Seasons of Chack
By: CrystallicSky
Disclaimer: I don't own Xiaolin Showdown or any of its characters, nor do I make any profit or attempt to with the writing of this or any of my other pieces.
Warnings: Language, sexual implication/situations, slight violence, homosexuality, etc.
--
Spring
--
Robin-
Jack was soundly startled to see a bird alight upon the ledge of the window he was currently looking out of.
Chase saw the flinch and immediately taunted, "Did the little robin frighten you, Spicer?"
"No," Jack frowned. "I'm not that much of a coward." He saw the dubious look the overlord gave him at that and pointedly ignored it. "I just didn't think normal animals lived in the Land of Nowhere."
Chase opened his mouth to give a retort, but was cut off at the pass with, "And I mean normal animals; your warriors don't count."
Chase huffed at that and didn't say anything, simply watching the little bird, male by the looks of it, hop curiously about the window ledge. "They say that when you see a robin, you know that spring has come," he idly mentioned.
"That's almost true," Jack replied, likewise watching the avian creature. "It's more like 'when you hear a robin.' They sing when they're migrating back home from winter, so when you hear one, you know winter's ending."
"Interesting," Chase hummed. "You are filled to the brim with odd little tidbits of information, aren't you, Spicer?"
Jack chuckled. "Yeah," he agreed, "kinda fits, doesn't it? I'm like a Jack of All Trades."
Before Chase could callously point out that it would make his consort a master of none, the little robin on the window ledge began singing.
The bird trilled out its cheery carol for the two lovers that watched it, making a pretty show of hopping about on the ledge and getting as close to the human pair as it dared; allowing them to better hear its song.
When it was finished, Chase was somewhat surprised to find he'd joined hands with Jack. In any case, he didn't retract his grip.
"Well…" Jack began, slowly reaching out a finger to stroke the robin (who appeared to be friendly and allowed it), "I guess that means spring is here, after all."
Just as he finished saying it, another bird landed upon the windowsill, not a robin, but by the looks of the black and orange body, a male Baltimore Oriole. The robin seem to recognize this other bird and they nuzzled for a brief moment before the bigger bird let out a soft, flutey whistle, as if he were speaking to his avian companion.
The robin seemed to take this to mean something, and he hopped even closer to the humans he'd just entertained with his song, offering a trilling chirp in the stead of a goodbye before fluttering away with the other male.
They left behind two men still holding hands, thinking of the coming spring and recalling just how deeply they felt for one another.
Birth-
Jack's eyes slowly blinked open, taking a moment to adjust to the dim lighting of wherever he was. It appeared to be the bedroom, with the shades pulled tightly shut and the softest blankets and pillows piled atop and beneath him.
It didn't really frighten him that he couldn't remember what had brought him to this particular moment in time. He was home and protected within the confines of his lover's bedchambers: he was sure that he was perfectly safe and well taken care of.
Jack took a slow, deep breath, willing himself to remember the last thing that'd happened…
…and felt a sharp pinch in his belly upon inhaling.
Oh, yeah…now he remembered.
He exhaled his breath, making a note to himself to not breathe so deeply until he'd properly healed.
Abruptly, a big, powerful hand threaded through the goth's red hair. Jack did not question where it'd come from so suddenly: he was far too used to Chase's inherent ability to appear as if by magic (even when he wasn't using it).
"Chase," he addressed, noting that his voice was still slurred just a bit from the drugs that'd been pumped into him beforehand, "how'd it go?"
"Excellently," the overlord gently assured, "not a single complication."
"Yeah?" Jack inquired, a grin quirking his lips. "Ya'd think with my medical history, there'd have been some serious fuck-ups."
Chase snorted. "You are terribly unlucky in that department," he agreed, "but all went well. There was merely a brief moment where one of your robots feared you would begin bleeding too heavily, but it was smooth sailing after that."
Jack snuggled deeper into the mass of blankets over and around him. "That's good," he decided. "So, everything's fine? I'm all set?"
Chase bent and helped to tuck his lover in. "Indeed, you are," he agreed. "Your body has accepted the uterine transplant, and now you must rest up for a few weeks until your middle properly heals. Then, we can go ahead with your brilliant plan of 'whipping the shit out of Katnappé until she agrees to combine our DNA into one, viable zygote,' and impregnate you with it."
"Sounds great," Jack muttered, rolling over in bed to look beseechingly up at his lover. "Snuggle?" he pleaded.
Chase smiled and graciously acquiesced, climbing into the nest of fluffy blankets and warm pillows. Holding the youth snug against him, Chase allowed himself to sleep with his mate, dreaming sweetly of a small, Evil family that would kill and maim the innocent together.
Flowers-
It was a beautiful day, and the wide open field saw a young child scampering through it with joyous abandon. Small feet inadvertently trampled a few plants and insects as the young boy ran, his golden eyes glimmering in the light of the day and his dark, shoulder-length hair trailing behind him in the wind.
Jianyu Young paused when he heard the voice of his father warning him not to run too far, and he turned to face the man that'd sired him; cherubic face grinning happily. His father stood tall amidst a patch of lilies, wearing the armor he'd always worn. Others may have found such attire strange, but little Jianyu had grown up with his father wearing armor and so it was nothing new.
The youth changed his course, then, running to greet his parent. The man chuckled when the boy crashed into his legs and embraced them affectionately, his strong arms reaching down to heft the four-year-old up off the ground.
Chase smiled as his son then proceeded to hug his neck, squeezing the boy back in return. "Are you having fun, Jianyu?" he inquired.
"Yes, father!" Jianyu assured. "I'm glad you and daddy brought me here!"
