Snowballs and Fun Times: 1. Double Jointed

1. Double Jointed

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It was New Year's Eve, and North was having a party at the North Pole the occasion. His fellows Guardians have joined the affair along with many of the lesser spirits and sprites of the world, such as the Leprechaun, the Groundhog, the other seasonal spirits, Mother Nature, and many more. The elves were gorging themselves on cookies and running into walls with their sugar rush, and the yetis were lazing about, but North let it slide as he always did on New Year's Eve.

One would expect Christmas to be North's favorite holiday, but lo' and behold, it was not. Of course, North still loved his holiday and the wondrous smiles it brought to children's faces, but Christmas was stressful. After all, it was an incredible feat to travel the world in a single night and, though North had done it hundreds of times, it never got any easier.

It was actually New Year's, of all things, that he loved the most. New Year's was the one time that all work in the Workshop halted. It was the single night in an entire that North and his helpers relaxed, and North relished in the laxness as much as he could.

North had brought out dozens of mugs filled with eggnog and topped with rum, just the way he liked it. Though some of his guests didn't drink, so North topped off some of the mugs with nutmeg instead. Everyone was chattering away contentedly with each other and sipping on their drinks; the one's with alcohol were responsible and drank slowly.

All but one.

It happened every year. Bunny seemed to think alcohol couldn't affect him, and therefore drank way more than he should. Luckily, he wasn't a violent drunk. The Pooka actually got extremely friendly when inebriated.

But he was also easily frightened, something Jack quickly found out and used to his advantage.

"Bloody hell!" a recognizable, accented scream echoed through the workshop, and the guests all naturally turned towards the noise.

Bunny came sprinting from the hallway, falling against the wall a few times and knocking some things down in the process. Jack followed quickly behind, his gangly arms held up menacingly. "He's a witch, mate! It's bloody witchcraft!" Bunnymund exclaimed as he fell. He turned and quickly faced Jack as he backed into a wall. Jack stomped closer, the amused grin never leaving his youthful face as he laughed in the clichéd, maniacal villain way.

Looking closer at Jack's hands, North saw that, instead of all the joints in his fingers curling like most people's did, only the first joint in each of his fingers (where the nail was) was bent. Jack brought his hands closer to Bunny's face, and the rabbit looked like he was about to have a heart attack. North laughed at Bunny's irrational, drunken fear.

"Bunny," he called, "calm down. Jack is not witch. E's double-jointed. Many people are." When the Easter Bunny didn't listen and continued his attempt at running from Jack, North put a stop to the Winter Sprite's fun. "Jack, you scare him. I think Bunny needs sleep." He chuckled.

Soon after, North and a sleepy Sandman escorted the drunken rabbit to a guest room to sleep off the drinks.

Jack never ceased to remind Bunny of the night.