.:15:.
Nearly a week had passed since Jack had finally agreed to stop the blizzard he'd brought to Burgess. It had been fun the first couple of days, but then even Sophie felt like she was trapped and Jack couldn't refuse when she had asked so sweetly. Burgess was effectively buried, and Jack took a couple of days to attend to his own Guardian duties.
He had just gotten back from the west coast that evening, and Sophie greeted him happily. She'd been waiting in her room with some of her favorite photos spread out on her bedroom floor. Jack dropped his staff in its usual place, then settled onto the floor beside her and she practically crawled onto his lap to give him a quick kiss.
"What's all this?" Jack asked, winding his arm around her back as he leaned forward to look at her photos.
"Well, Christmas is coming up and I thought this year I could frame some of my best photos and give them out as gifts." She said happily, shuffling some of the pages so he could see them all clearly.
"Christmas, huh?" Jack suppressed a shudder when he realized what that meant.
North would be making a special stop at the Bennett house, like he apparently had every year since the incident with Pitch. The Bennett kids were special to all the Guardians, and he wasn't looking forward to the large man finding out about his blossoming relationship with Sophie. His paternal instincts could be absolutely terrifying.
"What's wrong?" Sophie was gazing up at him with concern, and he realized he'd been brooding.
"Oh, just… Nothing…" He gave her a fake smile and kissed her forehead.
"How many are you going to pick out?" He asked curiously, and Sophie's attention was immediately drawn back to the pages spread out in front of them.
"Well, one for my mom, one for Jamie. I was thinking he'd like a picture of you, but I don't want to give him mine. I was hoping you'd let me take another one soon." She gave him her best puppy-dog eyes and Jack let out a bark of laughter.
"Look at you, you've got the spirit of winter himself wrapped around your little finger…" He joked, squeezing her into a hug and nuzzling the side of her neck as she giggled and tried to squirm away.
A gentle tapping at the window caught their attention, and Jack thought for a moment his blood might have frozen. There were only so many things that would be tapping at Sophie's window, and he wasn't keen on facing any of them right at that moment. Slowly, both of them raised their eyes to the window, then Jack was gritting his teeth and Sophie was jumping enthusiastically for the window.
"Tooth! I missed you!" Sophie squealed adorably, and Jack brought one hand up to run through his hair. It was like she was instantly ten years old again.
The fairly floated gracefully inside, wrapping Sophie in a loving embrace as Baby Tooth zipped around them and headed straight for Jack. After exchanging heartfelt greetings, Tooth turned a sly grin on Jack Frost as he climbed warily to his feet.
"The little girl across the street lost her first tooth today, and I was heading over to say hello when Baby Tooth said she saw a certain boy sneaking in your window. I assured her that was just silly, but now what do I have here?" Tooth crossed her arms, her voice chiding but not judgmental.
Sophie lingered beside her, trying her best to look innocent. "Jack was helping me pick out what pictures to give as gifts this Christmas." She said sweetly. Jack was thankful she'd caught on that Tooth disapproved of the two of them being alone in her bedroom.
"Jack, when you said you fell in love with a human, you didn't mention it was my sweet little Sophie." She said with a teasing grin as she waved a finger at him.
"You told the tooth fairy you fell in love with me?" Sophie gave him a sly grin, and moved over to slide in under his arm. He was somewhat embarrassed at first, but Tooth only clasped her hands against her cheek and seemed to think they were nothing short of adorable.
Baby Tooth looked about ready to explode, and she chittered excitedly in Jack's face before zooming over to nearly tangle herself in Sophie's hair. She leaned down to peer into Sophie's eyes and started chirping something while glancing at Jack. Tooth immediately blushed and snatched the tiny fairy from Sophie's hair.
"Baby Tooth!" She squealed in embarrassment.
"Um, what did she say..?" Sophie asked curiously.
Tooth shook her head quickly. "Nothing, sweetheart." She smiled at the teenage girl, forcing the blush from her cheeks as she released Baby Tooth, giving the minifairy a stern look.
Jack and Sophie exchanged slightly alarmed glances, then slowly drifted apart. Jack cleared his throat and Sophie settled down on the floor again and let her hair fall forward to hide her flushed cheeks. Baby Tooth hung her head a little, but settled in on Jack's shoulder and folded her little hands in her lap. Tooth drifted down to sit beside Sophie, her arms held close to her chest as if she was trying to hold in her excitement.
"This is so exciting! I'm so happy for you two!" Tooth squealed happily. "I can't think of a more perfect girl for you, Jack. Sophie's just so beautiful and creative! Look at these gorgeous pictures!"
Sophie enthusiastically began showing Tooth some of her favorites, and Tooth was happy to fawn over each and every one. Jack lingered near the window, contemplating a quick escape while the two were distracted. Tooth might as well have been a member of his family, but he still wasn't comfortable with her seeing him and Sophie together. He was still figuring out how to be in a relationship, and he didn't need one of his only friends watching him try to grow accustomed to the sudden change in his life. Though as much as he wanted to be alone with Sophie, he really did like spending time with Toothiana, and he'd kind of missed Baby Tooth recently.
He was just about to settle down on the floor beside them when Baby Tooth leapt from his shoulder and landed excitedly on the pile of photos. She'd seen the photo of him that Sophie had taken in the woods, and she pressed her tiny palms against it, admiring it for a moment. She chirped up at Tooth, then looked meaningfully at Sophie. Tooth clapped her hands together in front of her, her face lighting up.
"Oh, that's a great idea, Baby Tooth!" She said happily before turning to Sophie. "She wants you to take a picture of us!"
Jack could have sworn Sophie's eyes sparkled for a moment as she got to her feet and hopped over the photos to grab her camera from her desk. As she got it ready, Tooth floated over to press up against Jack's side, and Baby Tooth sat on his opposite shoulder, chirping happily at him for a moment before staring intently at Sophie. She held the camera up, and Tooth wrapped an arm around Jack's shoulders, smiling happily and doing her best to stay still.
"Smile, Jack!" She urged, and Sophie waited to see if he would. He forced what he hoped was a cheerful grin across his face, though he was feeling a little intimidated by the two women.
There was a flash, then Sophie snapped a couple more, just for good measure. Tooth floated over to Sophie's side, peering down at the camera screen as she brought up the image.
"Aww, he's so cute." Tooth cooed teasingly.
"You look like you might be in pain." Sophie said with a grin, wrinkling her nose to let him know she was playing.
Jack couldn't resist, and sauntered over to look at the picture. Tooth was cheerful and vibrant as ever, and Baby Tooth was painfully adorable, but the smile on Jack's face looked a little unsure and maybe even scared. He liked it, and snorted in amusement.
"There, give that one to Jamie for Christmas." He joked, but Sophie's eyes lit up and she grinned mischievously.
"He would love it." She muttered a little wickedly as Jack tried to snatch the camera away to delete the pictures.