I do not own Jack Frost, Bunnymund or any other characters from the Rise of the Guardians universe, I just love them a lot!
I wrote this story as a thank you to Idigoddpairings for the amazing cover art she did for my story "Down the Rabbit Hole." She asked for a fic where Jack mentioned Bunny's tail and well, this was born! It takes place almost directly after "Down the Rabbit Hole." Be warned, bring plenty of floss, this thing has more fluffy sweetness then a cotton candy factory run by baby seals!
Jack slowly stirred, clinging to his dream, it had been an amazing dream and he didn't want it to end. He tried desperately to hold onto it. Holding the shining moment in his head for a second later, before it was gone, off to wherever all forgotten dreams go. As he became more aware of the waking world Jack noticed that he was extremely warm, far warmer than he usually was when he woke. He shifted slightly and something rubbed against his back, something warm and soft…fur? Then it hit him, memories of the last night rushing back to him.
"It wasn't a dream" Jack whispered to himself, his voice filled with wonder, almost unable to believe the truth in the words. He wiggled around in the pair of strong, furry arms wrapped around his waist until he was facing Aster. He laid his cheek against the soft fur of Aster's chest, his mind going through everything that had happened.
The last night had started out much like any other with Jack climbing into bed, in his room, and trying to fall asleep as thoughts of Aster played through his mind. He'd had a nightmare, he couldn't remember the contents of it, but he did remember pain and fear that had gripped him. Then he'd woken up, overwhelmed with fear and sadness to find Aster there, the rabbit's face inches from his own, asking if he was alright. Jack didn't know what had made him do it, but he'd kissed the rabbit, and then he'd run. He was convinced that he messed up everything with that one stupid, thoughtless...amazing moment. He was sure at best things would be awkward between him and Aster from then on, at worst the rabbit wouldn't want to see him again. That hadn't happened though, quite the opposite in fact. Aster had followed Jack when he'd ran, he had kissed Jack, and he had told Jack that he loved him. Jack laid there replaying the night, Aster's rapid heartbeat soothing him to sleep, the soft fur under his cheek far better than any pillow.
Jack blinked awake some time later, immediately knowing where he was this time. He looked up to see those bright green eyes staring at him. "How'd you sleep?" Aster asked, smiling at Jack as he squeezed him around the waist.
Jack rubbed his cheek against the rabbit's soft fur and smiled, making a content sound somewhere between a sigh and a growl. "Wonderfully" He said as he brought his hand up and started running it through the soft fur on Aster's chest, feeling the muscles underneath. He had dreamt of this moment for months, and he couldn't quite believe it was really happening.
Aster seemed to notice because he looked at Jack with his head cocked slightly "What's wrong frostbite?"
Jack looked away, feeling foolish and said "I…I keep expecting to wake up."
Aster laughed at that, pulling the winter spirit closer to him "I hate to break it to ya, but this nightmare's real" he said in a playful tone, a mock serious look on his face.
"More like a dream come true" Jack said looking into the shining green eyes that had inhabited his dreams for so long. Aster smiled wide at his words, leaning down and planted a kiss on the grinning winter spirit. Jack returned the kiss, the feeling of the Aster's lips against his pushing all other thoughts from his mind. They could have been there for five minutes, or five hours, Jack had no clue, he only knew that Aster pulled away too soon, the rabbit's paw coming up to brush along Jack's cheek gently.
"We should get up." Aster said, not moving his gaze from Jack's face.
"I suppose we should" Jack replied, neither of the making any move to actually do so. They looked at each other for several seconds and then Jack snickered, the sounds eliciting an identical response from Aster. Suddenly they both burst out laughing long and hard, neither of them really sure why, but enjoying their shared happiness. Finally they stopped, breathing a little hard as they laid there looking at one another, smiling, sides hurting slightly. And then they were kissing again. Jack could feel the happiness blossoming in his chest. He never wanted this moment to end, there in Aster's bed, reveling in finally being close to each other, everything was perfect.
