NORTH TO SOUTH, EAST TO WEST
Chapter: Contrary
Prompt: Denial (Day 13)
Characters: Jack/Bunnymund, Tooth/North (platonic of course)
a/n: Day 10 (Silver) is meant to be today, but since it's easter weekend, let us celebrate with an easter chapter...(also i haven't gotten around to writing a couple of the next ones) please enjoy!
CONTRARY
Jack Frost is eighteen years old, and there comes a time when eternal youth becomes both a blessing and a curse. His fellow guardians start to wonder if he'll ever grow up in mind and spirit, if not in body.
His teenage angst begins to kick in during the warmer seasons. Sometimes it's the little things that get on his nerves, sometimes it's what North or Bunnymund say to him – it's probably just hormones. But occasionally when he's bored and feeling trivial, it can get dangerous. He won't be afraid to slam doors and scare elves. Sometimes he finds it completely fine to lose his temper at everyone. It leaves the others feeling like their child is growing up, if he could ever been considered a normal child in the first place. The worst thing is that he'll be eighteen forever, and the angst might never stop.
For the most part though, he's just reckless and too curious for his own good, he's not rebellious unless he has nothing to do.
Thankfully, when Spring arrives and Easter is near, Bunnymund is the one getting busy.
"Well, everyone, I'll see you pack of dingbats in a few months," he announces suddenly on the first day of the new season. Everyone except Jack nods and tells him their goodbyes.
"Wait, wait, why is he leaving?" Jack asks quickly.
"It's nearly Easter. He's the busiest in the spring because he has all those eggs to paint." Tooth says, patting Jack on the back as they watch the bunny slap his foot on the ground twice and shoot down the tunnel that appears.
Jack just watches the ground in silence for a few moments, it having swallowed Aster without leaving a trace of the tunnel being there on the first place.
"Jack?"
The winter spirits snaps out of the reverie, shrugging off Tooth's hand and picking up his staff. Tooth flutters after him, stopping him from riding any winds.
"Jack, you know, you should probably leave him be."
"Where did he go?" Jack asks. For a second, he looks like a little lost lamb.
"To his warren in Australia, remember we went there last Easter…and the Pitch thing happened?"
The Pitch thing was never spoken of unless in the direst of circumstances. Jack especially didn't have to be reminded of it. Probably because of that, Aster had resorted to the meadow being off-limits to everybody except him all year round.
"No hard feelings mate. It's just business reasons, alright?" Bunnymund had assured Jack once.
So every spring, the bunny stays hunched up in his meadow down under painting eggs by the thousands. He hardly shows up at the North Pole anymore, leaving the other four guardians in each others' company without him.
The weather gets warmer as summer nears as well, leaving everyone hot and bothered, but Jack most of all.
"Stupid weather…" he grumbles one day on a particularly warm afternoon.
"It's almost summer, my boy."
"I know that, thanks to the stupid heat waves that keep me holed up in this stupid lifeless place. Stupid…"
"It wasn't lifeless a few months ago. The elves and yetis were busy as bees."
"At least it was freezing cold."
"You could lower the temperature a little if the heat makes you uncomfortable, right?" North suggest lightly.
The smallest flame sets the forest on fire. His little suggestion is enough to turn the winter spirit into a defensive, guarded monster.
"You think it's that easy to be a winter guardian?"
"No—"
"You think it's easy controlling the cold? Summer kills me. You try lower the temperature all around the world, then tell me that it's easy."
"I didn't'—"
"Then you can tell me it's easy enough for me to do it like that!"
Snapping his fingers for a lingering effect, Jack leaves the room, not afraid to let the door slam shut. Tooth barely escapes being squashed in the door frame.
"Everything alright, North?" she asks, starting back at the closed door. They can both hear his bare feet slapping on the floor all the way up to the globe room. North grumbles in exasperation.
"Yes, it's alright, Toothiana."
She nods and flutters over to an empty spot on the workbench. Christmas having passed only a few months ago, North has been fairly free with his schedule, and spends most of his spare time experimenting with new toys for the next holiday season.
Tooth watches as he plays with a little metal ball sliding down a series of ramps. One of the slopes appears to be too short and North grunts as he adjusts it, rolling up the sleeves of his thick coat, not noticing Tooth's forlorn expression.
"Hey, North. Something's bothering me."
"Yes, Tooth, something is bothering me also, but it will be important in a few months when winter hits, so we'd better be nice to it—" North grunts. Tooth sighs.
"It's not just angst making Jack angry, is it? Teenage hormones don't make you that hot tempered – he's never lashed out directly at any of us before."
North looks up and puts the little metal ball back to the top of the track. It balances meticulously on the peak.
"My teenage years were long, long ago, my dear. I wouldn't remember how I was growing up."
He returns to his contraption, endlessly replaying the final slope on the toy, adjusting the tracks so the ball rolls smoothly down and up, but to no avail.
"Not enough momentum in that one." Tooth adds lightly.
North grunts in response, evidently still ticked off. He studies it from every angle.
"It's all about balance," he says, not taking his eyes off the toy, "the momentum of the ball needs to counterbalance the slope of the track so it can get up and over this mountain hill—"
And it hits her.
"Say that again?"
"The momentum of the ball must counterbalance the slope of the track so it can get up and…" North murmurs.
"Yes! That's exactly the answer!" she exclaims suddenly, jumping off the bench and hovering in midair excitedly.
"What?"
"That's Jack and Aster!"
