Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Jack lets out a little moan as Bunnymund gives a hard thrust, burying himself deeply in the snow spirit’s lax body. It spurs Bunnymund on, doing it again, just to hear the soft cry Jack makes.

Bunnymund loves this, Jack open and loose under him, filling Jack to the brim with cum, with life. The heat, and the slick and the friction. The soft noises, never very loud, the little movements.

Here, tucked away deep in the Warren, Jack is safe. Jack is his, belonging only to him. Bunnymund sucks a small bruise on the back of Jack’s shoulders, one among many. All of them proclaiming, Jack is his, Jack is his, Jack is his.

Jack gives a little shuttering cry as his body climaxes, little streams of pearl like cum splattering the ground below, where it freezes instantly. Jack’s seed does not grow.

Bunnymund’s does however. He plows deeper into the winter spirit’s body, holding Jack tightly as he cums, pouring hot sticky seed into the pale body.

Not so pale as it used to be. Bunnymund runs his paws over Jack’s hairless skin as he pants for breath, coming down from the climax. Constantly feeding the winter sprite has been paying off, Jack’s put on weight since he started to hibernate down here at the end of winter.

It’s pleasing to him, seeing Jack’s rail thin figure flesh out. He’s even started to turn a little pink around the edges, glowing with energy.

Good for Jack, and good for the kits.

Bunnymund sits them both up, his penis still buried inside of Jack as he reaches over to a jar of salve, putting the green sticky stuff on his fingers. Jack’s round belly protrudes far from his lean frame, carrying the kits low and out, the pale skin taut like a drum.

The kits are getting big, kicking against his paws as he smears the goo over Jack’s stomach to keep the skin soft and flexible. Bunnymund taps his fingers against the skin, little flashes of energy that the goo helps to absorb into Jack’s body. The kits kick back, and he can see the skin flex where they push out and it makes him smile.

Jack’s stomach was just barely starting to bump out when he took Bunnymund up on his offer to hibernate for the season here, Jack never realising the reason for his lethargy last winter was the precious cargo he carried inside of him, that Bunnymund had planted inside the summer before.

Between his narrow frame and Winter’s barren aspect, Jack isn't really made to carry kits. Bunnymund nearly lost all three of them just after Jack fell asleep, Jack and the two kits, until Bunnymund started trickling energy to them.

Spring is about fertility and new life, even in the most destitute of grounds.

And Bunnymund enjoys having him here, even if Jack’s been asleep for the past four months. He loves being able to take care of Jack, to touch, groom, provide for him. Another few weeks and it’ll be cold enough on the surface to wake Jack up.

Another few weeks and the kits will be born, tiny and helpless, a mix of both of them. Of Spring and Winter.

He can’t wait to hold them, see their eyes open.

Jack lets out another low moan, limps shifting slightly and Bunnymund moves them to lay on their sides against the warm ground. He curls around the Jack’s smaller body as he begins to thrust into him again. Low lazy rolls of his hips that he can keep up for ages, fucking Jack’s unconscious body.

-Bunny snaps awake with a shout, wrestling the blankets away from his body and throwing them across the room.

He’s not in the Warren. It takes a moment for that to sink in. The smooth vertical wooden walls are different from the comforting round curves of the Warren. There’s a cold bite in the air, the smell of cinnamon, pine, nutmeg, and other spices.

It’s North’s Workshop.

He’d been asleep, dreaming. Just a dream.

A knock on the door makes him jump, hands reaching for the nearest weapon, but all he has are pillows. He grabs one, ready to throw it as the door opens, Jack Frost poking his pale head in. “Bunny?”

“Jack?!” It’s almost a yelp as Jack opens the door and steps in, staff in hand. He looks like himself, thin and pale, faintly tinged with blue from the frost he carries with him.

Not soft and pink and round, heavy with kits.

Bile rises in Bunny’s throat as he pushes himself away from Jack. “I didn’t... It was just a...”

“Easy, easy.” Jack holds up a hand, slowly creeping forward. “I caught one of Pitch’s Nightmares in the hall, froze it solid. Sandy’s dealing with it now. I’m guessing it got you?”

Nightmare. Not a dream. Nightmare.

