I love Bunny's ears. And I always love the "sensitive unusual body part" trope. Zim's lekku like to be touched. XD

Jack drags Aster into his trouble and tries to make it up to Aster. Later, he has his first dream, which he greatly enjoys.

(-)

Stop right there, that's exactly where I lost it
See that line, well I never should have crossed it
Stop right there, well I never should have said
That it's the very moment that I wish that I could take back

Who I Am Hates Who I've Been- Relient K

"Remind me what you did to that Summer Spirit?" Aster asked, growling.

Jack looked away. "You really don't want to know."

At breakfast, Jack had asked Aster if he wanted to go out with him for a while. He argued they could work through the afternoon, and that Aster needed to take a break. Aster agreed, and they had run into the Spirit of Summer Vacation who was disgruntled enough with Jack to attack him despite the boy's increased power, new status as a Guardian, and having the Easter Bunny on his side. Aster decided he probably didn't want to know what Jack had done.

"Well, one of her bloody fireballs grazed my ear. Do you have any idea how sensitive my ears are?"

The boy opened the door of the Burrow for Aster and followed him in, quickly closing the door and wetting a rag. "Very. You can hear me anywhere, everything I do or say. I remember. How long will it take to heal?"

Aster sighed. "Dunno. Would've been healed by now before…that Easter. Still bouncing back." Aster had poured enough into his home that it affected his power as much as believers did. It was normally stable, but since it had been ruined and only partially restored, he wasn't working at 100%.

Jack winced and motioned for Aster to sit. When the boy could reach his injury, he started dabbing at it with the cloth, his power making the wet cloth cold, but now it was frosting over, which hurt.

"Frostbite, yer freezing the water. Don't think that's going to work."

A frustrated sound behind him, the rag set on the table, and then… "Whoa!" Cold hands pressed against the wound, sending a chill through Aster that felt wonderful, especially as it numbed his pain. "That…feels good, Snowflake."

"Yeah?" Jack asked. As he held one hand over the burn, his other started gently exploring around Aster's ears. And the careful attention and curious cool fingers were making Aster slump slightly, relaxation inevitable. "You okay, Bunny?"

Aster couldn't quite summon up a good excuse. Or any dignity. "Feels soooo good. Your hands feel good on my ears, mate."

"Not too cold?" Jack asked, getting bolder in touching and stroking.

"Nah." It felt so good that Aster was in danger of sliding off his chair.

Jack noticed. "Let's get you laid out on the couch. Then I can keep going without worrying I'll need to pick you up off the floor."

When Aster was settled, Jack resumed his attentions. Aster couldn't keep his eyes open almost, he was just so relaxed. He didn't object when Jack's hands wandered a little, though his eyes shot open when Jack started scratching under his chin. His leg started thumping on its own, and he shuddered a little.

"Is this okay?" Jack asked quietly.

"You tell anyone about this, and I will murder you in your sleep."

Jack laughed softly. "Never. This is definitely something I want to keep to myself."

So, Aster let him continue, feeling like putty in the boy's hands. It was a little embarrassing, but Jack was being so gentle and obviously enjoying what he was doing to Aster. That was enough to give Frostbite free reign.

The cold hands went back to his ears, one covering the burn, and Aster's eyes slid shut again. Aster didn't think he'd ever had anyone touch his ears like this. Snowflake was probably the only one he would let touch his ears like this.

Aster didn't know when he fell asleep, but he woke when his stomach started complaining. There was noise in his kitchen, and he went to investigate.

Jack was moving around, having already set places at the table. He glanced at Aster as he entered. "Hey. I wanted to make soup or something, but I don't actually know how to cook and figured burning down your Burrow while you were napping would be bad. I…just wanted to thank you for helping me. Especially since you got hurt." The boy had a plate of sandwiches he set down on the table.

Aster had actually forgotten he had been injured. "Why is my burn numb?"

A light dusting of purple frost crawled on Jack's face as he said, "It's a little spell, nothing serious. Just enough to numb the burn while it heals. It won't last too long; I'll have to renew it. But you don't seem to mind me touching your ears."

Embarrassed, Aster sat at his place, and Jack sat across from him. "No, I don't mind."

"I won't tell anyone about any of this, you know. I remembered how you reacted when Jamie scratched your chin and wanted to try it for myself. But this is obviously between you and me. Touching your ears is our secret from now on."

Oh, that sounded dangerously close to an offer to make this a regular thing. And Aster wasn't sure he had the willpower to refuse. So he simply said, "Agreed."

Aster reached for a sandwich, and they ate together in silence. The sandwiches were pickle-heavy, in Aster's opinion, but the boy for some reason delighted in Aster's homemade pickles. "So, I don't want to know what you did to the Spirit of Summer Vacation?"

