THE EASTER DEBACLE
Jack Frost fucking hates Easter.
If he had to pick a day of the year he hated most, it was Easter bloody Sunday. There was nothing wrong with what the holiday represented, new life, family, etc, but it was hard to celebrate family when his pseudo-husband-mate-thing was off gallivanting around for over twenty four hours, only to crash into a few days worth of recuperation time.
Not to mention the whole month of preparation that went beforehand.
At first Jack had tried to be understanding. Easter was very important to Bunny, and the holiday was linked to his goddamn life force, so there was obviously an intense pressure to pull Easter without a hitch. Jack had totally understood that, and tried to be as supportive as he could without getting underfoot.
But then they had Amaryllis.
And Jack would stand for this bullshit no more.
Because suddenly it wasn't just Jack that was being hurt by Bunny's absence, it was their baby, and fuck if Jack was letting anything hurt his baby for the sake of a bunch of walking eggs that basically painted themselves.
The entire thing came to a head during an Easter almost fifty years after the Easter of 2012, when they'd banished Pitch back to the shadow realm, and four months after they'd nearly lost Amaryllis only to luck out and somehow get him anyway.
More specifically, the entire thing began it's downward spiral at three am on an Easter almost fifty years after the Easter of 2012, when a wailing cry had echoed through the burrow and dragged Jack from a rather delightful dream.
A crystal blue eye cracks open as a loud crying fills the burrow, and Jack very nearly lost himself to the sleepy daze that he'd found himself in, only to snap awake fully as he realized that not only was his baby crying, his mate wasn't anywhere nearby to take his turn. Or the last turn, or the one before that, or the one before that, or really the past twenty ones before that.
Jack's very much at the end of his rope, but his baby's crying and for the moment that's all that matters.
With a sleepy mumble Jack pushes himself up from the nest he'd been sleeping alone in, and nearly fell to the ground as his knees wobbled slightly from exhaustion. He plastered a pale hand to a nearby packed dirt wall for support and managed to slowly stumble down the hallways of the burrow towards the room that Bunny had so lovingly carved out when Jack had been nesting.
Another hand rises to rub the heel of Jack's palm into his eyes, trying desperately to shake the sleep from his system as Amaryllis' cries grow louder.
Much like Peter Jackson's Hobbit Holes, the burrow didn't have many doors, instead using doorways to mark the end of one room and the beginning of another. This helped when carrying heavy things, but not so much when trying to get a baby to stay asleep as you went about your business.
Jack enters the baby's room proper, a large circular area at least the size of Jack and Aster's own room, all painted a pastel green with just a hint of blue. In the very center is a circular cradle, one that North had painstakingly built just for them. The room is crowded with gifts from various immortals, books, and other such things a baby might find interesting. The window directly across from the doorway lets in a small amount of light into the room, enough that Jack is able to pick his way past the piles of stuff and towards the cradle without much problem.
The moment he peers over the edge of the bassinette Amaryllis instantly stops his wailing, instead cooing in delight and reaching for his mummy. Jack can't help but crack a smile at the baby's zeal, and coos right back despite his rather unsunny disposition.
"Hey 'Lissy," He says softly, reaching in and cradling the baby, pulling him close so that he can feel the cold of Jack's body. Amaryllis had gotten that from him, apparently, a love of the cold, as well as the tufts of white hair that were already becoming unmanageable. "Whatcha cryin' about, huh?"
It doesn't matter if he makes sense, it's not like he's going for valedictorian.
Amaryllis is still a cutie, half Pooka and half human, with a human body and Pookan ears and markings, all matching a fluffy bunny tail in the back. Jack admits that he's the perfect mix of Bunny and himself, with Jack's hair and skin, and Bunny's eyes and markings.
Amaryllis just grabs onto the loose T-shirt that Jack used as sleepwear and babbles, telling Jack about something, but Jack had yet to learn the complicated intricacies of baby-language. Instead he just hikes Amaryllis over one shoulder and bounces him gently, already heading towards the kitchen-main-room-thing of the Burrow for something to sooth the baby and perhaps get him back to sleep before the artificial sun of the Warren made an appearance.
Amaryllis, for the little angel act he puts on during the day, is a pain in the ass at night. Jack loves his baby dearly, but without Aster around to split the late night cuddles Jack was ready to drop dead asleep with or without the baby.
But that's not in his nature.
