A/N : Thanks for the reviews, everyone! I don't plan to expand the song-inspired paragraphs but maybe I'll do another chapter like that with other songs in the future. I'm sorry for the lack of updates but I've been very busy with work and it's hard to be creative and write after having worked on art all day. I hope you like this chapter, maybe I will do something angsty after this...


„Is Jack here?"

North and Sandy, who had made a stopover for a mug of eggnog, were sitting at the mahagony wooden table in the Globe Room and glanced up at the flurry of green feathers which had just dashed through the open window and fluttered towards them.

„Hello, Tooth. Do you want drink as well?" the Guardian of Wonder greeted the hummingbird-hybrid and offered her a seat, but she merely shook her head and glanced around obviously looking for something.

„No, thank you. I don't have much time but I really need to talk to Jack."

The serious and mildly annoyed tone in her voice didn't promise anything good. In fact they had rarely heard her speaking that way when it was about their youngest comrade. Sandy and North sent ominous glances at each other before facing the female guardian again.

„What did he do now?"

Taking a deep sigh to calm herself down and prepare herself for the explanation the Tooth Fairy told them what had happened.

„I told him several times that he shouldn't give candy to my fairies. It's bad for their teeth and they're not used to that much sugar so it turns them into frantic little timebombs. But he did it again and I found a secret storage of chocolate, cookies and fruit drops! "

While Sandy had to try hard not to chuckle North felt like he had to point out a fact.

„You know, they are ALWAYS kind of frantic."

„Yes, but usually they are frantically working, now they are frantically giggling and doing nonsense!"

Even though not a single sound left his mouth the Sandman was met with a reproachful glare from the Guardian of Memories when he bursted out laughing and held his belly in amusement.

„This is not funny! My fairies have to collect teeth and they can't do that when they're barely able to concentrate enough to listen to orders!" Tooth stated and rubbed her temples before facing her friends again.

„Now please tell me, do you know where Jack is?"

After having recovered from his laughing fit Sandy shrugged his shoulders while North seemed torn between lying to give the winter spirit at least a last respite and being honest with his ancient comrade.

„I...haven't seen him since this morning..." he eventually muttered.

„But you know where he went, right?" the hummingbird-fairy crossed her arms and stared right through his masquerade.

„Uhm, he might have mentioned it but I was busy talking to the yetis and-"

„Noooorth!"

„Alright, he's at the Warren, wanted to either help or harass Bunny, I didn't listen carefully."


Under an old oak tree the Guardians of Fun and Hope sat in uncommon harmony and were busy painting Easter eggs together. Ever since the pooka had taught the youth how to do it he was faced more and more often with surprise visits and the question if he could be of any help. Considering the boy's growing talent for artistry Bunnymund appreciated the interest and cooperativeness regarding his holiday. As long as the frosty teen abstained from causing major trouble, of course.

Everything was quiet and peaceful as they worked on several new designs and enjoyed the cool shade the foliage of the ancient tree provided. A pile of already finished eggs lay by each of their sides, but due to Bunny's centuries-long experience he managed to paint his googies at a recognizably faster pace than the winter spirit. And yet, that didn't stop Jack from giving his best to at least try to keep up.

After hours of painting his concentration gradually dissipated and his attention wandered from multiple running eggs in the distance to the big sentinel eggs who were partly stuck in the mossy ground resting and then to some butterflies which were vividly fluttering through the sky. Upon noticing the amount of potential targets in his surroundings and taking his growing boredom into consideration he had the sudden urge to freeze something. Bunny wouldn't be happy about it, to put it mildly. So it was probably wiser to get that idea out of his head. It sounded tempting, though...

„Ye're slackin' off, mate." the furry guardian stated matter-of-factly without even looking in his direction.

„Can't we just take a break? We've been working for hours straight." Jack sighed with a slightly exaggerated expression.

„That ain't a big deal, usually I work much longer and ya know it."

