Okay, so literally I'm just writing these and posting them so they're greatly unbeta-ed and I'm very sorry for that, but I've gotten so much feedback and it makes me so happy! Thank you everyone who's been reviewing and even just following this!
Tired
By: Midnight E Siren
/post-movie/
A fire roared in North's fireplace, the Guardians had gathered at Santoff Claussen in their downtime to sit and talk together when their schedules did not demand their full attention. It was a peaceful night where Sandy, North, Bunny and Tooth could all just take a breather and relax without worrying about deadlines and just swap stories with their fellow guardians. Their newest member, Jack, had to be given a good deal of coaxing before he'd join them, Winter's Shepard had been alone for so long he still was unused to the attention and noise. After hounding him for what seemed months he'd agreed to join them, Bunnymund had left the Warren shortly after he'd stopped by Jack's pond to remind him that they were meeting up. Jack had begrudgingly told Bunny that he remembered and would be stopping by Santoff Claussen later that night after Tooth was sure her fairies could handle the night without her and Sandy had finished his dreaming rounds.
Santoff Claussen stood tall and proud in its protected valley, lights glowed brightly from it but it was easily cloaked by winter storms and the rock faces that made the buildings look like fallen stones. Bunny didn't have much time to admire the image before the icy wind cut through his spring pelt and chilled him to the bone. Quickly with curses spilling from his lips he bound into the winter haven, dodging past the always busy yetis and the underfoot elves. Planes whirled through the air, and huge furry workers tried to stay out of the path of the easter bunny as he wound his way up to North's guest hall. The upper levels of the great building were filled with the oversized toy-makers, all carefully and painstakingly hand painting, building and arranging every detail of the toys they made. North was forever proud of the creatures he'd employed from the winter wastelands, he'd given them a warm home to return to and all they could eat everyday in return for their hard work.
They'd spent many years together in Santoff Claussen, generations of yetis had been born and died there though their lives were quite long to begin with. Wooden floors creaked quietly under Bunny's paws, the wood had an age-old smoothness to it that the pooka couldn't help but appreciate and feel welcomed by. Everything about the Russian's base was welcoming, like it was Christmas all year around and it warmed the hearts of those that tread upon its door. North's private quarters were still abound with yetis and elves, one of the higher levels had been converted into a kind of ballroom. A huge fireplace burned in the center of the far wall, crackling warm and merry and giving off wonderful heat while to the right stood a cozy dining hall on the other side of huge double doors.
A long table was filled with food and drink and Bunny could see elves snatching up snacks and morsels only to be chased off by the yetis. It was almost comical to watch the little creatures come up with different plans to sneak past their larger counterparts.
"Bunny! Welcome to my home!" a loud voice exclaimed just as a yeti threw an offending elf across the room. "How have you been old friend?"
North strode up to his fellow guardian and clapped a large hand on the rabbit's shoulder making him stumble under the weight. "Good, North." he grunted, easing out from beneath the warm touch to go and reheat his frozen paws by the fire. "Stopped by to tell Frostbite to head out here, said he'd be here after Tooth's and Sandy's rounds."
"Good, good! Very good, then we shall gather and begin with our feasting and conversing!" North exclaimed excitedly, suddenly finding the chore of shooing the elves away more important in that moment as he rushed over to help the yetis.
It wasn't long until Sandy joined them, his job of spreading dreams to the children of the world having been accomplished for the night. As per usual, Sandy gave them all a silent hello and began floating around the table full of food, it was only a casual gathering for the guardians but the elves and yetis always tried to accommodate them the best they could out of respect. Bunny's thoughts turned back to the still absent Jack for a moment, a light scowl on the rabbit's face as he greeted the flurry of feathers and smiles that was Tooth. Jack had been a bit distant the last few months, he always seemed edgy and ready to take off at a moment's notice if need be. The teen never seemed to actually sit down anywhere for more than a few minutes at a time, he could have chalked it up to Jack's extended solitude. He knew that seasonal spirits didn't get along with each other, and he knew other spirits got along with the seasonals even less.
As a pooka of easter he himself was familiar with one spirit, Mother Nature herself, she was the only seasonal he'd ever truly spoken to. She'd been kind and gentle but held a strength in her that was fearsome if trifled with and from the few run-ins he'd had with other seasonals it was a kind of trend. A spirit of the seasons was a dangerous thing, mood swings were common, sometimes they could be mild and friendly and then the next they were throwing a tantrum and causing trouble. Not all of them were as volatile as Jack though, among the seasonals the spirit of winter was by far the youngest and therefore the most wild. He'd heard about winter and spring fighting nearly a hundred years prior, the spirit of spring had stopped him the day before Easter to rant to him about the infuriating boy. That had been the year of the great blizzard of '68.
It was a memory that made Bunny's ears twitch at the thought of it, but after he'd heard the boy's explanation for his actions he couldn't really be angry anymore. Apparently Spring had decided she wanted to come early that year and began undoing all of winter's work when the world was due for an extra month of ice and cold. For years Bunny had thought that it was only because Jack had wanted to mess with him, but to know that he'd only been doing his job as a seasonal made it hard for him to stay angry. Spring still held a grudge against winter and the two fought constantly, once Jack had even spoken about Mother Nature having to come in and, for lack of better words, ground them. Jack had been trapped at the bottom of the pond he'd called home and spring to the trunk of the old fallen tree in which she hid through the winter. They'd both been kept there for a decade, Summer and Autumn had to pick up their slack causing a combination of mild winters and slightly too warm springs for those ten years.
