WHAT GOES TOGETHER BETTER THAN COLD AND DARK? - PART 31

Pitch and Jack lingered for long before they quietened down their rodents: they let them run free as much as possible, often teasing them so that they could bother Bunnymund, then feigning to call them back, but releasing them again few seconds later; in the end, however, they gave in and, after making them climb on their palms, they dissolved them, closing their fists and staring at each other small marks on the wrists.

The Boogeyman fully enjoyed the view of the Pooka now exhausted, but he felt a strong embarrassment when, looking up, he saw all the eyes on himself: he had lost himself so much in the joke he had done to the Easter Bunny that he hadn't realized he had company and, though he was certain he had let out a laugh cruel, and not happy, at the sight of the enemy in trouble, he couldn't believe he had laughed together with the Guardians.

Taking advantage of the commotion he had created, the man vanished, slipping in the Globe's shadow and leaving the hall, and he took refuge in a small room he had discovered during his wanderings: a secluded chamber, dark and disused, located in the attic.

Circumventing the huge wardrobe that partially occluded the door access Pitch crept inside, moving stealthily among the furniture, passing a piano and a telescope covered by a cloth and arriving finally in front of the only window which illuminated the storage: a fanlight, simple and made of transparent glass, recessed in a wall cavity. The light of the full moon penetrated through it, passing through the cage of wrought iron which formed its supporting frame and bathing the floor, creating a trick of reflections on it and revealing strange figures in the darkness.

The dust of the years covered everything, from the parquet now warped to the few and sober pieces of furniture which decorated that forgotten space, softening every contour and making the atmosphere hushed and nearly melancholic, and the Boogeyman didn't disturb it: silent as the shadow he was he slipped between an obstacle and the other, without leaving fingerprints or other traces of his passage, then he sat on the sill, bending one leg and leaving the other dangling.

Ignoring the blinding satellite which overwhelmingly occupied most of the view, the man focused on the only patch of sky left which was lit only by the stars and he lost himself counting them: he had never been able to explain why, but their vision had always had the power to calm him down. Slowly he began to spot some constellations and distinguish the real stars from the planets and the galaxies, but, just when he was almost certain he had identified Mars, a sound disturbed him.

An irregular patter, accompanied by a ticking sound, came from a distance, growing closer, then fading; just when they started to become almost inaudible, however, they reappeared, constantly increasing in volume, until they burst into the room and the person who caused them appeared at the sight.

«Pitch! Finally I found you! What are you doing here all alone?» asked Jack, stepping into the pool of light.

«What I do every day, Jack: I'm always alone» laconically answered Pitch.

The boy sighed, went beside him and said: «You're not compelled to do it, you know? You just need to come forward in order to have company».

«It's not a matter of compulsion, Jack» explained the Boogeyman; «I don't feel comfortable in company, especially if it's made up by my enemies»

«Pitch, stop making excuses: they are not your enemies. You've seen how they welcomed you, you've seen how they treat you: they care about you, exactly like I do» interrupted him Frost.

He gritted his teeth, barely refraining himself from pouring out a sharp and rude comment, but in the end he couldn't resist any more and he replied: «It's totally useless from you keeping repeating that sentence: everyone has his own perspective, and mine is different from yours. You are a Guardian, you have always been with them and do a work acceptable for them: I do not. You don't know what it means to remain in the shadows, live in others' fear and be despised. I've never sought company, and I'm not going to do it now: I want to be alone».

The boy, who initially looked sorry, got hungry when he heard the comparison and he declared: «You are the usual idiot: you didn't understand anything. Do you think I'm so privileged? You should have known better. I haven't always been with them: until less than a year ago I knew the Guardians only by name, and I had seen live only Sandman and Bunnymund. I may not know everything you do, but I know what it means being invisible, I know what it means living in fear of never being considered, and I know what it means being left aside. I had never sought company, too, but when I found it I realized that I'd been a fool: the company would have soothed the loneliness thousand times better than the jokes I prepared. Do you want to be alone? That's fine. Be alone with your pride that keeps you from admitting you're wrong: I'm sure it will be a great consolation for you».

