The search for Krampus had been going on for almost four months now, and the Guardians were beginning to think they would never find him.
At the moment, about the only good thing that seemed to be coming out of the search was Jack's increasing comfort around them. He didn't jump when they went for a touch anymore so long as they telegraphed it clearly, sometimes even allowed them to linger, and hugs were longer, sometimes even initiated by Jack.
They had had quite a few of their little Jack meetings after coming back from searches...and ended up re-christening a few rooms at the Workshop as a result.
Bunny's use of his surprisingly extensive wardrobe didn't hurt matters any, and neither did Tooth's sudden interest in the flight displays of Sister of Flight courtship, or Sandy's lingering dreamsand, and North's blunt yet charming flirtations.
But despite all those highs, they still hadn't found Krampus, and it was getting frustrating.
And alongside the little clues they found of his presence, they were beginning to hear rumors of General Winter, and beginning to feel more and more uneasy.
But that was all it was. Uneasiness. There was nothing they could point to, to say 'this, this is wrong, something is wrong here' and do anything about.
So they didn't. They couldn't.
In the meantime, the Burgess Seven were getting older, and they wanted a little time with these children before social pressure and growing older made them stop believing. So while the search was ongoing, it was a bit less intense than North's original plan.
Jack, especially, couldn't get enough. He'd loved children before, but never before now had they loved him back.
But even though the Burgess Seven were in junior high school now, they hadn't stopped believing. They were quieter about it, didn't flaunt it, but they believed, and while yes, they had gotten into quite a few fights over it, at this point they were happy to dump anyone who gave them problems about it.
And despite the random bully, they were happy kids, so the Guardians, especially Jack, kept going the extra mile for them.
Jack was growing in power, with little bursts and surges as belief in him, personally, grew. They all drew from the same well of belief, but belief in one of them in particular could cause a brief power surge before it leveled back out.
At first, they couldn't figure out why Jack finally was gaining belief after all these years – until Jamie admitted to the media empire he'd been building with the other Burgess kids.
The reddit sub-reddit, the tumblr blog, Facebook and twitter and blogs and videos, all dedicated to myths and the paranormal – with a heavy emphasis on Jack Frost during his seasons, mingled with the rest so it didn't seem like they were hoping people would believe in him.
If nothing else, Jack had to praise the kids' photography skills. They were really getting good at taking pictures of fall foliage and snow, neither of which was particularly easy to get just right.
And Jack's new game of leaving pictures in the frost was apparently a big hit online, with people either trying to debunk the images as photoshopped or arguing over their legitimacy.
Either way, belief in Jack, personally, was growing, and he was growing more alive every day.
If the Guardians had thought Jack attractive before, then they were blown away by how much more vibrant he became, how happy he was as he became more alive and less a frozen young man.