„Yeah, but...I'm running out of ideas." the immortal boy eventually admitted and glanced at the pile of brightly coloured eggs next to him.

„Then boost yer imagination a lil' harder." Bunny retorted bluntly. „Or look around ya, maybe that fuels yer creativity."

It wasn't the reaction Jack had hoped for, but he should have anticipated that the kangaroo wouldn't give in so easily. Speaking of which,...

Bunnymund had expected more objections from the frost teen and was decently surprised when he grabbed a new egg and continued the painting job without further arguments. After a while he had finished his latest creation and proudly showed it to the Easter spirit with a broad grin on his face.

„Like this?"

He should have known. Irritation shone from his features accompanied by an annoyed grunt escaping his throat as he glared at the image on the egg. A kangaroo with the same colours and markings he possessed himself, as well as leathern arm protections and a boomerang in its paw.

„Very funny." Bunnymund tried to keep his voice void of any emotion but it was still obvious enough that it aggravated him more then he wanted to let show.

Jack knew he had struck a nerve but was a little disappointed that the rabbit had managed to keep somewhat calm. While he went on to paint another egg Bunny had done the same and maliciously smiled at the still blank googie in his furry hand. Two could play this game.

„Hey, Frostbite, what d'ya think of that?" he asked a few minutes later and held the egg under the winter spirit's nose.

With a frown Jack stared at a stereotypical snowman wearing his signature blue hoodie and staff. This was a battle now.

„Not really appropriate for spring, I guess." he commented and attempted to hide his indignation, just as unsuccessfully at the pooka himself had done previously.

The next Easter egg the Guardian of Hope was faced with displayed several pink fluffy bunnies with overly happy expressions and baskets on their backs. His revenge consisted of a white-haired princess wearing a sparkly blue dress and being surrounded by snowflakes. Ouch. Jack had to use all of his self-control to not groan in disapproval at the sight of this oddly popular movie character. Chances of people believing in him had even further decreased when everyone suddenly started being obsessed with that fictional chick and actually thought she'd be the one responsible for snow and blizzards. On good days it merely made him grumpy, on bad days it seriously pissed him off. And Bunny as well as the other guardians knew it. Low move of the kangaroo.

It took Jack a moment of pondering until he got an idea for his counterstrike. Bunny hated the Groundhog for reasons unknown to him, he had never bothered to ask him because there hadn't been a need for it. He assumed they had gone through arguments which had most likely been equally pleasant as his own unintentional encounters with the 6'1 rabbit before he became a guardian. Grinning mischievously and looking forward to his reaction Jack painted a groundhog with a crown on its head standing at the edge of a big pointy rock, with sunrays shining down on him, looking majestic. Well, as majestic as a chubby fluffy rodent could possibly look.

„Bow down to your king!" the white-haired teen shouted out loud so suddenly that it startled Bunnymund and caused him to almost drop the egg in his paw.

With one of his eyes visibly twitching the pooka glared at the picture of the Groundhog King with pure despite and then the same way at the winter spirit. But Jack just kept smiling even wider the more Bunny's expression turned into one of utter contempt.

„I hate ya, mate."

„Nah, you don't."

„Oh trust me, I do."

„You're just pretending." the immortal teen stated with a smirk while putting the egg down on the pile of painted eggs next to him. „You know you can't live without me."

„Pfff, good one. Life would be peaceful and quiet and-"

„Simply boring."

„I could deal with that." Bunny retorted convincedly although he knew very well that he had grown quite attached to the icy annoyance who had become like a little brother to him.

„But where's the fun in that?"

The Spirit of Easter was about to open his mouth for a snarky reply when his sensitive ears picked up a faint sound which was familiar but definitely didn't belong to his Warren. Jack gazed at him questioningly, the lack of a reaction and the distracted expression on the furry guardian's face alerting him that something was wrong. A few seconds later he saw what had attracted Bunny's attention and gulped when the Tooth Fairy appeared in the distance and dashed towards them at full speed. Even from afar he could see her disgruntled countenance. He was in so much trouble.

