Jack shivers as he passes through cold, wet condensation. The small helicopter didn't have doors, and the cold wind comfortably settled inside the vehicle.

"Would you like another blanket, Master?" Jack-bot asks, but it is already covering its master with another heavy wool blanket.

"Yes! This sucks!" The weather was changing, not even in the snowstorms was Jack this cold while flying. Plus, the chilly breeze was making his broken arm hurt even more.

"I hate this!" Jack's complaints as another robot assure him that they will be at Chase's lair in 5 minutes tops.

"You said that a second ago!" Jack hisses, and the machine stumbles with its words.

"Well, sir, it hasn't passed a minute since the last time you asked."

Jack groans in annoyance. Those five minutes felt like fifteen.

A tiger waits for them on the landing site.

"Oh, Noah!" Jack hurries to get off his helicopter, and the tiger stands in his two back legs to try to lick Jack's face without putting any weight on him. "Up and about," he laughs. "No, I know your nose is cold!"

Jack fakes struggles with Noah until he gets his face licked at least once. Then Noah takes Jack to the library.

He left as soon as they reached the library.

Chase Young was wearing a dark green silk robe with golden accents instead of his usual armor. He was resting on a long red sofa accompanied by large lush pillows reading an old-looking book, a few more books were placed on a coffee table, all romance novels. Chase looks beautiful like always, but his eyes stay too long on a page, his hair was just a bit messier than his purposely messy, and his choice of literature odd. Something wasn't right, but Chase was breathtaking to Jack, who stood dumbly in place for way too long to go unnoticed. Chase looked still odd to Jack. The immortal rest on his stomach, probed by his left elbow and using the same hand to turn pages. The right sleeve runs over his skin as he moves, while the right one was unsettling empty.

Jack moves closer and makes a mental note to be mindful of Chase's injuries.

A colossal platter was full of chocolate-covered strawberries, cherries, grapes, apricots, cheese, savory crackers, meats, and more food than tools of the dish to the red cover in the table. And Jack eyes the set up happily.

"Good morning!"

"I believe it is noon." Chase lifts his head to look at Jack. Jack was dressed by a thick oversized red-brownish faux fur coat, paired with a red scarf, mittens, a blanket, and newly re-dyed hair. But Chase could still smell the chemical cocktail on Jack's skin and see the purple-blue bruises over Jack's face that seem to grow after every visit. "And you still look awful."

"At least I am in one piece." Jack sits on a fallen pillow in front of the food. But the platter is suddenly gone. "I'm sorry that was rude and insensible," Jack whines and claps his proper right hand over his chest, opposite side than his heart. "Please, I haven't had breakfast yet."

"And how is that my problem?" Chase asks while turning a page in his book.

Jack lays his head on the table for a few seconds. Then he searches with his right arm through his pockets for a granola bar, it was old and crumbled, but it was quickly devoured.

"It got cold, fast!" Jack says in his last bite.

"Mm," Chase nods without stopping his book.

"Last time I flew in this weather, I got stuck in the snow."

"Mm? Is there a blizzard outside?"

"Eh, no. I wouldn't call it a blizzard," Jack pulls two notebooks, a pencil case, and a tablet. "But it's definitely windy, which makes it snow colder." Jack sees Chase nod and put his book down.

"When the winter comes this fast, I get a bit sluggish," Chase admits.

"I noticed." Jack opens his notebook with months of old projects that he can't quite remember writing. "I always find you in the library with a fire going and some sort of chocolate."

"A few simple joys." Chase wishes he could share the platter, but chocolate is one of those foods you shouldn't have after surgery. Jack agrees wholeheartedly.

"This cold is not good for my bones, and I'm still pretty young." Jack feels lazy, just looking at his notebook, but he has to go through it and weed out the bad ideas before leaving. "And in my brain, it's hard to think on this weather. All I want to do is lay on my bed and watch T.V."

"Isn't that what you always want to do?" Chase goes for the low hanging fruit, but he is tired.

"I'm here, aren't I?" Jack looks at the book Chase is ready 'Hongloumeng,' "And you, is that the uh, the 'red dream'?"

"'The Story of the Stone,' yes, first edition. I have the second one too; if you promised to care for it, you could borrow it."

"Thanks, but I'm going to pass on the offer. I didn't take you for a romance kind of guy."

"I enjoy the genre on occasion, but my liking for romance novels is great for nostalgic reasons. I learned to read with love poems and receipts."

"Is that the book?" Jack stares with a new appreciation for the old novel.

"No, that's seven centuries later and far above my family's budget."

