Hello everyone, here's a little nugget from you

This is placed within the time line of the 5th GoC book. To anyone who didn't read the book, minor spoilers so read at your own risk.

Heavily based on the Cry on me scene from the movie Man from UNCLE. Maybe a little oc but I just wanted an excuse to make it happen, so I don't care :3

The songs they are hearing on this fic are "A tisket a tasket" by Ella Fitzgerald and " Bei Mir Bist Du Shein" by the Andrew Sisters, so they would fit the timeline ;)

Enjoy this new year treat!

Six days.

The wait was killing her.

Toothiana wasn't one to easily lose control over her senses.

Thousands of years of existence, countless battles with many foes, and a life time of hardships gives you plenty of time to quell your emotions and temper your behavior.

She usually was able to present a calm front for everyone around her, even her friends whom she shared a mental link with. Well, compared to Sandy with his whimsy demeanor and North with his almost child-like sense of adventure she could easily be taken as the level headed of the three.

Of course, none of them were even close to being like Bunnymund. Now that was a paragon of seriousness that almost no one could match up to.

Considering how human the other guardians were or acted, Bunnymund stuck out a mile away among them. The fact that he was a six foot rabbit did not count into the equation.

He almost always remained calm throughout whatever he encountered, keeping a tight lead of his emotions and even scoffing at his more emotion-driven friends.

'So human of you to say', had been the last common phrase he had coined for describing them.

Which was why his calm and cold demeanor over being held up in one of North's many hideouts was driving her over the edge.

They had been gathering information about some strange occurrences. The wind had picked up on strange rumors circulating around some interesting characters: a tall individual who kept himself under jealous coverage and left an unsavory feeling wherever his shadow reached and his equally strange and more corpulent companion.

The duo had left an intricate trail behind them but that clearly showed signs that belonged with creatures of the ilk of Pitch's nightmare henchmen.

None of the guardians' allies could completely describe them, for the pair never stayed to long in the same area. And whatever brave individual that had ventured closer to get a better look at them, had never come back to tell the tale.

Only one thing was certain: wherever the two of them went, nightmares and misfortune followed close behind.

At first they all feared that Pitch had escaped and taken a new form to make the guardians lose his trail. But a quick visit to where he was being held and assurances from Mother Nature and the Spirit of the Forest had discarded that theory, making them worry even more.

Could another threat be brewing under their watch? Was it an old foe or a new one? Were these two new players under the Nightmare King's command?

Toothiana had an inkling sensation that the last part was so, and many of the other guardians thought the same.

They had decided that the best trackers among them should be put to work to find out more about these mysterious figures. Hence why Bunnymund and her had been asked to hunker down in this discreet little hideout and find out as much as possible.

Toothiana had a great tracking ability and knew very well how to hide her traces thanks to the teachings of her parents, and could take to the air to search (since none of them knew if their targets were of airborne nature or not).

Bunnymund could cover his search on the ground and in the many subterranean passages that not only him but also many others used. Besides, his strategic mind and cunning senses made him a perfect partner for a mission such as this.

But he was so damn...frustrating, especially after being confined for days in this place – which was becoming tinnier by the minute to her – without a single lead to pursue.

They had stalked the trail of the two figures from afar, barely catching up to them near a small city. They had installed themselves in a house that to any passerby would look derelict and run down from outside.

Even if anyone stepped towards the front door, North had enchanted it so that before they could even set a foot on the front porch intruders would feel the impulse to leave. Not in a threatening manner, but it made them momentarily forget why they wanted to enter the house in the first place. Like when entering into a room but you then realize you have completely forgotten what you were supposed to do there.

And even its unappealing exterior was but an illusion to deter people from entering.

Toothiana had liked the quaint little place. It was well kept and was marvelously decorated from the inside, not unlike the decoration and style she had seen at the North Pole.

A fire had been roaring in the hearth since they had arrived and they didn't have to tend to it once. Whenever any of them felt like eating or drinking, a plate or a beverage would magically appear in the kitchen.

Bookcases covered from ceiling to floor in copies of different tomes and editions of books, from scientific treaties to folkloric and fairy tale books. It reminded her of Katherine's library but to a much smaller scale.

The house seemed to have a mind of its own, managing itself around its guests so they wanted for nothing.

Except for sleeping arrangements, that is.

For some strange reason, and no matter how much she glared at the ceiling, there was only one master bed instead of two singles.

Well. That was…an unusual development.

Pushing down a surge of annoyance she had requested the house to adjust their bedroom situation. Twice.

And yet to no avail, the king sized bed remained as it had been.

The situation had only vexed her further, when Bunnymund lightly cut her off by asking why she was being so snippy about the whole thing.

