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Scott had made a mistake. Scott had made a big, big mistake. It started with him accidentally freezing Gem which had kicked off a series of very difficult situations. Fwhip was mad, understandably, and Scott had run away. Which may have been a bad idea in hindsight seeing as it didn’t fix anything and he was still in the situation he was in now. Maybe he should have stayed out there.
Upon his return the first person to visit him, naturally, had been Jimmy. Stupid, stupid Jimmy who wouldn’t leave him alone, who insisted on helping him because Jimmy was one of the purest souls out there and he only wanted to help but why couldn’t he just have left-
Scott had been insistent that Jimmy left but the other refused, offering to keep his distance but determined to stay with him, to make sure he was okay. Jimmy was so sweet, he should have just left Scott there, things would have been better if he’d just left Scott there, but no, kind, caring Jimmy had seen that Scott was struggling and made it his mission to help. The idea of potentially hurting Jimmy, was really putting Scott on edge and that was the last thing he needed right now, trying to keep his new powers under control.
Jimmy had been trying to coax Scott out of his corner of his house and to the table so he could eat something when the wind had caused the door to slam open making both of them jump. Except Scott was already incredibly on edge and was also battling his ice powers and that second of letting his guard down was all it had taken. In the blink of an eye, Scott’s entire home was coated in a harsh, sparkling frost, icicles jutting down from the ceiling and a icy mist hanging in the air. And Jimmy was on the floor.
Scott rushed over to Jimmy who was lying, trembling on the floor, his lips a concerning shade of blue and his short breaths fogging in the air.
“No, no, no, no- I didn’t mean- I swear- Jimmy- Jimmy please- I’m sorry- I’m so sorry- please- no- NO- JIMMY-”
That was when he spotted the ice, creeping up from Jimmy’s toes, to his ankles - no - he was freezing, not like Gem had, he was literally freezing.
“Jimmy-” Scott sobbed, he couldn’t do this, he hadn’t meant to do this, “Jimmy please- no- ” Scott pulled Jimmy into his lap, pushing his hair out of his face, startling a little when he felt the frost in it.
“‘s okay-” Jimmy muttered, his lips barely moving and Scott let out a choked sob. Jimmy was still trying to make sure he was okay, to reassure him, even as he was dying. Wait, was he dying? Oh gods Scott had killed Jimmy, Jimmy was going to die, he was going to lose Jimmy-
The ice continued to creep further up Jimmy’s body and Scott saw a few tears escape Jimmy’s eyes before freezing on his cheeks. He looked so scared but he was being brave, he was being brave for Scott. It hurt so much.
The ice was up to his neck now and Scott could see the fear shining in his eyes, his beautiful eyes that were always so full of life , Jimmy couldn’t die he just couldn’t-
Scott sat there all night, cradling a now completely frozen Jimmy in his arms, crying until there were no tears left and his voice was hoarse and then he just lay there in silence, screaming and sobbing silently.
Early the next morning he got up, carrying Jimmy in his arms all the way across Rivendell to a small patch nearer the base of the mountain where some flowers grew. He placed him down gently and began making a flower crown and then chains of flowers and draped them delicately over him. It was a slow process, especially with his trembling hands but Jimmy deserved it. He deserved all the care, love, respect, everything Scott could give. Then, with fresh tears shining in his eyes, Scott bid him farewell with a kiss on his forehead and began the journey home.
When he got home he prepared two letters. One to Lizzie, and one to Gem, both of which he dreaded. He dreaded Lizzie’s because not only would he have to break the news that Jimmy was dead, but also that he killed him and he knew Lizzie would come for him after that. He deserved it he supposed, maybe Lizzie had some reasoning here.
He dreaded Gem’s because he was asking for magic lessons again and that scared him, but there was no way he was just going to let this go without trying to save Jimmy, he had to try, he had to fix this. It was the only thing keeping him from running, the fact that he couldn’t leave everything in this state. Gem would be prepared this time, she knew what she was working with, this would be fine. Eventually, that evening he sent off some owls to the two empires before retreating back into his home to mourn.
Rivendell was in one of its roughest patches since Xornoth’s disappearance and their parents’ deaths and it was struggling. The snow that once fell peacefully now swirled in an angry blizzard most days and thick, sharp icicles hung from the buildings. The roads were icy and cold, reflecting the sun in an eerily beautiful way. They were slippery and hazardous and were now closed off. Scott stopped leaving the house, the citizens of Rivendell weren’t quite sure what he did while he was in there, nor were the other rulers, the only person that saw him was Gem for their lessons.
Lizzie had come to try murder him one time but after pounding on his door yelling threats for about an hour, she broke the door down and truly saw the state of his house. She had found Scott in the corner of his storage room, sat on the floor, she wasn’t even sure if he was conscious. Hoarsely, he had told her to get it over with, opening his arms in an accepting gesture and giving a humorless laugh. She stopped for a second, her brain malfunctioning before turning and rushing out of the house.
According to Gem Scott was making progress but he wasn’t so sure. She said his emotions were holding him back. He didn’t know what to do about that. A month in, he stopped causing sudden ice spikes and snowstorms whenever he felt strong emotions, 2 months in, the relentless storms in Rivendell slowed to its previous peaceful snowfall, 3 months in he began to work on melting away the damage he caused to his empire. It was a slow process but he was getting here. The roads were no longer ice, now back to their gravelly previous state, people could walk down them again without slipping.