"Right, Song Dynasty." Jack made some mental math to reach the last millennia. "That was a long time ago." He concludes.

"My mother's employer's son, my tutor, was an aspiring writer. So he will write love sonnets and stories, and I would practice reading with them. Also, writing by tracing the letters with a stick on the dirt- Woah, I hate reminiscing." Chase felt a bit of shame he thought he had already overcome but actually has just forgotten. Jack inched closer until his chest rests over the side of the sofa.

"Was he good?"

"I don't remember." Chase goes back. "I didn't like studying, but my parents paid high for those lessons, so I did my best." He looks at the book in his hands. A classic, world-renowned novel, but he wishes it was that work of that young man from back then. "Growing up, there was abundance, time to share, or even pride. It was my parents' pride, but I didn't understand. I was always angry and demanding. I wanted so much more than they could comprehend."

"Did you, um, did you regret it?" A soft, barely-there question.

"No," Chase answers just as softly, "I never regret it. Not a single time."

Then Jack understood something that should have been obvious long ago. Chase left his parents behind, it might have hurt him, but he doesn't regret it.

"Then, why do you still read them, the romance novels I mean, if they are going to make you. Reminiscent."

"Because I like it." Chase clarifies. "When the weather was too cold to leave, my parents would secure all the entrances and lit a candle. We will all cuddle together, and I would read to them all those love stories for hours until we fell asleep. Those are still some of my happiest memories." There is something cathartic to say it out loud.

"Oh?" Jack says as baby tears trickled down his face. "That sounds nice."

Chase nods and returns to his book, but his eyes are a bit tired. He had been reading since he left the Spicer mansion two days ago, but something felt off.

A few minutes passed with the crackling of firewood and Jack's sobs before the silence was broken again.

"Do you want me to read you my dream journal?"

Chase really wants to make a comment, but he is a bit too tired of that.

"That sounds nice."

"It would be helpful to go through these projects out loud."

Jack reads the broken sentences from his notebook while Chase finds a comfortable position on the sofa. In no time, Jack finds his pace; he reads a few lines and makes notes with a red pen over the papers. He continues to read when he is sure Chase is asleep, and even after he finished his notebook, he re-reads the parts and writes more notes.

A panther comes with two plates of food.

"Oh, okay. Okay. I could eat." Jack puts his notebook away and sees Chase opening his eyes away, he looks grumpy.

Jack, without asking or caring what is on the plate he takes the fork and starts eating. It was chicken with vegetables with some sort of zesty, spicy seasoning, plain white rice on the side. It was odd how not hungry he was until he began eating. As soon as he had food in his mouth, Jack noticed he was starving. He rushes through his still-too-hot-food, puffing between bites and finishing the whole plate before Chase could start his.

Chase was now thoroughly awake, not moving beside his golden eyes that stare at Jack intensely.

"That was good!" Jack rubs his tummy with his right hand and smiles, satisfied.

"Did you taste that at all?" Chase sits up and picks a piece of duck with his hands. He takes his first bite of the tender lemon-thyme duck and the soft rice. Chase looks at Jack, pulling out of his pants pocket a handful of colorful pills before putting them all on his mouth and drinking hot tea. "Anything worth keeping?"

"Mmm maybe." Jack now hugs his tummy with his right arm. "Not an idea. More like a recruiting theme."

"Something is on your mind."

"I was working on something before, you know. Before that, all fiasco of me fake dying cause you were bored, and everything got messed up. Like working in useful stuff. Not that you care about that."

"I just fed you, be gracious."

"Angie, just fed me. But Well, I think something was weird about the food. I don't feel great."

"I wonder why?" Chase takes another bite, and Jack pouts.

"Well! As I was saying. I was working on a spacesuit design." Jack says, a little too loud.

"You are going to space?"

"No. I mean, not yet. I was just working on it. But seriously, a side fun project."

Chase nods and continues to listen to Jack to explain his invention. He was sleeping for most of the reading, but he is sure he wouldn't have gotten it either way. The whole idea was simply put it, raw. Jack wanted to go to space with the least amount of training or downsides. So, he wants to design a suit to protect himself from all the harsh conditions.

At the start, it made sense, but by three in the morning, Chase Young wasn't sure what Jack was talking about. But he listens anyway.

"You want to find a planet with air."

"No. Not even close. I just said I would like to plant some plants on a planet. Like in the martian movie."

"You want a space colony to solve world hunger."

"You are obviously doing that on purpose, and no, I just want to be that guy in the martian movie."

"Space pirates." Chase nods and hides his smiles behind a cup of tea. It's much better to be sleep deprived in companionship than alone.

