Chapter Three: Paranoid Huntsman
Bunnymund was rather unimpressed with his line of work, washing clothes. He heard Jack was doing an education thing, studying in child care; ironic considering his accusation but Bunnymund was too busy being pissed off to care. Just kept passing washing baskets across to other prisoners who had been dumped into this duty. Bunnymund did learn however, that not everyone caused trouble, in fact – more often than not, if you just left someone alone, they wouldn't bother you.
Bunnymund had a sort of mutual respect with an Irish bloke who shared his whiskey with him during the short break, rich bastard who could afford decent food and drink at the canteen. Did more than just washing up it seemed and he was pretty loaded back home, the guy was short and grouchy but pleasant enough. Went by 'Leprechaun' or something like that.
Either way Bunnymund found the minutes ticking away at a pace so slow; his brain cells must be dying.
But sooner or later trouble found him in the form of Groundhog and his crew, they didn't bother Bunnymund directly until attention was drawn to his large ears.
"You have the flashing white, fluffy tail to match there?" a gritty tone called out, not the groundhog, but some other bloke who had waltzed into the job and decided now was a good time to piss people off. Bunnymund rolled his eyes and turned around, folding his arms with a very unimpressed look in his dull eyes as he replied with a small, creeping smirk.
"Wouldn't you like to know"
"Oh, he thinks he is funny, fucking Aussie as well"
"Now, now, don't hate on the down under and get back to your suds, mate" the rabbit-man turned back to his own folding that he was doing pretty well. He had always had this domesticated skill that he wasn't afraid of showing off.
"Look here, don't fucking talk to me like that, you piece of shit"
And where were the guards? Probably on some coffee break whilst Bunnymund had to deal with these pieces of work. Seriously, cliché…
A hard yank to his left ear suddenly put everything in a whole new turn of events. Bunnymund cursed and leant back, as soon as his ear was released it flattened onto his head and he whipped round with a snarl.
"Who the fuck thought that was a smart idea?" he growled and watched each one of them, all close enough to have grabbed his precious appendage. None of them made a move to confess.
"Ah, looks like I'm dealin' with a bunch of ankle biter's, fucking cowards. Piss off will ya!?"
Bunnymund moved away from them and over to one of the machines, glancing out into the transparent wall in the hope a guard would come over and prevent him from unhinging these bastard's jaws.
"Hardly a rabbit, more like some damned Kangaroo with his fucking words, am I right?"
Bunnymund clicked his neck to the side but didn't face them, didn't give them the satisfaction. So they continued, Leprechaun took another swig of whiskey and shook his head, dumb idiots had no idea what they were working themselves into.
Before Bunnymund could feel the heated shadow come up behind him, there was a harsh pain on his backside and he whirled round with the outrage with one of them had groped his ass.
"Just looking for your lil' fluffy tail, Bun" a greasy looking, dark skinned freak cooed with a sickening grin, his mates laughed and Bunnymund was seriously on his last line of patience.
"You're gonna find ma lucky foot up your ass if you don't quit. Back off and hands off or I'll break your fingers one by one"
Bunnymund could talk strong and he was strong. Several other prisoner members who were trying to keep out of the way recalled the past events in the yard and kept their heads down. However one, a lean looking European lad called out; he had dark chestnut hair and deep grey eyes, rugged stubble and the tattoo of an elaborate axe on his forearm.
"He toppled Goblin and his allies down yard yesterday, I advise you leave alone"
This stopped the group, who looked the rabbit-man up and down and even shuffled away a bit. Bunnymund hid a smirk and placed the basket of clothes he was sorting in one of the machines and carried on with his work without any more delays. He nodded thanks to the guy who claimed his reputation and Leprechaun later told him the guy went by the name 'Huntsman'.
Later on, Bunnymund returned for tea which would be followed by some domesticate activities such as cleaning up the cell. There was the choice of associating with the others, a gym and pool; stuff like that. But Bunnymund wasn't up to that and slumped into his bed, waiting for Jack. They hadn't been to the yard since earlier that day but Bunnymund still had a little nagging thought in the back of his mind hoping the young man was doing alright. Jack eventually turned up, nothing new apart from the old injuries; an ugly purple-black shade was growing on his left eye and Bunnymund sighed at the sight.
They were surprisingly silent over their dinner. The empty sound of the cell was filled only with the clanks of cutlery and the noises of munching. Obviously, the rest of the prison was a bustle of mutters and yelling. A few clanks and the occasional sharp blow of a whistle from one of the guards.