She had her reasons, of course.

She had never been comfortable with the idea of sleeping close to someone. If you're crammed into a bed with someone else, how are you supposed to draw your swords in case of enemies attacking while sleeping?

There would also be no space to fitting her wings if she shared her resting place with someone else, and…

…

And mainly because sharing a bed was something that lovers did. It was something her parents had done when alive and together. It was a very intimate act that two people shared when in love with the other.

And before she remembered that she had not closed her mind off to the other guardian, the pooka wiggled his nose and whiskers.

"Oh, how human of you Toothiana." He had said, and she could swear she saw a hint of amusement behind the egg-shaped glasses he wore. "I never thought those ridiculous standards of modesty humans like to cling so much to had affected a sharp and sensible mind like yours."

Toothiana raised an elegant eyebrow. Was she supposed to be flattered by the back-handed compliment?

But before she could open her mouth to retort, he had turned around and started walking towards the cozy living room. His robes made no sound as he advanced.

"Anyways, you need not fret for your virtue, your highness" He added with what she registered was a certain trace of mirth in his voice, as he plopped down on the armchair and started pulling the materials he had brought with him in his satchel and egg-shaped pockets. "My sleeping cycle won't be for another decade. You may claim the bed."

She had been rather annoyed at him, but that feeling gave way to embarrassment when her brain caught up to what he was insinuating. Her face felt rather hot all of a sudden.

But she did her best to push away the sudden rush of emotions aside and focus in finding more about their elusive targets.

As the days passed, the strangers – who had settled not far away from them – barely exited their own hideout.

And if they even left at all, they would do it for only a few hours and under the cover of moonless or heavily clouded nights.

Both Bunnymund and Toothiana had followed them from a distance, watching their every move and making sure that they were at the ready if any child could be in danger.

The strange pair moved from one building or construction to the other. And Bunnymund couldn't be completely sure, but he could almost vow he saw shadows flickering and moving in the edges of his peripheral vision. But unfortunately the moment he focused on said movement, there was nothing there anymore.

Suddenly, they stopped going out from their hiding place. No movement, no sound of furniture being moved around from inside the house. Nothing.

She had wanted to go investigate but Bunnymund had convinced her against the idea, settling instead of doing it his way and send a couple of eggs to try and secretly gain access inside the house. They should remain here.

Mainly, because there was the heavy feeling that now they were also being watched.

When Bunnymund peered out of the window he never saw anything that would stand out to the naked eye. But he wasn't so foolish as to trust only one of his senses, and because he knew that the Nightmare King had not reached such power by being blatantly obvious.

So still they remained. They did not go out and mostly kept to their own devices.

And at first it hadn't bothered her.

There was always a tooth falling here or there, so her work kept her busy at first. Granted, sending her fairies and not be able to collect the teeth in person was not as fulfilling, but she convinced herself it would only be for a few days.

The extensive collection of books kept her busy in her leisure hours, but that also started to run thin as every hour slowly dragged away.

Not even playing chess with Bunnymund had calmed her down. After the 5th round of him winning, it had not left her in the best of moods.

And no matter what, he would keep that ridiculous stoic expression of his.

'Stony faced rabbit-man' would have complained North. And right now, she could only agree with him.

She would have been able to ignore this a little longer, had Toothiana not found a set of items that had not been there before: two glasses and an extremely large bottle with clear liquid.

The moment she unscrewed the bottle and took a whiff, she knew it was that drink that North fondly remembered when telling them about his times as a famous bandit.

The Cossack had spoken of long winter nights around the fire with his brothers in arms and a bottle of vodka to bond over.

Could such a simple act of drinking together truly bring closer those roughed up men?

Maybe…could it work with others more…non-human?

That was when her patience had decided to run for the hills and left her brain with the most unimaginable of tasks.

She was going to get him to loosen up.

Either that or go for a midnight assault on enemy territory, but she was not staring at that blasted chess set for another hour.

Was this a good idea? Probably not.

Unscrewing the bottle once more, Toothiana decided that she couldn't care less.

While pouring the vodka on the glass, she never considered how bad this idea could be.

She had taken her time when going for her first sip, never having dealt with alcoholic beverages before. She only remembered some grownups in her village and how jolly they became after quickly downing their drinks.

Tooth took a sip of the liquid. It almost made her gag.

Shaking her head to try to get rid of the taste, she gave the bottle a long hard look before pouring more into the glass.

Following the way her village elders had drunk and how North and even Sandy downed their eggnog, she threw her head back and took a large gulp.

The fairy felt the burning sensation sliding down her throat and land on her empty stomach. She felt dizzy all of a sudden.

But after the fourth glass, she didn't find it so unpleasant for some reason.