Of course it couldn't last forever. The kiss ended, and they had to leave the get up. Aster was the first to move, albeit reluctantly, trailing his hand down Jack's body as he walked to where he hung his harness and started to strap in on.
Jack watched the rabbit move, marveling at the smooth muscles visible even through the thick fur, their curves and contours obvious as Aster moved and stretched. Jack ogled the rabbit, finally allowing himself to have all the thoughts he had been suppressing for months. Truly enjoying the sight of the rabbit with no guilt or fear in his heart, only hope and love. He grinned wide noticing Aster's tail, the little tuft twitching slightly as he moved. Jack made a sound he could only equate to a small child looking at some sort of small fuzzy animal, causing Aster to turn and look at him. "What was that?" Aster asked, sounding somewhat bemused.
"Oh, nothing" Jack said, getting out of the bed, walking lightly over to the rabbit. Rubbing his hand down Aster's back until it rested on his tail, Jack started scratching at its base "It's just that I never noticed how adorable your tail is."
Aster's head leaned up and tilted slightly, his eyes drifting shut as his foot started thumping against the ground at Jack's touch. He remained that way for several seconds, Jack loving every one of them before the rabbit turned sharply, bringing his hands down to hold Jack's waist and bending to brush his nose against Jack's "Stop that" he said with a grin.
"Why? It looked like you liked it?" Jack asked, grinning back.
"I never said I didn't, I just said to stop." Aster replied, leaning down to kiss
Jack again. Jack stretched up, meeting the kiss, filing away what he'd just learned for later use.
Finally, after much kissing and a fair amount of grouping, they managed to get dressed and make it to the kitchen of the burrow. Aster threw together some breakfast for them, nearly burning it when Jack 'distracted' him. "North is expecting us today, remember?" Aster said as they ate, their feet fighting furiously under the table.
"Oh ya..." Jack said, disappointment clear in his voice. It was approaching Christmas time and North always liked to have the other guardian's over before the holidays were in full swing and he was too busy for company.
Aster chuckled "Don't sound too down. We'll go, visit for a bit and then come home. How's
that sound?"
Jack's heart gave a little flip at the word 'home' and he smiled "Sounds good."
"We can tell the others while we're there to, get that out of the way." Aster said, taking a bite of toast.
"Tell the others?" Jack asked, feeling worried in spite of himself.
"Ya, they'll figure it out soon enough anyway, if they haven't already, and it's easier than trying to hide it." Aster said calmly.
"Alright then." Jack said, his stomach still a bit tight at the thought. He knew he was being foolish, after all, Sandy already knew about Jack's feeling and Aster's two based on what he'd told Jack. North would be happy, probably try to insist on some sort of celebration. Jack wasn't exactly sure of Tooth's reaction, but he was fairly sure it would involve disable levels far above his hearing range. They finished eating quickly and Aster went to clean up the mess. During that time Jack decided to try his trick with the rabbit's tail again, much to Aster's over exaggerated annoyance.
Just under an hour later the pair finally made it out of the burrow, both giggling happily, Jack adjusting his hoodie to cover the purple bruise just below his collarbone. He giggled louder as Aster started nibbling at the other side of his neck, mumbling about a 'matching set' "Get off me you giant fuzz ball!" Jack said, pushing Aster away playfully. "North is expecting us, and the sooner we get there, the sooner we can get back." He said with a suggestive wink.
"'m starting to think we should just blow it off" Aster said, wrapping his arms around Jack's waist, making another go at the winter spirits neck.
Giggling again Jack brought his shoulder up to his cheek, cutting of the rabbit's access to his neck. "You know as well as I do that if we try that, North will come looking for us. I know were going to tell them, but I don't think that's the best way for them to find out." Jack said, blushing at the thought.
"I suppose your right, would be funny though." Aster said, straightening up to a standing position.
"I'd go with mortifying." Jack said with a grimace, a blush coloring his cheeks as he imagined any of the other walking in on the last hour.
Aster laughed at that "Come on, let's get going." He said, tapping his foot and opening a rabbit hole. He hoped down, starting out towards North's with Jack following behind. After several minutes of slow progress he stopped "At this rate we won't get there till Christmas, come on" He said, walking over and scooping Jack into his arms.
