Snakebite.

Ch. 13

Pairing: Naga!Pitch/Tooth (Cavity)

Genre: Humor, romance.

Rating: T (for swearing and minor sexual content)

~S~

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

Sunlight poured into the palace in shafts of warm light, cascading over ridges and bouncing off of golden towers and spires. Like gold waterfalls, they fell and crashed into the ravine in which he slept. He soon awoke as sunlight warmed skin and scales alike, lighting the obsidian shards until they shone like the volcanic glass they represented. The colored gems of scales that lined his flank glistened and sparkled like precious stones; they made all the gems about the palace look like lumps of coal.

Purring in the lazy lull of morning, Pitch's startling gold eyes opened the scantest bit. For once, he was a bit happy to be waking up to so much light and warmth. His form permitted him to walk in the daylight without fear of harm or burn. It truly was a lovely feeling, waking up to such warmth. He had to wonder if he would ever laugh or scoff at such a notion once he woke up a bit more.

Something shifted on his chest, its surface smooth as silk yet soft as velvet. A flash of iridescent green caught his bleary eyes, before a rainbow of color invaded his vision. At first he thought it was the light of morning filtering through a pane of glass. But upon blinking and clearing his vision, he saw it was a wing. Slightly transparent, yet boasting a whole realm of color that would make any other dizzy with wonder and awe. But Pitch, he was drunk with it…

Blinking once more, he looked past his chest until he was looking into the swirling vortex of his coils. Where many would see such a thing as dangerous, frightening even, there was one who saw comfort in it. It was a home, a haven; a nest.

Tooth moaned sleepily as she too awoke from one of the deepest sleeps she has ever had in quite some time. Warm and wrapped in the obsidian and gossamer speckled nest of scales, against this lean, strong chest painted like the overcast day of coming rain, her body sang pleasantly in that lazy state of half-awake and half asleep. She blinked sleepy amethyst eyes – gemstones in and of themselves, the Boogeyman was enraptured by that violet gaze.

Gold and violet eyes locked then, eyes hooded and pleasantly hazy. Pink lips smiled lovingly as the fairy queen shifted so her wings were spread out and stretching in the air. They fluttered and shuddered as last night's sleepy stiffness was shaken from the iridescent appendages. Light filtered through the transparent wings, transforming into lovely shafts of colored light that fell warmly against his face. This was no fairy in his grasp; this was an emerald angel.

"Hey…" she breathed sleepily, one hand reaching up to rest fingers against his collar. She traced the prominent bones, her delicate touch sending shivers down Pitch's whole body.

"Hey…" he purred back, equally lazy. He sounded like a cat that had just woken up after a full meal of cream and fish; content.

Loosening his coils, he rose up and arched his back, nearly bent backwards as he stretched and popped stiff joints. He shivered as those delicate fingers ran down his chest and over his flat belly, stopping just at the sharp points of his hip bone. Peeking an eye at the fairy woman, Pitch felt a tad bit of smugness at the open enthrallment she watched him in as he proudly showed off his body for all it was worth.

"Show off." She muttered.

Pitch chuckled as he settled back into their scaly nest. They gazed at one another hazily, both now awake, but unwilling to leave that comforting place of euphoric haze and fog. The Tooth Fairy rested her chin on Pitch's chest, her fingers tracing patterns on his firm pectorals.

"What do you want to do today?" she asked breathily. Pitch hummed, sliding one arm under his head and the other around Tooth's petite waist. His fingers played delicately with the feathers at the small of her back, and he felt her shiver at the pleasant sensations.

"I am not sure," he said, before he suddenly grinned, "But I am looking forward to you making breakfast."

Tooth scoffed teasingly, "You are so lazy."

Pitch smirked, shifting slightly. Tooth squeaked slightly as his coils rolled and she was half thrown, half rolled onto Pitch's torso fully until her thighs straddled his waist. He moved his hand so it was settled fully on one of her thighs, petting up and down the quivering legs as she instinctively planted her hands on his stomach to support herself.

"Am I now?" he purred, reveling in the bright blush consuming Tooth's face, "You weren't saying that last night, now were you my dear songbird?"

