(a/n: This alternate take is pre-Unicorn and has an uninjured Joon just because.  ^_^)

                With the several magical creatures they’d already managed to bring under their protection, one more should have been nothing too major.  Really, adding another to their ranks was something to be proud of, of course, but most of the time, there was a lot of tentativeness on both sides in getting used to the change in settings.  They’d gone through as much with Key, Eunhyuk and Victoria, all of whom had taken time to get adjusted, but the newest MC was a self-proclaimed Jack Frost.

                Luna, Yesung and Henry had all tried to explain what that actually meant on this world and he’d simply shrugged, tilting his head to the side with a chubby-cheek smile, giving them one of the most adorable expressions Luna had ever seen.  The nearest name they could give him otherwise was a snow fairy and he didn’t seem to mind the added title either way.  He was just happy and it was contagious.  After having spent the last several months in the isolated and colder climes of Alaska, he was ecstatic about being around people without having to worry that he’d give himself away.  With that being said, he wasn’t particularly shy about using his magic either, though it was generally to make others smile.

                “Xiumin!” Changmin yelped, hurrying out of the storage freezer while he peered around for the snow fairy to see if he was nearby.  The rest of the kitchen staff chuckled at his reaction, ambling close to see what he’d done this time.  Poking a curious head into the storage unit, they couldn’t help but laugh when they noticed a perfect miniature replica of Changmin as an ice sculpture standing about two foot in height, making a heart with his hands as he was pointed at the doorway.

                “I’d say he’s getting better but they’re always good,” one of the young men chuckled, clapping Changmin on the shoulder.

                “Neh.  Last week it was Sungmin wasn’t it?” another asked with a shake of their head, going back to what they were working on.

                “Looks like Baozi’s done it again,” Luna grinned, leaning back for a better angle to peer at Changmin who brought out the sculpture and set it in a pot so that when it melted, it wouldn’t get water everywhere.

                “Hah!  Why do you suppose he does that?” Henry asked, taking a sip of water, frowning when nothing came out.  When he peered into his cup, he snorted with a roll of his eyes and set the cup of ice back on the table.

                “Because I can,” the aforementioned Xiumin grinned, sliding into place between Henry and Luna, waving at Yesung, Donghae and Victoria brightly.  He looked normal enough in his human guise with a simple white t-shirt, blue jeans, spiked black hair and bright brown eyes, though the temperature did drop slightly in his immediate vicinity.  In his natural form, everything was considerably more white and blue with sparkling frosty eyes and bluish spiked hair.

                “Baozi!” Luna jumped in surprise, ducking her head when the inevitable flush crossed her face.

                “Hey Luna,” he nudged her shoulder with his and chuckled in the back of his throat.

                “Why do you call him that?” Yesung asked, eyeing his own cup to make sure it was fine.  Satisfied, he took a drink and waited for her response.

                “Oh!” she gasped, looking around the table hoping for an escape from answering but everyone seemed interested in her response.

                “Little bun hardly seems accurate,” Victoria murmured, brow furrowed when Donghae told her what it meant, leaning over to whisper into her ear.

                “Yeah, Luna.  Why do you call me ‘little bun’?” Xiumin smiled, resting his chin in the palm of his hand when he placed his elbow on the table and turned to look at her.

                Luna flushed again and laughed nervously, gesturing with her hands as she floundered for a response.  “It’s not that you look like a bun or anything,” she assured him quickly with a shake of her head, making the rest of the table chuckle.  “But the first time I saw you, your um… cheeks,” and she poked both her cheeks with her index fingers, “reminded me of little buns…”  She ducked her head in embarrassment, both hands pressed against .

                “Ah.  Just like our little Mochi,” Donghae grinned looking at his brother.

                “I don’t have chubby cheeks!” Henry defended himself immediately, pointing his finger at his brother with a laugh.

                “Yes you do,” Yesung insisted in a babying tone, pinching one of the cheeks in his fingers playfully.

                “Yah!  Yesung!” Henry yelped, smacking his hand away, laughing when Yesung panicked and ducked as the younger male reached to try and touch his philtrum.

                While Luna picked her head up as the attention shifted away from her, the others laughed at their exchange, Victoria hiding her smile behind her laugh with Donghae giving a hearty chuckle.  “Hey Luna,” Xiumin poked her in the shoulder, drawing her attention back to the snow fairy.

