Chapter Text
Up on the top of a far off mountain, far away from everything and anyone, stood a castle. It was larger than life and as cold as ice, with its gothic architecture. Massive archways, pointed roofs and the frost covered stone is anything but welcoming. A chill sets into the bones of those with the misfortune to wander near. The air is frigid, unforgiving, harsh.
Despite all this, Sunoo liked his job.
Sure, he hadn’t necessarily thought his talents lied in being a glorified errand boy, but his application had been rejected from Santa’s Workshop. So, here he was. At least he was given room and board with this job, instead of fighting the rental market at the North Pole. Jungwon told him that he was living with two other elves, and neither of them were decent roommates.
However, he could do without the freezing rains or the ever present draft that no amount of heavy blankets or space heaters seemed to be able to combat. At least the village at the North Pole had temperature control.
More than once, he considered applying for the Polar Express. Jake told him it was a fun, exciting job, and prep for the trip lasted them all year. Everything needed to be perfect since they only got one chance to do it a year. But he had been told he had trouble controlling his facial expressions sometimes, so the first time a kid talked back to him he would probably be fired for excessive eye rolling.
So, here he was.
Working at the Ice Palace for the Snow Miser.
It really wasn’t that bad, all things considered. He was still relatively new, so he was stuck on delivering weather reports on the night rotations, but his superior told him that it would be possible for him to move up to Weather Control for minor cities or one of the Wind Principles in less than two years. Personally, he thought he would be good at handling the Karakaze Winds in Japan, or the Alberta Clipper Winds in North America. He just needed to prove his work ethic to the Snow Miser.
The Snow Miser was a whole different story. Despite employing everyone in the castle, Sunoo hadn’t seen him around all that much. He knew he was a little busier during the Winter season in the Northern Hemisphere, but he sort of wished he could see him work up close. He was in charge of the cold weather in the entire world, and while he had help, he was the mastermind behind it all.
“I’ve heard rumours about him up here,” Jungwon said over their video call. “He makes a lot of visits to the Big Guy.”
His room was lit up with large Christmas bulbs, the reds, blues, greens and yellows throwing odd shadows across his face. The peppermint swirl headboard didn’t help, reflecting the lights as they twinkled slowly.
“Have you met him?” Sunoo asked curiously.
“The Snow Miser? Or Santa?” Jungwon cocked his head to the side. “Because the answer is neither- the Big Guy’s pretty busy this time of year, checking the list twice and all. But the head elf, Taehyun, said he would be coming to visit the workshop soon.”
“Have you seen the Snow Miser though?” Sunoo frowned.
“You haven’t?” Jungwon blinked in surprise. “You live with him.”
“I’m at the bottom of the food chain here, Jungwon-ah,” Sunoo whined. “What does he look like?”
Jungwon seemed to consider it for a moment. “He’s… beautiful.” He said finally. “Like a frozen lake in the dead of winter, perfect for skating. Ethereal. Unreal.”
“Really?” Sunoo blinked in surprise. “You said you heard rumours?”
Jungwon pressed his lips together. “Well, you know Mother Nature, right?”
Sunoo nodded. Everyone knew Mother Nature, she was widely regarded as the top of the top, and rightfully so. No one could do their job without her. Heeseung, who was a manager of her Fall Equinox sector, told him that they had around the clock Accountants working tirelessly to keep up with every season change in the world. Not to mention Global Warming, and the impact it was having on their systems, which in turn had an impact on the Misers systems, since they were all connected. Heeseung said that sometimes the needle on their compass would glitch out and flip at random times, which would cause snow in Texas but a minor heat wave in Alaska in November. Apparently it took nearly a week to fix it.
Mother Nature was a force to be reckoned with, and Sunoo pitied the fool who tried.
“Well, Snow Miser was one of her apprentices, right? She’s the one who made him the Snow Miser. Same with the Heat Miser. She gave him that role.”
Ah yes. The Heat Miser. Their neighbor to the South, who handled summer and heat. Sunoo had never seen the Heat Misers domain, but he heard rumours that it was so hot, everyone melted within a week.
Riki worked there, and so far seemed rather intact, but Sunoo worried about him, especially since they hadn’t been able to talk due to their opposing schedules.
“Okay, and? Everyone knows that,” Sunoo furrowed his eyebrows.
“Apparently they’re sworn enemies,” Jungwon lowered his voice. “I mean it makes sense, right? Hot and Cold is like Black and White. They do nothing but fight, which is why they had to relocate to the castles. Mother Nature got tired of them causing thunderstorms and hurricanes inside.”
“Really? They would do that in front of Mother Nature?” Sunoo blinked rapidly. “And they survived?”
“Barely,” Jungwon shook his head. “Anyway, apparently they’ve been worked up a lot lately, so be careful, okay? I don’t want you getting caught in a hurricane or anything.”
Sunoo nodded dutifully and bid Jungwon goodbye, heading out for his shift.
His shift was mostly normal. He spent most of the time running between the Wind sector and the Weather Control centre, looking over reports before handing them off to the correct section. Once in a while he would stop in to the European Sector, Asian, or South American, but his assignments kept him mostly relegated to the North American Wind sector.
Sunoo thought he had a good, organised system. The cart he used to take the massive amounts of files back and forth between was split up by continent, which was then split further by region and finally wind type. He was on top of it, ensuring a Bise wouldn’t land in with The Hawk, or, Father Time forbid, a Blue Norther in Khazri.
So, imagine his surprise as he pulled at the collar of his coat, uncomfortably stuffy in the only piece of clothing that usually kept out the chill. Only now, it felt suffocating. His hands were sweating in his mitts, and he looked around the Weather Control Centre to see some of the elves there absentmindedly unzipping their jackets, rolling up their sleeves and loosening their ties as the temperature rose.
Before Sunoo could ask the elf who was hurriedly signing off an approval on a request for a Norte in Northern Mexico if they had accidentally let a Chinook loose in the control room, the door slammed open.
