Chapter Text
Jamie checked the little packet in his pocket for the fifth time since he'd tucked it in there ten minutes ago. Jack was coming today, wonderful Jack who had promised a snow day and to stop by for cocoa when he was done, and it was the last snow day of the year until autumn came again. Just like every year, he had to abandon Jamie for the entire spring and summer, and Jamie couldn’t stand to be separated from Jack like that again. He’d dealt with it over the years, since he no choice in the matter, but everything was ready now and he'd never have to deal with it again.
Everything was coming together, just the way he’d planned and dreamed over the years. He’d taken notes, done research into every myth and legend about Jack he could get his hands on, watched Jack all those years and filled log after log with his observations. The temperatures Jack preferred, his favorite things, how he balanced on that staff of his, how soft and pale his skin looked despite constant exposure to the weather, anything and everything. It was the only thing that made the others stealing Jack’s attention away bearable, knowing that it gave him the chance to study Jack without the loving winter spirit’s notice.
He’d bought an old fixer-upper house as soon as he could, the one on the edge of town, near Jack’s lake, as part of his plans. No one questioned what you were buying at the hardware store when they knew you’d bought a house needing lots of repairs, no one wondered just what kind of modifications you might be making to it. There were a lot of modifications needed if he wanted Jack to be happy and comfortable, but it would be worth it.
It needed enough work without those special modifications that no one noticed anything when he had to buy a bit extra of this, or spent most of his free time working on the house rather than going out with friends.
The whole house had been finished for a couple of months now as far as everyone knew, with lots of space for the Guardians to come and visit whenever they might want to. People might have questioned why Jamie needed so much space when it was just him living in that big old house, but they didn’t ask him and he didn’t tell anyone, strange loner Jamie Bennett.
He couldn’t have cared if the rest of the Guardians came to visit. They kept Jack from him with their Guardian business and their attempts to be Jack’s family, but if he believed in them and kept an open invitation extended for them, then Jack would come along with them, and Jack wouldn’t question why Jamie refused to stop believing in him and yet stopped believing in the other Guardians or refused to see them.
It was all for Jack, Jamie would remind himself when the house was full of spirits, all of them taking Jack’s attention away from him, touching him when only Jamie should get to touch that smooth, perfect skin, ruffling snow white hair or making Jack laugh. He’d do anything to make Jack happy, and if that meant waiting and letting the Guardians give him the attention Jamie couldn’t while he was working, then that was how it had to be. It was only temporary, he’d remind himself, until everything was finished and he could give Jack the attention he deserved.
All unknown to all of them, the house hadn’t been finished then - not the most important part of the house, the basement. It took extra time to get it just right, and it had to be perfect before it would be ready. But it was now, and Jack was going to be alone today when he visited, so it was finally, finally time to set his plans into motion.
The main basement looked like the rest of the house, perfectly normal with the furnace and washer and dryer, the stacks of random boxes that accumulate in every house despite the owner’s best intentions. But go to the darkest corner, twist here, lift this, and the trapdoor, so carefully hidden and made to blend into the rest of the floor, opened to dark steps leading down into the house’s foundation, down to another door, one with the strongest lock he could find on it.
Temperature-controlled to feel like a crisp autumn day right on the edge of winter, the room under the house would stay cool no matter how hot the weather outside grew. Jamie had painted it himself, light blue with white trim, had built the bed in the corner, the matching dresser and nightstand, all white with blue accents, white rugs on the blue carpeting, a tv and game system on a stand with Jack’s favorite games and movies in a shelf against the wall, books he knew Jack loved in the glossy white bookshelf near the bed, the humidifier in the opposite corner so Jack could make snow to be comfortable – Jack didn’t like it when the air dried out, liked it cold and humid, and he liked relaxing in snowbanks.
The attached bathroom was stocked with everything Jamie could think of that Jack might like, since bathing habits were hard to research without giving himself away. He had found out in passing that Jack had used to use snow or ponds until the other Guardians opened their homes to him, and he never wanted to go back. Other than that...he'd had to use his imagination. It'd been fun.
The dresser against the wall was filled with clothing in Jack’s size, the nicest Jamie could afford – Jack may have preferred his ragged old hoodie and worn pants, but he deserved the silks and velvets, and Jamie enjoyed finding them for him, imagining how they would look on Jack’s slim, pale body.
Everything was all ready for Jack to come home.
And Jamie was the only one who knew any of it existed.
It was just in time, in Jamie’s opinion. He’d seen the wounds more than once, when Jack had stopped by after facing down a rogue spirit that threatened children. No one should ever leave a mark on that perfect, smooth, pale skin, skin that should be worshipped and pampered.
If this worked, then Jack would be kept safe, Jamie promised himself, safe and loved and treasured like he should be, and he’d never have to see a bruise or cut marring Jack’s body again.
He could almost see it already, that slim, perfect body on display for him and him alone, the pleading in those beautiful blue eyes, hear that musical voice begging him for more, feel soft, cool skin under his hands and taste Jack on his tongue.
Jamie shook himself, sternly reminding himself to focus. Jack was too independent to understand that he needed taken care of, so he was going to have to be sneaky about this. Tricking a trickster took control and impeccable timing, and he’d planned this too long to screw up by being impatient or distracted now.
The heat was turned up, the packet of powder was ready in his pocket, and Jack’s room was ready. All he needed now was…a cool breeze blew through the house, announcing Jack’s arrival, and he heard Jack calling from the kitchen. Schooling his face into normalcy, hoping Jack wouldn’t catch on just how nervous he was, Jamie headed downstairs.
Showtime.