Child's Play 10
A Break Away
My son just brought home a library book from school and when I looked through it I found a pic of Jude Law from AI, thought that was kind of cool because I was thinking of another fic to write based more around Pitch.
The down side to Jack being so little was the North rarely got any work done unless the child was sleeping. The first two weeks didn't bother him much, it was sort of like a mini vacation and he greatly enjoyed it but the third week was when he realized just how far he was falling behind on his duties. The yetis didn't say anything about it, they went about creating toys from the designs they had and drawings North had managed to complete but they weren't the same as North's sculptures. The quality just wasn't there and they seemed to be lacking his usual flare. North wasn't quite sure what to do. Obviously he needed to get back to work but he was reluctant to leave Jack and there was no way in heaven or Earth that he would bring the child into his personal workshop. He was tempted to call one of the others to babysit - wasn't that what parents did when they had to work? But he dismissed that thought. Everyone but Bunny was busy with their own jobs and the Pooka, while finally warming up to little Jack, was still keeping his distance unless necessary. So North resorted to drawing once more and promised himself he would have one of the yetis watch Jack that night. He promised himself that night but never really got around to it. He found himself enjoying being a father far too much to worry about his duties at the time. Besides, he had created thousands of toys, hundreds of thousand of toy designs. They all resided in an archive just off the production floor where the yetis could go through and pull one of the older ones out and build it. After all wasn't one of the big things in recent years to bring back the old and make it new again? It wasn't the most ideal solution but it would do in a pinch.
His paper work was piling up as well and while he managed to accomplish a large amount of it while Jack napped he found himself napping with the child more and more often. Funny how someone so small could be so full of energy. Jack literally tired him out. Some days were harder than others to keep the child entertained and he wondered if taking the child for a sleigh ride would be a good idea or not. Or perhaps use one of his magic globes to visit Jack's Believers and let him play with other children. But then he would have to explain why Jack went from being a teen to a toddler and he wasn't sure how to go about that. Sure the kids believed in magic and all but this was another matter completely. Nonetheless Jack needed to get out and play. The boy had never been one to be cooped inside for days, let alone weeks, at a time. He was getting antsy and so was North. It was time for a change of scenery, even if only for a few hours. Still the question remained where and how. Jack loved the sleigh but North worried the toddler would not sit still and would be climbing all over it while in the air. A magic globe would be the safest route to take.
His prays were answered when Bunny entered the room expectantly.
"What you doing?" the Pooka asked with a rare smile - Bunny hadn't smiled so widely in weeks, not since finding Jack and Pitch in the makeshift fort.
North sighed and tapped his pen against the stack of papers he had tried reading for the last half hour. He must have read the same line twenty times now. A certain group of elves wouldn't stop giggling and distracting him. "Just trying to catch up, my friend. And you? You're awfully chipper today."
Bunny shrugged as he glanced around, his gaze tracking the giggling to a shifting blanket draped over the sofa. He counted three...no four little bumps that were moving about and someone saying "Shh..."
"Not much. I just finished planting the last seedlings. Looks like we'll have a healthy crop this year and more googies than really needed but always best to have extra. 'Sides, if the ankle bitters don't eat them all I can always send a few baskets to MiM and I know Jackie'll eat them up." His grin grew when he heard a tiny gasp and a muffled "eggs!" He glanced from the moving lumps to North. "Of course Tooth might not let him have any, he's just a wee ankle bitter himself and we wouldn't him having cavities so I might just have to give them to your elves." He flopped on the sofa, carefully not to land on lumps and spread out his arms to catch them. "I simply don't know what to do with them all."
"Me, me! I'll eat them!" Jack yelled from under the blanket as he struggled to get out from under it. His little head popped out from on corner, followed but two elves who argued that they'd eat the extra chocolate. Another elf appeared on the other side of Bunny proclaiming he'd eat the chocolate.
"You might want to consider making more," North noted with a teasing smile.
The Pooka laughed as he lifted Jack out from under the blanket and deposited him on his lap. "I don't know, that's an awful lot of chocolate for one little boy. Think you can share?"
Jack nodded his head eagerly.
Rifling through one of the pockets in his harness, Bunny produced a handful of tiny wrapped eggs and placed them in Jack's little hands. "Now don't tell your mama otherwise I'll be in big trouble, deal?"
"Deal!" Jack squealed before scrabbling off Bunny's lap and handing out eggs to each of the elves he had been playing with. It worked out to two each but while the elves easily removed their wrappers Jack had difficulty and quickly became frustrated. He hurried back to Bunny and held out his eggs. "Help...please," he asked softly, his eyes large and pleading with the slightest shimmer of tears and bottom lip stuck out in a pout with a small tremble.
