Hello dear readers!
Here is a OS about Bunny and North. If you know my fanfic "The Believers", you will be delighted to have a glimpse of these two Guardians.
And if you have never read my fic... well, you will understand quite everything.
I have taken a long time to translate it from French. Sorry, I was very busy. I didn't even asked my beta-reader to look at it. She is busy too and I wanted to please you asap!
I will be glad if you review...
I don't own RotG nor GoC. Just my plot and my OC.
Laughters and questioning in front of the fireplace
The vodka bottle had run under the armchair, the remains of some cookies were scattered on the carpet and the elves who were in the room were snoring under the influence of the eggnog, flavored with said drink.
North and Bunny weren't in a better state.
The old Cossak had swapped his usual red pants and top, as his fur boots, for a PJ and a pair of slippers. Red of course. His feet were thrown on a cushion, the rest of his body being limp in a large ebony and cardinal red velvet armchair. His eyes, so expressive ordinarily, were shut. From his mouth came out inarticulate words, a mix between Russian, English, French, Japanese, Swahili and many other languages, hardly recognizable in the current phrasing.
Outspread on the adjacent sofa, the Pooka warrior was fiercely holding in his right paw a cup and in his left one a boomerang. The contents of the cup had long deserted its container, finishing its short escape in the throat of a cunning elve who had situated himself at the right place to catch the runaway. The little man wasn't able to resist the sweet call of the fluffy carpet and had past out, drunk, the last drop swallowed.
When Piotr and Phil had decided to clear North's private lounge from the snacking left-overs, brought because of the Easter Bunny impromptu arrival, they certainly didn't expect this sight. With a quick glimpse they agreed what to do next. They closed the door and gave orders to the other housemates not to disturb the piece of the room.
It was rare their boss get into such a drunken state. Even rarer for Bunny. To let them to their hangovers was the only solution to prevent any damages.
The one and only time these two had been drunk and still awake, they had battle in the middle of the workshop. The yetis had lost 35% of the toys already made and they had to double their work for the next four whole months to catch up with the due date. Bunny had had for his part serious transport issues: his hind legs had been badly hurt and he hadn't been able to move around in his tunnels. They had all made an oath to never repeat the same disaster plan.
North had been surprised when Bunny had appeared, shivering, in his lounge. The rabbit had then ran to the fireplace, grumbling. His fur was half frozen. Now he was dry and warm, the two accomplices were gauging each other, sited in the comfy armchairs, wishing the other one would start speaking first.
North cracked first: « So Bunny, why did come to the Pole ? Cleaning already done? Or do you have some regrets that you have left us with teeth collect?"
Bunny scolded. He felt the sarcasm emanating from the tall Russian voice. "Ola! Stop it there! I have no regrets ! For the simple reason that I have myself a lot of work. My Warren and my tunnels won't return by themselves to their glory, lost with that fiasco!"
"Quiet my friend! I was merely joking… That does not answer to my previous question. Why are you here?"
"Three things: first, has Jack been ejected from Tooth's palace? She was so upset this morning, before I went back home… No, don't answer me now! Wait to hear what's coming next…
Secondly, how is that your yetis has given 'for fun' a snow globe to Jamie ? They all landed in my Warren, Sophie and Jamie's parents on their tail. And the mutt too! I was happy to see them again, that's not the problem… No, mate, the problem, you see, is that now I have to go to the Bennetts'house to paint their bedrooms! And why's that? Hum? Why ? Because their dinning table had been sucked in your bloody magic portal ! And now she's totally broken, its pieces floating on my enchanted river. So, that's why I have to do the chore in compensation. Don't look at me like that North! You too, you will have the great pleasure to present your excuses… hinhinhin… See, their table, and be all ears, it must have extensions and let ten people be sitted around it! And the dishes, I nearly forgot! Take, this is the list Ian gave me. You have till Friday morning to bring all that to them!"
North was looking between the list and his friend. His eyebrow raised high up, it was clear he was trying to understand the whys and the hows.
« How come « they came to my Warren » ? And I don't understand why I have to give them a table and… some dishes. And who's Ian?"
Bunny pulled a face. « North, don't try to pull one on me ! I know that you know the names of everyone… You don't have many Ian around Burgess with a family bond with Jamie and Sophie. Am I right?"
North face palmed and laughed loudly. « Ah, of course ! Как я мог забыть ? (How could I forget ?) Jamie's father ! Ah, nice, very nice boy ! He always asked for a new train, or a new yard or even a suspension bridge for his railway… He must have a beautiful collection…"
« You will be eager to know that he is now working in the maintenance for the railways and all other train stuffs. He is rather as far as I had seen." While speaking, Bunny had took hold of one of his boomerangs and was juggling with it.
