Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or realities (unless otherwise stated). I do not make money off of this.
The prompt for this come from profilore on rotg-kink dreamwidth and this first chapter is only slightly changed by me but mostly profilore's work (the person implicitly stated that a writer could use their first chapter). This chapter and any possible other ones are mine, thank you very much.
This is not betaed. If you see any mistakes, I would love for you to kindly point them out.
I am sorry for the long wait but I am currently at camp and while I do have internet and will continue writing, do not expect me to write to quickly because I came here for more than just writing (even though it is super fun.)
During the months of August, September and October, when the frost melted in the southern hemisphere to make way for spring, the Guardians teamed up to do exactly the same thing they had done in the winter: pile into the sleigh (or bound through tunnels) to look for jack and maybe set things right.
The only difference this time was that Sandy decided to separate from the group and search the world as a whole, since, after all, spirits had to sleep sometime as well. Besides, he already had a plan in place. Baby Tooth moved beside him after a quick look, recognizing determination in his face like when one of her sisters carried ten coins at once.
The only slight caveat in the plan was whether or not the catatonic state counted as sleep, for dreamers and sleepers were easiest for Sandy to find.
After searching with his dreamsand body dispersed among the wind for a while, he found Jack curled up in the crook of the tree, watching the dreamsand float by. After a few seconds, Jack tentatively touched the dreamsand, and to Sandy's surprise, didn't fall asleep. Instead, the dreamsand formed into a pair of dolphins that danced around his body until they realized that he didn't want to play. Shifting into a pair of golden children, they leaned on Jack, providing as much comfort as they could when they weren't in the dreamworld.
Forming his body a little bit away from Jack, Sandy pressed a hand to his throat, attempting to remember long forgotten anatomy that allowed him to speak. It had been a long time since he had last said any words, since many focused on the way his voice sounded rather than the words themselves. And occasionally they simply could not hear him at all.
Determination in his mind, he attempted his vocal chords one more time, taking in a small gasp of surprise when it worked. And it did! Jack jerked around, almost pushing the sand-children behind him while quickly aiming his staff at whatever had gasped. In this case, it was Sandy, smiling at his own two hands, and occasionally touching his throat.
"Sandy?" Jack whispered, a little bit unbelieving of what was going on. Sandy smiled again and looked up at the winter spirit, moving his attention from his own wonder to what wonder he would incur into Jack.
"Jack." he whispered, his voice as soft as a cool summer's breeze and as soft as downy feathers. It was easy to forget the words and listen to the texture, but Sandy was sure Jack was paying attention.
"I suppose it's a bit of an unspoken truth that I can speak even though I prefer not to. I've never spoken in several billion years, however, so many have forgotten that I can, and those that know keep quiet. I trust you. Even the guardians don't know I can technically speak." As he Sandy spoke, his voice became surer and more understanding as Sandy got more used to speaking again. Jack was absolutely still, staff gripped tightly in hand, wind only moving to push some of the words into Jack's ears, but otherwise absolutely still. Sandy sent a mental "thank you" to the old spirit.
Sandy had met Wind when it was still visible as a spirit and knew that if it was helping Jack, it wanted Jack to be happy. And knew Sandy could help.
Jack stood there for a few seconds, mind reeling at the information. Splashes of "Sandy can speak?!" and "He… trusts me?" popped up among others and when Sandy floated closer to him and held him in his arms, Jack absolutely collapsed. His voice warbled and bubbled and tears flowed from his eyes and froze among Sandy's sand, his hands grasping at the smaller, much older man who could comfort him so much more than even the Wind on one of his worst days.
He babbled to somebody who could answer with a kind voice and reassure him and his own magic, once roiling at the surface, filled with joyful energy and clouds of loneliness settled in his very core, providing him with peace. And when he went on a tirade about how he was winter and the other spirits he had met told him he killed things on purpose and he didn't want to kill things and then Sandy shushed him and then very quietly asked him for the names of those spirits, or at least what they looked like.
Jack was confused, but slowly provided with semi-accurate descriptions of a few of them, and when Sandy hugged him even tighter while angrily growling something (in another language) under his breath, Jack understood the direction of his anger and upset and simple loathing rage and finally breathed. He knew that he would not fuse with what he spread anymore, would not give up a piece of himself to forget his loneliness because he was no longer lonely. He would no longer forget himself when he did his job.
It felt nice, and as Jack basked in Sandy's protective arms of sand he stroked his glowing core, his magic that floated like bubble in his heart. Light and airy and free of burdens.