Whenever someone brought that up Jack always moped, nearly pouted and grumbled like the child he was that Spring had started it. Though Jack knew the other seasonals they did not mingle together, their run-ins were legendary among the other spirits and mythical beings. People just didn't get in between two of the seasons unless they were in for a fight against nature itself. Speaking of the winter spirit, with a sudden blast of cold air a window blew open in the workshop sending frost and snowflakes through the warm building. Frozen elves slid across the wooden floors and yetis grabbed their precious toys out of the path of the Spirit of Winter. He sailed in on the North Wind, staff in hand and surrounded by the essence of cold that seemed to follow him everywhere he went.
Bare toes lit on the carpet, carefully skirting the roaring fire in the corner as he said hello to Tooth and Sandy before making a snide comment at his favorite kangaroo. In moments an argument had sparked between the two as always, but unlike before he'd become a Guardian there was no real ill will behind it. They argued because it amused them most of the time, and simply because they could. When North heard the teen's voice he declared that it was time for them to sit and eat and talk. The Guardians had not gathered in a while, with Tooth, Sandy and Jack's year-round jobs it was hard for them all to meet up but since the battle with Pitch they'd made a larger effort to do so. Inattentiveness had been the thing to give Pitch so much power, with the addition of Jack they'd rediscovered the love of their Guardianships. Each of them were reminded as to why they did what they did, all for their love of children.
For most of the night they ate and drank their fill, while they had little need to they enjoyed the taste of human food and drink. Tooth always found it amusing how Jack would nibble at everything like a bird, he pick up one morsel and taste it carefully as if it would disappear before grabbing something completely different and doing the same again. Jack was one to take things in strides when it came to food, he would eat bits of everything and then give what he had left over to the elves that he harassed so often. They were always exuberant with the morsels he gave them, they'd snatch them up and run off to who knew where to eat them. The faerie suddenly realized she'd never seen Jack eat anything completely, nor had she ever seen the boy truly sleep. Though Jack was a part of their little family now, he was still flighty sometimes and didn't stick around the four of them for long. Three hundred years was a long time to be lonely, and it wouldn't go away in just a few years.
So they did their best to include him whenever winter was not needed in the world, when Mother Nature gave him a break from his blistering winds and flurries. Sometimes Tooth welcomed him to help her faeries gather teeth and even bunny had let the spirit paint some eggs every once in a while. The yetis were not fond of Jack's help, Phil did his best to keep the seasonal spirit out of the toyshop so he wouldn't 'test the toys' every five minutes but it was really futile after a while. While Jack could fly on the North Wind, his yeti friend was barred to the ground. They had great fun in trying to out-fox each other, and usually through some lucky star Phil was able to keep his opponent out. Sandy was much more relaxed about Jack being around while he worked, the two had an appreciation for the other that transcended all else. For years the seasonal had admired Sandy's golden streams and in like the golden man had admired the way the snow and ice looked beneath MiM's light.
Whenever Jack joined the other he would simply rest upon a small corner of the golden platform and watch the sandman reach out to all the children one by one. Jack had always loved the contrast against the inky blue sky dotted with stars, and then the pure white, sparkling snow on the ground as the flaxen streams twisted and swirled through the air. It was a sight that the frozen spirit never tired of, and he tried his best to stop and take it all in when he could. Now, Jack strolled easily through the warm lounge, leaving frosty footprints in his wake as his deep set eyes wandered curiously over the bookshelves that lined the walls. His fingers trailed over the spines, carefully keeping the frost from leaving his fingertips and damaging the pages.
"So Jack, how's Burgess been? Winter just started there recently didn't it?" Tooth asked, flitting over to where he sat curled up in one of the many overstuffed couch chairs.
"Good actually, I got to play with Jaimie for a while the other day, and then the kids tried to ban together and beat me in a snowball war." he grinned tiredly making Tooth tilt her head slightly at the odd expression on her fellow guardian's face.
"Are you feeling alright Jack? You've been awfully quiet today." she inquired, fluttering closer to his face and looking for anything amiss. "You haven't frozen nearly as many elves as you usually do."
Jack sighed, running a hand through his hair nervously when the other three guardians turned their gazes upon him. "Just tired." he replied, shifting his gaze to the roaring fire to try and escape the conversation.
North wasn't having any of it. "I do not think I have ever seen you sleep... " he mused stroking his long beard as Bunny twitched his ears.
"Something bothering you Frostbite?" the pooka's ears twisted forward curiously.
"Like I said, I'm just tired." Jack urged them, he was already dealing with a lot and he didn't need the other guardians fretting over him. "Please, don't worry about it."
And with that tone of finality, they could do nothing but drop the subject though they all made a silent agreement to dig deeper when Jack was less touchy about it. The rest of their night together was pleasant, they talked and snacked on cookies and hot cocoa until before long it was time for them to part ways. Bunny had eggs to paint, North toys to make and Tooth could not stray long from her faeries so Sandy and Jack were left to their own devices. Though the little golden man stayed a while longer to entertain their youngest member, with an urging for him to confide in them if there was trouble he flew away to his dream island. Now without the prying eyes of his fellow guardians, Jack let himself relax completely into the welcoming cushions.
His body felt like lead, a fathomless exhaustion settled heaviness that made him not want to move an inch yet he knew he needed to return to his lake soon and finish freezing it. It was thick enough to be walked upon by the children but Jack could never be too sure. A bone-deep fatigue clung to him and his eyelids were like ten-pound weights, while an odd warmth yet not warmth seemed to settle around him. Before long the battle between himself and his eyelids was lost and darkness claimed the frozen spirit.
A few minutes of sleep wouldn't hurt before he left.
