#where xander tries coffee and goes wow! tasty! then just PASSES OUT.

[safyresky]

Storm, Sleep, Single.

send a word and I'll write a drabble or a headcanon based on it (or a smile shot, since apparently the concept of a "drabble" eludes us here at safyresky industries)

Storm

The Time Splinter turned the corner, bearing down on the toddler sized sprite. It lifted its hand; a small portal opened, icicles sliding right out of the past and rushing towards the child.

She yelped, throwing out her hands and blasting snow around her, the force of which threw her out of the way of the icicles just in time as they continued down the hall, her brown braids swinging behind her.

Both Jacks turned the corner; young Jack almost toppled over, his shoes skidding on the tiled floors.

"Got you," said the older Jack, pushing his younger self upwards effortlessly as he slid easily around the corner, not loosing his balance once.

The pair booked it down the hall, fast in pursuit of the Time Splinter as it tried very, very hard to kill the tiny sprite in front of it.

She was holding up pretty well, actually, all things considered. But her little chest was heaving and her snow was getting thinner and oh no, a dead end!

The tiny sprite looked at the wall; she looked at the left. Door. She tried it; it was locked. The right—more wall. She turned around. Maybe she could sneak under it and run back? Maybe she could climb a wall? Jack could so maybe she could too? Maybe, maybe, maybe—she looked up, choking back a sobby scream.

The Time Splinter had grown in size. Behind it, her brothers were rushing over, their hands glowing, her Jack looking ready to kill and the older Jack looking very, very, very, lots of things, too many things that she couldn't even BEGIN to make words for because holy moly, the time thingy had just opened up a time hole and the largest blast of snow she had EVER seen came FLYING out, shoving them both all the way back down the hall.

They landed in a heap. The Time Splinter cackled, its sharp fingers glitching. It turned back to the young sprite with a sharp, bad, bad, BAD grin and oh no, oh no, it was opening a SECOND TIME HOLE.

She backed up, hitting the wall, looking up at the glitchy, colourful thing, unable to even shout for her brother she was so scared.

"You may have dodged all those other ones," the thing said, sounding like TV static. "But I happen to know of a set that won't miss in a few years time...let's speed things along now, shall we?" It hissed, looking back at the Jacks.

"NO! DON'T!" The older Jack shouted, trying to get back up again, only to be thrown back by a fresh glob of snowstorm from the portal the splinter had left open.

"Don't what?" His younger counterpart asked. "What did you do?"

"Bye bye, Little Flurry," the Splinter said, and, with a snap, the three icicles from so long ago but also just a few decades away came flying out of the time hole, the small sprite lifting her hands, the tiniest little ice shield popping up as both Jacks yelled NO, trying to fight what must've been one of Winter's ancient blizzards as the icicles (and the brothers) headed right for her—

"YOU don't get to call me that," said a new voice.

A wormhole had opened above the child. Snow came POURING out of the hole, hitting the ground with a THWOMP, a blue clad someone barely visible through the storm. There was a crack as the snow froze over, the three icicles embedding themselves into the snow.

The Splinter jumped back, aghast; both Jacks stopped, staring at the snowy wall, waiting.

Behind the wall, the small sprite looked up, her jaw on the floor as the woman in front of her looked down with a very familiar warm smile.

"Little Flurry," the woman said to her. "Meet the Big Storm you'll become one day," she said with a wink.

And with a battle cry, her arms flew back. The snow in front of her cracked and shattered; she pushed forwards, and the snow exploded, the hallway fast entering whiteout conditions.

The woman directed one hand upwards. The snowstorm she had unleashed in the hallway shot up. The snowy flakes froze quickly, gathering together and hitting the Time Splinter directly.

It screeched, withering in the air as the ice pellets pelted it, until finally, it shattered, dissipating above them.

The snow settled; the hall was quiet.

"You okay?" Jacqueline asked her very little self.

The little sprite took in a very deep breath, opened her mouth, and screamed, "I AM A STORM! RARGH!" Her arms reaching high, high, high above her head.

Big Jacqueline laughed; her Jack breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, she's fine," young Jack said, fondly.