“It didn’t happen.” Bunny breathes, gulping in large shaky lungfuls of chilly air in relief. “It didn’t happen.”

He wasn’t a monster, trapping and raping Jack, impregnating him against his will. He wouldn’t do that, it would never happen.

No kits. No mate to take care of.

There’s a sharp pain in his heart, an old scar that never quite healed reopening. Bunny clutches his chest, curling up as if he could keep his heart from falling out, a raw sob ripping out of his throat.

No mate. No kits.

He can’t keep the tears from coming, old grief pouring out from a fresh wound.

“Bunny?” The temperature drops as Jack gets closer. There’s a hand on his shoulder, then Jack’s on the bed, curling around him, Bunny’s head pressed against his cold chest.

“It didn’t happen.” Bunny sobs in explanation.

He wanted it to happen.

He’d dreamt of it before, to have laughing Jack as his, his mate, his partner, his spouse. To belong to each other, share their lives as more than friends.

The faint rare dream to have kits together. Feeling their small sparks grow and be born, small bundles of curiosity and joy. To share that new life with Jack, see his smiles at what they had brought into the world together.

The Nightmare twisted all that, turned it dark, monstrous, possessive. Because he could recognise that part of himself who wanted to do nothing more than that, to steal Jack away from the world, hide him away, protect him. Who wanted to have kits, damn the price.

He wouldn’t do it, but that doesn’t make the idea go away.

“It didn’t happen.” He says again, this time a promise. To Jack, who is trying to comfort him, running his hands through Bunny’s fur in a way that Bunny has wished about before.

To Jack, who has no idea of Bunny’s heart, emotions that he would never share. Couldn’t share, not now.

To Jack, who he would do anything to protect. Even from Bunny himself.

It wouldn’t happen.

Bunny would make sure of that.

-fin-

Chapter Text

In the dream, he is happy. They are happy.

They're in the Warren, Aster painting eggs while Jack watches and enjoys the breeze. It's slightly warmer than Jack prefers, but a little cooler than Aster likes. It's a compromise, one of many they've learned to make in the decades they've been together.

There's a splash in the distance, and Jack rolls his eyes. So much for the peace and quiet. "Your son fell in the Colour River again." He smirks as Rose shouts in alarm, but doesn't follow her brother into the water, hovering on the edges where her white fur won't pick up the pigments. "You might want to inform him some time that rabbits don't like water."

"Oh, he's my son now, is he?" Aster snorts in amusement, rising to his feet to check on their kits. "And reckon he's gonna to turn into a Selkie at this rate."

Jack grins. Black furred Castor Bunnymund is always Aster's son, with his fascination of bright colours, and love of attempting to spread them. Usually over the Warren walls, or the Sentinel Eggs. Their winter Rose, Rosalind Frost, is most definitely Jack's daughter, with her white fur and habit of freezing things when annoyed.

He's still not quite sure where their golden eyes came from though.

"Alright there, mate?" Aster shouts.

"I'm good!" Castor calls back. Jack still keeps a wary eye on him, watching Castor paddle around in the water while Rose scolds him for getting wet. Both of their children inherited Aster's short temper.

Well, it may be Jack's temper as well, but he likes to say it's Aster's. More fun that way.

Aster steps up behind Jack, wrapping his arms around him, his chin resting on the top of Jack's head. Jack slouches slightly as he leans backwards, wrapped up in his favourite Pooka.

It was a little easier to snuggle like this before the kits. Between Jack's growing base of believers and Aster's worry about Jack not being able to carry the kits and filling him full of energy, Jack actually ended up growing a bit. Mostly in height, but he filled out too, much to Aster's obvious and smug satisfaction every time he petted Jack's no longer perfectly flat stomach.

Aster nuzzles Jack's hair, grooming him slightly. "North offered to take the kits tonight." He rumbles in Jack's ear, voice full of promises.

"Oh?" Jack twists in Aster's grasp, looking up at his spouse, who smirks back, green eyes glinting. Jack grins. "We trying again?"

They'd been waiting to attempt for more kits until the twins were old enough to not need constant supervision, and for Bunny's energy levels to replenish. The kits had been able to entertain themselves for a while now, they'd just been waiting for Aster, who was attempting to carrying them this time. And, depending on how it went, any other potential kits.

