Chioniphobia

Penultimate

Natasha tapped her fingers impatiently as she waited outside of Greasy's shop.

"How long does a haircut take?" she murmured, glancing at one of the sleigh's dials.

"With hair as long as yours, I suppose you wouldn't know."

Natasha jumped, nearly falling out of the sleigh as she took note of her unannounced passenger. "Pitch!"

"Mrs. Claus," the Boogeyman returned coolly. "Love to stay and chat, but I'm a bit late for something. Now if you'll excuse me..."

With a quick movement of his hand, Pitch yanked the reins out of Natasha's grasp. Before she could cry out, he snapped them sharply, causing the reindeer to rear up and run off.

Natasha snarled, drawing a short dagger. "Pitch...!"

He vanished.

Tasha leapt neatly down from the sleigh, eyes flashing as she looked about for a sign of the Nightmare King. Spotting a darker shadow flitting towards an alley nearby, she gave chase, rounding the corner to find Pitch standing with his back to her as he examined something in his hand.

"What was that about?" she spat, clenching the fist that wasn't grasping a blade.

He turned to look at her, and she saw what he had in his hand- a golden pocket watch.

As her face registered her confusion, Pitch smirked at her. "Something curious, Mrs. Claus?"

Tasha heard footsteps behind her, but before she could speak, a tunnel opened up underneath her.

As the tunnel closed, muffling Mrs. Claus's surprised shout, Bunny hopped forward and frowned, taking in the sight of Pitch's usual robe next to his own brightly-colored suit.

"How come he only had to carry the bloody watch?!" he complained, pointing at the Boogeyman accusatorily.

Grim appeared next to Pitch, rolling her eyes as she crossed her arms. "Because however much you fuss about this, you'll never compare to the King of Temper Tantrums."

Pitch glared at her before directing his scowl towards Bunny. "I set boundaries, unlike you, rabbit. I can't comprehend how someone with your ego ever agreed to wear that abomination."

The Reaper elbowed her companion. "Oh, hush. I think you look marvelous, Pookie. And Mr. Black, if you want me to hold up my end of our little agreement, you'll apologize to him right now before he leaves for the party."

Seeing her pull out her phone, Pitch grit his teeth and stared at Bunny with daggers in his eyes.

"Deepest apologies," he growled.

Bunny whistled. "Must be some dirt you got on him there, Grim."

Grim smiled at her phone screen. "It is, quite. Now, rabbit, you aren't playing the part of White, so I'd suggest you get a move on before you're late."

Bunny saluted and tapped his foot, reopening the tunnel and jumping in.

As the tunnel closed again, Pitch glanced over at the picture on Grim's phone screen.

"Now delete it," he demanded.

Grim smiled fondly at the photo she'd taken of Pitch sleeping next to her in Tasha's room. "Yes, yes. Just give me a moment to commit it to memory."

"We had a deal, Reaper."

"You're quite cuddly when you're sleeping, you know? Look how you're holding me; it's like I'm a teddy bear or some such. Do you sleep with a stuffed animal? No? Perhaps a body pillow?"