"What was that?" Aster asked himself, adjusting the bracer on his right arm absently, his ears twitching as they attempted to catch the sound. It was too early for North to be up, especially after his yearly walkabout the previous day. Straining his ears, he heard the susurrus of footsteps that were too light to be the yeti and too steady to be one of the elves.

Tooth? No, Aster shook his head. She had gone back to the Tooth Palace the previous night, right before Aster had retired for the night. Besides, why would she be walking around instead of flying?

Curious, he pressed his ear to the thick oak door, pinpointing which direction the footsteps were heading before opening the door to take a peek. Making sure that the steps were heading away, Aster cracked the door and looked around.

Blinking in surprise, Aster watched Jack walk down the hall, a nervous set to his back, staff nowhere to be found. Instead, Jack had what looked like a large scroll clutched in one hand. He had an unkempt appearance, like he had just rolled out of the nest, and started walking.

Which brought up the question, as Aster silently followed the sprite, did Jack sleepwalk? He had yet to see the boy actually sleep before, so it was a possibility. If nothing else, the old, stained shirt he wore would be good for little else.

If he was sleep walking, Jack's body knew exactly where it was going as they walked directly to the side door the yeti used instead of the main gate. The few yeti that Jack did encounter gave the boy a curious look and waved him by. If any words were exchanged, distance and general workshop noise (as little as there was, being the days between Christmas and New Years) swallowed it up.

The hard part now- Aster counted to fifteen before sneaking out the same gate- was not to be spotted against the stark background of the icy cliff side as he scanned his surroundings to find where the boy went.

Not in the air, he shook his head, belatedly remembering that Jack couldn't fly without his staff. On the ground, then. Aster scanned the surrounding drifts, quickly enough spotting the boy. He must have jumped some of the switchbacks, since he was already half a kilometer down the cliff side and almost to the yeti village.

Resigned that he (once again) forgot his great coat and determined to see this through, Aster mentally apologized to his frozen toes and took off. Cautious, he ducked behind every drift he could find, keeping one eye on the slick path, and the other on the ice spirit.

Quickly enough, Jack made it to the edge of the village, where he was greeted by at least a dozen half-grown kits that had no qualms about piling on the poor boy. Aster winced, hearing the dull whump as the entire group fell into a re-frozen snow bank. He had been tackled by an overenthusiastic kit like that once once! and had ended up in traction for a week. At that age, the kits didn't know their own strength. And Jack had just been dog piled by a dozen of them.

Holding his breath, Aster pushed aside stealth and stood tall, ears erect, torn between just staying where he was or going to rescue the flattened guardian. At least, that was until Jack's distinctive laughter floated up the hill. Easily shoving the young yeti aside, Jack sat up, shaking snow from his hair.

"Bloody Hell," Aster couldn't help but grin in relief, settling back onto his haunches, "Give a bloke a coronary, why don't you?" Eventually, one of the adults took mercy and pulled Jack the rest of the way out of the pile by his arm. At his distance, Jack looked like a spider monkey among the yeti, especially by clinging to the adult's arm to stay out of the kits' eager reach.

Carefully, the yeti who rescued Jack put the boy down, away from the roughhousing kits, and bushed the rest of the snow off before pointing in the direction of the center of the village. A large bonfire and trestle tables were set up for the holiday season, yeti coming and going, setting up for their own festivities. Nodding in thanks, Jack wandered in that general direction, talking a few words to whatever yeti decided to stop him.

Deciding that discretion was still the better plan, Aster stayed above the village to watch, instead of heading to the interior. The last thing he needed was for a yeti to spot him and alert Jack that he had been followed. Not after sneaking after the boy this far and freezing his tail to sate his curiosity. Finding a good spot to hide that had a good view of the pseudo village square, Aster settled in to wait.

It wasn't long until the yeti Aster had come to recognize as Phil came out of the woodwork to confront Jack. Standing tall, Jack held out the scroll for Phil to take. Phil shook his head, gently pushing the scroll back toward Jack. The boy nodded, twisting the item between his fists like he did his staff.