Amaryllis eventually settles into sleep, and Jack is able to easily deposit him back into his crib after the routine half hour of walking and murmuring that assured Amaryllis that he was in fact here. His baby, Jack had very quickly figured out, got very anxious whenever Jack wasn't around. He wasn't sure if it was because if Pitch's fuckery with their bond while Jack had been nesting, or if his kid is just clingy like Aster can be, but either way Jack is happy to stay by his baby for better or for worse.
But it's three in the fucking morning, and Jack hasn't had a good night's sleep in weeks.
You're kind of pushing it, baby.
Jack lets himself sink back into the nest after all is said and done with a tired sigh, and allows himself to slip back into the world of dreams without any protest.
He dreams of grey fur and green eyes.
(THIS IS A LINE, ISN'T IT BEAUTIFUL?)
On the end of Easter Sunday, Bunny finally comes home in a bit of a mood. Aster's exhausted and grumpy as he stumbles through the front door of the burrow, the fake sun of the Warren sinking below the horizon. It's after dinner, and he'd promised Jack he'd be back before, which he feels kind of guilty about, but there had been quite a few snow storms going on up north to fight through.
Hopefully Jackie had saved him a couple of leftovers, and with the amount of food that Jack actually ever ate between making sure the baby got his nutrients in his mouth and not on the floor and keeping Aster from running back out to work, leftovers were a more of a probability than a possibility.
The Burrow is dimly lit, though what's left of a candle still flickers slightly on the kitchen table. The room itself is a little messy, with dishes piled in the sink and Amaryllis' high chair covered in what looks to be squashed peas. Aster grumbles slightly, it's not as if Jack could have cleaned while Aster was busy bringing hope to the entire planet, no that would be too hard now wouldn't it?
A light shines from down the hall from Amaryllis' bedroom, and Aster quietly creeps down the hall towards it. He can hear the baby cooing, but nothing of Jack. Was Jackie really so irresponsible to leave the baby alone? Nah, he wouldn't...
If Aster's pace picks up a bit he won't say.
Amaryllis squeals happily at the sight of his da, and tries to wiggle from where he had been pinned to his sleeping mother's chest. Jack, apparently, had completely passed out during what looked to be story time. Together the pair had settled into what North had called a bean bag, and it seems that the baby had been more hyper than Aster's mate.
For some reason this annoys him even more than the messy kitchen, so it is with little remorse that he roughly shakes Jack awake with one hand, and takes Amaryllis in the other. Jack grunts in shock at the harsh treatment, and frowns as Amaryllis is plucked from his grasp.
Aster will regret what happens next, though he doesn't at the time.
"Why's the kitchen such a mess Jackie?" Bunny grunts as he steadily ignores the happy baby cooing in his arms. Jack's face goes mildly offended, and that just sets Aster right off.
"It's not like ya could have fixed that, yeah?" Aster continues, disregarding Jack's slowly angering face. "I mean, no, you were too busy ignoring our kid for the sake of nap time to really get any work done, huh? What a shining example of motherhood right there."
Jack honest to god twitches.
And Aster realizes that he's made a rather large mistake.
Jack doesn't blow up, though, he does something much worse.
He leaves.
Just grabs his staff and stalks from the room. Aster turns in confusion and watches as across the hall Jack pulls out one of his favorite books from the bookshelf in their nest room and then leaves the room in complete silence, turning towards the kitchen. Aster follows him, and watches in absolute shock as Jack walks out into the growing night without a word.
He doesn't realize until an angry gust of wind rushes through the Warren that Jack is leaving.
"Jack!" He calls, nearly dropping Amaryllis in his rush to get out into the Warren, only to be met with a dash of blue disappear into the tunnel that leads to the North Pole.
From inside the house Bunny can hear Amaryllis starting to sob at his mum's disappearance, and thinking back Aster is hit by the sudden idea that he is a massive jackass.
(THIS IS A LINE, ISN'T IT BEAUTIFUL?)
North is an old man, but he remembers the fire of youth.
So when Jack shows up at his workroom window nearly in tears he doesn't have to ask what had happened. Instead he just lets the boy in, wraps him in a bear hug, and lets him cry.
Ah, the pains of young love.
Eventually North gets a sobbed out picture of what exactly had happened between Jack and Bunny, and the Russian was very quickly looking forwards to having a Pooka rug in his office.