"Whoa!" Jack yelped "What are you doing?"
"At your pace we'll never get there, so I'm carrying you." Aster said, breaking into a run as he said so. Jack had to admit he enjoyed being carried by the rabbit so he didn't complain or make a fuss, he just settle down and nuzzled his cheek against Aster's chest.
"it turns out Fool had charged carpet with static, when Bunny stepped on, POOF, hair out like balloon!" North said, roaring with laughter as he finished his story, the rest of the table, save for Aster, joining in with him. The large rabbit sat, his ears back in embarrassment, glaring at the Russian seated across the table from him which made Jack laugh even harder.
"I told you never to mention that!" He said to North, the anger in his voice for the Russian's benefit.
"No, no" Jack said waving Aster's protests away with a sly look at the rabbit "tell me more!"
Jack was having a wonderful time, enjoying spending time with the other guardians and hearing stories of his new family. His only wish was that he could be sitting next to Aster, but they hadn't yet told the others about their relationship, if it could even be called that at this point. They would wait until the moment was right, not wanting to start the night out with 'Hey guys, guess what'. So Jack sat there, occasionally brushing his foot against Aster's and enjoying North's seemingly unending supply of embarrassing stories about Aster.
Later they were all in North's main room, standing around the roaring fire, or sitting on one of the flush chairs scattered around the room. Aster was standing over by the window talking with North while Jack sat on the large couch next to Tooth who was going on about something that Jack had stopped trying to pay attention to, just nodding and 'oh' or 'mhm'ing at the right moments. "Jack, come over here" North said, waving Jack over.
He looked at Tooth and help up a finger mumbling "One sec" before hurrying over. He stopped facing the large guardian, pack to Aster and had to stop himself form leaning back against the rabbit.
"Is not officially Chrisman, but I wanted to give you present!" North said merrily, handing Jack a small wrapped gift.
"Oh, you didn't have to." Jack said grinning as he accepted the gift.
"Is kind of my thing." North said with a kink, looking at Jack expectantly.
Jack opened the gift and found a Russian nesting doll of him, clearly throwing a snowball and having fun. He opened it and found another, a large heart drawn on the chest, another with him brandishing his staff, a determined look on his face. The last doll was missing; Jack knew the place was meant for the small doll North had made him after the battle with Pitch. "Thanks North" he said, stepping forward and hugging the red clad guardian.
"I'm glad you like!" North boomed.
Jack went to move back to his seat, but the look Tooth was giving him, a mixture of surprise, excitement and glee, made him stop. Sandy was also looking at him, a knowing smile on his face, turned to his right Jack saw North looking at him expectantly. He turned to his left and saw Aster looking just as confused, they met each other's eyes, both thinking the same though 'Do they know?' the Jack saw Tooth's eyes shoot up and then back to them. He followed them and everything suddenly made since, mistletoe. He looked back at Aster and saw the rabbit had seen it to, he look at Jack with a gleam in his bright green eyes.
"Come on, is tradition!" North boomed from being Jack, making hi jump slightly. Aster leaned down and pecked Jack slightly on the cheek, Jack mimicking the action, both surprised and more than a little disappointed. Aster pulled away just enough to wink as Jack and then he leaned in and kissed the winter spirit, right there in front of the others, kissing him in a way that left nothing up for speculation. Several hours later, or maybe second, Jack had no clue, Aster pulled away grinning at him in a conspiratorial way.
"OH! Congratulations!" Tooth squeaked, clasping her hand together.
"About time!" North boomed, grinning at them both. Sandy clapped happily, a dream sand heart floating about his head.
Jack looked at the other guardians, blushing as Aster pulled him backward, wrapping his arms around the winter spirit as Jack leaned back into him.
"So, who finally head out of sand and went for it eh?" North asked, a little to pointedly.
Aster and Jack looked at each other, a bit confused and then Aster said "Jack…why?"
North said something in Russian that sounded a lot like a curse, while Tooth made a joyful noise "Pay up North!" She trilled happily.
