After one more time on the bed, the two decided to take a shower together. Their good intentions didn't last long though. Before long, Nisha found herself pressed up against the bathroom wall. Her legs were wrapped around Jack's back, her arms around his neck. His mouth fed from her breasts as he pounded into her, pulling moans of pleasure from her again and again.

When they came down from that particular frenzy, they moved into the shower. Very slowly, they washed each other, their fingers soapy and skin slippery. Neither of them lasted long. Before she knew it, his hands were running all over her body, though she answered him in kind. He forced her to her knees, turning her so the water wouldn't be in her eyes. Then he moved inside her, over and over again. Despite the constant pounding of the water along her back, neck, and legs, Jack slowed his tempo. His hands at her hips weren't as rough as before. His thrusts were slower, deeper, more focused, determined to relish every last inch of her passage.

Ten minutes later, Nisha woke up after having passed out from another, gentler, orgasm. Jack helped her to her feet and they rinsed off. In the back of her mind, she noticed that the lukewarm water was actually steaming with the heat coming off his body. Around her neck, the soul-stone thrummed and pulsed like a hot heartbeat. Jack's entire body was shaking, his eyes completely black. He let out a hiss and she took several steps back, still in the shower.

The soul-stone suddenly rose in temperature, until she cried out in pain. Reaching down, she grabbed hold of the silver chain, which was warm to the touch. The soul-stone steamed as the water hit it. Glancing down, she gasped and groaned from the pain of her burn. In a perfect shape of the soul-stone, a light burn stained her skin.

Jack let out a sound somewhere between a growl and a roar. "Nisha, get the fuck out of the shower." She glanced into his black eyes, seeing him shake harder. In response, the soul-stone's temperature increased even more. "Nisha, do as I say, now! Get out of the shower, dry off, dress warmly, and try to sleep." This time he did growl. "If you don't do what I say, you're going to drive me insane...You're going to kill me." His voice and fists at his side shook as he tried to calm down. "I'm an et hiemis, an ice spirit. But with everything that's happened tonight...I've been too hot for too long. I need to cool back down...So your amazing, beautiful, tempting, naked body needs to get out of my sight, right now."

Gulping in fear and worry, she nodded. Pushing the shower curtain back slightly, she gingerly stepped out. As she did, she heard him groan painfully behind her. "Oh, gods...Stop begging me to touch you, Nisha...Why must you be perfection itself?"

She didn't respond, afraid to speak. She heard the faucet squeak a little and then suddenly the bathroom was filled with a thick steam. Jack cried out at the touch of the ice cold water against his too-hot skin. "Fuck!"
Hurrying, Nisha dried off; making sure she was completely dry. If Jack returned to normal, cold and water wouldn't mix well with her body.

Once she was dry she closed the door softly behind her as she entered their bedroom. Leaning against the door, she tried to calm her own shaking limbs. Jack had looked seriously scared for a few seconds in the shower there. Biting her lip, she moved across the room. Pulling open her dresser drawers, she pulled on clean panties and two pairs of flannel pajamas. A minute after she did, she could feel her body sweating in reaction to the heat of her clothes. Swallowing, she moved to the bed and bundled under the thick blankets.

In the shower, Jack pounded his fists against the wall. Calm down! he screamed at himself. The cold of the shower was slowly forcing his body temperature to lower. Sucking in a deep breath, he transformed and let more cold begin to seep into the bathroom from his bare feet. Calm down, he repeated over and over. His blood had been boiling for much too long. He had let his lust rule him for too long. Now he needed to return to his normal levels of freezing cold.

Beneath his feet, the frost broke apart from the heat of his body. But slowly...so slowly, it began to grow stronger. His fingers dug into the shower wall, his head leaning against the cool surface. After half an hour of doing nothing but focusing on his breathing and the cold of the water, he returned to normal. By now he was utterly exhausted. He let his body return to its human levels and clumsily climbed out of the shower, barely remembering to shut off the water.

