Jack sat perched in the rafters of the Workshop, watching the activity swirling below and thinking. He had a mug of cocoa and a plate of cookies that had been shoved into his hands by Phil, along with an apple from Greta when he arrived hidden balanced on the beam perpendicular to the one he was resting on, safe from the elves, his back against a vertical beam.
The odd protectiveness he'd felt at seeing the Guardians in General Winter's cage hadn't faded, despite the fact that none of them were in danger anymore.
It was...the closest Jack could compare it to was the feeling he'd had for his little sister, his few friends, but stronger, more persistent. It was a strange feeling, especially knowing that the others were perfectly capable of taking care of themselves.
And there it was again – that odd warmth, the feeling like being wrapped up in one of North's hugs that came when he thought to long about the other four. Cupid had grinned that silly, knowing grin at Jack the last time they had met up, almost preening when Jack had demanded to know what was going on and refusing to do more than drop cryptic hints.
It wasn't too hard to guess what was going on, though part of Jack kept denying it. A difficult task with Cupid being the one to look all smug over Jack's predicament.
At least the other spirit was being a bit reassuring when Jack starting worrying over how he felt this way for four other spirits. Jack was willing to forgive the smugness in exchange for that expertise.
But...why would the Guardians ever return Jack's feelings? He was probably mostly feeling this way because they were the first spirits to care about him, more than just as friends but as a team, since he'd become a spirit himself.
Sure, they touched a lot, and there were interesting looks between them, but they probably just felt like a family. Jack didn't want to be the one to ruin that by bringing...the word was even hard to think in privacy, but Jack made himself think it anyway.
By bringing romance into their family.
He was just going to enjoy this while it lasted (it was going to last. They weren't going to get rid of him, he'd finally found a place, he had) before they learned about the feelings taking root inside his heart and things got awkward.
Either way, Jack hadn't wanted to sit around outside when he had the option of going to the workshop, and he didn't want to be alone while he thought this through. Not entirely. Alone with his thoughts, but not physically.
He was thinking of the trip he'd offered to North, to go see the ice palace in Antarctica – Jack hadn't visited that continent since the confrontation with Pitch until a week ago, when he'd made a special trip to make sure the palace was still in peak condition and he wasn't taking North someplace dangerous – and wondering if Bunny or Tooth might try it when there was a change in the activity down below.
Jack watched from above, chomping into a cookie since he didn't have popcorn available. He wasn't going down to get caught up in all of that chaos until he had to, or until it looked like it might be fun.
Too many people for right now for him, even if they could all see him, he was better off up here until things calmed down.
Or until he was spotted and North's voice rang out throughout the workshop, calling Jack down to join him as North strode towards the family wing.
