Thank you for all the favorites, follows, and reviews! I did not expect that many and certainly not so quickly. You flatter me. I am so happy that so many of you liked Truth and I hope you love this one just as much.
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Feelings Revealed
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The next time that Aster saw Jack was at a party North was throwing. Aster huffed as he was dragged into another conversation. Jack had yet to make an appearance and Bunny was quickly losing patience.
"It's okay!" A voice shouted from across the room. Bunny looked up as a cool breeze swept through the room carrying the scent of mint and freshly fallen snow. "I'm here! You are all welcome!" He smirked around the room. Most of the spirits rolled their eyes and turned away. North gave a booming laugh and squished the winter sprite in a hug. Tooth flitted over to welcome him before she shoved two fingers in his mouth to examine his teeth.
"They're still so beautiful and perfect!" She squealed as she hugged him tightly. Aster turned his back on the tree nymph trying to talk to him and hopped over.
"You took your time getting here," he grunted once he reached Jack's side. Jack turned to smirk at him.
"If I had known how desperate you were for my company I would have been here sooner," Jack teased. Aster snorted and rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, because I was hoping to keep you all to myself," Aster said half teasing and half telling the truth.
"In your dreams." Jack laughed as he looked around at the people and decorations that were scattered around the room. Aster leaned close, smirking to himself.
"You don't know what goes on in my dreams, Frostbite, but I'll gladly show you." Bunny's voice was low and sultry, practically a purr in his snowflakes ear. Jack whipped around to stare at him in wide-eyed surprise, his cheeks tinting blue as he blushed. Aster watched him through half-lidded eyes, pleased with the flustered look he had put on the winter sprite's face.
"What?" Jack squeaked. Aster shrugged and smirked at him. North stumbled over, obviously having had one too many eggnogs and beamed at them.
"Jack! Why you no drink eggnog?" North slurred slightly.
"Err…I'm not sure I should," Jack said hesitantly as he watched North sway in front of him.
"Nonsense! I bring you one, no?" North boomed causing several heads to turn in their direction.
"Sure big guy," Jack relented, watching the older man in amusement.
"I'll get it," Aster offered. North turned to blink at him in confusion and Jack raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"Wha'?" North slurred.
"Why?" Jack asked suspiciously.
"Go sit down before you fall," Aster told North, pushing him towards the couch. North stumbled away and Jack watched him, chuckling softly before turning to Bunny and wiping the smile off his face.
"What are you up to, kangaroo?" Jack asked, eyes narrowed.
"I dunno what you're talking about, snowflake. I'm just offering to get you a drink," Aster said as he walked away to get them both some eggnog. Aster snickered to himself. Everything was going as planned. He would show Jack that he was interested and then maybe the boy wouldn't be so embarrassed about their kiss on the ice and he'd stop avoiding Aster so that he could seduce Jack faster.
Aster returned holding two cups and almost shattered in his paws when he saw Eros, or Cupid as he liked to call him, standing next to Jack with an arm slung over his shoulder. Bunny snarled as he finally reached them.
"What do you think you're doing, Cupid?" Bunny snapped as he placed the drinks down. Eros grinned at him, eyes flashing mischievously.
"I'm just talking to my new friend, Jack. He's hilarious. I think we'd get on great, don't you," Eros asked him, leaning against Jack slightly. Jack smiled up at him and turned to Bunny excitedly.
"Bunny, this guy is so cool! He's better at pranking than I am! He said he'd teach me some new stuff and that we could pull off some awesome pranks together! Isn't that cool! And he can fly too! And use a bow and arrows! He said he'd teach me!" Jack spoke so quickly in his excitement that it was hard for Aster to understand everything he was saying but what he did understand he didn't like. Aster glared at Cupid's smug face.
"Sounds fun," Aster said through clenched teeth. Jack was so excited to meet another spirit who wanted to get to know him and, as much as Aster hated the thought of Cupid getting close to his snowflake, he didn't want to ruin it for Jack. Aster swallowed anger and forced a smile. Jack shot him a worried look.
"You alright, Bunny? You don't look too good," Jack said. Eros laughed loudly at that and Bunny growled.
"I'm fine." He snapped. Jack looked uncertain but didn't question him again. Bunny spent the rest of the party trying to keep Jack's attention off of Cupid, interrupting the irritating man whenever he could. Cupid was in the middle of telling Jack about one of his pranks when Bunny started.
"So then I snuck into-"
"You want anything to eat, Frostbite?" Jack looked over at him in confusion, having been caught up in Eros' stupid story.
"What?" Jack asked missing the glare that Cupid was giving Aster.