His blood had returned to it's regular, cold, sluggish speed. He could feel the ice forming in his blood, running through his body. He let out a small sigh of relief. That had actually been very scary, for a bit. He had been so hot, so insane with the heat of his blood. He had feared perhaps he would just keep burning up until he was nothing more than a pile of ash on the floor. He felt a spike of panic at the thought. Perhaps it was a good thing that they might not have sex again for awhile. He wasn't sure if he would be able to live through the next time, if there ever was. Just the thought of Nisha's body was making his pulse race again in a mixture of fear and need. He forced his mind to stop following that train of thought.
Finding a towel out of one of the two bathroom closets, he quickly dried off.

When he was sure he could be in better control of himself, he moved into the bedroom. Nisha was bundled under the covers in a restless, exhausted sleep. Feeling drained himself; he only pulled on a clean pair of boxers. Climbing into the giant bed, he slid under the covers, moving to Nisha. She was sleeping on her right side, facing him. Sweat covered most of her body and her brow was pulled down in a faint frown. Hoping that he wouldn't come to regret it in the morning, he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. He was surprised to find she had put on two layers.

A minute later her face smoothed out and she exhaled in relief. Her body pressed closer to his. He tried not to laugh. She had made herself hot enough that his cold was actually a relief. Reaching behind him a little, he pulled the blanket over them both. Laying his head back on the pillows, he felt content, at peace, and comfortable. His body was back to the perfect temperature and his wife-his wife!-was in his arms. Closing his eyes, he let the events of the long day pull him under into the darkness of sleep.

* * *

Nisha woke up feeling like she'd never be able to move again. She let out a small cry of pain that swiftly stretched into a long yawn. Blinking, her body screaming at her over the amount of abuse it had received before, her eyes slowly focused. Jack was watching her quietly, holding her close, facing her on his left side. "M-mornin'," she mumbled around another yawn, wincing.

His expression was torn between worry, pity, and smugness. "Good morning, hjarta mítt." His right hand lifted up and ran along her cheek. Her face felt cold for a few seconds, but the rest of her was half cold and half hot. Grumbling in annoyance, she shoved him away, rising to a sitting position. Her movements awkward, she struggled to take off one of her layers. After only a few seconds, she felt Jack's hands at her back, helping. She made a small grunt of thanks. Two minutes later, she was finally free of one layer. Jack tossed the pajamas to the side as she fell back onto the soft mattress.

Already she felt tired again. Yawning, she cuddled up against him. Hesitantly, his arm came around her again. His voice held a layer of humor. "Just waking up and already I drive you to strip? Nisha, I'm not sure if either of us can handle a repeat of last night right now."

Irritated at him and starting to feel the first real threads of mortification at how brazen she had been, she punched at his bare chest. He grunted lightly before leaning down to give her a brief kiss. "Jack, don't even bring up last night..."

He chuckled before a worried light filled his eyes. "W-why? Was it...b-bad?"

She shook her head tiredly. "No. It was unbelievably amazing. So much so that its more than I can process this early in the morning."

That made him grin widely. "That's good then. So, should we just stay in bed all day?" he asked. "It is our honeymoon still, so the rest of the world can go screw their selves."

Her eyes closed as annoying, nagging things came to her attention. "I can't...I want to, so badly...But I have a paper due on Monday for history and another in literature as well."

Jack let out a long sigh. "Ah, the woes of a high school marriage." His right hand moved in soothing circles along her back. "Well, to be honest...With how crazy this week has been, I have quite a few assignments due myself. So..."

She let out a long groan. "Homework Honeymoon?"

He laughed hard, nodding his head. "Exactly."

"Shouldn't we be...I don't know...excused from all of this?" He simply shook his head. "Yeah, I know. And starting Monday I also have to start having lessons with your...I mean, with Mother...Um, Mom, maybe?" she muttered uncertainly.