Tooth nearly swooned under those intense eyes and rumbling voice. Her heart fluttered wildly in her chest like a bird trapped in a cage far too small for it as Pitch's hand palmed her hip, massaging the supple curve with his warm, massive hand.

"D-don't call me that…" she rasped, her fingers curling against Pitch's abdomen.

"Oh but it's true my darling," Pitch purred, leaning up slightly on his free hand so his nose was nearly touching hers, "You sang so wonderfully for me last night. Your lovely voice, so full of passion…"

Tooth gasped as his hand moved up her waist and to her arm, pressing hotly against her trembling limb.

"And you dance my dear, so gracefully," he was breathing his words against her ear now, his hot breath sending heat straight into her core, "Like a bird in flight – no. Like a bird falling from the sky, falling freely, without a care or worry…"

He squeezed her arms lightly, before the hand moved up her shoulder and curled around the back of her neck. His hot palm was like a brand on her nape, and it sent her mind swimming.

"Such lovely, dangerous, blissful freedom…" purring deep in his stomach sent shudders up Tooth's body, her whole being shaking as she shot her hands up to grasp weakly at his shoulders, "And I am the only one who gets to watch as you fall, faster…"

He grinned a fang-filled grin as he nuzzled her cheek, before descending down towards her neck.

"Pitch…"

"And faster…"

Hot breath puffed at her pulse point, causing her to gasp and jolt. Pitch chuckled as his forked tongue poked at the heartbeat just under skin and feathers…

"And faster…"

His mouth opened, and his fangs flashed as he bent forward and-

"AUGH!"

Pitch shot up in his nest of pillows, panting erratically and eyes wide. Sweat coated his body in a thin sheen that made his stone colored skin look like polished granite. Shivering, Pitch wrapped his arms around himself as he gaped openly at the floor in wide eyed terror.

What…was that?! What had he been dream - had he been dreaming?!

"What…?" he rasped, his voice shot like it had been when Tooth had first brought him to her home.

What indeed. What had he just seen? Why had he dreamt it? And of Tooth of all people!

Pitch swallowed thickly, eyes nearly bugging out of his head. Part of him was quite stunned by the fact that he had had a dream. Or so he was assuming it was. It certainly did not feel like a nightmare at the time. It was distressing in a manner when he woke up and realized he had had an almost sensual dream about the fairy queen, but still. He had had a dream…

…and it made him sick!

A sudden chirp caught his attention, and he veered his head around to find its source. The spectacled fairy from last night was sitting at the chess board off to his left. She was looking at him oddly, a white pawn clutched in her arms. She chirped inquisitively at him, and Pitch groaned. Just what he needed to see first thing after having a sexual dream; something that represented the subject of his otherwise apparent tension.

With a long suffering sigh, he flopped back into his nest of pillows, throwing an arm over his eyes. He was the very picture of epic drama, if the fairy ever did see one.

"Gods I can't take this…" he rasped.

The fairy cocked her head in concern. She set the pawn down on the board and fluttered over to Pitch until she hovered over his head, just in his line of vision. She chirped again, this time sounding fairly concerned. Shifting his arm, Pitch peeked one eye up at the fairy.

"I'm fine, just peachy…" he groused.

The fairy quirked a brow, disbelieving, and crossed her arms expectantly. Despite her previously meek demeanor, it seemed all of Tooth's Mini-Fairies held a speck of defiance and otherwise firm-fisted resolve. It made Pitch want to smirk and scowl all at once.

He sighed, "It's nothing, just…had an odd dream…"

An odd dream that he should be forgetting about right about now. But it would not leave his mind. Weren't people supposed to forget their dreams after the first minute of waking up from them? Why couldn't he get the mental image of the fairy queen out of his head?! Why could he not forget how radiant she looked upon waking up? Why could he not forget how wonderful it felt for her to be waking up beside him? Why couldn't he forget how her hands felt on his chest, how her feathers tickled and smoothed brilliantly over his scales, or how it felt to have her straddling-

Pitch felt himself blanch suddenly, goose bumps erupting over his skin. His heart – an organ he would later deny having and fully functioning – hammered madly against his ribs. He suddenly felt nauseous. He felt filthy…!

