Jack was excited.

Bunny seriously had allowed him to come to his Warren and paint some eggs.

For others it might not have sounded like a big deal. But regarding the fact that their past encounters, up to the moment he was chosen as a guardian and helped defeating Pitch, didn't really end on good terms and that their rivalry still continued, it was a big deal to him.

A sign of trust above all.

Everyone knew of the pooka's dislike for cold weather, so Jack was going to do his best to control his powers and not turn the Warren into a winter wonderland. Though it surely would look nice…

He hadn't been to Bunny's home since last Easter and that was already a few months ago. It all looked exactly like he had remembered, the flowery meadows, hills and rocks covered by lush grass and exotic plants, big trees providing shade and the river of colourful dye peacefully flowing through it all.

It was warmer than he normally prefered, but he could deal with it. No matter if winter spirit or human, each had their spectrum of what they could take, temperature-wise. In his 300 years of existence Jack had noticed people complaining about the weather, no matter what it was like. Too cold, too hot, too rainy, too dry, too windy, too foggy. There always was something they didn't like or weren't comfortable with. That didn't necessarily mean it was threatening their lives. Just the very extremes. For him, it was the same. Being stuck in a desert or spending days in a tropical area could get dangerous for him, but some hours in the Warren, nope, he would survive it without a problem.

"You're late."

The sudden statement ripped him from his thoughts. He looked at the grey 6'1" rabbit who was leaning behind a tree and applying paint to an egg in his paw.

"I'm not!"

"It's 10 am."

"That is morning, you know."

"No, that's forenoon."

"Splitting hairs, that's what it is."

Bunny shot Jack a slightly disgruntled look. For a warrior, he was quite a pedant.

The teen sighed and decided it was better to apologize. He didn't want to be kicked out before he hadn't managed to show the taller guardian that he could be helpful.

"Okay, I admit, I forgot the time difference between Burgess and Australia, but I swear I wanted to be on time!"

Jack gripped his staff a little tighter as he awkwardly waited for some kind of reaction.

"Are ya gonna stand there like a snowman or d'ya wanna paint some eggs?" the pooka asked, not taking his eyes from the egg in his paw as he patted the patch of grass next to him.

Relieved and excited he hurried to the Easter guardian.

After putting his staff against the tree the young spirit sat down cross-legged and studied the supplies around them.

Cans of all kinds of paint were covering the ground, some matte, some glossy, others with glitter or metallic effects. Brushes in different sizes where neatly spread over a bag which without a doubt was where Bunny stowed them when not needed. A few bowls of colourful water to rinse and clean said brushes and a wooden palette with paint smeared all over it completed the equipment.

Jack's eyes widened as he noticed the heap of eggs partly hidden by the pooka's presence. Each one showed a unique and more or less intricate, but beautiful nonetheless, design and all kinds of possible colour combinations.

"Have you…done all that today already?" he asked in awe.

For the first time during their meeting he looked at his younger comrade and followed his gaze towards the small mountain of Easter eggs to his left.

"Yeah, but they're just rough designs."

"Rough…designs." Jack repeated incredulously.

"It surely ain't eggs for next Easter, mate, still many months ta go and the lil' googies would rot until then. Those- " he pointed at them nonchalantly, "-are samples, so ta say. Just empty shells. Doesn't exactly make 'em easier ta paint, so watch out."

"Alright…uhm, can you give me any advice how to start?" Jack rubbed his neck awkwardly, he hadn't imagined it would be so…intimidating to work with a legend.

'Rough designs', he'd be happy if he could produce an egg which looked half as nice as those 'rough designs'.

"For the basic coat of paint ya best take one of the big brushes and dependin' on how small and delicate yer designs are ya gotta need a thin one. And be sure that the paint has dried before ya apply another colour or ya'll get an egg that'll look like a Picasso."

The boy pondered for a moment which colours to choose, then grabbed an indigo blue can and a medium sized brush.

