Changes

What if Jack needed a haircut?

Flying around, doing his thing, Jack noticed something interesting. Or rather, irritating. His hair was growing again. How did he notice you ask? He got rained on (spring was trying to prank him again) and his usually semi-frozen mop ended up flat to his face. He tried to dry it off by freezing it but Spring was as good a prankster as Jack had ever been. It was spelled to not dry for the better part of the week. Unfortunately they had begun having dinner once a week at the least, and this was on meeting night week.

"Wind, are you sure there's nothing you can do?" He asked again, perched on someone's roof in Burgess, out of sight.

In answer the wind whipped around him almost apologetically, gently ruffling his hoodie.

"Well, I suppose I'll have to look like a drowned rat this week." He admitted to no one in particular.

"Jack?" A familiar voice called him.

"Oh no. Jamie, he's gonna laugh his butt off." He mumbled but hopped off the roof, letting his first believer find him.

"Hey there kiddo, what's up?" he asked, hoping maybe the boy wouldn't notice, or maybe not find it funny but no dice. He caught a look at him and, despite a valiant effort, cracked up on the spot.

"What happened? I thought you froze water when it got on you?" Jame asked through the giggles, unable to contain himself and his curiosity.

"Eh, Spring's a friend of mine and he likes to play tricks almost as much as I do." He explained casually as he jumped up on a fence, twirling his staff absently.

"Isn't your hair getting a bit long?" Jamie's mom chuckled lightly from his porch. She had seen them after Pitch was defeated, playing with various dream-sand creations and now she was the only adult light on the globe at the pole, and one of Jack's few believers. She actually looked just like Jack's own mother from when he was human.

"Um...I guess so. It hadn't been growing before..." Jack offered.

"Well, I know last time I saw you, which was just short of a month ago, it would never have reached your eyes, permanently soaked or not." She actually teased him. He felt his face getting a bit colder as his cheeks no doubt turned blue.

"Eh, it happens I guess." he shrugged, trying to warm his face back up but it wasn't working.

"Come on Jack, Jamie's due for a haircut himself." She motioned for him to join them inside and he eyed her suspiciously.

"What're you sayin?" He asked her slowly. She couldn't help her small, ill-concealed laugh.

"Jack, you need a haircut, come on in and I'll take care of it." She offered. He still seemed unsure until Jamie's face lit up with realization.

"Hey, I bet it won't be as noticeable that your hair is drenched." Jamie offered and Jack sighed, realizing he really only had one option.

"Alright." He said begrudgingly, hopping off the fence and following Jamie's mom into the kitchen where she proceeded to cut Jamie's hair. She gave him the same haircut he'd had since Jack had known him. Thankfully she wasn't too big on super neat, short hair. Jamie was quick to shake his newly combed hair back out and Jack and his mother's laughter filled the small house.

"Alright, your turn." She said as she turned to him.

"Um, okay...you know this won't dry out right? It's a prank from another spirit, I've got about a week and...you can't really..." he eyed the blow-dryer she had sitting beside her with caution. She chuckled.

"I won't be using the blow dryer Jack, now come on." She patted the chair in front of her, wrapping a towel around his shoulders barber-style to keep the bright white hair off his hoodie and pants. That would have been noticeable.

"How are you gonna cut it mom?" Jamie asked excitedly.

"Only to where it was, Jamie. We don't know how his hair will grow and he probably doesn't want it any shorter." She observed.

"She has a point, Jamie. I don't even know why it was growing in the first place. Or that it was." Jack pointed out, Jamie's mom gently moved his head back around as he had turned to talk to the child.

"Sit still, Jack, you don't want me messing this up do you?" She chuckled at the restless teenager. "Your worse than Jamie." She observed as she combed it out to try and get a good lock on how to cut it.

"Hey, I'm not that bad." Jamie protested.

"She almost cut your ear!" Jack argued. Mrs. Bennett was shaking her head behind them, it was a wonder they weren't brothers. Then, seeing the way his hair was laying on his head, all combed, she had a thought.

"Have you ever had your hair cut before?" She asked.

"Nope, it just grew while I was...human...and stopped when I, well, was...chosen." Jack fumbled over the words, not sure how to tell Mrs. Bennett that he had died to become who he was. She picked it up though.

"Human?" She asked, still trying to make sense of the back of his hair.