Seeing how pale he was, the Mini-Fairy became openly more worried and tentatively touched Pitch's nose. She whistled lowly, as in inquiring if he felt sick. He certainly looked like he was going to be sick…

"Oh gods…" Pitch groaned again, grabbing a pillow and pressing it over his face, nearly smacking the fairy out of the way.

Pouting, the fairy chirped and tugged at the fingers holding the pillow in place over his face. He was going to suffocate himself! What was wrong anyways?

"Oh just leave me alone," Pitch growled from under the pillow, "I feel terrible enough as it is, I don't need you making it worse."

The fairy scowled. Well, if Pitch was going to be rude and rebuke her for feeling worried, then he can go suck an egg…

Huffing, the fairy turned and started for the chess board again. And once her buzzing wings were far enough away from Pitch's hearing, he took the pillow off his face and gazed forlornly at the ceiling.

"Ugh, I feel disgusting…" he groaned, looking at his hands, "As if my sleep wasn't bad enough, now I'm left filthy from that disgusting dream of that woman…!"

The fairy paused from setting a rook in its place, looking over at Pitch. He felt filthy? Did he have one of those icky dreams people sometimes have? Well no wonder he was cranky! But what was that about a woman? Hm, well he was a boy, did he dream of a girl giving him kooties or something?

'Men…' She thought with a fond eye roll. But it wasn't his fault, dreams can be weird after all – and Sandy sometimes had a very questionable sense of imagination when it came to dreams. She knew just what he needed!

Pitch blinked hazily as the fairy fluttered back into his line of vision, this time gesturing animatedly to a side door just a few aisles away from them. He groaned, turning his head away from her.

"Go away…" he huffed.

The fairy rolled her eyes at his dramatics. Huffing, she flitted down and grabbed his hand, tugging at it for him to get up off his lazy tail and follow her!

"I said go away…" Pitch yanked his hand away from the fairy and rolled onto his side, his back now facing her.

She blinked at him, glasses skewed from the harsh tug. She suddenly scowled. How rude…

Scowling, she flew over Pitch until she was hovering in front of his face. She crossed her arms, landing on his forearm, and started tapping her foot impatiently. Pitch, looking ready to try and sleep again, looked at her with a scowl to match her own.

"I do not like repeating myself, fairy…" he suddenly looked contemplative, "Seriously, would it kill Toothiana to give you sprites names?"

Sensing he was trying to dodge whatever it was she was intending to do, she pointed back to the door and glared at Pitch in what she hoped was in an imposing manner – a difficult accomplishment with her rather thick and round glasses. Pitch scoffed.

"Or what? You'll tickle me with your little tail feathers?" he mocked.

Deadpan, the fairy pointed to the pinpoint sized scar on Pitch's hand just between his thumb and index finger. A reminder of Baby-Tooth's rather harsh retaliation to him back in Antarctica. Pitch sneered, resisting the urge to growl. Her message was clear despite the lack of words; she may not be as brash as Baby-Tooth, but she will poke his damn eye out if he didn't get up and listen to her.

"Fine…" sitting up, he watched the fairy flit back into the air to hover in front of him, "What do you want?"

Smiling to herself in accomplishment, the fairy once again pointed to the door. Sighing, Pitch got up all the way and started slithering after the Mini-Fairy. Opening the door, he found it led into a corridor that branched off into other hallways and doors. The fairy chirped, catching his attention, and allowed himself to be led down the hallway past a few doors and halls. They traveled down a long flight of stairs, much to Pitch's irritation; stairs did not feel great on his underbelly. But after a few turns and twists, they came to a set of double doors on what he guessed was the ground floor. The carpet had long since been left behind and was replaced with a polished cobblestone that felt cool and smooth under his tail.

His sensitive hearing picked up the sound of running water then, coming from behind the door. Gesturing to the door, the fairy grinned up at Pitch as he reached down and opened one of the doors.

His eyes widened in awe and pure elation. Behind the double doors was a vast cavern of slick stone and gold arches. Raw gems glistened as they peeked out from crags and cracks, some glimmering like colored lights behind the small waterfalls that tumbled and cascaded into the many blue springs and oasis' below. A modestly sized skylight sat up above, casting the room in soft light that was mostly highlighted by the glowing gems and jewels. Cool mist tumbled from the cooler springs in basins along the upper cliffs, while heady steam rolled along the floors of the main floor leading to the warm and hot springs. Slabs of stone were lined with soft looking towels, perfumes, oils, and soaps. Shelves lined the insides of the springs that would allow one to relax and sit in them were highlighted with cracks that revealed more raw gems.