Once was enough for Jack, they'd both agreed. The last several months of pregnancy hadn’t been fun for either of them. Jack waddling around like a beached whale, feeling like he was constantly starving, for food, attention, and sex, and Aster freaking out over every little thing.

"Mmm." Aster nods. "Although I hope ya don't mind a.... change in anatomy."

There are advantages to being mated to a shapeshifter. Jack gives him a wicked grin. "Does this mean that the kits should call you 'Mom'?"

Aster shoots him an annoyed look. "No."

"Kidding." Jack laughs and presses a quick kiss to Aster's nose, unable to contain his excitement and joy. "Sounds good."

They weren’t sure this would work. While Aster was extremely virile, Jack’s winter nature left him not entirely prone towards fertility. But then they hadn’t been sure last time either, and they now had two lovely kits.

"Daaad! Pop-Pop!" Rose shouts, the little tattle-tale. "Castor turned himself into a Seal!"

-Two lovely, if sometimes annoying kits. "He can be anything he wants to be!" Jack calls back. He's the freaking Guardian of Fun, how did he end up being the strict parent?

Aster hides a chortle into Jack's hair, nuzzling him again. "Told you." He says proudly. "Castor's gonna be a Selkie."

Oh, that's right. Cause Aster's completely soft on them. Jack laughs, reaching up and hugging Aster around the neck.

It doesn't matter to him what shapes his kids are comfortable in, just so long as they're happy and healthy. And so far, they're doing pretty good on that front.

For all of them.

-Jack wakes up with tears in his eyes, staring up at the wood ceiling of North's Workshop.

"He's awake!" Tooth shouts, torn glee and worry as she hovers above him. "Jack! Jack, you okay? You're crying."

"M'fine." He says, reaching up and placing a hand over his eyes. His cheeks are wet, and the tears solidify when he brushes them away, hitting the ground with a crystalline tinkling sound. They won't melt, and he usually gathers them up, keeping them all in a bag, but today he just lets them stay there. North can use them for something.

Small hands touch his face and he opens his eyes to find Sandy staring down at him, a worried expression on his golden face. "It's a good dream." Jack assures him.

If anything, it makes Sandy's face crumple more. Jack swallows and nods, closing his eyes again.

It's a fantastic dream. It's one that's crafted from the heart, filled with hope, love, family, and laughter.

It's also Bunny's dream, the same dream that Pitch twisted, warped into a black Nightmare.

Bunny hasn't been able to look at Jack in weeks, skittering away whenever Jack tried to talk to him. He doesn’t look right either, his eyes are dull. It's as if the Nightmare took something vital from Bunny, hollowing him out and leaving the body behind. Bunny's still there, but it's all on automatic.

And Jack cannot stand idly by while Pitch destroys his best friend from the inside out.

It’s what drove him to tracking Sandy down, to see if the Guardian of Dreams still had the original dream, so Jack could see it for himself what was tearing Bunny apart. Sandy hadn't wanted to show Jack the former Nightmare because it was private, but Jack had grabbed the golden dreamsand and shoved his face into it.

Jack doesn't know what Pitch changed the dream into, but he knows it's a dream worth fight for. It's something he wants too. They've been dancing around each other for ages, flirting with each other, but going no farther. Jack’s never been sure if he was reading the signs of Bunny being interested in him correctly, or if it was wishful thinking. If it was the later, he didn’t want to gamble losing what they already had.

But children... He’d always thought that was an impossibility no matter how many centuries he lived. Bunny didn’t just dare to dream it, but figured out how and Jack loves him for that. For looking farther than Jack did.

It may have started out as Bunny’s dream, but it’s their dream now. He wants it, he wants to see it fulfilled.

Which means he needs to know how Pitch twisted it.

He needs to see Bunny.

Jack holds his hands up, silently requesting assistance and they give it to him, pulling him to his feet, holding his shoulders until he finds his balance again. His staff is leaning against the wall and he takes it, feeling more like himself with the familiar wood in his hands.