The tone in which he had spoken had been hard and resentful, never broken, and yet Pitch swore he had seen a tear rolling down his right eye; just when he bent to check it, however, the other turned, briskly walking away.

«Jack, where are you going?» he asked.

«I'm going to bed: better not my presence disturbs your stupid thoughts» snapped Jack.

Outraged by the insult and the partner's brusque behaviour the Boogeyman finally lost his patience and shouted: «Finally you're going away! I never asked you to come and disturb me. Go back to your pathetic Guardians».

«As if they were the pathetic ones» retorted the boy.

The man couldn't believe his ears: it had already happened in the past that Frost had mocked him during a quarrel, but they had been only sporadic episodes and, above all, generic insults, which, albeit insolent, had been decontextualized and caused by the anger of the moment. That offence, instead, had been well conceived and targeted and, together with the explicit comparison with the Guardians, had hit him right where he felt weaker: it was intolerable that the boy had dared so much.

Now completely out of his mind Pitch jumped down the window sill, covered with long strides the distance which separated him from the other and grabbed him by the neck. He didn't restricted himself to grasping him with one arm and pulling him towards himself: taken by the heat he snatched him with both hands, lifting him from the ground and slamming him against the wall, and he cruelly dug his fingers into that soft flesh, enjoying its quick and laborious pulsing in an attempt to stay alive.

«Don't you dare to ever insult me like this again, ever in your life!» he cried.

Hearing no response he tightened his grip, not letting himself being moved neither by the boy's broken sobs, nor by his thin phalanges which stroked his wrists, but he never looked into his eyes; he stood motionless for a moment, then, without warning, he released him.

He felt him slip to the ground, helpless, hitting the floor at first with his knees and then with his elbows, remaining bent double as he panted to recover, but he didn't come to his aid: he had been shocked both by his behaviour and his own and, unable to ask for forgiveness, he preferred to run away.

Without panicking he briskly walked away, leaving the room before dissolving in a cloud of magic sand, then, creeping from shadow to shadow, he went down to the lower floors. He struggled in order not to be noticed by the Guardians, who were still gathered in the hall, speaking about everything and anything, but, taking advantage of a passing Yeti, he overcame also that obstacle and managed to take refuge in the room where he had been welcomed. He didn't rejoiced when he saw it: although North had tried to make it look more cosy, nothing in its furnishings made him feel comfortable, and the risk that someone could come to disturb him was high, but the strength had now abandoned him and he had no other place where to go.

He quietly closed the door behind him, hoping that that barrier was sufficient to deter any unwanted guest, then he stepped forward, letting his garment dissolve into tiny grains of sand and laying on the bed.

He would have had thousand of different issues to think about: the Nightmares he had evoked, the fear they had generated and absorbed, the Guardians, their comprehensive attitude and his incredulous and unfriendly one, the tenderness he had received, his own constant oscillation between acceptance and complete rejection of these, the loneliness now passed and perhaps not really regretted, the sense of disorientation, the inability to communicate, the mistakes he had done and which had culminated in the brutal assault of few minutes before, and much, much more. So many questions to be answered, too many thoughts to ponder on: he didn't know where to start, nor how to proceed, he couldn't even fully focus them.

It was for this reason that, even though he was disgusted with himself, he immediately gave up: he felt physically and mentally exhausted, worn out by issues which he would have never thought could concern him, and he wasn't able to do anything.

Settling under the blanket he tried to sleep, but he didn't manage to: his mind was blank, but it didn't want to fall into oblivion, finally giving him a little rest. Resigned he decided to wait, staring at the ceiling and forcing himself not to turn over, but soon after a faint sound came to his ears.

A weak creaking announced that the door had been ajar, and Pitch, assuming that Toothiana had opened it, closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep to avoid any conversation. As he expected he heard some feeble footsteps, followed by some slight rustling, but just when he was sure the guest had now reached him and was about to rest their palm on his forehead to check his temperature, he felt them creeping under the sheet and adhering to his arm.

