[Thin Ice V2] Outline
CHAPTER NINE
SCENE 1:
Cale gets blindsided by the protagonist. Sayer along with his father drops by unannounced and Cale spends the entire visit on pins and needles. Isaac is quietly disapproving that they didn’t ask before they came over, since Calla recently had a relapse.
Sayer is serious and doesn’t pay calla a lick of attention, only talking to him when prompted to. The father displays lots of false kindness.
But in the end, nothing happens. Cale can breathe out in relief.
SCENE 2:
After the visit and how it clearly rattled him, Mariana shoo’s him out into the garden. Cale finds out this is the Frosthaze’s main estate, and so it is… quite a bit larger than he expected. Billy is delighted to tell him all about it.
CHAPTER TEN
SCENE 1:
About a week later, Cale goes with Ginny to the town nearby. It’s big enough, all things considered. They go to a bookstore and a café—that doesn’t serve any food, only drinks. Cue culture shock.
Ginny helped Cale down from the carriage, her hand securely holding his own and supporting his frail body. Cale winced when his shoe-clad feet hit the cobblestone ground harshly, the motion sending a shock through his system. ”Alright, Young Master?” Ginny asked, her voice undoubtedly concerned. She let him go but continued to be
CHAPTER TEN
SCENE 1:
Magdalena comes for a visit. They eat cookies and drink tea in the garden under a parasol. Cale is super tense, but he’s starting to get used to meeting people who can blow his cover. Quite frankly, he can’t keep up the same level of paranoia all the time. It’s exhausting and he’s so tired.
Frankie is the one serving them. It’s a perfect summer day; Cale is surrounded by books. He looks terrible. Has he been sleeping?
CHAPTER ELEVEN
SCENE 1:
Cale has a nightmare and wakes up shivering. It’s early morning, and he wanders out onto the patio, settling down with a book. Ginny joins him after a while and keeps him company.
SCENE 2:
He’s practicing his magic with Harald, the tutor. It’s not going very well, but he’s steadily improving. This fills him with pride; we also see more of Harald’s personality.
CHAPTER TWELVE
SCENE 1:
Cale eats breakfast with Isaac; Mariana has overslept but because they’re so careful to keep Cale eating regularly, they eat without her. It’s the frist time he’s having breakfast with only Isaac (who doesn’t even show up to breakfast half the time anyway) so Cale’s extra nervous. Isaac always makes him nervous.
But it goes well. They have an actual conversation and Cale softens further to Isaac. Isaac even smiles a little. Cale also finds out that Julius is visiting tomorrow along with his mother Juliette. Mariana invited them as she’s friends with Juliette. Cue more panic at the idea of meeting yet more strangers.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
SCENE 1:
The next day, Julius and his mother Juliette Claymore arrive. Mariana is delighted, Isaac is stony like always, and Cale tries to be as unobtrusive as possible. Julius is cutting, his words harsh and prickly. Juliette scuffs him over the head and forces him to apologize to Cale. Cale is on the edge of his seat the whole time, but there are no issues.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
SCENE 1:
It’s worrying that nothing has gone wrong. Everything is too easy, Cale thinks. He and Frankie are outside in the sun again because it’s nice day and he’s literally been prescribed ”sunlight” by the doctor.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
SCENE 1:
Julius arrives back at the manor without Juliette. There’s chaos at his home bc his brother Tobias just announced he’s married to his butler, Vincent. So Julius skedaddled to escape the embarrassment using the excuse of making amends with Calla.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
SCENE 1:
Cale makes a trip into nature. Frosthaze manor sits on the edge of a huge forest so he goes for a picnic there with Ginny and Mariana. Mariana is horrifically happy the whole time, delighted that her son has torn himself from his studies for a change. She thinks the fresh air will do him good.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
SCENE 1:
Cale looked at the time, noted that weeks had passed and had a panic attack. Now he’s locked himself in the library because there’s not enough time. Ginny is with him, doing her best to get books for him and keep him fed and watered, but he’s still exhausted. But even with her best efforts, he still collapses.
SCENE 2:
Cale wakes up in his bed, the last thing he remembers being in the library. The doctor is there and very sternly warms him that he can’t keep going like this. He needs more rest, and to stop stressing (it’s hard not to stress about his imminent death!). Isaac is away on business, but Mariana is at home by his bedside.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
SCENE 1:
Cale is trying to convince Ginny to let him study in bed (She’s not budging) when Magdalena walks in. Mariana asked her to come and try to keep Cale distracted while Isaac and Mariana discuss options with the doctor. At this point, should they just homeschool Calla?
Magdalena is her usual awesome self. Ginny leaves so they can talk. Cale is forced to confront the question of if he should stay away from Aurelis Academy or not? Does he go? Or not?