Quickly growing bored, Aster watched as they apparently talked. The boy's body language didn't give anything away, whether good or bad, and neither did the yeti. Then again, like their language of what seemed to be grunt-and-point, he never bothered to learn the nuances of their body language either. It seemed like forever after before either boy or beast moved, but when they did, it seemed like an entire flurry of activity sprung to life. And it all started with a hug.

In a blink, Jack launched himself at Phil and clung like a limpet. The Joy was so thick in the air, he could feel it on his tongue like a fine chocolate. It quickly spread, like things are wont to do, to the other yeti. The beasts surrounded the hugging duo, to the point that Aster nearly missed what happened next.

Putting the boy down, Phil carefully unrolled the scroll and... tied it around Jack's waist? Amid the cheers of the entire yeti village.

Frustrated and wanting to know what was going on, Aster dared to venture closer. All he could tell from the crush of bodies was that the scroll wasn't so much parchment as a fabric of some sort. In fact, it looked vaguely like the apron that Jack's toy yeti wore. Though the ribbons were long enough that they wrapped around Jack's thin waist one, two, nearly three times, complete with a large bow in the back. And the apron itself fell to Jack's knees, wrapping a good portion around his hips. Overall, it looked like a ridiculous skirt.

"...Thanks anyway, but I promised North I would have breakfast with him and the others before I leave."

"Strewth." Aster muttered, diving behind a snow back just as Jack turned toward his direction.

"Yeah." Jack Laughed, "I know, I'll be careful. I was planning on sticking to the fruit anyway." Hearing Jack come closer, Aster huddled further behind the drift, wishing that the ice was thinner so he could simply disappear down one of his tunnels.

With a laugh and a wave, Jack launched a good handful of meters up the hill in a simple stride. It wasn't true flight, but Jack was heading in the right direction for not needing his staff.

In the next moment, Aster was plucked from the snow by the scruff. Twisting just enough to see his captor, Aster gave a very Jack-like look. "'Ello, Mate. Mind putting me down?" The yeti, Phil, he realized, rolled his eyes and did what Bunny asked, brushing snow from the smaller spirit's fur.

Phil crossed his arms and gave Aster a parent's look, to which Aster scoffed, though his ears fell back. "Ah was curious. Frostbite was actin' strange and I had ev'ry right ta be concerned."

After a moment, Phil nodded and growled something out, pointing back to the main workshop. "Grrl, Bn'ni." Phil attempted English, to which Bunny gave a blank look. "Cod'd," Phil pointed to the workshop again.

Looking between Phil's fat finger and the warm, inviting workshop, Aster cringed. "Yeah, I'll just... go now." Aster muttered, watching Jack disappear into the side door. Nodding, Phil gave Aster a small push, nearly sending the pooka head-first into the snow bank.

Without the need to be stealthy, Aster took the short way to the main doors and bolted to the nearest fireplace. Hopefully he would be thawed by the time they met up for breakfast.

"Bunny!" North called, waving the pooka over to the large breakfast spread. "You are late! Comfortable beds, are they not?" North waggled a brow, to which Aster snorted.

"For you, maybe. I had to wake up early to work the kinks out'a my back. Sleep on something like that too often and I'll get fat and lazy."

"Bah, you all need more meat on your bones. Especially you, Jack. You're too skinny!"

Jack stuck out his tongue, absently licking a drop of orange juice from his wrist, In the few minutes since he had seen the boy last, Jack had managed to get dressed in the blue waistcoat and pristine white shirt he had worn for the Christmas party. The blue tailcoat was tossed carelessly over the high back of his chair and his staff was still nowhere to be seen.

"Either way," North clapped, not getting an actual response from the boys, and gestured to an empty chair. "Come, eat. Do not be shy! Toothie and Sandy should be here any minute."

"Yeah, about that," Jack finished his orange and stood up, slinging his tailcoat on and fished... something out of his pocket. "Tell them sorry that I couldn't stick around, but I promised Jamie I'd visit. That," with a peculiar twist of his wrist, Jack was suddenly holding his staff, "And the last of my sheep clouds popped a few minutes ago. I have to check on that system first."

