There was a very good reason why whenever Bunny needed to buy new clothes, which was rare, he had always left it to Tooth. It was a simple system; she'd buy the clothes and Bunny paid her back by making her handmade chocolate. Truth be told, Tooth actually enjoyed shopping, while Bunny hated it. He currently desperately wished Tooth was here to trade places with him.
There were just too many options to chose from. If he was choosing paint colours or supplies, or something practical it would make more sense, but clothes? All humans needed was a clean shirt, pants and underwear, that's it. Nothing fancy.
He didn't understand the need to give shirts v-necks, high collars, or buttons. The only thing that was necessary was selecing a shirt that had long sleeves, and was thick enough to protect the wearer from the cold, which was exactly why Bunny was here.
Jack would protest it, but the boy needed more clothes than the ones he managed to convinced the boy to buy for his street performances. That was the one good thing about Jack being stuck in the hospital, it gave Bunny a chance to buy clothes for him with no protests they were spending unneeded money.
The wind was getting colder, and bringing the chill of winter with it. Jack needed a warmer shirts and even a coat at this point. Course, he had no idea what the kid's tastes where. What did teens buy now a days?
Bunny sighed as he looked over the clothes and ran a hand through his hair. He was currently looking through shirts on a rack that all had weird logos on them. Jack had mentioned a Doctor Who, was he some kind of famous physician? At least that made a strange amount of sense when compared to the logo that just said "Hulk smash!" Was that some kind of joke he didn't know about?
Sandy often kept up more with the current trends than Bunny did. Granted, all the Guardians had been poking at Bunny to catch up with the times for years. He was probably going to get an earful on the subject once he was home.
Bunny then frowned as he fingered a shirt and once again debated what to do with Jack once their trip was over. He was originally going to try to find a proper home for the kid, except Jack had magic now. That was a whole lot tricker. Jack would need someone to teach him and take him on as an apprentice, but that itself was difficult.
For the magic world, apprenticeship was the equivalent of adoption since it took a long time for a someone to control their magic, nevermind it took them longer to grow older as a result. It was more than a lifetime commitment, and not a lot of older magic users wanted to be chained with the responsibility.
Bunny had toyed with the option of perhaps finding someone to teach Jack in secret while they found a home where the boy could have a more normal life. Jack had mentioned there was possibility a Great Aunt somewhere. Tooth could look into it, research was one of her strongest talents.
Although, a voice in Bunny's head muttered. You could always take Jack on as an apprentice. You've wanted kids when you were younger, didn't you?
Bunny instantly shook the thought away. That dream had died a long time ago with his clan. Besides, Bunny was a 'grumpy old Pooka' in North's words, and Jack was a young human. They wouldn't fit, it'd be easier for Jack-
"Do you need some help?"
Bunny looked up to he had been asked by a young man and stared confused until Bunny saw his name tag. Ah, so he worked here. "Tryin' ta get some shirts for a teenage boy," he replied, dryly as he ran his hand through the shirt rack.
The man frowned as he grasped his chin. "What does he like? Any particular style?"
"No, clue," Bunny replied, honestly. "I just want shirts for winter and a new coat."
"Coats are in the next section over," the man replied as he moved to the shelf and picked a shirt off it. "We have some plain long sleeve shirts, but if you want my advice, you can't go wrong with a hoodie." He held up a deep blue hoodie that seemed to have deep pockets.
Bunny rubbed the fabric and was impressed to see it was thicker than it looked. "Teens wear these?"
The man gave a chuckle. "I got two younger brothers and a sister, and I guarantee you all of them wear these in their favorite colours." He handed it to Bunny.
Bunny gave an approving nod as he plunked the shirt into the basket he'd been carrying. "Thanks, and don't suppose ya can tell me which coat a teen would like?"
The man shrugged. "Sir, in the words of my mother 'as long as it keeps you from freezing to death, it can glow in the dark for all I care'. Just get something simple."
Bunny chuckled. Now those were words to live by.
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Jack swallowed the last mouthful and was glad to be done with his lunch. The hospital food wasn't terrible, yet it wasn't great either. He'd hope Bunny would keep his promise and sneak in some donuts when he got back.