"Whatever works best for you," Jack rubbed at her back a little more. Then, sighing, he rose up and pulled away. "So, first things first." He glanced at the bedside clock and was a little surprised to find it was ten in the morning. "We'll call for brunch to be brought here. And then we'll start our homework honeymoon," he laughed again. He heard more irritated grumbling coming from the bed as he crossed to the right side of the room. Against the wall was a small string that, when pulled, alerted the staff. Since it was their honeymoon and they would have obviously just woken up, he knew the staff would realize they were calling for food. Pulling the string once, he turned back to look at the bed.

It was a very large four-post, canopy, king-sized bed. The coverlets were white and red, matching, mostly, the wallpaper of red upper half and light grey lower half. Along the very bottom and top edges of the walls, black panels ran. The pillows on the bed were a lighter red shade and black, with white swirls running through them. Currently, Nisha was lying on her side, facing him, in the middle of all those blankets and pillows. She was wearing her black and red cherry emblazoned pajamas.

Her grey eyes were filled with pain, weariness, and annoyance. The annoyance brought a smile to his lips. Nisha had never been a very good morning person, though some days she fought it more than others. Today though, she seemed to be in quite the ill-tempered mood. And even though, perhaps, he should have felt guilty or annoyed about that...Instead all he could feel was a giddy excitement. Nisha was in their bed, in a bad mood. She was in their room, waking up in his arms. His wife was here, with him, this morning.

Nisha glared daggers at Jack. He had a goofy grin on his face, standing completely at ease in nothing but boxers on the other side of the room. "What the hell are you so happy about?" she growled.

He chuckled, his voice chipper. "You," he answered cryptically. When she raised an eyebrow in question, he shook his head. "I suppose I should go ahead and get some cloths on, then. Do you want to change as well?"

She nodded. "Yes, but..." Her cheeks flushed and she cleared her throat. "If I'm being completely honest...? I-I...I think I'll need your help," she confessed in a quiet voice.

His expression instantly grew serious. "Alright. No problem, love. Also...I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "You aren't at fault alone, Jack. I was...very aware and very willing with all that happened last night. Even so...I kind of feel like my muscles will never be able to move right again. We kind of...Well, we went pretty crazy last night," she whispered.

His head tilted to the side slightly. "We did indeed," he agreed around a sigh. "Okay. Time for this husband to play nurse," he declared in a stronger voice. Pretending to push up sleeves of a shirt he wasn't wearing, he moved over to her dresser. There were two in the room, with the giant walk-in closet more than big enough to hold both of their hanging clothes. "Any preferences to your outfit today, madam?" he asked in a formal voice.

Her lips lifted into a half smile. "Not really. All I ask is that you make sure the bra isn't a color that will show through my shirt. I don't want to look like a slut, even if you're the only one who will really see me today."

He threw a grin over his shoulder. "Oh, hjarta mítt, I wouldn't ever liken you to something like a slut. No, you're somewhere closer to a dominatrix, though you aren't at the extreme levels."

Her face flushed more. "I-I am not!" she yelled at him. "W-what the hell are you e-even saying, Jack?" she hissed in alarm.

He laughed boisterously as he began gathering up clothes for both of them. Three minutes later, his arms filled with material, he carried it all over to the bed. Dropping the clothes to the side, on the mattress, he climbed onto the bed. "We should hurry," he murmured as he crawled toward her. "If we don't, one of the servants may walk in while I'm stripping you...While I'm dressing you..."

Her face paled at his words, tone, and look in his eyes. "U-um...Jack, you need to stop that, okay? I'm being serious..."

He sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair. "I know. Really, I do. I can't help but tease you though. It's so much fun to do so, love." He reached her and lifted her into a sitting position. She bit her lip to keep her small noises of pain hidden. With very little ceremony, he helped her take off her pajamas.

Nisha was a little embarrassed. But after how much they had seen each other naked last night, she didn't feel nearly as embarrassed as she thought she would. It felt a little strange to her, how easily and quickly she was adjusting to the thought of seeing Jack's naked body. How...natural, almost, it seemed for Jack to see her body as well.