Sleep

"Coffee's all around," Cassandra said, sleepy tired, as she sat at the table with most of her wing. "Extra sugar for both Jackie and Amy, double double for you, Charlie, and I have one for you too, Alex. I brought you a bit of everything because I didn't know how you took yours."

"Oh, I don't need a coffee!" he said with a brilliant smile. "I don't sleep so—uh, I mean," he said, faltering as Amy and Jackie both shot him warning glares, "Yes! Coffee! That is a beverage that I do drink because I do, in fact, need sleep because humans need, uh. Sleep. And I definitely did not get enough sleep to function. For the day. Hundred percent. So now I will have. A coffee. To stay awake. Which is something I don't just do naturally. Right."

Amy sighed in relief; Jackie facepalmed.

Cass glanced over at Charlie; he looked just as confused as she felt.

"Are the others joining us?" Amy asked, politely changing the subject.

"Derrick was out all night so no idea where he's at. Desiree's getting Starbs and hitting the library asap to secure us a study space for the midterm prep," Charlie said.

The magihuman chatted with Cass, completely unaware of how carefully Jackie and Amy were watching Alex.

"You know," he whispered, leaning forward, "I've never had coffee before."

"You have coffee at the Dream Spire, though. I'm sure of that," Dite replied. "Really good coffee, too!"

Xander nodded. "I just don't usually drink it; I take after my Renny. They don't sleep, and nor do I. Half of the dream weavers don't need sleep! The other half are always sleepy."

"You didn't think that that would come over with the ordibeing glamour, did you?" Jacqueline asked, pouring chocolate milk into her coffee.

"I have yet to be able to sleep, glamours aside, so I assumed."

"Thank goodness it worked for everyone else. Could you imagine if I was walking around with pointed ears still? Fuckin' eh," Jacqueline replied, sipping her atrocious coffee-chocolate-sugar. Thing.

"What should I put in it?"

"Whatever you want!" Dite said. "Do you want it sweet? Have sugar! Milk and cream thicken it and make it cooler and smoother."

"Chocolate milk makes it taste not like caffeine."

"You're so strange," Dite said, endearingly

"Thank you," Jacqueline replied.

"You know what? I'm going to put a bit of everything in it!"

"Everything?" the girls asked, shocked.

"Yeah! I'm going to live a little! What did my neighbour say yesterday? What was it...oh yeah! YOLO. I am going to YOLO."

"Did you hear that Dite? He's going to yolo," Jacqueline said, hiding her face in her cup.

"Be nice!" Dite said, Jacqueline suddenly lunging forward in her seat a bit, her chocolate milk coffee spilling. "Sorry, sorry. I thought that was softer. I can't see them so, you know," she shrugged.

"May I steal your chocolate milk?" Xander asked.

"Yeah, but you're refilling it."

"Of course!" Xander said, pouring the rest of the disguised sprite's chocolate milk into the very close to overfilling cup. "Well, here we go! Cheers!" he said, carefully bringing it up to his lips and taking a very long sip.

"So? What do you think?" Dite asked.

"Wow! Tasty!" he said, and then immediately fell forward, his face landing on the table with a hefty thunk.

Charlie and Cass jumped up, as startled as Amy and Jackie, who were already on either side of Alex, Amy checking for a pulse.

"Is he okay?" Charlie asked.

"He's either dead or sleeping," Jackie said. "That was his first coffee ever," she added with a grimace.

"What did he put in it?" Cass asked.

"EVERYTHING," both girls replied.

"EVERYTHING?"

Amy nodded. "He isn't dead!"

"Oh my god. He's snoring," Jackie said, stunned.

"He's actually asleep!" Amy said, shocked.

"I'm using this for later," Jackie said, taking out her phone and snapping a photo."

"ZzzzZZZzzzz," snored Alex, as the flash went off around him.

Single

Well, it was over.

He was the single last Frost standing.

Mom and Dad? Gone. Off to Rosehaven when this whole stupid war had broken out.

Did they choose to go there? Did Pyros send them there himself? As much as he wanted to believe the latter, he was positive that the pair of them had washed their hands to the mess and fled so as not to deal with the consequences of their actions.

(They should've just gone with the Call all those years ago).

And now Pyros.