"Is that good enough, Doc?" Jack asked as he set his fork aside.
Doctor Gobber gave an approving nod as he checked his chart. "It's a good start, but you'll need to keep up the calorie intake to put some meat back on those bones." He gave a laugh. "However, keep eating and you'll be as big as I am!" Doctor Gobber exclaimed but then waved his artificial hand. "We'll, maybe not as handsome, but probably decent."
Jack snickered slightly. The man was eccentric, but at least he was fun to talk to. "How much longer do I have to say in here?"
"Need to compare notes with Doctor Bennett," Doctor Gobber said as he scratched his chin. "But got to say you seem to be making a fast recovery," he raised an eyebrow at him. "Rather remarkable really."
Jack coughed and tried to shrug. "I've always been a fast healer." Well, fast healer thanks to Bunny's healing spell, but can't exactly tell him that.
Doctor Gobber looked like he wanted to ask further, however, he only gave a nod. "Well, I'll see you on my next round. I got other patients to pester right now."
Jack slumped back onto the bed once Doctor Gobber went. He was so bored! Jack had never had the patience to stay in bed, and this was even worse. He had been in the hospital for three days now. He was certain he was going to go crazy with cabin fever soon.
Jack was thankful Bunny's healing spell seemed to be doing the trick, otherwise Jack would probably be forced to stay in this hospital even longer. His eyes glanced over to the duffle bag that was still stuffed with Jack's magic tricks.
Bunny was at least smart enough to bring it so Jack could practice his tricks if he got too bored, but he wasn't in the mood. He debated of trying to read one of the books Bunny had bought to read when he heard his door open, and the pitter patter of feet.
Jack sat up, but he didn't see anyone there. He ran his hand through his hair. "Weird, was certain I heard someone-"
Suddenly, a stuffed rabbit toy head peeked at Jack at the other end of the bed. He blinked, unsure what he was seeing, until he heard a high pitched giggle. Suddenly, he saw little hands appear and were trying to make the rabbit hop. Giving a sly smile, Jack said "Hmm...who do we have here?"
The rabbit stopped hopping. Knowing he caught the intruder's attention, he snapped his fingers like a thought had just entered his head. "A cat, right? That is definitely a cat!"
He heard more giggles, and the toy rabbit shook it's head.
"Not a cat, eh?" Jack folded his arms over his chest. "Then it's got to be a pig!"
There were more giggles as the rabbit shook it's head again. "No," it replied.
"Oh," Jack said as he crawled to the end of the bed. "Then what are you?" He peeked over, and saw a little blonde hair girl laughing as she hugged the rabbit to her chest.
"Bunny! Bunny!" she looked up to Jack, and held out her rabbit. "Hop! Hop! Hop!"
"Ah, a rabbit! Of course!" Jack said as he pretended to slap his forehead. He offered a hand, and pulled the girl to her feet. "So, what's your name-"
"Sophie!" Jack looked up, and saw a boy groaned as he entered the room while shaking his head. "There you are! I've been looking every where for you."
"Jamie," Sophie giggled as she held up the rabbit. "Hop! Hop!"
Jamie sighed, and then seemed to noticed Jack was there. "Err...sorry about this," he said as he tucked a hand behind his head. "My little sister ran off from the daycare."
"It's okay," Jack said with a grin. "I was getting bored anyway, I'm Jack by the way."
"I'm Jamie, and that's Sophie if you didn't figure it out," Jamie said as he grabbed Sophie by the arm. "And we got to get going before Mom finds out-"
It was exactly then Doctor Bennett entered, and had almost stepped on children if she hadn't raised her head. "What the? Jamie? Sophie?"
"Uh, oh," Jamie muttered as Sophie ducked behind her brother.
"You know these two?" Jack asked as he pointed at them with his thumb.
"Yes," Doctor Bennett said as she tapped her foot, and looked to the children in disapproval. "They're my children."
Jack blinked. They were Doctor Bennett's kids? Wow, small world.
Jamie nervously fiddled with his thumbs as his mother sighed. "What are you two doing out of the hospital's daycare?" she asked.
