A/N :
Thanks for all the reviews, favourites and follows!
Half of you wanted something angsty and the other half something funny. I think there was enough serious stuff going on in the last chapters, so here's something lighthearted for a change. Angst will definitely follow in one of the next stories because, you know, I like angst, you like angst, everyone likes angst. *g*
I'm not sure yet if I'll write another story involving MiM, we'll see. ^^
Boredom. That's what described Jack's current mood pretty well. The monthly guardian meetings rarely ensured any kind of exciting entertainment but today his patience for long-winded discussions had reached an all-time low. Actually it had started somewhat amusing when after the usual questions if everyone's work went according to plan, Tooth suddenly blurted out how the early christmas candy sales increased children's tendencies to get cavities. Even though North didn't hold sway over the candy industry and couldn't force them to take the endless amounts of gingerbread, marzipan, fruit cake, chocolate and everything else out of the stores again, the hummingbird fairy obviously was convinced that he as the Spirit of Christmas was the right person to deal with her complaint.
"It's September, North, still 3 months until Christmas Eve and they sell gingerbread everywhere already! It's getting earlier year by year and every time children are overwhelmed and eat unhealthy amounts of candy and I doubt I have to mention how bad that is for their teeth!"
"I know, but like I said for last 20 minutes, it's beyond my power. Even if they'll sell christmas candy in May, so be it." the Russian Santa sighed in deep hope of this argument coming to an end.
Tooth however had other plans.
"Christmas is your responsibility, you can't allow them to stuff children full with candy in September! A decade ago there wasn't any gingerbread available until late November and that's how it should be. There's no chocolate Easter eggs in January either!"
"Yes, because people like Christmas better." North stated with a smirk and shot a halfway glance at Bunny, who just stared back grumpily and let out a disapproving snort.
Instead of dropping the issue the feathery guardian kept going on as if she had barely gotten started yet. While Sandy made the impression of not paying attention to anything which was going on around him as he emptied one mug of eggnog after the other and Bunny watched the argument of his comrades with crossed arms and an occasional groan, Jack feared he would die of boredom any second now. As much as he wanted to dart towards the next window and fly away to much more enthralling destinations, he knew that these meetings were a part of his job and he had to participate, even if his biggest achievement was to sit there and resist the urge to fall asleep. So he leaned back in his chair and let his eyes wander around in hopes of finding something that would be better entertainment than the ongoing discussion between Tooth and North. It didn't take long until his gaze landed on Bunny, whose back was turned at him as his full attention was focused on the arguing couple. If he was actually listening to them or trying to stop their antics with telepathic threats and an irritated stare, Jack didn't know and honestly didn't care. It was probably not very wise to further enrage an already grumpy 6'1 anthropomorphic rabbit but the temptation was simply too big.
The winter spirit grabbed his staff and reached out until the wooden crook was dangerously close to the pooka. As soon as Bunnymund felt something poking him his head twisted towards his left side and green eyes glanced at the white-haired teen suspiciously. Being blessed with equally quick reflexes Jack had withdrawn his conduit of power the moment the Australian had noticed the disturbance and acted like nothing had happened, maintaining a relaxed pose and mimicking a bored expression. Without even glancing in his direction he literally felt Bunny's glare which was casted upon him. Shortly afterwards the Easter spirit's attention was diverted to Tooth and North again who, quite unsurprisingly, were still arguing. He probably thought he had just imagined the weird touch, at least that's what Jack assumed. So he decided to push his luck and try it one more time, after waiting for a little while to make sure his victim was clueless and didn't suspect a thing. The wooden shepherd's crook was stretched out again and poked the grey rabbit in the side but now he reacted much faster than the previous time. Jack hadn't pulled the staff fully back when Bunnymund had turned around, but instead of accepting that he got caught, the teen quickly raised his staff over his head and acted like he had just been stretching his limbs. A faked yawn accentuated his performance and yet, the Australian guardian mustered him with an unamused glare.
"What? Anything wrong?" Jack asked innocently, as if he had only noticed his comrade's presence just that moment.
Completely disregarding the canting question Bunny turned towards the sandman, who was sitting on the other side of the table and taking a last sip of his 8th mug of eggnog.
"Sandy, ya saw what he did, right?"
A pair of golden orbs glanced lazily in his and then the winter spirit's direction, not failing to miss the begging look in those cerulean eyes. The Guardian of Dreams shrugged his shoulders and shook his head before immediately continuing with the 9th mug which a yeti had just put on the table. With an undefinable sound that appeared to be a weird mix of a groan, an annoyed sigh and a growl Bunny turned his back at his two friends again and watched the drama between the other two. Jack and Sandy exchanged a conspiratorial smirk and the staff was stretched out, poking the anthropomorphic rabbit for the third time that evening. Now he had been prepared however and caught the mischievous teen in the act.
