Heeyyy mates! Here comes the next one! Maybe I should change the category in humor, with all the sillyness I am writing. Whatever, enjoy and SMILE!
Chapter 3: Against the hunger of the elves
Bunnymund walked down the corridor to the globe room where he expected to meet North, carrying Toddler Jack on his arms. He certainly had tried to convince the boy to walk on his own, but he had looked at him with those huge blue puppy dog eyes and whispered: "What if big bea'dy man's still ang'y at Tackie?"
Who was he to refuse a scared child shelter? So the pooka had sighed and got up while he cuddled Jack closer. Hopefully North would explain him a few things after apologizing for yelling at the poor little bloke.
Sure, they had become friends, Bunnymund and Jack, but still bickered with each other as soon as they met and their usual skin contact happened rather roughly, so there was no sensible reason why the winter spirit would hold as desperately onto the Easter Bunny as he currently did. And prefer him over North to do this who usually hugged Jack whenever he got a chance to.
"Ah, Bunny, Jack! Derre you arre!" North boomed as they came in sight. Immediately Jack tried to hide himself in Bunnymunds fur.
"Oi North! Keep it down, will ya? No wonder da ankle-biter is scared! And you had ta yell at him for da mess he accidentally made?" the pooka scolded while rubbing the toddlers back soothingly.
North frowned: "I alwayz speak loud, Jack was neverr scarred, wherre is prroblem sudden of all? And he knowz not to feed elvez cookies!"
"Mate, in case ya haven' noticed: this isn' da Jack we know! Ya can't expect him ta know da same things!" At his stern words Jack had tightened his grasp on Bunnymunds fur and accidentally frozen some of the strains causing him to shiver. Apparently the boy still had his powers, which was a good sign.
"Vat should I do den?" the Guardian of wonder asked in exasperation, spreading his arms widely as if he tried to grasp an answer out of thin air.
Bunnymund smiled. "We could try ta ask him."
He turned his head towards the child and questioned softly: "Hey, Jackie, why did ya give the elves cookies?"
The boy slowly raised his head and glanced at the Easter Bunny.
"Da elvies we'e hung'y, so Tackie gave dem food…" he replied hesitantly.
"Da elves arre always hungrry! You can not give zem cookies! Look how dey almost destroyed da Pole!" North argued.
"Mean big bea'dy man! Sta'ving elvies! No one s'ould be hung'y!" the toddler pouted with crossed arms.
Bunnymund rubbed the bridge of his nose. He'd probably would get a headache around those two stubborn mules.
"Alright, maybe we could feed da elves something less sugary, like carrots, so no one has ta starve and no one's workshop goes in ruins. Deal?"
Both opponents nodded grudgingly, then North's face split into a full grin.
"Soo, Jack, you want to feed da elves?" he grinned.
The boy glanced up at his furry companion and agreed as he had nodded and set him down. After North had supplied him with different vegetable bits, Jack ran off to where the yetis had caged the elves after their sugar-high outburst, close to the globe itself.
The older two guardians looked after the winter child, smiling fondly for a moment, then Bunnymund turned, one eye constantly surveying the toddler.
"Alright, now tell me what happened while I was at da Warren, North."
They sat down on armchairs close to the globes while North recited the events from the past hours: How Tooth had found Jack in the middle of a battlefield which had Pitch already escaped before her arrival, how she had brought the exhausted teen to the pole, how he had started to shrink during the flight, how Sandy had immediately left to look for their foe, how Jack had woken in Tooth's and North's care, how he had called her "Bi'dy" and hugged her, the fairies, the yetis and every elf he could find fondly, how Jack had been scared from North from the start, how Tooth had gone to the Tooth Place looking for Jack's childhood memories and how Jack had initiated the chaos Bunnymund had been met with as he had arrived.
"But why had Tooth left him with ya if she knew he was scared of ya?" the pooka wondered.
"Jack indeed had acted verry strrangely, so Tooth thought dat maybe some answerrs could be found in da memorries of ourr frriend. We'll see, I guess."
"I hope so, mate. Darn, I wonder why da heck he's callin' me 'Cuddle Bunny'…"
The comment left North snickering. They went silent in their wait of the return of the other two and contently watched toddler Jack feed the elves carrot sticks, cucumber slices and bell pepper pieces. Evidently it had been a good idea to feed them vegetables. After a few bites they sat down patiently and waited for their turn to get another serving, bowing at the small spirit for every bit, evoking a bell-like laughter from him. Who knew how peaceful an amused Jack could be.