Jamie looked ready to say somethin,g but Sophie beat him to it by having her rabbit peek out from behind him. "Hide and seek!"
Doctor Bennett frowned as she kneeled to be at eye level with them. "You know you're not suppose to leave the daycare."
"It's not my fault, Mom," Jamie protested. "Sophie snuck out when Mrs. James wasn't looking."
Doctor Bennett tapped her elbow. "And instead of telling Mrs. James about it so she could call for help you decided to fetch Sophie by yourself?"
"Sure, I'm eight," Jamie replied with a casual shrug. "I'm almost an adult."
Jack chuckled as Doctor Bennett shook her head. "What am I going to do with you two?"
"Uh…" Jamie said unsure how he should respond. "Buy us ice cream or is this one of those questions I'm not suppose to answer?"
Doctor Bennett gave a half smile as she patted Jamie's head. "Never mind, let's get back to the daycare you two."
"No," Sophie said as she suddenly ducked under Jack's bed. "Want to play here!"
Jamie crawled on his knees. "Come on, Sophie! Don't be a pain today."
Doctor Bennett looked like she was going to have a headache which Jack took as his cue to offer a rescue. He hung upside down off the bed, and grinned at Sophie. "Hey, you want to see a magic trick?"
Sophie stared curiously at him as Jamie tilted his head. "Magic trick?" he asked.
"Yup," Jack said as he looked to Sophie, "but you got to come out if you want to see it."
Sophie looked hesitant as she hugged her toy like it was her shield. "Trick?"
"It's involves a bunny."
"Bunny! Bunny!" Sophie exclaimed as she crawled out, and making her toy bunny bounce. "Hop! Hop!"
Jamie sighed, leaning against Jack's bed. "My sister is obsessed with rabbits."
She'd love Bunny then, Jack thought as he then took one of the magazines and tore a couple of pages out of it. "First, I need to make a rabbit. Just take a sec."
Jack turned his back to him as he quickly folded the paper. He could feel Sophie poke at his back as Jamie try to peeked over his shoulder. Once he was done the last fold, Jack spun back around, and held up a paper origami rabbit. "Ta da!"
"Bunny!" Sophie said as she held up her toy rabbit to touch noses with the origami one.
"Where did you learn to make that?" Doctor Bennett asked with a smile.
"My dad taught me," Jack said. Well, it was technically true. His dad had taught him, it just wasn't Pooka shape shifting one she thought was his father.
"He's cute and all," Jamie said a little disappointed, "but that's the magic trick?"
"Nope," Jack said as he folded his hands over the paper rabbit to hid it. "Okay, Sophie, I need your magic touch. Tap my hands."
Jamie stared confused as Sophie grinned, and tapped the top of his hands "Oh! Oh! Something's happening," Jack said as he moved his hands around like something was trying to escape. "It's coming! Ha!" He opened his palms, and revealed there was not one, but two origami rabbits.
"Whoa," Jamie said as Sophie gasped, and stole the rabbits from his hands like they were gold coins. "How did you do that?" He glanced behind Jack like he was expecting to see a pile of paper bunnies. "Where did the other rabbit come from?"
Jack waved a finger. "A magician never reveal his secrets."
Doctor Bennett laughed. "You seem to have a knack for magic, Jack."
"I've loved it all my life," Jack said as he gestured to the duffle bag. "I got more magic tricks stored in there."
"Really?" Doctor Bennett said as she adjusted her glasses, and looked over her chart. "You've been recovering quite quickly. I wonder…" She grinned slyly at Jack. "Do you think you would be up for putting on a little magic show?"
Jack stared wide eyed. "Sure but for who? The doctors?"
Doctor Bennett tucked the clipboard behind her back. "Not quite, but it's an audience that I'm sure could use some magic tricks to brighten their day."
Jack and Jamie exchanged baffled looks as Sophie made a parade out of her rabbits on Jack's bed.
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Bunny felt relieved when he was finished with the shopping. He managed to leave the store with a hoodie, a coat, new pair of jeans, and a few shirts including one with a design the sales clerk seemed certain any teen would like. Tricky part would be getting Jack to take them without saying they didn't need to spend the money, although Bunny did have a back up plan.
