Chioniphobia

Collection

Tooth fiddled with her new bracelet as she hovered anxiously.

"You're sure this is the right address?" she asked Jack.

Frost nodded, taking in her tense expression. "You know, if you've changed your mind-"

"I haven't. I just..." Tooth drew in a deep breath. "I feel like I got off on the wrong wing with her, long ago, and now I just can't get on the same page with her no matter how hard I try."

Jack grinned and shot her with two finger guns. "Then I'll help break the ice."

Tooth chuckled briefly, immediately falling silent as the apartment door opened.

Jack smiled winningly. "Hey, Grim! Nice slippers."

The Reaper certainly didn't look intimidating at the moment, Tooth had to admit. That might've been due to the fact that this was the first time the fairy had seen Grim dressed casually, in an oversized gray t-shirt and sweatpants as opposed to her flowing black robes or some other equally formal garb. Or maybe it was the bunny slippers.

Grim glanced down at her feet and blinked drowsily, rubbing her eyes. "Thank you. I sewed the buttons on myself, you know."

On closer inspection, it was very evident that the green buttons serving as rabbit eyes for the slippers had been sewn on (rather clumsily) by hand, after whatever ornaments previously serving as eyes had been ripped out.

"Should've gotten Greasy to do it," a voice commented from somewhere in the apartment.

Grim wrinkled her nose and called back into her quarters. "I'm perfectly capable of a simple stitch job, thank you very much!"

"Yeah? Tell that to your slippers."

Grim crossed her arms petulantly as Bunny slipped through the door. "What's wrong with my slippers?"

"They're a proper shemozzle."

"Yes, I did intend for them to look like you. Wonderful likeness, isn't it?"

Bunny rolled his eyes. "Uh-huh. Tooth, Jack, what do you two think?"

"Well..." Tooth began, running her thumb over the links in her bracelet.

Jack jumped in helpfully. "Oh, they look just like you. I was about to tell Grim, 'You know who those remind me of? Bunny.'"

Grim giggled as Bunny mock-glared at the Guardian of Joy. "Thanks a lot, Frostbite."

Jack saluted as Bunny tapped his foot and disappeared down one of his tunnels.

Tooth coughed. "So...did you and Bunny make up?"

Grim's expression went from smiling to stony in a blink. "Excuse me?"

"Um...well, I don't know the details, but I heard you had a fight? And you seemed like you were getting along just now...so..." Tooth gulped. "Uh..."

Jack noted the metaphorical storm clouds gathering and waved his hands hurriedly as if to dissipate them. "So did you two boink?"

Grim burst into laughter as Tooth let out a mortified squeak. "Jack!"

"Oh, verglas. No, we didn't 'do it like rabbits,'" Grim clarified, causing an increasingly flustered Tooth to blush a pink Jack hadn't known was possible. "Pookie wanted to see what new artwork I'd made since I'd moved into the new place. He stayed for coffee and made omelets, along with those very unkind comments about my slippers which you heard."

"Good to know. So now that you've booted out one guest, got room for two more?"

Grim opened the door wider. "I've always room for you, mon flocon de neige. And I suppose you can come in too," she teased Tooth.