Sleep, Lack Thereof

Jamie recoiled towards the far wall as the snarl deepened in Bunnymund's throat, filling the burrow with a constant, jagged rumble. Jack rolled his eyes, but remained guarded under the rabbit's piercing gaze.

A soft rustling flitted about as the blonde little girl rose up from the nest. Blinking deep, green eyes, her sleepiness quickly formed into speculation at the sight of Jack and her brother cornered by the large rabbit. Swallowing the growing fear for Jamie's life, she quietly, but clearly, called Bunny's name.

With weapons and hackles raised, the Pooka stared down his opponents, ears bent back defensively and eyes flashing angrily between the boys. He reeled back a boomerang, ready to strike before his nose twitched and his eyes widened. Sighing between clenched teeth and a snarl, Bunny gradually lowered his weapons.

"Frost," the rabbit exclaimed with underlying drowsiness. "What in blazes are you doing here?"

Jack hummed nonchalantly as he threw an arm around Jamie's shoulders, the younger boy relaxing a little in the embrace. "We were in the neighborhood," Jack explained, ruffling the kid's hair. "Thought we'd drop by."

"At two in the morning?" Bunny groaned, swiveling to set his weapons on the nightstand, running a free paw through Sophie's messy hair in the process. When he turned back to face the winter spirit he buried his face in his paws. "Crikey," he muttered between furry fingers. "Don't you know not not wake a sleeping Pooka and his kit?"

"No, and what a greeting we got," Jack said, grin broadening. "Oh ho! She's your kit, now?"

"Rack off, frostbite," Bunnymund growled.

Jack coughed a laugh. "I dare you to make me, cottontail."

As the two Guardians bickered, Jamie quietly made his way to the corner. When Bunny's voice unexpectedly rose in volume for a brief moment, Jamie sighed and jumped backwards to sit on the edge of the nest next to his sister.

"It seriously sounds like they're two parents arguing over their kids," Jamie grinned slightly, pointing to Bunny and Jack. "What do you think, Soph?" The girl giggled with a hand in front of her smiling mouth, but said nothing. Jamie slowly turned to give her a fond look.

Due to the few years that had gone by – and North's severe lack of helpful knowledge of being bonded – Sophie and Jamie now appeared to be around the same age. If not for the hair and eye color, they could've passed for twins. Sophie had certainly grown a few inches, and Jamie will never admit that she's slightly taller than him. She still wore her messy hair down, but was now parted to reveal her full, lively eyes.

Sophie's vocabulary was the major change. Rather than short words, full sentences now sprang from her lips. However, ironically, she tended to stay relatively silent. She didn't have very many friends back in Burgess, and could often be found roaming the quiet serenity of the Warren nearly all hours of the day. Bunnymund and Sophie were the only residents in the Warren capable of human speech, and, at the same time, didn't need it. If they ever lengthily conversed with each other it was almost always through emotion and thought sharing, as well as a few spoken words.

Sophie bit her lip as Jack countered one of Bunny's light insults. "How long do you think they'll go at it this time," she asked with voice small, but bright as always.

"Their current record's forty minutes," Jamie mused with a shrug. "Maybe they'll beat it." With a sigh, Jamie flexed his jaw. Feeling his sister's eyes upon him, he slowly turned to fully face her. "How's…" Jamie rubbed the back of his neck before meeting her gaze. "How's mom?"

Sophie's tender smirk melted away, teeth returning to worry her lower lip. "She…she's fine, Jamie. She actually just got a job promotion." The little girl looked sideways at her brother. "But-"

"Hold that thought," Jamie held up a finger as they turned their attention back to the Guardians.

"Jack," Bunny said more evenly, running a claw below a long ear. "I don't-"

"It attacked us, Bunny," Jack said, grip tightening around his staff. "Its buddy even joined the party!"

"Look," the Pooka tried to reason. "I don't know what attacked you, but none of you got hurt, right? Whatever they were, they're gone now. If they were truly bent on hurting you then you'd still be fightin' 'em." With a tired grunt, Bunny turned back to the kids. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I-"

"What if they attack again," Jack said, eyebrows creasing further.

Bunny sighed, draping one foot over the nest and gathering a discarded blanket to wrap around Sophie. "If you're truly worried about it, go to North," Bunny said before Jamie jumped away for the Pooka to return to bed.