"What happened to that infamous 'snowballs and fun-times' of yours? Sounds like work to me." Aster couldn't help but to poke, earning a smirk in response.

"I don't know about you, Mr. Hard Work and Deadlines, but what's the point of all the work if its not fun? Can't have snowballs without a proper storm first! Besides, Mother'll have my head if I don't deal with that storm soon."

"Mother?"

"Yeah," Jack shrugged, half turning away, "Mother." And with that, he was off through an opened window and tossed on the breeze like an errant ribbon.

Not five minutes later, Tooth flew in the same window. Looking around, she gave a small frown, "Jack?"

"Gone." North gave a helpless look. "Said he had work."

"Oh." Tooth nodded, still upset, to which Bunny scoffed. "He couldn't wait? I was hoping we could have breakfast together." She understood, especially after some of the stories that Baby Tooth had told her, but that didn't make it better. She was hoping that Jack would stay the entire time, but that he had stayed as long as he had was its own gift.

"Hey, North?" Aster spoke up as soon as the last yeti had finished setting out breakfast plates and left the room. "What's with Jack and the yeti? He was out back, talkin' to them this morning." With the expression that crossed North's face, Aster's ears wilted slightly. "Yah... have no clue what I'm talking 'bout, do ya?"

North shook his head. "I will talk to Phil about it later. I found out recently that he was, ah, the one who... dealt with Jack the most in the past. Pre-guardian days." The trio shared a grimace.

"Best not to, North. Best leave it lie if you don't know already."

Waving a hand, North absently agreed with Aster. For now. He had been meaning to talk to the yeti Jack had apparently dubbed Phil. He, along with a number of other yeti were oddly... protective when it came to the young spirit.

"That's strange, what would the yeti want with Jack?"

"More like the other way around, Tooth." Aster tried to explain, "Y'know that yeti stuffie that Jack got yesterday, with the white fur and that apron?" Aster waited until he got a confirmation from the younger two. "'Parently they gave him a yeti-sized apron as well."

"That was nice of them," Tooth exclaimed politely, "but wouldn't that be a bit big for him? What do you think North? North?"

The Russian had frozen, fork half way to his mouth. It would be more than a small talk with the yeti, if he had any say in this. Losing his appetite, North dropped his fork and pushed his mostly-full plate away with mutterings to excuse himself.

Within two steps, Tooth flew over and touched North's elbow, "Was it something I said?"

"Yeah, talk to us, mate. What's got your knickers in a bunch all of a sudden?"

"Bunny, I do not wear knickers. нет," North sighed, "Is Jack. And yeti." North grasped his hands, searching for the correct word. "They are close."

"But I thought they were just keeping an eye one him."

"To keep him out of trouble," Aster nodded at Tooth in agreement.

"нет," North dismissed with a wave, "Jack has free passage, the same as you and Sandy." He motioned to both guardians in the room. "Even has own room. Why would I tell yeti to watch Jack?"

Unnoticed by the others, Sandy had slipped into the room and tucked into his own meal. Being made of stardust, he didn't need to eat, but how was he to say no to North's pastries? Trying to follow along with the conversation, little question marks peppered the air over his head, along with the odd snowflake or two. Jack? Was he in trouble? Sick? Was that why he wasn't at breakfast? He wasn't asleep at least. He would have sensed that and made sure to send the boy good dreams. At the very least, he was conscious, so that was a good thing.

Fed up with being ignored and concerned over Jack's welfare, Sandy remembered Jack's present from the previous night and pulled the stopper.

In he middle of the more verbal guardians' heated conversation, an insistent bell started to ring until their eyes fell onto the shortest guardian. "Sandy, when did you get in?" North asked, which was promptly ignored for Sandy to ask his own question. It only consisted of two symbols: a snowflake and a band-aid. "нет, No." North waved off. It was a common enough question that no further clarification was needed. "Jack was speaking with yeti this morning. We think it is because of gifts."