A wave of heat hit the room, and Sunoo almost gagged on the humidity that came with it. In the doorway, a man in black stood there, large and imposing. He had sunglasses perched on his nose, a black t-shirt tucked into a pair of black slacks and a leather jacket that must just be for show, because the frost surrounding him dripped uselessly to the ground.
“Where is he?” He growled.
All the workers kept their eyes downturned, avoiding his heated gaze. As if it would spare them from his rage. Sunoo swallowed, looking around helplessly.
“Where is he?” The man repeated, louder this time.
When no one acknowledged him, the man jutted his jaw and turned his gaze to Sunoo, who suddenly felt frozen again, despite the constant increase in temperature.
The man stormed over to him, locked in now that he had gotten some kind of acknowledgement. He squeaked as the man in black landed in front of him.
When he raised his sunglasses, pushing his dark hair out of his face, Sunoo was momentarily thrown. Up close, he looked much younger than Sunoo initially thought. His skin was sunkissed, and he had a splash of freckles across his nose. Despite the quiet rage that was clearly building in the tension, it didn’t feel directed at him as the man observed him.
“What’s your name?” He asked, his voice a warm, comforting timber when he wasn’t yelling, like a soft summer sun coming out after hiding behind the clouds all day.
“Sunoo,” He stammered, gripping the report in his hands a little tighter.
The man softened further, and he was even handsome now, and offered him a small smile that set Sunoo at ease, a little bit.
“Do you know where your boss is, Sunoo?” He asked, holding up a piece of paper Sunoo had been too scared to notice before. “He’s got something to answer for.”
“I’m sorry, sir,” Sunoo said quietly. “If you’re talking about the Snow Miser, I’m not sure where he is right now.”
The man sighed in annoyance, but Sunoo could tell it wasn’t with him. Actually, now that the initial shock wore off, he found he felt rather comfortable in the presence of the odd man who brought the heat with him.
“Thank you, Sunoo.” He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Is that… a Weather Report, sir?” Sunoo asked hesitantly. “Is something wrong?”
Jay glared at the paper. “A misfiling,” He grumbled.
“A misfiling?” Sunoo’s head snapped towards his cart. “That’s not possible,” He said in a rush, rustling through his papers. “I’m certain I’ve been on top of the filings, I check three times before I hand them off that they’re going to the right department.”
“Sun- Sunoo-yah,” The man said quickly, reaching forward and taking his hands; he was warm to the touch. “It’s alright, it’s not your misfiling.” He assured him. “That’s why I need to talk to Mr. White Christmas himself,” he pressed his lips together. “Get out here, Ten Below, I’ve got a bone to pick with you,” He waved the paper in the air.
“Sir, I’m not sure he can hear you,” Sunoo whispered.
“Oh, he can,” The man scowled. "Let's go Icicle," He raised his voice, looking around like he would be able to spot the Snow Miser.
“Would you stop harassing my staff, please?” A voice appeared behind him, and Sunoo jumped in surprise.
He would’ve knocked over the cart in the process if the man in black hadn’t reached out to steady it.
“I wasn’t,” the man said indignantly. “I wouldn’t have to even be in here if you picked up my call.”
“I was busy,” The new man said bluntly, standing beside Sunoo with his hands in the pockets of his white dress pants.
Sunoo recognised him, even if he had never met him. A shock of silver hair, the pale skin, the cold that rolled off him in waves. With the white suit jacket over the baby blue sweater, if the man was anything but the Snow Miser, he would be more surprised.
Looking back at the man in black, with his fiery temper, it dawned on Sunoo that he had been speaking with their palace’s counterpart- the Heat Miser.
“Oh I know,” the Heat Miser said, shoving the piece of paper into the Snow Miser’s chest. “I look away from the Northern Hemisphere for five minutes to focus on a heat wave in Australia and you approved seventy-five centimetres of snow and a polar vortex in Canada?”
“It’s Canada, it’s December, it’s supposed to be cold.” The Snow Miser drawled, taking the paper despite clearly being uninterested.
“Not in Vancouver,” The Heat Miser spat. “Which is where you sent over fifteen times the amount of their annual snow over the course of four days before Christmas.”
“What?” The Snow Miser blinked, finally looking at the report. “That was for the Prairies, all of them. We’ve neglected them the last few years because Global Warming kept messing with our systems. The wildfires in the Summer keep going out of control, so we were trying to get them some moisture for the Spring.”
“Yeah, except you sent it a little to the left so it landed in a city that isn’t prepared to handle those conditions,” The Heat Miser tapped the paper rapidly. “You’ve disrupted flights across the country and the world, there’s been more car accidents in the last two days than they’ve had all year.”
There was a moment of silence, of hesitation where Sunoo saw a subtle shift in the Heat Miser’s face, but he covered it with his sunglasses before he could really understand it. “The agreement’s been the same for ages, five centimetres all year, a few days in December, January and February.” A pause. “You haven’t made a mistake like this in years.”
“I can call off the rest of the storm, but there’s nothing I can do about the fifty that’s already fallen.” He heaved a heavy sigh, handing the Weather Report back to him. “How long will it take you to undo it?”
“Less than a week once your systems release control. If I try now, everything will just turn to ice, and it could worsen the storm.” He shook his head.
The Snow Miser nodded. “Alright, consider it done.” He said finally.
The Heat Miser nodded in return and rolled up the report, stuffing it in the inside pocket of his leather jacket. The Snow Miser motioned to the door. “Could you leave my control room now, before you melt my processor?” He asked.
Sunoo didn’t need to see the Heat Miser’s eyes to know he rolled them. “Oh c’mon Jack Frost, you won’t even walk your guest out? What would Mother Nature say?” He mocked.
“You big baby,” The Snow Miser muttered, glancing at Sunoo who had been snapping his head back and forth between the Misers. “You alright, Sunoo? He didn’t scare you too bad?”