Jack Spicer was sitting on Chase's favorite sofa wearing a simple tank top and old black pants. He hugs a purple pillow and talks about space, machinery, pressure, and physics, while Chase does his best to alter the narrative. The young man yawns between sentences, and his pretty red eyes can barely focus. Jack presses his face against a pillow and considers falling asleep right there, he has done it before, but he shouldn't.

"I should get going." Jack picks his coat from the floor and carefully, with his good hand, puts it on over his shoulders.

"You were still telling me about your space city."

"You think you are so cute." Jack puts the mitten over the hand with the cast; it looks funny.

"I am. But, stay Jack. It's cold and dark outside. I can have a room ready." Chase had finally got some sleep, and he knows that with Jack to keep him company, he will sleep tonight. Maybe he could even suggest sharing a bed, they had done it before.

"Thank you, very generous of you, but I gotta go home and make sure my robots pack everything."

"Pack?" Chase feels much more awake and stands from the sofa to follow Jack across the room.

"Yes. I didn't tell you, and I came to tell you!" Jack laughs, but it doesn't fill the silence of the room as usual. "I'm going to visit my mom for a month. I thought it would be a good idea. Go to another country and lay low, hang out with my mom, which is," Jack makes a tsk sound with his mouth, "long overdue."

"You are leaving China."

"Yeah. I'm gonna go to Europe for a while. Practice that french. Pick up some old habits, maybe."

"Don't joke, Jack." That was a terrible idea of personal epic proportions.

"I just want to be close to her. When I planned my death, she was taken into account in every scenario. But once I felt actual fear for my life, then I," Jack lets that heavy emptiness he can't name takes over. "I couldn't stand looking at her. I felt like there were so few people who I wanted to treasure before I die, and she wasn't on the list. I really wanted her to be there, but she doesn't get my loyalty just cause she gave birth to me. I thought she did, but it turns out that in that moment of panic, I don't feel safe with her."

"Then stay here." Chase didn't want Jack exposed like that after going through so many changes.

"I'm going to give her a second chance." Jack sees Chase swallow whatever he has to say about Mrs. Spicer, and he silently thanks him. "I'm leaving tomorrow morning or later today."

"You could stay." Chase cups Jack's chin and considers ordering Jack to say. But he isn't sure if Jack will obey this time.

"Remember, when I left for six months to work with my dad." Jack was twenty back then, and a family friend Jack had never heard of suggested. Mr. Spicer agreed that it would be good for Jack to work in an office, so Jack moved to New York for six months to work as an office intern. It was a shitshow.

"I remembered." Chase allowed Jack to crash on his place for a week, without a room to make sure Jack didn't think the arrangement was permanent.

"It can't be worse than that, so." Jack caresses the hand on his chin before walking away. "See you in like two months." Jack takes a few more steps and turns back. He pulls from his big coat, a cellphone. "I know you already had one. I also know it is broken in some corners of this palace, so. So, my number is in it. And I'll be calling you until you tell me to stop."

"Mind the time difference." Chase smiles at his tall friend, who turns to leave him again.

"Time is an illusion," Jack shouts as he leaves the library.

Outside is dark and cold, and Jack wants to run back inside with Chase. The fire in the library is warm and bright, and the company is nice. A robot takes over the pilot seat, and the machine begins to hum.

Adverse flying conditions had never scared Jack, even when they should, so he knows that the knot in his stomach has nothing to do with the bumpy, completely dark ride.

The mansion is cold, sheltered from the wind, but just as cold as the snow. Heating up the whole mansion for a single person feels wasteful, especially since Jack was gone for the day. But since his flight leaves at seven, and it's four, then what is the point of turning on the heater? So the heater stays untouched another day, and Jack goes to his room, which is heated up by an individual heater. He goes over his bags, and even though they appear correct, he insists on checking manually every single bag, all 26 of them. Sadly it's nine AM when Jack finishes. He calls his mom to let her know that he missed the plane, but she happily informs him that it's a private jet and that it would stay ready to go all day for Jack. Jack feels something heavy in his stomach.

Jack adds ten more bags of absolute necessities and is ready to leave the house by eleven. He checked all his robots before leaving, which took four more hours. Jack reaches the airport by 5:50 PM and stops for a quick meal.

Jack finds in a bathroom stall and stays there for a full hour while looking at his phone. He makes his first call to Dr. Lang for the first time in nine months.

It's 1 AM, and in a heartbeat, it is 3 PM.

The morning sun was blinding and much warmer than that one in China. A limousine picks up Jack to take him to his mother's state, and a second limousine comes to take his bags.

