#oc jacques

There was a wooden wash bowl beside him, full of previously steaming and now lukewarm water where he had warmed his feet while staring out of the window waiting for Mama to come back from her meeting at the city hall. He had watched the sun slowly set while the town's people would finish their tasks and return to their homes, one by one, until only the guards wandered the streets.

Then it had become too cold to stay beside the window, so he had moved closer to the fire. He had thrown in the last of the firewood and curled on a sheepskin, spreading his green wings open behind him, trying to lock the hot air from the fire inside the small space he lay in.

The cold weather had arrived so early this year. At least it felt like it. Granted, he had only been in the city for a couple of years and endured only a couple of winters. All his years before that (which weren't many) which he had spent among his kind before they abandoned him, he had avoided the cold with them, avoided the winter. He had never wondered why, but now, because of this, he knew. His kind of halflings could not handle the cold.

Jacques heard the door open and sat up quickly, the blankets falling from his shoulders. Had he paid attention, he could have probably heard the people pour out of the city hall, heard these few familiar steps approach from far away, but now his heart jumped in delight as it did every time he saw Mama.

Mama and Sali, Jacques's big brother, were carrying firewood, as much as they could fit in their arms. Mama smiled at him, although there was something else in her eyes, too. Sali dropped the logs in a basket, looking grumpy and tired. It was a couple hours after both of their bed time, as Mama's meeting had stretched, as it often did. He must have been staying at Margon's family's house and been picked up by Mama on the way home.

"Everything alright, baby?" Sanra asked, kneeling near him and throwing a few logs into the fire before turning to stroke Jacques's hair.

Jacques shook his head, curling into himself even more. Cold air had rushed in during the mere seconds it took for Mama and Sali to slip indoors, making him hurriedly dive back under the covers. Mama helped to pull the quilts to his chin, the smile fading from her lips, only the look in her eyes remaining.

"It's just cold," he said. He leaned into Mama's touch, seeking comfort as much as attempting to comfort her. He didn't want Mama to worry.

— — —

Sanra silently observed both of her sons as she stoked the fire.

She watched the shaky, green wings behind which her youngest son trembled and whined. From the corner of her eye, she saw Sali had thrown off his coat and was now impatiently ripping his shirt off of him. He had been inside for ten minutes and sweat was already glistening on his forehead, even though he had spent the whole time on the other side of the room. His face portrayed deep discomfort, and Sanra, knowing what the problem was, softly called his name.

"Would it help if you went to your room and opened the window there?"

Sali was on his feet in an instant, but a small whimper came from under Jacques's wings.

"Noo… It's too cold, Mama."

"It's so hot in here, Jacques," Sali said desperately. "Tell him, Mama!"

"Please don't let him open the window, Mama!"

Sanra sighed, rubbing her face. They had been here before, in previous autumns, when it was not yet cold enough for Jacques to move to the Nest, but the heat his body required was difficult to balance with this other child who so easily suffered from heat-borne nausea.

At some point, come winter, Jacques would not be able to deal with the cold anymore. His kind was way more sensitive to it than full humans were, subduing to a state of hypothermia in conditions where other people could still thrive with sensible clothing. But there was another side to this. When it got cold enough, they would go past hypothermia; where others would meet death, they stayed there, in a deep state of unconsciousness, between here and there.

At least Jacques did. Sanra didn't know if this survival was typical or if her son was just exceptionally tough. She wouldn't have been surprised if that was the case.

They hadn't enough access to information about the halflings. All they knew was that they travelled with the seasons, never staying anywhere where it could get so cold this happened. They were clearly avoiding this, what Jacques was now sadly stuck with, living among the humans in the city.

It had been a complete surprise to Sanra the first winter Jacques spent with them. It had been terrifying to be so clueless, so helpless, when she had found the tiny child nearly frozen in his bed one morning, not knowing how to keep him warm, unsure if she could keep him alive. But Jacques had thrived, and they had learned the only way he could survive was spending the winters in a room with many fires they had come to call the Nest. When the winter would arrive, he'd be moved there to hibernate; the fires would not be enough to keep him awake, but they would keep him alive. Even though that room got scorching hot, Jacques' unconsciousness would last as long as the weather outside was cold. He'd sense it, somehow, through the makeshift summer, keeping him in deep slumber throughout the winter.

