A small gasp came out of her mouth as he pushed the large doors open. The room had thousands upon thousands of books bound in all different types of materials. This room was more warmly lit than the others; an orange glow illuminating the room from the large fireplace. She scurried over to the fireplace, kneeling down before it and held out her arms, palms facing the flames. She then pressed her warm hands to her cheeks and sighed. She looked around and the towering shelves all tightly lined with books. She looked over to her far right and noticing a golden ladder fixed at the corner of another shelf. She laughed out loud, turning to look at Pitch who was still leaning on the door. "I love this room!" she exclaimed, folding her hands into her lap. "It just feels so cozy, welcoming. It's-it's very different from the rest of your home. This room just has so much more life," she leaned back, pushing her legs out to the side of her. "I really like it," a smile spread across her face.
Pitch watched her, his arms crossed over his chest and the look on his face almost that of a proud parent as a barely contained grin spread across it. Her delight was so adorable.. almost like a small child's in its innocence and the way she didn't contain any of her joy. That was one things he enjoyed about her.. she was so bright and full of life that she lit up any darkness around her.
He came to sit in a chair near her, a wide smile still on his face. "I'm glad you like it. I thought you would. This is actually my favorite room in my home, despite the simpleness of it. Even more so than my treasure room. Books hold far much more value to me than do most of my other possessions for they are the things that eased my loneliness and boredom the most." He supposed he wouldn't admit to his loneliness at any other time before this, but he felt that now he could be more open with her. He chuckled softly and gazed into the flames a moment, the flickering tongues of them reflecting in his golden eyes. "Perhaps we should of had tea in here in the first place."
"Sometimes I read when I'm bored, too," she said, scooting a little closer, resting her back against the side of the chair. "It's very busy in the Palace, but we do have slow days, believe it or not. I quite like fantasy books. I think it's fun to go on an adventure to a whole different world, you know? Even if it's just imaginary," she sighed. "Tea in here would have been nice, but I might have fallen asleep." Her lids were low. She would watch the fire and have to avert her gaze when her eyelids would get heavy. "My library isn't as vast as yours, just a quaint, petite little place," but I've got this big plus couch, and I find myself falling asleep there more than my own bed," she giggled turning to face him. "But something tells me that you don't sleep often…" Her brows tensed, and the muscles in her cheeks relaxed out of her smile.
"I don't read just when I'm bored, it's quite the lovely pastime. I enjoy the classics myself, but I have read a quite the wide variety over the years. I happen to agree with you. Books can indeed take you to a while new world. One different than you own. One where you can imagine yourself to be different…" He said the last sentence softly, almost more to himself than to her. He occasionally wondered what his life would be like if he wasn't the King of Nightmares, though he kept such thoughts to himself. He couldn't be anything else even if he wanted to be.
As she said those last words, his own brow furrowed. No, he didn't usually sleep well… not at all. His mind was suddenly flooded with horrible memories of the nightmares that kept him awake most times he even attempted sleep and he had to look away from her gaze. He swallowed and changed the subject, trying to shake himself of such thoughts. "I would like to see your library sometime. I'm sure it's just as nice as mine is. Perhaps I can visit your palace as you've visited my own home today, if it wouldn't frighten your fairies."
"Sometimes I like to imagine myself as a human," she rolled her neck back against the arm rest. "You know, a normal human. If I never became a guardian or if I wasn't born with wings. I probably would have become a dentist," she laughed as it would probably be true. "Uhm, sure, I guess you could come by sometime. I'm not sure you'd like the Palace too much though. You've seen it once, and really all of it is bright and colours and I don't know. You like the dark, don't you?" The orange flames reflected in her magenta eyes making them look more sad than they already were. "Pitch, uhm, is there something you'd like to talk about?"
"Though I prefer the darkness, that doesn't mean that color is distasteful to me." That wasn't completely true; for overly bright, neon colors did in fact irk him. But he did enjoy some colors. Even though he was characteristic for his typical black, a lack of color, that didn't mean he was tasteless. Perhaps her Tooth Palace was a little.. bright for him, but that didn't exactly mean he wouldn't mind visiting it. More for her than for anything else, however.
He was silent for a long moment after that; staring deeply into the flames. After what seemed like an eternity, he broke the silence. "I sometimes wonder what my life would be like if I wasn't the way I am too." He said softly, still not looking at her. "I wonder who I was in the past. I don't remember any of it. Not clearly, anyways. I've spent the whole life I've known trying not to be forgotten. Perhaps it is because I have forgotten who I was in the first place."
Upon hearing his response, she knit her brows together and pursed her lips. She was almost unsure what to say. His silence was almost heart-breaking, and she wasn't quite sure what compelled her to do so, but she rose from the floor and embraced him. Her wings were folded limp, and her arms wrapped around his neck. It felt like the right thing to do. Tooth always had an answer for everything or a bit of advice to give, but she had always known who she was and why she was there. She couldn't imagine living in a world where she wouldn't remember who she was. Speechless, she figured that even if she couldn't say anything to help, that just showing him that she cared could be enough to suffice her absence of words. Holding on for a bit longer than she usually would, she slowly pulled away. "If you ever want to talk or anything, you can talk to me. I don't know what help I could ultimately be, but maybe getting it out would make you feel better?" She tried to smile, to help maybe brighten the mood.
