It came as no surprise to North that the Guardian of Fun would be of use in helping him determine which gifts would make the children most happy. Whenever he was in doubt about a toy, he would hand it to Jack and ask for his opinion.
The Spirit of Winter was not really a child himself anymore, had not been even before he died and was reborn, but he certainly had a ability to look at things with a child-like wonder even after centuries of loneliness had left him more jaded than he liked people to know.
Jack did not actually try to play with the toys, most of the time, but he would turn them around in his hands and examine them under every angle, pressing any colorful button he could see and moving whatever could be moved while his eyes grew distant and a smile appeared on his face as he pictured what fun a child could have with this. It was when he saw that smile, the pure, sincere smile that so rarely graced his face, that North knew the creation was a success.
But there was one type of gift that often found their way under Christmas tree that Jack could really appreciate for what it was. And it wasn't the type that could cause a big mess, though he could certainly have fun with those. Just not in the way the nice kids he made the present for would.
The yeti would not soon forget the chaos the teen had caused with an overly bouncy ball. North secretly thought it was worth it, to see Jack laugh so hard it brought tears to his eyes. He still made sure to scold him. Jack gave him his most adorably innocent smile as he promised to be more careful.
But it wasn't the most potentially destructive toys that made the young Guardian's eyes light with genuine interest. No, much to North's surprise, he had discovered the teenager had a fascination with children's book. The ones with fairies, dragons, princesses, knights, unicorns and happy endings.
It was to bring him one such book that North was currently looking for the other Guardian. The Guardian of Wonder had given him a small stack of them to read already, when he had arrived to the workshop the previous day, and he knew he must have found himself a quiet spot. Jack never read them in his room, to avoid damaging the fragile pages with the snow blowing in through the window.
He eventually found him lying on his stomach under a large unused table in a remote corner of the workshop. The sound of the bells on his shoes jingling rhythmically as his feet lazily swayed while he read helped him quite a bit. If Bunny could see him right now...
North sat down on the ground next to the table to be able to talk to him. The bells stopped jingling as Jack noticed him. The big Russian man placed the book down on top of the others.
"Are they good?"
Jack only nodded. North knew the teen was more than a little embarrassed about this hobby of his. But he couldn't blame him, really, if sometime he wanted to loose himself in a world where everything was simpler, every problem was solved with the power of love and friendship, every hero lived happily ever after and no child was ever left to live their life alone and ignored for centuries.
This was so short yet it took forever. I got distracted midway with... running back and forth in the hallway for no reason. I've been spending too much time sitting in front of my computer lately, I have too much energy. I need to calm down before I run into a wall again.