"Stop it, mate." he demanded, no, warned with deadly seriousness and a matching death glare.
The kangaroo obviously wasn't in mood for games and fooling around, but Jack wouldn't have been the Guardian of Fun if that was enough reason to stop him. The moment Bunnymund looked away he felt the unnerving familiar contact of wood on fur again. By now Jack didn't even bother to fully pull it back and simply grinned at the victim of his boredom.
"Mate, I'm serious. Stop it."
The aggravation in Bunny's voice had increased but he still tried to keep as calm as possible. Even though that was quite a challenge regarding the circumstances. He had barely averted his eyes from the teen when he was already poked once more and that's when his patience slowly began to crumble.
"I said STOP IT!" he snarled, pushed the staff away from him and faced the young spirit, unsuccessfully suppressed annoyance dripping from every word.
"I'm bored." Jack stated bluntly.
"Well, that's your problem."
"Nope, it's yours. If you don't wanna be poked, then do something else to entertain me." he challenged with a mischievous half-crooked grin.
"I can take that stick away and throw ya outta the window if ya prefer that." Bunnymund shot back without any hint of humor in his voice.
It wasn't sarcasm, it was a threat. Jack didn't mind. The fun wasn't over yet.
"I'd like to see you try, kangaroo."
Yep, laughing right into the face of danger. One of the furry guardian's green eyes suddenly twitched visibly before he took a deep breath and Jack assumed he mentally counted from 1 to 10 to calm himself down. Either that or he kept telling himself the following mantra :
"I'm a guardian, I'm not allowed to kill others, especially not other guardians…even if they deserve it…no, it's still wrong….but it would feel good…no, no, bad Bunny, nooooo!"
It surprised Jack that his comrade still managed to not lunge himself at him and grab him by the throat. He had to admit the pooka possessed a decent amount of self-control, at least more than in the past. Several months ago he would have killed him two times already but right now, nope, he hadn't reached his limit of annoyance…yet.
"Ya're signing yer own death sentence, Frostbite. That ain't a joke, so really, and I'll only say it one more time. Stop. It."
"Alright, alright. Gheez, you're a real party pooper."
"This is no party, this is a lame knockabout comedy." Bunny stated as he shot a short glimpse at Tooth and North who hadn't bothered to interrupt their discussion.
The other three guardians most likely could have left altogether or fought with Pitch and those two wouldn't have noticed. Currently the hummingbird hybrid was telling Father Christmas how little Sarah from Switzerland had her first cavity caused by an immense consumption of gingerbread while she never had any trouble with her teeth before.
Jack didn't intend to stop his attack on the fluffy Easter spirit anytime soon but decided a little timeout was needed before he could go on. It was much more amusing to lull his victim into a false sense of security.
He managed to wait for 5 whole minutes.
As soon as the staff poked him in the side again a very disturbed Bunnymund twisted around and glared at the snowy teen who was grinning at him provokingly.
"Are ya deaf, I just told ya ta stop! Seriously, that's yer last chance!"
*poke*
"I'm not kidding, Frostbite!"
*poke*
"STOP IT!"
*poke*
"Crikey, ENOUGH ALREADY!" the enraged rabbit yelled out and grabbed the crook of the staff which had just made contact with his body repeatedly.
"Hey, let go!" Jack demanded and tried to pull his weapon back but the large Australian was stronger than him and refused to give in so easily.
Of course he could have frozen the pooka's arms off but all that banter and teasing aside, they were still friends and he didn't want to hurt him. Well, maybe applying a thin layer of frost on his fur would be justifiable? Bunny yelped when the cold increased and ice began to wander up his paws but he wouldn't go down without a fight. When Jack stood up and applied more force to get his conduit of power back a sudden idea crossed his rival's mind and an evil smirk formed on his face. Before the teen had noticed it was already too late. The moment he pulled with all his strength the overgrown rabbit let go of the shepherd's crook and his own momentum threw Jack back and caused him to stumble backwards over his chair. And just when he fell a flash of ice power shot out of his staff accidentally…and hit a pair of furry long ears, freezing them solid.
The winter spirit had barely landed on the floor when he heard a startled scream and a flash of grey jumping towards the sizzling fireplace on the other side of the room. While Bunny would deny later on that his shriek had sounded pretty much like that of a female it was loud enough to finally achieve the impossible and divert North's and Tooth's attention from their quarrel to their fellow teammates. And judging from their questioning expressions it was apparent that they wondered if they had missed something.
"Whoops." was all Jack managed to say and tried not to laugh as he watched the Easter spirit defrosting his ears over the pleasantly hot fire.
Sandy shot him a look which clearly told him to run away as long as he still had the chance. In mild panic the winter teen scanned his surroundings only to realize that all windows had been closed. Damnit.