The impulse to fly to the Warren like some sort of angry avenger is there, to grab Bunny by the shoulders and shake some sense into him is strong, and he reels it back. While it would feel good to vent like that, it'd probably make Bunny shut down. He needs to think about Bunny first, and what would get the stubborn Pooka to actually listen to him.

“Jack?” Tooth questions, hovering uncertainly.

He gives her a small smile, figuring out what to do. It requires a bit of subtlety, but he can do that. “I think... It’s time to have some fun.” He says, feeling certain of himself.

A grin stretches across Tooth’s face, and she exchanges a look with Sandy, who also starts to smile. "Give me three days." Jack says, trotting down the hall. If this goes well, as well as he hopes, that'll give them three days of privacy to get used to each other. If he can't get through to Bunny, Jack will probably need the break by then.

"You got it." Tooth agrees, looking proud and fierce. Jack nods his thanks, his mind already past that towards getting to Bunny.

“NORTH!” Jack shouts, hopping into the air, gliding more than walking as he heads towards the Globe Room, Sandy and Tooth following. He’s going to need to get to the Warren, and North’s got the fastest way there, which means he needs to ask a favour-

“PORTAL IS READY.” North booms back, and he can see the swirling glowing light as they approach. North is standing next to it with a smirk, his blue eyes twinkling with smug certainty.

There are days when Jack dearly loves North and his optimism. With a salute and a grin, he dives down through the portal, the air whooshing past him before he’s suddenly spat out into the Warren.

The Warren’s subtly different, echoing the state of its keeper. The colours are fading on the edges, not as vibrant as they usually are. It’s slightly colder too. And while Jack usually appreciates that, right now it’s not a welcoming sign.

The Warren is huge, connected large egg-shaped rooms going every which way, sometimes layered on top of each other, going up and down instead of side-to-side. He checks all the rooms he knows of, including Bunny’s house, but there’s no sign of the Guardian of Hope.

At least, not until he checks the Colour River again, and finally spots Bunny. He’d mistaken Bunny’s lack of movement and grey fur for a Sentinel Egg the first time he’d flown by, which just makes Jack more worried.

“Yo.” Jack says, landing on a boulder next to Bunny, taking a moment to take in his friend. He’s been worried with the way that Bunny had been acting lately that Bunny would only be skin and bones, but he just seems kind of worn around the edges. Bunny’s lost a bit of weight and his fur is a little ragged and dull, in need of some care. It looks like he hasn’t been sleeping much lately.

Jack tilts his head to the side, smirking slightly. “Ow ya goin’?” He asks, mimicking Bunny’s accent. It’s usually enough to get Bunny riled up and ranting, which is always worth it, but this time it barely garners an ear twitch.

“Jack.” Bunny says in greeting, and there’s a rough quality to his voice, like he hasn’t spoken in a while. And then Bunny pointedly ignores Jack, returning to digging around in the river. He’s weeding, pulling out the old dead plants and setting them next to him, to unclog the colours and let the growing plants thrive.

Bunny doesn't have his bracers on right now, or his leg wraps. He's practically naked in Bunny terms. And wet, splotches of various colours dyeing him up to mid-thigh, and up past his elbows, the fur clinging to lean lines of his body. Bunny's fluff makes him look larger than he is, he's really just whipcord over muscle.

Watching Bunny has been one of Jack's favourite pastimes for a while now. Bunny's hands especially. He's got these paws, short thick fingers with pads on the tips, that you wouldn't expect to be as dexterous as they are. Bunny paints the most amazingly detailed things on tiny little eggs. Jack sometimes wonders what it would be like to be painted on by Bunny, have all that concentration aimed at him, what colours and patterns Bunny would paint on him.

It was being fascinated by watching the tendons on the insides of Bunny's wrist that clued Jack into the fact that he was in over his head when it came to Bunny. That and nearly falling over one time when Bunny gave him a hug, leaning after him to stay in contact with all that soft fur. He's had daydreams about being able to curl up on Bunny, preferably without clothes. Not necessarily doing anything past that, just being able to feel the rise and fall of Bunny's chest as he breathes, his thick fur, and bask in the warmth he radiated.

He has a flash of sense-memory of Bunny wrapping himself around Jack like a coat from the dream and fights a shiver. He wants that.

