Better Late Than Never

[morethanmyth]

The yetis and elves had been extremely welcoming when they arrived back at the Pole. As soon as they shook themselves out of their shock at how battered they'd looked, they'd immediately brought out the blankets, spare clothes, first aid kits, food and drinks. Cocoa was pressed into people's hands whether they wanted it or not.

"Blughbloghughblug?"

"Out of nowhere. In broad daylight, no less," Katherine said to one of the yetis, holding her half-finished cup of hot cocoa in her hands. "It goes without saying that this is very, very bad."

"Ooghughaugh. Blughooghablorgblurgh?"

"Oh, well, that may be because they're still tethered to their worlds to a degree." She looked to the others. "He said someone named Wonder Woman, a Mr. Stark, and some undead fellow that had stayed behind at the Pole disappeared while you were meeting with me. I suppose that supports my hypothesis about the trans-dimensional tethering."

It had been a little while now since they'd returned and there was still no sign of Jack and Bunny. It was obviously bothering Katherine. In between her idle chatter with the yetis, who seemed to regard with her great fondness, she was pacing back and forth through the area that had been made into a "common area" while they'd been away. It was comfortable, full of plush red couches and cushions and tables for them to sit at to eat. Board games in many varieties had been stacked around.

The yetis were on standby, ready to get anything they needed, or show those who hadn't seen the Pole yet around.

"They should be back by now. I don't know why they're not back by now. Maybe the lindworms gave them trouble. Perhaps they had to take shelter in the Warren."

She chugged down her cocoa like someone else might nervously down a shot of whisky and then went for a refill.

[ooc: This is just for a few minutes of post-fight mingling and then the return of Jack and Bunny, then it'll be free-threading after this.]

Comments

[mywarrenmyrules]

The half-hearted scuffle was really more like quarter-hearted. Bunny sprawled back on the ground when Jack sprawled across him, lifting his unburnt paw to ruffle Jack's hair. He kept it there, the gesture almost unconscious.

Nico's glare kept him from delivering his next joke to Jack. They'd been jesting their way through the darkness for such a long time now, it was easy to forget that not everyone coped best by not taking a bad situation seriously.

This was serious, of course. He'd have to thank Nico for rising to the occasion, later, and apologize for putting that kind of pressure on her. In the moment, he'd been focused on eliminating the threat, but he'd had no real way to know if she was able to uphold that kind of healing magic before he'd given her a lot more damage to heal.

Later, when he'd rested. As per Molly's demands - which, he suspected as he considered the sniffling but stalwart child, he might not be capable of refusing. Especially if they continued to be so sensible.

He raised his brows in silent agreement with Zac, before looking back at Molly. "If you say so, little Sheila." He nodded, solemnly. "I'll do it."

It was easy to take her seriously when she was so right. He had every intention of sitting still for more than an hour - though his pride still twinged as a set of yetis broke through the ranks carrying a stretcher. He was conscious, and mostly repaired. They could at least give him the dignity of a shoulder to lean on.

He looked at Molly, his expression deeply set-upon. He pointed to the stretcher. "Do I have to?"

[animalhats]

"Yeah-huh," Molly says. "Or I can carry you," Sure, she needs a nap and she knows it, but she can manage carrying a 6-foot talking rabbit to a bed without passing out.

Her nose is still running a little, and she sniffles and scrubs at her nose again with her sleeve. ...Yeah, if she hadn't needed a clean shirt already, she would now.

[mywarrenmyrules]

If Nico hadn't mentioned Molly breaking walls to get to her, and if not for all the stunts she'd pulled back with the falling coaster, he might have questioned how she was going to do that.

"Think maybe you could get this off me first?" He ruffled Jack's hair where the frost spirit still lay stubbornly across him.

[animalhats]

Molly grins a little, and her eyes light up pink. "No problem," she says.

And proceeds to pick up Bunny with Jack draped over top of him. With no apparent effort required. She may take the opportunity to press her face into an un-injured patch of fur on Bunny's side, just for a second. He's okay. Thank goodness.

Then she turns her grin up at the yetis. "Where should I put him?"

[letskicksomeice]

"...You know, I'm pretty sure we actually had dignity once," Jack said awkwardly from the top of the Guardian pile Molly was carrying.

He would have gotten off, but that would've meant an awkward stumble to the ground since he wasn't holding his staff anymore and he really was almost too tired to move himself.

One of the Yetis stepped forward to show Molly the way.

[mywarrenmyrules]

"I used to have dignity," Bunny snarked back to Jack. "Then you showed up."

But all snark aside, this . . . was touching. He could, in theory, have been recuperating alone in the warren, and that would have had its own upsides. Grass to lie on, the sound of spring in his ears, and his dignity intact.

On the other hand, it also would have meant a long, long recovery, with no one to help him recover. And he had already done that, many times before, for many centuries in the past. He wasn't used to being carried around when he was six feet tall, but he couldn't complain about it. Molly's unabashed sweetness was a rarity. When she buried her face in his fur, he patted her hair gently. He'd protected her, but scared her in the process. The hitch in his breath was slight, but there.

The yetis lead her to a yet-unoccupied room, with a neatly turned-down bed that looked far too soft for his liking. He eyed it without complaint, glancing around the room for a corner to curl up in instead.