Jack looks so tired, is something North also notices. His eyes are bloodshot and carrying massive bags, and the entire gait of Jack's person is slightly off kilter. North very quickly sends Jack off to his old room at the Pole, the one he had been nearly disappearing into before this stint with Bunny had began.
Once Jack is asleep in bed, and a ward of magic placed on the door, North sits in front of his fire place and begins to sharpen his swords, waiting for his fluffy teammate to show up.
He does not have to wait long.
Aster bursts into the room haphazardly, only just keeping a hand on the giggling baby in his arms. North can't help but wince at the thought of how fast Aster must have been dragging his poor grandchild around.
Bunny at least has the knowledge to look sheepish as he hugs his son close and gets ready for a verbal beat down.
"You are a bullheaded idiot, my friend." Is all North says, "And you hurt Jack very much. Fix it."
The final bit is emphasized by North stabbing his swords into the wooden flooring next to the chair he had been sitting in. Aster flinches at the harsh thunk they make, but nods along all the same. Few words from North meant that he had really pissed up.
Amaryllis must pick up on the tension in the room as he begins to fuss, squirming and whining. Now that Bunny thought about it, it was way past the tyke's bed time. Even more perfect. He still brings the baby along as he goes to Jack's bedroom door, hoping to at least pacify Jack with the sight of his baby.
Or use him as a shield, he's not quite sure yet.
By the time they actually get to Jack's room Amaryllis is kicking up quite the fuss, not really crying but making enough noise to let it known that he was not happy in the slightest. Aster just chocks it up to the kid missing his ma, as the kid had a really strong connection with Jackie.
Seasonals, who knew?
When Bunny knocks on the door, he just hopes that Jack will answer.
When Jack does, he wishes he hadn't.
Jack's face is stained with tear tracks and gaunt with tiredness. His hair sticks up in a few directions. It's not the cute type of tired that everyone likes, it's the murder and coffee kind of tired that makes Aster want to run for the hills.
Amaryllis lets out a string of happy baby noises at the sign of his ma, and Jack looks down at him with a strained, happy expression. Aster goes to open his mouth, but nothing comes out, a flood of thoughts refusing to turn into words.
I'm sorry I love you I should have never said those things I'm such an ass you're a fantastic mother I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry.
Jack just sneers at him, plucks Amaryllis from Aster's lax arms, and slams the door in his face.
Bunny just stares at the door in shock before knocking again. And again. And again. With his baby bargaining chip gone, it's all he can do at this point. Jack never answers, and eventually Aster stops knocking and slumps down onto the wall to the left of the door frame in sheer exhaustion, falling asleep before he can hit the ground.
(THIS IS A LINE, ISN'T IT BEAUTIFUL?)
When Aster wakes up again it's to a harsh nudge to the rib cage from a foot he knows well. Looking up in shock he sees Jack, beautiful perfect Jack, looking at him with an unimpressed stare.
"Did you really sleep here all night?" Is what Jack asks, and Aster notices a pair of white bunny ears poking up from behind his shoulder. Bunny nods, stretching with a grunt as his spine cracks a couple of times.
"Had to be sure to catch ya." The Pooka murmurs. "So I could apologize."
Jack's face goes soft at hearing that, and he kneels next to Aster with a small sigh. "We were both tired," Is what he says, "You with Easter and me with winter and baby watch. It was a fight waiting to happen."
"Still shouldn't have said those things to ya, love." Aster says, wrapping his arms around his mate and child, pulling them both close so that he can chin them. Jack sighs happily at the treatment, but still pulls his baby closer to him as he nuzzles back, wordlessly accepting the apology. He holds back slightly, not that Aster notices.
Because he knows that next Easter they're going to do the exact same thing, and the Easter after that, and the Easter after that. Though he'll be able to deal with it, and he's sure it's never going to get as bad as it had this year, Jack knows this will happen again if not on the same scale.
Jack Frost fucking hates Easter.
A/N Har har and you thought it was going to be 100% fluff. I HAVE DECEIVED YOU. Either way, everyone and their mother were doing Easter fics, and I decided why not. Thanks for reading guys, it means a lot to me! I'd love feedback of any kind, if you've the time, but either way thanks for getting to the bottom! Oh, also, I've opened a tumblr recently for my fics/blabberings, and it's littlemissloll (note the two L's), so if you guys want to hear my inane sqabbling that's the place to go!