“Hey, I didn’t try to scare him,” the Heat Miser protested.
“It’s alright, I’m alright,” Sunoo assured them both. “I was mostly worried I had filed something wrong.”
The Snow Miser shook his head and offered the smallest smile. It warmed his features considerably, and Sunoo didn't feel as nervous anymore. “That was on me, don’t worry about it. We’ll get it sorted. Thank you for your help, and for your work today.” He patted his shoulder and turned back to the Heat Miser, who had been waiting patiently. “Alright, Mr. Heat Blister, let’s get you back to your Australian heat dome,” He said, strutting out the door.
“It’s a heat wave, and I know you know the difference,” The Heat Miser protested, following him out the door.
Gradually, the room started to cool again, and Sunoo relaxed a little more. He turned towards the elf beside him. “Do they… do that often?” He asked hesitantly.
“Usually the Heat Miser just calls the Snow Miser if there’s been a discrepancy, or sends one of his elves. It must have been bad if he felt the need to come all the way here himself.” The Weather Control elf whispered, finally handing Sunoo the report.
Sunoo thought about it for the rest of his shift. It wasn’t until he was getting ready for bed that he stopped to think about something the Heat Miser said.
I wouldn’t even have to be in here if you picked up my call.
Maybe he had seen too many movies. He must’ve imagined the concerned look the Heat Miser hid behind his sunglasses when he mentioned how long it had been since the Snow Miser made such a mistake, or how readily the Snow Miser gave in to his request to walk him out.
According to Jungwon’s sources, the Miser’s were supposed to be mortal enemies. That must be true, because the alternative sounded crazy, even to him.
---
Nestled in the bottom of a dormant volcano, there was a palace. Large and imposing, black obsidian chiselled into the romantic style, it was a piece of art more than architecture. The glass-like walls flickered with the light of the lava behind it, lighting and heating the place to an almost sweltering temperature. The air steamed, unforgiving and ready to burn any who dared to enter.
Riki had since gotten used to the heat. His energy wasn’t wiped out by the hot air or early hours anymore, and he grew accustomed so that he wasn’t sweating through four t-shirts before lunch.
Besides, the heat beat the frigid cold at nearly every other job available to him.
The North Pole, the Polar Express, the Snow Miser’s Palace- these were the typical placements for Elves that graduated from Puck’s School of the Fae and Elven Folk. But Riki wasn’t a fan of the cold, or children, so that very much limited his choices. He couldn’t even help the Tooth Fairy at that rate, and becoming an urban legend was too rare in this day and age to rely on.
He applied to Mother Nature’s program, where Heeseung had gone when he graduated, but quickly backed out when he realised how overwhelming it really all was.
That left him with this, here. The Heat Miser’s Palace.
It was hot, and sweaty, and sometimes downright miserable, but at least he wasn’t freezing his ass off like Sunoo, stuck with sticky kids like Jake or slaving away as a toymaker like Jungwon.
And he liked the people well enough. Everyone was friendly, kind, if a little rushed. There was more pressure in the Heat Miser’s palace these days, with Global Warming slowly rendering their lower meters useless. There was a balance from what he understood, and everyone everywhere was working overtime trying to keep it.
For the first time in forever, he had a call with Jake and Sunoo. Jake loved his placement, and gushed about it for ages. He loved seeing the wonder on the kids' faces as he helped them believe in Christmas again. He even perfected the Hot Chocolate choreography so they promised to let him do it this year.
Sunoo, on the other hand, took a placement with the Snow Miser. He was shivering pretty much the whole call, and Riki almost felt bad about revealing he was in a t-shirt and shorts.
“I haven’t even met the Heat Miser,” Riki confessed. “They all talk about the guy like he’s some myth.”
“Oh!” Sunoo perked up. “I met him.”
Riki stared at the little Sunoo on his screen, blinking slowly. “You… what?”
“I met him, the Heat Miser,” Sunoo repeated. “He’s really nice, actually. Even when he was frustrated he spoke kindly to me.”
“How did you meet the Heat Miser?” Riki asked, surprised.
“He came up here to complain to the Snow Miser. It was a big mess apparently, and it was a misfiling on our end, so they had to fix it here first before the Heat Miser could fix it there,” Sunoo shrugged. “But the Misers are actually pretty nice, I’m not sure why everyone’s scared of them.”
“Because they’re big, all encompassing deities that control the weather?” Jake suggested.
Sunoo seemed to consider that. “No, but they... they kind of just look like… like guys, really. Just normal guys.” He paused. “Gorgeous, like, ethereal and beautiful in a way I can’t really describe, but at the base of it they’re just a couple of guys.”
There was a ring off camera, and Sunoo checked his pager before frowning. “I have to go,” Sunoo informed them. “But let’s call again soon- with Jungwonie and Heeseung hyung too, I miss them.”
“I should head out too,” Jake admitted. “We need to get the coal loaded since it’s almost time, and the Conductor wanted to speak with me.”
“If you do the ride before we see you next, good luck!” Sunoo waved.
“Good luck hyung!” Riki added and off they went.
He only got a moment of peace before his own pager was buzzing.
Despite the humidity that often clung to his skin, Riki could feel his blood run cold.
He was being summoned by the Heat Miser himself.
Riki tried not to panic. He reviewed everything he had ever done the whole way to the Main Office. His job was fairly simple, if a little mind numbing at times. He, and a few other elves, were assigned to watch the Northern Hemisphere when the Heat Miser’s focus was on the South. They were trained to simply read the large map and keep note of any oddities that may arise. Most of the time, it was their own fault, and something that could be remedied in house. When it became summer for the other half of the world, it was easy to neglect the parts in the North that weren’t meant to go below a certain temperature. Oftentimes the neglect led to backdrafts or overdrafts of winter winds from neighbouring regions, or a storm cloud that got out of hand because the Weather Control room wasn’t keeping a close enough eye on the Old Man who handled the rain. Those were easy, rectifiable mistakes that were an oversight on their end.