This seemed to remind the child, and he glanced around the fertile field in search of his daddy, the man that'd given birth to him. Jianyu's keen eyes found him soon enough, covered head to toe in black over by a large, tall tree. He frowned when he saw his daddy huddled up in the shade of a tree and even further shaded by an umbrella, reading a book as he only occasionally glanced up to smile at his son.
"Father," he began slowly, "why isn't daddy having fun, too?"
Chase glanced over to Jack and sighed. He had known this day would come: the day when he had to explain Spicer to their child. "Jianyu," he addressed, "your daddy…isn't like us."
"He's human," the boy immediately responded. "I know that. Can humans not have fun?"
Chase snorted. "No, my son, he is different even from other humans. He is what is known as an 'albino.'"
Golden eyes blinked up at the man in confusion. "An albino?" he asked, testing the word on his tongue. "What is that?"
"You see how your daddy has that white skin and those red eyes, don't you, Jianyu?" Chase prompted.
"Yeah," the child immediately agreed. "Is that what 'albino' is, father?" He had often admired his daddy's looks; thought those red eyes looked really cool and were only brightened by the man's pale complexion. It would be nice to finally have a word to put to that coloring.
"In some cases," he father vaguely replied. "Most albinos do not have skin so white, and eye-color can vary from being red such as his to lighter shades of pink, or even blue. Albinos have a genetic mutation that causes them to be born without any pigmentation, and a lack of pigmentation can cause…problems."
Jianyu watched his daddy squinting at his book for a moment before donning a pair of reading glasses, and he hesitantly inquired, "Like…vision problems?"
Chase nodded to his son, confirming his guess as truth. "In the eyes," he explained, "lack of pigmentation can lead to albinos having subpar vision, even by the already low human standards."
Having inherited dragon senses from his father, Jianyu had always known that human senses and consequently, his daddy's senses were below his. He had not realized that his daddy's eyesight was a bit poor even by the typical human range.
"In the skin, an absence of any kind of pigmentation is more troublesome," Chase went on to clarify for Jianyu. "Most albinos have trouble being in the sun for an extended period of time, as they've none of the pigment that protects them from the sun's rays and will succumb to sunburns easily. Your daddy has the misfortune of being afflicted with an extremely severe case of albinism, making him even paler than most albinos. Because of the fairness of his skin, he is even more sensitive to sunlight than he would be otherwise."
Jianyu frowned. "That's why he's staying in the shade?" he wondered. "Because he'll burn if he goes into the sun?"
"Precisely," his father confirmed. "If he hadn't put on sunscreen before we came, he'd likely be burning now, even in the shade."
Jianyu's frown deepened before an idea struck him, and he pressed his small hands lightly against his father's armored chest, indicating that he wanted to be let down.
Chase complied and set him down, watching as the child scampered about his feet for a few moments to collect a small bouquet of lilies before running over to the tree where his daddy sat reading.
Jack looked up as he heard fast-approaching footsteps in the grass and blinked in surprise to see his son right before him. "Jianyu?" he asked, plucking off his glasses and shutting his book. "What's up, kiddo?"
A small fistful of lilies was presented to the man. "These are for you, daddy," Jianyu brightly explained. "I thought that you might like some flowers; y'know, since you can't go into the sun and pick them yourself, being, erm…albino, and all."
Red eyes gazed up at the boy for a moment, and then one lily-white hand reached up to accept the likewise colored bouquet. "Thanks, Jianyu," Jack smiled. "I appreciate it."
Chase watched as his son trotted happily back into the field to enjoy himself and thought of how perfect things were going with the boy.
Yes, Jianyu was almost sickeningly cute and Good at this point in his life, but all he knew in terms of people was his father and his daddy, whom he loved unconditionally. Soon, he would meet the monks that so hated the two people he dearly loved and be thoroughly soured to them and likewise be soured to people in general when he would eventually meet a few inhabitants of the idiotic world.
To learn that the people of this Earth despised his father as a monster and ostracized his daddy as a freak, he would surely come to outright hate them when he also discovered that he would be looked down upon as a freak, too; not for being a monster or a freak himself, but simply because he had been raised by two men.
Very soon, Chase Young thought pleasantly, his son; his Jianyu Young would be just as full of Evil and hatred as his parents were.
Perfect.
Bee-
Chase sighed to himself as the familiar terrified and feminine shriek echoed through his palace for at least the twelfth time that day, augmenting the tension headache that'd been slowly building since morning .
He understood perfectly well that his consort was wary of bees and was against being stung by one, but why in all the hells was it necessary to destroy his overlord's sensitive eardrums whenever he so much as caught sight of one?
Jack suddenly dashed in, a fuzzy, black-and-yellow insect hot on his trail. "Chase," he meeped, jumping into the older man's lap and clinging to him like a frightened child, "it's out to get me…!"
Chase sighed again and raised his hands in the air, easily clapping them onto the bee and crushing it between his palms. Separating his gloved hands, the tiny bee corpse fell to the floor, and the dragonlord wiped his hands dismissively upon one another. "There, Spicer," he authoritatively stated, "the bee is dead. Are you happy now?"
Jack offered him a bright grin in response, one that almost made Chase forget just why he was annoyed with this brilliant idiot. "Relatively," he chirped in response, giving his lover a quick peck on the cheek. "Thanks, Chase!"
Chase couldn't help the half-smile that took his lips as his consort fled the room to get back to work on whatever project he was currently engrossed in. One of these days, he mused, that sappy little goth was going to turn him into a love-struck fool.
Yet another shrill scream sounded, and Chase growled (where the hell was the insect repellent that all these godsdamned bees were getting in, anyways?!), growing only more annoyed to find himself eager to protect his yellow-bellied lover from the threat of all things small and stingy.
Never mind 'one of these days': Chase was a love-struck fool now.