                Luna squeaked and laughed cutely behind her hands when she saw his puffed out cheeks.  Unable to resist, she reached up and poked both his cheeks lightly with her fingers.  With a soft popping sound, he let out the air in his mouth and his cheeks deflated, making Luna flail and giggle.

                “Aw.  There go my puffy cheeks,” he pouted, holding his hands up on either side of him, palms turned up as he shrugged.

                “Sorry,” she apologized, looking at him over her balled up hands in front of .  Why was he so cute?!

                He puffed his cheeks up again and lost them when he couldn’t keep a straight face, laughing as soon as Luna started to.  “Why is he so much cuter when he does that?” Victoria pointed, puffing her cheeks out too.  She chirped in surprise and jerked when Donghae poked her in the cheek with one finger.  “Hae!”

                “Victoria,” he responded, his smile never wavering.

                “Ugh…  Come on guys,” Yesung urged, still fending off Henry’s hands half-heartedly.  “We’ll never get anything done like this,” he reminded them, shaking his head at Xiumin in amusement.

                “Oh!  That’s right!  We were supposed to be looking into those hospital miracles today, weren’t we?” Luna asked.

                “Neh,” Henry agreed, easing away from the table.

                “I’m sure we can get Jiyong to let us use the coms room to investigate,” Yesung nodded, snagging Luna’s sleeve and tugging her along slowly to make sure she had time to actually climb out too.

                “Yesung!” she complained, hurrying to get free as she waved at Xiumin.  “See you guys later!” she bid in farewell, puffing her cheeks out at Xiumin and giggling when she couldn’t maintain it either.

                When they departed, leaving the three alone at the table, Donghae asked, “So what are you up to today, Xiumin?”

                “Me?  Hmm.  I don’t know,” he shrugged, resting his arms on the table and pursing his lips in thought.

                “Care to help me with a painting then?” he asked, nodding towards the doors.

                “Oh?  How would I do that?” the snow fairy asked, quite curious now.

                “I’m trying to do a winter wonderland theme.  I figured you’re the best one to ask in regards to such a setting,” Donghae chuckled.

                “And with your ability to ice sculpt, you could make lasting works.  Until they melted anyway,” Victoria added with slight frown, smiling anyway when he nodded.

                “Sure.  Sounds like fun,” Xiumin answered with an energetic nod, hopping up and bouncing towards the door.

                While his strength was ice and the handling of it, it didn’t take the group long to figure out that the cute snow fairy had other unexpected abilities too.

                “Guys!” Yesung gasped from the doorway, waving at Luna and Henry who were sitting on the same bed, reading the same laptop with concentrating expressions.

                “Yeah?” Henry asked, looking up from the screen first.

                “You have got to come see this!” he waved animatedly.  “Xiumin’s sparring with Sungmin in the training hall!”

                “What?!” the pair yelped in surprise, hurriedly setting the laptop aside before they scrambled off the bed and pelted off after Yesung, hurrying as fast as they could to catch the sight.

                “I hope he doesn’t get hurt!” Luna worried before they reached the room where the rest of Sungmin’s team was gathered around, watching with interest and some awe.

                “Oh!” Jonghyun groaned with an obvious cringe when Sungmin went down.

                “You alright, Captain?” Joon asked, brows raised in appreciation.

                “Yeah,” Sungmin chuckled, picking himself up and shaking his head while Xiumin waited for him to get back to his feet.

                “Ready?” Xiumin asked with an excited smile, bouncing in place.

                “Let’s go,” Sungmin nodded, closing the distance again to exchange a quick series of blows and deft blocks.

                Luna gasped when Xiumin went down but rolled to his feet almost as if he hadn’t fallen, retaliating quicker than Sungmin expected.  Both had vastly different styles but were equally skilled in their own ways, trading blow for blow and moving at speeds that it was difficult for her to follow.

                “That is so cool,” Henry murmured in awe, grinning like a fool as he watched them, nor was he the only one.

                “How did he learn to do that?” Yesung wondered with his head tilted to the side.  They all knew that Sungmin was a practitioner of the martial arts but they had no reason to understand why Xiumin would know anything like it.

                “Does it matter?” Luna asked, cringing when they both went down.

                “Of course it matters,” he responded with a grimace as Sungmin landed a particularly solid kick to his opponent’s abdomen.

