dear_mun | on the bandwagon we go

Someone, somewhere, living without two feet of snow dumped unceremoniously on top of their head? Bet that rankles.

Rankles? [ Have a laugh at your face before he shakes his head. ]

No, no, you've got it all wrong, Bunny. It's sad. People are missing out! We can't have that, it would be a real tragedy if it was only rain falling from the sky all the time.

[ If one Aussie dig comes out of that blue mouth ... ]

Oh, yeah, sleet's the real kicker. Ain't a person around who'd not love a massive snowflake to the eye rather than an April shower.

[ So tempted, man, so tempted ... ]

Exactly! [ He knows perfectly well that's sarcasm, but wevs. ] But I'm talking about constant rain here, not just a simple shower. It's what these people have to put up with. Don't tell you'd prefer that over snow?

What d'you mean, constant rain? Unless it's a monsoon you're heading into, it'd better let up sometime.

[ He sobers up considerably, finally unable to hide his own uneasiness for a small moment as he shifts from one foot to the other. ]

If only, apparently it's the result of a nuclear winter. This place I'm going to, it's ... in the future and the world's mostly been destroyed.

[ A muttered Bloody hell passes under his breath, solemnity sliding home. ]

Sounds like you'll have your work cut out for you.

[ More than that it won't be as much fun as Jack's used to, he's sure. Fielding a nuclear winter? Yeah, that's ... That's intense, to say the least. He can practically smell the unease roiling off him and draws up as a result, trying to set an example of solid faith. ]

Well, then you'll deal with it, won't you? Sort that mess out, it's what you're supposed to be best at when you aren't screwing around.

More or less.

[ He manages a wry smile at the ground, he had his work cut out for him alright. Considering the stakes, it was very hard not to feel uneasy about it all. Although Bunny's words of confidence prove a good distraction from dwelling on that. Jack glances back up at him, surprised.

There's something of short, startled pause during which he finds himself straightening his own back and nodding slowly. The previous bravado falls back into place and he smiles more easily then, shrugging his shoulders as if it's nothing. ]

Yeah, of course. Who do you think you're talking to? I'll have it fixed in no time.

You will. It's not like you'll be dumped in the middle of a summer heat-wave, you'd have had to really take that one on the chin. The amount of times your blizzards have gone nuts, this'll be a cakewalk.

[ Idly thumbing the belt across his chest, he snorts with a shrug. ]

Wouldn't like to deal with a mental winter, myself. I'd freeze in five minutes.

[ Maybe, maybe he just reinforced the notion that Jack is the best man for the job. Possibly. ]

[ That certainly was one quick way to make him feel better. ]

You'd be useless. [ The grin that spreads across his face is more honest now and it holds a touch of appreciation. Still, it doesn't entirely ease all of his worries. If it was just about fixing up the weather, he wouldn't be so anxious about it.

He hesitates, idly rolling his staff between his hands, before deciding to just spill the beans. ]

It's not just about the weather and bringing the people there some fun again though. There's a war going on and they're running out of resources, so the ones they're fighting are starting to take resources from other worlds. They're coming for ours too.

This'll be the first war you've had to take part in.

[ Living for centuries has thrown all of them into the path of one battle or another at some point; North and Pitch's truce on the very fields where men had died comes to mind. Bunny's experiences have been fewer and farther between (hope dissolves quickly in trenches, he's needed back with the children to keep their spirits up) but that isn't to say he hasn't had reasons to defend himself in the past. You don't become a master of Tai Chi to dick around in the bush scaring off coyotes, safe to say.

The shrewdness of his guess is detracted from since he knows Jack's been invisible for a long time, so naturally this would be the first conflict he's directly involved himself in. Actual advice seems in order. ]

You help those people, that's all you need to do. Any which-way you can, y'hear me? And protect the children, most of all. [ Shrugging. ] Beyond that, you make sure not to dump all the responsibility up for grabs on your shoulders.

[ It's very much a correct guess and Jack can only nod reluctantly.

He's seen wars of course, you don't live for a few hundred years without happening across them, but he's never participated in one before. He'd only just become a Guardian, which was more than enough responsibility for him in his opinion, but now he would have the responsibilities of a soldier too? For all that bluster and bravado, it was just that— bravado. Fake confidence. He was more uneasy and reluctant about it all than he would ever care to admit.