CHAPTER NINETEEN
SCENE 1:
Cale decides to go — because it’s a magical school and despite the threat it represents, he’ll hate himself forever if he doesn’t go. That said, it’s a supremely stupid decision and he knows it.
He asks Harald if there’s any chance of him graduating, and Harald is bewildered. Because no, realistically, he’s missing like, all the info. But through route memorization and hyper focusing on specific knowledge, he can fake it through the tests and homework and just skate by. It’ll be close, but if they manage to focus on the right stuff, it’s doable. It’ll mean a whole new special curriculum for the remainder of summer break though. Is he sure he’s up for that?
Actually, didn’t he just collapse because he studied too much? Should he even be out of bed yet?
The answer is ”no”.
CHAPTER TWENTY
SCENE 1:
Cale is in the garden watching Billy plant flowers. He’s not studying, he’s taking one of the many daily mandatory breaks. Frankie is next to him, to keep an eye on him. She’s very serious about it.
They’re waiting for Sayer and Julius to join them, Sayer’s father having invited them over. Cale is just… so close to being out of fucks to give.
Sayer comes with Julius trotting behind him, a sneer on his lips. Sayer won’t say a word to Cale, he basically just ignores him. Julius is rude, Sayer is ignoring Cale and that’s most of the visit.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
SCENE 1:
Julius drops by unannounced the next day. He says it’s because Cale ”looked so sick he thought he would croak soon” and he wants to make sure no-one tries to blame that on Sayer. Because he does know how it looks, when Sayer treats him like that and he knows how Sayer’s father is like.
Cale was in the middle of studying and he’s trying to keep to a scheduled here, so he doesn’t stop on Julius’ account. They spend the next studying pass (decide the time) in silence, Julius playing cards by himself. It doesn’t get more interesting than that, aside from a few throwaway lines. But the company of a person that doesn’t want something from him is oddly pleasant.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
SCENE 1:
Cale takes another trip to the town with Mariana. They’re buying all his clothes for school time, everything custom made fr him. Cale tries really hard not to think of how much it costs. They go to a café, and Mariana has to literally tear him away from a bookshop – the same one as before, in fact.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
SCENE 1:
Isaac accompanies Cale on a scheduled walk outside around the manor. They have a stilted but genuine conversation, and Isaac assures him that sayer’s father won’t be an issue. Isaac isn’t blind, and there have been measures taken.
SCENE 2:
Cale is studying with Harald again and learns more of how the magic works. Also the fact that electricity is becoming a thing, but isn’t widespread yet.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
SCENE 1:
Julius is back again. He apparently had an argument with sayer and popped over on the way back home because he was hungry and he knew Mariana would feed him. Mariana, always delighted at the opportunity to make Calla relax, shoves them together for snacks.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
SCENE 1:
Cale has recovered enough that he’s now allowed to try riding his horse. Because of course, Calla had one of his own. It’s fucking awesome. Mariana is riding with him.
SCENE 2:
Cale is just walking through the house in the evening, getting used to it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
SCENE 1:
Back in the library. studying. He’s making progress and is actually somewhat excited to go to Aurelis academy; after all, he’s read so much about it and it’s an actual magic school!
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
SCENE 1:
Julius drops by again, this time without an excuse. Cale finds out that Julius lives a 2-hour ride away. He doesn’t understand why Julius would make that journey without a reason, but he’s getting used to Julius’ presence. ROMANTIC FEELINGS ARE DEVELOPING, CLUES SHOULD BE PRESENT BEFORE THIS
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
SCENE 1:
Cale is outside on the patio again, Frankie accompanying him as he sips on some lemonade. The sun is heavy on him; books lay scattered on the table but he’s taking a break right now. Frankie likes working here.
SCENE 2:
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
SCENE 1:
Magdalena spent the summer in her family’s summerhouse which is only a twenty minute ride from Frosthaze manor, so she doesn’t have any problems just popping over. This time she’s bringing her fiancé, Morgan. It’s Cale’s first meeting with him, but it goes well. Morgan is cold, but doesn’t appear to have any bad feelings for him. Julius is also here as well though, and he and Morgan clearly have some kind of history. Morgan doesn’t attend Aurelis academy.
CHAPTER THIRTY
SCENE 1:
It’s approaching the time to leave and the whole manor is in chaos. Cale is coddled by Mariana, Isaac tries to be encouraging, ginny is flying all over to pack all his medicine and his things.
SCENE 2:
The night before he goes, they have a grand dinner in the dining-room. It’s lovely and Cale realizes that he actually likes Mariana and Isaac, he’s not just staying with them to keep his cover up. It’s a staggering realization, because he’s still plagued by the fact that he stole their son and replaced him and they don’t even know.
But he’s attached now, and there’s nothing he can do about it. (He doesn’t actually see them as his parents though, more like… a nice aunt & uncle)
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
SCENE 1:
Cale arrives at Aurelis Academy.