But once in a while, there was a mistake from the other side. A misfiling, usually, and the Snow Miser’s Palace would accidentally access the wrong weather controls. This was a more difficult process, and often required reporting directly to the Heat Miser, or one of his assistants because it could only be solved by the Snow Miser’s palace themselves.
Riki had prayed they would never have to deal with that while he was on shift, but, alas, Mother Nature was not on his side. He had been watching Canada- a fairly easy country since most of it was meant to have snow in December -when one of the critical areas lit up blue, which only meant one thing.
Snowfall.
Riki watched it start as a deep sapphire, but quickly started lightening up, which meant the amount was getting larger. By the time he scrambled to hit the button, the light was already an ice blue, nearly white, which meant fifty centimetres at least. He quickly wrote out his report, grabbed his badge and booked it out of their Monitoring Room.
He had left the report with the secretary and returned to his post to keep an eye on the situation. A few hours passed, and he could see the white dim down. By the next day it was gone completely.
He hadn’t heard anything of it since, so he just assumed it was a crisis averted and something he didn’t need to worry about anymore.
Only now he was forced to worry about it, because why else would the Heat Miser be requesting him?
He made it to the office and was let in quickly. The Heat Miser was sitting behind his desk with rimless glasses perched on his nose as he wrote something down. He was in a black, three piece suit, the jacket thrown over the back of his desk chair and his arms exposed in the vest. His arms were toned, and it was clear he was in shape. He was intimidating, to put it bluntly.
Riki swallowed and stood before him anxiously. The Heat Miser looked up and set his pen down slowly, leaning back in his chair. He locked his fingers together and rested them on his stomach, eying Riki curiously.
“You’re the Watcher that caught the snowstorm in Vancouver, right?” He asked after a moment.
“Yes sir,” Riki nodded quickly.
The Heat Miser wrinkled his nose up at the term and shook his head. For a fleeting moment, the intimidating aura gave way to something decidedly more cute, and it was throwing Riki off.
“How old are you, kid?” He asked curiously.
“Nineteen,” Riki said quickly.
The Heat Miser nodded. “You can call me hyung then, if you’d like.”
Riki knew looks were deceiving, especially for deities. The Heat Miser looked like a twenty-something year old, especially when he took his glasses off, but realistically he was older than even some holiday deities.
However, his boss was sitting there, not terminating him and asking him to be familiar enough with him to call him hyung instead of sir, so Riki wasn’t about to point that out.
“Alright… Hyung,” he tacked on nervously.
A small smile came to his face, and Riki could see what Sunoo had been saying. Job and disposition aside, the Heat Miser seemed like a warm, kind and caring man.
“I have a meeting with Mother Nature today, to discuss some of the issues with the current Weather systems. Everyone will be there. Father Time, the Old Man, Snow Miser, everyone.” He observed Riki curiously. “You put in an application for Mother Nature but voluntarily withdrew, is that correct?”
“Yes s- uh, hyung,” Riki nodded. “It felt a little out of my depth.”
The Heat Miser hummed, still observing him before he nodded, getting up and pulling on his suit jacket. “I take a staff member with me when I go to these things, and I’d like to invite you this time.”
“Really?” Riki blinked rapidly. “Why?”
The Heat Miser raised his eyebrow. “You were the one who noticed the snow storm, right?” He repeated. Riki nodded, and the Heat Miser nodded in return. “I like to reward the staff that do an exceptional job.” He paused. “You don’t have to come with me, if you don’t want to. I can ask someone else-”
“No, no,” Riki said quickly. “I want to go. I’ll go. Thank you for the offer,” he bowed quickly.
The Heat Miser patted his shoulder. “Alright, follow me.”
Riki scrambled after him, matching his long strides over to a series of doors. Something pricked at the back of his neck, and he couldn’t help but roll his shoulders back as he looked around. He hadn’t noticed them at first, but now that he saw them, he wasn’t sure how he had ever missed them.
Each door looked handcrafted and worn down with age. Some of the doors were familiar symbols- a large evergreen casted with silver and gold in a way that seemed to be carefully laid, an Easter egg that had been clearly hand painted, a jack-o-lantern that seemed to have a flicker of a flame in the eyes. Riki looked between them all surprised. “What’s this?” He asked.
The Heat Miser looked at him surprised. “You don’t know what the Doors are?” He asked in return. “They don’t teach you about them at Pucks?”
Riki looked back at him with wide eyes. “The Doors? Like, the Doors?” He repeated. “The ones that lead to the other domains? I thought those were a myth.”
The Heat Miser sighed and shook his head. “We deal in myths, we are myths, you think they would teach you better.” He grumbled. “These are the Doors, there’s a set in every domain. It’s so we can all stay connected without issue,” he explained. “We’ll be taking this one.”
He stepped over to a plain looking door. The wood was splintering, and the golden handle was dull after constant use. That pin prick feeling was harsher here, stinging his skin.
“It’s the magic,” the Heat Miser told him without being asked. “You’ll get used to it.”
They stepped through the door. Immediately, there was a tug in his stomach. The tug turned harsh, and a scream ripped through his throat before he collapsed on the ground.
“Sorry kid,” the Heat Miser winced, helping him up. “I should’ve warned you.”
“It’s okay,” Riki gasped for breath, holding onto the Heat Miser until he could stand on his own.
The Heat Miser, in turn, rubbed his back and murmured soft assurances that they could take as much time as he needed to recover. He apologised more than once for his lack of warning, and Riki found he didn't mind the support the Heat Miser offered. He missed his hyungs more often than he cared to admit, it felt nice to have one again for a moment.
“Did you forget to warn your staff again?” A voice asked from behind them.
The Heat Miser closed his eyes and took a deep breath before slowly turning towards the new man. He was dressed in all white- almost identical to the Heat Misers.
At his side was Sunoo, who was looking at Riki surprised.