In fact, he barely even paused as he bared her body to his gaze. She was just like him, for a few seconds, in nothing but her underwear. A chill from his body so close to hers made her shiver, now that she wasn't in warm clothing. She rubbed at her arms, crossing them over her chest. Jack leaned down to kiss the top of her head gently, tenderly, before moving back to the edge of the bed. She blinked at the feel of his cold lips against her hair.

He came back holding a white bra, with dark green and bright blue polka dots all over it in one hand. As he handed it to her, his fingers lightly ran along the slightly darker outline of her burn. His hand moved up, lifting her chin and turning her head so that he could look into her eyes. "Nisha, I'm terribly sorry that I hurt you so badly last night. I never meant to do that. I never meant to become so...consumed. Honestly, I was scared. I've never been filled with so much heat for another like that. I've never...I've never been so inflamed with my emotions before. Yes, the whole lust thing plays a big role in my body temperature. But it's also controlled by love as well. The happier...the warmer my heart feels; I suppose I could say, the warmer I myself become."

Nodding, not sure what to say, she began putting on her bra. As she did, Jack pulled his head and arms through a hunter green t-shirt with a thick, vertical stripe running down the left side. He held out a blue, slightly baggy sweater, one of her older ones. By the time she had her shirt on, Jack was coming back with their pants. He had grabbed a pair of jeans for both of them, plus socks for her to wear.

She glanced up into his face. "Should I find it weird how...normal this almost feels to me?" she asked him.

He flashed a quick smile. "Not at all. This feels completely normal to me as well. I'd even dare to say natural," he chuckled. "Why should you find any of this strange, Nisha?"

His blue eyes stared directly into hers and she slowly shrugged. "I'm not really sure. It just feels like something that should make me...I don't know, get all embarrassed and shy? But it's not. I feel calm. Like it's any other day and I'm getting dressed and ready for it."

He leaned down and brushed his lips over her forehead. "I'm glad you are as calm about this as I am. Perhaps it has to do with the deepest part of you that remembers me?" he guessed. "Maybe that part of you that remembers our childhood together has long accepted that we'd be together. And now that it's happened...that part of you is a little more in control?" His words were a question, as he himself wasn't exactly sure.

She smiled a little, blinking. "I certainly don't have any other ideas, so I'll just go with that then." She sighed tiredly. "Alright, we should continue getting dressed. I'll really need your help now. My legs, thighs, and hips are hurting so bad..."

Reaching out, he moved his right hand beneath her butt and legs, his left around her middle. Lifting her up with relative ease, he moved her into his lap, his legs crossed in front of him. She glanced over her shoulder at him but stayed silent. He chuckled, the sound vibrating against her back. "I'm a chair, Nisha." His hold adjusted to wrap around her stomach, his chin resting atop her head. After only half a second, he lowered his face to her hair, inhaling her scent. "You smell like a weird mixture of the shampoo, you, and me...I like you smelling like me, hjarta mítt."

Nisha coughed. "Um...putting on pants, remember?"

He sighed, forcing her body to lean forward a little as he reached out for her jeans. "Yes, yes, fine. I'll behave, like a good husband."

At his words, she caught sight of the wedding band on his left ring finger. That, for whatever bizarre reason, made her stomach clench in nerves. She laughed at herself. Apparently I'm perfectly calm at the idea of being naked around Jack and vice versa. I'm even perfectly okay with him touching me so intimately. But I remember that we're married and now I'm suddenly nervous?

The two of them worked together to pull the jeans up her legs, over her ass, hips, and then zip them up. She bit her lip, but even so, a few pained groans escaped her. Each time, Jack would kiss the top of her head, in a form of apology. Once she had pants on, he moved away to put on his own jeans, getting off the bed. Nisha reached out and pulled on her socks. Just as Jack was pulling up his zipper, a soft knock came from the door. "You may come in," he called out. "I'm starving, so I hope you brought a lot of food."