This was the palace bath…

"…oh…" was all Pitch seemed to manage, flabbergasted. The Mini-Fairy grinned proudly to herself, before Pitch suddenly frowned and looked at her.

"Why is it so empty?" he asked. The fairy pursed her lips, trying to figure out a way to communicate her answer to the Boogeyman.

Snapping her fingers, she flittered over to the mounds of white sand off to one side, littered with dark, round stones; heating stones. Using her hand, she started to write into the sand.

Private, she wrote, We have our own bath house.

Pitch blinked, but it made sense. He imagined the Mini-Fairies bathed in what would resemble a bird-bath, not in these large pools with waterfalls that could easily drown them. Perhaps it was for guests?

"I see…" he said, still stunned. A bath…the idea sounded far better than he made it sound.

Suddenly he was eager to get into the water and soak off the last few days' stresses and anxieties. He bathed in the oasis in the ravine before, but it never felt like a real bath. And here he was, in a real bath house with soaps and the opportunity to finally relax in peace!

"Well why didn't you say so?" he said with a smirk. The fairy rolled her eyes again, but was all the same amused.

She wrote some more in the sand, No one will come in here, so stay as long as you like. I'll come back in an hour to lead you back to the library.

"Yes, yes, now shoo, I can figure things out myself here," Pitch said, "…thank you though, for this."

Smiling, the Mini-Fairy shrugged and made for the door. Pitch closed the otherwise heavy door behind her with his tail, and once he was alone, he surveyed the room. He definitely was going to try out one of those hot springs; the oasis felt nice and all, but cool water got old after a while. Looking over the soaps, he found quite a few he had never heard of, and many he was definitely going to try. He paused when he found a body wash among the selection, and eyed his tail.

It's been weeks, and he still retained his form. By now his legs were likely very neglected and would need to be checked over. The longer he kept them 'locked away', the more likely permanent damage could be done to them.

Pitch, taking a couple soaps and a wash cloth, slithered over to the edge of a hot spring that didn't seem too warm or cold for his likely sensitive legs. And once sure he was not going to be interrupted, he gathered what little energy he had and forced it back into his center. Slowly, much slower than last time, his tail retracted and started to shrink, becoming a gangly pair of trembling, very much neglected legs.

He hissed as throbbing aches flared up into his limbs and were sent straight into his spine. His leggings felt way too tight around the trembling limbs, both throbbing and aching from lack of use. And despite being bound in his leggings, the air somehow felt both too cold and too hot on his sensitive skin.

Well, there was only one way to fix that, he thought.

Slipping his thumbs over the waistband of his leggings, he carefully maneuvered them off of his legs. Tossing the well-worn leggings to the side, Pitch began the difficult task of acclimating his limbs to the warm water of the spring…

~s~S~s~

"Okay, already sent patrol team A there, troupe 42 is now dispatched, and we broke our record for most Molars collected in one week!"

The fairy queen, hovering on her signature platform, bit her lip in excitement as more Mini-Fairies flew in with even more teeth. Today was a particularly busy day it seemed; teeth were suddenly falling out like rain from the sky!

"Wait, wait, wait! Let me see that Lateral Incisor!" stopping a troupe of five, Tooth ushered them over.

She nearly squealed over the tiny enamel deposited proudly into her hands. The fairy that had retrieved it seemed to flair her feathers in pride as her queen looked it over. She was about to make a comment on how large it was, until she paused and frowned. The tooth was large, especially for a baby tooth. And it was quite yellowed, stained brown in a few places. And once she had calmed from her excited high, she seemed to realize the tooth had roots.

Blinking, she looked up at the troupe and gave a small smile.

"Sweetie, remember? We don't collect adult teeth." She said.

The Mini-Fairy blinked, looking at the tooth dumbly in her queen's hand. She quirked a brow suddenly, and chirped up at her queen inquisitively.

"It's not a baby tooth someone dropped?" she asked. Tooth blinked.