Defeated by his own hand, and now sealed into the old castle they had grown up in. Hidden away from the world, both magical and ordinary. Trapped forever. Alone. King of his Castle, which is what he had wanted, anyway.

The Grand Witches finished the seals on the force field, bickering the entire time. A shadow fell over him.

"Blaise?"

He looked up. Mother Nature.

"It's been done," she said in response to his silent, stony look. He nodded, eyes down on the ground.

"Do you need a moment?"

He nodded again.

Mother Nature surveyed him intently. "Girls," she said over her shoulder. "Let's give his majesty a moment, alright?"

"Don't—" Blaise sighed. Whatever. He'd burn that bridge later.

The trio disappeared, leaving Blaise behind at the gates, staring up at Old Frost Castle.

He turned his back to it, leaning on the fence and sliding down, down, down, until he met the ground with a heavy sigh.

"Room for one more?"

He looked up; his heart softened.

"For you? Always," he said, scooting over for the season. Her cool presence was comforting.

"Still the flatterer I see," she said, sinking down beside him, her thin skirt fluttering on the way down.

"Only for you, Miss Winter."

She smiled, her hand gently resting on her collarbone. "I know it's a silly question, but I must ask. Are you okay?" she said, reaching out and touching his shoulder.

"No. Are you?"

"Not at all."

"Can we be not okay together?"

Winter smiled. "For you? Always," she said, giving his shoulder a squeeze before dropping her hands in her lap, ready to listen.

"I was just thinking," Blaise began, "It's just me now. I'm the last Frost standing. They're all gone. My mother and father. My brother. It's just me. The single last Frost." he sighed. "I don't have a house," he realized, with a funny little frown.

"You can stay in the garden, if you'd like. I'm sure Mother wouldn't mind."

"Would your sisters?"

"I don't think so, no."

"And you?"

"Not in the slightest," she said, happy to see the familiar corkscrew grin she was embarrassingly fond of on his face. "We'd all be quite happy for the company. And I think you would too, Blaise dear. You know," Winter continued, scooting even closer to the young would-be King, her knees pressed up against his toasty warm thigh. "You may be the last Frost standing, but you aren't alone," she said. "Family is what you make of it. And even though your parents are gone and your brother is, well," she pointed with her thumb over her shoulder. "You have us! Mother Nature, my sisters, countless other magibeans and myths and legends—"

"I have you," Blaise said warmly, grabbing her hand and squeezing it.

She giggled behind her free hand, squeezing Blaise back. "If you'd like."

"You know I would."

She giggled again. "It's an opportunity for a fresh start," she said, clasping his hand in both of hers. "And isn't that lovely?"

Something was happening, deep in Blaise's chest. It was warm. "It...it kind of is," he realized, that warm feeling intensifying. There was a spark; two, three more. Then a crackle. His hair, flat and dark like burnt out embers on the top of his head, began to glow, the red slowly seeping into the dark. Then WHOOSH!

His hair lit up, a roaring fire on the top of his head.

"I can do so much good!" He realized, talking with his hands. "All of those stupid rules and laws Mom and Dad had—I can get rid of them! I can change them, make it better, make this place better—" his face was growing red; he was blushing, jumping up and pacing with a spring in his step.

Oh, it had been too long since Winter had seen him like this. She had missed it; and if she were able to blush, she would be too. "We can!" he finally said, turning back to Winter, his heart free of the stony confines the War of Succession had put it in.

He held out his hand, eyes crinkling at the corners.

"We?" Winter asked, taking his hand and letting him pull her up.

"My first and ONLY order of business as King, is to get rid of the monarchy. Crystal Springs is a place for everyone; and everyone should be able to have a say in what they want. And I am going to make sure of it," he said, confident.

His hair flickered; he frowned. "Do you think your Mom would be okay with that?"

"Oh, she'll love the idea," Winter said, caressing the summer sprite's face. I love the idea, she thought. "Vive la révolution!" she announced loudly, throwing her fist in the air.

Blaise threw back his head, laughing, the flames on his head reaching heights not suitable for the indoors.

Single last Frost, huh? Well, he thought, pulling Winter along with him and running away from his childhood home, not for very much longer.