An Icy Scandal

Chapter 2. Startled

He really couldn't tell you why he suddenly had a new fascination with this man. It wasn't like they ever talked. Yeah sure, the two may have exchanged glances every seven years or so, but that was it. However, since speaking to the Nightmare King in Antarctica, he couldn't stop thinking about him.

The way Pitch talked about how both of them had longed for a family, and how he so kindly offered one to the younger spirit if he joined him. He could see the hurt behind pitch's eyes when he had said 'no'. It seemed like that word had been used a lot around pitch. Or, maybe the word was never used. Either way, that night, Jack saw the 'prideful, boogeyman' vulnerable.

So, when Jack had felt Pitch's eyes observing him, he decided to take advantage of the situation and spark up a conversation. The two bantered for a bit before parting ways, and partially agreeing to meet up in the upcoming future.

Maybe it was guilt, maybe it was pity, or maybe it was an understanding. But, Jack wanted to learn more about Pitch. He never really had an opinion about the older, until he had become a guardian. The guardians saw black and white about what was wrong and what was right. If they condemned Pitch Black as evil, the rest of the sprites and beings would condemn him evil as well.

It seemed hypocritical.

It wasn't like Pitch had chosen to have fear as his center. In fact he had no say over it. It was what Manny had gifted to him thousands of years ago. The title "Boogeyman" was not something he had made up on his own either. That was given to him by the children who passed down stories from town to town. The guardians and other beings had twisted the name over the years. Fear was good. It was needed throughout life. It helped people stray away from dangerous situations, or stupid decisions.

The guardians did not see it that way. They saw it as though Pitch was purposely trying to suck all the hope, wonder, and whatever else kept people motivated out of the world. They never took into consideration whether or not fear had good outcomes. Why would they? It was fear. Fear was bad...

But wonder could be bad as well... same with hope, dreams, memories, and fun. All of which were considered generally good traits. Most of the time their outcomes were good, but often they led people down the wrong paths, digging them into an endless pit of despair....

But anyways

Apart from having these depressing thoughts, he remembered tonight was a full moon. Full moons were one of the most active times of the month, for one singular reason. Fear. Humans had a weird fixation of creating monsters that came out during the full moon, they told each other about these stories and it made for great feasting if you were someone who ate fear. And it just so happens Pitch was that kind of person.

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Jack wandered through all the towns where it wasn't quite midnight, but still dark enough for it to leave you feeling weary and cautious. Eventually, Jack stumbled upon the famous boogeyman feeding on the fear of a young boy walking by himself. Originally, he was going to go talk to the older spirit and strike up a conversation, but then he thought about trying to scare the king of fear himself. Albeit it might not have been one of his sharpest ideas, it was worth a try.

He used the wind to leap onto a house's roof that was closer to where Pitch was. He stumbled a bit toward the gutters, but got a hold of himself. He began to make a slight chill with the breeze. His first attempt had not alerted Pitch in the slightest. Jack tried to move quietly so he wouldn't be caught. He saw a low hanging icicle near the boy's head and decided to crack it a bit using the wind. Again, Pitch hardly even noticed it. Jack did catch the attention of the boy who was now freaked out about the sound. This time he would at the very minimum startle Pitch, who currently, was focussed on feeding off the human. The frost spirit used his powers to break each icicle off, like they were lights popping in a horror movie. Then, he made the wind maneuver large pieces of trash from an alleyway. The trash flew into the street, it blocked the sidewalk, and had alerted Pitch. Pitch knew something was up.

Jack took his opportunity. He jumped to the ground shouting 'BOO' while Pitch's head was turned. Pitch didn't even flinch. The taller man just stared down at him amusingly. "I was sure it was going to at least startle you." Jack groaned. "It was a sad attempt" Pitch smirked "however..." he gestured to the human who was now crying from all the abrupt commotion. "It did clench my hunger for the rest of the night, but... I could always go for desert." Pitch said smugly. Jack just rolled his eyes. He picked up some snow, molded it into a snowball, breathed some joy into it and flung it at the boy. The boy's smile grew and he started pretending he was on a wild adventure, walking home. Jack grinned and turned back to Pitch.

Pitch's smirk had faded. "I don't know why you had to go and ruin it'. "I didn't ruin anything, I just made the kid feel a little better." Pitch walked toward him. "Yes, and in doing so, you ruined it. I mean I had some nice true fear to feast on, and you, you made it disappear." Pitch said like it had deeply hurt him. It hadn't.

Jack floated a couple inches in the air, twirling his staff around. "Honestly, I'm still surprised you didn't take up my offer in Antarctica, you have a knack for scaring people." Pitch said, staring down at him."uh -huh, sure, I mean it's not like there were any real reasons for rejecting the offer, like per say; you trying to commit world domination, trying to kill off the people protecting children, or just being blatantly rude" Jack replied. "Water under the bridge" Pitch spoke using his overly flaunted smirk.

"So, 'Mr Guardian of Fun' what did I do to deserve the pleasure of speaking to you again?" Pitch asked. "What? Am I not allowed to just have a friendly conversation with you?" Jack wondered playfully. "Oh, I'm not saying you can't.." the older man leaned down, pressing his index finger against Jack's chest "it's just we aren't that friendly.". The Guardian relaxed his stick behind him. Jack knew Pitch was correct, but he was bored and for some reason had a desire to talk to him.

"I mean if you don't want me here, I'll gladly leave" the Winter spirit said putting his hands up in the air, in a sort of surrendering position. Pitch studied the man's features, trying to see what his true intentions were. Finally, Jack responded by closing his eyes, and shrugging "fine, have it your way". As Jack turned around to walk off and leave, Pitch grabbed Jack's wrist.

"Wait"

A/N: Oh my goodness sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out, i have been caught up in so much missing school work it's not even funny... however, because it does take me a while to write a chapter please expect it to take a week to two weeks to update, at the very most three weeks. Thank you all so much for understanding!

Happy Reading!

Word count: 1290