Sunshine-
Occasionally, Chase regretted choosing the lover he had.
Jack Spicer was a delicate, little idiot: he bruised and bled easily, these occasions made often due to his klutzy nature, and besides that, the poor fool had the misfortune of being an albino. His skin was white as paper, and just as fragile. Chase had personally seen the youth get a bright red sunburn on an overcast day!
It was things such as these he regretted; that he could not be too-too rough with his consort during sex lest he cause permanent or irreparable damage to Jack's body and that he could not take the goth for a romantic picnic or some such thing in the bright sunshine.
But then, Chase weighed these things against everything else: delicate, clumsy idiot he may be, Jack was truly brilliant somewhere inside that thick head of his, providing excellent stimulus for his lover's own intellect. While he was fragile and inept, his surprisingly ambitious personality and skill in technology made up for it.
Yes, he easily hurt himself, and yes, he couldn't stand on one foot any longer than ten seconds without wobbling or losing his balance altogether, but he had ideas. He had hundreds upon thousands upon millions of plans and ideas on how to compensate for his weaknesses floating around in his head, and the only problem was that he lacked the focus to decide upon the lot of them.
That was why he now had Chase, the dragonlord mused. He could provide Jack with that focus he so lacked and make him better than he ever was alone. In return, Jack proved a fiercely loyal ally; loyal to a fault, even.
They truly did work well together…
So, perhaps, he could not be rough with Spicer, and perhaps he could not take his Jack-pet for sunshiny picnics.
It was a small price to pay in order to have that perfect, beautiful creature as his own.
--
Summer
--
Humidity-
Jack hissed spitefully the moment his lover neared him, a wordless but multilingual communiqué of, 'STAY AWAY FROM ME.'
Chase, annoyed because he'd been intent upon a round of lovemaking, demanded, "What's wrong with you, Spicer?" Unlike most men in the world, who would claim to do anything to get their partner in the mood but physically couldn't, the dragonlord truly could do anything.
If Jack was upset for some trivial reason, like an actor quitting a movie he'd wanted to see, or even a larger reason, like the continuing conflict between Israel and Palestine, Chase could damn well fix it by means of a few well-placed threats, especially if doing so would get him laid immediately afterwards.
Instead of either of these reasons, Jack instantly responded with, "I'm boiling in my own friggin' body over here! It's way too damn hot."
Chase frowned: heat was not a problem he could easily fix, and yet if it remained hot, Jack would most certainly be opposed to the close physical contact involved in sex. "It is the middle of summer" he slowly pointed out. "It's going to be quite hot."
"No," the albino immediately snapped, "that's not it! It's not the heat that's the problem, it's the humidity! Humidity makes the heat feel, like, twenty degrees hotter than it actually is!" He whimpered, throwing an arm over his face even as he snapped his fingers for a bot to move the fan closer to him. "It's killin' me…"
Ah, so that was the problem? Chase grinned, for this was an easy one to solve; not like actually eliminating the source of the heat, the youth's discomfort was one that could be solved by simply moving him somewhere cooler. "Spicer," he began, grinning seductively, "I've a pool in my citadel; kept at a constant eighty-two degrees Fahrenheit…"
Jack perked at those words. "Seriously?" he questioned. At his lover's nod, he shot up from the chair he was languidly draped in and stated, "Take me there right now, and I swear to God, I'll blow you three times a day for a whole fucking year."
At this, Chase perked and called upon his handy teleportation magic, landing him and his consort directly in the waters of his pool, naked.
Oh, he would be enjoying this year…
Beach-
"You are officially a moron, Spicer," Chase declared.
"Shut up," Jack protested in a tight hiss, "I've got a fucking 312 IQ and you know it."
"Then, you're a pigheaded genius!" the overlord countered. "If you hadn't been so stubborn, this wouldn't have happened."
Jack didn't reply for a long moment, simply lying on the bed prone as he was. Meekly, he excused, "I…can't turn down a challenge…"
Chase snorted disdainfully; golden eyes practically glaring at flesh that'd once been white, now pigmented a blaring, lobster-red. "I suppose," he began, "that it is mostly my fault…I should've never let the monks learn of your albinism."
Jack frowned, reining in his natural boyfriend-instinct of sitting up and trying to comfort the other man on the grounds of not wanting to be in excruciating pain from his almost-all-over sunburn. "Hey, it's not your fault," he reassured. "You're right; I shouldn't have…agreed to that Showdown…" In all honesty, he had known it was a bad idea to play, 'Who Can Sit Out in the Sun on the Goddamn Beach the Longest,' but…he couldn't help it! The monks were just such assholes, and looked so fucking smug when they'd challenged him…
Chase was one-hundred percent right: he was stubborn. He hated to see his enemies win.
"Don't feel bad 'cause I'm stupid," Jack pleaded, painfully reaching out a hand and laying it on his overlord's.
"Oh, don't worry," Chase haughtily declared, "I don't. Now that you've admitted your idiocy, I think I'll leave you to wallow in the pain of the consequences."
The sunburned albino gaped open-mouthed as Chase simply stood up and walked away, leaving the bedroom and shutting the door behind him.
"Well," he said hotly to no one, "I know somebody who's not getting any once I heal!"
Thunderstorm-
Red eyes were glazed over in wonder. A pale, white face wore a simply awestruck expression. Black clothing was soaked completely through, clinging to a slim and shapely body.
"Spicer," Chase reminded, finding himself unable to look away from his companion, "it is dangerous to be outside in weather like this."
