The next few days were mind-numbingly boring. Tedious, in fact. Jack avoided Bunny and North at all costs and he hadn't seen Tooth since she last left him. He hadn't seen Baby Tooth at all, come to think of it. He started out the window and sighed: it was so peaceful, the landscape covered gracefully with a soft layer of snow. Jack didn't make the snow at the North Pole, it was always like this because of the magic that lingered.
He could feel the magic in certain places - it made him feel warm and tingly. He wondered what the humans thought about the oddity of the disappearance of winter, since Jack was not there to create it. (They were probably blaming it on 'global warming'. Whatever that is he thought). He was still magic, of course, and could still use his power, but without the presence of his staff he had little energy and couldn't create the white serenity on such a large scale anyway.
Jack leant his head against the cool pane of the window. He knew that at some point he would have to speak to North and Bunny but he felt that now was not the right time. He just couldn't bring himself to take down his protective barrier and confide in them. Not yet, anyway. Especially after what Bunny had seen. Jack had felt so weak, so helpless. His pride was hurt - he didn't want anyone to ever see him looking that... pathetic.
Dozily, Jack stood up and walked to the door. Quickly checking there was no one around, he silently slid out and shut the door after him. He walked around the corridor, thinking. About nothing and about everything. He hadn't had another... incident... since the one with Bunny four days ago and, thankfully, his heart, chest or head hadn't hurt since. Nevertheless, every time he had checked his stomach, it was still just as bad, if not worse.
The demonic thing that he hid under his jumper darkened Jack's veins so they stood out drastically, compared to the glistening, pale white of his skin. He constantly had his hood up now as the shadows it casted on his face and neck hid the growing coils from sight. At least no one would see them. If they did, they would just have more to worry about and Jack didn't want that.
As he headed down the long winding corridor, Jack suddenly stopped: he had heard something - someone calling his name. But not North or Bunny, a voice in his head. Like the one that helped me the other day, with the sand Jack thought. He waited a few seconds before dismissing it, thinking he had just heard wrong but a few steps later he stopped dead in his tracks as he heard it again.
Jack it whispered in a calm, soothing voice. It sounded wise and Jack knew he could trust it, so he listened intently. Get your staff. You can fix it. Just take it to -
Silence.
What? What had happened? Why had the voice stopped? It was only after a moment that Jack noticed the large figure was stood behind him, gently shaking his shoulders.
"Ah Jack, just who I wanted to see." North saw a scowl and a dissapointed look appear on Jack's face as he pushed the Guardian of wonder out of the way. Surprised, North ran to catch up with Jack who, being surprisingly quick, was already halfway down the corridor, gradually fading into the distance.
"What is matter?" North queried placing a beefy hand on the bony boy's shoulder, but Jack just muttered a quiet 'I'm fine' and kept walking away. Frustrated but slightly worried, North grabbed Jack's shoulder again, harder this time, preventing him from walking away again. He shot him an inquisitive look but Jack just shrugged and said, boredly, "I'm tired and I want a drink." Though it seemed careless, Jack had thought this through carefully. He was, in truth, on his way to the kitchen to grab a snack anyway but saying he was tired would stop North from initiating a conversation, (as North was clearly worried for the Spirit of Winter and would not want to steal him away from precious sleep when he knew he was so in need of it at the moment).
"You sure you are okay?" North replied, looking unsure. "Positive." Jack smirked at North before tipping an invisible hat to him and heading off to the kitchen.
"Jack, vait! I came to see if you maybe wanted to help? In zee workshop?" The large Russian man immediately saw Jack's eyes perk up with excitement.
"Really?" Jack asked. He had never been asked to help do anything before! "Of course" North chuckled, slinging his large tattooed arm over Jack's skinny, gaunt shoulders. Jack was so happy that he forgot about the voice he had heard in his head, he just focused on the famous North Pole Workshop up ahead. How excited he was!
_
Half an hour into 'helping', North discovered that Jack wasn't really much help - in his weakened state, he didn't have the energy or concentration to invent things, he smashed so many of North's new creations and he annoyed pretty much all of the elves and the yetis, messing up their valuable work creations. But still, he loved it. In the end, he ended up just watching North create amazing things; things he had never seen before.
It was mesmerising, watching an expert carry out his work. So much detail and precision went into every new toy that Jack wondered how he made so many in such a short amount of time. In truth, North had completely forgotten that Jack was there and he hummed a tune to a song that Jack vaguely recognised under his breath. His head bobbed while he worked and he tapped his foot joyously on the ground in rhythm to the melody.
As Jack was sat directly behind North, he couldn't exactly see much of what he was doing, but every now and again he'd see some sparks fly, hear some tapping or drilling and a few minutes later, he could see the finished piece for a few seconds before North put it in a bag on the floor next to him. Jack didn't mind though, he could tell North was enjoying himself. This is what he was put here to do Jack thought to himself. If only I knew why I was here. A small sigh escaped his lips as he slumped further down into the comforting rocking chair, gently rocking back and forth, back and forth, until his eyelids felt heavy. Just a few minutes Jack allowed himself, then in an instant he was softly snoring under his breath.
