Snakebite.

Ch. 2

Genre: Humor, romance.

Chara(s): Pitch Black, Toothiana, other Guardians

Pairing(s): Tooth/Pitch.

~S~

X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X

Toothiana was known to be many things to those who knew her.

She was brave, bold, kind, dedicated to her work, gentle, yet firm, and an overall good person. She was also very bubbly, chipper, talkative, and so full of seemingly endless energy. A few people found this part of her somewhat annoying, if not overwhelming. But most found it quite charming.

But despite all of the crashing and swirling energy inside her, she was very well organized and very professional in her work.

Which is why she was currently throwing a mental hissy fit over a teeny, tiny problem she just now seemed to notice…

'How can I be missing a tooth?!' she screamed mentally to herself.

The colorful fairy sat in her personal quarters in her plush nest of silk blankets and cushions. In her hands she held a gold and jewel gilded box, all of which was open. To some, this wasn't an uncommon occurrence. Tooth loved personally going back and handling teeth whenever she was feeling stressed or down. North once commented that it was like the equivalent to those stress balls humans used whenever they were feeling haggard at the office.

But for once, this wasn't a way to relieve stress or anxiety. Rather, the box was the thing causing the stress.

Or rather, it was the empty slot where a Lateral Incisor should be. Used to be.

Honestly, Tooth wanted to laugh at this. Toothiana, the Tooth Fairy, had lost a tooth! It was laughable!

'So why am I not laughing?' she thought miserably.

Sighing, she closed the golden cylinder, her wings twitching before coming to rest limply against her back. This was a mess, she thought. To anyone else, it would have been no big deal; it was just one tooth. But to her, it was more precious than any gem, not just to her, but to the child it once belonged to. Every tooth held precious memories. Losing just one tooth was like losing a large chunk of one's past. It was an incomplete set, a puzzle missing one precious piece.

Toothiana had never lost a tooth before. At least not like this; there were the few occasions where her fairies might run into trouble – maybe a cat or some other predator animal – and would either have to run without their cargo, or come back for it later. Tooth never blamed them for such actions. Cats were especially nasty to them, but even still, they always got their job done and completed their tasks.

But this, this was a first. Tooth never lost something so precious so suddenly. Not since Pitch tried to-

Amethyst eyes widened. Her dainty hands slackened suddenly, causing the gold box to drop down into her lap as horrible realization dawned on her.

The tooth had been left in Pitch's lair…

~s~S~s~

Contrary to what most might think, Pitch was very adamant at keeping himself clean and well groomed.

Many wouldn't assume so; his teeth were a pretty prominent hint to others that he didn't much care for personal hygiene. But this was not the case.

Actually, his teeth were fine; not nearly as crooked, chipped, or yellowed as he outwardly showed. He just liked to use his natural ability of illusion to give him a more subtly unnerving appearance. After all, who would be frightened of someone with a perfectly kept appearance? It was practically a requirement for him to appear as grotesque as possible; or at least as much as his vanity would allow.

Though right now he didn't worry too much about that. Now, he was going to enjoy his preening and laze about.

"Ah, lower…" he sighed.

Currently the Nightmare King was, quite literally, sprawled out on his back over the majority of the globe room. His torso was actually draped over the hollow globe itself, while the rest of his serpentine form loosely coiled around its base and spread out around the plateau.

And just along the center of his tail was a small battalion of small Fearlings, all armed with soft rags and flasks of clear, oily liquid. All of which was being firmly rubbed into the obsidian scales until they gleamed with a crystalline shine, while another one hovered just above his head with a bowl of various fruits.

Pitch practically purred from the attention. Even after a rather tedious defeat not too long ago, he was entitled to a bit of self-spoiling. It was better than moping around in self-pity. Plus the Fearlings made excellent servants and scale-polishers. It made the polishing go faster too, and no sore hands.

But best of all was the peace and quiet. No harassing Nightmares, no annoying Mini-Fairies, and best of all, no upstart Guardians.

'Now if only I had someone to hold a decent conversation with…' he thought with a sigh.

Pitch would be lying if he said he wasn't lonely. He's spent billions of years isolated, not counting the Nightmares and Fearlings. But they didn't much count to begin with. They were all practically illiterate unless they were whispering promises of fear and doubt. Plus, neither made great opponents in chess; they were more keen on eating the pieces than doing anything else with them. Pitch never did get that Rook back…

'Then again, who in their right mind would want to be around someone who takes such a form?' he thought.

