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VII. FROSTY THE SNOWMAN

☆。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*

DECEMBER 20TH

SUNNY THOUGHT SHE might've been dreaming. Coming home from the store with multiple bags dangling on her arms, she'd been expecting to find Jack all alone and the brothers still next door like they had when she left (seeing that they didn't seem to get along that well), but instead she found a real tree standing in the empty space she'd made for it in front of the windows as all three boys decorated it with festive ornaments and tinsel. Rudolph The Rednosed Reindeer was playing on the TV, almost a dozen Hershey kisses' wrappers lazily tossed on the round coffee table; the bowl on the counter only had three left. Near Jack's feet sat Lucy, curiously watching their every move as if to make sure they were doing it right. The tree was slightly crooked and the glittery star at the very top didn't stand up straight, but it was perfect.

And, considering that an intense blizzard had begun to traipse through the city just as the boys returned to the hotel and didn't show any signs of stopping anytime soon, they didn't have very many options to relieve their boredom.

Days had passed since then and there was only a week left until Christmas.

Blaise and Noel had feared that time would've gone by agonizingly slowly, but it was quite the opposite. Time was going on faster than they'd ever felt and their time on Earth was nearing an end, and Gaia was hoping that her boys learned their lesson by then.

Finally, the snow had released the city from its intense, snowy rampage and had disappeared with the night, leaving New York covered in a thick white coat that would've been perfect for a White Christmas. If schools hadn't already been closed the week prior for winter break, they certainly would've had no other choice but to close while the snow poured down and made both sidewalks and roads dangerously slick with ice.

Through the frosted windows, the brothers could see a group of children playing out in the rundown park across the street, throwing rounded snowballs at each other and creating enormous snowmen that were nearly taller than them. Adults lingered about, watching with glee or assisting their child with whatever snowy activity they desired to do that particular day. Cars slowly moved along the roads due to the conditions of them, the traffic only slightly lighter due to people being snowed into their homes or not wanting to risk leaving if it wasn't absolutely necessary; Blaise wouldn't blame them━━━

"Are you two comin'?" Their heads twisted in unison, eyes falling on a bundled-up Sunny and Jack. The woman was finishing up zipping up her coat as she expectantly stared at the brothers, Jack lingering in the doorway while he made sure his hoodie and beanie covered his ears as Lien stood beside him. Lucy wasn't paying any attention to them, lost in her blissful dreams as she napped on the couch with content. "I promise it's something that you'll both enjoy."

"Do we have to go outside?" Blaise questioned.

Sunny heavily sighed, lowering her hands in front of herself. Noel smirked, glancing towards his big brother. "Come on, Blaise," he said, slowly walking towards the door, "Surely you're not afraid of a little snow."

"I'm not afraid of snow," Blaise snapped, folding his arms over his chest. "I loathe it, and anything else that's similar."

Jack, having had enough of Blaise's whining about winter and everything that came with it (along with Noel claiming his winter would've been much more enjoyable for New York if he was in charge of it), popped in beside Sunny with his eyes widened and an irritated expression on his features. "Yes, we get it, Big Guy, winter's the bane of your existence and summer is your brothers. Can we get a move on now?"

Sunny pursed her lips together, eyes trailing after Jack who'd turned on his heel with Lien and started heading towards the stairs the brothers had trampled down when they snuck out into the city ━━━ something Sunny and Jack were still unaware of happening, and they were hoping to keep it that way. "I really do promise you'll both enjoy it," she said, a hopeful glint in her eyes.

Noel bit the inside of his cheek in thought while Blaise ran a hand through his curly hair, the two reluctantly agreeing at the same time. Sunny beamed with delight and tossed them their clothing placed beside the door, unable to hide her eagerness to get to wherever they were going.

"Is it far?" Noel wondered.

'I hope not,' Blaise grumbled in his head, slipping his arms into his coat with ease. 'I'm afraid I'm beginning to get a little too used to the cold.'

"Not at all," Sunny replied with a genuine grin.

Blaise softly smiled in relief, quickly finishing with getting ready to face the weather outside. Noel was done as well, and so they left the suite with Sunny guiding them to their destination. They refrained from asking the woman where they were going once they headed up a few more levels until they reached the very top, only a few steps away from being on the roof. Jack was near a heavyset door with Lien bouncing beside him with joy, complete concentration on Jack's features as he picked the lock on the door.

Noel raised his brows in surprise, automatically facing Sunny. "You're encouraging this kind of━━━"

"Not encouraging," Sunny corrected, nudging Jack away from the door with a dark look in her brown eyes. She faintly shook her head at his antics, pulling out a rectangular card from her pocket with a smug smile. "It's not a crime if we have the key," she said, holding it beside her head.

Jack wrinkled his nose. "Didn't you bribe the━━━"

"It doesn't matter how I got it," Sunny quickly interrupted before Jack was able to finish his sentence. She'd never break a law. . .unless she had a good reason or the law went against the good of the people. In this instance, she wasn't technically breaking any law as she'd been given indirect permission to access the roof ━━━ which was only available to the residents with permission from the manager due to the fact they didn't want to be liable for any accidents, but they hadn't had time to do all the paperwork and settled to bribe the assistant manager. "The point is that I have it and we're going to show these brothers what they've been missing out on."