                “Come on, Captain!” Amber cheered, smiling at the fight.

                “Yah!” Sungmin yelped all of a sudden, reeling backwards with his hands covering his face.

                “Whoa!”  “Hey!” his teammates cried out at the same time stepping forward immediately.

                “Sorry!” Xiumin gasped, holding his hands up in surrender and backing away to be as unthreatening as possible.

                “What happened?” Luna asked in confusion.

                “I’m alright!” Sungmin urged, blinking his eyes firmly, rubbing at them to clear the rest of the snow particles away.

                “What the hell was that?” Jonghyun asked of the snow fairy with a frown.

                “I’m sorry,” Xiumin offered again, clearly worried.  “I didn’t mean to.  It just… happened.”

                “Easy, Jong,” Sungmin urged, clapping the shorter male on the shoulder as he came up close.  “He just caught me off guard is all,” he explained, nodding at Xiumin to show he didn’t have any hard feelings.  Pulling Jonghyun behind him, he stepped in front of the snow fairy and bowed respectfully.  “Thank you for the match.  Maybe we can try it again sometime.  Without the snow in the face,” he grinned, offering his hand in truce.

                Relieved, Xiumin nodded with a quick smile and accepted the shake, bowing over it in turn.  “I would like that,” he responded.

                “Come on, guys!” Sungmin waved at his team.  “Stop gawking would you?  Grab your gear and meet me in the shooting range.  We’ve got some target practice to take care of!” he ordered, heading for the armory without waiting to see if they’d follow along.

                As the rest of the group broke off with various comments, the remaining trio approached Xiumin at the same time, all trying to speak over one another.  “That was awesome!”  “What happened?”  “Where did you learn that?”

                Looking in confusion between the three, it took Xiumin a moment to puzzle out what they were saying.  “Well, I learned it in Braelythe,” he answered with a nod.  “It’s a style of self-defense we learn in order to help protect ourselves against angry Wendigos and Yetis in particular.  They’re not terrible by themselves but they both have horrible tempers and bad attitudes.  Snow in the face is a technique we use to distract them when necessary, which is what I hit Sungmin with,” he shrugged apologetically.

                “You’ve been in fights against Yetis and Wendigos?!” Yesung gasped with his jaw dropping open.  Xiumin nodded once, chirping in the back of his throat in confirmation.  “Are they really as big and scary as the pictures we have of them?” he asked quickly, practically dominating the conversation while Henry and Luna listened in.

                She would have liked to ask more but she was rather mesmerized by what she’d seen with their combat.  Like everyone else, she knew that Sungmin was an accomplished fighter and she’d seen him go up against his teammates a time or two, but this had been something else entirely.  It was a like a dance she didn’t know the steps to but couldn’t look away for fear of missing something.

                While he chatted with Yesung, she found herself listening to the cadence of his voice, the tone soothing and even, a smile evident in the flow of words.  Not only could he make beautiful works out of ice, but he was practically always happy, displaying an unusual amount of aegyo she found hard to match.  She was also pitifully susceptible to it too, if she was being honest with herself.  Add to that this new amazing ability of his all wrapped up in his relatively-short-but-still-taller-than-her chubby cheeked stature and he was, in short, awesome, adorable and…

                “Could you maybe try to teach me sometime?” she asked before she knew what she was doing.

                Xiumin and Yesung paused and looked at her, the latter giving her a skeptical expression.  “Wouldn’t it take years to figure it out?” he asked.

                Crestfallen, Luna looked down and tapped her index fingers together uncertainly, “I just thought…”

                “Normally yes,” Xiumin answered Yesung’s question but the smile he gave to Luna was entirely for her.  “But it’s never too late to start.”

                “Really?!” she gasped excitedly, looking up and practically bouncing in place, face beaming.

                “Eh…  Count me out,” Yesung chuckled with a wave of his hand.  “Gotta give the military team something to be useful for,” he teased light heartedly.

                “Be careful you don’t let them hear you say that,” Henry warned with a shake of his head.  “And I don’t know.  It might be fun after all,” he shrugged, not ruling the possibility out.

                “I would be happy to show you,” Xiumin nodded at Henry once before returning his gaze to Luna.  “Would you care to start tomorrow maybe?” he offered with a smooth gesture of his hand.