Bunny's not the easiest person to get close to, but it's worth it to work past that gruff exterior, to get down to the guy who cares too much and tries to hide it behind bravado. He's not perfect, neither is Jack, no one is, but his flaws make him interesting. His temper, when he forgets to act human and does something like a rabbit, the fact that he snores like a chainsaw when sleeping on his back. Jack found that out the hard way one night when he got to stay over.

It took a lot of self control not to climb in and 'accidentally' fall asleep when he pushed Bunny over on his side.

“So anyway-” Jack clears his throat, getting his mind back on track as he idly pokes at a mostly dead lily pad and frosting it over, turning it silver against the rainbow of colours. “-I had an interesting dream. You were in it.”

Bunny pauses for a minute, and Jack can see the muscles bunch up under his fur, tensing to run. Bunny’s fast and usually hard to hit, but Jack has a feeling that it wouldn’t take much to catch Bunny right now. The urge to drag Bunny back to the house and shove food down his throat until he fills out a bit is strong.

… Actually, that explains a bit about why Bunny is constantly handing Jack stuff to eat. It’s not Jack’s fault that he’s naturally a skinny little twig who can’t gain weight.

“I had a family of my own.” Jack continues, kicking his foot a little, the back of his heel bouncing off the rock. He turns his head away, pretending that he’s not watching the way that Bunny slowly continues what he’s doing. “More than the five of us, the Guardians.”

“I had a spouse and kids.” Jack fiddles with his staff, poking at random bits of the Colour River, freezing small disks of ice on the surface. “Two of them, twins.”

It’s the kids that gets a reaction from Bunny, a sharp indrawn breath and an expression of guilt on Bunny’s face, quickly followed by panic. The kids. It’s something about the children that Pitch twisted.

Jack pounces on it. “A boy and a girl.” He continues, watching Bunny flinch, his hands shaking. Something about the children. Pitch had warped something about their kids. “She took after me, white hair and ice abilities, while the boy took after his Dad.”

Bunny’s eyes squeeze shut as his breathing picks up, practically hyperventilating. His expression is so tortured that it makes Jack’s heart ache.

“It didn’t happen.” Bunny whispers, the same mantra he’d been chanting when he’d first woken up from the Nightmare. He says it like he’s trying to reassure himself.

“No.” Jack agrees. “... But I’d like it to.”

Bunny’s response is not one that Jack anticipated. He thought that Bunny would either ignore him or start shouting all the reasons why it wouldn’t work, but Bunny flails and falls backwards, scooting away from Jack with an expression of fear on his face.

It hurts like a punch to the gut that Bunny’s completely terrified of the thought.

“In my dream... We were happy.” Jack says cautiously. If Bunny runs, he’ll chase. But right now Bunny looks like he’s afraid of Jack, which is all sorts of kind of wrong. “All of us. We were happy.”

Bunny’s expression wavers, hope rising up for a moment and Jack tries to silently encourage it, cheer it on. Then Bunny shakes his head, running a hand over his face, denying it.

“We were.” Jack reiterates, sliding off the rock and stepping onto the stream. Ice covers it almost immediately, forming a pathway for him to walk on. “You. Me. Our kits.”

“It didn’t happen!” Bunny snaps at him, pushing himself backwards across the grass less than half a step.

“Not the way you’re thinking.” Jack gives him a small smile and a shrug, pausing out of the water on the bank, trying to be reassuring.

Bunny’s expression shifts to confusion, but he’s not running. “It didn’t-?” He says almost desperately.

“Nope.”

It’s the right thing to say. Bunny takes a deep breath, leaning forward so he’s sitting instead of sprawled. “I’m glad.” He mutters, voice cracking slightly as he puts his hands on the top of his furry head. “I’m so glad.”

The shaky relief on Bunny’s face twists Jack’s stomach. The next time he sees Pitch or a Nightmare, he’s going to take great delight in freezing them solid before handing them over to Sandy.

He crouches down so he’s eye-level with Bunny, just watching him. He wants to touch Bunny, stroke his hands through that soft fur, but he’s worried that Bunny will flee if he tries. It takes some effort to just stay where he is, not go to Bunny.