Jack, conversely, did not look at him, instead watching as a bolt of lightning cracked to the Earth mere miles in front of him. "I know," he spoke quietly, his voice nearly drowned by the rumble of thunder that followed the lightning. "It's beautiful…"
Chase watched as another bolt of electricity touched down to the ground in a crooked line of light. "The Land of Nowhere is subject to a particularly up-close view of storms, I suppose," he conceded. "Still, it is not safe for you to be out here at such a time."
"And it's safe for you?" Jack questioned, his tone oddly subdued. "With all that armor, you're like a walking lightning rod. I know it's dangerous out here: that's why I'm here."
Chase cocked a curious eyebrow, and though he did not turn to look, Jack must've expected it, for he continued, "It's dangerous…but it's beautiful. The rain, the thunder, the lightning… Storms are powerful…I could literally die out here because of something so beautiful…"
Chase stepped forward and draped his arms over his lover's shoulders.
Spicer, it seemed, was prone to what the dragonlord referred to as 'sublime syndrome.' In literature, the term 'sublime' was meant to refer to something deadly and dangerous that because of that danger, caused an attraction.
In having 'sublime syndrome,' Jack was and had always been inexplicably attracted to danger, as if his self-preservation instincts were almost always on the fritz. It was the reason he continued to throw himself into the fray even after it became obvious he could not properly compete with Chase, Wuya, or the monks. It was the reason he'd continued to come to the Land of Nowhere daily, trying to get on the Chase's good side.
It was also the reason he had so easily accepted Chase for the monster he was and grown to love the man, anyways.
"Spicer," he spoke again, watching as lightning continued to crash to the Earth so close to he and his consort, "we had best go inside."
Jack frowned and leaned back into his lover's chest, raising a hand to brush a red lock of soaked hair out of his face. He appeared to completely ignore the rain that continued to pelt down upon and around the two of them. "Another minute?" he softly begged.
Thunder nearly swallowed his reply, but Chase agreed, "One more minute," content to stand on his porch with his Jack and watch the beauty of the storm.
Shirtless-
Chase froze full-stop upon entering the atrium of his home, greeted with an unendingly pleasurable sight.
Jack was reclining beside the fountain under the skylight wearing only a loose pair of shorts. He was near a stream of sunlight but had apparently learned a lesson from his last painful encounter with the massive star, as he remained directly out of it to avoid reddening his now-healed skin.
And speaking of his skin…! Jack's white flesh seemed even paler than it usually did, likely a product of its recent peeling. The thought of said flaking skin itself was unpleasant, but the results of it were marvelous, as the youth had never looked more like a lily in motion than he did now as he reached out for the icy strawberry daiquiri he'd made for himself, gently pulling the novelty umbrella aside and wrapping his pretty lips around the straw so that he could sluck down the drink.
Chase looked Jack up and down and happily stalked closer.
"Hello, Jack," he purred warmly, seating himself upon the fountain and eyeing his lover appreciatively. From this distance, the nearby sunlight and water performed some sort of mirror-effect upon the albino, and his skin literally glowed. "What brings you here?"
"It's hot out," Jack shrugged coolly. "I figured now that I'm not bed-ridden, I can enjoy a little R & R, y'know?"
"You look lovely," Chase complimented, reaching out to warmly stroke the wrist of the hand that held Jack's drink.
"Mmm," his lover hummed, leaning in closer, "you're not looking too bad, yourself…"
Chase happily leaned in, as well, excited at the prospect of having his Jack again after so long…
It was a surprise to be suddenly doused in cold, sticky slush that smelled of strawberry and alcohol and greeted with the vision of Jack's shirtless back as he walked away.
"That's for leaving me to suffer after I got sunburned," he said coldly. "I think we can both agree you deserved that."
Chase was entirely too stunned to get angry at Jack, much less go after him.
Lemonade-
"What's your secret?" Chase demanded, staring at the contents of his glass as if they could provide him the answers. "How is your lemonade so good?"
Chase, it was safe to say, knew his way around a kitchen and was not entirely incompetent in that area. He could create basic dishes and mix simple drinks easily, but anything beyond that was what his feline minions were for: he was a warlord, first and foremost, not a chef.
Still, even his basic abilities had failed him when it came to lemonade. It'd never come out quite right whenever he'd made it and he could never determine why.
Now, Jack's lemonade, on the other hand…it was perfect.
"It's easy," the young man shrugged in response to the question. "It's just a matter of keeping the ingredients right."
"Such as?"
Jack frowned. "I dunno…" he said slowly. "You just…it's a…It's like us," Jack firmly concluded.
Chase cocked an eyebrow. "Us?"
"Yeah, making lemonade is like how we are," Jack decided. "Say you're the lemon juice and I'm the sugar. You're really bold and you demand attention, but most people think of you as sour and unpleasant."
Chase nodded, indicating that he followed the logic.
"Then, there's me," Jack continued. "I'm more low-key and tamer than you are, so I don't get as much immediate attention, but I'm sweeter and appeal to a wider audience. With us, there's gotta be a balance: too much of you is completely overpowering and drives people away, but too much of me would make people gag with how sweet I can be."
"So, you're saying that we serve to better each other in that you soften my usual abrasiveness and I sharpen your ordinarily saccharine nature?" Chase clarified.
"Exactly!" Jack agreed. "Like how we interact together as lovers: because we balance each other out, you don't treat me like a cold, abusive dick and make me want to leave you for somebody else, and I'm not so fluffy and cute with you that you want to puke and kick me out for giving you diabetes! We just work with each other really well." The young man nodded back to the lemonade, elaborating, "That's my secret: getting the right balance."
Chase grinned a fanged grin, raising his cool glass and toasting, "Then, to our balance, Spicer: may nothing upset it for many, many years."
Jack raised his own glass and smiled. "Here's hoping I'm the missing piece you've been looking for," he said.
