Penny stepped out of the sleigh slowly, holding onto the side of it the whole time, shaking from the ride. It seemed that she didn't like the sleigh as much as Bunny, which he rolled his eyes at, as if she were trying to copy him. What a hypocrite.
She reached over the side of the sleigh and pulled out her suitcase of belongings, straining over the weight since it was almost as big as her. Once Jack had encouraged Penny to stay with the Guardians until this whole Pitch situation was handled, she had gone back down to her burrow to get her things for work. Being in danger from the Nightmare King wasn't going to stop her progress. Although the giant, metallic suitcase she was lugging around could.
The others piled out of the sleigh, and Phil was there to take North's jacket. "Phil, please take Penny's suitcase here. It is much too heavy for her, and she is about to fall over. Thank you!" North clapped his hands together, as Phil picked up Penny's suitcase mumbling something that sounded frustrated. "How 'bout some dinner?" North smiled at the group. It seemed to Penny that the man was indeed as jolly as his reputation promised.
Penny followed the other guardians down the hallway, fidgeting with her yellow hoodie she had grabbed before leaving her burrow for what might have been the last time in months. Or longer. The extra fabric made her feel more secure even though she wasn't going to admit it to anyone el
se. It was somewhat baggy on her torso, and reached all the way down to her tail, making it almost look like a dress.
The others were joking quietly amongst themselves, and Penny couldn't help but feel even more out of place. She hadn't met any of the guardians before except for Bunny because that incident in 68'. So, she didn't really know anything about them other then their legends that were common anywhere you went really. How was she supposed to feel comfortable around them while she was here if she doesn't even know how to talk to them?
They entered a large dining hall that was filled with an assortment of food on the table, and yeti's preparing places. There seemed to also be tiny little elves that were sneaking under the table trying to steal portions of the food, but the yetis would catch them and yell at them to go away. North raised his arms in display and faced Penny, "I asked the yetis to prepare dinner for us and guest of honor."
Penny stood dumbfounded looking between the table of heavenly food, and North with a warm smile on his face. When she couldn't speak, she raised her paw and pointed to herself, her left eyebrow raised in question, as if asking if she was supposed to be the guest of honor.
North grabbed his belly and laughed. "Of course. Everyone else is here too often to be called special!"
"Hey!" Jack gave a fake offended look towards North, and gently punched him in the shoulder in good play. North put his fists up as if he were about to fight Jack, but then he just laughed and waved him off.
North turned and walked towards one of the chairs and the others followed, sitting at what seemed to be already known placements; North at the head, Tooth to his left, then Sandy, Bunny at the other end, and finally Jack to his left. This left one spot between North and Jack, which Penny didn't mind one bit. Both North and Jack had been the most welcoming towards the groundhog. Not to say that Sandy and Tooth were being rude, but she felt awkward with them. Tooth seemed to be a touchy person who loved hugs and physical affection, but Penny had been alone for so long, it felt too weird. And Sandy was quiet, so it was hard to remember that he was even there. However, Penny know she liked them, and that they were just trying their best to be friendly. Bunny was another story. He would avoid looking at her, and only glare when their eyes happened to meet. It was going to be a very tense situation being around him.
She sat down, looking at each and every entre that was available on the table. There was chicken, roast, corn, mashed potatoes, peas, salad, and a bowl of carrots that were specifically near Bunny. Penny immediately realized those would probably be off limits to her and everyone else. As everyone else began to fill their plates, as did Penny and soon they were all eating. The guardians began talking and joking amongst each other, and Penny quietly listened not knowing what to say, and preferring to stay to herself. That is until Jack bumped her shoulder.
She looked up and saw everyone else looking at her and she realized that someone must have included her in the conversation, and she was too zone out to notice. She quickly swallowed what was in her mouth, "I'm sorry. What?"
Jack laughed, and Penny saw Bunny roll his eyes out the corner of her eye. "I said why are you only eating greens?" Jack smiled sympathetically at her, hoping to help her and the other guardians get to know each other.
"Oh! Well, I'm a vegetarian," she smiled sheepishly down at her plate, terrified of suddenly being the center of attention.
"Oh! That's so good for your teeth. Did you know that?" Tooth smiled at her from across the table, absolutely excited about the subject.
Honestly Penny DID know that, but she decided to pretend so that Tooth could go further into depth and so she could go back to not talking, "Um. No. Isn't that interesting?"