Bunny reminds him of a wounded animal right now, blinded by his own pain and he’s kind of worried that Bunny will lash out if Jack tries. He doesn’t believe that Bunny would actually hurt him if he did, but it’d probably make things worse right now.

“What ever happened in the Nightmare twisted things.” Jack says, voice soft. “I don’t know what was in the Nightmare, but I liked what I saw in your dream.”

“You saw-?” Bunny’s head jerks up, body tensing to run again.

“Not the Nightmare.” Jack shakes his head. “Your Dream. Of the future. I like it.”

Bunny laughs, a harsh quality to it. “I’m a possessive, territorial bastard, Jack.” He snarls, probably intending to look fierce. “I don’t like ta let go.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.” Jack snarks back. While he may have forgiven Bunny for his reactions to the Blizzard of ‘68 and the year Pitch ruined Easter, he hasn’t forgotten. Bunny’s got a black temper when it’s riled up.

Jack’s got a worse one. When he gets mad, large areas of ocean and land mass end up frozen. It hasn't happened in a while, but that doesn't mean it won't in the future.

“I had ya prisoner, Jack!” Bunny snaps, one arm flailing and Jack feels his pulse pick up at the desperation and fear in Bunny's voice. “I had ya.... I trapped ya in the Warren and forced ya ta bear kits like some sorta broodmare! And it's sick and it's twisted and I wanted that!”

Bunny's expression crumbles. "And if I'd do that, what else would I do?" He whispers, hands shaking in terror.

There. That was what Pitch twisted. Taking Bunny's bright dream of a family and turning him into a monster who would do anything to make it happen.

"You could ask me." Jack says carefully, watching as Bunny's eyes go wide in shock, as if such a concept is completely foreign.

“In my dream, I chose you.” Jack says quietly, staring into Bunny’s eyes, trying to share his conviction. It wasn’t like he could create their future on his own. It takes both of them. “To share our lives. To have kits with you. To stay in the Warren.”

Bunny stares back, his ears briefly coming up before falling back down. “Ya chose-?” He echoes, like he can’t believe it.

“I chose you.” Jack nods. “I choose you.” He amends, because the distinction is important. Future and present.

“... Me?” Bunny’s words are almost breathless, looking at Jack in much the same way he did when Jamie said that Jack was the one to make him keep believing in the Easter Bunny.

Jack smiles. Here Bunny is panicking over something he might have done in a Nightmare that Pitch sent him, and he looks like he can’t figure out what Jack sees in him.

“What?” Jack’s grin stretches. “You don’t chose me too?”

The grin’s a lie. He’s kind of afraid that Bunny’s going to shoot him down, but not enough to keep him from asking.

“No.” Bunny shakes his head, a small fond smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “I chose ya too, Jack Frost.”

It always gives Jack a little bit of a thrill whenever someone calls him by name, and now is no exception.

“Well, then...” Jack holds out a hand. “I don’t see what there is to be afraid of.”

Bunny stares at the hand hesitantly, like he doesn't quite trust it, like it might be a trap.

“Bunny...” Jack’s forehead wrinkles as he smirks. “I really can take care of myself.” He’d done just fine for over 300 years, before the Guardians took notice of him.

“I know.” Bunny says earnestly, rolling forward into a crouch, his weight on his toes. He doesn’t move any closer than that however. “I just don’t wanna ta hurt ya. ...Or ta trap ya.” The last is said in a dark mutter, like he doesn't quite trust himself not to imprison Jack in the Warren and have his wicked way with him.

Which honestly doesn't sound so bad. It is a bit insulting that Bunny thinks he could do either to Jack, but Jack’s feeling magnanimous about it at the moment.

"You won't." He says with conviction. He trusts Bunny. "Anymore than I would you."

Bunny stares at him, looking at Jack like he's seeing him for the first time. "Ya wouldn't." It's not a question. Bunny may not trust himself right now, but he does trust Jack.

"Nope." Jack grins back. No plans for hurting or trapping at all. "-But if you're still worried, we could arrange for the others to check in on us every so often. Have them stop by and make sure we're not tying each other up." Although he still thinks it could be fun.