The closer they got to his destination, the more anxious Jack felt. He was so sure about this three days ago. Yesterday he felt doubts, but today he knew that he made a grave mistake. That whatever drama or problems between his mother and him were better off buried than faced, and now he was going to her house in twenty more minutes. Now he will have to face those fears he had harbored for almost two decades.

Jack considers calling Dr. Lang when his phone rings.

Chase Young.

"Hey!" Jack can breathe again. "Please come get me."

"What? That bad that fast?"

"No. I haven't even. Just come get me." Silence on the other line. "Please." A clicked to end the call.

"You told me -" Chase says from the seat next to Jack's, and Jack screams so loud the car swirls once of the road.

"Sir. Are you okay?" The driver asks with forced politeness.

"Yes. Sorry. Yes, I'm. I'm actually feeling better. That was a stress relief scream."

"Understood," The driver asks for no questions, he notices the second passenger, but he doesn't care enough to mention it.

"Was that necessary?" Chase asks, and he feels Jack presses his dirty face against his chest.

"Thank you! Thank you! You were right, why even try. Let's go, I'm so emotionally tired."

"Driver, since you picked Mr. Spicer from the airport?"

"15 minutes and he has been nothing but delightful," Says the man that fears no creature in this world.

"Jack this is pathetic even for you."

"Okay, I'm going through an emotional turmoil. And I just noticed I'm not prepared for this."

"Jack, you said you want this. You were very adamant about it as well."

"I know, and I do want it. I want to patch things with mom. We have a okay superficial relationship. But I noticed that I have a lot of stuff to work through, and a lot of it roots from my one-sided relationship with my parents and my tendency to put people on pedestals. And while it's admirable to try to face this head-on, I should have a support system and a plan. Instead, I removed myself from my own environment, taking control from me, a thing other people used to do to me, and I'm heading to a charged emotional encounter."

'Obviously, and your mother sucks,' seems like a wrong choice of words.

"You contacted Dr. Lang."

"Yeah. And I think this is one of those obstacles you go around no over." Jack breathes out. Surprisingly, there were no tears on his pitiful face. The dragon, which Chase struggles more and more these days to keep dormant claws at his chest.

"Yes. If you have stopped and actually talked to me about this plan, I could have helped you reach the same conclusion." Chase cups Jack's china, and Jack rests his troubles there, he lets the first crocodile tear fall.

"I was so excited," Jack pouts.

"And now you must go through with your word."

"What? No, no. That's not why I call you. You don't even want me to do this." Jack whines but doesn't move away.

"I know. But you made your own plan, and I, as your trusted and loved ally, I'll support you through it."

"You are a sadist," Jack says with a bit of actual anger. He can't really be angry at Chase because Jack made this mess, and Chase has no real responsibility to get him out of it.

"Oh." Chase comes close to stare down at his little prisoner, he tightens his grip around Jack's cheeks, and he smiles at those wild red eyes. "I am Jack." Then he leans close enough to bump his forehead against Jack's, "I like to see you cry and toil, really makes me want to pin you down and," Chase doesn't finish, he straightens his back and opens the car door. Jack blinks more annoyed, and maybe a bit turn on than anxious.

"Really?" Jack climbs from his side and looks at the chauffeur standing near the car, but far enough to not listen to their conversation. "When did we get here?"

"Like five minutes ago." Chase answers and the driver walks them to the front door.

"Are we really doing this?"

"Are we not?" Chase answers all questions with more questions. The driver considers asking the other guest about his armor. It was a beautiful replica of a Yuan dynasty armor, while the proportions were meant for a soldier. The colors and emblems were definitely meant for noble or even royal. The snake eye symbol seems familiar, but he couldn't place it. He remembers seeing it in a history book about the armor from the 17th century, but the armor design was the 13th century. The couple continued to bicker the whole way to the door while the driver goes over his extensive knowledge of Chinese war attire.

The door opens before anyone could knock. Mrs. Spicer smiles at her guesses, looking surprisingly sober for a happy hour time. She must be high.

"Jackie!" She jumps over her son and immediately is pulled back by his companion.

"Jackie, has a broken arm." He is wearing a light green shirt with two buttons open, loose black pants, a silver belt, and black boots with a respectable silver heel. The armor is nowhere in sight.

"Thank you, that will be all-" Pause, after twenty years of working for the Spicer family, no one has learned his name.

"No problem. Mrs. Spicer, Mr. Spicer, and dear guest, I wish you a good rest of your evening." Then before leaving, the drive gave Chase a deep bow because he isn't going to be killed by an immortal warrior because he was disrespectful. "Dear guest, both of your attires were beautiful. If you need anything, do not hesitate to call me." Mr. Park leaves quickly after before someone could actually ask him to do something.