Now grabbing both glasses, she padded her way towards Bunny. He was still sat at an armchair with a new game of chess in front of him and did not say anything when he saw her enter the living room.

She held out a glass towards him, while tipping her head back and knocking the contents of the other.

"Drink?"

The pooka looked up at her, blinks, and eventually returned to his game.

"No, thank you." He said in his expressionless fashion. "I don't engage in your humans rituals of social drinking. I find them unnecessary."

Toothiana plopped down on the couch next to him, and settled the glasses and the bottle on the table, next to his game. With a swift movement, she downed the vodka in his untouched glass. Now the fiery sensation was rather welcomed in her system as the world began to get a tad more blurry on the edges.

"Would you like a bigger glass?"

"I'm finishing this bottle." She let her thoughts swirl while pouring another round for her. "The only question is, are you going to help me or not?"

"No. Thank you." He declined with a dispassionate tone before redirecting his focus back to his game.

A few seconds passed and when her attempts of engagement with him fail, she laid back and gave an exasperated sigh.

"This is fun?"

Knight to e-5 was his only answer.

The fairy stormed out of the room with as much as a classy harrumph as she could muster, not forgetting to take the bottle and her glass along.

She placed them alongside the counter next to that odd apparatus that humans called 'radio'. North had once explained how it worked and how humans could listen to news and also music.

'Don't you feel absolutely anything, Bunnymund?'

Why was she the only one that felt their forced seclusion so restricting? Was he not also about to bounce off the walls if he could go out and do something?

Now her mind was harkening back to when she herself had felt trapped, her every move being watched, and almost feeling that the cage was too small for her.

It made her heart tighten in her chest, a flare of anger and frustration surging from it.

'I knew you wise, and I knew you patient. But not made out of stone. Is everything planned with you?' She refilled her glass, even sloshing a bit of the vodka this time. 'I guess so. The only time you're impulsive is when you get angry'

Another gulp of her drink warmed her throat.

'Very well then, I'll just have to make you angry'

A quick glance at the radio sparked an idea, followed by a smirk that indicated mischievous intents.

She turned it on and cranked up the volume till the sound travelled throughout the rooms. Luckily, the enchantment didn't allow the sound to exit the house, so no one could hear the loud and melodious voice that came from within the contraption.

Vodka in hand, she pushed out of the room dancing.

As the music enveloped her, she swayed and pivoted, feeling rather light and more carefree in combination with the alcohol that made her head fuzzy. In fact, it emboldened her to dance further.

She had glances of Bunnymund stirring in his seat, visibly unable to focus on his game of chess anymore, but she no longer paid him attention. She was now more interested in guiding her body to the rhythm and wondering if the woman ever found the little yellow basket she lamented for in her song.

Toothiana hope she did.

The song continued along until the up-beat, silvery voice gave way to another song of trio of women singing.

"This is not a good idea" Bunnymund barely came above the music.

She only responded with a giggle and danced even more.

Toothiana heard the sound of one of the small wooden pieces hit the board and a sigh of frustration but didn't hear him get up from his seat or to try to make his way towards the radio that was behind her.

When she turned around, he almost towered over her. Mmm, she had never really given their height difference much thought before.

"Please turn this off. I need silence" He asked while trying to reach for the knob to turn off the device.

She slapped his hand away.

A roguish smile etched on her face at seeing him on the brink of self-control. She looked at his pained look, estimating it wouldn't take long before he cracked.

Even when trying to push past her to turn off the radio, she easily blocked his every step until they come to a standstill and the only thing he could do was glower down at her swaying form.

"No fun dancing by yourself." She halted, craning her head back to give him a coy smile. "I need a partner"

"No"

"'No' as in you can't dance?", she asked in a teasing tone, her voice rather thick by the alcohol. "Or you don't want to?"

"We'll call it both" He retorted, the corner of his lips barely twitching up as he almost smiles. Almost.

She didn't exactly plan it, but in an instance she had taken both his warm paws within her hands and pulled him into an odd shuffling that resembled dancing.

She grinned as the image reminded her of the Santoff Claussen parties she had attended, when young men shyly danced with a girl they fancied for the first time.

Bunnymund even looked a little shy and his movements didn't have the same resolve and precision that was natural in him, but there was something more: a tinge of sadness behind those eyes of his, as if remembering something that had occurred a long time ago and with someone else.

It annoyed her for some reason

So she slapped him.

The pooka immediately stiffened and glared at her, any trace of sadness gone. Good.

She assuaged him with shushing sounds in her best attempt to look demure. His spark of anger seemed to dissolve, and he smiled at her once more.

She could almost settle for this.

But it wasn't her objective.