He gets a look in return that says Bunny doesn't find the joke funny, but it isn't a bad idea. "You're talkin' about movin' in." Bunny says carefully, like's not sure that he's interpreting it right. "With me."

Jack hesitates, because he hadn't quite made the connection between his offer and the reality of it. Once again, Bunny sees farther than he does. Jack thinks about it, about actually living with Bunny, staying here instead of finding reasons to drop by. To not have to leave if he wants.

They’re both really independent, preferring to have their own space, but to have someone to come back to, to have a home? To share their lives together?

He's pretty okay with that really.

"Actually..." Jack rubs the back of his neck, a stray thought hitting him. "I think we just kind of got engaged."

Bunny stares at him with this strange look on his face, like he's trying to figure out a way to deny it and failing. They'd chosen each other as long-term partners, talked about cohabitation, and eventually having kids. Building a future together.

And though he's intrigued at the prospect of having children, Jack's not quite ready for kids right now. He's excited about the idea of there actually being a 'them' before introducing little people to the equation. It might be rushing things a bit, but he's a bit giddy about the fact that they both want the same things.

"You're not running." Jack says hopefully when the silence stretches.

"Neither are ya." Bunny counters, stubborn as ever.

Jack thinks it over. "Nope." Running didn't really have any appeal.

Although did this mean they actually had to get married? Did immortals do that? The others were going to flip when they told them. North would probably start planning a party that'd last for days and Tooth would probably want some sort of ceremony to cry over... "I am not wearing a white dress." He mutters darkly. Just because he's smaller, doesn't make him a girl.

Bunny chuckles, then seems to catch himself, settling for smiling, looking more like himself. "Nah. Somethin' in blue instead." He says, just a hint of teasing, a faint sparkle in his green eyes.

Jack grins, feeling lighter. There's the Bunny he knows.

"Just ta make it official." Bunny clears his throat and rises to his feet, an oddly serious expression on his face. He's still damp, drying multi-coloured fur sticking every which way, but his grass-green eyes are bright and clear. Jack blinks, rising to his feet as Bunny approaches. "Jack Frost, will ya do me the pleasure of bein' me spouse, me love, me partner in all things?" Bunny asks, holding a hand out.

For a second, it feels like his heart is about to burst out of his chest. "E. Aster Bunnymund, it would be my pleasure." He says, taking Bunny's hand. "Yes."

Bunny lets out a soft huff, like he can't believe it, then smiles, the two of them grinning stupidly at each other. Jack can't quite contain his excitement, leaning up on his tip-toes to press a quick kiss to Bunny's mouth. Bunny's not really equipt for kissing, but they'll figure it out.

He gets a surprised wide-eyed stare and Jack realises that are glowing blue sparkles dancing in front of Bunny's eyes. Bunny shakes his head and gives him a curious look. "Didja just whammy me?"

"Sorry." A grimace flashes across Jack's face before it's wiped out by a smile again. Giving kids a jolt of joy is one thing, but it's not polite to alter his friends' moods without their consent. But when he's really happy, it just kind of spreads to anyone he's in contact with. Joy is kind of contagious that way.

Bunny just shakes his and leans forward, wrapping an arm around him and nuzzling Jack's hair. It feels even better in real life than it did in the dream. Jack buries his face in the longer fur at Bunny's chest, feeling the soft strands against his cheeks, breathing in Bunny's kind of musky scent.

This. It'll take at least a couple of centuries for this to grow old.

However, there are other concerns. "You're too thin." He comments, feeling Bunny's ribs through the fur, lacking the thin layer of fat and muscle that's usually there. "We need to feed you."

"Bossy." Bunny grumbles against Jack's head. They haven't even been promised to each other for five minutes.

Jack chortles. "We'll take turns." He assures Bunny. "I'm sure I'll do something stupid for you to scold me over sooner rather than later."

It gets a small laugh out of Bunny, who gives Jack a tight squeeze before releasing him, both of them automatically reaching for each other's hands without prompting. Jack grins as he twines his fingers with Bunny's, the two of them heading towards Bunny's house, for food, shower and bed.

They've got three days before the others check in on them, and Jack intends to use them to their fullest.

-fin-