Lily and Bunnymund sat at their dinner picnic table, surrounded by a swarm of eggs. Most of them were painted, but Easter was only a few weeks away and Bunnymund was closing in on the home stretch. He had made mountains of chocolates and several vast swarms, much larger than the one surrounding them, that would be distributed with the help of Lily and the other guardians. It would be the only time in his life that the Warren would be open to others who were not Pooka, or Lily.
Bunnymund wasn't actually surrounded, the eggs had followed Lily out from the kitchen, a small prep area that she had commandeered and used for making their meals. She had recently introduced tofu into their meals, and Bunnymund found it interesting, how many ways it could be prepared before being put into a dish. The eggs sat on their round little bottoms and waited. Bunnymund guessed that Lily had been reading to them from his old books again. The eggs seemed to enjoy being spoken to and having Lily read to them was much more interesting than being told what their paint job was going to look like. So it had come about that Bunnymund had pressed Lily into bringing some books out of the library and sitting with the painted eggs so that she could read to them and let the unpainted eggs wait for their turn. Even the stone guardian eggs would slowly shift in their places to listen unobtrusively. This had been going on long enough, that Lily had finally started digging up old fables and Pooka legends to tell the eggs. Bunnymund found the old stories interesting too, and would often sit and listen instead of painting for a little while.
As February closed in, Bunnymund and Lily were surprised by Jack Frost showing up in the Warren, on a mission from North. Jack and Lily had mended their first impressions and were now good friends. Bunnymund termed it partners in crime and Toothiana thought it was a little unnerving that they got along so well. Point of fact, Jack and Lily were a pair of practical jokers. Now that Jack had some structure in his life as a Guardian, he had gotten into reading most of North's library, and found that expanding his mental horizons fed his imagination. Of course, his favourite victim was Bunnymund, when he was out and about, never in the Warren. Not after Lily sat him down to a cold, vegetarian meal and had him help paint eggs. Effectively keeping him from pulling his pranks and keeping him away from all the Easter chocolate. Jack sat down next to Bunnymund and watched for a moment as the eggs were enthralled and the stone guardians turned to him but didn't move from their spots.
"So, you don't find it a little creepy, that all those eggs, are watching you and so are the golems?" Jack asked, tilting his head a little to convey his confusion and level of creeped out.
"I don't mind at all, Jack. I used to go to the library and read to human children on the weekends. This isn't all that different. Actually, the eggs are better behaved and quiet. Not rambunctious or restless like real children." Lily said, looking up from her book at last. "Course, I only did it for a couple hours, not all day." she added dryly, giving Bunnymund a cool look. He huffed and scooped up an unpainted egg to paint it, before eating more of his lunch.
"Okay. Anyway, North sent me to tell you about the Groundhog day party he's holding the night of Groundhog Day." Jack said with a shake of his head. He propped his staff against the table and sat down. "North wants to know if both of you are coming."
"I'm busy with Easter, mate." Bunnymund said, setting down a brightly painted egg, only to pick up another, which Lily took from him and shoved his lunch closer. "And making sure I'm not working myself into the ground." he added, rolling his eyes.
"We will both be there. The eggs can take care of themselves for one evening." Lily said with a grin at Jack, when Bunnymund shot her a look of surprise. "You could use some time out of the Warren and away from your responsibilities. North takes a break every now and again, why can't you?"
"Easter is a month and a half away, and you've already put in enough work for two years. A short break won't undo all this." Jack chimed in brightly. "Besides, everyone knows that you and the Ground hog have history." he added slyly. Lily grinned at this, North had told her about the Ground hog's jealousy at not being the only Western Holiday animal mascot once Bunnymund had been named to the Guardian of Hope position and took on Easter as well. Bunnymund looked from Jack to Lily, taking in their grins at the thought of a show down between him and the Ground hog. Bunnymund sighed in defeat.
"Fine, we'll go. But only for a few hours. I need to get as much done as possible. I still have to plan out routes too." Bunnymund said with a firm look at the other two. They grinned even more and left him to go over why he had let them talk him into going to a party.
An update, finally. I finally got to watch the Lorax, and am both proud and ashamed to say that I am now a Onceler fangirl.