If there is one thing The Guardians noticed when they all gathered for a meeting was the happy look on the winter spirit's face. His head was in the clouds, and he couldn't stop chuckling to himself and grinning at random times.
North and Sandy exchanged glances and the golden man shrugged with a question mark forming over his head.
"Jack, are you listening?" Tooth questioned with a frown when she noticed the boy wasn't giving much of a reaction to what she was saying.
He blinked and focused on her.
"Oh hey Tooth, I didn't know you were there." He said.
She raised a brow.
"Are you okay?" She questioned curiously.
He nodded.
"I'm fine." He shrugged, being mysterious about why he was so happy.
Bunny had his arms crossed.
"What's with the look Frosty? Normally you never shut up about stuff, why not share with us why you're so…." The pooka trailed off trying to find the word.
"Giddy." Tooth finished.
Jack shrugged.
"Normally you guys don't pay much attention anyhow. So anyways if that's all for this meeting I got places to be." He said and left without another word.
They looked at each other in confusion and guilt.
"I will admit I haven't been paying much attention to the boy." North said in a bit of shame.
Sandy made some gestures saying he was guilty as well. Tooth looked down at the ground as baby tooth flew around her chirping. Bunny was the only one that didn't look guilty.
"Well he hasn't even tried talking to me." He shrugged.
…..
Ari was not a happy camper, not, at, all. It was evident on her expression. She was sporting a sore ass and a broken ego. Cupcake and her friends were giggling among each other as she glared at them.
"Oh har har you brats, it wouldn't be so funny if this happened to you." She huffed making them giggle harder.
"So you finally broke the ice?" A voice mused.
She glared at the source.
"Go suck an ice sickle tic-tac!" She snapped causing Jack to laugh as the kids looked at them with gaping eyes and slack jaws.
They looked over at them then grinned.
"Jack! She can see you!" Jamie finally exclaimed loudly as he ran closer.
Jack held a hand out to Ari and she took it and he pulled her to her feet. He grinned at Jamie.
"Isn't it cool?" Jack said as Jamie and the other kids whooped and cheered for Jack. The winter spirit laughed and then focused his attention to Ari.
"How much trouble did you get into today?" Jack mused.
"Define trouble." She drawled as Cupcake giggled.
Jack raised a brow as all the children giggled.
" Are you being a bad influence on the kids firecracker?" Jack mused as Ari snorted.
"I am no such thing." She denied crossing her arms. Jack looked to Jamie and he held his hands to his mouth and shook his head. He then looked to Cupcake and she only grinned and spoke.
"She cussed out a older kid for almost running us over in his car." She grinned and Jack raised a brow and tsked at Ari in mock disappointment.
"Say another word and I'll stab you with an ice sickle." She growled causing him to laugh.
She leaned on him.
"Dude. My bum is so sore now." She muttered as Jack chuckled and pulled a leaf from her hair.
"So where are you all off to?" Jack questioned as Ari dusted her butt off and pushed off of him.
"Where do you think?" She drawled.
He snorts at her tone and flicked her nose. He could only smile at her look of ire, finding her attitude funny. He was glad to be back with her, being stuck in a meeting all day was not what he would consider fun, especially with no preparation for it considering it was a surprise meeting. He ignored the strong urge to hug her, his chest feeling warm.
He forced himself to look away from her.
"The park?" He questioned with a knowing tone.
The kids nodded as Ari crossed her arms.
"Duh, these kids practically live there." She snorted
Jack chuckled as he followed the group, following behind Ari. He grinned as he kicked snow at he feet.
"I am really getting sick of your shit Tic-tac, I'm about to drop kick you to Antartica." She hissed when some of the snow got in her boots.
"Is that so?" He mused
She leaned down to get the snow out of her boot, and Jack snickered before yelping when something was shoved into his face, knocking him down into the snow. Ari stood over him with a smug look.
"Falling for me Jack?" She teased, he wiped the snow from his face.
He glared at her playfully and threw a snow ball in her face, of course he added a bit of magic to it. Instantly her eyes sparkled and she giggled, his heart practically stopped at the sound. She grabbed up some snow and packed it into a ball and chunked it at him.
That started the war.
As usual Jack found himself in a snow ball fight with the kids, Ari the newest one to their battle, was against him. It was he, Jamie, Monty, and Caleb versus Ari, Cupcake, Pippa, and Claude. Jack found himself mostly facing of with Ari, and she was not going easy.
"You fight dirty Firecracker!" Jack called after being tripped and pelted with snow.
"There's no such thing as fighting dirty in war Tic-tac!" She laughed as she hid behind a tree.
The others were too busy fighting among themselves to really pay attention to Ari and Jack singling each other out.
"You were my friend!" Jack called out dramatically with a betrayed tone.
She snickered, he could see her packing more snow balls together.
"Yeah well you're a loser!" She snorted before screeching when Jack knocked he snow from the tree onto her.
"Jackass!" She snapped as she sat on the ground. He laughed as he walked closer to her, he came to a stop to stare down at her.
"Who's the loser now?" He cooed, amused at the unamused look in her face.
She grabbed his leg and pulled it out from under him. He shouted in surprise and fell back, Ari then stuffed snow In his face.
"Still you." She drawled and he grumbled and just laid back into the snow, staring up at her with a pouty look.
"Don't give me that look tic-tac." She droned looking away, trying to avoid the look he was giving her.
"Ari!" He whined, pouting even more when she rolled her eyes.
She stuffed snow into his face again and he glared at the smug look on her face. He flicked snow at her face, which soon escalated to them swatting snow back and forth at each other. After a few moments they settled down and just laid in the snow, laughing and chuckling as the kids did the same over where they're at.