A servant silently came in, rolling a trolley with several trays of food on it's multiple shelves. The servant bowed deeply before walking toward the bed. Nisha straightened a little. Jack stepped forward and helped the servant. He grabbed one tray and slid it along the bed, until Nisha could reach it. "For you, love," he said formally.

"Thank you," she smiled up at him. "Thank you, as well," she nodded at the servant. Her stomach let out a growl as the smells from her tray made her hunger rear its head. Lifting up the silver lid that covered the plate in the middle, she was greeted with a full spread of nearly every breakfast item she could want. She smiled wider, glancing up at the servant. "Thank you," she repeated in a happily sincere tone.

The servant bobbed into another bow while Jack sat on the edge of the bed. He immediately began digging into his food. "Oh, man, this is so good!" The servant made no noise, but Jack glanced up. "Huh? Oh, right. Hey, Nisha, what would you like to drink?"

Blinking, a little startled from her focus on her food, she replied. "Um, milk, please."

"I'll take an orange juice, Tina. Also, thank you again for the food. You're a life-saver! Please thank your husband for his amazing skills in the kitchen. Our wedding feast was spectacular!" He grinned widely.

Nisha watched the exchange closely. How was Jack able to talk to the Shadow people? Matter of fact, how could he tell any of them apart? And this one had a husband, who must be the chef or something? She was so lost, but she wanted to find out more.

Tina's head bobbed again several times and Nisha almost thought she saw the black shade of the Shadow servant lighten slightly. She was reminded of the way Headmaster Blake had blushed and how his black flame had lightened into a grey as well. Perhaps Tina was blushing from Jack's compliments? Not wanting to appear rude, beside the fact that she agreed wholeheartedly with Jack, she quickly chimed in. "Really, the food was amazing, T-Tina."

The silhouette that represented Tina's head turned a little more in Nisha's direction before the servant slowly lowered into another bow. Silently, she grabbed two cups from the trolley and poured out the drinks that had been requested. Then she moved forward, handing over the juice to Jack and leaning forward more to give the milk to Nisha. Done with that, she turned to leave.

Nisha stopped her. "Um..." she began, finishing off a forkful of chocolate chip pancakes. "I'm sorry for how awkward this may sound, but I don't, um..."

Tina turned so that the...front-?-of her body was facing toward the bed once more, the trolley still behind her. Again, there was no noise, but Jack nodded. "Tina would like to let you know that it's alright. She knows that both you and your grandmother hold no magic. As such, neither of you have the ability to see or hear the servants." He took a swing of his juice, letting out a breath afterwards. "Ah...So, anyway. None of the servants are offended by your inability to see their individuality." He paused before chuckling. "Tina says that she's overjoyed that the 'Young Master Jack' has been able to find himself a good wife." He grinned at Nisha at that. "Tina here is, formally, the Housekeeper of the WinterPalace. But she's more like a strange grandmother to me," he confessed in a dire stage-whisper.

Nisha glanced back at Tina, blinking. Her mind slowly took in what Jack was saying as he continued. "Her husband, Albert, is the Head Chef. You haven't officially met him, but the male counterpart to Tina, the Butler, is Freddy. He's stayed far away from you though. Freddy's a little up-tight and been miffed that humans have been allowed to live in the WinterPalace. As such, he's basically been an ass."

Tina's left arm rose and pointed at Jack. After a few moments, he hung his head. "Yeah...I'm sorry, Tina. I shouldn't talk about Freddy like that. He's amazing at his job. And yes, I know, you're right..."

"W-what did Tina say?" Nisha asked. She was dying of curiosity, especially since she had no way to understand anything. If it required magic to interact with the servants, she'd never be able to. Briefly, she wondered how she would be able to do her 'job', so to speak, of being the Lady of Winter. But then Jack was speaking again and she pushed aside the thought.

"Tina was kindly reminding me that I will eventually be in charge of all the servants here. As such, I need to watch my tongue and learn my manners," he reported solemnly.

Laughing, Nisha nodded. "You're completely right," she told Tina, making sure to look at the Housekeeper. Tina's head bobbed again.