“We’re making great progress!” Gem exclaimed enthusiastically when Scott turned up to their lesson. It had now been 6 months since the incident as they were now referring to it. Jimmy’s body was being kept at the ocean empire, they had considered putting it on show, a statue for people to pay their respects at but Lizzie hadn’t wanted that, she wanted to keep him safe.
Scott just shrugged in response to Gem’s statement.
“I have an idea, I think that you’re ready, but I need to trust that you will make that decision, that you’ll only do this if you’re ready, okay?” Scott had to admit, he was a little curious. He nodded, gesturing for her to continue.
“I don’t want to get your hopes up, but I’ve been doing some research and I think we can at least have a go at defrosting Jimmy,” she said quietly. Scott looked up, suddenly much more interested.
“When?” he asks simply, his voice scratchy from lack of use.
“If you think you’re ready, then I was thinking tonight,” she replied carefully, putting emphasis on the first part of the sentence.
“Yes, yes, please Gem-” Scott was begging now, he just wanted his husband back. It was decided, a time was agreed, they were going to save Jimmy. It took a fair amount of convincing on Gem’s part to get Lizzie to allow them to see Jimmy, but it was agreed, they were going tonight.
—
Lizzie glared at Scott the entire walk to the room where Jimmy was kept, Scott just stared at his feet. He had no image to withhold anymore, it had been shattered a long time ago. Now he never left his house and the world knew it, rumors had spread, he was thinner than he used to be, his clothes hung off him and the bags under his eyes were worse than ever before. He had given up trying to hold up any reputation a long time ago.
When the door to Jimmy’s room was opened Scott stopped, his brain running on everdrive. Jimmy was there in front of him, just how he’d left him minus the flowers, he could imagine those were long dead. Slowly he made his way into the room, stepping towards Jimmy.
“We’ll leave you alone for this, okay? We’ll come check on you in a bit,” Gem said gently, Lizzie still refused to speak to him. Scott nodded in response, not taking his eyes off Jimmy.
Once they were gone and the door was shut he closed his eyes, taking Jimmy’s frozen hand in his own and concentrating desperately. This had to work, it was going to work. He waited to feel movement, for any sign Jimmy was alive, but he felt nothing. He sat there for another few minutes, waiting, but nothing. He’d failed. Maybe this really was it, maybe he really had killed Jimmy. He lay down beside Jimmy on the floor and began to cry quietly, remaining that way until eventually he was pulled away by sleep.
—
He was woken by movement near him. Confused, he blinked slowly, why wasn’t he at home? Then his eyes fell on Jimmy. Jimmy who wasn’t an ice sculpture, Jimmy who wasn’t completely still in his arms, Jimmy who was lying, shivering slightly on the floor, just beginning to stir.
“Jimmy-” he breathed, quickly gathering the other into his arms, holding him tightly, trying to warm him up. Scott was weak, a result of days on end without food or sleep, but in that moment he had the power to carry Jimmy out of the room and through to the nearest bedroom he could find. Maybe it was a miracle, or maybe just adrenaline, he wasn’t sure, but he made it, gently laying Jimmy down on the bed and pulling the covers over him, trying to warm him up again. He still couldn’t believe it, Jimmy was here, surely this was a dream, or some sick joke, but he pinched himself and looked up and Jimmy was still there, slowly waking from what had been a 6 month long nap.
“Mph, Scott?” he muttered sleepily, blinking slowly, trying to work out his surroundings.
“Yeah, yeah I’m here Jimmy, I’m here-” he moved his hand over to it rested on Jimmy’s shoulder his thumb moving slowly over the other’s collar bone. He’s here.
“Wha’s going on?” Jimmy asked quietly, still confused, and Scott’s breath hitched slightly.
“There was, um, an incident, you- you came to find me but I- you wouldn’t- I swear I didn’t mean to Sunflower-” A look of realization fell upon Jimmy’s face and he reached out shakily towards Scott.
“How long?” he asked nervously.
“Six months,” Scott whispered, looking away.
“Oh-” Jimmy breathed, shocked, he reached up, his hand cupping Scott’s face, “Scott you- six months- Scott you haven’ been taking care of yourself- why-”
Of course. Of course, Jimmy would go through all of that, get frozen, maybe die, be brought back six months later and still, still, be concerned about Scott.
“Don’t worry about me Jimmy,” Scott said, taking both of Jimmy’s hands in his own, “the most important thing right now is that you’re here and you’re alive and you’re- you’re not ice you’re- you’re here-”
And of course, that was when Lizzie entered the room.
“Scott Smajor what in the name of the ocean do you think you’re doing with-” she stopped, spotting Jimmy in the bed, “Jimmy-” she rushed over, wrapping Jimmy in a tight embrace. “Don’t go around thinking this means you’re forgiven Scott.”
Gem stood in the doorway, smiling proudly as Scott as he sat in the bed, one hand still in Jimmy’s. Scott closed his eyes and just breathed. Jimmy was here, he could feel the other’s hand in his own, it was warm, it was flesh not ice. Scott let himself breath, be happy, for the first time in months.
Jimmy’s back.