Doing this because I re-watched the movie again today. JUST GOT THE DVD!
And I noticed something no one's ever touched on…
Pitch… And the way he fondles over Bunny when he's all small and adorable.
Soo… You're about to get a taste of why I think Pitch is an animal lover.
Fluffy.
Jack flew from rooftop to rooftop, laughing gleefully as he spread snow and ice. Children cheered when they saw him. Parents hid themselves in coats and scarves. But people could finally see him. And that was all that mattered.
Jamie waved excitedly up at him, Jack waved back. He then flipped over in the air, tossing a few flurries his way. Hopping onto a tall building, he grinned at his handiwork. The entire town coated in snow. He was lucky Bunny was allowing it so close to Easter.
How long had it been now, a whole year? He grinned. He'd been a Guardian for a whole year! And look at the fantastic job he'd been doing! Kids all over the world knew his name! They could all see him!
He loved living like this. He was finally happy. He finally had a family.
"Momma, look at the kitty!" He knew that voice- Sophie. Smiling, Jack turned his head to see her.
There was a cat, a fuzzy little black one. Sophie was trying to pet it. Jack hopped down next to her, watching with a smile, but when she reached a hand out toward the cat it ran away. She began to whimper and her eyes began to tear.
"Aw, hang on Soph, I'll go get 'im," he said, patting her shoulder. She giggled up at him and went back to playing with Abby her dog.
He flew after the cat, which was retreating into the woods. At one point it stopped to lick itself.
"C'mere kitty, kitty, kitty," he called, reaching his hands out. The cat noticed him and scurried off. Jack frowned.
"Aw c'mon, Soph just wants to play!" he flew after the cat, "Come to ol' Jackie, come on…!"
The cat hopped down a little hill. Frowning to himself, Jack landed on the dirt. Maybe the stupid cat wasn't worth the trouble. Nothing he did to get it to come to him was working.
He sighed in frustration. "I promised Sophie I'd bring her a cat, and I'm gonna bring her a cat…"
He flew forward some more, following the direction the cat went. Finally he found it. But he was surprised at where the cat was.
The fluffy black creature sat in a pair of black arms, purring happily as grey fingers scratched behind its ears.
Jack stepped forward warily. "Pitch…?" he whispered, more than a little surprised to see him.
The dark spirit blinked at hearing his voice, but his face softened again almost instantly.
"Hello Frost," he whispered, running his hand over the cat's head. The little critter purred and rubbed itself up into his hand, circling around him with a mewl of approval.
Jack inched closer, holding out his staff in defense. Finally he was too close for him to hold out his staff any longer. He squatted down, reaching a hand out toward the cat. It sniffed at him, but stayed by Pitch, purring against his leg.
"Had a little trouble with this one, eh Frost?" Pitch chuckled quietly, "And you had such people skills…"
Jack smiled. The cat licked his fingertips. But it still wouldn't come to him.
"Well," he said, laughing at how the cat pawed Pitch's thigh, "I never really pegged you for an animal lover…"
Pitch didn't respond, he just scratched behind the cat's ears.
"'Course, you did comment about how fluffy Bunny was that one time…" Jack pointed out. Pitch smiled a little remembering that, but the smile quickly faded. They both remembered what happened right after that… Jack had defeated Pitch… He had been sent back to his little hole in the ground…
"How'd you get out anyhow? If you don't mind me asking, that is," Jack asked, backing off a little when he figured it was probably a touchy subject.
Pitch smiled a little, rubbing his hand over the cat again. "You can't kill fear, Jack," he said quietly, "No matter how many times you and your Guardians push me away, I'll come back…"
Jack nodded in silence. He wasn't exactly sure how to respond to that. He wasn't even sure how to feel about this conversation. Talking with Pitch like none of the previous year's events had ever happened…
He smiled as the cat began climbing into Pitch's lap. It was kind of cute how the animal seemed drawn to the dark man.
"I would've figured you scared animals," Jack said, smiling.
Pitch laughed a little. "Most, yes… Cats, though, seem not to mind me…" he said, "And I don't particularly mind them either…"
Jack chortled to himself. "It's the fluffy fur, isn't it?" Pitch smirked.
"Oh, yes," he replied, "Can't resist it…"
"I knew it," Jack said, grinning and reaching out to pet the cat again. Finally the cat was beginning to warm up to him.
"So why did you want this one, hmm? Anything special about this cat?" he asked, scratching the cat's neck fondly.
"Nah, Sophie just saw it and it wouldn't come play with her…" he explained, "Just wanted a playmate…" Pitch nodded and pushed the cat toward Jack's outstretched hands.
Once the cat was in his arms, Jack stood up. Pitch stood as well and Jack smiled. "Thanks," he said, motioning to the cat.
Pitch nodded. "I'll stay out of your way," he said. Jack blinked in surprise. As Pitch turned and began to walk away, the cat began yowling and clawing at Jack's arms.
He yelped as it scratched its way free, then proceeded to prance back over to Pitch. Jack groaned.
"Maybe I should just tell her I lost the cat in the trees," he grumbled. Pitch laughed and plucked the cat from the ground.
He held the cat back out to Jack, but he backed away from it when it hissed at him.
"Uh- unh, that thing's evil!"
Pitch laughed again and pulled the cat in close to his arms. "I'll walk it back with you, how's that?" he offered.
"You're not gonna try and kill me halfway there are you?" Jack asked, eying the Boogeyman warily. Pitch smiled and said he wouldn't risk that.
"I'd be stupid to try…" Jack smiled when he said stupid. He liked how it sounded when he said stupid. Like the 'u' sound was even more emphasized. It was funny.
So they walked back, and Pitch set the cat down near Sophie. It meowed and caught her attention, and she instantly grabbed it and began hugging the life out of it. It wailed and cried, trying to claw free and flailing its limbs desperately.
Eventually it squirmed free, and it ran off as fast as its legs would carry it. Sophie began crying, her mother had to come comfort her.
Jack laughed from the sidelines. "So much for that," he grumbled. Pitch smirked to his left.
Running his fingers through his hair, Pitch sighed. "Won't stop a child, though…" he whispered, "No matter how scratched up they get, they'll just keep on trying…" He glanced Jack's way. "In some ways they're a lot like you…"
Jack grinned. "Yeah," he said, "I wrecked Easter loads o' times, but I still wanted Bunny to be my friend…"
"I heard about that," Pitch said, "Blizzard of 68… No spirit on Earth saw it coming…" Jack grinned to himself, remembering how much fun it had been to make all that snow. Seeing Bunny so mad wasn't so fun, but the snow days were awesome… When parents let their kids outside…
Jack smiled, watching kids run around their yards. He glanced at Pitch for a moment, noticing how uncomfortable he seemed to be just standing there… Jack smiled and slowly, cautiously even, he inched near him. Reaching out one hand, Jack poked Pitch's hair, freezing the tip of one of the feathery locks.
Pitch frowned at him. "What are you doing?" he asked, frowning at the boy standing on his tiptoes.
"Your hair looked fluffy," he said, smiling. Pitch rolled his eyes.
"Well stop touching me," he said, "We're not friends, Frost… I'm just not trying to kill you today…" Jack frowned and poked another lock of hair, freezing it solid.
"Now I understand why the rabbit hated you so much," Pitch grumbled, stepping away.
"Until next time, I suppose…" And before Jack could even argue, Pitch had vanished.
Whatevs…
Not BlackIce, just friendship…