Chapter 13

More Than Bare Minimum

Jack flew up to North´s office window. He could see the large man inside, looking over some papers with a yeti to his right. Jack smiled and pulled the window open with the new lever North had had installed on the outside just a few days before, letting in a flurry of snow.

"Ah Jack! How was your day with our favorite Tooth?" asked North with a smile as he looked up at his friend.

"It was fine," said Jack as his cheeks turned pink. "She says ´hello´, by the way. And Sandy´s coming! We passed him on our way through Texas." He grinned as he closed the window behind him. "Sorry I´m a few minutes late. Is the rodent here?"

North gave a small chortle and nodded his head.

"Yes, he is in meeting room, and I warn you: he is grumpy."

Jack winced and pursed his lips. "That´s too bad. . . You wanna come with me?"

North chuckled and nodded his head again, motioning to the door with one of his crutches.

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A short walk and an elevator ride later, they snuck into the meeting room. Instead of a lecture, the only thing that greeted them was soft snoring, and a shushing from a few elves who were building a tower of two-dozen bandage rolls at the foot of the only occupied armchair. Bunny´s ever alert ears were relaxed, draped over the back of the armchair like a stack of papers over the edge of a table. He had apparently fallen asleep while reading, as his notebook was open, one hand supporting the spine loosely and the other marking his place on the handwritten page. His lips were slightly parted and his eyes danced to and fro underneath his eyelids. The gentle snores were interrupted only by a few short moans here and there, as if he was speaking to someone in his dreams.

"Aw, that´s sweet, North! I didn´t know you had naptimes for your stuffed animal department," said Jack with a small smile.

North chuckled soundlessly, but held a finger up to his lips at Jack as his eyes twinkled. The Russian looked back over at his sleeping friend before pounding his fist in the air and smiling widely, as if his favorite team had just one a game.

Jack´s brow furrowed, but he couldn´t help smiling at the childish action coming from such an imposing figure.

Said figure was now tiptoeing his way over to a pile of pillows, or, more specifically, the basket of blankets that resided just next to it.

Jack watched him with a confused yet anticipatory expression before floating soundlessly after him.

The two of them crept over to the sleeping figure, who was now mumbling something along the lines of "I haven´t gotten it yet. . ." The excitement left Jack´s eyes when he realized that his elder wasn't planning anything nefarious. Instead, the large man gently, gently removed the book from under Bunny´s hand and slid it onto the armrest before breathlessly draping the blanket over his friend. Seeing no signs of waking, North backed up slowly until he felt comfortable enough to whisper to Jack.

"Jack, this is cause to celebrate!"

The young man stared at him.

"This is the first time that Bunnymund has ever slept here!" North cheered, barely stopping himself from doing a dance.

Jack gave him a weird look.

"What do you mean? I thought you two were best friends!" he whispered, gesturing to the slumbering rabbit.

North´s expression faltered just a bit as the rabbit muttered something else to no one.

"He. . . he is tough egg to crack," confessed the Russian. Jack leaned on his staff, waiting for more explanation.

"You probably think that he is grumpy, but he has opened up very much since I first met him," said North thoughtfully. "In fact, sometimes I try to get on his nerves because that is the only way that I find to get him to say more than bare minimum."

North´s eyebrows shot up and he glanced at Jack, who was listening intently.

"But, do not tell him that! It has worked until now, but I think that if he knew, then he would stop himself next time."

"No, I have to get back. . ." said Bunny, adjusting his position slightly before snoring again.

North smiled and rubbed his hands together.

"I have waited long time for him to feel comfortable enough to let down his guard here, and look! He is resting just fine instead of being jumpy and by himself like always!"

Jack sniggered, earning a shushing from the elves, which he shrugged off.

"I don't think he'll ever get over being 'jumpy', North. That's a lot to ask of a rabbit." He whispered, making his friend chuckle again.

"Hehe, very pun-funny!"

Just then, the sleeping guardian muttered something else.

"Mm, Primula, I´ll be back soon. You gonna stay?"

The two regarded their friend for a moment before Jack spoke.

"Do you think we should just let him be for now? I can stay after the meeting for the medical stuff."

North nodded slowly, grinned, and gestured for them to leave. They stepped quietly away, careful to avoid the growing tower of bandages that the elves were still laboring on near Bunny´s feet.

"I bet he´ll be less grumpy when he wakes up," hushed Jack once they were past the obstacle.

North opened his mouth to reply, but stopped as their friend murmured something else.

"I´ll miss you, Primula. . . I love you Darling. . ."

The two humans froze. Then their eyes shot to each other, and then to their sleeping friend.

"He has a girlfriend?!" whispered Jack to North, his whisper hardly counting as a whisper.

