Chioniphobia

Bugs

Grim watched Pitch, her gaze unwavering. It was a common enough occurrence at that point that he didn't acknowledge it, but there were still centuries yet before the Boogeyman's irritation at this would be dulled by familiarity.

"What are you looking at?" he'd asked before, and she'd tilted her head as if she were one of those ridiculous mutts that often accompanied her.

"There's a word for it," was all she'd said.

"For what?" he'd snapped, half-tempted to vanish into the shadows just to avoid her.

"How you move. There's a word for it."

That had caught his attention. "How I move?"

She'd nodded and showed him her hands.

"Bats flap," she'd explained, demonstrating the motion as she did so. "Flies zip. Moths flutter. Spiders skitter. Centipedes crawl."

This last example was made in conjunction with Grim using her fingers to "crawl" up Pitch's shoulder. He resisted the urge to swat the offending hand, shrugging it off as he would any other pest.

"I walk," had been his reply.

She'd shaken her head. "Humans walk. Brother floats. I fly. You don't do any of those."

He'd wrinkled his nose. "Not all of us have wings, sweetheart."

She'd frowned. "There is a word for it."

"Stalk?" he'd suggested, stalking off and vanishing into the shadows.

Before he'd fully escaped, Pitch had heard her reply.

"No, that's not it."

Now they were back in the cavern, albeit in a different section than the one they'd first discussed description of the Nightmare King's movement.

"A lot of insects skitter," she remarked abruptly. "Ants, beetles, scorpions-"

"Scorpions aren't insects."

"No? Aren't they in the same family as spiders?"

"Spiders aren't insects either."

She gasped dramatically. "Goodness! All these years, I've believed in lies!"

Grim leaned back exaggeratedly, the back of her hand pressed to her forehead, and used her momentum to tumble directly on top of Pitch.

With several decades of dealing with her shenanigans under his metaphorical belt, Pitch did not attempt to throw her into the nearest chasm again. Instead, he unceremoniously shoved her off of his lap and rose to his feet, dusting off his robes.

Grim glared up at him, evidently annoyed his reaction wasn't as amusing this time around. "How does the Boogeyman know so much about insects anyway?"

"I deal in fear, pet. Quite a few humans have an absurd degree of such towards arachnids, which is what spiders actually are."

Her eyes widened and she sat upright, crossing her legs like a child ready to hear a story. "People are scared of them? Why?"

"Silly mortal reasons. It's such a common fear that they even have a name for it- arachnophobia." He smirked. "A ridiculous fear, but it's such a lovely word. Arachnophobia," he repeated, relishing the feel of the syllables in his mouth.

"Arachnophobia," Grim parroted, and smiled. "It is rather fun to say. Are there any other words like it?"

"Oh, certainly. Entomophobia, apiphobia, myrmecophobia, lepidopterophobia-"