Happy Holidays, everyone who celebrates! And here's to the safety and wellbeing of everyone else~ please enjoy this chapter!
"I think...I'm stuck. Or something."
"Like in your head?"
"..." Jack wasn't usually so slow to talk, but all the pesky thinking he'd been doing lately made him want to consider his words for once.
"I guess so. I mean, I've been bringing the Guardians around everywhere for the past few days. But...I don't know what's next."
"Next?" Tatum asked. Jack tried to glance at their face. They were still staring up at the sky.
"Yeah. Deciding to introduce them to my friends was simple enough at first. But everyone's been bringing up something that I can't get outta my head."
"..." Tatum waited silently for Jack to continue. Jack picked up a leaf and held it above him, twirling the stem between his fingers.
"I didn't really think about whether or not *they* knew of my friends, or if my friends knew of *them*. Or what ideas they had about each other."
"Can you explain?"
"I didn't know Bunny disliked reapers and I took him straight to one of their bases. I didn't know Hallow thought the Guardians were some kind of authority, and I brought them to his house."
"Aren't you an authority, though?"
"No- Well, only for things out to hurt kids." Jack let the leaf flutter back to the ground.
"...I remember how decades ago, you would complain so much about Bunny's personality and how the Guardians bribed kids." Tatum's voice held a hint of laughter. "Is it that much of a stretch to believe other people have strong opinions about them?"
"But they're not scary, right? It's not like we're terrorizing other spirits."
"How do you define 'terrorize?'"
"Do you think we do that?" Jack looked at Tatum again. The autumn keeper shrugged.
"No, but I can't speak for anyone else. All I meant is, protecting the children of the world has got to be more complicated than 'this spirit good, this spirit bad' every time."
"But…" Jack started, then trailed off. Tatum stopped speaking as well, so he took the silence as a chance to reflect. That final thought put something in his chest that he didn't like, that he hadn't felt in a while. Actually, it was more than dislike. He hated this feeling. He needed it gone.
"The pie was really good."
"Thanks! Straight from my own garden!" Tatum laughed. Jack knew better than to think Tatum was really distracted by that, but he was grateful that they ran with the subject.
"Hey, by the way, I saw you staring at Tooth."
"She's pretty." Tatum replied.
"Are you getting a crush on her?" Jack turned on his side to give Tatum a devious grin. Tatum rolled their eyes.
"I don't know. Did you say anything to Clover yet?"
"Wh-!" Jack sputtered. Tatum cackled as he tossed a handful of leaves at them.
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding! I know you actually like-WAUGH!"
Tatum writhed away from the snow they took to the face. They continued to laugh as Jack chased them around the yard with frost and as many mini snowballs as he could make.
"The heck are y'all doing back here?" Julius called from the back door. "We were looking for you guys!"
"He's lost it! Unhinged!" Tatum screamed in mirth. Jack zipped to the closest tree and perched in its branches. He conjured up a small handful of tiny snowballs.
"Stay still so I can hit you!" he called. Jay and Clover, who both stepped outside, followed Tatum's lead of doing the exact opposite. They scurried around the backyard, dodging snowballs left and right, slipping on dead leaves and bouncing on the springy moss.
The Guardians came to observe the frolicking soon after. The sun rarely set completely in the so-called evening forest, but after a while the visitors decided it was time to head home. Tatum sent them off with a bag of produce each, including a bulging sack of fresh mint.
"Drop by again sometime!" they called with a wave.
Outside of Tatum's domain, the sun was just a bit higher in the sky, making it late afternoon. The group landed at the North Pole and spent a few minutes in the grand entryway.
"Tatum was so nice!" Tooth cheered, and Sandy agreed with a series of smiley face pictures.
'And generous," North said as he handed his share of goods to the yetis to stock in the kitchen. Bunny nodded his agreement while he bit into an apple. Jack cursed the missed opportunity.
Before another word could be said, a shadowy line cleaved its way through the air. It widened into a portal, and out stepped Akuma, dressed in a cropped sweater and skinny jeans, his hair tied back in a messy bun.
"Pardon the intrusion, everyone. Clover! I'm here to get you." he said with a grin and a wave.
"Oh, hey Akuma! Is Tenshi still working?" Clover asked.
"Yep, the paperwork was pretty heavy today, too. I feel bad about the timing."
Half of the room glanced at Bunny, and they all gave a quiet sigh of relief when he pulled a face but said nothing.
"Ah, okay. Ooh, can we go to the stores? I want to buy some snacks."
"Sure thing!"
"Yay! Thanks for letting me stay with you, Tooth. Thanks for the ride, North. Bye, everybody!"
With that, the two disappeared into the portal, which closed behind them. After a second, North was the first to speak.
"How did he slip past enchantments?" he asked. Concern was written all over his face. "Last time, Tenshi could only appear at front door!"
"Reaper magic's secretive," Bunny grumbled. Jack frowned at him.
"Clover once told me that Akuma's been a reaper for a long time," he said. "Maybe he's just more powerful."
Bunny said nothing in reply.
Now...if you ask me who *I* ship Jack with out of all my characters, my answer is simply "yes."
Have a safe weekend, everyone!