"Apparently one of them gave Jack and apron, but I really don't..." Sandy cut off Aster, practically glowing with his wide grin. A flurry of symbols popped up and burst like fireworks over his head, including Jack's snowflake, a house, dolphin, drum toy, three humanoids, a collection of small ball-like objects, a knife, yeti, and an entire burst of confetti squiggles. It culminated in Jack's snowflake floating over his head with a happy face over one hand and a sad face over the other.

"Er, yeah." From Bunny's expression, he hadn't caught everything Sandy had said, "Whatever it was, Jackie seemed happy about it."

That seemed to make Sandy happy, because next they knew, the sleepy man was bright-eyed and dancing around like one of the elves, a party hat balanced on his hair and a sand-made noisemaker between his lips.

"Sandy, mate, mind explaining to the rest of the class?" To which Sandy nodded eagerly. Carefully, Sandy formed Jack's visage, then two yeti, one of which had their hand on Jack's shoulder. Last, a simple roof over the three beings' heads.

"Yeti are adopting Jack." North spoke soberly, a dark, almost mournful, look in his eyes.

"That's wonderful, Jack loves Phil." Tooth chirped before catching North's pained expression. "North...? You wanted to adopt Jack first." It was a statement more than a question as Tooth sunk to the floor. "I'm so sorry."

Taking a deep breath, North shook his head. "Boy will be happy with yeti."

Sandy heartily agreed, pages in a calendar flipping backwards. It was a long time coming. The few times he had been able to talk to Jack in his pre-guardian days, the boy had seemed brighter when he mentioned the Pole. Sandy had assumed that Jack had been taken in by North and Jack had never bothered to correct him. But that had been quickly changed as soon as he had seen how the two had interacted. A firm hand was not how to comfort such a flighty spirit as Jack was, without the risk of said spirit flying off and disappearing.

Granted, their interactions had improved with efforts on both their parts, but he could see the fine tension lines that still circled Jack's eyes when the others got too loud. He covered it well, matching the others' presences with action, but only for so long without a distraction of some sort. North, on his part, made a conscious effort to restrain his gregarious behavior, with limited success. North was a very tactile man, using hugs and touches to connect with those around him. Jack was... Not. He would accept hugs only after getting over the shock of being touched, then dance out of touching range for the next few minutes. 300 years of touch-abuse and starvation took time to scar over. That Jack allowed even these small touches was a minor miracle in itself.

The yeti in general, on the other hand were more illustrative with their affections. Quiet gestures and small gifts. Allowing Jack to initiate contact, and only on his terms. Overall, the yeti really were better for Jack. Maybe, eventually, North would be accepted into Jack's inner circle, but until then North and Jack had plenty to learn about each other.

With sympathetic eyes, Sandy patted North's knee, throwing up a simple clock. Give it time.

Aster nodded in agreement. "Patience, Mate." Sandy shrugged close enough, "At least Jackie'll be close by if something happens."

"Or in Himalayas." North muttered petulantly.

"The point is, North, is that Jack won't be alone anymore." North opened his mouth to protest, but Tooth cut him off. "And if he does go to the Himalayan tribe, I'll personally show him how to get into Punjam Hy Loo. It'll be closer than coming up here in an emergency, anyway." And as far as she was concerned, that was the end of that conversation. They should be happy for Jack. Ultimately, it was none of their business what Jack did in his life. "Now sit down and let's finish this wonderful breakfast that the yeti didn't have to prepare for us, but did anyway. It is their vacation as well."

The Queen had spoken. Nodding mulishly, North sat back down eying the spot set specifically for Jack. All that remained of the boy were a few crumbs of toast and the remains of an orange. Odd, considering that the orange had been the only piece of fresh fruit set out. Mostly the guardians' Boxer Day feast consisted of rich pastries and filling breakfast foodstuffs that even Tooth allowed herself to indulge in once a year. (Which promptly was followed by the Guardians' annual dental check-up.) Thinking about it, he realized that he had never actually seen Jack eat anything of any significance, let alone anything shared among the others. No wonder the boy was almost unnaturally thin. Pursing his lips, North silently vowed to get Jack to eat at least a healthy amount of food. Even if he never did gain weight to a healthy level, the boy didn't need to starve in their presence.