Jack couldn't recall there being anything in the Guardians of Childhood handbook about there being quite so many meetings, but he also never read the handbook. Bernard had skimmed it once, he had heard. Read like stereo instructions, and that was saying something when the Head Elf had once been flanked by a talking handbook in his second-in-command. That's what he had heard , anyway. Bernard didn't open up much about his past.

Still, he felt like he had been tricked. He dropped by the workshop on his way to check on the polar ice caps when North ushered him into the board room. Jack tried to point out that for once he was trying to be responsible when North clapped him on the shoulder, nearly bringing him to his knees. "You're already responsible, Jack" North grinned, "You're early for our meeting!"

Oh yes, he was definitely tricked somehow.

North rumbled through the list of items covered in the previous meeting, and Jack opted to tune this part out. It had been what, three weeks since they last met? It can't have been too long, so it was all still fresh. Now it was time to go over any unfinished business. Jack started. Oh shit. He knew that look from North.

"Well uh," he began, sitting a little straighter in his seat, "I've ben keeping an eye on the ice caps. I can't reverse the damage, but I can at least slow it down –"

"You're not doing anything to catch the attention of those humans who go up there, are ye?" Bunnymund asked.

"Yeah sure, I leave my calling card each time I make rounds to touch up the icebergs," Jack said with sarcasm. "Trust me, no one would be able to tell that I've been refreezing the environment. They're going to be more concerned about frozen fingers."

Bunnymund snorted by didn't respond, as other members of the Council prattled on about projects of theirs that had no definitive deadline.

Now that the focus was off of him again, Jack slouched back in his seat. He looked around the table to see a wide range of expressions of boredom. At least he wasn't the only one. He did another sweep of the table, this time stopping at Esther. She was trying her damndest to look interested in the mechanics of statistical analysis from the head of accounting (why this department existed was beyond him), but he could tell. She was bored out of her skull.

This was the first time he had seen her since the night he brought her home. Jack stopped by her office, intending to see if she wanted to get a late breakfast, only to see a sign on the door. "Please don't disturb me unless one of three things is happening: 1) It's the end of the world, 2) Aliens have landed, 3) The President has shown up at Headquarters" it had read. With the current events in the world, this made him laugh. She'd had a lot of work to sift through, so Jack slid a note under the door and went on his way. "Came to see how you were doing and saw your note on the door. Don't forget to take time to eat, Icchy," was written on the folded slip of paper.

He never heard a response for the lousy nickname, so he surmised she was really busy. 'She looks alright,' he thought, 'as long as she's taking the time to eat and sleep.' Jack had decided the night after his talk with Sandy that he'd let the chips fall where they may. Right now, it seemed the safest that way, lest he put his foot in his mouth again. 'Esther can be too forgiving.' He couldn't fathom how she could overlook what he said, he didn't think he'd be capable of that.

Esther rubbed her neck and attempted to stifle a yawn. Jack's eyebrows furrowed. Was she not sleeping much, or at all? Or was she that bored?

North spoke again, drawing this council meeting to a close. 'Thank the stars…' Jack stretched his legs out underneath the table and slouched further. Others around him didn't hesitate to jump up from their seats and return to their duties. Surprisingly, Jack would have been one of them, but there were two things that kept him rooted in his seat.

Esther had pushed her chair back and raised her arms in an overhead stretch, arching her back slightly and unknowingly putting herself on display.

It appeared that Esther's stretching had caught more than Jack's attention. In fact, Jack was loathe to admit it, there were quite a few sets of eyes – male eyes – appraising the young guardian.

Jack equated their gazes to vultures and suddenly he didn't like it. He couldn't say why, but she was his friend and didn't deserve to be looked at like that. The looks he noticed actually made his straighten up in his seat, as if he were about to do something –

But then Esther stood up, and all of the gazes that were locked on her were gone. She caught his gaze, smiled sweetly at him and left the table to speak with Dierdre and Toothiana. Jack had relaxed, now that the "vultures" were gone, only to tense up again when the Pooka spoke.

"She's a beaut, ain't she?"

Bunnymund was only making a statement about the young guardian. He wasn't expecting the dark look he was now getting from Jack. "Easy now, mate. It ain't like I'm tryin' to take her from ya or anything!"

Now Jack looked startled. And was he blushing? "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You think I didn't see the way they were looking at your Sheila?" Bunnymund nodded around the room. "It ain't hard to tell that bothered you."

"She's my friend. She doesn't deserve to be ogled like that."

"No, but it's gonna happen," the Pooka nodded. "More so that she's unattached. I wouldn't be surprised if she gets asked on dates every other day-"

Jack made a noise in the back of his throat that sounded suspiciously like a growl.

That was interesting. "Did I strike a nerve, mate? I'd almost think you were jealous."

Jack stood up from his chair then, pointedly ignoring the shit-eating grin from the Easter Bunny. "That's ridiculous. I'm not jealous. Esther's a grown woman, she can do what she wants."

Bunnymund knew that Jack was lying. Everything about his tone and posture betrayed the words he said. He chose not to comment though, letting the boy go off on his own.

A thought struck him then, a thought too good to pass up. He motioned to a few nearby guardians to come join him at the table. As he ran his idea by them, the sheer glee in their faces should have been a sign that it could backfire. But it was too brilliant an idea to let slide, and Bunnymund didn't regret it one bit.