But now, they were not there yet. It was not winter. The temperature would go up and down at this time of year, and as it fluctuated, so did Jacques's wellbeing. He'd go between freezing during nights like this to barely shivering under the late autumn sun during days, still uncomfortable most of the time. This was, in a way, the most difficult time.

These nights.

This night, that demanded a mother making a decision.

Sali had wandered to the kitchen nook, drinking a glass of water and spraying some more on his face. Sanra walked up to him, picking up his coat from the floor on the way. She hung it over Sali's right shoulder, kneeling to talk to the boy.

"Are you feeling very sick?"

"I don't know," Sali said quietly, but his flushed cheeks told a different story. He glanced at Jacques. "I know… I know he's cold, but Mama… it's just so warm in here."

Sanra nodded in understanding and agreement. "I'm going to fix it. Can you wait in the garden for a little bit?"

"I can just go sleep over at Margon's."

"No, you can sleep at home." It was a statement, not a suggestion. She wouldn't kick out one kid for the sake of the other. Not either way. "Get some fresh air, Sal. I'll come get you in a moment."

Sali turned around without another complaint. Sanra smiled sadly after him. He was such a good kid. Both of the boys were.

Sanra drank a glass of water herself. She could not deny it; the space was hot, and the warmth was seeping into the other rooms too. The fireplace would keep the house comfortably warm during the winter, but for now, it was way too early for their human bodies to have it in use all day long. She wished there could be a better solution than the ones they'd had to rely on so far. Perhaps there would be, some day.

Not tonight.

Sanra fed the fire again and held her hands above the flames, as near as she could, then stroked Jacques's wing gently. "Hey. Can I come in?"

Jacques unfurled his wings so Sanra could crawl next to him. The boy instantly snuggled closer, and Sanra pressed her hot hands on Jacques's cheeks. Sweat was dripping down her neck, but she could handle it.

"Give it a minute," Sanra said. "You'll feel warmer soon."

Jacques's eyes were round and deep forest green, even in the vivid orange glow. "I don't want to go to the Nest."

"Not tonight, I promise."

Not tonight.

She couldn't make promises for tomorrow. If the weather was to stay similar, Jacques would have to feel cold but it wouldn't be freezing enough for him to sink into his slumber. But they couldn't keep doing this in the house - as much as she would have loved to keep Jacques there, it meant all this effort, and Sali would feel sick in his own home. It didn't seem possible to make it work for the both of them.

Maybe tomorrow Jacques would have to spend the night in the Nest. He could go outside, come home, do anything in the world during the days, when the sunrays would still offer them some warmth.

Jacques kept shivering. "This isn't helping."

Sanra took a deep breath. Alright then. "It's going to be fine. I can make it all better for you."

Sanra touched Jacques's temple, and let her power flow. She tried to avoid doing this as much as possible, as it could become addictive to the recipient, but in these cases… she'd rather do this than watch both of her children suffer in their own ways. She'd rather help all three of them be able to sleep through the night.

Jacques's eyes began to flutter, and his clenched jaw relaxed. His head lolled limp against Sanra's shoulder. Sanra kissed his forehead.

"Good night, little one."

Jacques would sleep without feeling the cold until morning, when it would hopefully be warmer. Sanra moved aside the quilts covering Jacques's body and carried him to bed. The boys shared a room, but Sanra and Sali could swap beds for the night, so Sali could open the window without bothering Jacques. Hopefully he'd be able to sleep, too.

She tucked Jacques in tightly, placing a couple more sheepskins over him before going to tell Sali, who was compliantly sitting in the garden staring at the stars, that he could now come in if he was ready. The boy had put on his coat - it was, after all, a little chilly outdoors for them too. He undressed as soon as he stepped inside again. Sanra ruffled his curls.

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Yes." Sali looked much better, albeit exhausted. His eyes were fixed on the empty space in front of the fire where Jacques had spent the whole evening. "Did he go to the Nest?"

"No. I had to help him sleep."

"Oh."

"You should go now, too. You can sleep in my bed tonight, so you can cool down the room to your liking."

After a kiss to his forehead, Sali went to bed. Sanra spent some time cleaning the days messes. She scooped up some extra quilts from the floor and gathered dirty dishes in a wash basin to wait for morning. Sali had left the door to her room ajar, and she could feel the cold air from the open window slowly, slowly cool down the rest of the house. The fire was still going strong, and Sanra let it.