Ice Cubes

Summary: Everyone had weird habits, and Jack was no different. It had seemed harmless enough, he is the Winter Spirit after all, but four pairs of concerned eyes staring at him begged to differ.

Weird Habits

It had seemed harmless enough from the start. And when Jack had started doing it at a habitual rate, it almost seemed normal.

But Jack should've known better than to assume what was normal and what wasn't. Especially since he had been out of contact with people who could see him, and three-hundred years alone didn't really give you the proper mental state to assume that the things you were doing are considered to be 'normal'. Add to that fact that Jack's favorite hobby was to freeze the world over and that he was an immortal spirit at the age of seventeen or eighteen physically- nope, Jack was anything but normal. That was already a given.

Still, Jack couldn't help but be amused. A feeling people or spirits usually don't get when they were being glowered upon (technically glowered applied only in Bunny's case) by the Big Four, the guardians of all that was wishful thinking and happy endings. But Jack still couldn't help but be amused.

For three hundred years- give or take several decades- he had wanted this sort of attention. Unwavering, strict, and worried all combined. He had craved, had hoped, had wished that's someone, anyone would take a look at him, would stop and say, "Hey, I care about you. You're not alone."

And apparently, Man in the Moon decided to humor him now of all times. Three hundred years after ignoring him, he decided to make Jack's wish come true now, when he least needed it.

Gee, thanks you big, lumpy rock in the sky.

"Mal'chik, Jack, you have yet to answer question." It surprises the Guardian of Fun that it was North who spoke rather than Bunny, but nonetheless the mischievous Spirit was grateful that the swordsman broke the awkward silence.

He didn't know if he could take anymore of the concerned staring and glowering (still only happening in the Kangaroo's part).

"Uhm, well? What do you want me to say? I already told you what I was doing." Jack laughed airily but the tension in the air thickened rather impossibly and he shrunk back a bit at that.

"How about ya' try it from the start this time, mate." Bunny hissed and Jack swallowed before he pursed his lips in defiance.

"Hey, come on! Everyone has a weird habit or two! You can't judge me!" Geez, he sounded like a teenager who was caught partying late and was trying to defend himself from being grounded. So much for being mature.

"But Jack…" Great, big, worried amethyst eyes stared at blue ones and Jack's stomach fluttered when he saw the worry in them. Tooth knew, only Tooth knew of how really weird Jack's habit was especially when you considered the human memory he only found out about a few months ago. "Y-You shouldn't… I-I don't think it's good for your health if you…" And the queen of teeth trailed off because really, she didn't know what was good or bad for teenage boys these days aside from too much junk food and candies. Maybe this was a trend? Something normal?

But Jack was distracted form answering her when someone tugged at his sleeves. He looked down and saw Sandy making pictures of sand for him to ask him a question.

A clock made of sand ticking, followed by a question mark. Sandy tilted his head in curiosity.

"Are you asking me how long I've been doing it?" Jack translated and the Sandman nodded. Jack could feel the other's stares practically boring holes into the back of his head. "Well a few months after Pitch's defeat I guess?"

There was a wince from Tooth, while surprised mixed cursings from North and Bunny alerted Jack.

What?

They were definitely overreacting! It wasn't that big of a deal! Definitely not that big of a deal!

"What?" Jack said defensively as he glared at the people before him, mostly at North and Bunny. He could understand why Tooth was like that and Sandy wasn't being much of a problem, just giving him a worried look and all, but North and the Easter Kangaroo were definitely taking worry too far. "It's normal! I've been doing it for a few months and as you can see, I'm perfectly fine!"

"I don't think, 'normal's the word yer looking for, mate." Bunnymund said with a frown.

"Okay may be it is a bit strange-"

"How many winter spirits do what you do?" North asked pointedly and Jack deflated.

"I-I don't know-"

"Exactly! You usually find them in snow banks or on a comfortable pile of snow-!" Tooth insisted and Jack was sadly mistaken when he thought the fairy would lay off him on this one.

And it looks like Sandy wasn't staying quiet on this one either.

"What? Are you telling me not go to sleep now?" Jack asked in slight panic. The guardian of Dreams looked scandalized that the guardian of Fun even suggested this. He waved his hands in frustration as a big 'X' mark showed up on his head.

"No! We're not sayin' that!" The Pooka said in frustration as he ran a hand through his long ears. "Can't you just go back to yer old sleepin' habits or somethin'?"

Jack frowned. "Sleeping on old branches isn't comfortable, no matter how cool it is."

"But ya've been doin' it for 300 years!"

"Slept in a snow bank sometimes, though…"

"Then do that!" Bunny countered and Jack was about to protest when-

"Dah! This is getting nowhere!" North's voice interrupted, and the guardian of Hope turned to the guardian of Wonder to butt heads with him on the topic. Jack sighed at the scene and he leaned against his staff. Beside him, he could hear Tooth and Sandy having their own, albeit one-sided, conversation.

"Yes, yes but still-!" Tooth's feather's ruffled as she tried to express the urgency of the matter through words.

Jack rubbed his temples in frustration, an action he never thought he'd do even in his three hundred years of existing.

It had seemed harmless enough from the start. But really, Jack still should've known better.

He had a habit of loosing track of time when he slept, and losing track of time when you have four new people that worried and looked after you was not a good idea.

The thought of them caring so much that they even sent out the auroras just to call out each other was strangely heartwarming.

But still, they were overreacting.

Because really, finding out that he slept underneath Burgess' frozen lake, wasn't weird right?

Sleeping frozen in icy waters, underneath two feet thickness of ice wasn't weird for a winter spirit right?

And not to mention that said place was the place where he drowned and died!

It wasn't weird at all, right?

Right?

Uhm, right?

…

Wrong.

Notes: Another one for Ice Cubes! Cheers! Of course, this has a part two, do not worry. The part two of this is entitled 'Sleeping Beneath Ice' or something along those lines, but before we get to that, I wanted to update another drabble called, 'Rain' after this chapter.

Mal'chik is a term for 'boy' or 'lad'. It is a Russian endearment.

If anyone noticed. I've started typing Bunny's 'your' as 'yer'- makes much more sense and slowly and hopefully I'm getting better at expressing his accent via typing. All that's left is North's. I think this arc might extend to four or three, depends, I have so much planned for this. Like the before and after part: how did they find Jack? Their reactions, what was Jack thinking and everything?

Also, I wish I can update drabbles like this everyday but sadly the end of school term signifies busier days. I've found out how to update quicker and sadly, it involves cutting back on my sleeping time. Anyway, hopefully everyone likes this chapter!

Until next time!