He started to apply the basic layer. Too hard, because the thin shell of the egg cracked under the touch.

Jack winced and inconspiciously put the damaged egg back on the pile of blank eggs and took a new one.

Bunnymund noticed it but didn't say anything.

He tried again, this time with more careful strokes. Although the paint was drying pretty fast it still turned out to be quite a challenge to paint all sides of the egg without getting his fingers coloured as well.

How the heck did Bunny do that with his big furry paws? It bordered on a miracle.

After he decided it looked alright Jack scanned his surroundings for inspiration concerning the ornaments he was supposed to cover the egg with. Not being able to think of anything better at the moment, he dipped a small brush in the can with lavender paint and started to get some flowery shapes on it.

Bunnymund glanced at the spirit and had to snort. Never had he seen his fellow teammember so concentrated and…tensed. Tongue stuck out of the corner of his mouth, eyes fixed on the egg, crouching in a position that seemed far from comfortable. And a death grip on the brush.

"Mate, relax. Ya're holding a brush there, not a bloody knife."

Jack looked up from his task with a raised eyebrow, not getting what the pooka was talking about.

"Huh?"

"Let go of the brush for a moment."

The winter spirit did as he was told.

"Now loosen your hand, shake it a bit, or ya'll get a cramp."

Again Jack did just that. Bunny smirked.

"And now go make me a sandwich."

"If I'm allowed to freeze it so you'll bite out your lovely front teeth, sure."

"Was worth a try, not used ta ya obeying me so willingly, Frostbite."

This time it was Jack's turn to snort.

"Whatever, I just wanna do this right, okay?"

"Okay. But ya're doin' art here, not attacking an enemy. So keep that in mind when ya take that brush again."

Under the watchful eye of the Easter guardian the frost boy continued painting flowers on the egg, which turned out…well, let's say a toddler could have hold his ground against his artistic abilities. The shapes were all splotchy and the different colours mixing with each other and in general, it looked like someone tried to apply amateurish abstract art onto an egg, rather than decorate it with delicate ornaments.

"Well, mate, that looks…interesting." Bunnymund stated and couldn't withhold a mischievous smirk from his face.

If Jack had felt embarassed by his lack of talent for art before, he totally felt his pride kicked by the kangaroo's huge feet now. A purple blush creeped onto his cheeks as he threw the egg out of view ( the proof of his failure had to be destroyed ) and glared at him.

"Nevermind, that was just a trial egg."

"Trial egg?"

Oh, how Jack hated that amused tone of the pooka's voice.

"Yeah, trial egg. Let me experiment a bit before I actually begin."

With a grumpy 'Hmpf' the young guardian picked up a new egg and started anew, determined to proove the giant rabbit that he was able to produce a decent Easter egg himself.

However, it turned out equally abominable as his first try. And Bunnymund didn't miss a second of the egg's demise.

"Would you stop staring at me?" Jack snapped disgruntled.

"Sorry, mate, this is too entertainin'."

Before he was able to rub even more salt in the wound, Jack groaned in frustration and stood up.

"I can't work when you keep staring at me like a vulture." he grumbled, took some painting supplies and blank eggs and walked a few feet away to another tree.

There, partially hidden behind some bushes and a safe distance away from his comrade, he could concentrate a lot better, even though he still wasn't sure how he could impress him with his egg-painting-abilities…or lack thereof. That damn paint kept smearing all over the surface and he didn't know which ornaments he should grace them with. He looked around, painting flowers just wasn't his thing. Sighing in defeat he absent-mindedly rested his hand on the ground right next to the tree and watched as delicate frost patterns wandered up the trunk.

Suddenly a stroke of genius hit him.

"That's it!"

With reborn motivation he painted the basic layer royal blue. To avoid risking that the following colours would smudge again he blew softly on the egg, his cold breath successfully drying and sealing the paint. Then he touched the trunk again, since the faint traces of ice had already melted in the warm climate of the Warren. Jack studied the intricate design of the fern-like frost for a moment and carefully transferred it onto the egg with pale-blue paint and the thinnest brush he could find.

