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He sends Bunny after him, because if the Pooka can find and kidnap Jack in the middle of nowhere, then he can surely follow the young spirit around for a while.

It's not the most honest way to find out where Jack lives, but North's plans have always been a little on the unsavory side. Besides, every time North asks, Jack answers him with a smile and a deflection disguised as an answer. That, combined with the way Jack always sits at the window every time the Guardians meet, tugs at his protective nature in a way that gets him suspicious.

There's nothing wrong with sitting by a window, of course. North prefers the location himself, but with Jack Frost, it's another story.

The Pole is a magnificent place, full of many rooms and wonders. When the Guardians meet, they sit together in the globe room, beneath colorful tapestries, next to a roaring fire, and waited on by elves bearing an endless supply of eggnog and cookies. Since Pitch, they do this once a month, that way they can discuss and eliminate potential threats to the children before they get out of hand.

That's the goal, at least. Lately, it's been more of a social gathering, where they discuss everything from teeth to Bunny's latest hobbies. While it isn't the most productive use of their time, it is pleasant. The meetings have brought the Guardians closer than they've been in a long time, and North is pleased to say that they are the highlight of every month, December excluded. There is something wonderful, a feeling he forgot, about sitting with his nearest and dearest friends and doing little more than talking, eating, and just having a good time.

But Jack sits by the window.

It isn't far from where they gather, but it puts distance between him and the rest of the group that bothers North enough to question it.

Why does the boy sit so far? He has a chair that he never uses, and the Guardians are more than welcoming.

At first, North thinks it is the fire that bothers him, and wonders if the heat has an effect on the boy. Over time, he rules the theory out; temperature has less of an effect on Jack, and more of his influence over the cold. He also finds that even with the roar of his mighty fireplace, Jack occupies a permanent sphere of chill, one that he brings wherever he walks, much to Bunny's chagrin.

This brings North to his second theory; that Jack sits apart out of courtesy of the rest of them. He knows Jack well enough to see that underneath a hardened layer of snark and attitude, the boy is terribly polite when he wants to be, and he's sure now that Jack likes the Guardians well enough to grant them access to this side of him.

But Jack isn't above sending flurries of snow or a gust of a wind armed with teeth towards Bunny's unsuspecting feet whenever the Pooka sets him off. It doesn't disprove the possibility that Jack stays away out of courtesy, but North dismisses the theory anyway.

He and his belly know that it isn't the right answer.

That leaves him with two things: a stomach ache and a friendship in the shape of a question mark.

He can't have that, so he tries asking Jack closer one night. He's met with another smile and a deflection, punctuated by a look in his eyes that doesn't match the rest of his face.

"That's alright," Jack says, "I have to leave soon; Chicago is in for a real snow, tonight!"

It's not the first time North has asked a question like that, and not the first time Jack responds in such a way. He always leaves right then, before the meeting ends, and the action is enough to stop North from asking again. Losing company was worse, he thought.

Jack leaves each meeting through the same window he sits by, through a slat up at the top that North has begun keeping unlocked, in hopes that Jack will come flying back in whenever he pleases.

He never does, and it, like everything else, bothers North.

One day, at the end of a meeting that runs several hours late, North manages to stop the young spirit before he takes off out a window now covered with intricate frost designs, both inside and out.

"Where are you off to?" North asks, all smiles.

"Gotta fly home," says Jack, standing and stretching, "I've got a big day tomorrow."

It's the time of year where, although light still finds its way towards North's domain, the sun never rises, and he knows that night has settled where Jack spent most of his time that day.

"Why not rest here?" he says, "It'll save you time, yes?"

The look appears in Jack's eyes again, and North knows what he is going to say before the words leave his mouth, "That's alright. I have a place."

The smile on his face is getting harder to keep, "Near here?"

Jack nods, slowly, "It's not far. A little ways south."

Every direction away from the Pole is south. North knows that, and Jack knows it, too. But Jack neither explains nor says any more as he bids North a quick but enthusiastic goodbye and hikes out the window before he can press him further.

He's a fast flyer, and is soon a spot on the horizon, hardly distinguishable from passing albatross. North puts a hand to his chin as he stares after him, thoughtful. From behind, he can hear Bunny grumbling about the temperature, and he turns before the rabbit can take his leave.