"Everything been alright today? How was washing?" Jack smirked, knowing the quality of said job. Bunnymund raised an eyebrow but gave him a half smile and took in another mouthful of his…wait for it…more boiled vegetables and meat; but he didn't intend on eating the slab of greasy…whatever it was.
"Not bad, couple of assholes trying to mess me about, but I got myself some mates…Leprechaun and Huntsman"
"I know huntsman, he's alright, in for an accused house-assault. He suffers from paranoia or something, thought that the little old woman in the house wasn't…herself"
"Thanks for the details, mate" Bunnymund rolled his eyes sarcastically.
"Speaking of which, you going to tell me how you wound up in here?" Jack inquired, lowering his finished plate to the ground as he had been sitting up at the small desk and chair that had been moved in recently whereas Bunnymund sat on his bed.
"…I'm telling you, Frostbite, you don't wanna know" he scowled and also dropped his plate, taking a swig of his drink.
"Look, I have heard some nasty tales about, you can't be as bad, you're too…soft"
"Soft? Don't let that get around, don't want no blokes thinking they can cuddle me or something" he chuckled, but the sound was sour. Like he was trying to hide the truth up with whatever he could.
Jack stopped and sat over by the oversized rabbit and curled his knees up under his chin, looking up with such a pretty little gaze, Bunnymund found himself incapable of speech for a few moments.
Gulping he averted his eyes from the alluring, icy blue and pulled his left ear down to preen. He hadn't stopped fidgeting with it since one of the blokes had caught onto it.
"Hey, can I help?" Jack suddenly piped up and the Australian gave him a funny look.
"What you mean, help?"
"As in…with your ear, you keep messing with it, something up?"
"No, no…just…one of the guys earlier thought it might be smart to tug on it. Kind of hurts...probably asshole DNA on it now"
They both laughed and the sound reverberated off the stony walls like music.
"Do you want me to take a look at it, make sure they didn't damage it?"
Bunnymund paused, his ears were sensitive, he didn't know how he might react with the kid messing about but he was obviously trustworthy, besides there was a rough itch in the corner of the base that the rabbit-man was getting worried about.
"Fine, just be careful Frostbite"
Jack Frost rolled his eyes at his new name and shuffled closer, getting onto his knees so he could look on top of the man's head. His hair looked so deliciously velvety, soft snowy blues and greys. His ears were even finer, sculpted and twitching with something near cute.
Inspecting around first without touching as that seemed his safest bet, the white haired prisoner caught his eye on a small torn scratch at the base, crusted with dried blood but it looked uncomfortable.
"You got a sore spot, bit of a cut, want me to cool it down?"
"With what, your hands?"
"Well yeah" Jack blinked innocently as if that was the point all along. Bunnymund was startled at the sudden proximity and the gentle blinking of wide, sky blue eyes and ended up just nodding in the end.
Bunnymund waited, nothing happened at first, he could hear gentle breathing, smell the refreshing peppermint the younger man seemed to naturally emit and before he could pinpoint his nose on one other natural scent, his head lolled to the side and his eyelids dropped.
Oh shit, the base of his ear…oh shit!
"J-Jack" Bunnymund muttered so quietly he struggled to recall if he had even said anything.
The cold, long fingers were pressing on the long haired, ever so sensitive section at the base of his left ear, the pain was short and made him hiss but the massaging of the surrounding areas to soothe the infection left the Australian near purring. It felt so good, so fresh and god…
"Ahh!" Bunnymund suddenly yelped and his right leg kicked out shamelessly as Jack blew chilled air onto the sore spot and it spread over his body, making hair rise and his ears twitch.
"Sorry, did that hurt?"
"…You could say that, mate" Bunnymund claimed, of course he was lying. It felt gorgeous, it felt close and tender and the Australian had the sudden urge to beg the younger man to do it again.
Jack traced the outline of the very soft ears and blew gently every so now and again, pursing his lips and exhaling in short breaths that caused Bunnymund's right leg to kick out in a way that could only be explained as ironic.
God Jack wanted to sink his teeth into that ear. But no, this wasn't going to end well; he might as well place himself against the wall and asked to be taken. Which isn't what he wanted…in other words, it wasn't fair he was being such a tease and he reluctantly moved away.
Bunnymund's ear followed his movements, the edge and tip brushing against Jack's clean, chilled face making them both gasp and it was fair to say they didn't say anything or look at each other for a few moments in the aftermath.
"Any better?" Jack managed a grin and Bunnymund returned it.