                “Neh!” she agreed quickly, secretly glad that he hadn’t suggested today.  This way she’d have a chance to get mentally prepared for it; and it would give her heart a chance to stop beating so fast…

                The next day, as promised, Xiumin started his training with her in the recreation hall.  Out of curiosity, Henry joined in while Yesung watched from the bleachers and teased lightly as they fumbled through the first steps.  Over the next few days, Xiumin and Luna met without fail, sometimes with Henry and sometimes not.  Occasionally, their lessons were interrupted by the military team joining in with the odd sparring match against the snow fairy.

                Even with the distractions, it was obvious that Luna was his focus when they came together; and vice versa really.  His hands helped to position her when she wasn’t sure about a stance and when she faltered with something, he guided her through the steps with patient, steady instructions.  He was reluctant to teach her throws, if only because he didn’t want to throw her when he was showing how it was done, but she didn’t complain and actually insisted on it.

                The first time she ended up on the floor from a very controlled toss, she blinked up at him leaning over her.  “Wow,” she laughed breathlessly.  “I can see why that would work against a Yeti,” she nodded to herself, accepting Xiumin’s hand to pull her to her feet.

                He caught her other shoulder to steady her, holding onto her lightly in front of him while he laughed in response, “Well, that’s mostly used against Wendigos actually.  The Yetis are a bit too big to toss effectively.”

                “Oh,” she answered, eyes smiling as she ducked her head in understanding.  “Alright.  Can you show me again please?” she asked, grabbing his hand excitedly.

                “S-sure,” he smiled and nodded, carefully adjusting their position and instructing her again on how to execute the throw he was demonstrating.

                The first couple times she tried to actually perform the throw he was teaching her, she found herself blushing so hard it was hard to concentrate.  It couldn’t have anything to do with the fact that the hip throw they were focusing on now had her practically hugging him...  And when he was showing her, the feel of his arm around her waist, pressing their bodies together just before he deftly sent her head over heels was not something she was going to forget any time soon.

                “There you go,” he smiled encouragement.  “Just hold my wrist with your left hand and you slide your right arm around my side as you step into my body, using your hip to throw me over your body.”

                “Okay…” she murmured, awkwardly following through as instructed.  Her first attempt, she pivoted too far into his body, bumping him and offsetting both their balance when she tried to heft him over her hip.  The result was her gaining enough purchase to lift one of his feet off the ground but with her failing control, she stumbled backwards with Xiumin behind her, both struggling to stay upright.

                “Whoa!” they gasped, landing in a tangle of limbs on the floor with his arms wrapped around her protectively as she lay on top of him, held in a firm back hug for lack of a better descriptor.  “Oops!” she cringed, looking over her shoulder only to feel herself flush even more with his face being mere inches from hers.

                “Are you alright?” he asked, loosening his hold so that she could shift when she was ready, expression concerned as he noticed the flush to her features.

                She pursed her lips and nodded quickly, humming under her breath.  “I’m good,” she responded, briefly frozen in place as she searched his eyes, noticing if she looked hard enough, he had what appeared to be tiny snowflakes shimmering in the dark irises.

                “Oh!” Yesung’s voice startled the pair in a singsong tone that clearly indicated he thought something other than training was going on.

                Quicker than she would have ever given herself credit for, Luna hopped up from Xiumin and laughed, brushing herself off self-consciously while the snow fairy got to his feet smoothly.  “Yesung.  What are you doing here?” she asked, waving nervously at Henry who was just smiling in amusement.

                “Ah, we just came to check on you and all,” Yesung assured her.  “Looks like you are doing quite well if I do say so myself,” he winked teasingly.

                “It was my first try!” she defended herself, flushing brilliantly.

                “You did well,” Xiumin assured her with a hand on her shoulder.  “Come.  We can try again if you’d like?”

                “This I’ve gotta see,” Yesung chuckled, settling in.

                “You can do it, Luna!” Henry grinned, watching from the sidelines as well.

                Needless to say, Luna’s focus was a bit more determined with those two watching and while it wasn’t a perfect throw by any means, she rather awkwardly managed to haul Xiumin’s body over her hip, almost falling on top of him again when she overbalanced and stuttered forward.  Xiumin helped to steady her with his hands, giving her something to hold onto so she didn’t trip over him entirely but it was impossible to play off as Yesung laughed.