"Bunny," he says, tone turned serious, "Does Jack have a place?"

The Pooka gives him a distracted stare before saying with a shrug, "He's a spirit of nature. The world is his place."

He isn't wrong, but North is persistent, "But does he have a place?"

Bunny looks at him, silence stretching until one of his ears cocks sideways. "I don't know."

That is the point where North decides he's had enough, and he sends Bunny out after the boy, just to make sure. There is something about this that connects it all; he's positive.

Many hours later, Bunny returns with snow in his fur and displeasure in his tone.

"He flew...forever." The Pooka moans and groans as he pulls mottled paws through fur that's beginning to ice together.

North throws a hand out in a vague gesture towards the fireplace, but Bunny is already on his way there.

"I thought I was going to die! He went from Russia to Canada to Pennsylvania and back! Anywhere my bollocks could fall off, he went! I'll never understand why anyone chooses to live up north."

"Yes, yes," says North, holding two cups of eggnog close to his chest in hopes that Bunny will faster get to the point, "but did you find where he lives? Does he have a home?"

Bunny still looks irritated, but he pauses, "Sort of."

"Hm?"

"He's got a home, alright," Bunny takes a cup of eggnog that North offers to him, "but it's a hole."

"Hush!" North chides, "I am sure your place is no better!"

"Ya don't understand," Bunny shoots him a look before downing the drink, "It's actually a hole. He's got a large tree down in the timberlands with a cavity hollowed out in the center. I thought he was just stopping for the night, but he's got all sorts of little trinkets in there."

The hand holding North's favorite mug clenches tight, "A tree?"

"He's been there a while, I think," Bunny continues the conversation towards the fire, "It's not much, but I'd definitely call it homely."

It's not a compliment, and it sets something off within North, something wild and fierce.

"This…" he says once he regathered his bearings, "this will not do."

The reply he gets is not what he expected, "I know."

North looks up, eyebrows flying up his forehead, "Eh?"

Bunny smirks at him, his mood significantly improved now that he was out of the cold, "Don't sound so surprised, mate. That boy gets on my last nerve, but I care about him."

North is more surprised that Bunny is agreeing with him, but he chooses to keep the thought to himself. Instead he grips the mug tighter in his hands, nodding to himself as he begins to pace, "Tomorrow, I will ask Jack to live here at the Pole. I will not have our newest Guardian living alone in a hole!"

It's a grand idea (North thinks so, at least), but Bunny lets out a snort and a scoff, saying, "Ya can't even get him to sit with us during our meetings. There's no way he'd let ya ask him to move in."

With that statement, Jack's behavior starts making sense. "Does he not feel welcome with us?" the thought unsettles him. He wants Jack to feel the love and general appreciation that the Guardians have for him, but again, Bunny scoffs at his statement.

"I'm sure he does," says Bunny, leaning against the side of an armchair so that he can hold his feet out to the orange flames, "but I also think that he distances himself."

"Why's that?"

"He's Jack Frost," Bunny shrugs, "I can't tell ya why, but I know he won't be stoked about ya askin' him to move in."

North frowns down at Bunny, not because he's mad, but because his friend is right. Terribly right. Mood dampeningly right. He can already imagine how the situation would go if North asked. Jack would smile, like he always does, then make up some excuse before riding out on the world's fastest winds.

He doesn't let that deter him, however, "Jack is too young to be out on his own."

Bunny's voice is soft, "He's not that young."

"He's not old."

"Right."

North looks away, turning a circle and humming to himself as gears turn inside his head. He wants Jack to move into the Pole, or at least find somewhere adequate to live, but more importantly, he wants Jack to feel welcome; he wants Jack to feel like a part of the group. But how was he going to go about that?

Ideas were beginning to form inside his head, like crystals of ice beneath the limbs of a red oak gone dormant for winter. Slowly, the preliminary pieces of a plan start to come together, and a smile blossoms over North's cheeks.

"Bunny," he announces rather than states, "I have an idea."

Poor Jack wasn't going to know what hit him.

Thank you so much for reading! I wish you all the best!