They both drank the sweet-but-not-too-sweet lemonade to their toasts, entirely confident in the veracity of their words.
--
Autumn
--
Apples-
No. No, no, no, no, this could not be happening. It was impossible. There was no way he would do something so undignified, not in a million years.
Chase Young was not drooling; certainly not.
It didn't matter what was placed on the table before him, wafting a delicious aroma straight to his sensitive nose: apple strudel, apple fritters, apple cheesecakes, apple tarts, apple juice, apple cider, apple crisps, apple dumplings, and of course, an apple pie or two. A steady stream of saliva was not tracking its way down from the corner of his lips; definitely, definitely not!
"Apples are in season, now," his consort practically purred in his ear. "You're always talking about how much better fruit tastes when it's in season, so I figured I'd treat you to an Apple Feast." Jack took a seat on the edge of the table, teasingly sliding a pie tin and a glass of milk closer to Chase. "Well…?"
"Jack," Chase said stiffly, "I know I don't say this aloud very often, but I think it is warranted, now: I love you."
Jack smiled, but before he could say the four-word response to that statement, Chase deftly nudged him off the table and grabbed hold of the cutlery, digging into the apple pie as a man starved.
Conversation would be over for quite awhile.
Leaves-
Jack's eyes went wide as he realized where he'd been taken, gazing all around him at the wide deciduous forest, awash in the colors of fall.
"Wow, Chase," he breathed, "it's beautiful here…"
"I thought you might enjoy it," the warlord said, calling Jack's attention back to him and reminding the youth that he was not looking very much like a warlord right now.
Chase had forgone his usual armor for this outing. Instead, he wore an olive green v-neck sweater that only just showed off a bit of his strong collarbone to Jack's curious eyes. A pair of dark blue jeans and black boots completed the look, as did the straight-down manner in which his normally wild hair was styled so as to hide his pointed ears from any who might be looking.
If it weren't for his catlike eyes and the barest hint of fangs whenever he smiled, Jack might actually think him an ordinary human. Seeing him as such and knowing very well he wasn't was quite an attractive look, the goth decided.
He himself had dressed appropriately for what Chase had told him could be a chilly outing and wore clothing quite similar to his overlord's. The only real differences were that everything he wore was black and that his sweater was a turtleneck, a fact for which he was glad: this forest was a bit chilly and the extra protection of his throat from the bite of the wind was most definitely appreciated.
Chase held out a hand to his consort and Jack willingly gave his own. Fingers interlaced, the two began walking along, observing the scenery.
It was smack dab in the middle of autumn, now, and so the trees in the forest displayed a beautiful array of colors. The majority of those trees were red, a deep, bold mahogany that gave the area a surreal feeling and easily captured most of Jack's attention. The brown and yellow trees, however much a minority they were, could not be ignored and balanced out the red ones, making the place feel like a beautiful painting. The fact that there were two or three trees with green leaves yet left only served as a reminder that this picturesque forest was real and that Jack was here, walking hand in hand with his lover.
Jack tightened his grip and leaned in closer as they walked, glancing up at Chase. The older man caught the look and looked back, surprised that he could not immediately read his consort's expression as he usually could.
"Is something the matter, Spicer?" he wondered coolly. "Does this outing not please you? Would you rather go elsewhere?" He remembered Jack's surprise upon seeing him dressed so casually and inquired, "Is it perhaps my clothing that bothers you? I can change it in an instant if you would rather have me in armor."
Jack smiled, oddly touched by the warlord's desire to please him with both the 'date' and his appearance. He shook his head and let go of Chase's hand to hug his arm and walk with him that way. "No," he assured aloud, "this is just fine."
Pumpkins-
"Spicer, what are you doing?"
Jack looked up at his suddenly-there lover, grinning brightly. "Oh, hi, Chase," he chirped. "What's up?"
"I realized I hadn't seen you in several hours," Chase explained. "I worried that something of mine was about to be destroyed, but instead, I find you here doing…this."
'This' was, in fact, the session of pumpkin carving Jack had initiated. The goth had dressed in his oldest, rattiest clothing to avoid dirtying something nice and had brought out several pumpkins along with an array of knives for carving.
So far, he had made great progress. All of the pumpkins had by now been cut open and hollowed out, several even bearing designs, already. Jack was quite the Da Vinci with a knife, it seemed, for he had cut out intricate portraits of he and his overlord separately and together on various pumpkins.
"These are quite good," Chase complimented, impressed; kneeling down and tracing his own regal-looking outline upon the squash. He could hardly imagine how lovely it would look when lit up with a candle.
"Thanks," Jack smiled. "I figured I'd get those done first 'cause of the 'must project the right Heylin image' thing, but I've still got a few more to finish."
Chase glanced at the other pumpkins and frowned lightly. The rest of the gourds were not nearly as lovely as the first few pumpkins and in fact, appeared to be for novelty purposes only.
There was an extremely large pumpkin carved to look like a devil of some sort, its sharp teeth 'piercing' a smaller pumpkin with a terrified expression. There was another with a distressed face, its innards and seeds placed purposefully to appear as if they were being vomited up. Yet another bore an 8-bit character from the video game Space Invaders, and another displayed an entire Pac-Man game.
Jack appeared to now be working on a pumpkin with the Greek letter, 'pi' on it.
Chase rolled his eyes, asserting, "Those shall not be placed on my porch."
"Aw, come on!" Jack begged. "They're awesome!"
"You said yourself that there is such a thing as a Heylin reputation to uphold, and damage will be done to that if such silly creations are put outside my citadel for the world to see," Chase explained. "I forbid it."
Jack was very good at thinking on his feet and so immediately blurted out, "I saved all the seeds from the pumpkins; will you let me put them outside if I roast those for you?"