« Ah ! Good ! Very good ! Here is one who kept up with his dreams… Sandy will be satisfied too. But, why the table ? » asked again North, an elbow on his knee.
« Ah ! Piece of cake ! You made the snowglobe which was the reason for the lost of their furnitures… So, you have to repair the damages. Ian and Rachel esteemed I wasn't responsible… If you disagree, go see them. But I will give you a tip: don't even think about doing your 'I am a past thief chief and I'm not afraid of anything' face. The only thing you will get by, will be a whacking from Rachel, Jamie's mother. Don't let her look fools you… Her glasses and her ponytail hide a fury. I wanted to show her I was a tough one… I just barely had time to think before I found myself on the ground, munching some daisies!"
North burst out, laughing. « I would have loved to be there ! »
« Now I have met the Sheila, it wouldn't be surprising that she gonna give you a photo. She brought her camera and took at least a hundred of them! I would do better without some of them…"
« Mmm… photos ? Time to be serious, Bunny ! Grownups in your Warren ? It's a first time ! And they believe in you, they saw you, didn't they? Tell me, what happened? It'a situation that could have very severe results for the Spirit World."
And Bunny told him everything. At the end, North had laught quite a few times. And he had pondered about it. He stood up from his chair and started to walk, a finger rubbing his beard.
« You were saying you have three things to discuss. What is the third?"
« Jamie and Co want to make a kind of Declaration on which they would take the oath to always believe in us, help us, etc. I want to know what you think about it… And first of all, what MIM thinks!"
North reaction was exactly what Bunny hoped for : his big eyes popping out , slack mouth, shoulders down and hands pending at his sides. He looked like a trout freshly fished… "Perfect!" Bunny though with a smirk.
Before even talking to his comrade Guardian, 'Father Christmas' opened the door of his small lounge and rushed through the corridor to the Observatory room.
« Ey ! Calm down buddy ! We're not in a rush !" Bunny had followed in his footsteps. A pleased smirk was stuck on his face.
« Perhaps but I'm tired. And what you told me has to be discuss with Man In Moon. The sooner the better. »
« Yeah, especially as I have proposed to Jamie that you could help him with the text stuff… » Bunny let his sentence hover in the air of the Observatory room.
North had stopped at once. Turning around sharply, he caught the rabbit shoulders and bellowed in his face: "You did what? You can't think it! I can't go to see these mortals like that! And I have double work : Christmas preparations to supervize and Tooth palace to rebuild! What has gotten in to you? And Manny will not be necessarily ok with this plan!"
« Speaking about Manny, look who's here ! » Bunny was pointing with his paw the Moon who has come above the glass canopy of the workshop.
The yetis surrounding them decided to step aside to give them some space. Guardian business was not their concern, well not directly.
« Man In Moon ! We were talking about you! Are you informed of little Jamie's idea? And the fact his parents knew about our existence and believe in us! Will it be a problem?" North was raising his arms to the moon. His worry were showing on his face. « It's so long since we had contacts with adults… Not since Santoff Clausen's dismise… What do we have to do ? »
Bunny stood near the Cossack, patting friendly his back. The subject was especially delicate for North. The loss of the village he came to love in his youth, at Pitch hands some five hundred years ago, was a wound that has never really been completely closed.
The moonbeams rejoined to concentrate themselves on the ground, above the marble stone symbolizing the Guardians. Figures emerged: a whole group of persons, a mix between children and adults. At first, they were nine. And then the picture changed, the number of people increased. Four adults were added, and too many children to count them.
The shadow stretched and changed into the Guardians, easily identifiable. Jack seemed to grow and became bigger. He started to laugh and flied to the people seen before and it felt for Bunny as if the humans were welcoming Jack.
Manny's explanation ended with a happy picture : Jack was holding the hand of a kid, probably Jamie as the haircut looked like the one he had. He was reaching out for someone. The one who came near the shadowed figures surprised North and Bunny. Tooth has just snuggled against Jack while Jamie was giving her a peck on the cheek before running to his buddies.
North turned to the silver luminary. "What do we have to understand? That all these people are believers who will help Jack to feel… stronger? Loved? Appreciated? Is that so ? » The brightness of the Moon heightened. North concluded he had found the right interpretation.
« But, and Jamie? His idea about a "Declaration"? Do you approve of it ? » A moonbeam landed on the 'G' on the ground, and as a few days ago, the blue gem stood out.
« What ? Another Guardian ? We are again in danger ? We already had the other Icicle, we do not…" Bunny exclaimed.
« Chut ! Let Manny speaks ! » North cut in.
