Work Text:
Jack was tired.
For the past 2 weeks his workload increased dramatically, so he hasn't been able to rest or sleep.
Spirits don't need sleep, Jack thought, I'll be fine. He was not fine, he hasn't stopped moving around for 2 weeks and needs a break, but in his heart, Jack fears that if he does stop, he’ll be kicked out of the Guardians. Jack continues on, pushing and pushing himself to the very brink of exhaustion and doesn’t stop then either. A week later, he’s still working way too much, and it’s time for the monthly Guardian meeting, he plans to skip and work through it.
“Where the hell is Frostbite?!” Bunny growls, “He ain’t tryin to skip this meeting, is he?!” North calms Bunny down, and looks at Tooth and asks, “Can you find him Tooth?” She nods her head up and down frantically, and North sighs. “Sandy, can you go fetch our wayward Guardian? Tooth and I will keep Bunny here.” Sandy signs ok and flies off to where Tooth told him Jack was. As he left, all the Guardians had the same thought: “Why was Jack trying to skip the meeting?”
Sandy was chasing after Jack, he wasn't staying in one place for too long, and was flying extremely fast. Sandy eventually caught up to Jack and signed for Jack to take a break and stop. Jack only shook his head and said, “Sorry Sandy, I have to keep up with the demand.” He flew off to his next destination, or he tried to. Sandy made a lasso out of dream sand and lassoed Jack and pulled him to Sandy’s cloud and sat him down. “Sandy, what are you doing?! I have to go!” Jack yelped, but it was too late, Sandy “buckled” Jack onto his cloud and took off to Santoff Claussen.
Sandy and Jack arrived at the workshop in record time, and Sandy knocked on the door and floated himself and Jack right in, and straight to where the other Guardians were. Jack stopped struggling on the way there, but as soon as Sandy sat him down in his chair, he tried to bolt again. Sandy caught him and “tied” him into the chair with his sand, waving his finger warningly at Jack, telling him to stop. Jack sighed in defeat and slumped into the chair, waiting for the other 3 Guardians to appear. Bunny was the first, he came bursting through the door with irritation clearly written all over his face, then he caught sight of Jack and the “ropes”, and his face filled with concern and worry. North and Toothiana came through next, and Tooth gasped when she saw the “bindings” holding Jack in the chair.
“Sandy! Let him go, why did you tie him up?!” She exclaimed loudly, her wings fluttering rapidly. Sandy signed that he would leave if Sandy let him go, so he can't. Tooth looked at North nervously, everyone wondering why? “Jack,” North started nervously, “Why do you want to leave, we have a meeting today and you almost missed it!” He adds a slight chuckle at the end, hoping to ease Jack in some way. “I need to do my job North, I'm so behind now, and it'll take me all night just to catch up!” Jack’s tone had some irritation, but mostly it sounded exhausted.
“ Whaddya mean mate?” Bunny asked, Jack hadn't gotten any new duties recently, and it was early September, not a lot of need for cold yet. Jack sighed and said “The earth is heating up a bit more than usual, Summer apparently has a lot of excess energy, so I need to cool it down quickly or else Autumn can’t do her job! Will you please let me go now?” Jack begged, he needed to do this, he had to prove he was worthy, that he was good enough. Tooth then asked the question that would shatter Jack’s resolve to go “Jack… When was the last time you slept or took an actual break other than now?”
Jack’s face showed everything they needed to know, he hasn't since he got the extra duties. Sandy started to sign rapidly; North quickly translated “Jack hasn't slept in 3 weeks by Sandy’s count, nor has he stopped moving once since then.” Bunny let out a small “what?” and Tooth gasped, now flying slightly as her wings started to flutter even more due to worry. “Jack! You need sleep, rest, and food! Why… why Jack?” Jack finally had enough and snapped “Because I need to be worthy, I need to prove myself good enough for love!”
A thick silence filled the room, and Jack had a look of despair on his face, not wanting to admit that in front of everyone. “Oh mate, you don’t need ta prove yourself for love, we love ya no matter what.” Bunny walked forward to where Jack was and looked at Sandy with a “let-him-go-now” look. Sandy did so, and Bunny scooped Jack up and motioned for everyone to follow him to his designated room that North gave him. North opened the door, and Bunny sat Jack down on the huge bed, and looked at the others and said, “A cuddle pile seems like the perfect thing to prove our love to Jack, don't ya think?”
Tooth was the first to join Jack on the bed, and everyone soon followed. North was last as he made a call to Mother Nature, he made sure that Jack had the next couple of weeks off, and Mother Nature was extremely apologetic and assigned the job to an older winter spirit. He joined his friends in the bed, and the love and warmth made Jack feel loved , it filled his heart and soul and as he slowly fell asleep, a smile formed on his face as he cuddled with his family .