Amazed by that attitude he opened wide his eyes and, instead of finding in front of himself the fairy's fuchsia irises, he saw his love's crystal clear ones, which peered at him with an expression serious and sweet at the same time.

Embarrassed because he had been caught in a state of vulnerability he snapped: «What the hell are you doing here, Frost? Get out of my sight!».

«Never» quietly replied the other.

Seized with a fit of rage the Boogeyman leaped on him, forcing him beneath himself and moving again his hands to his throat, and he cruelly tightened the grip, gritting his teeth to scare him and letting off steam.

Frost, accustomed to these outbursts, didn't get frightened, but he didn't even react: he stood there, motionless, lying on the bed, his hands open in a gesture of surrender and, on the face, the same look mature and sincere which he had addressed him countless times in the months they had spent together. The man tried to resist it, focusing on the resentment he had accumulated in those days of convalescence, but eventually he capitulated: not even by appealing to his darkest soul he could rage on a creature so innocent.

He slowly relaxed the grip, caressing with fingers light as a feather that neck which, until few seconds before, he had tried to strangle; leaning forward a little he checked if he had injured it, feeling a pang in his heart when he realized he had left a bruise him, and he seriously thought about escaping again; in the end, however, he gathered the courage and remained, rubbing the back of his partner's head and his bare chest to help him recover. When he heard him breathe normally he touched his mouth with his fingertips, extending the caress along his cheek and then sinking the phalanges in those perpetually ruffled hair, then, unable to stare back at his irises, he went down, lying on his chest and placing the ear on his heart.

He winced when he felt the boy hugging him gently and starting to cuddle him, but he didn't pull him away, focusing, rather, on the rhythmic pulse he heard: he followed it, throb by throb, getting lost in them and closing his eyes, and just when he was finally quiet Jack spoke.

«Pitch, I'm sorry for what happened before: I didn't want to make a comment so cruel».

Trying to quell the guilt the man wearily laughed and replied: «You're incredible, Jack: I got smart, insulted you, attacked you and tried to strangle you twice, and what do you do? You come here and apologize»

The boy chuckled at that sentence, making his lungs vibrate and tickling Pitch's face, then he said: «Indeed it may sound a bit strange, but it's right like this. I made mistakes, too, and, anyway, you already apologized to me when you let me go».

«I didn't even open my mouth» pointed out the Boogeyman.

«Your gaze full of repentance was worth more than a thousand words» explained Frost.

The man nestled better between his legs, returning the hug and gently stroking his hair; the boy let him do it, kissing his temple to thank him and then getting ready to talk.

«Pitch, let me explain better what I said before in the attic. I called you "pathetic", and I'm really sorry about it: I used that word just to parrot you, but I realized too late that its meaning was really cruel. What I wanted to say is that you worry too much: you get so anxious when you're together with the Guardians, you're tense, always gruff and often rude, you willingly provoke them and, when finally you manage to let yourself go a little, you ruin everything with a sharp reply. Why do you do it? Why can't you behave like a normal person? This was what I was wondering about before, but, actually, I already know the answer: you're the Boogeyman. Partly it's a matter of character, which you can't change and which I do not want you to change, but partly it's a matter of duties which you think you have, but which actually you have not. We talked about this, I'm sure you realized it and I understand you need time to accept it, so I wanted to ask you something else: has it been too much for you? Four Guardians all at once and all caring towards you has been too upsetting?».

Pitch sighed, lowering his head as if to avoid the question, but then confessed: «Yes».

Jack hugged him tightly, slipping under him to move at his eyes level and inducing him to stare at him, then he said: «Sorry, I'm so sorry I didn't understand this before. Unfortunately I could have done nothing to avoid it, since you were still recovering, but I'm sorry anyway: at least I could have asked the others to be more discreet».

«Pft, as if they could really be more discreet» commented the Boogeyman.

The boy chuckled and replied: «I'm glad to hear you making jokes about it: it means that you feel better than before and that you no longer feel so uncomfortable talking to and about the Guardians. However, know that they really can be more discreet: just before I came to seek you they asked me to ask you how you were and if you needed something, because they wanted to take care of you, but without bothering you».