Unlike the day Jack Frost had been chosen as the new Guardian of Childhood, no picture came… only a serie of words began to emerge from the crystal. The letters soared in the air around the giant globe sitting in the observatory, as if the light was holding them delicately. When the blue gem went back in its hideout, under the marble slab, the blue and shining words stayed, twirling around the Earth.
North started to read the text in a low voice, and then he read louder, more and more so. Bunny was as shocked as his friend. In front of them, the perfect text to embody Jamie's idea was magnificently written.
« Quick, someone has to write it down, quickly ! » The order initiated, the yetis bustled to scrupulously transcribe Tsar lunar's will. It was an incredible event, so unthinkable mere seconds ago. The last time he had 'written' his will, it was the day he dictated the Guardians' Oath. And since five centuries, nothing.
« It is a great gift you're making to the children of Burgess. I will give the text myself to Jamie, as soon the table will be ready… He will surely be very proud and perhaps nervous too. Manny, wait! Before you will follow your path… Jack… and Tooth… You, well, are you sure that… You know what I'm talking about, don't you? ..."
Bunny was impatient, so that he decided to cut in North ramblings. "They're going to be together? Because, frankly, I've never seen Tooth interested in anything else than teeth, her fairies and the children… And don't make me start on Jack! He's sure a good-looking guy and… What? Don't stare at me like that North! It's true he's handsome for a human! Tsss… No, you see, the problem is he is too irresponsible, and he is a showpony and a prankster! If he was to break her heart!"
The sweet and caring light filling out the workshop appeased Bunny's worries. "Ok, I understand Manny. It's not our business. It's their life… Nevertheless, I won't hesitate to kick his ass if Tooth is desponded because of him!"
The moon went her way, leaving the inhabitants of the Pole to their thoughts and work.
« Could somebody bring something to eat and drink in my lounge ? Bunny and I have much to talk about. Oh, and bring me the text when it's finished. Come Bunny, we will be more comfortable near the fireplace. »
Sitting in a comfy chair, Bunny let his mind wander… If Jack and Tooth are going to be together? He didn't even want to think about what would do the mini-fairies. They would become even more hysterical than usual. Speaking of them…
« Will you tell me your workday ? You and Jack, at the Tooth Palace, did the work progress?"
North was eating with gusto a piece of candied fruits charlotte. He swallowed first a swig of vodka-eggnog before he answered the Pooka.
« Tooth judged I was a talented teeth collector, so I went in the field. I didn't participate with the works. Each time I came back with my bag full of teeth, I saw Jack and my yetis who were putting the fallen pieces of the palace together. Marvelous sight! Great magic! As soon as a piece touched a tower and hop ! Everything went back to their legit shape! As shiny and colorful as usual!
Toothiana was so happy with the speed they were working. They have still two days, give or take, to finish. After that, we will have to put back all the teeth boxes. Well, the ones we have… The yetis and I came back some three hours ago, too tired… We will go back later. Tooth went to rest a little I have heard. It's unusual, but this time, the aftermath emptied her from all her energy. Especially as she had discovered that fifty of the fairies were still missing after roll call.
We have to make plans to retrieve them from Pitch lair. And the teeth boxes too."
« What ?» Bunny emptied his glass on the ground in surprise. "You're not joking? We're not going to go back there and walk in it?"
« I'm sorry Bunny, but we will have to… Tooth NEEDS to recover the teeth. She can't sort the ones arriving without the boxes and the memories held in them are too precious. They can't stay in Pitch's hands. It's dangerous. We don't know how many times he will need to recover his strength and his powers. We could not leave him this opportunity!"
After his monologue, North emptied the rest of his glass and blithely refilled himself.
« Too much agitation these last days. I'm aging… Do not hesitate my friend, help yourself! It's special vodka. I was waiting for the perfect moment to uncork it. And it is perfect moment!"
« Mouais… You know: me and vodka… I'd rather have carrot juice. But I will play nice and have a cup. »
One cup turned into some, and by the end of the talk the bottle was finished. Meanwhile, the two gossips had laughed, talked and cried quite a lot. Elves had come in when a yeti had given the parchment containing the Will of MIM, and they had made sure to bother the Guardians as much as possible.
The mishaps Jack had with the fairies, had made the Pooka rolled on the floor. At least, he had not been the only one with a nerve wracking day.
North had for his part, told Bunny about his meeting with a weasel in a young girl's bedroom, somewhere in Thailand. The beast had pit on his face before it tried to plow it. North had never encountered such a vile pet. And he hoped for never meeting another one. The children have strange tastes nowadays…
From laughers to exchanged secrets, the Guardians had fallen asleep, drunk from alcohol and exhaustion, in front of the crackling fire. And it was in this state two yetis found them some hours later.