Hey guys! Here's a little something to whet your whistle with while I work on my other fics. And this story proves that inspiration can come from anywhere. I was actually reading an author's A/N, and they were asking if they did an okay job with Bunny's accent, and I thought "Hmm, what does Jack think about Bunny's accent?" and thus this story was born!
Disclaimer: I do not own The Rise of the Guardians. The characters and story are the property of Dreamworks Animation and William Joyce. I also do not own the title, "Accent-uate the Positive". It was originally a song by Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters. I do own this storyline.
Accent-uate the Positive
To say that Bunny was in a foul mood would be an understatement.
"Where's tha' bloody show-pony! I'm gonna whoop him so bad, he's gonna be seein' snowflakes! He's gone too far this time!" He ransacked North's workshop, having already checked every nook and cranny of the lake and its surrounding woods in Burgess.
During the past two years since Jack Frost was sworn in as a Guardian, E. Aster Bunnymund had learned how to accept and retaliate against the winter sprite's pranks. If Jack froze a few eggs, Bunny would send him on an all-expenses-paid surprise trip to the opposite side of the world. Freeze the stone eggs' feet to the ground, did he? That definitely deserved the lower half of his body being stuck underground in the Warren for a few hours.
But this…this was something over the top. It was two weeks before Easter, and Jack Frost thought it would be hilarious to freeze the dye stream solid! How was he supposed to get everything prepared in time if his main source of paint was unavailable to him? There was no way that Bunny could hand paint thousands of eggs in time for Easter. It just wasn't possible.
Bunny burst into North's private workshop, crushing his newest icy creation - a flying unicorn - against the wall. The man in red groaned and threw his head back in aggravation.
"Why can nobody ever knock!"
The oversized rabbit ignored him, "North, Where's Frostbite? I need ta have a few words with 'im," Bunny clenched and unclenched his fists at his sides as he spoke.
North was rubbing his temples, "Last I checked, he was in room. Said he needed to plan new snow day activities for next winter."
Bunnymund grumbled a thanks and raced down the hall, not bothering to close the door behind him. North mumbled a few Russian curses as he left.
Bunny skidded to a halt in front of Jack's bedroom door and opened it as quietly as possible, hoping to catch the boy unawares. What he found instead was an empty room. A powder blue bedspread was pulled tight over stark white sheets and pillows. The walls were painted a darker blue, fern-like frost designs spread out along them in a unique, contemporary pattern. Hardwood floors - oak, maybe - matched the sparse furniture: a bed, a side table, and a small desk. A hook was protruding from the wall next to the bed, most likely a place for the boy to hang up his staff for the night.
Bunny stepped into the room cautiously. It'd be just like Jack to booby-trap the room in some way. He knew it was wrong to invade the boy's privacy, but he figured it was only fair. Jack was constantly sneaking into his Warren, so why shouldn't he be able to look at where Jack spent his time?
As his eyes rounded over to the desk, Aster saw something he wasn't expecting. Upon closer inspection, he couldn't help but grin wickedly. This was perfect.
Karma's a…well, you know.
Jack Frost hummed a happy tune as he strolled along the corridor to his room at the North Pole. He'd played the best prank on Bunny; serves him right for throwing a snowball at him that was concealing one of his exploding eggs. It took him almost a week to get all of the paint off of his skin and out of his hair. Then again, Jack should have known something was up when Bunny offered to join in the snowball fight.
He immediately strode over to his desk upon entering the room.
"I'd better get this back to Jamie before he gets in trouble," He looked down, "Now where'd it go?" He checked under the desk.
Not there.
He checked in the drawer.
Not there.
Jack started to panic. His bare foot then brushed against something and he looked down.
"Oh no."
It was a small, pink flower.
"Bunny."
The winter spirit flew through the backdoor (that, thankfully, Bunny didn't know he knew about) and into the Warren with trepidation. Bunny was sure to be angry about the river, and he had the leverage to blackmail him for a long time to come. He had to tread carefully if he wanted to leave the Warren with his pride, his dignity, and the thing intact. However, he knew he'd most likely lose at least one of the three, hopefully not the third one, or Jamie would be very upset with him.