“Mr. Snow, how kind of you to join us,” The Heat Miser said, unimpressed.
“You’re the one running behind, Mr. Sun, we’ve been here.” The man snorted.
The Heat Miser smirked, leaning forward and crowding the Snow Miser, who kept a straight face as he looked down at him.
“So you’ve been waiting for me to arrive, Frosty?” He asked quietly. “Did you miss me that much?”
Riki watched in fascination as the Snow Miser kept his mask on, but the tips of his ears turned red- and it wasn’t from frostbite. “Behave yourself,” he scolded, jerking his head towards the little cottage at the end of the cobblestone road before them. “Let’s go.”
The Heat Miser hummed, the smirk still firmly on his face as they walked towards the house. The cottage itself was quaint. It was eggshell white with a brown roof, surrounded by a luscious garden with more fruits and flowers than Riki had ever seen before. The middle of the house was shaped like a triangle, with woodwork underneath the awning and beautifully contructed stairs leading up to the doorway. There was more of the cottage on either side of the giant triangle to make it look like more of an actual house, but Riki couldn't see through the windows clearly. With the pinprick feeling back on his neck, and the goosebumps that rose on his arms, he felt it was safe to assume there was magic at work here.
He fell into step with a surprisingly familiar figure once he stopped analysing the building.
“What are you doing here?” Riki whispered to Sunoo.
“I was gonna ask you the same thing,” he whispered back, stealing looked at the Misers in front of them.
“I was asked to come by the Heat Miser,” he mumbled.
“Oh, do you know him, Sunoo?” The Snow Miser asked, glancing behind them.
“We graduated together from Pucks, sir.” Sunoo explained shyly.
“Sunoo-yah, I didn’t see you there, sorry about that,” the Heat Miser turned back to him and flashed him a smile that felt familiar- it wasn't even directed at Riki, but it eased his mind a little more. “How are you? Keeping out of trouble?”
“Yes sir,” Sunoo nodded dutifully. “It’s good to see you again.”
“Oh, you can call me hyung,” the Heat Miser waved his hand. “No need for the formalities.”
“Don’t do that,” the Snow Miser scowled at him.
“Do what?” The Heat Miser asked innocently.
The Snow Miser narrowed his eyes at him further, and the Heat Miser’s smirk only grew. He leaned forward and whispered something to him, too quiet for Riki to make out. But the Snow Miser’s neck flushed the same way his ears had, and he turned away from him.
When they arrived at the cottage, they were instructed to wait outside the kitchen, off in the left side of the cottage. It was a cozy looking living room with a mismatched set of couches and big, comfy chairs. The fire place was going, and tea cups, plates of snacks, treats and desserts and books flew around on their own, serving the other occupants of the room. Other staff members, Riki guessed, based on their uniforms and groupings. It was then that he recognised some familiar faces.
“Jungwon hyung?” Riki said in surprise.
“Jake hyung!” Sunoo waved and they joined their friends.
“The Big Guy’s here this close to Christmas?” Riki asked.
“Nah, he sent Mrs. Claus in his stead,” Jungwon shook his head. “I’m more surprised the Conductor is here,” he looked at Jake.
“It’s the Polar Express,” Jake shrugged. “There needs to be a Polar for it to work, I guess.”
“What are you guys doing here?”
The four of them turned around to see Heeseung standing there, staring at them in shock.
“Hyung!” They all shouted and ran over to greet him, each of them bursting into their own story of being invited.
They spoke over each other, each story bleeding into each other. Heeseung was a dutiful and attentive hyung though, nodding along and responding accordingly. If Riki wasn't so excited about seeing everyone, but especially Heeseung who he hadn't even called in months, he would be in more awe. Was this really the same hyung who couldn't count and sing at the same time? A few years with Mother Nature and suddenly he can multitask? He would have to ask about what kind of training they did here, was it required-
“Remember when we were that excited?” Riki heard the Heat Miser comment and he glanced over to see him staring at their little reunion wistfully.
The Snow Miser hummed, but his gaze was still on the Heat Miser, studying him like he was trying to commit him to memory. “Yeah,” he said quietly.
The Heat Miser looked back at him, and there was a moment where they were both quiet. They stared at each other with a type of heat and longing that Riki couldn’t describe, even with a thousand years at the Heat Miser Palace. It sort of felt like they were having their own reunion, as if they missed each other the way Riki and his friends had. As if they had been separated for years, and didn't have weekly meetings about the equilibrium. The Snow Miser exhaled and turned away first, heading into where a kitchen would be in a normal cottage. The Heat Miser stared after him before sighing, turning back to their group.
“Riki, behave,” he told him. “You represent me while you’re here, alright?”
“Yes hyung,” Riki nodded once.
A small smile flickered to his lips and he nodded in return, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “It was good to see you Sunoo,” he added.
“You too hyung,” Sunoo beamed at him.
“Heat Miser,” the Snow Miser popped his head back out- no silly nickname, no bite, just... his name.
Riki was under the impression he didn't say it so plainly very often.
“Everyone’s waiting on us.”
His voice was undeniably gentle, like the Heat Miser was a freshly pressed pane of glass that needed to be handled with care. It was a world of difference from the monotone or snark he took with him outside.
The Heat Miser sighed, dropping his head before turning and following the Snow Miser inside.
“Hey, what’s with…” Riki turned back to his hyungs.
It was Heeseung who cleared his throat and glanced at some of the other staff waiting in the living room area. He dropped his voice so they all had to huddle close to have any hope of hearing him. “There’s a lot of the deities that blame the Heat Miser,” he mumbled. “They think he’s the reason the seasons have been all out of order.”
“What?” Sunoo jolted.
“It’s not his fault, Global Warming is messing with our systems too,” Riki protested.
Heeseung shushed them, looking around quickly. “That’s not what the other deities think,” he whispered. “They think he’s slowly increasing the temperature on purpose, hoping no one notices until it’s too late.”