He would tuck all the extra clothes into the astral pocket and leave Jack with only the hoodie to wear. With Jack seeing it was either wearing that or the pjs he was in now, Bunny had a feeling Jack would see things his way. He balanced the box of donuts under his arm as he opened the door to Jack's room.
"Jack, I'm back-" Bunny's heart stopped. Jack wasn't in his bed. He wasn't anywhere in the room. His stomach lurched as he raced to the hallway and tried to sniff the air for clues. Had something happened while he was gone? Oh crud, what if Jack had to go into surgery? Or worse, what if Pitch had snuck in?
"Oh good, you're back."
Bunny whirled around as Doctor Bennett entered with a smile. "Jack was wondering when you would get back."
"Where is he?" Bunny said as he tried to hide the frantic in his voice.
"He's giving a show," Doctor Bennett replied with a grin.
"A show?" Bunny asked as he glanced back into the room and saw Jack's duffle bag was also gone.
"Follow me," Doctor Bennett said as she headed down the hall. Bunny quickly set down his bags before chasing after Doctor Bennett. They walked to almost the other side of the hospital and as they approached a large pair of doors Bunny could hear laughter.
"Kids?" he asked as Doctor Bennett pushed the door.
She placed a finger on her lips before they entered. Jack was sitting on a chair, grinning from ear to ear. A group of children, most of them in hospital gowns, were giggling and clapping their hands ecstatically.
"For my next trick," Jack said, "Jamie ,want to give a hand?"
A boy that had been sitting close to the front sat up. "What do I do?"
Jack flipped the hat off his head and handed it to Jamie. "Hold this and tell me if there's anything inside the hat."
Jamie peered inside and shook his head. "No."
"And can you tilt it so the other kids can see it's empty too?"
Jamie did as asked and each child carefully examined the hat throughly looking for any hidden tricks.
Bunny folded his arms over his chest as he whispered to Doctor Bennett. "Has he been performing tricks for the ankle bitters?"
"All afternoon, I hope you don't mind," she replied. "But he seemed so bored and the children love shows like this." She gave him a wink. "Your son as a real knack for magic and kids for that matter." She pointed to the boy and the blonde hair girl who was laughing as she looked into Jack's hat. "I think my kids are now Jack's biggest fans."
Bunny gave a bemused grin. "Can't say I can take the credit for that, but yeah….Jack's a special kid."
Once the inspection was done, Jamie brought the hat back. "Now what?"
"Hold it steady while I reach inside," Jack instructed as he placed his hand inside the hat. "Let's see, what can I...Oh! Wait! I found something!" The kids gasped as Jack pulled out a large cane that was two meters long.
"That's like Mary Poppins!" one girl cried as she pointed. "How did you do that?!"
"Magic!" Jack said as he twirled the cane, and placed the hat back on his head. "Anything's possible with it.'
The kids clapped and Doctor Bennett grinned as she approached Jack. "That was a great show, and it's time for Jack to return to his room."
"Aw," the kids whined as Doctor Bennett took Jamie and Sophie by their hands. "Can Jack come back later?" one boy said. "I want to see another trick before I go home tomorrow!"
"It depends how Jack is feeling," Doctor Bennett said as he looked to Jack.
He gave a grinned as he tipped his hat. "I think I could be persuaded to come back for a few more tricks."
The kids grinned and cheered as Jack took a bow, and then spotted Bunny. "Hey! About time you came back."
Bunny greeted with a wave and smirked ashe picked up Jack's duffle bag. "Ya just a regular show pony."
"Hey, it comes with the job," Jack said as Doctor Bennett escorted them out of the room. "And it's fun!"
"That was amazing," Jamie said as both he and Sophie tugged at Jack's gown. "Can you teach me to do that?"
"Tricks! Tricks!" Sophie exclaimed as she jumped up and down.
"Now you two, we need to start heading home," Doctor Bennett said as she patted their heads, "but what should both of you say to Jack for showing you those tricks?"
