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Aster trudged back into the warren. Between a nor’easter and record rainfalls, Easter in the northern hemisphere had been a special kind of rough and he wanted nothing more than to get cleaned up and collapse into his bed for a month. He briefly thought about contacting Jack, concerned he hadn’t seen the other Guardian flying around with the snow. Exhaustion won out and he fumbled his way to the bath hoping the young man would join him later.
Dawn crossed the international dateline, officially ending Easter and Aster woke in his bed still sore and chilled from the frenetic pace of the day before. He reached out, expecting to find Jack curled against the edge of his nest. The younger spirit tended to do that on nights when Aster was cold. Their temperatures normally balanced out, but they naturally drifted to separate parts of the nest those days one ran too hot or cold.
His paw met air where he expected to find Jack and he sniffed the air, eyes blinking against the slight gloom of his bedroom. “Jack?”
Silence answered him and he sat up, looking around. None of Jack’s usual things littered his bedroom, even the things he knew were there when he finally crawled into bed hours before. Feeling panic creep in, he left his bed and started wandering the warren. Every empty room lacking the other Guardian set his heart pounding harder until he had to sit down and take several deep breaths.
He fetched a snow globe and shook it, calling through the portal for North. If Jack wasn’t with Aster, then he would be with North. The youngest Guardian was never really far from either of them these days. A concerned Nicholas St. North climbed through the rapidly closing portal into the warren, hands on his swords.
“Bunny? What is it?”
“Have you seen Jack?”
“I saw him a few hours ago. What is going on?”
Aster breathed a sigh of relief knowing someone had seen him. Likely Jack knew he would worry and made sure to tell North he was alright before he disappeared. “I’ve got a funny feeling, mate. Something’s wrong with him. He tell you where he went?”
North looked Aster over carefully, noting the mussed fur and his twitching ears. “No, he did not. Did you have fight?”
“No!” Aster’s hands flew in the air. “I got back from leaving the last eggs. There was a nor’easter, lots of rain, I was cold. Thought he was out having fun in the snow with all the kids, and he’d come home later. Instead, I wake up and all his things are gone.”
“Ah.”
“What? What do you know?”
“Seraphina visited me early this morning, to meet Jack. I think that storm was their fault, a bit of an Easter surprise gone a bit out of control. He said he would be gone for a while, off to clean up his mess. I think,” North reached for his old friend. “I think Jack is worried you will be mad at him.”
“Why would I be mad?”
North stared at him, waiting for the pooka’s panicked brain to catch up. When it did, he watched Aster shrink in on himself, ears drooping. “Oh.”
“Yes. Come along friend, I think I know where he and Seraphina have gone. Gather your things. It will be cold.”
Aster nodded and let North escort him back towards his bedroom, guilt gnawing at him.
Jack stared out over Seattle from his perch on the edge of a glacier. He knew he was hiding, even if he denied it to Seraphina multiple times over the last eighteen hours. He also knew Bunny would probably be looking for him by now and he wasn’t scared. But he also didn’t want to think about what the elder Guardian would say if he knew it was Jack who dumped so much snow on his Easter plans, again.
Seraphina floated down on the North wind, taking a seat next to him and practically blending in with the snow around them. Jack resolutely ignored her. The wind swirled around them for a while, dropping leaves into Jack’s hair and making him smile despite himself.
“You’re being an idiot, Jack Frost.”
“Yep.”
“He’s not mad. You two have buried that hatchet. Besides, that was his lame attempt at flirting and we both know it.”
A faint blush colored Jack’s icy cheeks and he clenched his jaw. “What if he is mad though? I know how hard he works, what if he got too cold because of us. You didn’t see him last night. He was shivering.”
Seraphina tilted her head to rest on her friend’s shoulder. “Oh, Jack. You’d never hurt him. Not like that.”
“I’ve done it before.”
“You Guardians’ little spat with my father doesn’t count. Those were extenuating circumstances.”
Jack wilted and returned to staring down at the city below them. Seraphina let him brood. She’d already sneakily sent word to North, knowing Aster would go straight to the workshop for help tracking down his wayward Guardian. The wind caressed them both, making her shiver with anticipation.
Snow flurried around them the longer Jack sat heavy in his own thoughts and she gently pushed the storms further afield. The Rockies could use with some more snow pack these days. It took longer than she anticipated, but she finally heard the tell-tale whoosh of a portal opening and carefully held up a hand behind her. The two Guardians halted immediately and she unwrapped herself from Jack.
“You, my friend, are a good man. Nothing you did was malicious or cruel and you know this. Now, go make up with him or I’ll lock the both of you up for a week til you figure yourselves out.”
Frowning, Jack glanced behind him and froze, almost literally, at the sight of Aster waiting with North. The pooka was obviously agitated, barely controlling the urge to thump his foot against the ground and his ears twitched with every faint gust of wind.
Seraphina ruffled Jack’s hair and walked up to the two men. “He’s a mess. Fix him. Or I’ll make you regret it.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Aster answered, eyes trained on Jack like he expected him to run.
North smiled and held out an elbow and a snow globe. “Would you like some cocoa, my dear?”
“I’d love some, Nicholas. Come on, let’s leave them be.”
Aster waved distractedly at them as they stepped through a new portal and then tucked his hands into the hoodie he wore. It was Jack’s, the one he wore when they fought Pitch. Aster let him think it’d disappeared about the time he started supplementing Jack’s wardrobe with new jumpers. Sap that he was, he kept the threadbare blue sweatshirt for himself.
A good decision on his part if the look on Jack’s face was any indication. “You lied.”
“Did I? Pretty sure I told you it must be somewhere in the warren, you just had to look hard enough.”
Jack snorted and then looked down at the ground. Aster stepped forward, ready for him to bolt, before sitting down next to the other Guardian.
“I’m sorry.” Jack whispered after a while.
“Nothing to be sorry for, love.”
“You say that,” Jack snapped, “But—”
Aster reached out, lightning fast and grabbed Jack by the chin. “No, don’t pack death for this, love. I’m not mad. I’m not disappointed. Or anything else that’s floatin’ round that daft head of yours.”
“But,” Jack started again.
“No buts. You know what upset me? Finding you and all your things gone this morning. I was worried something happened to you.” Jack frowned, leaning into Aster’s touch. He opened his mouth to speak again, and Aster stopped him with a quick kiss. “If you’re about to apologize again, you best stop right there. I won’t hear it. We’re fine, Jack.”
“I want to argue, but you’re sitting in snow wearing my hoodie.”
Nose twitching to hide a grin, Aster pressed a kiss to Jack’s temple. “That mean we can go home now?”
“Yeah, don’t want you freezing to death.”
They stood, Jack wrapping his arms around Aster’s middle, and a hole opened beneath them. Jack let Aster take them home the long way, talking him down and, when Jack chose to be particularly stubborn, snogging him senseless to stop the panic running through his brain.
They finally arrived back in the warren and Aster wasted no time dragging the younger Guardian to their bedroom. Jack grinned the whole way, feeling his panic recede the more Aster talked to him. They were fine. They would be fine.