“But he’s not,” Riki said immediately. “He wouldn’t.”
Riki didn’t know the Heat Miser well, but something about him assured him he was a good person. He obviously cared about the weather and the environment, handling sometimes even the most minor of cases himself, citing how the littlest action can have the biggest impact. Despite his outside appearance, he seemed attentive and kind. Sunoo raved about his kindness earlier today, he didn’t think someone like that would try to slowly cook the planet.
“It’s the humans,” Sunoo agreed. “Everyone knows that. The Heat Miser wouldn’t do that.”
“Well, I’ve heard rumours…” Jungwon said carefully. “About his cruelty.”
“Those are just rumours,” Riki insisted. “He’s kind, and warm, and- and he wants us to call him hyung. He's our hyung.”
He felt borderline hysterical with this information. The kind man who wanted to reward him for helping, who rubbed his back like a father or brother would until he could catch his breath after being sucked through the portal for the first time and who Sunoo swore was nice to him despite his frustration couldn’t be intentionally trying to ruin the world.
“Mother Nature doesn’t agree with them,” Heeseung assured him. “From what I heard, the Snow Miser doesn’t either. They just need to convince the rest of the deities.”
“Is that why the Snow Miser waited for him?” Riki blinked. “For a united front?”
“Maybe he thought he just needed a friend,” Jake said after a moment. “He didn’t look like he thought he would see him again after this.”
Heeseung looked uncomfortable, shifting back and forth. “That’s what you guys are here for.”
“Pardon?” Jake blinked.
“If something happens to a deity in one of these meetings, it’s their plus one’s job to return to their realm to inform the other staff.” Heeseung explained slowly. “I’ve never seen it happen before, but that’s why you’re here.”
Riki looked at the doors anxiously.
Fight for him, he willed silently. Let him walk out of there.
A cool hand found his, their fingers slotting together easily as he squeezed it in return.
Sunoo must like living at the Snow Miser’s palace. He couldn’t remember his hand ever being this cold.
It was comfortable though.
-
They sat there in a perpetual state of minor panic for the next few hours. Jungwon told them of the rumours that milled through the North Pole, and they distinguished which ones they believed were entirely false, and which ones seemed to have a level of validity to them.
Once those were exhausted, there was nothing else to do but talk about their experiences. Heeseung elected to stay with them- with Winter and Summer well underway in their respective hemispheres, his job with the Autumn Equinox was rather lax this time of year.
It was sort of nice, actually. The five of them hadn’t been together like this in a very long time. Since before Heeseung graduated at least. And for a moment, he had nearly forgotten the stress of what the long hours could mean. Especially since he was leaning against Jake as he told them about the Polar Express’ hot chocolate prep, and Sunoo’s head was in his lap. The Snow Miser’s representative clearly wasn't used to the early hours, having gotten acclimated to the night shift he was on. He was nearly asleep half way through Jungwon's description of the time he saw The List.
Finally the doors swung open. Different deities started exiting, and their representatives stood to leave with them. They each casted odd looks towards their little group of five, and Riki wanted to know why it seemed so weird to them that they could maintain such friendships.
Jungwon was the first of them to leave, hugging them all quickly before bounding after Mrs. Claus, who offered them each a pleasant smile.
Jake was next, apologetically shifting out from Riki’s weight. He kissed Sunoo’s temple and ruffled Riki’s hair before holding Heeseung a beat longer than usual. He followed the Conductor out, who barely spared them a glance.
Riki watched everyone else file out, the living room numbers dwindling until only he, Sunoo and Heeseung remained.
The door opened again, and a woman’s head popped out. She had long, wavy hair that reminded Riki of mahogany, and eyes the colour of freshly turned soil. Her cheeks were a warm pink. She looked youthful, soft and innocent. But Riki couldn’t so much see as he could feel underneath, there was a large power, a force to be reckoned with. He froze where he sat, and Sunoo looked up, also stiffening.
Only Heeseung seemed relatively unphased, standing up and bowing quickly.
“Mother Nature,” he greeted.
“Are they gone?” She whispered.
Heeseung nodded and the woman, Mother Nature herself, sighed and stepped out, holding the door open. “The coast is clear.” She announced.
The Snow Miser stepped out first, his eyes landing on Sunoo. He looked surprised. Sunoo bolted up from his position and stood quickly, bowing just as fast. Riki scrambled up, his chest tightening until the Heat Miser stepped out behind him.
“Hyung,” Riki said quickly, propriety out the window as he rushed forward, looking him over frantically. “You’re okay.”
The Heat Miser looked surprised at Riki’s concern before he softened, offering him a small smile. He reached up and ruffled his hair in unfiltered affection. “I’m okay,” he assured him. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s just- Jungwon hyung said they blamed you and- and Heeseung hyung said we’re hear to report if something happens- and, well, you looked so worried going in and-” Riki stammered.
“I’m okay,” the Heat Miser repeated. “I’m not that easy to get rid of.”
“Unfortunately.” The Snow Miser snorted, but there was no bite to his words, and the Heat Miser rolled his eyes in response.
“Shuhua- Noona- er Mother Nature,” The Heat Miser turned to her, bowing his head. “Thank you for standing your ground. I’m indebted to you.”
“Nonsense,” Mother Nature waved him off. “I’m more offended that they truly believed my judgement to be that terrible. I picked you boys ages ago, there’s no reason for that decision to be brought into question now.”
Riki thought Mother Nature’s tone sounded a lot like the Snow Miser’s tone when he and the Heat Miser were bickering. A fondness lay beneath the general air of annoyance, and Riki sort of like that they seemed to at least have each other.
“Still, I’m grateful.” The Heat Miser said quietly.
“Some of them forget sometimes,” The Snow Miser added. “We're a united front. If one of us goes down, we all go down.” He pressed his lips together in a thin line. “I thought it was mighty big of Father Time to be trying to accuse you of anything when it’s him who can throw our systems out of order with just a sneeze.” He rolled his eyes.