The dragonlord paused. Oh, curse Spicer, that little vermin! Why did Jack have to know how great a weakness his delicious cooking was for Chase?
With a high and mighty sniff, Chase stood. "Present the nicer ones more openly," he said. "I want them seen first."
That said, he left the room, allowing Jack to happily get back to his carving.
Halloween-
It was late and a Halloween party currently raged within Chase Young's citadel.
The warlord had been convinced to host such a get-together by none other than his apprentice and consort, Jack Spicer, who had promised him many enticing and filthy things afterwards should he be allowed to invite some Evil guests over.
Everyone who was anyone in the Heylin circle had shown up, knowing how good for amusement Spicer usually was and assuming he'd be able to throw quite the entertaining party.
They were correct in that area, but it wasn't because of any idiocy on Jack's part that the shindig was fun, but rather that he was surprisingly good at hosting a party and otherwise entertaining guests.
To Chase, he spared the explanation that he was raised (if you could call it that) by two people of a very bourgeois class and had practically been born into party-hosting.
In any case, the party was in full swing when there came a knock on the front door.
Chase, naturally, moved to answer it, but he was stopped by a hand on his chest.
"Don't worry about it, tonight, Chase," Jack said, placing a martini in the dragonlord's hand and already on his way to answer the door, himself. "I'm hosting, so I'll take care of it."
Briefly, Chase had the thought that it did not bode well for his reputation if he were seen being ordered around by the youth who was meant to be his minion. Then, of course, he remembered the oath Jack had sworn to him before the party; listing in great detail the sorts of things he would do to Chase with his mouth should the get-together go off without a hitch.
That in mind, he shrugged it off and delicately sipped the drink he'd been given, exercising his patience in letting his lover answer the door so that this whole fiasco would eventually yield the reward he was after.
On Jack's end of things, the door opened and there in all their Xiaolin glory stood the monks.
Now, the party currently being held was not a costume affair: most on the Heylin side were already quite strange looking, or at least not-standard enough to the point that dressing up to look scary or unusual was superfluous.
This only made the fact that the monks were dressed up even funnier.
Clay had gone all out on his Chuck Norris costume and Raimundo had dressed up as what appeared to be a chupacabra. Kimiko's costume was not immediately identifiable, but an educated guess was enough to assume she was mimicking the style of dress of some Japanese aidoru kashu that was currently popular. Omi's costume was, by far, the most amusing, as he was new to the idea of Halloween and so had allowed his compatriots to choose his outfit for him: the Pac-Man costume really was quite fitting.
"What do you losers want?" Jack inquired, trying very hard not to laugh and only just succeeding.
"We heard you were having a party," Kimiko said, showing off her fake microphone as she gestured.
"Yes," Omi declared happily, "we have come to celebrate as if it were the past!"
"Party like it's 1999," Clay muttered under his breath.
"So, what do you say?" Rai asked confidently, a smirk on his face as he pulled out all the stops to charm Jack into agreeing. "Let us in, Jack?"
There was a brief silence.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA," Jack exclaimed, laughing obnoxiously loud. "Let you…HAHHAHAHAHA! You're kidding, you gotta be, HAHAHAHAHA!"
"Seriously," Raimundo insisted with a frown.
This only prompted more laughing, but much harder, to the point that Jack soon doubled over holding his stomach, face beet-red from lack of oxygen.
It was minutes later when he finally calmed down. Breathing deeply, Jack still held his aching middle, unable to relieve his sore cheeks and stop smiling. "Oh, man," he sighed, wiping a few stray tears from his eyes, "that was priceless… Seriously, though, what are you here for?"
"For the party," Kimiko repeated.
This time, Jack only chuckled a little. "Sorry," he unapologetically informed, "it's a Heylin-only affair; no Xiaolin failtards allowed."
And with that, the door slammed shut on the monks' faces and Jack went back inside.
Not bothering to mingle with the other Evil guests, the party's host made a beeline for Chase, stopping only briefly at the makeshift bar to order up a bit of alcohol.
"Well?" Chase inquired of his minion. "Who was at the door?"
"The monks," Jack informed casually. "They wanted to party, but I told 'em to fuck off."
"Mmm." Chase tugged Jack closer and forced aside the glass he was about to drink from in order to steal a kiss. "Do you intend to do anything about their impudence in trying to crash your party, Spicer?"
"Well, I already laughed them off the mountain," Jack delegated, "but we can TP their temple later, don't you think?"
Chase offered a stern glare to his lover. "Is this before or after you fulfill your lofty promises to me for allowing this silly party in the first place?"
"I'll do that after the guests leave and before we go monk-bothering," Jack calmly assured with a smirk. "Now, loosen up and live a little; I'm about to break out the disco ball!"
Chill-
"Weird," Jack said idly, not even looking up from his book, "it's kinda chilly in here."
"It is almost winter," Chase retorted from beside the youth in bed, engrossed in his own reading. "That usually means a decrease in temperature."
"Yeah, outside." Jack turned a page. "It shouldn't be cold inside, especially not when you're living in a mountain that used to be a volcano."
Chase said nothing to this but without thinking, he marked his place with a bookmark and closed his novel. The book was placed upon the bedside table and Chase slid out from beneath the blankets. Another blanket was retrieved from a drawer across the room and spread out over the existing covers. The dragonlord then retook his place in bed and resumed his place in his book.
Jack leaned over and pressed a grateful kiss to the man's cheek. "Thanks, Chase."
"You're welcome," Chase replied automatically, only to pause.
Wait…what had just happened? Jack hadn't asked him to get another blanket. He'd only said that he was cold! He hadn't been cold and yet Chase had put down his book and fetched another set of covers for the bed! How…?
