Sanderson Mansnoozie is many things; charmingly narcoleptic, silent but deadly, speechless but sassy. Above all though, Sandy is OLD.

Very old.

One could say, 'has a restraining order on Death' old.

Or perhaps, 'so far over the hill he's at the bottom and digging' old.

So old, Sandy has long since lost count. For much of that he was a simple wishing star, only distantly aware of the goings-on of the outside world, unless of course they were directly related to the wishes he granted. He thinks he came into full awareness at some point during the Golden Ages, but it's been long enough he could be mistaken. Regardless, the Golden Ages is where his memory truly begins; where the monotony of merely twinkling in the sky ended and the life he leads now began. He chose his name because he liked the thought of it, liked the way the vowels and consonants rolled in his mouth. He appeared as he wished to appear, and over the years grew so attached he now doubted his ability to manifest as anything else. Throwing himself headfirst into a cosmic war, he honed his abilities, grounded them less in the abstract and more in reality to better effect the physical world. He sacrificed much of his star-ness, of the part of him tethered to the creation of the Universe and beyond, for a chance to exist in a way far more immediate and visceral then his brethren.

And he succeeded, with much ass-kicking and no regrets.

Sandy is old; old enough that beyond simply having lost track, time now has ceased to have any true meaning. A thousand years from now was little different to him than 10 AM next Tuesday, which caused no small amount of confusion when trying to arrange any sort of appointment, let me tell you! It was part of the reason Sandy felt he had done wrong by Jack. Sandy had encountered Jack before, the cheeky, irrepressible teenage spirit of winter, the boy forever full of mischief and laughter. But while Sandy had seen the boy, had even gone as far as waving at him once or twice while the young man dabbled in the streams of his dreamsand, he'd never gone out of his way to initiate a conversation. Sandy had contented himself with focussing on his duties and barely spared a thought for the poor lonely child, simply because to him, three hundred years was relatively insignificant. In fact, Sandy had spent several times that alone before and been satisfied. Sandy, in his infinite age but apparently more limited wisdom, had forgotten that stars were built for long stretches of lonesome, and Jack's were not. It wasn't until Jack made Guardian that Sandy had slowly become aware of his errors, and vowed to correct them.

Sandy is old enough that he no longer tracks important events by individual years, or even by centuries. Sandy's life is instead made up of many 'before' and 'after' moments, the only delineation in the flow of eons that he allows himself.

Before his Awakening, After his Awakening.

Before Pitch Black, and After Kozmotis.

Before the Dark Ages, After the Dark Ages

And now, Before Jack Frost, and After Jack Frost.

Sandy doesn't believe that Jack is aware of quite how important he's become to him. Meeting Jack changed everything, broke centuries of bad habits and made good things even better. For all Jack was nothing but a young dead boy, he'd breathed life back into Guardianship, made routine duties once again fulfilling and worthwhile. Jack, who spent weeks learning Sandy's language to better speak with him, Jack to sought him out regularly to keep him company while he worked, Jack who sometimes even lent a touch of his own magic to the dreamsand, helping to send dreams that were extra special for the sense of fun they encouraged. Whether by his special snowflakes, his kind words and gestures, or a well-placed Whoopie cushion, Jack brought Joy to every life he touched, and Sandy will never forget again.

Sandy vow's to give him dreams in return.

Sleep was not a requirement for the younger man, but Sandy knew he indulged when he could, if only for the enjoyment and the habit of it. Jack had also admitted at one point that, when he did sleep, he either didn't dream, or never remembered them. He'd made several bad jokes about it, describing how he 'slept like the dead, har har,' but the admission hardly made a difference to the older Guardian. While Sandy gives all the Guardians their dreams, something he considered a professional and personal courtesy, it became his mission to listen for the particular hum of Jack's sleeping mind, and to send him some of his finest creations whenever the boy slumbered. Even if he didn't remember, didn't mean that they wouldn't be enjoyed, regardless.

Like all good intentions though, it only mostly worked.

Somehow, most of Sandy's good dreams became nightmares in Jack's hands, and not even Pitch could be blamed. No, the boy's terrors were his own doing, a product of an uneasy mind and a totally natural phenomenon. Every time the boy rested, he dreamt of his own death, of his family's grief at his loss, of his own grief at the unfairness of losing everything. He dreamed sometimes of failing his sister, of losing her instead beneath the unforgiving ice. Once or twice, on his worst of nights, he dreamed of Pitch, an icy black monolith in the deepest of arctic tundra's, and a moment of weakness where Jack says just one word then wakes up sobbing.

"Yes."

Sandy despairs, Jack stops sleeping, and it seems that the Sandman has failed, that he can never make up for the years of neglect, that he cannot make his new friend smile, the way Jack makes Sandy smile continually, effortlessly.

Until one night, Jack the perpetual optimist gives in to the temptation of sleep, and dreams of rabbits.

It's an odd, out of place thing, the rabbits in particular, but Sandy is thrilled that for once the poor boy has had something pleasant to cherish in his unconscious hours.

Then it happens again.

Sandy is puzzled, but he's definitely seen stranger before, so it doesn't cause him alarm, until it happens again.

And again.

Sandy does not put the pieces together until one night over Moscow, when, after a dizzying display of aerial acrobatics, an enthusiastic Jack relates his sojourns into Bunny's very personal space, and Sandy could smack himself for not having noticed sooner.

Jack is in love.

Also apparently and air-guitar aficionado, but that's less important in the long run.

Sandy is willing to bet that if he'd been paying more attention to Bunny's dreams he would have seen the same development forming on his end, because what else could his old friend's casual acceptance, and even encouragement of such traditional courting behaviors mean?

Except, Jack is adorably clueless, not even appearing to realize what is going on, and suddenly Sandy wonders if perhaps Bunny was in the same position. But, as comical as it would be, Sandy knows better. There was no way Bunny hasn't figured out his feelings yet, but whether he's cottoned on to Jack's though was another thing entirely.

Sandy debates giving Jack a nudge, taking pity on the confused young man, but he decides it's better if he stays out of it. His interference would not be appreciated and the boys will sort themselves out eventually, when they're ready for the reality of what lays before them in each other. When they do he'll be the first to congratulate them and frame the wedding announcement.

At least, there'd better be a wedding announcement; Sandy won't stand for either friend disrespecting themselves by not making honest men of each other.

There are years before them to get it right, to fall into rhythm, walking through the ages in tandem. Sandy will watch it all come to pass, will watch them age and grow further into each other, flourishing both together and apart, as Guardians and as individuals.

Jack will still have nightmares occasionally, but sometimes Bunny will too.

Sandy will do what he can to soothe them, but his intervention won't usually be required, and he won't be able to bring himself to mind.

From now on, when one wakes fearful in the night, the other is there to pull them closer, and calm them back into restfulness.

From now on, two spirits dream will as one.

Sandy is pleased.

Now, if only those other two younglings would get their acts together, before Sandy had to convince Jack to lock them in a closet!