"No. Why would you think someone dropped it?" She asked. The fairy shrugged and pointed to one of the many windows of the palace.

"I found it just outside the palace wall," she said, "I thought someone dropped it, and it was just dirty from being on the ground for so long."

Oh, Tooth thought. Well that certainly made sense. It was extremely rare for any of her fairies to drop or misplace their cargo, but the few times they did, it was usually found fairly quickly. If not by another fairy, then by Tooth herself. She would have sensed if a baby tooth was left outside her home.

Smiling, she pat the meek fairy's head, "Thank you sweetie, for considering it. But this isn't a baby tooth, or even a human tooth from what I can tell," she scrutinized the tooth briefly, cocking a brow, "It's very close to a human one though. It actually looks a lot like…"

She suddenly paused, her face paling slightly. A shudder ran down her spine as ice dropped into her gut. Her fairies looked at her in concern, the one who had brought the foreign tooth chirping carefully at her. Was she okay? She looked sick…

Tooth suddenly snapped out of her daze, shaking her head as if to clear the fog in her mind. Clearing her throat, she clutched the tooth in her hand and smiled tightly at her fairies.

"Don't worry girls, I'm just a bit tired is all," she said, "It's been a busy week."

The fairies sighed in relief, all looking to one another and chirping quietly. One of them suddenly chirped and suggested Tooth take a break. She's been working too hard.

"Heh, thanks, but I'm okay. I just need to get back into the groove of things." Tooth reassured.

The fairies looked unconvinced, and all pointed out how she had pulled an all-nighter last night and has been up for most of the day now. If she didn't take a break every now and again, she was only going to hinder the tooth colleting process.

She sighed, "Okay, okay, if I take an hour break, will you let me come back?"

Chirps and whistles of approval were given, and Tooth chuckled as the fairies flitted around her and started to try and herd her down to the main floor.

"Okay! I'm going!" She laughed, turning to fly for the main floor of the palace.

A sudden chirp stopped her, and she turned to look at her troupe again. The fairy that had collected the foreign tooth suddenly pointed to the fairy queen's hand, chirping questionably.

"The tooth? Oh, I'll hang onto it, you don't need to throw it out," Tooth waved a hand dismissively, "Some of the fairies collect animal teeth, maybe one of them will take care of it."

Reassured, the fairies bid their queen goodbye and flitted off to finish their work. Once they were gone, Tooth sighed, deflating slightly. She looked down at the tooth in her hand, nearly grimacing at the yellowed enamel.

A monkey tooth. She certainly hadn't seen too many in her lifetime, and this was the first time she had seen one in a few hundred years. It brought back unpleasant memories, and sparked a flare of anger inside of her. It was a rage born from hardships and bitter experience. She thought she had gotten over such rage. But evidently, she had not.

Sighing, she contemplated what to do with the thing. Maybe she would give it to one of her fairies like she said. Or perhaps throw it away.

She shook her head. No, she could think on what to do with it later. Now, she really did want to relax a bit. It seemed to catch up to her once she left her platform just how tired she was. Her back was starting to throb with how long her wings had been keeping her aloft. And she seemed to take note of a headache starting to set in just behind her forehead.

Her stomach gave a loud, low growl suddenly. Flushing, Tooth was just thankful no one was around to hear her stomach loudly demanding food for itself. She resolved to get something to eat then.

After a nice, hot bath.

Flitting down towards a dome just on the main floor, Tooth flew down past an arch and through an open door that led her to an array of hallways and doors. Knowing the winding corridors by heart, she quickly and swiftly weaved down halls and past doors until she reached her destination; a set of double doors.

She nearly shuddered with the anticipation of getting into one of her private hot springs. A nice hot bath was just what she needed right now. Maybe she could take a bit more than an hour to soak and pamper herself; she rarely did after all.

Reaching for the handle of one of the doors, she opened it and stepped inside. The heady smell of damp rocks and steam filled her lungs, and seemed to help clear away most of her headache. Sighing pleasantly, she walked over to the flat rock that hosted a variety of her favorite bath oils and essentials. Looking over the selection, she frowned. Where was her sandalwood body wash? And her lavender oil, it was gone too.