"Food. You want any? I'll go get you some," Aster offered. "Or better yet, we could go get a bite to eat and Cupid here can piss off."
"I'm good. You can go get something if you want. Eros and I'll stay here," Jack said, turning back to hear the rest of the other man's story. Bunny growled in annoyance, glaring at Cupid as he fantasized about hitting him in his face with a boomerang.
"I had mixed together all of the most foul smelling-"
"You wanna go sit down? It's a little crowded over here," Bunny interrupted again. Jack turned to him and looked towards the couches.
"They seem a bit…full." Jack snickered. Aster turned, following his gaze and snorted. North was sprawled out on one of the couches and the elves were all huddled on the other one with a platter of cookies.
"So, anyway," Eros said loudly, regaining Jack's attention. Bunny sighed. He had one more idea before he gave up for the night. Hoping that his snowflake wouldn't laugh at him he cleared his throat.
"Wanna…dance?" Aster asked Jack, leaning in to whisper the words into his ear. Jack jumped and turned to stare at him for a full minute. He turned back to Eros and bunny dropped, the rejection hurting him more than he thought it would have.
"Excuse me, Eros. Bunny and I have to go," Jack said. Eros tried to persuade Jack to stay but he just shook his head, grabbed Aster's hand and walked away. Aster shot Cupid a smug grin, purring happily. He was going to dance with Jack. His snowflake wanted to dance with him! They were going to dance, together! It wasn't until he heard a door slam shut that Aster realized they weren't going to the dance floor.
"Where are we?" Aster asked as he looked around.
"The hallway," Jack said. "What's wrong with you?"
"What do you mean? Nothing's wrong with me!" Aster snapped. Jack narrowed his eyes.
"Are you mad at me?" Jack asked.
"What? No!"
"Are you pulling a prank on me? Did you spike my eggnog?"
"No I didn't spike your drink," Aster growled. Jack stared at him for a moment before holding out a hand, palm facing him.
"Stay here for a sec," Jack said before slipping back inside. Aster tapped his foot in irritation and took out one of his boomerangs, sharpening his claws as he waited for Jack to return. His snowflake came back five minutes later with a drunk North, giggling Tooth, and Sandy. Aster groaned as he slipped his weapon back into its holster.
"What did you bring these numpties for?" Aster hissed. Jack shot his a worried look before turning to the other guardians.
"I think something is wrong with Bunny!" Jack told them. Aster rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest.
"There is nothin' wrong with me, Frostbite." He said again.
"Yes there is! You just don't want to admit it!" Jack snapped at him. "He's been acting weird all night! He keeps offering to get me drinks or food and he kept scaring everybody away and he was really nice to me and he asked me to dance!" Jack rushed out, sounding scandalized at the last example. Bunny stared at Jack in mortification as Tooth cooed at him and Sandy wagged his eyebrows at him, staring knowingly.
"Is nothing wrong with Bunny, Jack." North chuckled.
"But he's been acting really weird! What if he's sick or something?" Jack exclaimed.
"Bunny is not sick. He is trying to- Argh!" A hole had opened up beneath North before he could finish his sentence. Jack whirled around to stare at Bunny who was glaring at the remaining Guardians.
"Aster! What did you do to North?" Tooth gasped as she fluttered over the opening he had created. Aster shrugged and pushed away from the wall.
"North doesn't know how to keep his big mouth shut," Aster snapped before turning to Jack. "I'm not sick. There isn't anything wrong with me. Although I'm starting to think otherwise." Bunny grumbled that last part. Jack hesitated, biting his lip anxiously.
"Are you sure?" He asked again. Bunny threw his hands in the air with a shout of frustration.
"You know what? I'm done. I tried all I'm going to for the night. And you know what else?" He pointed towards a laughing Sandy and Tooth, glaring at North as he managed to climb out of the hole. "Screw you guys, I'm going home." With that Aster tapped the ground twice, disappearing down the hole. The tunnel closed behind him, leaving a light blue flower.
Aster made his way to his Warren, grumbling under his breath the whole time. He didn't understand how Jack could be so oblivious the boy had kissed him first for Easter's sake! Aster groaned in frustration as he began to come up with a different plan to court his winter sprite. Something simple that Jack couldn't mistake for him being ill.
Aster stopped next to one of his rivers of paint, watching as his googies jumped in and splashed around happily. One got stuck on a crack and Aster reached into to pull in out. He held the egg lightly as he brainstormed. He looked down at the egg. It was blue with white polka dots. Aster grinned as he got an idea. He set the egg down so he could gather his supplies. He had some painting to do.