"And, if you really wanna take your anger out on each other, well, here's your chance," Lien added in, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Is it something to do with snowballs?" Blaise assumed.

Lien's lips parted, eyes swiftly flicking towards Sunny in a subtle manner.

Sunny huffed towards the brother, turning on her heel and unlocking the door while Jack snickered under his breath. "Yes, it is, but have you ever had a snowball fight in New York?"

"No, but I'm related to a snowball so that should━━━"

"You're just jealous because you know that I will destroy you in a snowball fight," Noel cut in, a proud smirk appearing on his lips.

Blaise breathed out a forced laugh, tilting his head while his hands went to rest on his hips. "Is that a challenge?"

"Obviously," Noel sarcastically replied.

"How about you two just shut your traps and come prove who's actually the better of you two," Jack said, stepping out onto the roof and holding the door open for them. Sunny and Lien quickly made their way through, expectantly peering back at the brothers.

Quickly, Blaise and Noel hurried forward and through the door. Jack quietly shut it, facing the other four with his raised brows. "So, how are we gonna do this?" he asked. "I don't really want to end up with Heat or Snow Miser. . ."

"Why? Afraid they'll outdo you somehow?" Lien teased from his side.

Sunny smiled with a laugh, taking a few steps aside to examine the roof. It wasn't exactly the best place to hang out, but it did have plenty of hiding places and things that would be able to shield them from snowballs; it was the perfect place for a snowball fight, and it just so happened that they had an even amount of participants, or they would in a few moments.

"I think I know how we can manage," Sunny said, her radiant smile widening when Eira came through the door. Her hair was loosely falling over her shoulders, some strands pushed back from the fuzzy earmuffs she wore on her head. A light blue coat was zipped up over a thick, white jumpsuit with matching boots that were laced up to her shins; she'd certainly come prepared for a fight with snow. "Each of us can have a. . .powerful teammate," she said, not exactly sure what to call them.

"But that's not fair," Noel said, motioning towards Eira, "She still has her powers. Blaise and I are completely defenseless."

"Suck it up, buttercup," Lien snipped out, giving the boy a stern glare. "You don't see the humans here whining, do you?"

Jack beamed with pure joy, cheerfully pulling his girlfriend into his side. "Have I told you how much I love you?"

"Not today you haven't," she coyly replied.

"I don't think I like you very much anymore," Noel bitterly told the shorter girl, but a hint of a small smile was evident on his lips, and unlike before, it didn't go unnoticed.

Eira let out a sigh of relief, folding her hands in front of her waist. "Shall we get into teams now? I'm afraid I might not be able to stay for very long."

"Aw, what a pity," Blaise falsely pouted, batting his eyelashes at the goddess.

Eira narrowed her eyes, and moments later a snowball smacked against Blaise's face, wiping his smirk right off his face. "Now that's a pity," she retorted. "You ruined a perfectly good snowball."

"I think I'll just stay with Lien," Jack announced, arm still slung around Lien's shoulders as he backed them towards a tall electrical box that would've given them enough coverage.

Sunny rolled her eyes and looked aside, catching Noel's eye. "What do you say, Sunny?" Noel requested, politely holding his arm out to the woman. Blaise and Eira's eyes widened, glancing at each other with the same realization dawning on them; there was no way that they could've managed to be a team. "Do you trust me to protect you from these fiends?"

"I do," Sunny answered almost instantly, slipping her arm through Noel's with a bright grin.

"You can't do this to me!" Blaise shouted after his brother and Sunny. "I can't be on the same team as this-this witch!"

"Ouch," Eira playfully winced, holding her hand over her heart as if his words had hurt her. "You've really wounded me."

Blaise puffed out his cheeks, shaking his head in disbelief. "I can't believe I'm stuck with you."

"I'm not happy about it either," Eira replied, looking the man up and down. "But we might as well try to work together. . .unless you want to lose to your brother."

"Over my dead body," Blaise gritted out.

Eira nodded in approval, offering him a forced smile as she nudged her head towards a stack of bricks near the edge of the roof. "Good. Then let's get into position. The game will be starting very soon."

With no other options, Blaise followed the woman. Though, considering she was the only one with powers, maybe she wouldn't be such a bad partner after all.

"Do I need to go over the rules?" Jack called out from where he was hidden beside Lien; no doubt they were making as many snowballs as possible.

"It wouldn't hurt," Sunny answered, rubbing at her nose to try and warm it up.

"Alright. Number one, and the most important one, no using your powers," Jack shouted, putting emphasis on the last four words.

Blaise scoffed, fiddling with some snow by his feet with his gloved fingers. "I wish I could," he muttered under his breath.

"Two, once you're hit, you're out," he continued. "Three, no face shots━━━"

"Oh, come on!" Noel whined like a little child, "This is my chance to hit Blaise in the face and I'm not even allowed to do that?"

"Rules are rules," Sunny softly said beside him. "But he didn't say no headshots, he just said not in the face."

Noel breathed out a laugh, grinning towards the woman. "You're more sneaky than you let on, aren't you?"