"What…?" she pursed her lips. Ugh, did her fairies get into her private bath and pilfer her stuff again?

A sudden shift in the water caught her attention then, and she turned to confront whoever was in her bath.

"Ugh, girls, I thought I told you that you weren't allowed in my-" whatever it was she was about to say suddenly caught in her throat and vanished in a choking sound oddly reminiscent of one strangling a flamingo.

Pitch stared back, eyes wide and mouth pulled into a long, thin line. His back was partly to the fairy queen, and he was standing in the waist-deep water. Well, it was waist deep to Tooth, but for someone as tall and long legged as Pitch…imagination was no longer a factor needed here.

He was naked. And Tooth was looking right at him.

If ever there was a time for a logical, calm reaction…

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

"EEEEEKKKKKKK!"

Now was not the time.

"By the nine rings of hell, Toothiana, have you ever heard of knocking?!" Pitch snapped, snagging a towel by the edge of the pool to cover himself with.

"What?! Have you ever heard of respecting people's property?!" Tooth snapped back, covering her eyes with her hands.

"What are you even doing here?!" Pitch shouted, tying off his towel around his hips. Although he was wishing for his cloak at the moment to cover everything.

"Me?! What are YOU doing in MY bath?!"

"Ugh! Forget it, just get out!"

"Get-?!" Tooth suddenly uncovered her eyes, vaguely thankful Pitch managed to cover himself before she did so, "This is MY bath! You leave!"

"I was here first! Get out!"

"Are you serious?! This is MY home, with MY rules!"

Pitch scoffed, one hand gripping the side of the pool and the other the towel around his waist, "Oh please, as if I am under any obligation to listen to you."

Tooth felt a vein throbbing in her temple, and her face flushed red – and it wasn't from the heat or Pitch's partial nudity. Worse yet, Pitch seemed to find it amusing; he was openly smirking at her.

"You-?! WHY?! Why are you even in here?!" she shrieked.

Pitch cringed, digging a finger into one of his ears in exaggeration; god damned drama queen.

"If you absolutely must know, one of your little sprites showed me to the bath." He groused lowly.

"Who?" she asked, trying to keep her calm.

"Vidya." Pitch deadpanned. Tooth paused.

"…who?" she asked again. Pitch rolled his eyes with a sigh.

"The only fairy willing to come near me without spite or the desire to yank out one of my scales - that little bookish fairy from yesterday," he said, "You know, large glasses, spot over her eye, has no sense of strategy when it comes to chess?"

Vidya…an Indian name, meaning knowledge. It certainly fit the bookworm fairy. But that wasn't what made Tooth slightly calm and stare at Pitch, and for two reasons. First was the fact that he had willingly and in his own time named one of her fairies without prompting.

Second was the fact that, now that she was calm, she seemed to just now realize that Pitch was naked. And by that, she realized his tail was gone, and replaced with his bipedal legs. Both of which, she noticed, were looking quite unsteady. Pitch was holding the edge of the pool in a death-grip, the edge and the water of the pool the only support he had while standing.

Tooth had to wonder; was he alright? Was being in a different form for such a long time straining on him in some way? Did he maybe lose strength in his legs after such a long time of them being…what exactly happened to his legs when he transformed?

A hand suddenly came into her line of vision next to his legs, the index finger wagging upwards. Pitch sneered as her gaze shifted upwards.

"My face is up here, darling." He said.

Face flushing, Tooth made it a priority in keeping her eyes locked onto Pitch's chest…his nicely defined, lean, yet strong chest-no stop!

"Ugh! Whatever! Just-just get out of here!" Tooth snapped, pointing to the door.

Pitch put a hand to his chest dramatically, "My, how rude! I'm a guest here."

"You're not-!" Seriously, Tooth wanted to strangle the obnoxious man, "Why? Why do I have to deal with you? Did I do something horrible to deserve this? Is that it? Did I hurt someone in some way?"

Pitch quirked a brow, cocking a hip to one side, "I can think of one person."

"Besides yourself!" Tooth said. Pitch scoffed.

"Well then, while this conversation has been ever so enlightening, I suggest you leave." He said.

"No, this is my bath, you don't get to tell me to leave!" Tooth snapped.

"I was here first."

"You are acting like a child…!"