Jack waved toward the door dismissively. "You may leave," he instructed. "We should be done in about ten minutes, so go ahead and send a house maid by to grab our things."

Bowing one last time, Tina turned and pushed the trolley out. Nisha glanced over at Jack, taking a sip of her milk. "Don't you think you treated her a little rudely?"

Glancing up from his piece of toast he had been slathering strawberry jam on, Jack stared at her blithely. "What are you talking about?" he asked in true confusion.

Frowning, she paused to take a bite of egg. "I'm talking about how you just...dismissed her like that. It seemed awfully rude."

Shaking his head, he sighed. "Ah, I see. You aren't use to the servants yet. Love, you'll have to quickly grow use to it. Now, we do not treat the servants as less human, for lack of a better word, than we are. They are treated very well. They gain housing, a salary, and general healthcare through the household doctor. But, even so, they are paid to serve us. Their entire jobs revolve around taking care of us in our everyday lives. And even though my family is more powerful than all of our servants, as far as magical power goes, we are outnumbered. With my family, there are only five of us with abilities. The servants number one hundred and seventeen in the WinterPalace. As such, how do we keep them from revolting?"

She had no answer. This was completely different from anything she had learned in life, than how she had been raised. He continued, pausing now and again to eat, as she slowly forced herself to do as well, listening to his explanation. "As far as the royals of the Other realm go, all of us live lives very close to the Victorian age the humans had several centuries ago. Belief in Others was quite strong then. Many of the 'classic' literature that created quite a number of Others was written in that time period. As such, the royals have never completely been able to leave that way of thinking. The results? Our households and social societal structures are still stuck in a time long past."

He sighed, rubbing at the back of his neck. She stayed silent still, trying to absorb as much information as possible. He shot her an uncertain glance before speaking. "Many of the servants in households become a part of the family, if in a distant way. Tina, Albert, and Jeffery were all born here. All of them have lived their lives in this palace and grew up learning the roles they would eventually take on. Though, from what I've been told, Albert was actually meant to become the household doctor. But his love for cooking was greater and he became the chef instead. As such, the current household doctor is one of the few servants hired out of the household."

Jack flashed a faint smile, realizing how confusing that sounded. "Many of the servants are actually whole families, their official service starting after they graduate high school. Many times, marriages happen between servants in the same household, though occasionally an outsider will be brought into the household."

Nisha stared into her small bowl of grits, her mind spinning. "But...all the servants here are Shadow people. W-why is that?"

"They are the perfect Others to work as servants for the Winter-based Others. They are not affected by the cold, as immune to it as my kind is. With the nature of the WinterPalace, nearly all other Others are unable to stay here for very long. None stay for longer than a night, as that is the longest most can handle from the sheer cold. Many have more or, even, less protection against the cold than you have. But with the nature of the Shadow people, it works out best for them to work for us. Besides, they are often discriminated against by most Others. Working and living here is almost like a form of protection for them as well."

That made her frown. "T-they're...discriminated against?" she repeated in shock. "Why? That doesn't make a lot of sense."

"Shadow people are seen as one of the...weakest of all races. They're physical capabilities are only at a human level, and on occasions even less so. Their mental capabilities are slightly lower than a normal human as well, most often. When they are brought up in myths and legends, they are most often...just shadows in the shape of people that provide a very quick scare. And because of this, their abilities are nearly zero. Even so, they are still magical, which is why magic is required to be able to communicate with them. Even a few drops of magic in your blood is enough to actually see and hear a Shadow person. Most humans don't have this though, which is why Shadow people are seen as silent, haunting silhouettes. The humans can't make out the details of their bodies or hear them speaking."

Nisha was now finished with her food. Slowly, she nodded her head. "Alright then. I don't quite agree with a lot of what you said, but knowing about it is helpful. Thank you for the impromptu lesson, Jack."

