As the setting moonlight faintly glinted off Tooth's rainbow feathers, Jack Frost sighed silently. Maybe it was inadvertently stalking or maybe it was coincidence but he had just so happened to come across the fairy racing towards another house. She stooped to pick up the tooth underneath the pillow and reached into her pouch to grab a coin for the boy who lay sleeping. As she righted herself, she stretched and Jack followed the curve of her spine. Looking away bashfully, he reminded himself for the umpteenth time since he met her that she was far out of his league.
Peeking back to where she was still smiling down at the child, the white haired teen grinned lazily, wondering if he could surprise the woman who seemed to capture his attention more than any child or spirit he'd met so far. She was turning, preparing to leave and head to the next house; to gather the next tooth and the head to the other side of the world as daylight began to break.
Tooth straightened her feathers and hopped out of the window, careful to close it behind her. She would hate for one of the children to get sick from the chill of the night, especially since his bicuspid was so adorable! She wondered, secretly, if the chill had anything to do with her favorite winter spirit, then quickly brushed the thought away. Surely Jack had plenty of places to be besides here.
She turned and, with a flutter of her wings, she shot towards the sky. Places and teeth and memories rushed through her mind in an instant as she searched for a house nearby. The rest of the teeth that she wasn't heading towards, she had already told her mini fairies about before leaving to collect teeth. The sensation of being back in the field reminded her of why she wanted to protect all the little souls that believed in her and the other guardians and she was overjoyed to be out and about again.
Thinking about the guardians brought up Jack again and Tooth struggled to push the image of him out of her mind. However, a sudden freezing wind brought a shiver and she rubbed her arms for warmth before turning to the next house. Before she got too far though, she was twirled by the very same wind that she was trying to fly with and a joyful laugh beside her quickly alerted her to the culprit.
"Jack! I need to collect teeth!" Her complaint was anything but sincere.
Jack only grinned, blinding her with those whiter than white teeth. Meanwhile, Jack was struggling to form a sentence as he watched the barely risen sun's beams faintly outline her form. She was an angel and he had the sudden urge that only she could fulfill.
"Come on, Tooth! Dance with me!" The shocked look on her face made him laugh again before reaching to hold out a hand to the fairy. "The teeth can wait just a little bit longer."
He had never seen anything more beautiful than her blushing cheeks as she held up a hesitant hand. "Just one dance, ok? The other baby teeth need me to check back in with them in a little while."
"Just one dance. That's all."
If she had any doubts before, the teeth that practically sparkled with the sunrise, framed by a mouth stretched wide in a grin, blew away anything other than this moment. The instant that her hand met his, Tooth let herself be swept up in twirl through the air. The fairy hid the slight shiver that his chilly hand on her back brought, and snuggled closer to the boy in front of her. If she was going to be reckless for a few minutes, then she would go all out. And later, she could imagine that this wasn't just some whim of his and he felt the same way about her as she did for him.
Jack couldn't believe that Tooth had not only agreed, but drew herself close to him. Her body pressed against him made his body warm in ways he thought it never could any more. Following instinct, he grinned wildly and twirled them.
Over the clouds, high above civilization, the two danced and danced, laughing and smiling all without a word being exchanged. The wind tossed them up and over and Jack led his fairy queen in a sloppy tango, a face-paced foxtrot, and finally, they slowed down to a waltz, hardly a centimeter between them. Silent and enjoying each other's company as they regained their breath, the two slowly spun in circles, feet glancing against the clouds.
Jack admired the way the sun's light reflected of off Tooth's feathers, causing a rainbow effect all around them. Tooth admired the way Jack held her, as though holding the most delicate glass. Neither knew how long they had been up there, it could have been minutes or hours, forgetting the real world existed.
Finally, Jack pulled back to smile down at Tooth. She felt her knees go weak and was grateful that her wings didn't give out. His fingers gently stroked the feathers the hand on his back found and the gleam in his eyes was unlike anything that she's seen on his face before. She looked away, embarrassed. Jack watched her eyes dart away as a beautiful pink dusted the apples of her cheeks. He could be happy spending the rest of his life this way, but he knew that she had teeth to collect and he had snow to spread.
"I guess it's been more than just a few minutes," he murmured softly, not wanting to break the mood.
"That's ok, once in a while, I guess," she responded, grinning at his concern. "Thank you for asking me to dance. I enjoyed it."
"Thanks for dancing with me."
The mischievous look, coupled with something she wasn't quite ready to identify was going to be the death of her, Tooth decided. That thought was cemented when he let go of her to bow deeply and place a kiss on the back of her hand. She almost swooned right there. What were her mini fairies feeling through their link right now? She wasn't entirely sure, but hopefully it wasn't too distracting.
"Um, thanks again Jack! I better get going! You know, teeth to get, money to leave, thanks for the dance! I have to go check on the fairies! Bye!" She raced off without looking back. Holding both hands to her cheeks, she hoped she didn't run into anyone else like this.
Behind Tooth, Jack whooped loudly as he watched her go. His lips burned slightly from their brush against her hand. The whole day had been better now that she had danced with him. Everything he was feeling at the moment was all her, from the warmth fading from the front of his hoodie to the softness that still seemed to linger under his fingertips. He flipped in the air and twirled, wondering when she'd let him do it again.
Later, that same day, as Tooth returned to the palace and carefully placed the teeth where they belonged, she felt some of her fairies creeping up behind her. Whirling, she raised a questioning eyebrow, until she heard them giggling. Baby Tooth hovered right in front of her and chirped for details and then suddenly the fairy queen was swarmed by her daughters, begging for details about what she had been feeling earlier. A heavy blush crossed her cheeks as she once again thought of her dance with Jack and the kiss on her hand. A couple of fairies swooned. She giggled with them.
"He danced with me," she explained through a wide smile. They kept giggling and chirping with each other until she shooed them back to work. As she flew back to control center, she wondered if he'd do it again.