"Ya ya" North said grudgingly as he looked at Aster, annoyance clear on his face.
Jack looked up as Aster as the rabbit laughed "I'm missing something." He said, tilting his head slightly to the side.
"It would seem" Aster said with a chuckle "That our friends had bet on which of us would make a move first."
"Unfortunately, I picked Bunny" North said.
"Sorry mate," Aster said to North, not sounding sorry in the least. "So whatcha lose?"
North grimaced "You were supposed to make first move, and Tooth was supposed to get off back about sweets!" He said, his tone accusatory, though mostly joking.
"As soon as Christmas is over North, my place, I'm filling that cavity once and for all!" Tooth exclaimed triumphantly. The grimace on North's face made Jack burst out laughing, the mirth returning to the room as the others joined in with him.
Jack and Aster stayed at the party for a while longer, answering questions, mostly posed by Tooth, about how it had happened. Finally they made their excuses and left, Aster carrying Jack through the tunnels again.
Jack's feet barely touched the grass of the warren before he was kissing the rabbit; his lips pressed to Aster's, both of them sinking to the ground. Jack gasped as Aster started nibbling at his neck, causing lines of fire to shoot through the winter spirit. He wasn't sure when his hoodie had come off, he hadn't even been aware is was had until Aster reached his color bone and kept going, making his way farther down Jack's body. Aster's hand brushed up against the winter spirit's side, the light brush tickling horribly and making Jack giggle. Aster froze and raised his head to look Jack in the eyes, a truly evil grin spreading across his face.
"Oh don't you dar-!" jack shouted, getting cut off by his own laughter as Aster started tickling him. He was giggling uncontrollably, Aster laughing along with him as he tried to stammer out anything past his laughter. Finally he couldn't breathe anymore and he shouted "Ok, ok ok OK! STOP!" still laughing. Mercifully Aster stopped, grinning down and Jack and planting a kiss on his nose. Jack smiled and leaned forward to kiss the rabbit when an evil idea of his own occurred to him. He slowly reached up toward Aster's large, sensitive ear, rubbing it gently, another trick he had learned , grinning at the small gasp from Aster. At that moment he sent a small blast of searing cold through the ear, causing Aster to gasp loudly and shove Jack away.
"What the hell!" Aster yelled, shooting up to a sitting position and grabbing his ear, rubbing it "Ow, Moon damnit Jack!" He shouted.
"I-I-I'm sorry, I didn't know-" Jack said, concern flooding his voice and face as he saw the pain on Aster's. He scooted forward, putting a hand on Aster's arm.
Aster shoved Jack away, saying "Don't! Just, go…" he said, waving Jack away.
Jack felt the prickly in his eyes that meant tears were close behind so he stood and took flight, cursing himself. He landed several minutes later on the same hillside he had the precious night, had it really been last night? One day. He laughed humorlessly at himself, it had taken him less than one day to mess up. The sun was just setting in the warren, and from his place on the hill Jack had a perfect view of the beautiful scene. He stared at it, wondering if things would, if they even could, work between him and Aster. He was in love with Aster, and Aster him, but was that enough? Could they really overcome their differences? Jack sat there with his arms wrapped around his knees until the sound of large feet caught his attention.
Aster walked over, sinking down several feet for Jack, not looking at the winter spirit, Jack didn't look at him either. "This is going to take a lot of work isn't it?" Aster said.
"Ya…it is" Jack said with a small sigh.
"Well, I know I'm willing to work for you…if you'll work for me?" Aster said, turning to look at Jack.
Jack looked at the rabbit, his face lit from the side by the brilliant red-orange sunset. His expression was sincere, the smallest touch of fear visible in his bright green eyes. He held his arm out, welcoming Jack to come over, into his embrace. Jack smiled "Always" he said, scooting over and leaning against Aster as he wrapped his arm around Jack's shoulders. They sat there watching the sun set on their first day as a couple. Jack didn't know what the future would hold, he knew there would be fights and bad days, but he knew one thing. He loved Aster more than he ever thought he could love anyone, and, he decided, that was more than enough.