And it wasn't like he had been fishing for advice by telling, he'd just wanted it off his chest. As much as he'd rather drag the conversation back to the familiar grounds of playful bantering and poking fun, he does appreciate it. ]

I'm a Guardian, of course I'll protect the children. And I'll help the adults as much as I can too. [ Even though he has no idea how to deal with them ... ]

[ Jack doesn't know Bunny very well at all if he thinks the furball would rather joke about nothing than talk about something. Reading that unease that laces through him so completely, the careless blustering eases off a notch in favor of a patient undertone, weighing him with steady green eyes. ]

Can't always be as brave as a rabbit, mate. No one expects you to.

[ Bunny might, but Jack prefers the joking over serious business talk because it's both familiar and a good distraction from his current troubles. He meets Bunny's gaze and for a moment smiles softly, a silent thank you, before it turns into one of his usual grins and he tilts his head up defiantly. ]

I'm not scared. And since when are rabbits brave? They're about as jumpy as deer.

[ Well, not to say he won't leap on that bitchiness like a carrot being waved under his nose. ]

Jumpy as a —? I'm not jumpy, I'm practical whereas the rest of you are completely off your rocker ninety percent of the time! Never seen an angry wild buck, have you? [ Pitch heightening ~~Bunny pls~~ he jabs a finger at Jack. ] Bunnies kill, mate, they're vicious!

[ JUST AS PLANNED. Oh Bunny, you're too easy.

He lets out a snort that's quickly followed by a laugh, the tension finally rolling off him and well, it's obvious he's not taking Bunny seriously here. ]

So vicious they strike fear in the hearts of men at the very mention, I'm sure.

[ It would be nice to say Bunny dives into this crap to nobly distract Jack from his woes, but he really isn't that smooth. ]

More effectively than the Boogeyman, I'd say. You wanna go, Frostbite, we'll go.

[ Rubbing the fur up on his forearms because he doesn't have sleeves lmfhdgfh COME AT HIM, BRO. ]

[ He doesn't say anything at first, but the shit-eating grin on his face that spells trouble says enough, really. He turns his back to Bunny, stealthily forming a snowball in his hands before turning and aiming it squarely between Bunny's eyes.

He jumps back the moment the snowball leaves his hand, landing a few feet away perched on his staff. ]

Bring it, Cottontail!

[ Staggering back a step with the force of the impact, he rubs his eyes clean and ... argh, fuck. ]

You're in a world of pain now.

[ Snatching an egg-bomb (appropriately blue, Jack, be grateful) he lobs it at an elbow. ]

[ Well, he's somewhat grateful as he doesn't jump away on the wind quick enough to avoid it entirely and it stains his sleeve a lighter blue. The blast of it also carries him a bit further than he meant to go, but he lands with a laugh all the same. Calling out challengingly: ]

Is that all you got?

[ With a wave of his staff he's conjured up a nice pile of snowballs and a touch to the ground starts a spread of ice that turns the terrain treacherously slippery. ]

Stand still and take it like a man, Fro — whoa, bloody hell!

[ Slipping on his backside, he scrabbles onto all fours and snatches up one of those snowballs, skidding sideways as he crouches for a wobbly shot. And another, and another; rapid-fire's a lot easier with three spare legs to balance on. ]

[ Don't think he won't start pelting you while you're down, bro, because he will. There's no mercy in a snowball fight. ]

What, you think I'm that stupid? [ Like hell he's just going to stand still, he slides along the ice as if it's as normal and easy as breathing, but he leaves plenty of ammo for the both of them in his wake. Nice little piles of snowballs. He's not deterred by any of Bunny's snowballs that do find their target and he stops a small distance away, creating a pile that's big enough to crouch behind and that he does. Using it simultaneously as a shield and his ammo as he starts rapid-firing back with practiced ease. ]

I think you don't know when to quit!

[ Scooping up an armful of snowballs to aim in succession, they're a ruse to keep Jack distracted as Bunny thumps the slippery ground to open up a yawning hole beneath the winter spirit. ]

Are you sure that's me you're talking about? Because it sure sounds an awful lot like you're talking about yourself!

[ It's a ruse that's working, because Jack has to duck behind the pile to avoid getting hit and thus he doesn't see Bunny thumping the ground. He's far too preoccupied gathering as many snowballs as his arms will hold as well so he doesn't notice until it's too late and gravity is pulling him down where it shouldn't and he finds himself falling into a hole with an indignant yelp. ]

[ All those snowballs? Stuffed together and dumped straight down into that hole en masse. ]

Heh. [ Peering beyond the edge on a bent knee, he calls politely. ] What was that? Can't hear y'over the sound of spring doing in winter.

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