As promised, Tooth did begin a ramble and Penny munched more on her salad, silently watching the overexuberant fairy, amused at how excited she was about her job.
"Oui! Tooth. No one's going to be as excited about teeth as you are," Bunny said.
"Sorry Tooth, but zis is true." North gave Tooth an apologetic look and turned towards Penny. She inwardly rolled her eyes realizing she was going to have to talk again. "Penny, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself?"
"Uh, well. I can play several different instruments, and piano is my favorite. I love growing plants, Mother Nature told me I have quite the green thumb. I know quite a bit of science and math because of my holiday. And I am scared of the dark." Penny satisfied with her tiny autobiography reached for another piece of lettuce, eating it with her hands, since it was dry, waiting for one of the others to give a response.
"You're scared of the dark?" Jack questioned, wanting to know why, but at the same time afraid of making her feel embarrassed.
"Yeah, didn't you notice all those lights in my burrow when you came inside?"
"But why be scared of the dark? It has nothing that can hurt you." North continued, less tentative than Jack was.
"That is subject to opinion," Penny concluded. She wasn't really keen on telling the guardians that she was scared of the dark, since it was somewhat of a childish fear. However, it was important that they knew so that no one would turn off the lights while she was in a room.
"Um…okay…" Jack said, not really knowing how to reply to her childish fear.
"What about your holiday? Tell us about that." Tooth changed the subject.
Penny explained all of it, and she babble exactly like Tooth the entire time. Apparently, she was the one who decided when winter ended with a push of a button that was hidden in her giant desk. However, she based her decision off of a lot of different variables. How bad the winter was in certain areas. Whether or not the previous summers had resulted in lower crop production. How much precipitation a certain area needed for the spring. And most importantly, how much worse the effect of global warming had gotten.
Not only was this information educational for the guardians, it also made a certain Bunny rethink his judgements. He had thought for many decades now that Penny had simply ruined his holiday for the sake of spite, however this new information made him realize that there were greater things out there than his eggs. However, even though this made him rethink Penny's motivations for that ruined Easter, he still hated her for response when he had originally confronted her. Her indifference towards his feelings, and her contemptuous response left him hating her character more than her holiday. Of course, he kept these thoughts to himself throughout the discussion.
The rest of the dinner went along swimmingly, and Penny began to feel somewhat more comfortable with the rest of the guardians. When they finally exited the dining room, she followed the others to what looked like a little living room, complete with a coffee table, comfy chairs, and a roaring fire. The others scattered along the room attempting to relax after a trying day it seemed. Penny stood awkwardly in the doorway to the dining room, wanting so bad to go and find her suitcase and continue working. Relaxing wasn't something she was accustomed to and she would rather find something familiar to her in this new situation.
"Penny! Come sit and rest, I insist," North gestured to the couch where Jack and Bunny were sitting. Jack was attempting to create some sort of ice snowflake and Bunny had begun to paint an egg.
"Um actually, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to go and find my luggage," Penny pointed behind her as if she could actually find her tiny luggage in this mansion of a house.
"Ah yes, of course. I apologize. PHIL!" The yell startled all of them, not expecting the sudden volume. Phil ran into the room questioning North as to why he was called.
"Please take Penny here to where you put her luggage and then to a room so she can get to bed."
Phil nodded and began pushing Penny out into the hallway that lead back towards where the sleigh had landed.
Once she left the other guardians were left in silence. It seemed as if they had been carefree until that moment where the fear of what Pitch's plans were returned.
"So, what are we gon' do about Pitch?" Bunny continued on his egg, but his face held more worry than it had a moment ago.
"I don't know. There's no way we can really know vhat he has planned vithout watching him," he fingered his beard while pacing across the carpet deep in thought.
"We could make sure there is always someone watching Pitch and someone watching Penny at all times," Jack suggested from his spot.
North stopped pacing and nodded, "good idea Jack. Sandy!"
Sandy had fallen asleep in a little bean bag chair that was in front of the fire and jolted up at North's booming voice.
"Sandy, vill you keep eye on Pitch and try and see vhat his plan might be. If he is going anywhere, ve need to know about it."
Sandy saluted at North, ready for his assignment, and glided out one of the windows that were in the room.