“They’re looking for someone to blame, it makes sense to blame the one supposedly in charge of the heat,” he hummed. “Still, I’m grateful to have you both on my side.”
He was addressing them both, but his eyes lingered on the Snow Miser for just a moment longer than he should have. The Snow Miser couldn’t keep eye contact, his eyes darting away quickly as that pesky blush rose to his ears again.
Mother Nature seemed exasperated with them, and Riki wondered briefly if this was a common interaction with them.
“Alright, alright. With that settled, please return to your domains. I’m in desperate need of a nap.” She sighed dramatically.
“Of course, Mother Nature. Don’t let us keep you.” The Heat Miser bowed quickly before moving in, hugging her briefly.
She held him for a moment, mumbling something in his ear. The Heat Miser nodded along and pulled away. The Snow Miser was next, murmuring a soft thank you, Noona, before hugging her just as fast.
They bid goodbye to Heeseung, who had to stay behind to clean up, and followed the Miser’s out of the cottage.
“I’ll try again with the Midwest in North America,” the Snow Miser told him about half way down the path. “We’ll get the wildfires to a minimum next summer, you’ll see. It’ll help.”
“Thank you, Su- Snow Miser.” The Heat Miser sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I should get back, Mother Nature knows what Weather Control has done to by Australia now.”
“You could always give Australia a break,” The Snow Miser suggested. “I could send in a little cold front,” he wiggled his fingers at him, getting in his face a bit. “A little polar vortex never hurt anyone.”
“We are not sending a polar vortex to Australia in December. I’m pretty sure the whole country would collapse.” The Heat Miser rolled his eyes, but there was a small smile he couldn’t seem to wipe off his face.
The Snow Miser hummed and stopped in front of his door. “I’ll see you next week for our meeting.” He said, hands still in his pockets.
The Heat Miser nodded and looked him over. “I’ll let you know what to wear. We can’t match like this, it suggests things to the staff, and you know how they love to gossip.” He smirked a little.
The Snow Miser rolled his eyes, but that blush was back and it seemed to silently egg the Heat Miser on.
“Perhaps pink? I think it suits you well.” He added.
The Snow Miser scoffed and opened his door, the cold air seemingly cooling off his blush. “And have Eros on my ass about stealing his aesthetic? Absolutely not. Last time someone pissed him off, he made the Easter Bunny fall in love with a rotten egg for a week.” He rolled his eyes. “I’ll see you next week,” he nodded to Riki. “It was nice meeting you, Riki.”
Riki bowed quickly.
“Come on Sunoo, I’ll debrief you when we’re home.” The Snow Miser ducked through the door and waited with an outstretched hand.
“I’ll call you later,” Sunoo said, pulling Riki into a hug. “Get back safe.”
“You too, hyung.” Riki hugged him back and watched as Sunoo took the Snow Miser’s hand before they disappeared together.
Riki turned back to the Heat Miser, who was observing him curiously.
“How did you say you knew him?” He asked.
“Puck’s,” Riki shrugged. “None of us knew the other would be the representative, so this was all a bit of a shock. It was nice to see everyone though, even with the circumstances.”
The Heat Miser hummed and nodded. “Let’s head home.” He said, casting one more look at the Snow Miser’s door before heading to his own.
He offered a hand to Riki, who took it without question as they disappeared through the portal.
---
Sunoo was bored. He had moved up to be an assistant to the Snow Miser, which in itself wasn’t the problem, but days like these were dreadfully boring. The Snow Miser had disappeared for the day, and Sunoo didn’t know what to do with himself.
“Sunoo,” one of the Weather Control specialists waved him down. “Can you retrieve the Snow Miser for us? We have a series of questions we need answered, and it would be best to discuss them rather than write and wait.”
“Right now?” Sunoo asked, surprised.
“Yes, right now,” the Weather Control Specialist waved him off. “Thank you.”
Sunoo headed out and went searching for the Snow Miser everywhere. He wasn’t in his office, or his study, or even the library.
He passed by a hall and slowed to a stop. There was a familiar humidity flowing from the hall, one he had only felt once a few weeks ago, but was intense enough to remember. He blinked in surprise and turned, heading down. He bumped into Riki on the way.
“Woah!” Riki threw his hands out and steadied him quickly. “Hyung?”
“Riki?” He blinked, holding onto his arms, regaining his balance. “What are you doing here?”
“Weather Control sent me to get Heat Miser.” Riki frowned. “No one knows where he went, but they guessed here since it's about time for their weekly meeting. This seems to be the only warm place in this whole castle, so I thought it would be a good place to start.”
“I have to retrieve the Snow Miser,” Sunoo confessed. “It thought they might be in a meeting too. It would make sense for them to be this far away if that’s true. The Snow Miser was worried he would melt the processor the last time he was here.”
Riki nodded and clung to Sunoo a little as they walked, shivering a little less than when he found him but still clearly cold. Sunoo frowned and rubbed his back.
The further down the hall they got, the heavier the air. It was thick, humid and steamy down here, which just seemed to confirm Sunoo’s suspicions. Hiding away for a meeting made perfect sense. He hadn’t been here that long, and even he was struggling with the new found heat. Not to mention a cold draft would come through once in a while, nearly freezing the moisture on the skin and chilling them to the bone.
When they arrived at a door where the dichotomy of temperature was at its worst, Sunoo figured they must be in there. He wasted no time knocking on the door, huddled up with Riki as they waited.
They stood there shivering and sweating like they had a fever for what felt like forever, but it was really only a few minutes, when the door opened. A cloud of steam dispersed into the hall, and for a moment it was suffocating before the temperature seemed to regulate a little bit.
The Heat Miser stood before them, looking a little out of it. His hair was a mess, and it looked like he had just rolled out of bed as he yawned, rubbing his eyes.
He might have too, because he was dressed in nothing but a white robe, the wrap tied around his waist and ending just above his knees. There was so much honey skin on display, so much skin, but the drastic temperature shifts didn’t seem to bother him at all as the three of them stared at each other.