"Oh, um...well I'm sure Jamie's mentioned that I'm a spirit?"

"He sure has." She smiled.

"Well...most spirits are chosen and become immortal. I...well...I had to, um...die." He said awkwardly, not wanting to lie but also not wanting to really tell her.

"Oh, so that must be why your hair stopped growing for a while then." She offered, Jack let out a breath he wasn't aware he was holding and Jamie 'ooohhhhed' in discovery.

"Right, the Man in the Moon decided he wanted me to be the spirit of winter, so here I am. Actually that probably explains why it's white and not brown like it was." He offered.

"Really? Brown?" Jamie asked in so many words with his mom. Jack laughed at the similarities.

"Yeah, I had brown hair and brown eyes, like yours." He nodded to Jamie. Mrs. Bennett stopped for a moment and came around the chair.

"Hold on...wow, you'd look just like Jamie, and my dad when he was a kid." She mused.

"Hey, maybe you guys are from my little sister's line." He offered, finally having someone confirm his thoughts, although she hadn't known when she said it, felt amazing. She smiled widely and looked between the two.

"You know, you're right, we could be. It would explain how I saw everyone so easily. Plus Jamie doesn't seem to realize that going outside in snow on a snowy day with no shoes is generally a bad idea for us." She eyed the boy who shrugged.

"Didn't bother me." Jack started to laugh, like doubling-over laugh and Mrs. Bennett joined him. By the time she was finished cutting his hair he could tell the day was winding down, sunset blazing in the sky.

"Wow, it took us all day to get your hair cut, you really are a hyper one." She teased.

"Hey, Guardian of Fun here, it's what I do." Jack smirked. "Thanks!" He waved as the wind picked him up and flew off with him.

"You're welcome, be careful!" She called.

"I will!" He smiled as he shot off into the clouds. He didn't realize how hard it was for Mrs. Bennett to get that cut right until the meeting. Thankfully the prank had worn off but something else was prominent enough to be noticed. Because of the thorough combing and the aftereffects of the prank, his hair was now shiny, smooth, clean and absolutely not standing up like it usually did. Try as he might it absolutely wouldn't perk back up.

"Jack? What happened to your hair, mate?" Bunny had asked the moment he landed.

"What about it?" He asked, shrugging as he tried to pretend he had no idea what the bunny was talking about.

"It's laying down and...it looks different." Bunny mused, eyeing it suspiciously, the clear amusement he had in the new look taking the heat out of the suspicion.

"Bunny is right, Jack. It looks like...have you had haircut?" North asked through an amused smirk that made him look a lot like Jack.

"Um, well...kinda." Jack admitted.

"How?" Tooth asked, dropping out of her stunned state to find her voice.

"Well, Mrs. Bennett can see me..." He admitted.

It was just about then that Sandy finally flew into the kitchen where they had gathered, finding them all snickering, Jack with an admittedly new hairstyle and his face turning a bit blue. A golden question mark lit up the room causing Bunny to snicker harder.

"Jamie's mom got holda Frostbite and gave 'im a haircut." He explained. Sandy grinned and gave Jack a teasing thumbs-up. Jack rolled his eyes and promptly plopped down on one of the stools.

"'S all Spring's fault anyway." Jack mumbled under his breath, arms crossed, staff propped up on the wall behind him.

"Spring?" Bunny asked as he sat beside him. Jack cursed himself for forgetting about Bunny's almost superhuman hearing.

"Ugh, Spring likes to play pranks almost as much as I do and he kind of spelled a little rain-shower that wouldn't dry out for a week and my hair had evidently started to grow again so it was in my face and she saw and insisted." Jack provided.

"Well it's no wonder it started growin', mate. Also, you haven't had wet hair in a long time, how would you know if it was growing?"

"Well, it was down to my nose, and last I checked it was a bit shorter than that." He defended. "And what do you mean, it's no wonder?" Jack asked.

"Spring, mate. He made your hair grow again." He explained.

With that Jack groaned at the thought and let his face smack the table. He thought he heard Bunny grumble something to the effect of 'drama queen' but he wasn't paying attention. They picked on him something awful for the entire night and every single time they saw him for the next year.

Spring 1, Jack 0.

There you go, a fun little moment for Jack to finally be the butt of a prank, and a little friendly rivalry never hurt either! You are wonderful people and as always let me know what you think, thanks for reading! :)