"Yeah, actually. Helps your hands make pretty good ice packs, why the hell are you so cold anyway?"
Jack shrugged and jumped off the bed with a gentle agility. He looked around for a moment, still letting his brain process what had just happened and he gulped.
"Well, do you want to start on cleaning the cell, or did you want to hit the gym or-"
"You saying I'm out of shape, mate?" Bunnymund smirked with lowered dark eyebrows and stood up. Jack blushed and shook his head wildly eliciting laughter from his cell-mate.
"After today, I am just going to stay here, what about you?" Bunnymund replied before Jack had even finished.
"Staying here, you think I like strolling around here?" he challenged and Bunnymund reeled back, a look of upset shock on his face as he clearly saw the wounds on Jack's face.
"No, mate, just…agh, stop your teasing and tell me what needs doing"
"Didn't know you made such a good housewife"
"Didn't know you were such a little shit"
Jack laughed loudly and picked up both their trays, putting them at the front of the open cell for collection. He surveyed the bunk and gestured with a nod of his head.
"Might as well give the sheets a batter, probably find fossils" he suggested and Bunnymund complied.
"Anything to make a night's sleeps a bit better"
"How domestic are we though, seriously?" Jack sniggered as he pulled down his covers and folded them in front of himself, shaking off dust and grit from the peeling ceiling including a few fine, snowy white hairs.
"Hey, let's just hope they give out prizes for cleanest dorm" Bunnymund claimed, taking his own and giving it a wild shake, bits of fur and wood chips tumbled out and they looked at each with disgust. "Love the quality in here, mate" the green eyed man sighed.
"It's all part of the guilty treatment"
Once they had finished being domestic, cleaning up the beds and trying to stabilise the mirror, washing down the sink and even brushing out some odd pieces of dirt on the floor into the small bin they discovered next to the reasonably clean toilet they sat down on their own beds and thought to themselves. In a comfortable silence that put both at ease.
"You still haven't told me what you are in for!" Jack chuckled and an icy feeling overcame Bunnymund, a stale taste marking his throat and he inhaled sharply.
"You sure, mate?" he answered a few moments and Jack turned serious for his friend's sake.
"…Yeah, go on"
When Bunnymund told Jack, the blue eyed younger man was silent for a very long time; Bunnymund didn't have the heart to get up and check his facial expressions and just waited, for something. Any reaction would have done but yet he couldn't help but feel he had torn something they had so recently and delicately created.
"Wow…err…okay" was all Jack said in the end, and the slight tense horror in his tone made
Bunnymund feel sick, why had he told him, he was an idiot for thinking anyone could take that lightly! Throwing his hands over his head, he snarled to himself. Kicking the base of the bed and turning over, once again silencing Jack. Such an idiot, such a fucking moron, why the fuck did he do that?!
Bunnymund was so angry with himself he didn't hear Jack clamber down and stand beside his bed, expression stern but with a light understanding that when Bunnymund did turn to face it, he felt a slip of comfort enter his heart and he sighed.
"I'm sorry, mate, I didn't want to tell you"
"It's fine, besides I told you…I…I have heard worse" he gulped and nodded, but there was a tremble in his actions, paleness in his eyes, an overall fear that Bunnymund hated.
"There were no deaths, only…hospital injuries, they got a bit sick, y'know?"
Of course Jack didn't know, but he nodded anyway and bit his lip in a way that would have been attractive if not for the intense doubt Bunnymund was feeling in his gut along with a crushing guilt.
Turning over he squeezed his eyes shut and prayed for a rewind session, or a gaping hole to swallow him up, anything but the presence of such an…innocent and genuine young man. Who had the heart and faith to trust the intimidating Aussie after all he had gone through.
The Aussie who, three months ago had been found and trialled for poisoning the candy of
kids at the time of Easter, for a sick joke that protruded from his loneliness and an illness that spread over his mind after he had discovered the death of his family in a disjointed letter, found in his mail that was posted three years ago. Nothing had been right since then and now he found himself in jail.
The last thing Bunnymund felt before the lights were turned out and he found himself drifting into an uneasy sleep was a familiar, freezing hand brush over his ears and he knew everything was alright.
A/N: There you have it, why Bunnymund has toppled himself into prison; it is to do with Easter, candy, children and the extinction of the Pooka. Not too irrelevant, eh?
I wrote this chapter so fast my hands are sweating, I am going to bed now, ta-ta!
-LAW09
To AyameKitsune: Thanks for the updated support, more is on its way!
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