«I bet that tomorrow morning they will all be out of this door, anxious to make up the time they have given me this night» muttered the man.

In contrast to what he expected Frost didn't react to the joke, but he stared at him intently and demanded: «Pitch, you want to leave tomorrow?».

Pitch looked back at him, letting all the disbelief he felt shine through his own gaze: ever since he had regained consciousness he had harboured the desire to get out of there, back in his lair to make sure Behemuth had finally returned to his prison, to fix everything that had been destroyed and rest in peace, in a place far more dismal than the happy North's Palace, but where he didn't risk to receive shrilling morning visits. Contributing factors his poor physical condition and the fear to disappoint his love he had never followed his desire, trying even not to think about it and resigning himself to that forced holiday, but he would have never expected that the one to put an end to it would have been his sweet snowflake, who had insisted so much to make him and the Guardians meet.

«I proposed it because now you look good» explained the boy; «You have regained most of your powers, many Nightmares are out of here, ready to feed you with fear, and I'm sure that this night they will work to make you recover completely. I see that you suffer staying in here, and, to tell the truth, I suffer a bit, too: I'm used to live outdoor in open spaces, and remaining too much time locked in a house doesn't suit me. We could go away to stretch our legs a bit, check in what state your lair is and fix what it need to be fixed, and spend some time alone. What do you think about it? It would be a nice way to start again».

The Boogeyman smiled at him, touched to see such a caring behaviour and by the fact that the other had the same desire to leave, and answered: «Yes, it would be a wonderful way to start again».

Jack's eyes lit up with a new light, grateful and full of joy, and the boy hastened to add: «But then we'll come back here sometime, right?».

The man rolled his irises and he commented: «Do not hurry like this, Jack. Maybe, if we're forced to, if there is no other possibility, if it happens again that I summon Behemuth and it hurts me and if you draw your staff on me, at that point, maybe, but only maybe, I might consider the idea that it may be necessary to...».

«Yes, yes, I understand, I understand: I will leave you your space and I will not ask for anything any more... little dark puff» interrupted him the boy.

After a short, initial bewilderment Pitch recovered and, grabbing him by the wrists, he declared: «You'll pay for this, Jack».

That evening a long time passed before Pitch could fall asleep and he had to thank the fact he had gone away from the hall soon, or probably he would have not slept at all. First, of course, he had immobilized Jack and, evoking his tentacles of darkness, he had tickled his hips, until the boy no longer had the strength to even squirm; then, taking advantage of his weakness, he had kissed every inch of his soft skin, from the temples to his feet's tips, skipping only his limp cock; finally, feeling him recovering, he had hugged him tightly and started to cuddle him. Eventually, after hours which had seemed full days, he had kept the promise made to him in the afternoon and fondled him for a long time, enjoying his muffled moans and the small kisses he gave him, never taking advantage of his nakedness to receive something more or let his own palms slip in naughty caresses: he didn't feel neither the need nor the desire to go further, and he knew that the partner felt the same way. After about half an hour he heard him breathe more slowly and he realized that he had fallen into a deep sleep, but he didn't followed him: he lay awake for long, redrawing with the fingertips every muscle and bone, watching his figure tenderly curled up and thinking about the immense fortune he had had in finding him, and only when the exhaustion forced his eyelid down he gave up and closed them.

The next morning, though he had been the last to fall asleep, he woke up first and had to wait nearly an hour before Frost opened his eyes; playfully taunting him for his laziness he bothered him a little to make him get up, he helped him to take on his clothes and finally said: «Jack, my Nightmares are out here and just waiting for me to call them: I prefer you to go out, especially after the incident which happened yesterday afternoon».

The boy smiled and replied: «Sure, Pitch: no problem. I'll take this opportunity to go and tell the others that you have now recovered and we are preparing to leave».

The Boogeyman nodded and let him go, then, using the same technique of the day before, he absorbed all the fear that the Nightmares were able to send him; unlike that occasion he managed to control the flow of power coming in and, diluting it over time and immediately using a part of it to create some magic sand for the children, and these gimmicks helped him to handle the situation to perfection: he stood all the time on his feet without difficulty, and when his servants had gone he felt stronger than ever and completely ready to face the outside world.