"He is so polite, a sweetheart. Jackie is our main chauffeur and he will take us everywhere. I have a whole schedule plan, we missed the play and our celebratory first dinner because um, the plane was late? Was the plane late? Baby, why were you like a day late? A day and a few hours. You know what, it doesn't matter. You are here, and we are gonna have so much fun." She boops her son's nose. "Oh, I got an appointment to buy you a new car. I know you don't really drive, but I just want to give you a little something," The more she talks, the more she moves her hands, like her body and her mouth compete for attention. "Oh, come in, come in. It's a bit chilly outside. Chase, what are you doing here? It is so good to see you-" She stares at the missing arm, and with a face, a champion poker player would envy, she keeps going. "Actually it is snowing in China, right? You guys just started winter, like, hard, while here we are, like, a month maybe a week or maybe a month or it could be a week or maybe two weeks away from summer. Either way is so good to see you!" "Yes, the winter came quite fast this year. Please, call me Mr. Young."

"Hohoho, you are so funny. Jackie, he is so funny. Jackie?" She looks at her son, who is clearly regretting asking to stay with her. It didn't surprise her, but she really thought that they would at least share a few meals together. Mrs. Spicer dropped everything because a rare opportunity to get to know her son came to her, and this time she wasn't going to waste it. "Are you tired? The time difference is really something. Let me show you to your room." She says with the same intensity.

"Actually, Jack might be in a compromising position," Chase interjects.

"Mom, I gotta tell you something. I think-" No, that didn't sound right, "Dr. Lang thinks," Jack could blame someone else.

"Woah, Dr. Lang?" Mrs. Spicer has never actually talked about her son's mental health, so this was her opportunity to be a part of that. "You know I have been dying to meet him. I know that he has been, like, accommodating." That stop Jack in his tracks.

The silence was so awkward, every member of the conversation wanted to disappear in thin air. And the one that actually could, it finding it harder and harder to not do that.

"Mr. Young!" Elisabeth runs for a different topic, she will take anything. "What predicament have you put my son in?"

"Yes." Chase takes a second to regain his composure and wonder if he really wants to do this. Maybe running away like Jack suggested would be better. "The weather changed so quickly, it has been running all my plans this week. And when Jack, your Jackie," Chase turns to look at Jack to make sure he was paying attention, "told me he was planning to spend the winter in Paris, I invited myself." The Spicers stare in disbelief to Chase Young.

"Really?" Mrs. Spicer asks while blink to a practiced speed.

"Yes."

"Really?" Jack asks again.

"Do you want me to say no? Are you calling me a liar?" Chase Smile, but it never reaches his eyes.

"No, yes. I'm so sorry mom, especially cause I didn't say anything. Like if this was planned, and I didn't bother you to let you know even though I have so many opportunities."

"Yes. You must feel terribly left out if instead of someone talking to you, they just tell you their plan."

"No, nononoonononno." She smiles, a real relief smile she hasn't had in a long time. "Please, the more, the merrier." A buffer, Chase Young, just sacrificed himself in front of her eyes to buffer the chilling distance between her and Jack. "I'll prepare the room next to Jack's."

"You are too kind," Chase says with a dead tone.

"Follow me." Mrs. Spicer almost runs up the stairs to get them into the room as soon as possible.

They enter the room, and Mrs. Spicer excuses herself to get another room ready as soon as she can.

The door closes, and Jack sits on the bed and feels like he lost all his weight on the conversation. Chase sits next to Jack in silence for a few moments.

Then he clears his throat.

Jack turns curious, but Chase says nothing.

Another second passed, and Jack is back at disassociating his relationship to the situation. It was easy. The room that is supposed to be his, Jack can't recognize a single thing, but it was his mother's house. He has no attachment to anything in this room, it's entirely foreigner to him, but it was his first house.

Yet nothing was meaningful to Jack.

Except for one person.

Jack leans his head on Chase's shoulder, and the room feels a bit less overwhelming.

"Thank you."

"About time." Chase puts his arm around Jack. "I'm doing you a big one." He declares.

"Thank you," Jack repeats and inhales the familiar smell of his warlord.

"Is okay, Jack. But now what? What is the plan?"

NA: Hello, sorry I have been gone for like a year or so. I'm back.

I got really angry at this story a while back and actually rewrite about it and publishes at AO3 but I'm stuck there so I came back to check what was the original plot and I really like it so I'm gonna finish it. But I gonna take my time ;P

Please let me know what you think, I get very inspired by comments.

Thanks!