His Nightmare Queen (Pitch Black x Reader)

15: Bittersweet

Twice as long chapter. Whoops.

You were watching your feet as you did your best to keep up with Pitch's elongated steps on the concrete. "What is it with you and rooftops?" You asked almost breathlessly from a few feet behind him. He kept his line of sight straight ahead of him rather than turning to look at you.

"Closer to the stars," he replied above the nighttime breeze. "I couldn't stand another moment with those Guardians near anyway."

It had taken a lot of convincing to get the Guardians to let you leave the workshop with Pitch that evening. Thankfully, no swords were pulled that time. It started off by exiting your lent bedroom yourself and heading into the living quarters to let the five of them know that you and Pitch had resolved your disagreement. Except they were less impressed than you had expected and still more on the concerned side. To think that they would much rather keep you at the workshop than let you anywhere near Pitch again. When you said to them that you were ready to leave, Bunny was the first one to cop an argument.

"And so, what?" The Pooka had put a paw forward with knitted brows. "You're...you're just gonna go on back to him as if nothing ever happened?" He had laughed in disbelief, exchanging glances with the other Guardians who partly wanted to shush him but also partly wanted the same answers from you. "Why the heck did ya stick around with that bloke in the first place?"

Oh boy.

"We're just..." you were shrugging in response with a shake of your head, "we know each other. We're friends...more or less," you had mumbled that last part.

"Friends with him?" Bunny huffed. "And what are ya gonna go on doin' now?"

Just as Tooth had been sending him a look and whispering words to calm him down, you were taking a breath to say something you actually did not yet know. So thankfully, another voice from behind you answered the question for you.

"Taking her home, as she told me to."

You had swung around to face Pitch then, and he was looking at you with a gaze that seemed to show he knew exactly what he was doing and that you should cooperate. So, following along, you threw yourself into a shuffle of collecting your things (you may or may not have shoved your snowglobe and welcome gifts from the Guardians into a small backpack you found lying around in a pile of future Christmas presents and unsuspectingly swung it over your shoulder). The Guardians had been too busy within their bickering to have noticed you nabbing the bag out of the freshly-made toys anyway. You had hurried back to Pitch who was also in a bit of a rush to get out of there to avoid any further protests, which were already sort of coming at you from the Guardians' mouths regardless of how much you were no longer paying attention. When you bid North goodbye, you whispered the reassurance that you'd come back sometime so they wouldn't have to worry, even though Pitch at your side was clearly not going to allow it on his watch by the scowl on his face.

North had, however, muttered something to the others just as you and Pitch were taking your exit that was not meant for you to hear but was still audible to you. "Jack," he was leaning to the winter spirit. "Keep eye on her..."

That was about the time Pitch pulled you into the shadows to head to your next destination. Except you weren't exactly home just yet. Now, you were struggling to keep the chilled wind out of your face as you walked upon the flat tops of connected apartment buildings in a city you thought at first was close to where your home was, but as the minutes passed, you grew less and less sure of it. The above sky had darkened to a blackness swirled with navy blue and lit by the twinkling white constellations. You were tugging your jacket closer around your shoulders to avoid shivering from the nightly temperature as you saw the king in front of you seemed to be unbothered by it in his high-collared robes that dragged behind his feet. You walked behind him a little off to the side to avoid stepping on such fabric, the yellow lights from distant city buildings kissing the outer corners of your eyes from rooftop to rooftop. You'd been back and forth and up and down for the past couple of days, so you were amazed that it had only been a week and a half since you graduated.