It was one of those occasions where Jack felt like he was in on some kind of inside joke without being aware of it and once again, the new guardian was reminded of just how much he needs to catch up on before he'll be able to understand what was currently going on around him. Not that he'd ever fully understand. And the guardians call him the mischief maker, yet they're the ones that have annual rituals that can sometimes be impossible to explain.

The moth of Christmas had officially ended and it was the first day of a fresh new year when North had summoned them again for another quarterly meeting. Even though Jack spent most of his time in Santoff Claussen, he stayed away for most parts of December as to not interfere with the production of toys. More or less he had expected change after his time of being away, although he didn't expect it to be this drastic.

Jack could tell that the production of toys had long ceased and it made him wonder why he could still hear the distinctive hum of machines from the factory below. He peered over the ramparts just to see the peculiar sight of air-fresheners rolling off conveyer-belts instead of toys. What the yetis around were doing however, could best be described as a disarray, having seemingly lost their orderly routine around the workshop, they flitted about their stations, nearly tripping over each other as the they hastily snatched up Christmas tree-shaped air fresheners and hung them practically everywhere. Even the decorations and the trinkets normally present in the globe room were also replaced by the scented cardboard trees.

The artificial aroma of citrus was beginning to make his head spin. Jack turned away from the balcony, wanting nothing more than to confine himself in North's studies for the rest of the day when the said Cossack rounded the corner and greeted him with his usual thundering tone. "Ah Jack! I it's nice to have you back again. I see you are early today." He clapped the winter spirit on the back as he said this, nearly causing his balance to waver as he was still a little tipsy from his dizziness.

Jack tried not to react too much, though he couldn't stop a grunt from escaping him as he leaned against the wall to steady himself. "Yeah, it's nice to see you too…uh," he made a wide gesture around him, emphasizing the air fresheners that hung like mistletoes in every doorway. "Mind telling me what's going on?"

An incredulous look passed before North's eyes and eventually turned into something akin to amusement. It made Jack wonder whether he had missed something during their previous meeting.

"Well it iz…something that happens once in a while," North clarified. "It iz best to see for yourself."

Jack rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to mutter 'here we go again' as he followed North's suit towards the center of the room. "Should I be worried?"

"No, not at all."

"Well the yetis seem worried."

"The yetis, well…they are a little smell sensitive."

Jack couldn't shake off the concern for the possibility of another impending disaster and a part of him still felt the need to say more. Before he could prod any further at the subject however, a pair of rabbit ears came to view as the wooden paneling of the floor gave way to a rabbit hole.

"Bloody hell North," was the first thing Bunny said as he climbed out of the hole and tapped his foot against the brink to seal the tunnels from the offending fumes. "I think ye let the yetis over do it this year, eh?"

"Nonsense," the Cossack simply brushed off the statement with a dismissive gesture. "It wouldn't hurt to take precautions; you know how sensitive they are."

"Uh…hey guys…"

"Well ya could've picked a betta time ta call a meetin"

"Nuh, you know it takes two months for it all to wear off, we cannot wait that long. You are aware of what happened ze last time we spent that long without checking on each other."

"Mind telling me what's going on?" Jack said as he cleared his throat rather loudly, not sure whether this was a grave matter being taken lightly or if he was just simply being ignored.

It was Bunny who answered him in the end, after a few more arguments exchanged with North but unlike the other guardian however, the rabbit did not even bother to hide his smirk. "Eh, you'll see soon enough."

At this point Jack was sure he's the only one left in the dark. As North and Bunnymund carried on their pointless dispute, Jack looked towards the yetis who were tidying up the room. They had a knowing look in their eyes, if not laced with slight dread and he wondered if it's not too late to learn yetish.

Jack had surmised all this fuss had something to do with Sandy so when Tooth finally arrived and inquired about the sand guardian's whereabouts, his assumption proved to be correct.

Of course he had received the same vague explanation when he asked Tooth about it, though at least she had the sense to warn Jack no t to get on Sandy's bad side on this particular day.

By the time Sandy arrived through the front door, the elves and yetis had long scurried off to the moon knows where and the others were trying their best not to react to the scent that came along with the eldest guardian.

Jack was idly flipping through the rule book and he was pretty sure their current situation involved Sandy's litter box rule. Apparently the dream-weaver himself can not control where his sand might end up, which meant he'd eventually run out of sand once the wind fully disperses the spindly wisps he leaves above every city each night. At some point he'd have to reabsorb sand from the closest sources and convert them into dream sand. He takes unnoticeable amounts from beaches and construction sites, so as not to give rise to any suspicions and a lot from cat litter, since it's the only kind of sand that is not in use anymore. He tends to take that certain stench along with him as well and the yetis weren't overly fond of that.

Sandy himself isn't overly fond of it either and it caused his temper to be a little too erratic.

Just like the typical sandman in one of his rare moods, the guardian simply brushed passed them without a greeting and stomped in the kitchen to obtain eggnog.

Phil was the unfortunate one left in charge of the pantry. He made his first mistake by inching away from Sandy when he approached him and dug himself deeper into the mess when he refused to get him some eggnog.

Not long after, the yetis and elves were either sprawled awkwardly over furniture or lying on the floor fast asleep.

There were creases over North's forehead as he looked upon the scene before him. He smoothed them away by running a hand over his temple, presumably trying to ward off the oncoming headache. "Well, perhaps it iz time to start"

Bunny was grumbling something about 'Sandy eventually knocking them out once he runs out of yetis' and Tooth had taken to listing down the things that'll piss off Sandy on a clipboard.

Jack couldn't decide whether he was amused or tired by these strange antics. Perhaps being a guardian wasn't such a dull thing at all.

This story had long stopped making sense to me a long time ago, but it's a lot of fun to write so I guess I'll just keep going.

This chapter is based on the rules "Don't let cats near Sandy because kitty litter is made of sand" submitted by Smarty and "Never tell Sandy he can't have any more eggnog" submitted by Ocbooyah.

The kitty litter thing is sort of a different take. This chapter was my little sister's idea, she's 8 and still knows nothing about anatomy and she thinks Sandy is basically just a fuel tank of sand with a beating heart. I know it really doesn't make sense but I just went with that hahah.

Thanks for reading! I'll try to update again as soon as possible but I can't guarantee any regular update schedules.

BTW: Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there :D