Jack queried.

Noel folded his arms over his chest, numbly shaking his head. "No, definitely not," he softly answered, beginning to walk forward once again. Jack slowly followed, eyes skimming the trees for one that just felt right. "But I have a feeling he won't test the boundaries."

Jack knitted his brows together, turning his head to face Noel. "Aren't you the one who pushed them considering you wandered off first?"

Noel breathed out a laugh, the anger he once felt when he first wandered away to get away from Blaise and Jack diminishing faster and faster. "I am, but even if he wanted to get revenge, he wouldn't do something that would cause him to be harmed as well."

Jack faintly nodded at Noel's answer, clearing his throat. "Right," he murmured, puffing out his cheeks. He didn't believe he could live in such cold conditions as Noel had claimed he did ━━━ which were even colder than the current weather according to the dark-haired boy. Jack dropped the topic of Blaise, deciding that it was as good a time as any to question Noel about his powers; the ones he claimed he had but couldn't show due to his and Blaise's powers being temporarily taken away ('how convenient', Jack had thought). "What's your deal, Popsicle?"

Noel twisted his lips at the question. "What do you mean?"

"You know," Jack airily chuckled, "What exactly can you do with your so-called powers?" Noel just rolled his eyes, scoffing. "I'm serious. Can you, like, make it hail right on command? Can you make it go horizontally instead of vertically? Do you say a few magic words and━━━"

"If I tell you about them, will you drop the subject for the remainder of our stay here?" Noel wondered, growing irritated with Jack's endless stream of questions.

Jack pretended to ponder over it, eventually nodding in agreement.

Noel breathed out a sigh of relief, eyes skimming over the trees. How hadn't they managed to find one yet? Then he shook his head after a few moments of silence had passed, deciding that perhaps if he told Jack about his powers, they'd find the right tree sooner rather than later.

"I simply control the cold of the worlds while Blaise controls the warm. . ." Noel replied, wanting to put it in as simple words as possible in order to keep Jack from becoming confused. "There are nine Realms, uh, worlds, and Earth is one of them." Noel momentarily stopped speaking to look at Jack to make sure he understood.

Jack gave him a deadpanned expression. "I'm not stupid, Noel. I'm following along just fine."

"I'm only making sure," Noel shortly replied.

"Feel free to carry on," Jack hummed, faintly bobbing his head to the song that was playing over the speakers. Noel could hardly hear it, but Jack knew it quite well even if he could only hear a partial tune.

Noel cleared his throat, rubbing at his cold nose. "Blaise and I only control parts of three Realms, and no, not the one Eira is from," Noel quickly added when Jack opened his mouth to speak. His lips smacked shut as soon as the words left Noel's lips, making Noel chuckle to himself. "She. . .intervenes with her worlds if it's necessary, but the rest of them are controlled by my mother."

"Her name's Gaia, right?" Jack requested to know.

Noel briefly smiled, an unspoken question lingering in his eyes. "Yeah, it is. How'd you know?"

Jack laughed, pausing near a tree to examine it more. Blaise's red hair disappeared behind it, the man continuing to search for a tree by himself ━━━ the way he preferred to do things. "I know a few things," Jack responded, a disappointed look crossing his features when he walked away from the tree. It wasn't the right one, but he had a gut feeling that they were getting closer to one. "Mother Nature. . .I-I just can't believe she's real."

Noel chuckled, nodding his head. "Your world might wish she wasn't if your people continue to take their frustrations out on nature."

Jack's face visibly fell, a look that Noel could've sworn was pure fear, but it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. "Wait a━━━"

"It's nothing you need to worry about," Noel mumbled, shaking his head. "My mother loves this world too much to take matters into her own hands, anyways." Jack rubbed the back of his neck in thought, internally wondering if he'd done anything to land on Mother Nature's shit list. "You do not need to worry, Jack. She's not out for anyone's head if that's what you're over there thinking about."

Jack quickly turned his head, scoffing at the mere suggestion. "What? I'm not worried," he said, adding a roll of his eyes to prove just how much he didn't care. "I'm not the one she sent to this hellhole as a punishment."

"No, you're not," Blaise chimed in, briefly catching Noel's gaze. "Lucky you."

