His Nightmare Queen (Pitch Black x Reader)

33: Never

Nearly a week went by before your life returned to normal - that is, the version of normal that was your eternity down in the lair with Pitch. Getting back on track of personal matters never felt more relieving. Another mark crossing out another day on the calendar, a rewinding of the ticking clock kept at the back of the mind, meant one less thing to worry about. Stress does turn out to do wonders on the body after all. A slight concern bubbled at the back of your mind as to whether or not you were to tell your partner of this recent scare of yours, however the fact that what you feared at first did not come true was what brushed the whole issue away.

The holiday season was drawing closer as was the official start to winter, so more than half of the Guardians were too busy on their toes making their own preparations. Mainly the rabbit was in higher charge at the moment of keeping a keen eye out for unwanted creatures such as the fearlings, but their appearances remained nearly unchartable and without expectation. The last you had seen of them was that day at the Guardians’ headquarters shortly after your engagement. You and Pitch knew to keep watch during your outings as well, but you noticed Pitch casting more glances at you than anywhere else with an expression resting somewhere between wary and protective that you could not quite read. You wished you could ask what it all meant and the reasoning behind these new actions of the monstrosities that once belonged to him, but you knew that he still had no answer. That or, if he did, it was one he was not ready to speak.

A gentle snowfall danced from the darkened clouds when you and Pitch stepped out into the cold of the night. The shadows of the mid-December twilight wrapped around you when the two of you set foot into them together. Another perk of your immortality granted by him was the enhancement of your strengths and lessened need of his assistance when his work was at your hands. That, and you noticed the requirement of far less sleep nowadays compared to the usual eight to nine mortal hours a night.

You hugged your black jacket tighter around your form at its gold buttons as you spun through the shade where you and him made your way. Your ability to move through shadow could be done with less of his guidance now. Once the two of you entered one together, you were free to let go and move freely within the dark matter according to your will. With his power running through you, your energy raced higher for you to stay within the boundaries of the shadows and step back out into the world on your own.

When both of you quietly stepped into a child’s bedroom from its dark corners is when you got the chance to test his favorite of your newer abilities. Sometimes it would still take a few tries, but this time around, you dipped your index finger into the swirling golden dream sand hovering above the child’s head with confidence. Within seconds, blackened nightmare sand was spreading its pollution throughout the mixture before taking it over entirely. You grinned back up at Pitch by your side with pride, him knowing the Queen of Nightmares had only just begun to find herself.

You both continued on through the night. From bedroom to bedroom, you managed to have a successful evening of delivering nightmares to mortal humans of various ages in the small town you had traveled to together. Each and every time, your advantage of invisibility to those who did not know of your existence was used for you to get close enough to produce another corruption of a dream. You did so without the aid of the Nightmare King to provide his touch nor a handful of his own sands for you. Every instance, you smiled back at him with even more excitement at such achievement. Almost every time, his look at you warmed in response.

The first time he did not return the uplifting look was not so worrisome.

“Is everything alright?” You asked him. His glare was colder, eyeing you up and down as if examining your full form and trying to use his stare to dig beneath the covering that your jacket, leggings, and combat boots provided, in search of something that did not appear to be lust. At your words, his look softened and he snapped back into straighter posture with his arms crossed.