An aggravated, no, that didn't even begin to cover it, a furious growl filled the air and a 6'1 anthropomorphic rabbit with dripping wet ears and narrowed eyes glared at the white-haired boy like a cat when it spotted a mouse and got ready for the attack.
"I guess saying sorry isn't enough, right?" Jack remarked with a slightly nervous smile, a tiny part of him held onto the hope that Bunny possessed some humor and could laugh about the incident.
He didn't.
Instead he dashed towards him and Jack didn't waste a second to fly up into the air and leave the raging rabbit on the ground below him.
"Come down here, ya icy pain the neck!" the Australian bellowed and raised his fists.
"Rather not." Jack admitted but Bunny had already grabbed his boomerang and thrown it towards him.
The frost teen dodged it just in time to prevent a fatal hit on the head and floated further away from the group to be in safe distance. What followed was a wild chase through the workshop which lasted longer than anyone had thought possible. The Easter Bunny couldn't fly but he could run faster and jump higher than anyone else. And with all windows being locked Jack had no other option than fleeing, though this was a lot more exciting than the boring meeting and he actually enjoyed the commotion. It was fun!
Until he failed to notice one of the boomerangs which promptly knocked the staff out of his hand, resulting in him crashing down the globe room and landing on the stoney floor.
"Umph!…Ouch…." he groaned as he lay there on his back and just when he tried to get up two strong furry arms pinned him down again.
"Gotcha, mate." Bunnymund stated with a triumphant smirk and a disturbing glint in his eyes.
His anger had completely vanished but Jack wasn't sure if he liked this weird expression in his face any better. It made his stomach convulse for some reason.
"Ya like poking? So how 'bout this?" the furry guardian asked and began to forcefully poke him in his sides without any further hesitation.
All Jack could do was struggle to break free but the merciless poking continued and then, when the paws reached a particular spot near his armpits, he did something he regretted right away. He laughed. And Bunny stopped, if only to process the information. And again, Jack didn't like the look on his face at all.
"Ye're ticklish?"
"NO!" the teen replied quick like a shot.
"So ya don't mind when I do this?" the Australian muttered maliciously and started to tickle him under his arms.
Sandy, Tooth and North were wandering through the workshop in search of their missing friends. Needless to say they were a little worried that the Guardian of Hope might go too far in his rage or, more likely, that the two would lay Santoff Clausen in ashes.
"Maybe they're in the globe room?" the hummingbird fairy suggested.
"We checked it 10 minutes ago already." North stated and pondered where else they could go.
"I know, but we have searched everywhere for them already and they won't stay in one place for long so-"
A sudden noise from aforesaid room reached their ears. It sounded like hysteric laughing mixed with occasional screams.
"Hahahaha, pl-please stop! S-seriously, tha-that's-hahahahaha- enough!"
After exchanging confused and concerned looks with each other the trio hurried down the hallway and towards the center of North's home. What they found there was Bunnymund leaning over Jack, who was pinned down on the ground and being tickled relentlessly. The poor boy squirmed under the overpowering rabbit and giggled like a maniac, though not voluntarily at all. Tears of laughter were clinging to the corners of his eyes but it wasn't a reason for his attacker to stop his assault. Revenge was such a sweet thing.
It took a while until Jack took notice of the others' presence and immediately called out with a desperate and hoarse voice :
"Guys, h-hahahaha-help me! You-hahahahahaha-can't just st-stand there!"
Of course Tooth was the first to feel sorry for her favourite winter spirit.
"Maybe we should do something?" she glanced from North to Sandy who both seemed indecisive whether it was necessary to step in or not.
"Don't ya dare ta meddle! Frosty here brought this all over himself." the Guardian of Hope shouted, only allowing his victim a few seconds to catch his breath before continuing with his tickle attack.
He didn't show any sign of getting tired of his revenge anytime soon and there was nothing they could do anyway so Sandy formed a golden mug and a question mark over his head and North nodded in aggreement.
"Yes, let's get a drink and let boys here solve their issues like adults."
The last thing they heard when leaving the room was a crestfallen accuse between a desperate fit of shrieking laughter.
"Hahahahaha! Traitors! I-I thought we were-hahahahaha- friends! Oh kangaroo, I-hahahhaa-swear I'm gonna freeze your-"
North urgently closed the heavy wooden door behind them and pushed his two friends away from the source of the ill-mannered threats.
"Like I said, solving issues like adults."
A/N :
Are stores selling christmas candy in your countries already as well? In Germany they do...since September 1st. There's even a discussion going on whether there should be a law prohibiting sales before November.
I'm currently visiting my family and while writing this story my Dad, who was sitting at his computer, suddenly turned around and whined "I'm booooored!". And no, he didn't know what I was writing so I had to explain why I started laughing. XD
Don't forget to review! :D