Noel narrowed his eyes towards his brother. "Maybe you should still keep your distance to cool off some more━━━"

"I think I'm plenty cooled off," Blaise seethed, teeth chattering together.

"Are you sure about that?" Jack taunted.

"Quite sure," Blaise grunted, rubbing his hands up and down his arms.

Jack smirked, shaking his head. Noel huffed and began walking once more. He didn't have the energy to fight with his brother at the moment. Blaise didn't feel like it either, and if he was being completely honest, he wasn't sure why he'd opened his mouth in the first place.

As if sensing the tension, Noel mumbled that he'd just be in the next row, leaving Jack all alone with Blaise.

"Thanks, Noel," Jack mumbled under his breath, kicking up some snow as he moved down the path.

Blaise pursed his lips in a tight line, gaze skimming over the trees to see if perhaps he would spot one that could've worked for the suite. He'd never had much interest in trees, or nature in general. He respected it, but if he was being honest, he wasn't so sure that he did when remembering all the things he and his brother had done that had greatly impacted Earth even when they thought it wasn't much. 'Are we too ruining what Mom is trying to create along with the humans?' he couldn't help but wonder to himself; the mere thought was almost enough to break his heart.

Almost like he could see the sudden self-doubt weighing him down, Jack lightly nudged Blaise's arm to capture his attention. His jaw was tightly clenched, hands firmly holding his biceps, but he slightly relaxed when seeing a small smile on Jack's lips. "I'm more of a summer kind of person, too," he admitted, briefly looking aside to make sure Noel wasn't within listening distance. "All this snow ━━━ it's terrible."

Blaise chuckled, nodding in agreement. "You're telling me," he panted. "Try having the one who usually controls this as your little brother."

Jack made a face. "Little brother?"

Blaise raised a brow. "Yeah. . .did you not know━━━"

"No, yes, of course I know you're brothers," Jack interjected. "I just, I don't know, I just assumed you were twins or something."

"Twins?" Blaise repeated with his eyes widened.

"Don't act like it's a stupid assumption! There are fraternal twins, you know, lava boy," Jack defensively replied.

"We don't━━━I have bright red hair," Blaise snickered, the corners of his lips tweaked upwards. "He has hair as black as his soul."

Jack coughed out a laugh, not wanting Noel to know he'd laughed; the boy probably already knew, but Jack didn't want to chance it if not and ruin whatever minor connection they might have made a few minutes ago. The dark-haired boy was nowhere to be seen, but he was still near.

"I don't know," Jack finally replied after he cleared his throat, adjusting his gloves so they were tucked into the sleeves of his hoodie. "You're both pretty. . .questionable."

"How so?"

"You're kidding me, right?" Jack asked, pausing to look towards the redhead. Blaise simply peered back. He didn't see why he and Noel would've been perceived any differently. Jack heavily sighed, walking through the snow once again. "You're not from this world━━━"

"Only you and Sunny━━━"

"But it wouldn't take someone like Tony Stark to see that," Jack continued, shooting Blaise a glare for interrupting.

"Who's Tony Stark?" Blaise wondered.

"You know, for having controlled the weather for this planet longer than I've been alive, you don't really know much about this place, do you?"

Blaise huffed, growing defensive. "You're aware that there are nearly eight billion people on this world, right? Plus many more on the way?"

"So you don't know who Tony Stark is but you know about every holiday?"

"Growing up, our mother didn't teach us about individual people. She made them as one, and from time to time, she would mention holidays that were celebrated ━━━ when we were younger, we based what kind of weather certain parts of the planet got by the holidays ━━━ which made it easier for us to understand. We didn't actually start doing so, on purpose that is, until we were old enough, but I suppose it just stuck, though, we are a little better at following the seasons," Blaise explained, making a sour face when he felt a snowflake land on his nose. "And hey, we do know who some people are, thank you very much."

"Like who?"

"The. . .uh, Avengers, but Thor and his wife are the only ones we know by name," Blaise said. "I believe there's also the G━━━"

"Wait," Jack said, shaking his hand out toward Blaise as if to signal him to be quiet. He made a face, but before he could question him, Noel came rushing between two trees, a small grin on his face.

Snow was beginning to fall from the sky more, but it seemed that it wouldn't bother them because standing almost right in front of them was the tree.