"What are you even saying—"
"Jack is the momentum and Aster is the slope!"
"You've lost me, Toothiana."
"It's all about balance, and our team is out of balance because Jack's missing his opposing force!" Tooth zips around North excitedly, "he's acting up because he misses Aster, that's why he's been such a loser lately!"
North raises an eyebrow disdainfully.
"Bunnymund?"
"Yes!"
"They don't get along at all, Toothiana."
"Exactly right, I know!"
"You think he misses Bunnymund?"
"Yes! He just doesn't know it."
The tooth fairy tracks down Jack, and finds him sulking in the glove room with Baby Tooth. His little companion dances along his staff but only elicits a slight smirk every now and then.
"Hey, Baby Tooth, give us a minute, would you?"
Baby Tooth nods obediently and zips away.
"Are you alright, Jack?"
Jack looks up at her, "I'm alright, you?"
"Good."
Tooth sits opposite him, her chin resting on a propped up arm. Her head turns to the side, thoughtful.
"What are you thinking about?" she asks gently.
"Stuff. Kids, snow, ice cream, sleds—"
"—Aster?"
Jack's face scrunches up in disdain, "Bunnymund? No." He turns to her, his expression defensive, "why would you ask that?"
Tooth's bright eyes and soft smile don't falter.
"He is away, and he won't be back for a while, I just thought he might be on your mind is all."
"Well, in that case, no, he isn't." he replies, resting his head on his arms and blowing his silver hair out of his eyes.
She's still smiling in that tender, motherly way, because despite his denial, she knows he's right.
"Do you miss him?"
Jack's head snaps quickly to the front to stare at her in disbelief, as if he doesn't quite believe what he's hearing.
"Eh?"
"I said, do you miss him?"
"What—"
"I think – no, actually, I know – that you miss Aster."
Jack furiously shakes his head with a frown, sitting up frantically and creating distance between them. It's endearing to watch his defense slipping and failing.
"What? No. No, no, no, no. I don't miss him."
"Jack—"
"I don't miss him," Jack gets up from his seat, shaking his head, "he can stay in Australia s long as he likes, I don't care. He can do whatever he wants."
Tooth grins and flies over to hover around him. Jack tries to shoo her away.
"Tooth, seriously—"
"Jack, seriously—"
"What do you want from me?"
"Oh please Jack, don't try to deny it. You miss him. You wish he was around to insult you, and push you around, and call you a dill. You wish he was around to call you out for your weird habits and bloody stupid actions sometimes."
Jack doesn't try to retaliate, he keeps his gaze straight and square, and Tooth knows she's hit him right where the truth is.
"Because you know, deep down, the only reason you miss him is because he's your family, and you love him."
Jack takes everything in for a silent moment, then proceeds to shrug halfheartedly.
"Even if I did, and I'm not saying I do, I'm just some annoying kid to him."
Tooth motions Jack to sit down with her in front of the globe. He reluctantly does.
"You remember Easter as a kid?" she asks him gently. He shakes his head.
"Can I remind you then?"
He nods.
"When you were ten years old, you went to Burgess' annual Easter egg hunt. You and your sister, both. All the kids in the town gathered for that one hours to find as many eggs as they could – you know they still do that now?"
Jack smiles a little.
"Well, that year was particularly hard for you to find any eggs. Most kids left with a whole basket, but you only left with one."
"You went home with your sister, sad that you didn't find any eggs, even though she had a basketful of them, you didn't ask to take any because she had worked so hard to find them and she was really happy."
"When you guys got home, your parents were waiting in the kitchen. Your sister was really excited to show them – she ran past you to show off her basket. You wanted to as well, Jack, but she nudged you as you went and you dropped your only egg. It shattered to pieces."
"You didn't even make it to the kitchen. You cried and cried in the front garden and they didn't hear you because you didn't even go inside. You stayed in that yard for another hour or so, looking under every lead and flower, hoping and praying that the Easter Bunny had left you a little special gift somewhere. You searched and searched, but there was nothing there."
"You went back up to your room, still crying a little and lonely. You opened the door, and – there was an egg sitting on your bed. You ran over to it, overjoyed that you found one egg. So you went to put it on your table – but you found another egg."
"Then you found another, and another, and another. You know how?"
"Because the Easter Bunny had come for you. Because you were selfless enough to reward you sister, and in return, he rewarded you. "
Jack is quiet for a minute after she finishes, both hands clutching his staff.
"I don't even remember that happening," he murmurs. Tooth gently puts a hand on his back.
"You think somebody like Bunnymund does that for all kids? No, he's tired enough as it is, especially at Easter. But he did it for you, because he cared about you," she assures him.
"That was years and years ago."
"And you think that kind of compassion just goes away because you grow up a bit and become one of us to live forever? No. If anything, it gets stronger."
She gets up, fluttering her wings, "so if you think you're just another annoying thing he has to deal with, think again."
With that, she leaves the room, and with no Jack racing after her, shooting down her argument, no yelling, no defense, she knows he believes it.
So when Bunnymund finally returns home, and Jack bowls him over in a tackle-hug, the others can only smile when the Pooka pushes him off in pure confusion – "what the hell do ya think yer doin'?" – and turn to each other with winks and knowing smiles. Tooth nudges North as Jack fumbles with his words trying to defend his uncharacteristically affectionate actions.
"Balance is restored."
a/n:as always, suggestions down there .. (please) or tell me what you think...or something...okay til next time!