Before he can look at her with those melancholic eyes, she slapped him again. Harder – because she was frustrated, tired, very much drunk, and wanted to bring him back from whatever loop of the past his mind had him fixated on.

Bunnymund recoiled with now anger boiling behind his glare.

"You're acting like a child, Toothiana"

"Still no drink?" She said as if unaware of his scowl.

He leveled a finger at her, voice deadpan serious. "Don't make me put you over my knee."

'As if I'd mind'.

She didn't pay too much attention to that last train of thought, would have to go over that later.

"So you don't want to dance" She smirked, determination growing stronger. "But you do want to wrestle?"

He didn't like that expression.

"No, I did not say that." Bewilderment flashed in Bunnymund's face just as Toothiana lunged at him. Wrapping her arms around his waist, her shoulder connected with his stomach.

A loud grunt escaped him as they reeled back into the living room and crashed atop the couch. With her grip on his waist secure, she twisted, making them both land on the carpet. They toppled over the table and the chess pieces scattered around the room.

He landed on her and a thrill rushed over her as he engaged on their spontaneous altercate, trying to pin her down so he could stay on top.

Their fingers interlocked, each fighting for supremacy over their opponent. Thanks to her quick movements, her smaller stature did not diminish her chances, even if she speculated that the pooka possessed more strength than any of guardians.

Neither him nor her were remotely aware of the way they were trashing the hideout's living room, as they rolled over in a tangle or flung each other across the room. This close she could feel his heart rate accelerate and his eyes grow alive, which filled her with a pleasing sensation of triumph.

Luckily, no one from outside could hear the grunts and overall commotion they were provoking.

She eventually launched at him and managed to knock him down onto his back and pin him with her weight by straddling him.

He was holding her back by her forearms and her hands were pushing back at his shoulders.

There were both out of breath, adrenaline still rushing through them.

The alcohol was making it harder for her to resist and keep fighting. Toothiana's muscles twitched slightly due to the effort of maintaining the attack position adopted against the pooka, making her lower her body to release the tension.

Bunnymund swallowed hard but remained very still. His glasses were nowhere to be seen, probably lost in the scuffle. His robes are no longer pristine, but wrinkled. Even one of the buttons had popped out.

His heart beat had quickened but he couldn't completely put the blame on their little wrestling match.

They had never been so physically close, and despite of his non-human nature, he would be a complete fool if he didn't recognize that Toothiana had always had an effect on him. Something he could only describe as an invisible pull towards her person.

He had always made sure that she never noticed how he took just a little longer to take his eyes of her, how his gaze followed and marbled at her graceful form when taking flight or while in battle, how her words always had a bigger weight to him.

But now his restrain and distant attitude were almost collapsing at this beautiful, clever and fascinating woman who had just tackled him to the ground.

Her face fell down slowly, until it was very close to his.

Was she going to…?

"Bunny, Tooth, excellent news!" A boisterous voice came as the door practically banged against the door from being open with such force. "We have to…"

Bunnymund and Toothiana looked at the entrance, where both North and Sandy were looking at them with wide eyes.

A teasing smile appeared on Sanderson Mansnoozie while he arched a golden eyebrow.

The fairy felt how her face turned red; the fuzziness suddenly vanished from her mind as the cold air sipped into the room.

"Stop playing around, you two", said the Cossack in a quick recovery as if not noticing how both his friends had trashed is hideout. "We must go to the Pole and prepare, Jack needs our help."

"I have sleigh ready outside." North said over his shoulder after turning around to go outside, completely oblivious to the mood that hung in the atmosphere. "You can play wrestling some other time."

Sandy stayed behind, doing a poor job at trying to stifle his silent laughter.

Tooth quickly disentangled herself from Bunny, eyes fixated on some pattern in the wooden floor.

The pooka got up, fixing his robes to try to not look so disheveled and not having a single clue of what to say to get them out of such an embarrassing moment.

Sandy winked at them; golden hands clapping appeared above his head.

'And here I was thinking you didn't like each other.' The little man said with his mind before turning around to join North.

Neither Tooth nor Bunny dared say anything when they were alone once more.

She made her way towards the entrance, but turned around to look at him picking up his glasses and his satchel.

She opened her mouth but hesitated.

However maybe it was the moment they had shared back there, maybe it was the alcohol in her system, but a tentative smile formed in her lips.

"Maybe we can continue this some other time"

The pooka froze, and without the protection of his serious façade, the fairy knew that she wanted to see more of this new unrestrained side of him…especially if she could be the one to get him to loosen up.

Judging by how he reciprocated her smile, it seemed that for the first time, they were both on the same page when it came to this.

"As you wish, your highness."

Hope you liked it! Don't forget to R&R