After easily recreating his usual clothes, including the tight pants, he left the room, stepping briskly along the corridor and going around the Globe now perfectly working, then he arrived in the main hall and found all the five Guardians waiting. Taken by surprise he stopped to stare at them: he had reckoned he would have had to say goodbye properly, at least to the master of the house, but he had never imagined he would have had to deal with a similar committee of farewell.

As always Jack intervened to dispel the embarrassment and, without further ado, he told him: «Come, Pitch: we have to take the elevator. North thought it would be much more easy for you to leave from the roof, instead of this room, and has already cleared the runway».

Hastily nodding Pitch followed North to the elevator, moving up in the middle of that small group in order not to touch anyone, but, luckily for him, the journey was short: less than a minute after the transportation stopped, opening on a narrow and dark stair lifting to a trap door, and, when the Boogeyman managed to climb it with fatigue, he was rewarded with a breathtaking view.

Snow-capped mountains and bottomless crevasses stretched from east to west, dazzling him with their blinding whiteness and capturing him with their mysterious shadows, captivating the lucky viewer with shades of colours that they would ever expect to find in the ice and delighting them with thousands and thousands of rainbow reflections, and the man got lost in them, jumping with his irises from a spur to the other and trying to memorize all the details to be able to remember them.

A voice thoughtful interrupted his observation, asking nicely: «Pitch, are you ready to go? Are you sure you fully recovered?».

Turning towards Toothiana the man replied: «Yes, I'm fine now. You can take a break from your new nurse job, and my ears will be able to take a break from your chatters».

«You're the usual insolent!» rebuked him the fairy, barely holding back a laugh.

When her merry mood faded away Pitch did not know what to say: within himself he felt he should thank the Guardians for the help, but he wasn't eager to do it, nor knew where to start from; on one hand he couldn't wait to get out of that place, leaving behind himself that unwanted cohabitation with his enemies, but on the other hand he felt a slight sadness at the thought he would have no longer heard their shrill voices.

As the silence grew longer and more awkward and the solution to that problem receded more and more Bunnymund intervened and commented: «I can't believe you're standing there stock-still, waiting for who knows what, while the only thing you should do it would be thanking us for all we've done for you and going away!».

While all the Guardians clearly froze on the spot, the Boogeyman smiled wickedly at that remark and replied: «For once in your life you did a smart thing, Bunnymund: I was just looking for a way to avoid thanking you, but you handed it to me on a silver platter».

The Pooka immediately got to the charge, shouting an aggressive and repetitive speech to bring up to him he was selfish and ungrateful, but the man didn't care, as well as he didn't even notice his friends' intervention.

Stepping away from that noisy company he tried to clear up his thoughts and stretched out his hands in front of him: he had a confused intention to call a Nightmare, choosing one which was already close to North's Palace in order not to wait too long for its arrival, assemble and move away quickly, but he let himself been distracted from the silhouette of Jack who was getting closer and lost concentration. Much more magic sand than he had thought to summon came out from his palms, softly sliding among his fingers, twisting on itself to create thicker tentacles and splitting into thousands of trails to give life to thin filaments, and when the process ended a magnificent Pureblood loomed in front of the viewers.

Pitch froze on the spot and stared at it, hardly believing what he was facing: that tall and slender figure, those muscles quivering but not pronounced, those soft lines, that mane and that tail so long and thick, that graceful muzzle, that proud look were unmistakable.

Staying still he let the creature approach him, touch with the tip of its nose his fingers stretched out and then his chest, and only when he felt it snorting against his neck he shook himself just enough to whisper: «Voluptas...».

Almost trembling he brought his fingertips to the animal's neck, slowly stroking it, as if he was afraid to see it dissolve before his eyes, but Voluptas was real, quivering under his touch: it was back, and it would have never gone away again.

«Voluptas is back!» exclaimed Frost.

The man, still prey of the astonishment and the joy which had caught him, commented: «Yes, it is ba... wait: did you know it passed away?».