"Wait a minute," Jack pointed to the rabbit as Jamie walked sluggishly over to him. "I thought Pooka's were supposed to be, like, really old. And you don't even know what those monsters are?"

Bunnymund rolled his eyes as he tucked the covers around a confused Sophie. "I may be ancient, but creatures of mystery and wonder tend to be North's expertise." He wagged a dark eyebrow at Sophie. "And not one word about my old age."

The little girl's giggle sounded melodically, bringing a soft smile to the rabbit's face. "But what's going on," she asked after composing herself.

"Nothing, ankle biter," Bunny said with a casual shrug. "Just Jack causing trouble again."

"Dude," Jamie's mouth dropped slightly. "He was sleeping."

"Ah, speaking of which, I really need to catch up on that right now." Bunnymund lounged back against the dirt wall. "I let you two practice in the Warren during the day, but I won't have you creating a ruckus while I'm asleep."

"Fine," Jack said, showing the palms of his hands. "We're going. Come one, kiddo," the winter spirit grumbled as he hooked his staff over his shoulder and brought Jamie into his arms. "Looks like we're sleeping at the Pole tonight."

"Um," Jamie muttered against the Guardian's chest. "Can…can we," the boy met the expectant cerulean orbs. "not fly right now."

Though astonished, the statement was perfectly understandable. Truthfully, Jack didn't want to be flying either, but how else would they get to the workshop; Bunny was certainly in no mood to open a rabbit hole for them and Jack didn't have a snow globe.

Jamie dipped a hand into one of the pockets of his cloak. "We could-" A frigid hand cupped his less chilly one through the leather, stalling the search.

"I told you," Jack shook his head. "Your snow globe is for emergencies only."

Jamie cocked his head. "Being chased by creepy hooded spirits isn't an emergency?"

"They aren't chasing us now, kid." The wise-crack barely went noticed by Jamie as the child rested his head on the navy blue of his shoulder, as if he couldn't hold himself up much longer. Jack's huff came out as a small yawn. Though he could possibly go another night without sleep, Jamie certainly couldn't, and he realized that a visit to North's would probably have to wait. He pursed his lips, eyes idly inspecting the interior of the burrow before falling back to the Pooka.

"Hey, Bunny," Jack beckoned, making the rabbit crack an eye open and growl irritably under his breath. "Think we could use two of your guest bedrooms?"

"Right," Bunny scoffed, closing the eye and propping his arms behind his head. "Sandy's told me how your emotions get when you dream. I won't have you getting frost everywhere." Sighing, he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Fine, I'll make you a tunnel to North's. I actually left one of my best boomerangs in the Globe Room and wouldn't mind getting it back." He reached out an unusually gentle paw to shake Sophie awake. "I'll be back in a minute, little ankle biter," he said below a whisper. "You all right by yourself?"

Sophie nodded and hummed contentedly. Fisting her hands to her chest – a nervous habit she adopted from Jamie, though she did it when she was at ease – she curled her knees in tighter before deep breaths drifted her out of consciousness.

With a loud whoop and a back flip, Jack held Jamie tighter, staff and a hand held firmly behind his small back. Jack couldn't understand how Jamie was able to sleep through something as fun and energetic as this!

Bunny was running several feet ahead of Jack's playful romping through the tunnels, an arrogant smile playing on his features. He would question Jack's preference between ice skating and rabbit tunnel surfing once they reached the surface. When Jack had gained enough speed and ground to catch up with the Pooka, Bunnymund leaped to and off a side wall and veered upward.

Right before he breeched the outside world, the fur of his neck bristled, whiskers twitching at the sudden change in the air. When he finally reached the surface and jumped onto the stone floor of the Globe Room, his smile dropped into an almost horrific frown. The rabbit hole closed behind the winter spirit and Jack was about to question the stiffness of Bunny's stance before his eyes fell on North and the Globe of Belief.

Wrapped in a dark red robe, swords clenched and ready at his sides, stood the Guardian of Wonder glaring furiously at the Globe. Everything was quiet during that time of the evening. No one or nothing stirred, except for the slumbering child, the three Guardians, and the black, hissing string of sand that coiled and twined slowly around the Globe.

"This isn't right," Bunnymund whispered.