His Nightmare Queen (Pitch Black x Reader)

14: Loyalty

You awoke the next morning to a breakfast oddly of a slice of surprisingly moist fruitcake and another mug of cocoa to wash it down, served by some grunting yetis with a knock at your door. You almost refused to scarf it down if you weren't so hungry from the lack of a full meal the night before. Not to mention you made yourself poke around the meal to check for any yeti fur. If you were going to stay there for much longer, you'd have to convince North to feed you some non-holiday-related dishes once in a while. Maybe Jack wouldn't mind flying out and nabbing a few things for you from a couple places. On the contrary, making him into some sort of delivery boy for you sounded increasingly ridiculous in your head.

Once your plate consisted of only leftover crumbs and your mug was empty other than a few stray droplets, you took the privacy of your room to step out of your pajama set and, to your dismay, had to return to your outfit from yesterday upon the realization that you had left all of your belongings at the lair. The thought even caused you to freeze in the midst of yanking your trousers up your supple legs that were covering themselves in goosebumps, your eyes widening with the vision of possibly having to go back at some point to get all your clothes and other personal items back. That is unless Pitch would find himself generous enough to return your stored belongings to your parents' house where you had brought most of them from. If not, return them directly to you. You shook it off before you could let your imagination wander too deep.

Fully dressed, you headed for the exit of your room and clicked the door open to step into the hallway. Your feet still left bare, you padded over the wooden floor to make your way into the living quarters. To your surprise, the first figure your eyes landed on was Bunny standing in the space. Do the other Guardians come to the workshop often? You wondered to yourself. Maybe it's just because it is their headquarters. Easter had passed over a month ago anyway, so Bunny probably had some free time to enjoy until fall or winter when he has to prepare for next year's batch of eggs. From behind you, Jack then stepped out to your surprise and maneuvered his way past you to also head into the living space, raising his arms above his head to stretch his limbs and yawn noisily. You wouldn't have been so shocked to see them again so soon if it weren't for spotting Tooth fluttering around high above and Sandy stepping around a corner minding himself.

"Good morning, (Y/n)," North's voice suddenly boomed from behind you. You jolted and swung around to face him, having to tilt your head up to meet his jolly eyes. "Sleep well?"

You sighed into a smile. Before you could answer, Tooth flew herself over to you and hovered by your side.

"We all wanted to check on you this morning to see how you were doing after last night," she said.

"Oh," your brows raised, feeling yourself snapping a bit more awake. "Well, that's...very nice of you all," you cleared your throat to hopefully clear away any awkwardness, "I-I'm good this morning. I'm great. Thanks."

After a few more short verbal exchanges, you headed further into the living quarters where Bunny and Jack greeted you as well. Sandy had granted you a kind wave also when you glanced down mid-conversation with the two other Guardians by you. Soon enough though, you were looking over at that giant crimson couch in front of the fireplace again, thinking it would make a nice few minutes of relaxation before having to decide what to do with your day.

And just when you were about to shuffle your feet over to take a seat is when you sensed it. A pressure from somewhere deep within your core caused by a nearby shift in the atmosphere's hidden shadows. Dizziness then washed over you in a wave with the spin of something close by. You stopped yourself and stood as still as a statue by the back of the couch, your heart sinking with the beginning slow movements that you could not yet see but still somehow feel. And you seemed to be the only one because based on the Guardians' standing exhilarant morning expressions, they could not notice what you were noticing. Elsewhere in the room, the darkness twisted to life and your stomach churned.