There was no saying no to a face like that. Jack knew exactly how to get what he wanted, at least as a toddler. If the teenage Jack ever pulled that face MiM help whoever was on the receiving end, the kid would be extremely dangerous and unstoppable. Bunny was sure that even Pitch wouldn't be able to say no to Jack then.
"Alright, alright," Bunny said, holding up his paws in defeat. "Put away the pouty face, you win. I'll do whatever you want." He took the eggs and opened them one at a time.
"Play in Warren?" Jack suddenly asked.
Both North and Bunny looked at him in surprise.
"Jack?" North asked, not sure if he really liked the idea of the winter child playing somewhere so warm. Sure Jack practically lived there half the time in his normal form but now he was just a small boy and while he seemed to still maintain control of his element North wasn't sure just how much control he had.
Bunny lowered himself to the ground and got to Jack's height. "You want to go to the Warren?" he asked, as if he had not heard the child correctly.
The boy nodded as he chewed his eggs. "Warren pretty."
The Pooka looked up to North then back to Jack. The boy had yet to visit the Warren since his change. The memory had to be teenage Jack's. He glanced back to North, noting his friend's wide eyes and suddenly worry. He looked at the paper work in front of North and made up his mind. "Of course, kiddo, if your daddy says okay."
Jack's eyes lit up and he rushed North with sticky chocolate covered hands and mouth. "Can I? Can I, daddy?"
North almost looked panic stricken. His face paled ghost white and his large hands balled into fists but he slowly relaxed as he stared into Jack's hopeful eyes. "Do you promise to listen to Bunny and do as you're told?"
"Yes!"
"Nope," Bunny teased.
North shot him a glare. Glancing back at Jack he put down some ground rules. "You stay away from the rivers and ponds unless Bunny's with you. No taking off on him and stay away from the tunnels. Understood?"
"Yep."
Bunny gave another cheeky smile. "Which is Jack for 'nope'."
North's eyes narrowed at the Pooka. "If he so much as come back with a scratch..."
"We can finally declare him a normal child. Sounds like fun."
The Russian's brows furrowed and he opened his mouth to retort but Bunny had scooped Jack up and was already thumping a foot on the ground.
"Get some rest, Nick," Bunny said as a rabbit hole opened. "Jackie can spend the night with me while you try to catch up." Then, before North could object, Bunny grabbed a handful of Jack's toys, tucked them and a stuffy in his harness, they dashed down the hole.
For a long time North just stared at the spot where the hole had opened and closed, not quite sure what had happened before realizing that for the first time in nearly three weeks he would have a night to himself and could finally catch up on some work. It was another ten minutes before he finally moved from his spot, tidied the room and then, with documents in hand, headed to his private workshop. Of course just because he finally had time to himself didn't mean he got much further in his work. The entire time Jack was gone he worried about his son and focusing on anything else did not come easy.
Where he should have been focusing on creating new toy designs North found his mind wandering, wondering if Jack was safe and if he was listening to Bunny. He worried about Bunny relationship with the boy - after all the Pooka had all but ignored Jack all this time and just now took an interest. He wondered if Bunny was still trying to change Jack back to his teenage self or if he finally accepted this new little Jack. The more North thought of the possibility of Jack returning to his normal form the sadder it made him. He loved Jack with all his heart no matter what form he had taken but he really enjoyed taking care of little Jack. Sure he took care of teenage Jack but the youth was very independent and didn't need the constant care of a father hovering over him like his younger self did.
Sighing, the Guardian of Wonder sat at his desk. Even with this time to himself he couldn't stop thinking of his son. He felt strangely lonely without his laughter.
To his surprise he found a stack of photographs on his work space. He wasn't sure who had developed them, as far as he knew he was the only Guardian with a printer. Perhaps Phil had the photos printed after the last session of pictures. Each Guardian had taken turns taking pictures of Jack. Ignoring his duties, North began looking through them, chuckling to himself at the images of Jack in his various costumes or playing with the elves and hugging the other Guardians. He was actually surprised by the sheer number of photos that were of just him and Jack. The child asleep in his arms as they both napped on the sofa. Jack covered in finger paints as he painted what was supposed to be a family portrait. Soon North found himself hard at work but rather than carving toys out of ice he carved planks of wood into picture frames and began framing each and every picture. He chose his favorites and hung them on the walls of his office and study while wrapping the others in bright gift paper for the others. Copies of the photos were placed in a scrap book and he began writing the story of Jack's time as a toddler and the antics behind each photo. If Jack did return to his normal form he wanted every moment of his temporary childhood recorded.