"Now, what about Penny," Tooth question lazily, she looked as if she were about to fall asleep.
"Ve vill take turns vatching her. Since it isn't close to anyone's holiday just yet, it should be easy."
North was right. It was January. Meaning that Easter was three months away which was really plenty of time for Bunny to prepare, and a whole year until the next Christmas.
"Actually, your forgetting somebody's holiday," Jack chimed in with a classic smirk on his face.
Everyone looked at Jack, a clear question in their eyes wondering what holiday it was.
"Guys! It's Groundhog Day next month," Jack spoke with his hands, incredulous that they had all forgotten even though it was the main subject at dinner.
"Oh yeah, I knew zat" North smiled, pretending he was just testing the others.
A loud yelling was then heard from the hallway. The volume got closer until Phil once again entered the living room, breathless from running.
"Vhat happned?"
Phil spoke in loud, raspy breaths pointing down the hallway that he had walked Penny down a few moments ago.
"Vhat!?" North sounded worried, making the others equally as worried. North stormed down the hallway that Phil had come from, the others following, cautious of what threat could be waiting.
"What's wrong?" Jack bounced up to North's side, trying to keep up with the man's large stride. He had a very determined look on his face.
"Penny apparently refuses to go to bed!" North spoke continuing on his walk not noticing that the others had stopped. He paused and turned looking at their faces which seemed upset for some reason.
"What?"
"You made us think that Pitch was here, and Penny was in trouble!" Tooth placed her hands on her hips in frustration.
"She is in trouble! She is refusing my generosity," North said, turning back around and continuing his walk of determination.
When he reached the room that Phil had them to, he stopped in the doorway, allowing just enough room for the others to look in.
Penny had somehow packed her entire desk that had been in her burrow, into that tiny luggage. She had her glasses back on and she was hopping from desk to desk writing notes and returning to her weather globe every so often to take note of incoming weather patterns.
"Vhat is the meaning of this?" North boomed, walking through the doorway and towards the now startled groundhog.
Bunny and the rest cautiously followed him. It seemed that North didn't appreciate being rejected as a gracious host. 'Wouldn't 'ave thought he cared that much,' Bunny thought leaning against one of the desks closest to him.
Looking closer he noticed that each one of the desks were made of what looked like stained, sanded pine wood. Bunny kinda wondered if Penny had made them herself and added them on.
"Um…I told you I have work to do," Penny held what looked like one of her notebooks and a pencil tightly to her chest, defensive at being startled.
'Why is she always so skittish?' Bunny wondered. Her defensive behavior paired with the new knowledge of her fear of the dark, made her look so much more childish than he had originally judged her as. This made his already low opinion of her drop even lower.
North's expression softened; he knew more than anyone the feeling of needing to finish work more than the need to sleep. "Penny, it is late. You need sleep, just like the rest of us."
Penny relaxed at his calming tone. "I know, but I'm used to pulling all-nighters. The weather is always changing." She returned to looking at her globe, writing notes down.
North sighed. Her determination towards work made her look exactly like a guardian in his eyes. Even if her work didn't directly involve children, he could tell that she cared greatly how her decision of winter would affect humanity. "If you insist. However, one of us vill be vatching you at all times to make sure you are safe."
Penny turned abruptly at that. "What?"
"Yes," North turned to the rest of the group, "Who vill take first vatch?"
Silence.
"No vone volunteers?"
"North, I'm too sleepy. I'll fall asleep before any of you even leave!" Tooth yawned as she finished her sentence, emphasizing her exhaustion.
"Yeah, and I was hoping to take over for the watch tomorrow, since it'll be daytime and we can have more fun," Jack said, winking at Penny, making it seem to the others that they had already become best friends.
"Bunny?" North questioned. A serious tone erupting from his chest, knowing that the Bunny hated the groundhog, but silently letting him know that he still had to do his part.
"Nah mate, I'll take the last watch," Bunny said assuredly. He had to get used to being around the groundhog more with the group, before he could handle being with her alone.
"Alright. I vill take first vatch, Jack you return in the morning for your turn." North announced waving the others off as they turned to leave for their respective homes. Leaving North alone with the groundhog.
North turned to look at the groundhog he was to watch during the night. She was back at her mumbling and note taking, lost in her own world as if nothing else existed. North knew that feeling. The feeling of being so passionate about your work, that it becomes hard to pull yourself away from it. He admired her for that.
