Snowflakes And Shadow Crowns

Schizophrenia

  If there was one thing about being a Guardian that Jack didn't understand, it would have to be the extreme amount of hard work that the others put forward to be able to make their deadlines. Christmas had just ended--Easter too--and yet both North and Bunnymund were back to work with such fervour that it rivaled even the roaring of Poseidon's seas (but Jack would never tell the water God that anyone came close to his extremities, especially since he preferred not to be eviscerated). Toothiana and Sanderson were always busy no matter what time of the year it was, so they were usually racing to get that last dream in before midnight or the final tooth collected before sunrise. Jack, on the other hand, lounged happily around all day doing, quite literally, nothing. 

  As happily as he could get, anyway, because what was the Guardian of fun without any noses to nip? Jack's boredom was starting to creep up on him again, despite how hard he tried to ignore it. He also knew that he could easily leave North's hearth any time he pleased, but a dreadful feeling lurked at the edge of his mind, telling him not to leave the safety of the strangely warm, ice built palace lest the Boogeyman  get him. 

  Jack wasn't quite sure what Pitch would say if he happened to bump into him if he went outside, but it wasn't as if he needed protection from the King himself. No, Jack was far beyond that point, but he would be lying if he said that he wasn't afraid to see the other man. After all, Jack had just upped and left, ending their visits and cutting off any connection to the shade without warning, and Jack wasn't sure if Pitch would be angry, frustrated, upset...Of course, Jack had dealt with the wrath of the angry demon wraith before--on multiple occasions actually--so it wasn't as if he couldn't deal with being yelled at or beaten a little harsher than the normal fare, but what he was really scared of was going back to the man but only to be told that his lack of presence wasn't even given a second thought. That he wasn't missed. 

  Jack shook his head slightly as he rested on the railing of the balcony that overlooked the rest of the grand workshop as it buzzed with life, his being there simply ignored by the myriad of yetis and elves that rushed about frantically. Glancing down at one of said elves as it rushed by with a round blue ornament in hand, Jack smacked the poor thing with his staff,  instantly freezing it and causing it to fall lifeless to the floor. Jack frowned, a disinterested yawn escaping his pale pink lips.

  What a dull day. 

  Suddenly calling upon the wind to lift him from his resting place and through the tall arches and hallways of the busy pole, easily dodging flying toys or elves that somehow seemed to become airborne as he did so, Jack made his way out of the mess and into the quiet of the large, somewhat unused kitchen. There was one thing that Jack technically didn't need, but that always seemed to raise his spirits, and that thing just happened to be ice cream. The poor boy was simply addicted.

  Vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, mint, sea salt toffee, butter pecan, cookie dough, all manners of sorbet, coffee flavours, cookies n' cream, peanut butter, lemon and lime, orange pineapple, cherry, grape nut, rum raisin--the list goes on. Jack, of course, loved them all, and he'd most likely cry if you told him he had to pick only one flavour as his favourite. Walking over to the long oak table--similar to the one in North's office--Jack set down his staff before walking over to the wooden counters which were topped with a polished white marble. Standing on his tippy-toes to open one of the cabinets above the built in sink, Jack pulled out the light blue glass bowl that he'd long ago claimed as his own, and proceeded to set it on the table as well. Once he'd fished out a spoon from the drawer that he always failed to keep organised, he opened the freezer and instantly his smile faded.

  There was nothing. Jack huffed from irritation as he stuck his head and upper body into the freezer to make sure he wasn't just missing it, or that one of the elves hadn't just decided to play a trick on him and hide it in the back. There was absolutely nothing.