Pitch's body tensed as she wrapped her arms around him. He hadn't really expected such a warm and caring gesture and he wasn't sure how to react at first. After a long moment, he brought his arms up and wrapped them around her. His body relaxed and he fully accepted her embrace and he closed his eyes for a brief moment as his formerly buried feelings welled inside of him. Honestly, his confession had made him feel rather vulnerable. He rarely shared such things like that with others, especially those whom he'd previously been in battle with. But it had simply happened.. and he'd let it because it felt right. It felt good to be able to share something like that with a.. dare he say it?.. friend. That did seem to be the direction in which their relationship was going.
He nodded, his emotions evident in his eyes. He swallowed and gave her a small half-smile, looking down a moment to collect himself before meeting her gaze again. "Thank you.. I needed that." He had truly been touched by her gesture. He placed a hand on hers almost hesitantly, his smile widening as he tried to convey his thanks with more than words.
She smiled a small close-lipped smile. "You're welcome," she said softly. That couldn't have been the first hug he'd ever had, she knew that before. But there was something about his hesitancy that showed he hadn't been embraced in a very long time. He had this air of mystery about him, and it was quite obvious that he had a dark past. He had mentioned that his early memories were vague, and maybe he didn't really want to remember, but there was something inside of her that made her want to know more. Or try to know more. She sat gently on the arm rest of his chair, facing the flames. "You once mentioned you had a daughter," she spoke. She had fought herself from saying that, but curiosity got the best of her. She remembered back to hundreds of years ago when the early wars in Punjam Hy Loo took place. That Pitch was a much different Pitch than now. The Pitch she sat with in the library watching the glowing flames with is not the same Pitch that stole the great winged elephant or hired the evil monkey king to slay her. For years she was bitter and cold towards him, never wanting his shadows near her kingdom again. Something about him had softened, become more…human. But so many years ago Katherine had shown her the golden locket, and curiosity had bit furiously at her. And while his heart was somewhat open now to her, she took the opportunity to ask. Part of her was afraid he would immediately shun the statement and threw her to the Fearlings, but part of her felt as if he trusted her enough to share what he did know. As the Guardian of Memories, she had barely any information on the Nightmare King, even as her Palace held his every lost tooth, memories clouded in shadow.
Pitch nodded slightly, his expression stoic. Yes, he had mentioned such a thing before. That was one thing he did remember.. that he was fairly certain off. She was the clearest thing about his past, as she had lived on in his memory much more than anything else had. Anything else was practically non-existent to him, being simply vague strands of memory that he couldn't really get a grasp on. And even the memories of her were vague. Yet something told him that she had been real.. and very much alive. But, by now she was most assuredly dead. No mortal could survive as long as he had. And who knew just what had happened to her when he'd turned? He certainly didn't remember. And thus his flitting memories of his beautiful daughter haunted him, for he had long since given up the idea that he'd see her again. His memories of her were all that he had.
He supposed he could be more open her now. Yes, he had been evil.. and had treated her horrendously in the past. Yet, she was here and was willing to talk to him. And something had broken in him during his last defeat. He was not quite the spirit he had been before hand and he doubted he ever would be again.
"I don't remember her very well." He finally said after a long moment. "But I know she was beautiful. And something makes me want to say that she looked like her mother. She was much to lovely to have resembled me." A smile touched at his lips as he said this. "I only have brief memories, though.. Sometimes not even a full mental image. A touch.. a smile.. a wisp of fabric or a lock of dark hair shining in the sun. But I know she was real and that she meant very much to me."
She knew she should just stop right there. Not say another word. Change the subject. But her heart raced in anticipation. It was almost a craving, a need for knowledge she didn't have. Tooth had the collection of ultimate information at her fingers tips, and yet Pitch was the ultimate mystery. There was a time or two she ventured deep into the caverns of her Tooth files, trying to grasp what little information there was a bout him. She figured back then that she could just ask him, but in those days the war still fought inside her. And here she was in his library being licked by the hot flames and dissecting her way into his mind, picking what little information she could. She took it in like a sponge. "I once saw the picture in the locket. The one of your daughter. Many, many years ago a dear friend showed me before she gave that locket back to you. She was very beautiful," she spoke softly. She knew she was treading on thin ice, but a warm smile spread across her face. "She must take after her father."
"The locket?" This brought a brief memory to his mind… he did indeed remembered this locket. He didn't remember what had happened to it. He knew it had been given to him, but he'd lost it so long ago. Though it was probably a major reason why he remembered her so much more clearly than anything else.
He nodded slowly, his heart suddenly aching. He remembered being given the locket, but not much after that. Perhaps the memories of what had happened after had been wiped from his mind either because they had been too painful for him to endure or because his fearlings had wanted him to forget his past. Very possibly both.
He swallowed around the large lump that had suddenly appeared in his throat; attempting at a small smile, but failing miserably and actually appearing as if he was grimacing painfully. "She couldn't look too much like me, for she would be much more unattractive if she did. Her mother.. her mother was the most beautiful woman I ever met." Another memory flashed into his head.. of a slender woman with long dark hair and startling blue eyes. His memories were resurfacing, and they were tearing him apart inside.