A week after Christmas, North came to check on Bunnymund and Lily. He didn't find them together. Bunnymund was down in his meadow painting eggs, while Lily was up in the catacombs reading the Pookas' books. North watched Bunnymund chase down an egg, almost angrily, which surprised North.

"Bunny?" North called cheerfully. "What is wrong?"

"She's driving me crazy, mate. I can't concentrate on the eggs with her here." Bunnymund said, tossing a ruined egg over his shoulder. "And she can't paint worth beans. What possible use could I have with her?"

"Did she tell you she could paint?" North asked, Bunnymund shook his head.

"All Pookas can paint, North." Bunnymund pointed out dryly.

"But she is not Pooka. Not on inside. Perhaps it is something you are forgetting when you look at her?" North suggested, deliberately avoiding the whole use topic for his own continued good health.

"I… Probably. Seeing another Pooka after so long, I suppose I let the sight go more than the person." Bunnymund admitted grudgingly. He grabbed the tossed egg and repainted it quickly. "But that doesn't mean she's helpful. Mother Nature hasn't contacted her for training yet and it's beginning to wear on both of us. Being cooped up together."

"You both come to the Pole. I keep rooms for both of you." North said magnanimously. He didn't say anything about the rooms being next to each other, or being connected as a suite.

"Nah, mate I'm good here. Take her up to the pole. We need time apart. Please?" Bunnymund was too proud to beg, but he came very close. "One of us is going to try to kill the other soon. And it may just be me, if she starts reading me facts from the old medical books again." Bunnymund groaned and slumped against a tree.

They walked to the high plaza and stood there talking for a few minutes, while an egg went to fetch Lily. Then another and another. Bunnymund sent half a dozen eggs to get Lily and none of them returned. North and he had to hunt up Lily on their own. Of course it took only a moment since Bunnymund knew she was still in the old archives. A quick hop down a tunnel and he and North were in the archives as well.

"There you are! I've sent egg after egg to get you." Bunnymund snapped, Lily looked up from her latest book, startled.

"Is that what they're here for? I thought they were just looking for attention, or something." Lily said, looking down at the swarm of eggs in bemusement.

"Can't you get anything right? They clearly have a message for you." Bunnymund demanded, making Lily glower at him.

"They'd better be love notes, 'cause otherwise I don't care and I'm not going to just hop to when someone calls." Lily growled at Bunnymund, who bristled, while his ears went pink at the implication of love notes. "I know we've been getting on each others nerves a lot. But you expecting me to blindly do as you say, isn't going to happen."

"North has offered to take you to the Pole for a week or so. Maybe you'll get your proper job description there." Bunnymund said, keeping his temper in check. He wasn't accustomed to being disobeyed. Lily looked at North hopefully.

"Do you think, you could take me to see my family? It's been weeks since I came." Lily pleaded, standing and walking over to North.

"Well, they may not see you. You are one of us now. And you have no believers yet." North said as gently as he could.

"I just want to see them. Just to make sure they're doing alright. Please?" Lily begged.

"You come to Pole and we shall see. Perhaps, after a rest away from Warren, we go see family." North conceded, Lily had to accept that much and gathered a few books.

"Whoa, what do you think you're doing? Those books stay here." Bunnymund said, grabbing the few Lily held.

"What else am I supposed to read up on? Human biology? The human reproductive system? In case you hadn't noticed, I was human and have a very in depth education on that subject. I'm a giant rabbit now. This is what I need to learn. So I'm taking these books to read, when I'm not visiting with North or the other Guardians." Lily said, rather high handed in her assumption.

"But they belong here." Bunnymund said simply. "You go, they stay."

"Would you rather I stayed and read them to you? Last I checked, you preferred blissful ignorance on the subject of the male pooka reproductive organ." Lily threatened, North snorted in his effort not to laugh at their exchange. Bunnymund kept his replies simple, but Lily went in for detail. Her threat carried weight, Bunnymunds ears went back, then down. He took her threat seriously, and knew she'd do it.

"Fine, but don't damage them." Bunnymund finally said and handed back the books. Lily grinned triumphantly and got a leather satchel to put the books in.

"Is shameless how you flirt." North said loudly enough to be heard by Lily and Bunnymund. Lily started laughing, but Bunnymund glared at North reproachfully, and with a touch of betrayal. "Now, we go." North said, chuckling as Bunnymund slunk away, he'd be in a fine dismal mood for days, then he'd see why North had made fun of his and Lily's arguing, to him it would have sounded like they were an old married couple. But for now, a good sulk and time away from his house guest was what he wanted to do.