«Yes» replied the boy in a tone a bit broken; «I knew it as soon as I came to your lair with Toothiana. You had just evoked Behemuth and you were ready to give battle, but you weren't riding any Nightmare: it was not like you, and it was not a practical choice, considered how hard was for you moving. It made sense that you didn't want to use Voluptas: maybe you preferred to keep it safe, or simply it didn't seem appropriate for that moment, but why didn't you simply create another Pureblood to ride? The only possible reason was that you you felt guilty about its death and you didn't have the heart to replace it with any else. However, I had the final confirmation when you moved me away from the battlefield: if you had sent Voluptas to stop me I would have never had the courage to destroy it and I would have got stuck, but you sent the Innexiae in its place. The explanation, again, could be only one, and I didn't take long to guess it».

Pitch sighed to that revelation: knowing that Jack had been aware of Voluptas' departure from the beginning made him feel doubly guilty, and doubly foolish because he had voluntarily and wilfully followed every step necessary for Behemuth's evocation, without stopping even to think in the face of such a clear sign of his madness; however, it was not the right time to brood over the past, but to think about the future, so he didn't speak and mentally set aside the issue.

In one fluid motion he went beside his horse and got into the saddle, settling himself well in order to be sure not to fall, then he made it turn around and move back as much as he could, in order to have the longest track possible for his run-up.

«Pitch, aren't you forgetting something?» asked Frost.

Annoyed, the Boogeyman restrained the beast and answered: «I've already said I'm not going to thank them, and I have no intention to give life to a pathetic, tearful farewell: I just want to leave as soon as possible and get back to my work».

For the second time he made Voluptas bend its hind legs, in order to have the necessary momentum to fly, but the boy replied: «No, no, I wasn't talking about that».

Although he was irritated by this setback the man couldn't hold back his curiosity and, keeping his face stubbornly turned, he asked: «And what, for pity's sake, did I forget?».

«This» concluded Jack.

Hovering over the ground he went beside him, hooked the curved end of his staff around his neck and pulled, drawing him towards himself; taken aback Pitch lost his balance and he found his love's lips pressed against his in a peck which, albeit chaste, had been given with such a love to be passionate, like the hot ones they were exchanged at the thermal baths.

Although the kiss had seemed endless to the Boogeyman, that tender union lasted only a couple of seconds, after which the boy released him and, evoking the fastest winds he knew, he quickly flew away in the sky, saying him goodbye with a laugh and daring him to reach him.

The man, who in the meantime had awkwardly slipped to the ground, abruptly stood up, fuming for the joke and the embarrassing show he had just done, then he shouted: «It's useless for you to flee away, Jack Frost: there is no protection from my anger! As soon as I catch you I'll make you bitterly regret this idiot joke!».

As quick as a lightning he leaped into the saddle, spurred the Pureblood and galloped, crashing the Guardians both in order not to waste time by circumventing them and to suffocate their hilarity; braving the icy gusts he flung himself along the contrail of snowflakes that Frost left behind himself, using it to tire his mount as less as possible and summoning all his powers in the attempt to gain upon; finally, after getting beside him and vainly pursuing him in his agile somersaults, he saw him slow down and softly sit in front of himself, even bending to hug him.

«Do not believe that some caresses can be enough to make me forgive you! How did you dare to make me that stupid joke!?» he snapped, grabbing him by the shoulders and trying to pull him away.

The boy, staying firmly in place, replied: «I've only gave you a good excuse to leave like the Boogeyman you are without looking rude, didn't you understand? And then I bet with Toothiana that I would be able to make you give me a kiss in front of everybody. Let me guess: you're angry with me, right? Well, never mind: you can punish me, if you want to».

He uttered the last sentence in an impish tone, staring into his eyes and biting his bottom lip at the end to provoke him; the man, who obviously had immediately understood the allusion, hugged him possessively and pierced him with his irises, whispering: «What can I say, Jack? After two days of noisy and boring company, finally someone who knows how to have a little fun».

The story doesn't end here! There's a sequel, which I'll publish this Saturday; the title is "We don't have to be alone". See you soon, and thank you for all the comments, follows and favourites you left for me!