Dead || Jack Frost

Seven

The rest of the guardians were forced to cue in a laundry mat somewhere in Europe to gather the coins to replace the teeth. Dia just found the whole thing hilarious. Watching a giant rabbit, Sandy and North line up in front of the change machine. He could have been nice and giving them some of his coins like how he shared with Jack. But he wasn't nice and it was funny.

The game for collecting teeth soon evolved into them all trying to out do each other in terms of giving presents. Several times, Dia arrived in a child's bedroom only to find a wrapped box from North, or a pile of Easter eggs from bunny. Tooth, Sandy and Jack were all giving coins. But north and Bunny were going over the top. At one point North left a whole Christmas tree in a kids room. Lights, star on top and everything. Dia wondered what's the boy's reaction would be when he woke up.

Within a few hours, they had crossed Asia and most of Europe. They were currently in somewhere in Canada or North America. Dia had no clue. Where ever they were, snow littered the ground. "Oi", Jack called as Dia poked a snowman on the forehead. The whole thing collapsed in a pile of slush.

Dia held up his hands guiltily. "Oops".

"I made that with Jamie yesterday", Jack sighed, pouting down at the slush pile. The stone eyes and carrot nose slid along the pavement forlornly. Dia winced.

"Sorry".

Jack huffed at the dead snowman, one hand resting on his hip as he trailed his staff. Dia scratched the back of his head. "You can make a new one", he offered. "All I did was poke it".

Jack turned and winked at him, face switching to a grin. "I'd have too. You're obviously too hot to handle", he remarked. Dia stuttered, mouth falling open.

"Wha? What?" He swallowed as Jack's grin grew incredibly wider. "Of course I am", he shot back once his tongue could move. "Fire and shit". Jack laughed and bent over, clutching his stomach as heat blossomed over Dia's ears (the only visible parts not covered in makeup). He took a look at the laughing boy and huffed, turning and storming away down the street. Every step he took melted the surrounding ice and snow in a large circle around him.

Jack stopped laughing, noticing something colourful on the ground. He knelt down to inspect it. Flat round things, each different colours, littered the floor in a trail after Dia. Jack picked one up, inspecting it as ice patterns danced up from his fingers. It was a petal. A rose petal.

"Dia", he called. "You're littering".

"What!"

Over, closer to Jamie's house, Dia stopped walking and glanced down behind him. He groaned at the sight of the petals on the floor. "This is all your fault", he whined at Jack as the silver haired spirit flew over. Jack shrugged.

"How is this my fault?"

"I can't control them when I'm flustered", Dia squeaked. He knelt down and blew at the petals softly but with a certain amount of frustration. "I can normally control them but sometimes this just happens".

"Oh", Jack smirked, pleased with himself. He glanced around at the large amount of different coloured petals leading up the street. The night breeze was blowing them around. Leaving them scattered like multicoloured dots across the grey and white canvas. "I made you flustered did I?"

"Shut up", Dia scowled, ears still bright red. He jumped up and escaped the breeze. Jack watching from the ground as Dia snuck into Jamie's room to join tooth.

Dia found Tooth rummaging under the pillow as a young boy, probably about nine, snored on top of it. After a moment, tooth made a quiet noise of triumph as she pulled her hand out.

"Look at it!" She squealed in a whisper voice. "He flossed!"

"Yay", Dia muttered sarcastically as he glanced around the room. It was a nice room. Drawn pictures littered the walls and toys littered the shelves and floor. He raised an eyebrow at the snoring greyhound at the end of the boy's bed. He didn't want to wake that thing up.

There was a creak as the window opened and Jack stuck his head in. Both Dia and tooth made shushing noises. Jack held his hands up apologetically as he climbed into the room, sliding the widow closed behind him. He smirked and Dia stuck his tongue out at him.

"Left lateral incisor", Tooth whispered, smiling fondly at the tooth in her hand. "Lost in a freak sledging accident. I wonder how that could have happened Jack?"

Jack chuckled, inspecting the pictures on the wall. "Kind huh?" Dia sniggered behind his hand. Tooth winked at them both as she pocketed the tooth. She slide a shiny gold coin back under the pillow before hovering up in the air above the boy's bed. She sighed softly as she watched him sleep.

"This was the part I always liked most. Seeing the kids".

Dia watched the sleeping boy, eyes flittering between him and Tooth. "I know", he hummed. "They are so peaceful. I hardly remember what it was like to dream". Jack watched as the other boy seemed to deflate slightly, gazing wistfully at Jamie.

Tooth crossed her arms. "Why did I ever stop doing this?" She muttered rhetorically.

"Because you met me", Dia replied, voice calm and factual. Tooth seemed to tense up at the memory. Jack glanced between them both curiously and with a slight hesitation. Whatever the two spirits shared, it didn't seem to be good memories. Judging by the tension in the room, they were both ones that neither wanted to remember.

"Hmm", he muttered, ignoring Dia's comment in a hope of dispersing the sticky atmosphere. "It's a little different up close huh?"

This seemed to shake Tooth out of her train of thought. She fluttered uptight again, gliding over to place a hand on Jack's shoulder. "Thank you for being here Jack. I wished I'd known about your memory. I could have done something about it sooner".

"Yeah well, let's just get you taken care off. Then it's Pitch's turn". He smirked challengingly. Tooth giggled as she turned to face Dia. The skull faced boy was standing slightly away from the two of them. Watching their interaction silently with a blank face. She took his hands in hers, not backing away at their blazing heat.

"Thank you too Dia", Tooth smiled softly. "I know that we don't have a great past together. That it's something that we both wished didn't happen. But I'm glad you're here too. I'm sorry that I didn't listen to you and destroy your teeth. It really should have".

"It's okay", Dia admitted, eyes not meeting hers. They were fixed awkwardly on his feet as his ears turned pink, unused to apologies and thank yous.

A small bang made Dia jerk away. They all turned to watch as North squeaked himself through the window. He landed heavily on the floor as Sandy glided through behind him. Tooth shushed at him and pointed towards Jamie. The boy grumbled in his sleep and everyone froze. Nothing happened and they relaxed.

"Hey. What gives Slowpokes?" North asked, whispering. Sandy greeted them with a grin. "How are you feeling toothy?"

Tooth gave a giggle and twirled in the air. "Believed in".

"That's what I want to hear".

"Ah. I see how it is?" Bunny said accusingly as he appeared emerging from a hole in the wooden floor. As he hopped up to join them, the hole disappeared as if it was never there. Sang waved with a tinkling sound.

"All working together to make sure the rabbit gets last place".

"Shhhhuuuuushhhh!" Everyone hissed.

"Think I need help beating a bunny?" Jack teased. He pulled a red bag out from behind his back, shaking it victoriously. "Check it out Peter cotton tail".

"You call that a bag of choppers? This is what I call a bag of choppers". Bunny produced his significantly bigger bag and swung it around in front of Jack's face with a smirk.

"Gentlemen gentlemen", North pushes both of them apart. "This is about Tooth. It's not a competition. But if it was", he hefted a sack onto the floor with a thump. "I win". He let out a victory crow and began dancing.

"Oh no". North froze as a flash light clicked on.

Unedited