"There you go, love," John said with an uncharacteristic hint of pride in his voice. "You got it."

When Zee pawned a random child onto John in the middle of the holidays, asking him to mind the kid for a few days, he'd been...upset. The man had no chill, no filter, no patience, and very limited amounts of empathy. He'd tried to argue, but then she'd reminded him of the roughly five hundred favors he'd owed her by that point, and he'd grudgingly accepted.

Now he was actually somewhat glad he had. The little tyke was bloody brilliant, picking up spells with an ease he hadn't seen in a long time. John wasn't a paternal guy, far from it—but something in him was stirring. Granted, it could've just been today's dinner. He'd been experimenting with a new recipe, and, well, it could've gone better. But hey, he hadn't been about to waste perfectly (debatable) good food.

His new student's snow spell grew stronger. John arched an eyebrow as what was a smattering of snowflakes suddenly grew into a flurry, and the room's temperature dropped several degrees. Then a snowflake fell onto his cheek. Then another. Then several more. Soon a blizzard had descended upon the apartment. John let out an irritated sigh, his eyes briefly glowing purple as the blizzard immediately subsided. He was now covered in snow.

"Maybe try not to make me into a snowman next time, eh, kiddo? I know it's thematically accurate, holidays and all, but I do prefer my appendages thawed, thank you very much."