Chapter Text
“Thump thump thump!”
“What’s the consensus, Doctor Sophie?”
“Thump thump thump!” Sophie repeated, giggling, the ends of an overlarge stethoscope threatening to fall out of her ears at any second.
Jamie laughed. “I’ll take that as a good sign.”
Sophie smiled at him, and decided the grass needed its heart beat checked too.
"Sophie, you're gonna get mud on the end," Jamie sighed, but let his little sister continue pressing the stethoscope to the ground.
He had his Field Journal spread out across his lap, and was making notes on any strange life forms he could find in his mother's back garden in the middle of summer. So far he'd discovered a four leaf clover and what he decided was a suspiciously sparkly slug. The grass in the rest of Burgess was already turning a crunchy brown color in the July heat, but the Bennet's back yard, and Jamie's mother's garden, remained uncommonly green, thanks to a certain soft spot a certain rabbit had for certain blond-haired little girls.
(All the ladies in Mrs. Bennet's church group said her flowers were the work of an angel, which had made Jamie laugh, the image of the Pooka in a dress filling his head. The first time Sophie actually called the rather flustered Easter Bunny 'Angel' was a moment Jamie would fondly remember forever.)
The summer only promised to get warmer as it progressed, and Jamie was already abandoning his shoes whenever it was appropriate--or whenever he could get away with it. So when a cold breeze ruffled the pages of his notebook, Jamie looked up at the sky expectantly.
“Hey Jack!” he called.
"JackJackJack!" Sophie chorused, bouncing in the grass.
"Hey kid, hey Soph!" Jack said, dropping into a sitting position as he touched down. "You guys miss me?"
"Bunny's gonna be mad you're killing his grass," Jamie told him, pointing at the icy circle that spreading out around Jack.
"I'm sure the Kangaroo will get over it," Jack said, rolling his eyes. "Besides, he's playing favorites, giving you guys preferential treatment like this."
"Gosh, I wonder what that's like," Jamie said, grinning. "Maybe like getting six snow days in a single month last December. You know, we had to go two days into summer break for that." Jamie hadn't minded though. Summer was long, and snow days in Burgess meant Jack was there for every second of the fun.
"Wow, someone's learning sass"! Jack said, sitting back. "Be careful, you'll end up on North's naughty list!" But Jamie could tell he was proud.
“Thump thump!” said Sophie, raising the stethoscope toward him.
Jack quirked an eyebrow. “Well hello to you too.”
“She wants to check your heartbeat," Jamie explained. "Mom found us a real stethoscope at a garage sale. It actually works! And look, I got a magnifying glass for my nature research.”
Jamie raised a very large, very old looking magnifying glass for Jack's inspection.
“Neat!” Jack said. "Find anything cool yet?"
"The results are still inconclusive," Jamie said, making Jack laugh.
"Check Jack's heart?" Sophie asked.
Jamie watched Jack cringe for a moment, but then he was smiling again. “Hey Soph, how about we check my lungs or something instead?”
“Jaaaaack! Thump thump!” Sophie whined.
Jack sighed. “Alright, come here, you,” he said, reaching forward to pull a shrieking Sophie into his lap. She giggled and pushed her hair off her face, where it fell back just as quickly. She adjusted the stethoscope in her ears and pressed the end to Jack's chest, listening.
After a few seconds, Sophie frowned, and then looked up at Jack plaintively.
"Have you got it on right, Soph?" Jamie asked.
"Yeah, she's doing fine," Jack told Jamie. “Sorry kid," he added to Sophie. "I don’t have a heartbeat.”
“What?” Jamie asked.
“I just…don’t have one," Jack said, shrugging.
“What happened to it?" Jamie asked. "Is this a Guardian thing? Do none of you have heartbeats?”
“No, I…think it’s just me.”
“Jack’s dead?” Sophie asked.
“Sophie,” Jamie said, rolling his eyes. “Of course Jack’s not dead, don’t be silly.”
“Dead!” Sophie insisted, giggling.
"I have to go," Jack said suddenly, placing Sophie back on the grass and standing up.
"You just got here!" Jamie said, looking up at him.
"Sorry, Jamie. Uh, important things to do. Guardian business. Look, I'll be back next week, okay?"
Jack sounded really sorry, and a little sad. "Alright, Jack," he said.
"And we'll...we'll make snow cones?" Jack offered.
"Yeah!" Jamie said, eyes lighting up. "Didja hear that, Sophie? Snow cones! Like at the fair!"
"'no-cones!" Sophie squealed.
"Haha, alright then!" Jack said, taking to the air. "Next week, I promise!"
"You'd better!" Jamie called after him.
***
Two days later found the siblings outside once more, and another Guardian dropping by. This one decidedly fluffier.
"Well, I can see the Icicle's been here recently," Bunny said, toeing the deadened circled where Jack had sat.
"I told him you'd be mad," Jamie insisted.
“Madmadmad!” chorused Sophie from Bunny’s lap.
"Nah, I'm not mad. Kid can't help himself, I suppose. Here--"
Bunny ran a paw over the wilted grass and the patch immediately began to perk up, life flowing back into the greenery.
"Ooo," said Sophie, leaning down from Bunny's lap to pat the new growth.
"Jack says you play favorites with us," Jamie said.
Bunny scoffed. "He's one to talk."
Jamie smiled. "That's what I said."
"Jamie!" his mom called from inside. "Can you come here a minute?"
"Ugh, she's gonna make me put shoes on. Hey Bunny, watch Soph for me please? Just make sure she doesn't eat dirt or anything while I'm gone," he said, and was off, slipping through the gap in the sliding glass door.
"Don't listen to him," Bunny whispered conspiratorially to Sophie. "Little dirt never hurt anyone."
Sophie giggled and rubbed her face against his fur.
"Got any new stories for me?" he asked.
Sophie didn't answer; instead she stilled, ear pressed to his chest ruff, and then looked up at him, her little face very solemn.
“Jack’s dead.”
Bunny froze.
“What?" he asked.
“Jack’s dead.” She said again, and then pressed her ear back to Bunny’s ruff. “Thump thump thump,” she mumbled to herself.
"Bunny not dead!" she exclaimed with a smile.
"Hey," Bunny said gently. "Who told you Jack was dead?"
"Jack," Sophie said matter-of-factly. "Ooo! Pretty!"
Sophie jumped up to chase a butterfly just as Jamie walked back outside.
"Thanks, Bunny."
"Anytime, kid. Look, I gotta run, we got a Guardian meeting I'm gonna be late for if I don't get going, and I'd never hear the end of it."
Bunny said his goodbyes and quickly tapped a foot to access a tunnel.
He needed to have a few words with a certain Frost Spirit.