"So!" North's voice boomed throughout the room, startling Penny and causing her to drop her pencil. "Vhat should ve talk about?" North pulled a cushioned chair up next to the desk that Penny was standing on, and plopped down into it, looking expectantly at the groundhog.
Penny starred at the white-bearded Russian for a moment, caught off guard by his extroverted nature. "Um, well. I do have work to do," Penny gestured to the erase board behind her that was covered in math equations and lists of countries.
"Ah, but ve must get to know each other if ve are to be friends, no?"
Penny looked again at North, eyebrows furrowed in thought. She had known of the guardians for many decades now and she was sure that they knew of her too, even as little as her holiday was. It didn't make sense that they would all care about her so much, so soon.
"Why do you want to be friends with me?" Penny questioned resigning to sit on the edge of her desk; it didn't look like she was going to finish her work for the night.
North was confused at her question. They had been nice to her ever since she arrived, hadn't they? Did she sense some sort of judgement from them, or malice? "I do not understand. Do you not like us?" North asked, his voice suddenly small and vulnerable.
"Of course I do! But…you guys have never tried to be my friend before now…" Penny finished, fidgeting with her hoodie once more.
Understanding dawned and North nodded to himself. "Well, zat was not on purpose. Ve get very busy and forget to check up on each other sometimes." North paused giving Penny a sincere look and smile, "It was never personal."
Penny smiled back, relieved to hear that they weren't just trying to make the most of a bad situation. They actually wanted to get to know her while she was here. "Thanks. That means a lot," Penny said.
"Your very velcome." North paused allowing the gentility of the moment to fade before releasing another boom of his voice, "So! I noticed that your work station here could do vith a little remodeling, yes?"
Panic welled up in Penny's eyes as she immediately began protesting the older man's plans for her desk. However, her actions were futile, as North began drawing out new arrangements for her desk. He thought it would be better for the desk to make a circle around the globe, rather than a simple straight line that caused Penny to run back and forth too much. Since the new shape would be a circle, which would make it harder for her to enter, he explained that extended the height of the platforms and connecting them using stairs would be easier for her. The final design looked something along the lines of a spiral staircase, with her weather globe in the center and cork boards and erase boards spaced out along the steps.
Although Penny tried to explain that the new design was unnecessary, North began his project right away. Getting the yetis to help put the new design together. He used metal instead of the wood from the desks to provide more stability and placed some of her weather measuring devices at the top. He promised to include the ability for the entire structure to break down into her suitcase like it had when she originally arrived.
Penny sat in the cushion chair that North had originally occupied and glared at the assault on her property. Although she was actually liking the design the farther along North got, she was still anxious about how much change this pressed upon her.
"Hey Penny," Penny squeaked at Jack's sudden appearance beside her. He was watching North and the yetis work on the design, while North gave orders on what to do.
"Jack you scared the shit out of me," she said attempting not to laugh at her own skittishness. She punched him playfully in the shoulder to emphasize that she wasn't mad.
"Ouch!" Jack smiled, pretending to nurse his injured shoulder.
"Jack!" North boomed, walking over at the arrived winter spirit. "Here for your turn?"
That's when Penny realized that it was already morning and the previous night had passed by so quickly.
"Of course. Can't wait to have some fun, right?" Jack looked over at Penny and winked as if he had something mischievous planned.
"You can't leave the Pole Jack. It's very important that Penny stay here, where Pitch cannot touch her." North wiggled a finger at Jack, his tone serious.
"I know," Jack rolled his eyes and waved North off nonchalantly. "I was talking about messing with the elves." Jack paused waiting for North's response.
North stood for a moment, analyzing Jack. He stepped forward and put his face right in front of Jack's looking at his face for signs of a lie. However, not seeing any, he shrugged his shoulders, "Hmph Alright," and returned to ordering the yetis around.
Jack motioned for Penny to join him and she followed him down the hallway that, if she remembered correctly, led to the dining room and living room from last night. When they had walked for a good twenty minutes or so in silence, Jack suddenly turned causing Penny to smack foreheads with him. "Ouch, what the hell man?" Penny yelled rubbing her head.
"Quiet! If we're gonna sneak out of here, we have to be stealthy." Jack whispered, pulling out one of North's globes from his pocket and smirking mischievously once again.