Jamie stared blankly, but then his brain clicked. "Oh, right! Thanks, Jack! Right, Soph!"
"Thanks!" Sophie said as she held up her toy rabbit.
Jack laughed as he wrapped the kids into a hug. "Any time, I'll see you two around. Okay?"
The kids smiled as they took Doctor Bennett's hands. "Did you want me to call a nurse to find your room again?" she asked as she looked to Bunny.
"Na, we're fine," Bunny said as he wrapped an arm around Jack's shoulders. "Talk to ya later, Doc."
The family said their goodbyes before Bunny lead Jack back to his room. "So, whose idea was for ya to put a show on?"
"Not mine, I swear," Jack said with a grin. "It was Doctor Bennett's idea."
"Yeah, sure it was," Bunny replied, unconvinced.
"I swear," Jack said but Bunny continued to smirk at him.
Bunny couldn't help, but feel proud of the boy for making those kids smile. As they headed back to the room, part of him wondered if this was it felt like to be a father.
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"Get ya butt back into bed," Bunny said once they entered the room. "I know ya doin' a lot better, but I won't have ya taking any chances."
Jack rolled his eyes but saw no reason to protest this time. "Did you find some donuts?" Jack said as he wiggled back under the sheets. "I'm craving for something not hospital food."
"Yeah, but before that," Bunny said as he held up a bag. "I got somethin' for ya."
Jack frowned as Bunny placed a shopping bag on Jack's bed and brought out a pile of shirts. "You bought me clothes?" Jack asked as he held up a blue hoodie. "Why?"
"Winter's comin'," Bunny said as he held up a coat. "Ya need warmer clothes unless ya plannin' on growin' a winter fur coat."
Jack fingered the blue hoodie. It would be nice to have more clothes than just the ones they had gotten for his street shows. "But we need to save the money for getting back-"
"I do have some cash in my astral pocket, Jack," Bunny retorted as he held out the hoodie. "We can afford ta get some clothes for ya. Now, try on that hoodie. I want ta make sure it fits."
Jack raised an eyebrow. "Been wondering, do you happen to have a credit card in that pocket of yours too? Would make traveling a bit easier." Like getting on a plane. Yeah, be nice if they could just ride a plane to Bunny's home.
Bunny cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I don't, I never bothered on gettin' one. I just have a lot of cash."
Jack blinked. "You have all those physic paper type documents, but you never bothered to try to get a credit card?" He knew Bunny was out of date on a lot of things, but that was pushing it.
"Yes, yes, it's on my list of things ta get once I'm home," Bunny said as he shoved the hoodie into his hands. "Now, try on the hoodie."
Jack sighed but he slipped the hoodie on over his night shirt. Bunny nodded as he looked over him. "Bit big on ya, but once we put some meat on ya bones ya should fit it proper."
Jack shook his head as he removed the hoodie. "Bunny, I appreciate the clothes," he said as he rummaged through the bag, "but you should take them back. We need to save every cent-"
Jack stopped as he pulled out a t-shirt and stared at it. It was an Avengers t-shirts, his favorite superhero team. If that wasn't tempting enough, it had solely Hawkeye on it, his favorite character from it.
"Jack?" Bunny asked with an arched eyebrow. "Ya like the shirt?"
"Umm…" Jack said as he fingered it, and trying not to have a huge geeky grin on his face. "It's okay, it's nothing special." He wouldn't say he loved it because that would make him look like an idiot after telling Bunny not to spend money.
"Really," Bunny replied with an amused grin and reached for the shirt. "Well, maybe I'll take it back and get-"
Jack protectively held the shirt out of Bunny's reach. "No! Uh, I mean, you got it anyways. Be a pain to return, so might as well keep it."
Bunny gave an amused chuckle. "Right, so how about tryin' on the other shirts. Cause as soon as ya declared fit again, we're gettin' out of here."
Jack nodded as he reached for another shirt. "Think Pitch is close to catching up to us?"
Bunny shrugged. "Don't know, but with our luck let's not take the chance shall we?"
Jack couldn't help, but nod in agreement. The sooner they got out of here the better.