[OPEN] Red, blue, orange and green. No yellow snow cones!

[wintershepherd]

Characters: Jack Frost, OPEN
Date: Backdated to the afternoon of Jan 11th
Location: At one of the playgrounds in Keeliai.
Situation: Deciding to surprise some kedan kids as they're getting out of school at the end of the week, Jack provides snow cones.
Warnings/Rating: CUTE?

It had taken quite a few trips to the various markets scattered around the city when he finally found what he was looking for in the Fire Sector: little pots of flavoured syrup. Jack had happily forked over his juulan for a wide selection of them and had brought them to a playground where he knew that children liked to visit once they were out of school. At the end of the week, Jack wanted to give them a special treat.

Now he was sitting on a picnic table with a pile of the cleanest, purest snow he could conjure and a field of cups ready for small hands to fill them before getting dollops of sweet syrup. Pretty soon kids were flocking to the playground with excited laughter as they told their friends, and their friends told more friends. It didn't take long for murmurings about "the snow boy!" to start making its way around.

Comments

[wintershepherd]

"Then I'd say you're one step away from full-blown trickster status," Jack stuck his tongue out at her.

[backwordscompatible]

Very mature, Jack. She would stick hers out back at you, except it was too busy eating the delicious snow cone she'd gotten you to make for her.

"I can live with that."

[wintershepherd]

Hey, he never claimed to be mature. And in fact most people would probably say he is not, and he can also live with that.

"Are you on your way to your job?"

[backwordscompatible]

She shook her head. Her lips were already turning red from the syrup, and she licked them in an attempt to get as much of it off as possible.

"Nope. Today's my full day off. Tomorrow, I only have an evening shift. So I'm making the most of things."

[wintershepherd]

"I still need to visit you at your job," Jack grinned.

[backwordscompatible]

"Well, you'll have to wait until tomorrow. I'll be at the magic shop then." She figured he'd be more interested in the ice cream than the magic. Call it a hunch.

[wintershepherd]

"I'd even take an intimidating interview at this point," Jack said with a shake of his head. "Getting a job has been... hard."

[backwordscompatible]

"I can talk to the owner for you. You can do magic, which is usually the hardest part to overcome." The thought of them both working together in a magic shop sounded like an incredibly bad idea. She hoped he got the position. "You know, if you want."

[wintershepherd]

Jack hesitated, looking torn between wanting to agree and to refuse. "It's not that I wouldn't appreciate it," he started. "It's just..."

[backwordscompatible]

"Just what?"

She wouldn't be offended if he turned her down. It was an idea, and he could have any number of reasons for not wanting to.

[wintershepherd]

"I just kind of... wanted to try and get one myself. First time and all," he said, giving a little laugh.

[backwordscompatible]

"Oh!" She relaxed, and the casual smile returned. "Go right ahead. And good luck with that."

[wintershepherd]

He returned her smile, glad she understood and wasn't taking his decline as anything against her. "Thanks Zatanna."

[backwordscompatible]

What remained of her snow treat had nearly melted into a pool of slush at this point, and she tilted her cup upwards to get at the remaining liquid. Laughter rang out not far from where they sat; she turned to see another group of school children approaching.

"I can make myself scarce if you need to get back to work," she offered, jerking her head to indicate the crowd.

[wintershepherd]

Jack was quick to shake his head, already reaching for a new stack of cups. "You don't have to, I can multitask," he grinned.

Seeing that he'd need more snow, Jack holds his hand turned down over the pile and a small cyclone of frost and light swirled from his palm, creating a fresh pile of new snow condensed on the end of the picnic table. His staff resting nearby crackled with a fresh layer of frost as well, as though tied to the ice magic even though he wasn't holding it at the moment.

Noticing the magic, the kedan children squealed with delight and began crowding around again, looking like they were ready to make another Jack-on-the-bottom pile of happy kids.

[backwordscompatible]

For her part, Zatanna hung back, watching Jack do his thing. She was okay with kids, but nowhere near as good as he was. (Though the fact that he was giving them free sugar might've had something to do with the preference.) It was all about the showmanship, really, and Jack seemed to have plenty of--

A tug at her pant leg; she glanced down to see a tiny boy peering up at her with wide eyes. Maybe six.

"Oh! Uh...did you want a cone too?" She leaned down with a warm smile. The boy nodded, his expression not once changing. "Coming up."

She cast a small spell to summon both ice and syrup into a swirl of colors. Red, Orange, and Blue, all rainbowed together in a pattern that definitely wouldn't occur if she had done it the usual way. Satisfied with her work, she handed off the cup to the little boy. Who looked like his eyes would pop out of their sockets at any moment.

"Whoa..." he managed to breath out.

She just laughed. "You're welcome. Enjoy."

[wintershepherd]

"You know you've just doomed yourself to performing that trick for every other kid here," Jack smirked. "Because as soon as one sees it, they're all going to want one."

[backwordscompatible]

She turned back, and sure enough, there were three more pairs of eyes giving her that same look.

"Oh, no, you're the snow boy around here." Holding up both hands, she gave him a light nudge with her knee. "I wouldn't want to steal your spotlight."

[wintershepherd]

"Then how about a joint effort?" he invited, cupping his hand and creating another little whirl of snowflakes. "I'll fill, you decorate? We'll get an assembly line that'll rival Bunny's eggs."

[backwordscompatible]

"I don't remember signing up for this."

Even as she said this, however, she was struggling to contain her laughter. Another wave of her hand, and her tri-colored decoration had thoroughly soaked Jack's snowflakes.

[wintershepherd]

Between their magics, Jack summoned streams of new snow to get coated into Zatanna's colourful addition and then sent it whirling into the children's cups, filling them all with another round. He made sure there was enough to go around for all of them, but it did empty the last of the syrup pots.

"Looks like that's all for today," he said to Zatanna, watching the kids run around on a definite sugar high.

[backwordscompatible]

"I'd say we've done enough damage."

She watched the hyperactive display unfold, not-so-secretly glad she wouldn't have to deal with any of the aftermaths. With luck, they would both be long gone before any of the parents found out.

"What now, Snow Boy?"

[wintershepherd]

He gave her a wry smile. "I hadn't really planning anything else," he answered. "I've been kind of looking forward to this all day, waiting for them to get out of school."

[backwordscompatible]

"Not as much as they have, I'm sure."

[wintershepherd]

Jack cupped his chin in both hands and looked over the playground. "Their being happy makes me happy," he replied. Coming from anyone else it would have sounded trite, but from Jack it's only genuine.