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Chapter 3

Jack had somehow gotten it into his head that snow was awesome, even though he had never seen it before. Why, Koz had no idea. Snow was cold and had no purpose, and the cold was miserable.

"Pleaaaaaaaaaaaseeee?" Jack begged for the fiftieth time.

"Jack. Snow is cold. And wet. And nothing else. A trip would be worthless."

"No, it wouldn't! Jena is only five para's away! It would only take an hour round trip!"

Koz face-palmed. "Jack, no. I've got work to do."

Jack is quiet, so maybe Koz has won, but then Jack's face suddenly appears instead of his computer screen. Jack darted in a pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, a bribe.

"Please, Kozzy? I just want to experience it."

Thirty minutes later, Koz would blame it on the puppy dog face that Jack had perfected.

They were standing in the freezing cold, the ship parked and melting snow with its warm metal. "Ok, there you go. Cold, snow, and cold. Can we go back now?"

"Nope!" Jack says cheerfully. He doesn't seem cold in the slightest, and Koz realizes that it's probably his internal processes generating heat. The little turd. "Come on, we gotta explore first!"

Jack drags him through the snow for nearly twenty minutes. He touches everything, the icicles, the delicate frost covering dead looking bushes covered in shriveled up berries, the two-foot-deep snow covering the ground.

"What's that?" Jack said, pointing towards a shining splotch of shimmering ice in the distance. "Let's go there!"

When they get there, Jack studies the ice, stomping at the edge of the frozen lake before running out onto it, slipping and falling twice before finding his balance.

"Jack! What are you doing!?"

"Come on, worrywart! It'll be fun. Besides-"He gets that mischievous smirk again, and Koz feels dread build up in his stomach. "-I can't get back now."

He groans as he slides out to where Jack is. He grabs him by the hand and tries to drag him back to the snowbank, but Jack swings around and grabs his other hand, skating backwards and dragging Koz with him.

"What are you doing?!?" He doesn't shriek out the words, what are you talking about.

"It's called skating. Isn't it great?"

"Where did you learn this?" Koz is nearly dragged down when Jack slips.

Jack grins at him, letting go of his hands and sliding away. "I made it up."

"How-"

"Shh. I have my ways. Now skate."

Jack learns how to glide across the lake long before Koz does, and by the time Koz can make it from one side to the other, he's trying to spin around and do tricks. Koz scolds him and tells him he'll fall, but Jack just fake pouts and keeps attempting the trick.

Koz can eventually keep up with Jack after an hour of falling. Well, before something hits him on the back and knocks him down. He sputters, spinning around to see the object that caused his demise. He sees Jack grinning like an idiot and a small pile of snow powder on the ice.

He sighs and pulls himself up. "What did you do now?"

Jack smirks at him, kneeling down at the bank and scooping up a handful of snow. "They're called snowballs. You're supposed to throw them at each other. I invented them."

"And how did you do that?" Koz is slowly inching towards the bank.

Jack is oblivious. "I fell in the snow, and it sorta packed together so I grabbed a handful and mushed it together. And then I threw it at you."