Jack's cheeks turned purple. "It was…a bad idea. I had been getting bored with my normal haunts in the warm months and decided to go to the beach. I didn't see her, but she found out about it."

Aster sighed. "About what?"

"I made it snow. In summer. On the beach. The kids thought it was fantastic fun. It was actually pretty tiring dropping the temperature and keeping the snow falling, so I didn't stay long."

The rabbit gaped at the boy. "Tiring? Do you think? How hot was it when you got there?"

"Almost ninety degrees, probably. Anyway, it wasn't something an actual Winter Spirit could manage, and the snowball fight was kinda my signature. Although, not-fun fact: snowballs made on a beach are terrible. They get sand in them and get in kids' eyes when they get hit in the face. It was a very bad idea."

Jack had a pensive, troubled look on his face. Aster realized something. "You remembering the Blizzard?"

Jack nodded. "Another terrible idea that got me in trouble."

Aster rolled his eyes. "But we've put it behind us, right? I've put it behind me by now, Jack."

"I didn't mean for it to get that big!" Jack blurted.

Aster raised an eyebrow. "How do you conjure a storm that big without trying?"

Sighing, Jack said, "I was trying. I'd been trying to get your attention for years, but you just shrugged off everything I planned. You were the first one to see me, to touch me, and you were so cool. I wanted to play with you. But you were always a busy Bunny, and I never knew where you lived, so I could only see you on Easter."

"Shrug off? If you hadn't caught me when I was busy, I would have given you a piece of my mind. And my boomerangs. You were a bloody nuisance and-Wait, you wanted to play?" Aster never realized. Jack was perpetually playful and mischievous, so Aster had never put any special significance to the boy plaguing him besides Jack's usual tricks.

"Yeah. But everything I did, you just hopped on by. So, I tried something bigger. It got out of control in my enthusiasm. And the first playdate I managed to land with you ended with you beating me up and cussing me out and telling me you never wanted to see me again. I gave up on trying to play with anyone and started keeping away from other spirits."

Aster groaned. "I don't even remember saying that. I was just angry. There were quite a few special spots in that park that I liked to hide eggs in, and they were all filled with snow."

Jack smiled shyly. "But it's behind us now?"

"Only if you drop it, Snowflake. It happened ages ago, and neither of us is the same person we were then. We've gotten pretty close now, haven't we?" Jack nodded, his smile becoming a grin. "Then we're fine."

The Snowflake picked up the empty plate from the sandwiches and added his and Aster's plates to the pile. "I can clean up if you want to head into the den."

It was doing something to Aster to see Jack getting so domestic in his Burrow, making himself at home in Aster's kitchen. It tugged something inside him, instincts that said this was what a mate would do. It was bad news.

But instead of discouraging the boy, like any sane person would, Aster said, "Shall I teach you how to cook, Frostbite?"

Jack turned from the sink, eyes wide, mouth spread in an excited grin. "Yes! You'd do that?"

Such a slow descent into madness. "Absolutely." Actually, he was obviously mad already. Mating instincts were powerful and letting Jack toy at them was dangerous.

Of course, Aster had been doing his best not to connect "Jack" and "Mating" in his head. He'd also been avoiding "Jack" and "Love" intersecting, but that didn't look long for the world either.

"Awesome! I'll be in the den in a minute; I wanna start Matilda tonight."

Aster left the kitchen before Jack doing dishes made him lose it. He felt so pathetic. He sat down in the den with his sketchbook, already having an idea for a new pose tonight.

Jack came in and grabbed his book from the shelf and settled down in the chair. They said nothing. Aster worked on his sketch and became more and more nervous about sharing it with Jack.

He had drawn Jack lying on one side, looking at Aster. He was propping his head up on his hand and elbow, fingers disappearing to slide into unseen hair. His smile was warm, eyes mischievous, and lithe body relaxed. His free arm lay on top of him, outlining the subtle curves of his body. His top leg was moved forward, knee bent to bring his leg just high enough to obscure the boy's groin. It wasn't inherently sexual, Jack was fully dressed, but to Aster's eyes it was incredibly seductive. He wondered if it was too late to start a different sketch so he didn't have to show Jack this one.

"I'm getting tired," Jack said with a yawn. "Can I see?"

Hesitantly, Aster passed the boy his sketch pad. He watched the boy's eager eyes take in the lines. And he watched purple frost start to show on Jack's cheeks. Apparently, Jack picked up on some of those over/undertones as well.

"I look…I'm not sure how I look." Jack met Aster's gaze with questioning eyes.

"Beautiful, Snowflake. You always look beautiful." Aster figured that was better than the full truth.

Jack smiled, still blushing. "Yeah, I guess I do. Whenever you draw me."

"Get yer silly butt to bed. One day I'll teach you how to use a mirror."