A smile creeped on his face as he realized this actually worked!

When he was done with the egg, the first one today which didn't look like a survivor of a car accident, the winter spirit smiled even more. Yep, that's definitely much better!

Now that he got the hang of it he immediately took the next one of Bunny's 'googies', this time garnishing it with a dark purple paint as base and bright green ornaments. They were similar to his previously drawn frost shapes, but curlier and resembling plants a little more.

The next egg soon shone in metallic bright blue colours and detailed snowflake patterns, another one in glittery dark indigo with stars and a crescent moon.

Jack was so into it that he had no idea how much time had passed. Apparently a lot, because even the Guardian of Easter had gotten fed up with painting eggs and needed a break.

The poor winter spirit almost suffered a heart-attack when the large rabbit looked over his shoulder. He was concentrating so much on his handicraft that he hadn't even noticed the pooka approaching him from behind.

Fortunately Bunnymund's reflexes were fast enough to avoid Jack's elbow as he yelped in surprise.

"Damnit, DON'T creep up on me like that!"

"Ey, calm down, Frostbite, just wanted ta see how many of my googies ya've slaughtered yet."

Just was he wanted to further aggravate the young man, who was glaring at him with a miffed expression, and let out another snarky comment something caught his attention.

"Are these yours?" he asked flabbergasted as he bent down and mustered the neatly painted eggs.

"Eh, yeah?"

Under normal circumstances Jack would have retorted the redundant question with a good amount of sarcasm, but right now he was too anxious about how Bunny's judgement would turn out.

The Easter guardian gently took one of the eggs in his furry hand and Jack wished he would stop studying its patterns and just say something.

"I dunno what ya did, mate, but they ain't bad." he finally replied, surprise evident on his face.

"You gotta be kidding me…that almost sounded like a...praise?"

Jack raised a suspicious eyebrow at him. He expected another comment like 'Pretty good for an artistically challenged icicle' or something.

Bunnymund snorted.

"Don't make this harder for me than it already is, but I gotta admit…they're pretty good."

For a moment the pooka had battled the urge to take advantage of his fellow guardian's distress for the hell of it. But since he had really done his best and actually achieved a presentable result it was reason enough to show him a little recognition. That and the fact that he hadn't caused a mess in the hours he'd been in the Warren, which was a miracle itself.

However, as the words left his mouth he was ready for Jack gloating about it.

What he didn't expect was the winter spirit beaming with joy, eyes wide, a grin that reached from one ear to the other one. He looked like a child on Christmas Eve who had just opened the present he always wanted but never thought he would get.

"Really?"

"Yeah, really."

Jack's expression turned a little doubtful again.

"If that's a joke it seriously isn't-"

"It's no joke, mate. Ghee, can't ya handle a compliment when ya get one?"

He could have sworn he saw the boy's shoulders sink a little.

"It's just…weird when it comes from you."

There was an awkward silence between the two.

It was true, Bunny rarely had nice words for Jack, and more often than not they were soaked in sarcasm or followed by a witty remark.

After a few moments, in which only the soft ripple of the river of dye was to be heard, the Australian cleared his throat and sat down next to his friend.

Jack flinched a little as a heavy arm was placed around his shoulders.

"Ya know, ya're a pain in the butt sometimes, and I can't believe I'm gonna say this, but if ya want ya can help me with the eggs for next Easter. And no, this isn't a joke."

He smiled himself as he saw that earnest happy grin reappear on Jack's face.

"Cool." was all he managed to reply.

"And if ya freeze my sentinel eggs to the ground again, I'm gonna throw ya into the river of dye."

"Awww, damn, you don't know how to have fun."

Bunny grabbed him by the neck and ruffled his hair, much to the frost boy's protests.

He struggled to escape the firm grip but the pooka was too strong and continued to give him a noogie.

"Oh, I do, mate, I do."