"I´ve never heard him mention her before! This is wonderful! Do you know a Primula Spirit?" urged North.

Jack shook his head.

"No, I´ve never heard of that name before, but it sounds Springish. The only girl spirits that I know talk to him are Tooth and Tammora," he shrugged, wide-eyed.

Just then, Sandy floated in from the hallway.

His eyebrows shot up and he smiled as soon as he saw Bunny's sleeping form. He then looked at Jack and North with curiosity in his eyes and his hands open. There was a sand question mark above his head.

"Sandy, you must know," whispered North, skipping a greeting altogether and waving the Sandman closer. "Who is spirit named Primula?"

The Sandman thought about this, but shook his head and shrugged after a few seconds. He then furrowed his brows and extended his hands again, another question mark forming itself above his head.

"I don´t want to do this. . ." murmured Bunny from a few feet away, still sound asleep.

Sandy´s attention sprang to his sleeping friend, an expression of surprise and deep intrigue on his face. He floated closer to the sleeping guardian, his smile getting wider by the second. There were two hands clapping above his head now.

"He was talking to someone named Primula, saying he loved her!" whispered Jack.

Sandy kept his gaze on Bunny, but pressed his lips into an excited Oooh! He then clapped his real hands silently as a plethora of random symbols flashed above him.

He looked positively elated.

North leaned in to see what his golden friend was so excited about. Jack did the same. After a minute of Jack and North watching Sandy intently, Sandy watching Bunny intently, and Bunny letting out only a short mumble or two between soft snores intently, North broke the tension.

"Sandy, can you show us what he´s dreaming!? I want to see her!"

Sandy, apparently jolted out of his trance, looked at North with an honest face. He then shrugged and nodded slowly, but then changed the nod to a shake of his head as he narrowed his eyes and pressed his lips together.

"Why not? We could see the carrots after Abby attacked him, remember?" asked Jack.

Sandy just smiled at his young friend and shook his head, turning to look back Bunny and clasping his hands behind his back. The rabbit sighed deeply, furrowed his brows and changed position, nudging the book on his armrest, tipping it over the side.

SLAP!

Bunny´s eyes shot open and he sat up like lightening.

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Happy Halloween, y Feliz Día De Los Muertos! (I know I´m late, but I had a lot of studying to do before I could prepare this second chapter).

To My Fabulous Reviewers:

Guest! As always, you made my day! I completely understand what it's like to have a nephew at your heels. I have more than I can keep track of, and I can only handle them for two days at most before I start ripping my hair out. Anyway, thanks for your thoughts on last chapter. It was a set-up chapter, so not a whole lot happened, but I´m grateful to you for taking the time to answer my questions anyway.

Go Outside: Hey! I´m glad you're alright! I know that we don´t know each other (at all), but I was legitimately worried about you. Thanks for leaving a review, and I´m glad that you think the chapters are great. Also, I love the word "Curmudgeonly." I´m going to try to use it coming up.

READ THIS!

To put future disappointments to rest, and in response to Double 0 Ninja, who I already PM´d: I do not want you to read something that makes you uncomfortable, so I fully support your choice to stop reading this fic. Since I´m trying to follow the gist of what I saw in the movie, I have chosen to pair Tooth with Jack, since it was quite clear (to me) that she had a crush on him. Jack also seemed to be immature, but closer to 18 than any other age. On the other side, Tooth struck me as very young, but responsible and experienced. They are also both immortal, which makes me willing to smooth the cultural line in the sand on that. As I have mentioned multiple times, Jack and Tooth will be seen on the sidelines, as this is Bunnymund's story, not theirs. And who knows? This is only the beginning of this story. . . Jack may yet grow up. . .

All of the romantic relationships that we will see in this fic will be heterosexual. Jack and Tooth will be mentioned together, and there'll be another love interest between two adults much later on. There will be no mentions of sex.

There will be some violence and blood. This is a doctor fic, after all, and it has been rated T from the very beginning. If you´re comfortable watching LOTR Extended versions, then you probably won´t have a problem with this. Oh, and there might be mentions of suicide, but only mentions, and I´ll leave a note before the chapter starts about them anyway.

If any of this is a problem for you, then you should probably stop reading this fic now. I'm certain that you will find other fics that hold your interest, so good luck and best wishes!

WHAT DO YOU THINK?:

Any new thoughts about North´s interactions with Bunny? Do you think he´s right to push Bunny´s buttons in order to get him to open up?

Why do you think Sandy was so excited that Bunny was asleep?

Why do you think he refused to show the others Bunny´s dream?

Why do you think Bunny has never slept at the Pole before? Does that surprise you?

Have you ever been caught sleeping by a group of friends, or have you found someone else sleeping? Were pranks pulled?

See you all next week!