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North sways dangerously and Bunny glances over at the taller man, frowning. "You alright, mate?" He murmurs. North just hums in a vague form of acknowledgement, his eyes slipping shut. Bunny's eyes widen and he shouts North's name, panic burning in his chest, but North snores and the small boy slips from his arms and exhaustion overrides his mind.
Bunny kicks off the hardwood, his arms stretching out to catch Jack before he can hit the ground. The boy stirs, his blue eyes opening and locking onto Bunny, then he looks over at North and wails, small fingers reaching toward the sleeping man desperately. Tooth hurries forward, scooping Jack from Bunny's arms, and the rabbit beckons to Sandy, both carefully maneuvering North into his armchair as Tooth leaves the room, heading toward the nursery to make the baby a bottle.
When Bunny and Sandy manage to wake North, Tooth is finally returning, arms laden with blankets and Jack curled into her chest, still whining and teary-eyed. North frowns, yawning thickly, and reaches for Jack. "Ah-Sorry, I-I haven't been sleeping much." He grumbles. Tooth sets down the blankets, then just hovers there, holding onto Jack despite the boy's attempts to get back to his father. He babbles, clearly upset and desperate to get back to North, but none of the Guardians are all that keen to reunite the two.
North's eyebrows knit together. "Tooth, give him to me." She hugs the boy, blushing hard and trying to ignore the guilt in her chest as she turns away from North. "Tooth." "Mate, when was the last time you actually slept?" Bunny asks seriously. North glares at him. "That is none of your business. Now, Tooth-" The fairy tenses, closing her eyes tightly to fight off tears and hating everything about this moment. North's anger, they shame on her stomach, the way Jack sobs and tries to get back to North; it's all becoming too much and she's not sure how much more she can handle. "Tooth!"
She sobs and Jack turns to her instead, gently pressing his palm to her cheek and blowing small spot bubbles, concern arising in his chest as tears spill over his small hand and drip from Tooth's chin. North's eyes widen and he covers his mouth, horrified. "Oh no. Tooth, I'm so sorry, I didn't-" She wails and tears out of the room, Jack squealing in surprise as they leave again.
North stares after them a moment, disgusted with himself, then he groans and runs his hands over his face. Bunny sighs. "I'll go make sure she's okay." He says quietly, getting on all fours and running after her.
Sandy watches him leave, then looks back at North. He frowns, lifts a blanket from the coffee table, and moves toward the man. North smiles weakly as Sandy offers him the comforter. "Thank you, Sandy, but I need to-" He begins to stands and Sandy rises to his height, glaring and making North shudder. He quickly sits, Sandy's silent movements mimicking a sigh.
A barrage of images burst above his head and North's sleep-deprived mind can't even hope to keep up. He stares blankly at Sandy, the shorter man briefly glaring again before he looks around. He pulls open a drawer in the coffee table and takes out a pad of paper and a pen, quickly scrawling a note down before handing it to North.
Let me watch Jack tonight. You need to rest.
North sighs and hands the notepad back. "No, that's alright. I can-" Sandy covers his mouth and North blinks comically. He lifts the book and shakes it insistently.
They stare at each other for a moment, Sandy's eyes narrowing dangerously, then North sighs and nods, gently pushing away his arm. "Very well. Just for tonight." He concedes. Sandy grins, lifting the blanket again and dropping it in North's lap, then a burst of sand erupts from his hand and settles over North. He snores absurdly and Sandy laughs silently.
It doesn't take long for Sandy to explain everything to them. Tooth, now much calmer, happily gives Jack over, the boy still whimpering quietly and fussing sporadically. Sandy smiles as he leans into his chest, then takes the bag of supplies from Tooth. "You sure you got this, Sandy? One of us could always help out." Bunny murmurs. Tooth quickly nods. "O-Or both! A BABY is a lot of work and if you-" Sandy shakes his head, his hair bouncing slightly. He wakes politely, then leaves them to watch over North. They glance at each other anxiously.
*
Sandy looks over, sighing and moving over to the window when he sees the sunset. Strings of Golden sand spill from his fingertips, a small smile on his face as he purposefully gives North sweet dreams about playing with Jack. Bunny dreams of helping kids find his Easter eggs, and Toothiana is granted visions of bustling around, helping her fairies trade out teeth for coins. Overall, the Guardians are sleeping peacefully.
Sadly, the same can't be said for Jack. The child whines, then wails, Sandy's smile falling to a look of deep concern as he drifts back to the baby. Sandy, not having a proper sleeping arrangement for such a young child, had simply piled countless blankets and pillows on a small sand cloud. Sandy peeks over the edge and Jack sobs harder, clumsily rubbing at his eyes and so tired. But North isn't holding him and he can't sleep without the familiarity of it, which is proving to be a bit of an issue. Sandy watches him for a moment, thinking, then huffs lightly and scoops him up.
Jack immediately screams, shoving at Sandy's chest and wailing. Sandy rolls his eyes, kissing the boy's forehead.
His eyelashes flutter briefly, Sandy watching and so relieved as Jack yawns and curls into him. Sandy starts toward the bed, then halts, turning to look at the window once more. Jack babbles incoherently and Sandy makes up his mind, moving to the balcony and settling in a large, comfortable chair, cradling the child and smiling serenely.
He decides that his duties can wait a few minutes.