Miles To Go Before I Sleep

Familiar Symptoms

Familiar Symptoms

...

Jack idly wondered whether or not Bunny knew he was wandering around in the Warren unsupervised. Like most of his visits, he'd simply been flying over Australia, bringing the cold winds to blow those last few leaves from the trees, and had decided to pop in for a chat. Although this particular instance turned out to be less chat and more explore.

The Warren was, in a word, huge. There were so many tunnels and secret spots that Jack was sure it would take him years to thoroughly inspect every nook and cranny. But he would never finish if he didn't even start.

The path he was following opened out into a little grove, ringed with vividly coloured flowers and shrubs. Butterflies, bees and varies other pollinating insects hung around like the place was their own personal club. Which, being where he was, Jack wouldn't have found all too surprising.

"Never seen flowers like these before," he mused, tilting his head at the red upwards pointing petals on a small shrub.

Some of the flowers – older and decayed a little – had settled on the ground around the base of the plant. Figuring he wouldn't get in trouble for touching something that was already dead, Jack reached down and picked it up. The edges frosted slightly upon contact.

"Oi! Get your frosty butt away from there!"

Jack turned casually at the sound of Bunny's voice to see the female Pooka in question storming over to him.

"Hey, Bunny," he greeted, not startled in the least.

Bunny didn't waste time with idle chatter, grabbing him by the hoodie and bodily hauling him away from the plants.

"Whoa, hey, what's the big deal?" Jack protested, though he didn't put up a struggle.

"I don't want ya to kill 'em by lowering the temperature too much," Bunny replied gruffly. "Those plants are all extinct in the wild topside."

"Oh," Jack blinked, looking down at the flower still in his hand as he idly scratched at an itch in his eye.

"Yes, oh."

"That's pretty cool, actually."

"Well, I'd prefer it if it didn't get 'cool', if ya catch my drift."

"Right, sorry, stay away from the plants. Got it," Jack smiled sheepishly. And then he sneezed. The force of it completely froze the flower he was holding. And obliterated it.

Jack stared at the remains of the flower. Bunny stared at him. Silence reigned.

"I guess it's a good thing I wasn't standing by the actual bush," Jack said after a moment. "I didn't even know I could do that."

"That makes two of us… Just don't do it again."

"Yeah, cause I can totally control my body's reflex actions," Jack deadpanned. "And- ACHOO!"

Bunny stepped backwards, startled by the sudden sound. Jack groaned and wiped his nose.

"Sorry," Jack apologised, rubbing at his eye again.

"Ya gettin' sick, mate?" Bunny frowned.

"Don't think so. My nose is just itchy all of a sudden. You have a tissue?"

"I might," Bunny scrutinised him for a moment longer before heading back down the path towards the little hut/burrow thing, Jack on her heels.

"Sorry, mate," Bunny said after a few minutes of searching. "You can just use a leaf or somethin'."

Jack scrunched his nose at the prospect. He'd rather go without, to be honest. All the rubbing he'd been doing was starting to make his eyes water and it certainly wasn't doing anything to help with the itch. To make matters worse he could hardly see anymore.

"Your eye's gone red," Bunny pointed out, inadvertently adding another symptom.

"Probably cause I keep scratching it," Jack sighed, continuing to do so.

"Then stop."

"But it's so itchy!"

"You're only makin' it worse."

"I don't even know what's wrong with it," Jack groaned. "The last time anything like this happened, I was…" All expression slipped from his face. Bunny watched warily.

"You were what?"

"I hate spring," the winter spirit said monotonously.

Bunny looked like she was holding back a rather large build-up of rage. She probably was. "Look, Frostbite, if ya hate it so much why do ya even bother comin' here?"

"I come here to ann- to see you. Besides, that's not what I meant."

Bunny raised a brow.

"It's hay fever," Jack told her. "The last time I had hay fever was before I became a spirit. I'm normally nowhere near pollinating flowers, so it's never really been a problem. I guess I just forgot about it."

"Come on," Bunny said after a moment, her anger apparently having dissipated as she led Jack outside. "You can wash that eye out in the stream."

Half blind, Jack followed.

"Um, can you do it?" Jack asked awkwardly upon arriving at the stream in question. "If I touch it, it'll probably freeze in my hand."

"You could always just dunk your whole head in," Bunny suggested.

Jack gave her a meaningful glare.

"Yeah, yeah," Bunny rolled her eyes, dipping her paw into the water. "Head back. And don't blink."

Jack did as he was told, fighting his body's natural instinct to flinch away from the water being dribbled onto his eye. Most of it managed to reach its destination, but the rest dripped down the side of his face, freezing into tiny rivers on the way.

"Ow!" Jack suddenly cried, holding a hand up to the problem eye.

"What?" Bunny asked, surprised by the sudden outburst.

"I think the water just froze in my eye!"

"Well… at least ya don't have hay fever anymore, right?"

"I fail to see how this is a better alternative."

"Think of it this way; now you're less likely to blow up my Warren."

"Nice to know where your priorities lie," Jack huffed sarcastically. "I don't even know if this is going to thaw!"

"Could always get a fire spirit to poke ya."

"Yes, because having my eye incinerated is such a better option."

"What about steam, then? Less likely to burn ya but still get the job done."

Jack heaved a heavy sigh. "Worth a shot, I guess."

"I'll go boil some water."