He found Bunnymund sitting underneath a budding Eucalyptus tree. He was painting a goggie, the thing sitting idly in his lap. As he drew closer, Bunny's ears twitched.
"So, Frostbite, come ta unfreeze the river, 'ave ya?" he asked, not looking away from the egg that wiggled in his paw.
Jack scowled and pointed at the thing with his shepherd's crook, "Um, no. I came for that, actually."
Bunny chuckled as he set the egg down, watching it scamper off to join the others. He picked the item up and turned it over in his paws before flipping through the pages. He hummed thoughtfully, "An Aussie Slang Dictionary, huh? Why d'ya want this thing? Ya wanna mock me in a whole new way? Why not North? His accent's a lot thicker than mine."
Jack huffed and crossed his arms, "North's accent is way too easy to mimic. All I gotta do is lower my voice, take words out of sentences, and ignore my grammar. Yours is more complicated, and kinda cool, too. Plus, if you're gonna insult me, I'd like to know exactly what you're saying." He was blushing by the end of the confession, his cheeks tinted a light blue.
Aster stopped flipping through the pages of the book and looked up at Jack with surprise. That definitely wasn't the answer he was expecting. A small smile touched his lips, "Then why didn' ya ask me, ya dill."
"Well, I…Hey! That wasn't very nice!"
Bunny laughed, "Yer actin' like a right idiot, though." He stood up and loped over to Jack, "Where d'ya get it, anyway?"
"I asked Jamie to take it out of the library for me. Which reminds me. I need to give it back to him before it accrues any late fees. It's not like I can pay him back or anything," Jack looked down, "Too bad I only got halfway through it."
"Hey, I don' mind givin' out a few lessons if ya want, mate."
A spark of excitement lit up Jack's face, "Really?"
"Sure, but only under a few conditions. My time ain't free, ya know. One, ya gotta unfreeze the stream," he said, eyes narrowed and fists on his hips.
Jack waved the demand away carelessly, "No problem, I only gave it a light dusting. It should be all melted away by tomorrow night."
Bunny didn't drop his angry gaze, though his shoulders slumped minutely in relief, "Ya also gotta help me paint the goggies, by hand, until Easter is over."
The winter sprite's jaw dropped, "But that's two whole weeks away!"
"That's my offer. Take it or leave it, Frostbite."
Jack groaned, but nodded, "Fine." He quickly snatched the book out of the rabbit's paw and turned around to fly off.
Bunny smirked behind his back, "So, ya think my accent is cool, eh Snowflake?"
Jack stopped short and turned around to face Bunnymund. He knew this was going to happen. Why couldn't he keep his big mouth shut? Say goodbye to Mr. Dignity.
"Now, if only I could get ya ta say that Easter is better than Christmas," Bunny said with a smile.
The teen wore a matching grin, "Sorry, no can do, Cottontail. The accent was easy 'cause I'm neither Australian nor Russian, so I was unbiased on that one. But I'm a winter spirit, so I gotta go with my seasonal holiday."
Bunny chuckled. "Thought so."
"But I will say that my favorite holiday when I was human was Easter."
Bunny's smile softened, "Thanks, Jack. So, I'll see ya bright 'n early tomorrow mornin', then."
"Huh?"
"These goggies ain't gonna paint themselves, are they? An' I thought we could start your lessons, too."
"Great! I'll see ya then!" he moved in a little closer, still staying just out of Bunny's reach, " I've got a question for ya before I go, though."
"Fire away, Frosty."
The boy smirked, "Are you a boomer or a flyer?" Jack laughed and flew off before Bunny could make a grab for him.
"Frost!"
After the winter spirit was long gone, Bunnymund sat in the grass and picked up another egg, laughing lightly to himself, "He's a good kid. Definitely a larrikin, but a good kid. Too bad we didn' realize it sooner."
So there you go, my first Rise of the Guardians fic. What did you think? I'm a bit concerned that I overdid Bunny's accent, though. Any good? I'm working on another RotG fic (along with everything else) so keep an eye out.
And for clarification:
Goggie: Egg
Dill: Idiot
Boomer: Male Kangaroo
Flyer: Female Kangaroo
Larrikin: Mischievous Person
Thanks for reading. See ya next time, mates!
*SB*
