DAY FOUR: FOUR CALLING BIRDS

Birds are often used to carry messages. What are some secret messages that the two boys have exchanged?

Jack stared out the window before him sullenly, idly tracing frost deigns onto the smooth surface. The bench he sat upon was plushy and blue, and all together a very nice place to sit and have a break, but when the break was basically forced upon you it got rather boring pretty fast.

Jack loved his room at the Pole, it was a fact. However when he was locked in there, staff-less, to stop him seeing his fuzzy eared boyfriend...

Yeah that was a bit of a problem.

Jack scowls at the window, quickly wiping the frost from the window with a grumble. North, who had appointed himself honorary father figure to Jack (though Jack wasn't exactly complaining at that exact part), had recently decreed that Jack and Aster shouldn't date when the two had come out to the Guardians as being in a relationship. In fact, one could even have said that North had protested vehemently.

Needless to say, things had only gotten worse from there.

Jack loves North with all his heart, really he does, but god that man can be a stubborn bastard when he wants to. The rest of the Guardians had just followed the man's orders, even Jack and Bunny, the former who was sent to his room and the latter who was sent back to his pocket universe.

Sit. Stay.

And Jack had been pouting ever since.

A knock sounds from the door on the other side of the room, which was to say a good ten meters away, and before Jack can answer a rather large Russian fumbles through the door with a plate of cookies in hand. Jack does his best to look sullen even as North gives him the best puppy dog look he can manage, but eventually cracks under the sight of big blue eyes.

An awkward silence reigns between the two as North fidgets and Jack sulks. Finally, North opens his mouth and begins to speak.

"He's too old." Is what North finally lands on. "You are barely three hundred, so young for even a spirit!"

Jack's mood darkens, and his face must show it, for North is quick to try and backtrack.

"That's not to say you are not old enough to make own decisions!" He says, ringed hands rising in surrender, "But I do not zink it is good idea. I believe you are much too different, and I do not wish to see your heart broken, my boy."

Jack's glare softens, but doesn't fully retreat.

"I'm not going to break up with him." Jack finally says, taking a cookie from off the plate and taking a bite. "I've thought this though North, we've thought this through, and we think it's worth a shot. And nothing you say can change that."

North's hopeful look goes downcast, then determined. "You vill stay here the night, da?" It's more an order that a question, "Perhaps you will come to sense in morning."

With that note of finality he leaves the room in a despondent state, closing the door softly. Jack just sighs and rubs his temples in exasperation. Jack knows North means well but... North. North no.

He moves his hand up and through his hair, tugging at the occasional knot as he tries to think through this little problem. Jack refused to give up Aster. Jack refused to give up North. He apparently was only allowed one or the other.

Fuck.

He's snapped from his musing by a clatter coming from the window next to him, and he nearly falls from the bench as he flails from being startled. Jack stares at the window in apprehension, eyes widening as he sees a small stone sail up from below and into the window with a small clack before falling back to Earth.

With a laugh he cracks open the window, dodging slightly as another stone flings past his head and into the bedroom below. Jack peers down to the ground two stories below to see a spot of grey and brown on the tundra, waving quickly with both arms. He can just barely hear Aster's words, but they echo around the ice of the Arctic circle it's hard to hear exactly what is being said. Jack knows that if they keep shouting then North or a Yeti will hear and come to spoil the fun, and he's nearly worried, but stops as he gets an idea.

Holding up a hand for Bunny to stop his hollering before they get caught, Jack disappears back into his room and fumbles around for a bit before finding what he needs. A few minutes later, a perfectly folded paper airplane sails out of the window. Aster watches from the ground as it sails through the air gently, looping a few times before floating down to him, aided by the wind.

Bunny catches it seamlessly, unfolding it to reveal a message.

Sup, Romeo? Is written in a looping, messy script that is so unbelievably Jack. Aster laughs as he takes out a pencil from his bandolier and writes just below Jack's message, being careful not to push through as he writes his response and refolds the airplane.

For a second he wonders how exactly he's going to get it back up to the window, but the wind quickly solves this problem by scooping up the airplane and flying it back to Jack with a couple loops through the air.

Jack catches it carefully, unfolding it once again to see the messy, harsh scribble that is so obviously from Aster.

Not much Juliet, it says, just enjoying the view. Got grounded, huh?

Jack laughs, writes his response, and sends it back.

You know it, aren't you supposed to be in the Warren?

And down.

Yeah, it was getting kind of boring without my mate though, hows about you sneak out for a bit?

And up.

Can't, North has my staff and has put wards on the room. The man is thorough, I will admit.

And down.

Strewth, that's too bad. I'm getting kind of lonely.

And up.

Awww poor baby. Gunna cry about it?

And down.

Maybe.

And the cycle repeats until they run out of paper on both sides, and then again as Jack makes another airplane. They spend a good couple of hours tossing the plane back and forth and working through a game plan to get Jack outside and past North. Unfortunately, Aster's feet begin to lose feeling, and he's forced to leave his mate behind to go keep his toes. They wave their goodbyes and the like, and Aster disappears into a rabbit hole with a massive hole in his heart.

Jack watches him go with a stone in his stomach, but still closes the window softly and clings to the airplane that he'd gotten last. With a soft sigh he sets the plane down on a shelf and crawls into bed, hugging a pillow to his chest and trying to imagine it being a little fluffier and warmer. Eventually he falls into sleep, and a few hours later he's deep enough that he doesn't notice a certain red clad figure sneaking into his room to gather up a unused plate of cookies, before also taking the airplanes out of curiosity.

North read through the letters, eyes widening as he saw the words between the two lovers. He hadn't heard Jack be so open, nor had he heard Bunny joke as much as they had when speaking with each other. It made his heart sink to think that he had gotten in the way of that, it really did.

But he really didn't want to see Jack heartbroken and Bunny even more miserable than before.

But he knew that he was causing these things to happen.

So it is with a heavy heart that he quietly shakes a sleeping winter sprite awake, and hands him the airplanes. Jack looks at him with worry, but North just smiles and pats him on the back.

"I will not see you heartbroken." He says again, wanting to pull Jack into a hug, but knowing Jack's need for personal space.

But Jack goes ahead and throws his arms around his father figure with joy, bouncing up and down on the bed as North magiks the boy's staff from it's previous location within the Pole. Jack gives him one last hug before darting out of the window and into the night, moving at supersonic speeds towards Australia.

Bunnymund was sitting in the Warren, sadly herding googies into their night home for a good night of rest before painting tomorrow. It was so quiet without Jack, so still and calm and wrong.

He's so wrapped up in his thoughts that he almost misses the blank paper airplane that floats gently pst his face, but he catches it just before it hits the dye river to his left.

He unfurls it in confusion, looking around for a source but finding none, before smiling as he sees what was written upon it.

A slightly wonky heart is drawn in red paint, big and red and taking up the whole page. Aster looks up again and sees a speck of blue in front of him, already flying towards him slowly. Bunny smiles, rushing up to grab his mate into a hug, pulling him into a passionate kiss.

"Hello Romeo," Jack giggles, snuggling into the warm arms around him.

"Hulla Juliet." Bunny answers back, hugging tighter.

A/N Hallo all, sorry it's kind of short today but OMG HOMEWORK JUST SLAMMED ME JESUS it was awful. On the other hand, I've only got one more thing to hand in at this point, so we shout be putting out better/longer stuff now that I've got less school looming over me. Thank you all for reading and reviewing, and I love each and every one of you forever :D