"Goodnight, Bunny."

"Sleep well, Snowflake."

(-)

Aster woke to simple whimpers from the boy. He still moved quickly to his room, though. Only the nest itself had any frost, and Aster wondered if he should wake the boy from what looked like merely a troubling dream.

Jack sat up, started crying, and hugged his knees. Aster hopped in then, wrapping his arms around the boy. "Bad dream, Frostbite? Didn't look like your worst."

"I was alone. No one to even walk through me or even spirits to hate me. Just me."

"Well, you aren't alone. I'm right here."

Jack blinked wet eyes at the rabbit. "It wasn't horrible, but I'm still not sure I can get to sleep on my own…"

Nope, Aster had to shut that down. He'd had too many slip-ups with the Snowflake today for that to be a good idea. "Good time to try a pinch of Dreamsand, then, eh?"

Jack looked surprised. "I'd actually forgotten." He dug in his pocket for the little bottle. "Can you do it? I'm afraid I'll do too much or spill it as I fall asleep."

"Of course, Snowflake." Aster took the bottle and got the slightest pinch as the boy lay back down. "Sweet dreams," he said as he dusted the sand over Jack's face.

Jack instantly relaxed, expression serene. This was apparently going to be his first dream; Aster would have to see if the boy would tell him what it had been in the morning. Aster capped the bottle, gently tucked it into Jack's pocket, and returned to the den.

He had almost fallen asleep when he heard the first sounds. A soft, startled moan. Then more moans. Then a gasp. Then a smell hit Aster in the face like a brick.

Jack's first dream was apparently a wet one. Shit. Those sounds and that heady aroma were clawing at Aster's control. He quickly moved into the bathroom to get a cold shower. The temperature kept his physical arousal at bay, and the noises and smells of the boy were dulled slightly.

But not entirely. Aster stood under the cold water, still turned on as he listened to Jack panting, groaning, hips thrusting. When Jack cried out and that smell hit Aster's nose, even under the water, it was like the most wonderful Hell.

What to do now? Aster listened as Jack stirred, gasped, and groaned. Maybe since Aster was in the shower, he could pretend that had kept him from hearing or smelling anything. He waited to see what Jack would do. When the boy was still and quiet, he realized that Jack was waiting to see what he would do.

So, Aster turned off the water, dried himself and shook himself off, and yawned loudly as he returned to the den. He settled in to look very comfortable and faked sleep as well as he could. The second the bathroom door had opened that intoxicating smell hit him hard. It would have been easier if Aster had just gotten himself off, but, again, he knew that would be a slippery slope.

Luckily, Jack decided to casually but quietly go into the bathroom. The door closing and the water starting were great comforts. But tomorrow would be a little strange.

(-)

Aster had his back to the boy at his kitchen table the next morning when he asked, "Good dreams?"

Jack stilled, and Aster was sure he was blushing. "Y-Yeah. Dreamsand is amazing. I…I'd better not use it often, of course."

"Of course." So, Jack was worried that might be a chronic effect of Dreamsand on him. And who knew? It might.

But a faint smell tickled Aster's nose. Geez, the kid was getting turned on by the memory of the dream. Aster never realized just how much of a teenager Frostbite was. Best to help the boy. "I was thinking about North last night."

Yep, that helped. "Oh. What about him?"

"We had discussed having regular gatherings now that we have another Guardian. A couple centuries ago they happened two or three times a year. Until recently, we stopped them altogether. Now that the family is bigger, we thought maybe we'd start up again and have more."

Aster finally turned around to put plates of pancakes in front of each of their places. The table was set with everything they needed, and they both dug in hungrily. Jack was giving him a look that was almost as hungry as he had eyed his pancakes. It made Aster nervous.

"Family gatherings?" the boy finally asked. Ah, that was his hunger. Family.

"We're more of a family now than we ever were. The Pitch Crisis really brought us together. Around you, especially."

Jack blushed. "Oh. I'm glad to hear it. Did you not get along before?"

Aster shrugged, picking up all the empty dishes. "North and me, mostly. Big competing holidays. Competing egos. But we're better now."

"So…I've been good for the family?" Jack asked, sounding hopeful.

The kid was so sweet, Aster was shocked that Toothiana loved him like she did. "The best. Like I said, you made us a family again, bigger and better."

Aster didn't let himself bask in that brilliant smile for too long. "Lost a whole day of work yesterday, Frostbite. Let's get to it."

Someone has to be the one to show us

How lend a hand when we're afraid

After all, we're in this life together

We all get one try, and fade away

Pieces of the history we've written

Making what is human, we as one

If we share the burden, it gets lighter

Lifting all the clouds to show the sun

Floating- Aviators

(-)

I hope this amused you. And, yes, that was an offer to continue ear-rubbing on a regular basis. XD