Chase shook his head, deciding not to think too deeply on it. All the better if Jack simply had the everlord trained the way he wanted him: that would mean the youth would be more likely to stick around for quite some time, and if there were any thought that pleased Chase to no end, it was the idea of the fickle, short-attention-spanned Spicer sticking around.
Besides, Chase thought wickedly, the training worked both ways…
"I'm horny," he commented idly, turning a page.
Without thinking, Jack put down his book.
--
Winter
--
Cocoa-
Jack contentedly sipped at the hot, chocolatey beverage he held in his hands, allowing the decadent flavor to saturate his taste buds. Though he was outside and was otherwise bundled up against the cold, he wore no gloves, trusting the steaming mug of cocoa to keep his palms and fingers nice and toasty.
How thoughtful this little outing had been of Chase to arrange for him! Jack wondered not for the first time since it began just how the man had done it; where he'd gotten this delicious hot chocolate, how he'd known just the time and place to bring him here, and how he'd known how much it would be enjoyed.
Jack shrugged and dismissed those thoughts, crossing one leg over the other and reaching down to the foot of his chair for marshmallows to put in his cocoa.
"Enjoying the show, Spicer?" Chase called from the battlefield, a victorious grin on his face as he continued to systematically beat the Xiaolin monks into submission for his lover's viewing pleasure.
"Sure am," said lover happily called back. Blowing gently upon his mug, both his breath and his drink's steam coalescing in the air, Jack took another sip of his cocoa just as Omi's tiny body was knocked viciously aside with a roundhouse kick and Kimiko was bodily lifted and thrown square into Clay's chest.
Ahhh…what a romantic date… And there Jack was for a moment hoping Chase's surprise would be a secluded, winter buggy ride or something! How silly that would be.
This was a much better outing by far!
Fireplace-
Chase gave a jaw-cracking yawn and stretched himself as long as he was able, pulling his relaxed muscles taut and sighing as they then loosened pleasurably. He rolled over onto his side, exposing himself to the radiant warmth of the fire and basking in the heat.
There was a snicker from behind him.
Chase rolled back over, cracking one molten gold eye open and glaring at his consort. "Is something funny, Spicer?" he demanded.
"The way you just did that," Jack informed, a broad grin on his white face; washed even paler by the bright light of the fire. "You looked like a kitty-cat."
"And that's funny?" Chase pressed from his place on the floor.
"No," Jack assured from the couch, "it's just cute, that's all."
Chase snorted derisively. "I am a Heylin everlord," he asserted. "I don't do cute."
"For someone who doesn't do cute, you're pretty damn good at it," Jack quipped back.
Chase snorted again, nonetheless making no move to get up from the fireplace's warmth.
"I am partially reptilian," he eventually murmured to his lover. "Reptiles are coldblooded and sun themselves to remain warm. Does it not make sense that someone like myself would enjoy basking in warmth?"
"Sure, it makes sense," Jack happily agreed. "All I'm saying is, you're cute when you do it."
Chase realized he was not about to change the goth's mind and rolled back over to face the fire, allowing his body to relax at the sensation of heat.
He only tensed for a moment when he felt a bare foot touch his back, but he quickly calmed and allowed it when all it did was stroke along his spine.
So what if Spicer thought him 'cute'? He was still a dragon; still an incredibly powerful, incredibly Evil man, scourge of mankind and lord of all he surveyed!
Chase gave a low, throaty purr at thought, and another amused chuckle sounded from behind him.
"Just like a kitty-cat," Jack teased again.
Chase rolled his eyes.
Eggnog-
Chase grinned despite himself as he watched the monks stumbling all over themselves, speaking incoherent sentences in slurred voices, and otherwise doing exceedingly embarrassing things.
Jack, too, was smiling at their idiocy, chuckling softly as Kimiko and Omi managed to get into a heated, cuss-filled argument over the superior gender.
"Mmm, and when do we tell them that the eggnog we left at the temple was nonalcoholic?" Chase wondered.
"We don't," Jack wickedly told him, continuing to watch the Xiaolin youths make utter idiots out of themselves via the Eye Spy Orb. "We keep all this to ourselves until tomorrow morning when they're suffering 'hangovers' and then break the news that all the humiliating stuff they did tonight was done while sober."
Chase outright laughed as Pedrosa grabbed Bailey by the head and kissed him hard on the mouth. "I like the way you think, my consort," he purred, "I like the way you think…"
Socks-
There was heaven on his feet: thick, warm, fuzzy heaven.
"Spicer," Chase began authoritatively, certain he would never desire to remove these hand-knit socks, "you will make a second pair of these for me, as well as a matching scarf and gloves; a blanket for our bed, too, should you have time."
Jack gave a smug grin and didn't even look up from his knitting. His teacher had been right: his knitting would be making some man very happy someday.
Now, Jack almost felt bad for jabbing the woman with his needles for saying such a thing before he'd come out of the closet!
Snow-
Something cold and firm made contact with the back of Chase's head, bursting into bits the moment it did so.
The overlord whirled about, trying to pinpoint the source of the projectile of snow, but it was no use: Jack hid himself much too well.
Normally, Chase's keen senses would've had the boy found and attacked in an instant, but here and now, it was not to be. The falling snow impeded his vision, the crisp, frozen scent of it interfering with his talented nose, and of course, Spicer's own deviousness did not at all help him gain ground in their snowball fight.
Jack, the tricky devil, had dressed himself in sleek clothing of his own manufacturing; warm as any thick overcoat and snow pants, but completely without the bulk and telltale rustling that would've given him away to his lover immediately. What was worse about the outfit was that the rotten minx hadn't even had the decorum to stick to his preferred gothic style in making it, and the clothing was not the usual pitch-black.