                “I’d like to see you try,” she fumed, glaring at him.

                “Hey.  You volunteered for it,” he reminded her with a shrug.  “But good job.  You did manage to throw him,” he added.

                “Yep,” Xiumin agreed, bouncing up next to her with a congratulatory smile.  “Good job.”

                “Oh yeah,” she smiled, pride mildly assuaged.  “I did it!”

                That success was followed by several others over the days and while she did eventually become more comfortable around him, she never could quite eliminate the blush that came with the close contact the throws provided.  Fortunately for her, that was only a small part of what he taught her, but Xiumin wasn’t exactly blind either.

                They gathered again for their regular training, noticing only a handful of other people in residence on the equipment in the recreation hall and no Yesung or Henry this time around.  Easily, the pair warmed up, sparring loosely with Xiumin very obviously taking it easy on the more assured but still awkward Luna.  She wore a focused expression, trying to pay attention to everything at once, struggling to react appropriately when he threw in an attack or two.  Eventually, she found an opportunity to execute one of the throws and moved against his body to position herself and… stopped.

                Confusion washed over her features as she tugged at his body, feeling immediate resistance.  She was doing everything right…  That was when she realized they were face to face with her arm wrapped around his side, bodies flush against each other.  “Baozi?” she asked quietly, feeling her face flush immediately.

                “Luna,” he smiled his tone soft and gaze amused.  “I notice you do this,” and he gestured at his face with his unclaimed hand, continuing on, “a lot, when we are like this.  And your temperature goes up slightly too.”

                “Ah hah,” Luna laughed nervously, biting her bottom lip and looking everywhere but his eyes as she tried to complete the toss again, having no success whatsoever.  “Well…” she trailed off, laughing once.  “About that…”  Taking a quick breath, she looked him straight in the eyes and kissed him quickly on the lips, catching him by surprise.

                “Oh!” he gasped, blinking quickly with a smile playing on his lips.

                “Nope!  Didn’t help,” she giggled in a higher pitched tone, blushing harder when actually kissing him like she wanted to do for days now made the effect worse.

                Xiumin pressed his left arm against her back, holding her close in a warmer embrace, and lowered his lips to hers, smiling at the surprised chirp she gave in response.  Shyly, he pulled back to meet her gaze, searching her eyes with his, and admitted, “I liked it.”

                Luna giggled to herself, smiling hard.  “I did too.”

                “Can we do that again?” he asked, eyes falling to her lips before sweeping up again.

                “Yes please,” she nodded in a soft whisper, letting his wrist go as she stood up and shifted to face him directly, moving out of her throwing pose.

                Xiumin laughed at her response, chubby cheeks standing out when he smiled, but he wrapped his now freed arm around her too, holding her tenderly as they kissed once more, their lips moving against each other’s slowly.

                An amused whistle startled them and the pair jumped, looking over at Henry who waved with a mischievous smile on his face.  “Is that some new move I was unaware of?” he asked with a wink, chuckling when Luna ducked her head in embarrassment but didn’t immediately step away from Xiumin.  “Just a heads up but Yesung should be here shortly, so…” he trailed off, gesturing with one hand in a shrug.

                “So we should probably finish this lesson,” Luna giggled as she looked up at Xiumin, finally feeling the flush receding.

                “Probably,” he agreed easily, releasing his hold on her only to capture her hand, pressing his lips to the back of it warmly.

                Luna squealed delightedly, having a hard time holding still as she reluctantly reclaimed her hand.  “You ready, Baozi?” she beamed, biting her bottom lip as she squared off against him.

                “I’m ready if you are,” he conceded with a nod of his head, eyes smiling as they came together once more.

                Off to the side, Henry couldn’t stop smiling and when Yesung came over he looked at him with a nod.  “How they doing?” the older male asked, watching their interaction with interest.

                “Oh, I think they’re doing quite well,” he nodded to himself, letting his gaze land upon the duo again.  “Quite well indeed.”

(a/n: It took me a bit longer to figure out what direction I wanted to move this in but I am satisified by the overall result.  I hope you are too PureBride.  :)  So I am learning Exo's members slowly and Baozi is definitely more adorable than I initially gave him credit for.  lol  The next oneshot is tentatively slated to be a Luna and Lay one so we'll see what happens.  After that, who knows?  Thanks for reading though and I hope you enjoyed!)