I Wanna Dance With Somebody

Clocks strikes upon the hour

And the sun begins to fade

Still enough time to figure out

How to chase my blues away

I've done alright up 'til now

It's the light of day that shows me how

And when the night falls loneliness calls

Oh! Wanna dance with somebody

I wanna feel the heat with somebody

Yeah! Wanna dance with somebody

With somebody who loves me

I've been in love and lost my senses

Spinning through the town

Soon or later the fever ends

And I wind up feeling down

I need a man who'll take a chance

On a love that burns hot enough to last

So when the night falls

My lonely heart calls

-I Wanna Dance With Somebody, Whitney Houston

watch?v=caTGU4jS5LM

Jack swung out of Burgess, landing in a tree by his lake. Glancing around for watchers, he slipped though the crystal hung entrance to his den, floating down the connecting tunnel to the large room carved under his lake. He hung his staff on the hook he'd carved for it, passing by the few pieces of furniture he'd created over the years to flop over into his nest.

It was made of blankets he'd both made and scavenged over the years, pillows and soft bits all collected into a giant nest rather than a bed proper – but it was big and soft and, most important of all, comfy.

He rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling moodily. Bunny didn't have anything yet about those dark spirits Terpsichore had told them about, and he still refused to give them information so they could help.

Apparently, the ones he was looking for were too impatient for Sandy, too reserved for North, too hasty for Tooth and too dangerous overall for Jack. At least, they were fairly sure they were. Being added to the Guardian's belief pool was increasing Jack's powers, but it was unpredictable.

It rankled, but they couldn't do much about it.

Thinking about it brought the last time he'd seen the other to mind, brought iTooth/i to mind, and his traitorous mind began tossing images at him – Tooth with her feathers gilded by the fire in the meeting room, glowing with the sun behind her as he darted toward him, laughing as they gathered teeth together...

With a groan, Jack threw his arm over his eyes as though that would block out the images. It had been happening more and more lately, thoughts of Tooth intruding at random times. Finding something he wanted to show her, wishing she could be flying with him when he was playing on the wind, wanting to spin her into a dance...

He'd had crushes before, though each time it had been with a human or spirit that he could avoid or he knew he'd never have a chance with. It was easy to get over a crush when the other person didn't want anything to do with you or literally had no idea you existed.

With Tooth, though...Jack had a feeling this crush, mixed with their friendship, was heading quickly toward something more serious. Little wonder, Tooth was smart, funny, fast enough to keep up with him, absolutely gorgeous – and absolutely out of his league.

She was a iQueen/i, one of the Big Four (yes, technically it was a Big Five now, but still), she was respected, important, one of the world's major spirits and he was...Jack Frost. Jack Frost, the trickster, the troublemaker, rulebreaker and free spirit.

Add in, she had a job, one that was so incredibly important and never stopped. The children never stopped losing teeth, and it was always nighttime somewhere. It was important for everyone that she collected the teeth. Yeah, Jack's job was important – after he'd appeared, the killing winter spirits had had to step back, stop nearly all of their schemes without him even knowing it, so he was in a way controlling winter and making it fun, he shepherded in winter, made autumn happen and kept the seasons going, but no one knew what he was doing. Some would be happy if he quit doing his job, despite how many problems that would cause.

Why should someone like Tooth be interested in someone like him?

Apparently he wasn't doing as good of a job at keeping his feelings a secret as he'd thought, if even the ikids/i were picking up on it. Though considering the source, it might have just been wishful thinking on their parts...

Okay, so it wasn't. Jack was well on his way to falling in love with Tooth, and he really hoped she would catch up soon. In the meantime...he'd have to keep it close, or risk ruining this friendship.

Armed with her sabers, Tooth spun through a deadly dance in one of the upper floors of her Punjam Hy Loo.

She was so frustrated, practice was the only way to let it out at the moment. The girls could handle things in the main operation for longer and longer, so she was free to take as long as she needed.

Her former crush was getting out of hand. Before, it had been for the image of Jack, perfect teeth and the dashing rebel, an image to swoon over but never take seriously. Now, though...

She'd seen him in battle, and he was much stronger than they'd ever imagined. He'd fought beside her, not trying to protect her, respecting her skills as a fighter. She'd watched him with the children, with her children, and he was so gentle and patient with them. He laughed, and teased, was vulnerable and opening up to her...and she was falling for him, not the image of Jack but the real Jack.

Another vicious slash was the result of that thought. He still needed friends, was still getting used to being seen and heard and touched (and she wanted to touch, to find out if his hair was as snow-soft as it looked, wrap herself around him to get that cool, soft skin against her, so much cooler and comfortable than anything she was used to), and here she was ready to throw something as complicated as romance at him.

He might not even be attracted to someone like her, she had to admit, even if it hurt to make the admission. She was...well...she looked down at the hand holding her saber, the brilliantly colored emerald feathers covering her arm. She may have looked human once, but that had been an illusion. She was, and would always be, the last Sister of Flight.

Her feathers had made others look at her as almost more animal than human, before, even if they'd paid for that assumption. Certainly those who looked at her as a potential partner were few, and generally then it was for the novelty of it rather than for her – for the bedding of a Queen, or of a feathered lover so they could say they'd done it.

She heaved a sigh, lowering her sabers. Meditation and fighting weren't helping her to focus her thoughts the way she had always depended on them to. She'd hoped to banish these random thoughts of Jack...the sudden wish to cuddle him, to sit next to him when they were together, a wish to just go flying with him for no reason other than the sky was there, or a dozen other little thoughts and wishes and desires that intruded into her day.

...she just wished they were all so innocent, but after that dance...oh she wanted him to dance for her and know what it meant to a Sister of Flight that a potential mate would dance like that for her eyes alone, and then her thoughts would take a not-so-innocent turn from there.

She had to banish those thoughts, or she'd never be able to look Jack in the eye during there next meeting. Because when she didn't...she found herself looking over and wondering just how far down that frost blush of his went, how much experience he had, and a million other naughty little thoughts.

Thank goodness she was too old for North's lists or she would be rivaling Jack for his spot on them right now.

Then again...maybe Jack wouldn't mind her feathers, Tooth thought. Maybe...well, anything that was important was worth trying for and taking slow. Jack was worth it.

So she'd start slow, test the waters, see if he might be able to see her as a partner, or if he couldn't see her as anything other than 'one of the guys'. Test the waters, as it were.

She wanted a partner, and it was tempting, so very tempting, to see if Jack might be that partner.

A/N: I'd like to apologize for not posting last week. My grandma went to the hospital over the weekend and it rather threw everything for a loop. We're still not sure how things are going to go. No details, just that it'd be bad if she were my age, so at hers...

As for chapter notes: Apparently, in the movie, there was a cut scene explaining how the Guardians actually pool the belief of children. So Jack would have been included in that once he took the oath.

Also – the two of them are finally getting a clue! For their own feelings at least. Little rambly perhaps, but I don't often write happy romance.