Thanksgiving.
Jack Frost wasn't well acquainted with the term.
He found it at most, after viewing a rather disturbing scene in Iowa during the 1900s era, an indirect and unneeded way of gloating about a family's wealth. He could vividly remember one scene in particular; a young homeless girl, her hair frazzled and strewn over her dirty face, staring longingly through one of the large windows with bright blue eyes. The window displayed a laughing family with a mocking table full of delicious food, gathering together in a formal but useless manner that she was never able to partake in. He remembered how, accompanied with a spit and a scoff, she was rudely rebuffed when she knocked on the door asking for but a biscuit to get her through the night; how they had all of this surplus and she was glowered upon for asking for some.
He also recalled flying through this snobby family's house, wreaking all sorts of havoc before finally putting their grand living room fire out and giving a gracious amount of food to the homeless girl. It became a tradition of sorts, to do this every year: steal from the rich, give to the poor; steal from the well-off and give to the starving.
Which was why, when North announced that the Guardian Thanksgiving dinner would be help at the pole that year, Jack reclined.
"I won't be able to make it," he said nonchalantly, tossing his staff back and forth between his hands while the other Guardians shot him incredulous looks. "I'm busy that day."
"Busy? That day?" North asked in a disbelieving manner. "You can't be busy! It's Thanksgiving!"
"Yeah, big whoop," Jack mumbled under his breath. He leaned against his staff drowsily and stifled a yawn. "Look, I'm sorry North. I really am. But I just can't swing it."
"Sweetie," Tooth cooed softly, fluttering over and gently placing a hand on his frosted shoulder. "We're so proud of you for taking your Guardianship seriously and working hard, but it's okay to take a load off once in a while. You can bring snow and fun after Thanksgiving and spend some time here."
Jack lightly brushed her hand off with a reassuring smile, and a light chuckle. "I spend lots of time here with you guys, Tooth. But, uh, this has nothing to do with my duties as a Guardian or anything." He looked down absentmindedly. "Besides, Thanksgiving's not my favorite anyway."
North huffed. "Come on, Jack. Can't you just postpone these plans of yours to acknowledge the giving of thanks?"
Jack looked at North as if he grew another head. "Umm… yeah no. Like I said, I've already got other plans."
"What are they?" Bunny asked, hopping forward with a doubtful expression and an authoritative demeanor, arms crossed. "What's so important that ya can't hang back with us, huh?"
It wasn't so much the question that irked Jack, but the way that the Pooka asked it that set him off and caused him to respond like he did.
"Well, seeing that I don't have to justify anything to you," he sneered at Bunny stubbornly, "let's just say that I've been doing it for the past three centuries, and that's not about to change anytime soon."
"I beg to differ,"
"Is that a threat, Cottontail?"
"This ain't all about you, mate." Bunny said sternly as the unspoken face-off began. "It's about all of us. Together. That's what Thanksgiving's about."
"No no," Jack corrected in an irritated tone, exaggerating his argument with rapid hand movements. "It's about you four together, because I don't do Thanksgiving. One would think that with those humongous ears of yours, you would've heard me when I said that the first time."
"Do you know how inconsiderate you're being righ' now?"
"Well, inconsiderate is far from thankful; ergo, it's not my thing. And if I may just bring it up to you real fast, you don't know what I am Kangaroo. So lay off."
Snarling escaped Bunnymund's clenched jaw as he came closer to Jack. "What did ya just call me?"
"You heard me."
"Say it again."
Jack leaned forward, a glare boring through the rabbit's infuriated scowl.
"Kanga-"
"Rimsey Korsakov! Look at the time!" North exclaimed, coming between the two with an exaggerated gesture to the sand watch that appeared around his wrist and disappeared just as quickly. "Burgess would've wound down by now, and warren is well protected by your 'googies' no doubt. So why don't you two spend night here at pole? Yes? Perfect! Glad you agree! Come, follow!"
Jack groaned as he was forced with Bunny down the hallway to the guest rooms. "Uurgh, why are you all so clingy all of a sudden?"
Bunny shook his head, desperately trying to skid to a halt, and failing. "Oh no mate, I ain't leavin my warren unsupervised this close ta Easter!"
"Bah, Easter's six months away! You will stay and help with Thanksgiving preparations! Same with you Jack."
By this time, Jack and Bunny were roughly shoved into another thin corridor that branched off of the main hallway, one that only contained two doors directly across from one another. "Hey, don't drag me into this Thanksgiving stuff, cuz I'm not doing it!"
A devious smile devoured North's face. "Da, you're right, much too late. Why don't you both just stay here and get some sleep, maybe do the hanging out, da? Room to left is yours; room to right is Bunny's. I hate to be leaving you so soon, but I must, uh… make sure elves aren't setting globe room on fire."
Before either of them could interlude with the fact that they would both just leave as soon as he left the Pole, North added slyly, "And Bunny, if you or Jack leave, I give April Fools permission to do the 'pimping out' of your warren. And we will all be in on it. Sleep tight!"
A distraught look replaced Bunny's previous scowl, and he let out a moan. "This ain't fair, North."
"Life's not fair, friend!" he shouted back as he strolled back down the hallway to the globe room.
As soon as he turned, Bunny huffed. "Bloody blackmail, that's what this is." Jack raised his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders, shooting Bunny a faux guilty look. "Man, I almost feel sorry for you."
"Whaddaya mean by-?" Bunny began to ask, turning to face Jack only to see that he was taking off down the hall. "OI!" He called as he hopped after him.
Jack was a fast flyer for the most part. Really, he was. Only, he didn't have the advantage that Bunny had. As he hung a right turn, he looked back for a split second to see if he was still being pursued. Upon seeing that Bunny had disappeared, Jack landed and let out a small laugh. "Heh, noob." he turned back around and walked right into something tall, furry, and extremely angry.
So he decided it best to go down the list and say everything you shouldn't say to someone who looked like they were about ready to rip someone's head off.
"Dude. You just got your ugly… all over my jacket." he motioned to his blue hoodie with a condescending stare. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Fuzzy Wuzzy, I'm just gonna go home now. Have fun with your Thanksgiving thing, or whatever." Jack spoke the word as if it were a disgusting taste on his tongue, and he attempted to wriggle past Bunny, only to be violently slammed against the wall beside him and pinned in a most unceremonious manner. He was expecting a mock, a taunt, an endless name calling marathon; it was safe to say this rather unexpected outburst took him by surprise. His staff was torn from his hand and tossed a few feet away. Jack found that, in being crushed up against the wall like this, it wasn't particularly easy to breathe, much less attempt to escape; not that he'd try to anyway, he was preoccupied with the bone chilling glare hovering before him as well as the tedious task of trying to take in a breath.
"Do you know what family means, Frost?" Bunny growled.
Jack couldn't draw enough air to respond.
"It means not putting yourself before others. It means being there for one another, and being thankful for it. Do you know how hard that is for me, Jack? My blood relatives, all dead. Perished more than 400 years ago. I'm not sayin that they're not my family anymore, I'm sayin that I've learned to move on and accept the fact that the other Guardians-" he pointed down the hallway. "They're here for me. They're my family. And they're yours too. Remember that."
He released Jack and walked into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.
Author's Note: Watching my kitten play with her toy. Laughing. So. Hard. XD.
Jack's Tree will be up soon (hopefully) :D.
OH AND UM REVIEW PLEASE. MAYBE I'LL ADD ON TO THIS.
969~696