Today, Jack wore white as pure as his skin and the snow around them, even going so far as to cover his flaming head of hair with a just-as-white wool cap. To Chase, he had become all but invisible.
Needless to say, Chase was quite soundly losing the battle.
Another snowball pelted the man in the side, but this time, he wasted no time thinking on it and immediately leaped in the direction from which it'd come.
A startled 'oof!' and the lump of a body beneath his was a sure sign he had at last found his unseen attacker. Mere seconds were all that were needed for Chase's eyes to adjust to the blaring whiteness around and under him, thereby confirming that yes, he had just caught his lover.
Chase immediately tore off the youth's hat, exposing the napalm red hair so that he could better see some part of him as they spoke. "Caught you," he smirked at his Jack, locking his golden eyes with the albino's now-open red ones.
"Took you long enough," Jack teased. "I was nailing you with snowballs for an hour!"
"It's no fault of mine that you're perfectly camouflaged amongst whiteness, Spicer," Chase reminded, "and you certainly weren't trying to give me an easy time of finding you."
"How fun's a hunt when the prey's obvious about itself?" Jack wondered.
"Acknowledged," Chase grinned agreeably, dipping down to nuzzle his lover's neck. Jack's slender, white throat was covered with sleek, white fabric, but he paid it no mind. If the soft sigh his 'prey' gave at his actions were any indication, Jack's hypersensitive skin could still feel his touches even with the presence of clothing.
"Here?" Jack softly inquired, tangling his fingers in Chase's thick mane of hair.
Chase considered it for a moment. Would he want to make love to Jack here, outside in the snow during a storm just shy of a blizzard?
The answer was yes. Of course it was yes! Who wouldn't want to fuck the lovely young man anywhere and anytime he could?
Still, it was probably not the best idea. While Chase could remain out here for hours on end without the slightest hint of discomfort, he was something of a superhuman, more resilient and durable than an ordinary mortal. The only reason Jack, an ordinary mortal himself, could stand to be out here for as long as he had been was his specially-designed suit of clothing that insulated him from the cold of the snow. Even so, his face, not protected by the custom-made fabric, had reddened because of the biting chill and his lips would surely be turning blue within the hour if they remained out here.
Chase hesitated to find out how quickly the rest of Jack's body would become cold without the suit and he was even less enthused to find out how badly frostbite might afflict the youth below the waist should he be fucked in the snow.
"No," he decided aloud, "not here." Nevertheless, he made no move to get off of Jack or teleport him somewhere warmer where they could have sex.
"Do you even wanna?" Jack hummed in question, happy to continue stroking his overlord's long, silky hair until he received a definitive reply.
"Yes," Chase murmured, but he said no more than that, only shifted to lay beside Jack instead of on top of him.
Instinctively, Jack scooted in close, fitting himself against Chase's body. If Chase wanted to have sex like he said he did, he would initiate it when he was ready. Until then, Jack was perfectly content just to lie with him like his.
They stayed like that for quite some time, affectionate lovers in the snow.
--
A/N:
Spring
Robin- No way, there totally isn't a blatant reference to another pairing I like in this one and no way I'll give a virutal cake to anyone who can figure out what it isn't. (It's a lie, anyways.)
Birth- I tend not to like mpreg that just happens out of nowhere, but if there's at least some kind of explanation for it, I like it better. Here's one take on how it might be possible! :D
Flowers- Continued from Birth, the kid's name taken from my other fic, By a God's Grace, in which the name belongs to Jack. ;D
Bee- No comment. XD
Sunshine- No comment.
--
Summer
Humidity- This is entirely true, by the way: heat is bad in and of itself, but add humidity and UGH. D:
Beach- Jack's stubborn and Chase is a jerk; so, what else is new? XD
Thunderstorm- Does anybody else love to stare at thunderstorms? I do. They're awesome. K3
Shirtless- Jack gets his revenge! Can't have him be a pushover all the time, now, can I? ;P
Lemonade- I think what I wanted to get across with this one is that love isn't some magical rainbows and ponies and glittering sunshiny sort of thing: it's a partnership and a balance more than anything. Super-ultra-happy out-of-nowhere-but-everything's-perfect-and-can-never-go-wrong love irks me because it's not real. Besides all that, it makes me gag. XD
--
Autumn
Apples- A surefire way to a man's heart is through his stomach. ;P
Leaves- A bit of fluff to lighten things up! :D
Pumpkins- I want these pumpkins so badly, it's not even funny. o.o
Halloween- The monks really are self-entitled, aren't they? "Jack's throwing a party? FREE BOOZE, LET'S GO!" I'm sure it never occurred to them that it was an invitation only thing and that even if it weren't, Jack wouldn't have wanted them to come, anyways. XD P.S.- Aidoru kashu is Japanese for 'idol singer.' My Japanese teacher told us that the idol singers in Japan are a lot like the ones in America: they look and dress nice, but they can't always sing. As you can imagine, at least five people in the class coughed out, "Hannah Montana." :D
Chill- Chase is whipped! Heavily inspired by Jeff Foxworthy's act in which he discusses how his wife has him trained. :)
--
Winter
Cocoa- I think this would be a romantic date, don't you? XD
Fireplace- This fic wouldn't be complete without a little teasing between lovers, now, would it? :D
Eggnog- This could be seen as the eventually aftermath of Halloween, or as Chase and Jack just screwing with the monks because they can. ;D
Socks- A good pair of socks is a godsend in cold weather.
Snow- This was a nice, romantic way to end Seasons of Chack, wouldn't you agree? :)
In any case, this is my latest Chack prompt fic (which I believe I started in the summer of 2009, so that shows you how bad I procrastinate) and I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading, all! :D