This is kind of a companion piece to Colder Than Death
Bunny still thought that the boy looked dead when he slept. He frowned. Jack had spent so much time alone with no one to answer to but himself that he did not know some basic things like how you don't just decide to take a nap on the ground while visiting someone. It's rude. Bunny had left him alone for only half an hour and he had returned to find the white haired kid just lying on his side on the grass, not moving.
It had taken all of Bunny's discipline to calm down enough to realize he was fine. Frost still covered the shepherd's crook held loosely between pale fingers and he did not appear to be hurt. Looking closely, Bunny could see his chest rise and fall regularly. He glared at the sleeping child. He could swear he was just trying to make him worry for his entertainment. Even if he could not even see him worry.
Bunny sighed. He could hardly blame him for having little understanding of what he should or shouldn't do when around others. Or ever, really. It was not like anyone had ever told him. It wasn't like he was used to having a bed to sleep in, either. Or like he knew he had one for that matter.
They had all decided to make some space for Jack to stay in their respective domain. He was quite certain that the others had a quite heartwarming moment with the winter spirit when they had decided to show him the room they had made for him. Bunny hadn't gotten around to doing that yet. He just couldn't find a way to tell him that did not sound overly sentimental. Now would be a good time, though. He could just pick up the sleeping kid and tell him, when he woke up, that if he wanted to take a nap, he could do it in his bed. That would work.
He slipped his arms under Jack's back and knees, expecting it to startle the boy awake. It didn't. Jack merely mumbled something in his sleep and buried his nose into Bunny's chest as he was lifted up. The pooka blinked down at him. Jack looked a little less dead and a lot more like a child. He was hugging his staff to his chest and a small smile stretched his lips in his sleep. Bunny would be damned before admitting it was adorable.
He shook his head and decided to just carry him to his room. He was more than a little shocked at how light the boy was. Now he could understand better how he just seemed to drift on the wind like a snowflake. He looked so frail and delicate right now, Bunny could almost forget just how obnoxiously energetic the winter spirit could be. He caught himself cradling him protectively against his chest.
Jack's room was a simple cavern in the Warrens, but Bunny had made sure to properly decorate it. An elaborate scene had been painted on the walls, a frozen lake surrounded by rime-covered trees, with small snowflakes falling lightly. The winter landscape was lit from above by a large blue moon. The bed was not an actual bed, rather a mound of cushions and blankets on the ground in pale shades of blue and white. Bunny gently placed the winter spirit on the cushions and pulled the blankets around him.
Jack briefly woke up as Bunny let go of him, blinking sleepily up at the pooka. He looked around in confusion, not recognizing his current location. Bunny finished arranging the blankets around him and smoothed a few strands of white hair back, looking into Jack's puzzled blue eyes.
"You're home. Go back to sleep."
My computer is dying. I had to type this chapter in safe mode. I'm a bit too frustrated with this to try to write anything fancy. If I don't update for a few days, it's because I had to send my computer to be fixed.