He shrugged, yawning. "You're welcome." He glanced down at his own finished plate. "Well, now to begin our homework." Rising to his feet, he took her tray and his, stacking them on one of the bedside tables. Against the right wall, near a very large computer desk which must have been Jack's before, their book bags rest. Scooping both up into his hands, he walked back to the bed. Sitting on the bed and resting the bags close to him, he began pulling out their books and binders. "Alright. You said history and literature, right?"

Nisha nodded, groaning. "Yeah, both of them." She reached for the books he held out to her. "Thanks," she murmured. "Oh, can you grab my binder and the...black notebook?" After half a second, he offered the requested items. "Thank you, again."

He pulled out his math textbook and notebook, as well as his science and history books. "Ah, man...This sucks," he complained.

"The sooner we get this done, the more of a weekend we'll have," Nisha admonished him. Internally though, she was agreed wholeheartedly. The past week at school had been awful. She was struggling to keep all her new history and science that she had to learn straight. The literature part wasn't too difficult though. Most of it was just reading all the tales and legends through the eyes of the actual monsters and creatures in them. In fact, it was actually much more interesting than the human literature she had been learning for the last decade or so.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he muttered. "Oh, yeah. If you get confused on something, just let me know, alright? I have most of all the history stuff down pat. Where are you, by the way?"

She glanced up. "Um...fifth grade material, I believe?" She felt embarrassed to admit that, but Jack's face didn't show the slightest hint of scorn. "I'm just starting on the Great Winter," she explained.

His expression became unreadable at her words. His voice grew a little cold and his blue eyes hardened. "Oh, really?"

Nodding, not sure why he seemed to close off at the mention of it, she continued explaining. "Actually, Blake is making me do a short paper on The Tale of Winter's First Frost. It's the literature paper I was telling you about. Do you remember having to read that book in school?"

"I remember having to live it..." Jack muttered darkly under his breath.

"What?" Nisha asked. His voice was too soft for her to catch.

"I said I remember having to read it," he said in a louder voice.

"It's actually a very interesting story. And it brings up someone with the same name as you, Jack. Were you named after him in honor of your abilities?" she asked.

He frowned, his brows creasing. "Something like that," he sighed heavily.

Her hands clasped together in her lap. "I think it's both a really sad and a really sweet story." Her lips pulled up into a smile. "It's really sweet, how much the boy in the story loves the girl. I think it's amazing, the lengths he goes to try and find a way to show her. But at the same time...both of them don't seem to realize the truth, which is the sad part. You don't need to make any grand, legendary gestures to prove to someone that you love them. Just being yourself, showing them every part of you...That's how you show someone that you love them." She glanced over, startled to find his eyes were filled with both pain and love.

His voice was thick with unshed tears. "I love you. I love you, Nisha Frost."

She blinked, taken aback by his emotional response. "Are you okay, Jack? I mean, it's a sad story, sure. But you don't need to cry over it."

He shoved his school books to the side, leaning forward to gather her into his arms. His hands ran over her hair and down her back as he pressed her to his chest. "I'm crying tears of joy in my heart, hjarta mítt. You're here with me, by my side, in my arms. Against that, how can the story of some foolish little boy cause me sorrow? Against that, how can the story of a lost man make me cry?"

She patted his back, feeling a little awkward. She hadn't thought that a simple legend of how and why snow was cold would make him nearly cry. Maybe he was just really sensitive about his element in general? She bit her bottom lip, worried. After a few more minutes, he pulled back, his expression nearly normal. But even so, she thought she caught the faintest hint of sorrow still in his blue eyes.

Clearing his throat, he spoke in a voice much closer to his normal self. "Like I said, if you have any questions, just ask. I think I'm going to focus on my math now, though. I struggle quite a bit with math, so I expect it will take me some time."

She glanced at his math textbook. "Well, I'd offer to help. But I'm honestly struggling a little myself."

He flashed a ghost of a smile. "Don't worry, love. I'll be fine. You should focus on your papers though."

"Right," she grumbled. "Thanks for the reminder."

He chuckled, a real laugh. "It's what I'm here for."