tushanshu_logs | [OPEN] All a settlement of snow...

Characters: Jack Frost & OPEN
Date: Catch-all for December threads
Location: Keeliai and Landfall at Bresilyk
Situation: General prompts are in the post, prior discussed starters to be set up shortly! Message me if you want me to add a specific starter for your character or just tag in with any scene.
Special Note: Jack will have Baby Tooth with him unless noted otherwise and her visibility follows the UPDATED!! belief guidelines as Jack's do.
Warnings/Rating: TBA in threads if needed.

[ A. LANDFALL LINKS ]
→ Snow Glitter Shenanigans
→ Chilling on the pier with bitty at Aihsohlow

[ B. WELCOME CENTER ]
As officially announced at the beginning of the month, Jack's commenced running a small welcome center located in central Keeliai for Foreigners arriving into the city. Today he can be found sitting cross-legged on the floor, sorting a pile of donated books from various vendors around the city. They're in various languages and the ones that are in kedanese are of a beginner level so that the basics of the language can be attempted. Baby Tooth is flitting nearby, checking a list of supplies that they'd compiled, thinking they'd need.

"I'm glad we got so many volunteers," Jack was in the middle of saying to the faerie. "Between here and the fishing store, it's going to be really busy." Baby Tooth fixed him with a dry, droll look as though to remind him which of the two of them was used to working 24/7 and he laughed. "Right, right... can you imagine if Tooth were here?"

[ C. DOWNTIME ]
When he does manage to find some free time, he surprisingly spends it... doing nothing. Or rather, soundly sleeping in a snowy bough of a park tree, feet propped up against the trunk, staff balanced lightly across his stomach, seemingly without a care in the world and utterly unbothered by the cold.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He lets a comfortable silence lapse, before he sidesteps so he's in front of the spirit, so they're facing each other and Kyle's walking backwards.]

What happened?

[It's a sign of how far he's come that it's not Tell me what happened.]

Pretty sure you already know, or you wouldn't be here.

[ The words are brisk but not angry; not really anything. He doesn't alter his pace at all, blue eyes flicking up to Kyle's face before back to a middling ground as he walked. ]

Hearing it secondhand's not the same, and I can only guess so much.

[He keeps pace. Patience is something he never had but learnt, here, after repeatedly being punched with it.]

I put magic into the snow in Bresilyk, outside the domes. It affected people. Someone got sick because of it-- badly.

[ It's said very matter of factly and though Jack doesn't mention Spock by name, he's under no illusions the Lantern doesn't know who he's talking about. His tone doesn't change when he adds: ]

If you're going to attack me, I'm going to fight back. Just so you know.

If I wanted to, you'd already be hurt.

[It's something he and Damian share. No words when they can simply act.]

You promised you'd be responsible. Did you know that might have happened, or only afterwards?

[You made a mistake. Intent matters now.]

Fair warning anyway.

[ His eyes flicker very briefly at the accusation of being responsible, doubly so after his conversation with Damian. ]

Guess that makes you the latest in a long line of people I've let down, then.

I didn't say I was disappointed; don't put words in my mouth.

[He stops and stands still, drawn up to his full height, but oddly serene.]

Facts, Jack. Please answer the question.

[ And Jack moves to step around him, the demand no mater how politely phrased sitting sour as bile in the back of his throat. ]

Pass on indulging your judge-and-jury routine today, thanks. It's between that person and I... not him, me and Kyle Rayner. If he feels like telling you then fine, but I don't and I don't have to.

You're not listening... I didn't ask about who--

[Don't get frustrated, he reminds himself, and his tone stays neutral. It takes effort, but he has enough will.]

I asked what. Are you intending to learn about your power or not? You said you couldn't turn it off, last time, I believe you. So control it. Give where it's needed, hold back when it's not.

[ he scoffs ]

And who, exactly should I be learning from? 'Cause clearly the whole self-taught approach doesn't work. And last time you said that it was never needed. Why do you think I didn't touch any of the snow when it started to fall in Keeliai? All I wanted in Bresilyk--

[ Jack bites off his own words, shoving his hands in his hoodie pocket. ]

It wasn't needed for me.

[One of his hands clenches into a fist. He's used to being the person who knows what's best, letting go of that in contexts other than his job has been slow, and arduous, but he's getting there now that he knows what the goal is.]

And plenty of us have the "surprise, you can do all this now!" experiences. [A half-shrug.] Kal could. He knows a lot about that stuff.

Kal doesn't have a good concept of magic. Every time I mention it, he starts squinting like he's having trouble keeping me in focus.

[ Whether it's because he decides the explanation is needed... or just that he puts it out there in lieu of Kyle not yelling at him... ]

All I wanted in Bresilyk was to feel like I did last year before-- [ "you" ] --before everything that came after. Flying around out there, it was great. I didn't feel like I was-- [ "a prisoner" ] --cutting part of myself off, like the last few weeks in Keeliai.

It happened this time because I was happy, Kyle. Because I was the one having fun, like I was back in March. It makes sense, with how North explained things. You can't... put something into the world that you don't feel yourself.

[A soft huff.]

There'll be someone. Ask around.

[He doesn't flinch at all at the blame. As far as he's concerned it's one more thing to carry, and he's shouldered heavier burdens.]

I disagree. It's possible to create something you don't feel. [I've done it.] It'll be lifeless, but that's not the point. You became invisible to a few people some back, right? No reason the other things can't evolve.

Edited 2013-12-15 04:55 (UTC)

[ It was the point, so far as Jack was concerned. The incident back in March had rattled his confidence in his abilities, but he'd clung to the fact that no matter how it was perceived by others (by a few) he was still doing good, helping people, and that it was harmless. Now that faith had been sundered rudely away from him and made him not only question his actions but that very part of who he was. He'd been riding a wave of newfound and precious security in finally having a purpose, a center for the last year and now he was coming down all the harder for it.

Worst of all, he couldn't even convey it to anyone and try to explain this sudden vacuum inside, the warmth of simply being able to trust oneself having gone out. ]

Yeah. Maybe.

[Your self-pity is refreshing and ultimately unhelpful, he thinks, looking at Jack. The uphill battle was just that: constant. It wasn't a question of getting through it once and living happily ever after. That only happened in fairy tales.]

[Instead:] Think about it.

[ The spirit rolled his eyes at that, already deciding that he could hear the "or else" at the end of that sentence whether it was legitimately there or not. He missed the Guardians right now, more fiercely than he had since his arrival in Keeliai. At that moment he'd have given anything for North's heavy arm around his shoulder, warm and safe. ]

Great, super advice, thanks.

[What is it about people that makes them never listen? he thinks, and then shrugs. Cutting his losses is a pragmatic move, and he can tell when something is a waste of his time.]

Take care of yourself.

[And with that, he offers a small salute, and wanders off, towards home.]

[OPEN] All a settlement of snow...

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