Jack holds up his hands in a 'stop right there' gesture. "Hey, if there's going to be anything relating to being down a well, I'm going to stick with bringing the kedan kids snacks during their recess, thanks. Water and I only get along when it's frozen."

He gave Pepper a slight apologetic grin, having remembered startling her during their first meeting. If he'd been completely honest, he wouldn't have figured either Pepper or Tony, just based on what he knew from them, would have been able to see him -- and yet both were capable of it, further confusing him as to what kind of guidelines for being real he was working on here.

"You don't mind if I sit, right?" Without waiting for an answer, Jack planted the base of his staff lightly on the floor and released it, but the gnarled wood stayed perfectly upright as though it had suddenly taken root. The winter spirit sat uncannily balanced on the rounded part, bare feet curling slightly against the staff's surface as though it were nothing stranger than a regular chair, even though neither the physics nor gravity should have allowed such a thing.

"Because I get the feeling this is going to take a while."