"But it would work!"
North was to say something else, like how he and the others had all been charged by the Man in the Moon to watch over the children of the Earth…
But then he stopped.
"… It could." He said slowly, turning towards the Boogeyman with a thoughtful look in his eyes. "But! I am curious about something." He poked slightly at Pitch at that.
"How would you scare them into better behavior?"
Pitch looked about to say something, possibly about how of course he was going to scare them, but he stopped, before frowning in thought.
"Well… that is actually quite the good question…" He said slowly and thoughtfully. "There are so many different ways of frightening someone, especially through their night terrors. Not that I don't know how to frighten them in person, I just haven't really thought about it. I mean…" Pitch floundered a bit, while North watched him patiently.
"You have never really worked with anyone before, I take it?" North decided to ask. The Boogeyman glanced up at him briefly from his pondering, before he shrugged.
"I haven't had a reason to. People tend to…" He glanced over towards Sandy and Tooth, who hovered nervously nearby, "disagree on my work methods."
North nodded thoughtfully, stroking his beard as he did so. "I have an idea…" He said slowly. "How about we each attempt to think up a method, of how some things would work?"
"North, what are you-" Tooth began to object, but the Cossack waved her off with a 'not now' gesture, before he turned back to Pitch.
"Think of it like this: In three months time, it is Christmas. I know a town in the Alps, with some good children, but there are a few, how we say, rotten apples in the basket." He smirked in his beard, giving Pitch a mischievous look. "A scare of the right kind would do them good, I think."
"Three months…" Pitch replied thoughtfully, though he returned North's glance with a smirk of his own. "I think I can work with that."
—
The three months passed quickly, or at least Nicholas thought so. Eventually though, it was time to head out and bring gifts to the children of the world. He had made the arrangement to meet with Pitch in the woods surrounding the town, and the Boogeyman had certainly kept up his part of the deal.
"Glad to see you could make it!" North chuckled. "So! Did you find a solution to that which we talked about?"
"I believe that I might." Pitch said with a slow nod. "If you will allow me to demonstrate, of course."
"That is what we are here for." The other responded. "I only have but one request."
Pitch raised a brow, but nodded as a way to tell the other to go on.
"Let me point out the children, who are in true need of punishment." North said with a serious frown. "It is only a few, but there are more good children here, than bad."
The Boogeyman raised a hairless brow, but then he shrugged. "Very well. You lead the way, Nicholas St. North."
And with that, they were on their way.
—-
Many years later, Tooth had long ago decided that yes, North had definitely known what he was doing. Even Sandy had reluctantly admitted this at some point, especially after the Dark Ages, which they all agreed might have ended with a bang in the spirit world, if they had tried to fight Pitch. He could be stubborn as hell if he wanted to, and Tooth had no doubt that he would have been a tough opponent.
Instead, the Dark Ages had eased themselves into the Renaissance, and from there into the Age of Discovery, and now they were easing themselves into the Industrial Revolution. And while the belief in what had become known as the assorted scares of Christmas, particularly the Krampus, had started to dwindle, there were still people around who kept up the celebrations related to it.
If anything, Pitch reveled in the attention, and clearly enjoyed being able to share some of his ideas with someone. Especially since North seemed to either encourage him, or give him new ways to make old ideas work even better.
All in all, the other Guardians would think, North had certainly had worse ideas.
Agreeing to the Christmas Krampus had turned out to be one of the better ones.