“Jay-ah,” a sort of familiar voice groaned. “Come back to bed.”
Sunoo thought it sounded like the Snow Miser, only, he had never heard him like this before. He was whiny, needy and clearly sleepy as he dragged himself out of bed and wrapped himself around the Heat Miser from behind. A long pale arm secured around his waist, pulling him back a bit as he pressed a few kisses to his neck, dressed in nothing but a silky black robe and what was happening right now?
“Hoon-ah, it’s the kids,” The Heat Miser looked at him over his shoulder, one of his own arms coming down to hold the Snow Miser’s in place.
That seemed to wake the Snow Miser up. His eyes snapped open and he looked at them for a split second before he reached forward and shut the door.
Sunoo glanced over at Riki, who was looking more than a little traumatised by the whole thing.
“They seem busy,” Riki said faintly.
“We’ll come back later,” Sunoo agreed and they turned, starting back down the hall.
“Wait!” The Heat Miser’s voice trailed after them a beat later.
They turned back around slowly, and Sunoo reached up to instinctively cover Riki’s eyes again, eyeing him warily. But the Heat Miser was wearing a pair of black flannel pyjama bottoms now, and the robe was tied better to hide his previously exposed chest. He looked nervous, scared even. More so than that day at Mother Nature's cottage. Sunoo realised this was something else entirely, something they weren’t supposed to know.
“Please, come back,” the Heat Miser said quietly. “We’ll explain.”
Sunoo dropped his hand from Riki’s eyes and looked at him questioningly. Riki nodded once and they turned back, heading down the hall and right into the room.
The room itself was simple. A king sized bed off to one side, with curtains to draw to keep the light out. A sitting area with a couch and a loveseat, along with a projector facing the wall. Behind that, a kitchenette with only the simplest things- a small fridge, a pantry, and a stove, which currently had a kettle sitting on top, on and heating up.
The most amazing part of the room, however, was the temperature. It was perfect, not too hot or cold but just right. Comfortable. Inviting. Sunoo could take off his coat and that ever present draft he had come to expect was nonexistent. It was like the war of temperatures in the hall called a truce once inside.
The Snow Miser had his back turned to them, readying some mugs, but his ears were burning pink. He too had, thankfully, put on a pair of white pants, the robe replaced with an oversized blue hoodie.
“You can sit there, we’re just brewing tea,” the Heat Miser motioned to the couch, before joining the Snow Miser’s side.
Sunoo tried not to watch, but it was hard. The Heat Miser had his hands on the Snow Miser’s hips, chin hooked over his shoulder as they whispered back and forth. The Heat Miser sighed and kissed his cheek, before fully wrapping his arms around his waist and hugging him properly.
Sunoo mentally reviewed the two interactions he had seen between the Misers, and tried to connect those images to the one presented to him now. Somewhere in the back of his mind, it sort of made sense. That little glimmer of concern in the middle of their bickering, the borderline, if not outright, flirting at Mother Nature’s cottage, followed by the worry etched into the Snow Miser’s face when he thought no one was looking.
The mortal enemies thing never really made sense to Sunoo after his first meeting with the two of them. This, the secret lovers, torrid affair thing made a lot more sense to him.
The Heat Miser set the cups in front of them and poured the tea quietly. The tea itself smelled wonderful- cinnamon and bergamot, a hint of mint and cloves. There was also a note of citrus that had Sunoo cradling the mug and inhaling again. It smelled like comfort in a cup, like the early hours of Christmas morning when the magic still lingered beneath the tree.
The Snow Miser set the milk and sugar down next, a must for black tea. Something in Sunoo’s faltered at being served by their bosses, their seniors, despite the circumstances. They sat across from them with their own mugs. There was no space between them, despite what was available. Instead they pressed together, as if seeking comfort they could only find in each other instead of the mugs they prepared.
“I would say it’s not what it looks like, but I fear it’s exactly what it looks like,” the Heat Miser said after a long moment. “We apologise for hiding it from you.”
“You have to understand, with everything that’s happening, with the scrutiny that Jay- er, the Heat Miser is under right now, he needs a clean slate.” The Snow Miser cleared his throat, but just seemed to press more into the Heat Miser, who absentmindedly leaned over and kissed the top of his head. “If they knew, they would dismiss my protests and arguments as inherently biased, and that would be one less person who would be on his side during the meetings. Our troops are dwindling as is, I cannot be seen as someone they can easily brush off.”
“Is this a… recent development?” Riki asked carefully.
Sunoo observed how the Misers looked at each other and exhaled. “No,” he said quietly. “This has been going on for a while, hasn’t it?”
“Since before we were the Misers,” the Heat Miser confessed. “No one knows.”
“Except Mother Nature,” the Snow Miser added. “She’s known since the beginning.”
“I’m pretty sure she knew before us.” The Heat Miser mused, and the Snow Miser hit his chest lightly.
“Knew before you, you mean,” he scoffed. “I pretty sure I always knew.”
“You tried freezing me solid the first time I met you.” the Heat Miser deadpanned.
“It was an accident, and I said I was sorry,” the Snow Miser said indignantly. "When will you let it go?"
"When you stop threatening to do it again every time you're mad at me." The Heat Miser shot back.
"Maybe don't finish the Polar Express Hot Chocolate without replacing it? That stuffs expensive." The Snow Miser scolded him.
“Hey, hyung?” Riki interrupted the impending argument. “Could you maybe… start from the beginning?” He asked hesitantly.
The Misers looked at each other for a long moment. The Snow Miser nodded subtly and the Heat Miser took a deep breath. He kissed the Snow Miser’s cheek once more and turned back to Sunoo and Riki.
“Before we were the Snow Miser and Heat Miser, we were just Sunghoon and Jay. Just students at Puck’s School for the Fae and Elven Folk. Let’s start there.”