With a huff, he let his mouth open, his forked tongue stretching over his chin as the Fearling over his head lowered some grapes into his fanged maw.

Oh well. Who needed companionship when he could spend a whole summer being waited on hand and tail?

Pitch's relaxed state was cut short by a deep snort. Cracking an eye open, he frowned over at the Nightmare gazing up at him expectantly, its willowy mane waving in a nonexistent breeze.

A bit upset at having his relaxation time interrupted, Pitch dismissed his Fearlings and flopped over onto his stomach, resting his chin on his folded arms.

"What is it?" he hissed, a very slight lisp added to the 'S' of his words.

The Nightmare snorted and shook its head, nickering to Pitch and clopping a hoof. Pitch's frown deepened as the mental communication between him and his Nightmare became a bit frazzled. It was if the sandy horse was frantic in its 'speech'.

"Slow down…" he crooned, reaching out to pet the Nightmare's neck, "Easy girl, tell me what's wrong."

While the Nightmare regained its bearings, Pitch was mentally marking off what could possibly be wrong. There couldn't be an intruder in his lair, he would have sensed it. The Fearlings weren't causing any trouble, and the Nightmares weren't becoming restless and turning on one another – or Pitch himself. As far as Pitch could tell, everything was perfectly in order.

"What is it?" he tried again, patience wearing thin.

Huffing with a grunt, the Nightmare turned tail and trotted down a tunnel. Pitch watched after it for a few moments before it came back. Its jaw was set oddly, like it had something in its mouth. And it seemed much more restless than it was before.

"What's the matter little mare?" he smirked, "Got a tooth ache?"

The Nightmare gave the impression of being insulted before craning its neck and nodding its head frantically, but not in a sense of confirmation. It instead nudged Pitch's arm firmly before shaking its head again. Pitch cocked his head curiously before hesitantly holding his hand out to the Nightmare. The Nightmare snorted and opened its mouth, depositing something into Pitch's ashen hand.

Now thoroughly intrigued, Pitch brought his hand up to his face to examine what his Nightmare had brought him. He at first thought it was a pebble, but upon further inspection, he found it was not something as simple as a pebble. It was white, smooth, and had a slight shine to it. Nothing came to mind at first, but a beat later, the answer hit him like a truck.

It was a tooth.

A baby tooth to be precise. But what in the world was it doing in his lair? His Fearlings weren't suddenly taking an interest in them were they?

"Gods, I hope not…" Pitch muttered, turning the tooth over in his hand.

It certainly wasn't his, it was too small. And his Fearlings and Nightmares didn't even have teeth. The only explanation he could come up with was that it somehow got left behind when Toothiana retrieved the tooth boxes.

"How unfortunate…" Pitch purred, rolling the tooth around in his palm. He contemplated on what he should do with it.

Taking it back to her was out of the question. He didn't feel like having any of his lovely fangs knocked out, thank you. Though it was tempting; he could only imagine her and her Mini-Fairy's reactions to his serpentine form. It would have been delicious.

But he digressed. There wasn't anything he could do with it, and he wasn't about to return it of his own free will. Though he had to wonder what the chances were of Toothiana or one of her mini fairies coming down to retrieve it.

Frowning at the ivory item in his palm and tongue flicking, Pitch held it out to his Nightmare.

"Place it close to the entrance," he said, "Make sure it will be easy to spot should someone come down."

Snorting, the Nightmare obeyed the order and, though hesitantly, took the calcium enamel between its lips. It no sooner trotted off for the main entrance to Pitch's lair.

Nodding to himself, Pitch flopped back over onto his back, his torso bent in a gentle arch over the round shape of the globe. Better safe than sorry, he thought. If someone did come looking for that tooth, they would find it and get it back before they could venture too far into his home. And even if someone did come down…well, he can only conclude Tooth's fairies feared snakes as much as cats…

Pitch averted his gaze to the Fearlings floating in the corner and bore his fangs.

"What are you lot standing around for? Get back to work!" he snapped.

The Fearlings squeaked in surprise before they bolted back over to Pitch, armed with their rags and flasks, and got back to polishing his scales to a gossamer shine. Pitch sighed deeply as his tense muscles unwound. A peeled orange wedge was held out for him, and Pitch couldn't help but grimace.

He had to wonder just what the other Guardians would think if they saw him like this, and enjoying it. As if they didn't think he was revolting enough, the last thing he needed was for them to openly mock him about his method of surviving a damn heat wave. Pitch loathed uninvited guests. Maybe he should have that tooth returned…

After he was done with his scale polishing.

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