Sunny chuckled along with him, making some snowballs. "It's a habit, I guess," she murmured. "When push comes to shove, you learn to dodge."

"And last one: I'm gonna kick all your asses! GO!"

"That boy," Sunny groaned in annoyance, grabbing a snowball before peering around her and Noel's hiding place to see if she could spot the others by chance. "I'm going for him first."

Noel loudly laughed, crawling towards the edge of their hiding place, eyes narrowed into slits to try and hone in on where his brother might've been. "You go for him and I go for my━━━"

Noel winced when a snowball came flying past his face, just barely missing him. His head snapped aside, eyes growing wide towards Lien. Noel shot her a nasty glare and pressed his back against the wall, stealing a look towards Sunny. To his surprise, the woman wasn't there.

"Sunny?" he harshly whispered, peering around for any sign of her with slight panic etching its way into his stomach.

"Motherfucker!" A voice shouted in frustration. Instantly Noel knew the woman had succeeded in getting her adoptive son. "You just stabbed me in the back!"

"Sucks to suck!" Lien said, shoving Jack out of her way as she ran towards Sunny. Sunny's eyes widened and she hurried away, trying to scoop up some snow along the way. "I'll avenge you!"

Noel rolled his eyes and grabbed a snowball, hurling it towards Lien. It missed, but someone else got her. She let out a feigned shriek of agony, collapsing to the ground with her eyes closed. Noel looked aside, clenching his jaw when he saw Blaise holding a snowball and smirking towards him.

"Your time is up, little brother," Blaise said as Eira stealthily made her way around the edge of the roof to get Sunny who was hidden once again.

"We'll see about that," he challenged, remaining eerily still.

Blaise let out a grunt as he threw the snowball, but Noel leaped aside, dodging it perfectly. On the opposite side, Sunny got the jump on Eira and pelted the woman with two snowballs.

Eira lightly chuckled, dusting the snow off her outfit. "No hard feelings?" Sunny asked in a whisper, not wanting to capture Blaise's attention; not that she would have due to him and Noel being very focused on getting the other.

"None at all, Sunny," Eira sweetly replied, eyes bright with kindness and warmth. Sunny returned the smile, but it was wiped from her face when a snowball hit her straight in the face. Eira turned her head, narrowing her eyes on Jack.

"Payback's a bitch, Sunny!" Jack shouted, wincing when Lien whacked his arm. "What? She did it to me first!"

"You know that doesn't count, right?" Eira asked the boy.

He just nodded with a lopsided smile. "I know, but it made me feel better."

Blaise and Noel paid no attention to the others, creeping around twisty pipes and vents, eyes pinned to one another and snowballs clutched in their hands.

It was a shame that they didn't realize there was no rule about hitting one's own teammate.

As if they telepathically knew the other was about to try and make their final move, they stood up, arms raised and all pent up frustrations towards one another billowing to the surfaces. Wind swiped against their exposed skin, but neither one paid any attention to it. Flakes of fluffy white snow started to descend from the clouds traveling high above them, getting swept into the wind and carried through the streets.

"Maybe this'll cool you off, Hot Head!"

"Don't get so cocky, Iceberg," Blaise retorted, carefully holding the oddly shaped snowballs he'd made. "This may be more your kind of weather, but I've picked up a thing or two."

"We'll see about that!"

"Yes we w━━━"

Blaise clenched his eyes shut as a snowball was tossed at his shoulder, making Noel's lips part in surprise. However, as he turned his head aside, a snowball harshly collided with his neck. He winced, taking a small step back as he tried to register what had just happened. He wiped at his neck, snowballs on the ground as he gaped towards a smirking Sunny. Blaise's mouth was wide open, not just in disbelief that the woman had gotten him, but that she'd hit him and Noel ━━━ her supposed partner.

"Sunny, I don't think you understand how this works," Jack said, coming up beside the woman with a sniggering Lien next to him. Eira was giggling beside Sunny, the brothers' expressions making it all the better.

"What the hell, Sunny?" Noel demanded, making his way towards the others with a grumbling Blaise right behind him. "We were meant to be a team!"

"I know, but I didn't want this to deter what progress you and Blaise have made during your time here so I decided to take matters into my own hands," Sunny nervously said.

"Progress?" Blaise repeated, sidedly looking towards his brother. "We haven't made any progress."

Eira cautiously stepped forward, crossing her arms over her chest. "Are you really that dense?" she firmly asked. "A few weeks ago you two couldn't stand to be in the same room with each other unless you were forced to do so by your mother, and. . .and now you two are having a snowball fight not because you were forced to, but because you want to."

"I think━━━"

"Think what you want, boys," Eira said, brows raised and the corner of her lip twisted upwards, "But even if you refuse to admit it, you're beginning to actually be what you're meant to be. . .brothers."

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Ayyy, we're getting closer to the end! I hope it's going alright and it doesn't seem like things are happening too fast!

I know there's something I wanted to mention in this note but I honestly can't remember, so, I'm sorry if there's something that should've been addressed but wasn't!

Anyways, please don't forget to leave your feedback in the comments and I hope y'all enjoyed!