Ari looked over at Jack, snow sticking into her hair, he reached over and got it out, an impulse he couldn't ignore. She gave him a curious look as he got it out and then pulled away.
"You ah, had snow in your hair." He explained awkwardly, feeling his chest and cheeks warm up, something he found very weird still.
She nodded with a grin and looked up at the sky. Her smile fell slightly.
"I'm going home the day after Christmas." She murmured.
He felt disappointment form.
"So that gives us almost 3 weeks." He said optimistically.
She looked over at him, a look on her face that showed a little sadness.
"I don't want to leave." She sighed, anxiety in her tone.
He nodded with a solemn look
"You've become a very dear friend to me in the short time we've known each other Jack, I don't want to lose that. I'll be a loner again once I go home, and I hate it." She frowned
Jack sat up to properly look at her, he gave her a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry about it firecracker, I'll visit you, no matter what season it is." He promised and she smiled at him and stood up. He followed her lead only to be taken by surprise when he was suddenly wrapped in a hug.
"Thank you, so much." Her tone was grateful and warm. He felt an overwhelming warmth spread through his chest and he hugged her tighter. Finally they pulled away and green eyes met blue. Ari smiled at him widely and then ruffled his hair.
Jack found himself spending the rest of the day with Ari and the kids, though most of his attention was on his new friend. The kids loved Ari, they all looked at her with the same admiration as they did him. She was funny and sarcastic, and a bit awkward at times, but the kids flocked to her despite it all. They especially found the fact she rode motorcycles really cool.
"But aren't motorcycles for boys?" One of the kids asked and Ari only grinned.
"Bikes are for anyone who can safely ride them. Besides I don't listen to gender labels, it takes the fun out of everything. I mean why let people tell you what you can and can't like just because you're a boy or girl?" She winked at them and they all nodded in agreement with her. Cupcake was grinning happily at her cousin, if there was anyone that admired Ari more, it was Cupcake. It seemed the teenager brought a new side to the girl.
"I want a motorcycle!" Claude shouted and Ari laughed.
" Just remember while they are fun, they can be very dangerous. Maybe when it warms up I'll bring my bike down and let you ride with me." She grinned and immediately all the kids began to cheer for her to take them as well.
When everyone parted ways, Ari stretched and leaned against a wall. Jack stood at her side watching her with amusement.
"I have to say you gave me a run for my money on having the kids' attention. They were so enthralled with you." He grinned as Cupcake disappeared into her house.
"Cause Im cool." She bragged teasingly as she looked over at him.
He rolled his eyes.
"Uh-huh, sure you are." He droned, a teasing look on his face.
"Let's go do something." Ari suddenly suggested looking over at him.
He raised a brow.
"Anything specific you have in mind?" He questioned.
She had a look of thought as she crossed her arms.
"I dunno, let's go flying again though, that was pretty sweet." She grinned pulling her jacket closer to her as she adjusted her gloves then her beanie.
He gave her a grin.
"Now?" He mused and she gave a thumbs up.
He lowered a bit to the ground after turning his back to her. Jack watched her grin and get on his back and wrap her legs and arms around him. .
"Wind, take us up!" Jack called and they were launched into the air. A small squeal of excitement escaping Ari causing him to laugh as he firmly held her legs.
Wind took them high into the air, and Ari was whooping in excitement as she clung to Jack's back. Jack wondered where Wind would take them, and looked around below them.
"So when are we going to the North Pole?" She questioned.
Jack thought it over.
"It would probably be better if we waited for him at your house on Christmas. If we rode the wind to North's there's a chance you might freeze and get hypothermia." He said, and she nodded in understanding.
"Cool, that's fine with me." She grinned as she laid her head on his shoulder, once again his chest warmed as well as his cheeks.
"Hey Tic-tac, you're like 1000 years old, ever fall in love?" Ari questioned and he scowled at being called 1000 years old.
"I'm 300 thank you, and no I haven't fallen I love." He drawled.
She looked at him in surprise.
"Not at all? Not even a crush on someone?" She questioned
He shook his head.
"Haaaaaave you ever…..?" She trailed off.
He glanced back at her.
"Have I what?" He questioned.
She stifled a snicker.
"Get a little 'ice?'….." There was a long pause, as Jack processed what she said.
"Gah! What the heck Ari! No, I haven't gotten and 'ice' why would you ask that?!" He freaked, causing Ari to cackle.
"I'm just wondering, so that means you're a 300 year old virgin! Hahahaha!" She continued to cackle.
Jack felt his cheeks warm as a deadpanned look formed on his face and he dropped her. Briefly she squealed before continuing to laugh, hysterically at that.
Jack glared down at her as wind whipped around him in a manner that suggested it was laughing as well.
"Oh, you think that's funny?" He huffed as he quickly went and caught Ari.
He held her in his arms bridal style, and she giggled as she stared at his face. He gave her an unamused look, and she pinched his cheeks and forced him to smile. He couldn't help but smile anyhow, so she dropped her hands away from his face and smiled at him. He shook his head and wind began to move them again.
Ari yawned and stretched out in his arms.
"Dude, you are very comfy." She drawled as she laid her head against his chest.
"I'm taking a nap." She yawned again.
He gave her a look.
"You were the one that wanted to fly, why are you going to sleep?" He huffed.
She patted his cheek.
"Because I can." And with that she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
He rolled his eyes.
"Lazy."
Jack decided to take a look at the note she gave him as he left that morning. Carefully he reached into his jacket and pulled open the crumpled up paper only for another note in the middle of it. He made a look of confusion and opened it only to find another piece of paper, then another, and another till finally he found a tiny piece of paper that was neatly folded, he opened it and read what it said.
Loser.
He laughed and stuffed the paper in his pocket with a head shake of amusement. She definitely was something else.