Accidentally in love (mxm)

Chapter 1

Jack took a deep breath of the cold afternoon air as he gazed out over the glittering forest beneath him. The first snow had just fallen, announcing the winter that chased away the last few warm rays of sunshine that peeked in shily from behind the clouds, gleaming playfully on Jack's pale skin.
Though winter was his season and he couldn't feel the cold, he could certainly feel the warmth, and reached his hand towards the sun, absorbing as much of the weak warmth that the day had left for him.

The wind soon whispered his name, offering to take him home, and he allowed himself to be whisked away by the lively breeze that carried him over the forests, mountains and rivers, across the ocean towards the small wooden hut that was nestled between the icy hills of the Antarctica, where eternal winter reigned unchallenged. The hut was a replica of the house he had lived in as a human, except it was devoid of any other life but his own.
Though he enjoyed being a Guardian and spent plenty of time among his companions, occasionally he still felt like an outsider. There was a difference between him and the others; a difference he couldn't quite name, but he could feel it. A certain type of purpose. Sure, he had winter, and bringing joy to children was, as with all Guardians, what he did. Nevertheless, he was different; he was less busy. He didn't have a hoard of helpers. He didn't have a special Holiday. He didn't have an actual job.
Not that he wanted one because he was far too lazy and playful for a job, not to mention immature for that type of responsibility. Which was probably also a part of that difference. The others were all adults, whereas he was only 17. Granted, he had been 17 for over 300 years, but still; he didn't want to be an adult. He didn't want to be responsible. At least not responsible enough for a job that required precise planning and execution.
No, he wanted to have fun and play. That had always been his strength. It had been what had ultimately saved them nearly ten years ago when Pitch Black had risen to power.
That had been his moment; never had he felt more alive than during the fight with Black and his nightmares.
Ever since, however, his life had pretty much returned to the way it had been before: snow days and general winter mischief. Which, though fun, had never truly satisfied him because he felt as if he were missing something in his life.
For a while he had believed he had found that in the Guardians, but they were all so busy. They all had their jobs and tasks - they didn't have time to play with him. Except maybe Tooth's baby fairies who all loved Jack and were the most fun to be with, and though he loved playing with them, at the end of the day he was still alone.

With another sigh, Jack entered his freezing hut, shaking the snow from his hair. He well knew he was the one choosing his loneliness; if he wanted companionship, he could just go to Tooth's Palace or something, but sometimes he felt almost lonelier there than in the vast, emptiness of the Eastern Antarctic Plateau that he had come to call home.
It had been various weeks since he had last been 'home', but of course nothing had changed. Everything was still empty and frozen. He only came to his hut when he was feeling melancholic and didn't want to spend time with anyone. It didn't happen too often, but the beginning of winter had turned into an unusual time for him ever since he had found out what had happened in his past. Before recuperating his memories, though confused, he had been more carefree. Knowing he had once been a human, with a family, a sister... It had filled him with an unusual longing that was strongest at the dawn of winter, and only fully melted with the warmth of spring. Ever since he had found out he was human, he was filled with a longing for warmth that he had never known before.
A warmth he now tried to find in a roaring fire he ignited in his small fireplace, despite knowing it didn't do much for him. He didn't need warmth, he just really wanted it.
Eagerly, he held his cold hands towards the flames whose warmth slowly began seeping into his cold limbs, warming him from the outside in and making him feel just a tiny bit less lonely.

Through the icy window, he saw the mild, unchanging light that the South Pole offered 24 hours a day during most of the year, except for summer, during which Jack made sure never to be there because it was eternal darkness. A darkness so cold like it only existed in the summer in Antarctica. It was almost 5 months of pure night, without a single ray of sun being able to reach through the darkness.
A darkness that Jack knew wasn't empty. He knew he wasn't the only one that inhabited those empty, dead ice plains, but he also knew that Black was only there during summer; another reason for him to avoid coming here between April and August.
Jack had first seen his weakened shadows around 4 years ago, creeping through the darkness, cowering from even the faintest of lights. He had refrained from telling the Guardians out of pity for Black. The fallen Shadow King had nowhere else to hide, so he followed the eternal night from one Pole of the Earth to the other, too weakened to step into the light.
Though it had been nearly 10 years ago, Jack still hadn't forgotten those centuries of being invisible. Of no one knowing or believing he existed. Of no one caring.
He also remembered what Black had said to him back then.