„Jack! There you are. I've been searching for you all day!" she exclaimed as she came to a halt right in front of them, not even acknowledging the anthropomorphic rabbit's presence and staring daggers at the frost teen instead.

None of them had ever seen her so...serious towards Jack of all people. It wasn't a secret that she had a soft spot for him but right now she made the impression of a mother who had caught her son doing something forbidden and was about to scold him for it. Despite keeping a neutral posture Bunnymund was desperate to know what exactly the boy had gotten up to.

„Uh, hi, Tooth." Jack greeted her hesitantly, already being aware of this meeting not going to be pleasant.

„You thought I wouldn't find out, didn't you?" she confronted him head-on with her arms crossed to emphasize her less than cheerful mood.

As if it wasn't obvious enough. The Guardian of Fun decided to play the innocent lamp anyway, at least it was worth a try.

„Uhm...I don't know what you mean."

„Oh, I'm sure you DO , Jack Frost."

She addressed him with his full name. If he hadn't already suspected it before, he now was convinced that he was in big trouble. All he managed to do was give her a both sheepish and apologetic smile and hope by the Man in the Moon it would pacify her.

„What did Frostbite do ta get yer feathers all ruffled up?" Bunny eventually inquired when he couldn't handle the suspense anymore.

„He gave candy to my fairies." Tooth replied and emphasized it as if she was talking about poison, expecting help and equal dismay about the horrifying deed from her comrade.

But all the 6'1 rabbit did was staring at her bewildered.

„And?" he spoke after a moment of waiting and pondering.

„What?"

„And what else did he do?"

„He...nothing, that's it! And that's bad enough!"

The Easter spirit glanced at the winter teen, who shrugged weakly, back at the upset Tooth Fairy and at the teen again.

„Alriiiight, so that's why ya needed all that chocolate recently." he muttered as realization dawned on him.

What!?" the hummingbird-hybrid screeched so loudly that the two males reflexively put their hands on their hurting ears.

You gave the candy to him!?"

„Eh, yes, no, just the chocolate. Dunno what else the bugger collected ta give ta yer fairies."

„Hello, I'm present, so don't talk like I'm not here." Jack chimed in after having been quiet for a while and immediately regretted it when purple eyes glared at him once more.

„You know very well how much I loathe sugary food and that my fairies aren't used to it! Those who have eaten it are still hyperactive and giggling like mad, there's no way they can fulfil their duties in that condition. Fortunately there are enough of them to replace those who can't do their jobs right now but-"

„Then what's the fuss about?"

Tooth as well as Jack stared at the furry guardian, not believing what they had just heard. Bunny daring to mention that the fairy was overreacting and simultaneously taking the immortal youth's side.

„T-the fuss? Sugar is bad for their teeth, imagine tooth fairies with cavities, that can't happen!"

„And it won't since eatin' candy once or twice won't make their teeth fall out. I'm sure Jack won't do it again. Ya won't, mate, right?" Bunnymund continued to defend him and shot him an urging look.

„Uh, yeah, won't do it again. Didn't know they would react so extreme, just wanted to give them a treat for their hard work. Sorry about that, didn't want to cause you any troubles."

The Guardian of Memories heaved a deep sigh and finally began to calm down. In this decreasingly irritated state Jack's cerulean blue eyes in combination with his mastered puppy look and the gentle smile on his face were enough to completely soothe her in a heartbeat.

„Alright, I will take your word for it. Sorry for freaking out, but my job is very important to me, I'm sure you're aware of that."

„Yeah, I know..." the white-haired boy confirmed and the pooka next to him nodded as well.

„Gosh, you should have seen my fairies, they were darting around the palace is if they had gone crazy while giggling like mad."

„...did you take pictures?"

Jack!"

„I guess that means 'no', right?"


A/N : Reviews are highly appreciated as usual! :D