"I can't help that I find you oh so amusing when flustered." Pitch smirked.

Tooth felt her face burn even hotter. Whether from anger or embarrassment, she could not tell. All she knew was that she was going to kill him. She wanted to tear off those scrawny arms of his and beat him with them. She wanted nothing more than to twist and break that long, strong neck. She would kill to have something crush that well sculpted chest of his. She would just love to kick him in his-

STOP!

"You are staring again." Pitch suddenly said, before he smirked and shamelessly exposed the side of his neck, "Like what you see?"

Tooth's headache was becoming a migraine, and her sense of speech went with any sense of control right out the proverbial window.

"I can't help that I find you so damn-!" she stopped herself before she could literally say something that would completely destroy her life.

Pitch, suddenly curious, looked over at Tooth with an intensity that made her uncomfortable, yet also made a strange heat flare up in her stomach. He grinned, walking towards Tooth suddenly. The fairy tensed and stepped back as the Boogeyman crowded her against a wall. Pressing her hands and the back of her heels into the wall, Pitch regarded her with that shit-eating grin of his. A flash of fangs made the fairy queen's toes curl, and she bit her lip.

"How cute…" Pitch crooned, bringing one hand up to plant on one side of Tooth's head, essentially trapping her between him and a wall, "The little songbird is speechless."

Did…did he just call her songbird? Tooth's vision wavered briefly, and she barely caught herself from falling over. She was revolted suddenly; she was swooning!

"Come now my dear, don't be shy," He crooned, leaning down towards her until their noses nearly touched, "Won't you tell your dear Boogeyman what's on your mind?"

Her Boogeyman. Yes, that sounded nice. Her Boogeyman. Her snake, her raven, all hers…

"It's impolite to be so silent around your guest," he breathed against her ear, startling a squeak from her, "Come now, you can tell me; what is it you are hiding from me?"

There was a saying Tooth had heard a long time ago; darkness is destruction and seduction. And Pitch, he was very much proving just how much he represented these words. Slowly, sadistically, he was destroying every defense she had mentally and physically. And like the snake he was, he was slowly winding around her with pretty words and dark promises whispered in her ear. Pitch was destruction and seduction.

And she did not want to fight it.

"I…" she swallowed audibly, as if trying to choke her heart back down into her chest where it belonged.

"Yessss?" he literally hissed in her ear, his forked tongue flickering just below her ear.

Gasping, the fairy queen's hands shot out and grabbed his shoulders unexpectedly. It drew an odd noise from the Boogeyman's throat, almost like a silenced shout or snarl. She could not tell, but she liked it.

"I…!" Tooth screwed her eyes shut as a warm palm settled on her hip, and before she could stop herself, her mouth ran away from her.

"I can't help that I find you so damn attractive!" she shouted.

Silence.

Her eyes remained shut tight, but no sound was heard. Pitch said and did nothing. She could not see his face, and a part of her was glad for this. A whole minute passed of nothing but the rushing roar of falling water and hissing steam met their ears. And just as Tooth was about to open her eyes, she felt Pitch's presence leave her, and she heard the door to the bathing room fly open and then slam shut. Her eyes opened, and she looked around.

Pitch was gone. She was alone.

And just now realizing just what she said, she covered her mouth with her hands and sank to the floor. What had she done…?

~s~S~s~

Oh god, oh god, oh GOD! Not happening, not happening – this was not happening to him!

Pitch was breathless, his chest heaving for air that would not come. His chest felt like it was under a compactor, and his heart was erratic!

He leaned gasping frantically against a wall in the vast maze of halls. Eyes wide, nausea rose into his gut, and sweat broke out over his head. He clutched his chest, becoming all the more tighter and frantic. A sudden wash of vertigo hit him, and he collapsed onto his knees in panic.

Panic, panic, panic, no stop, don't panic, you're making it worse oh gods he can't breathe panic panic PANIC PANIC!

Head swimming, Pitch swallowed the scream he so desperately wanted to release. He collapsed onto his side them, clutching his aching chest. Oh gods it hurt so much…!

'I don't understand…this wasn't supposed to happen!' what was he doing? What was she doing? What was he going to do?!

He couldn't do this; this was not a game anymore. No, this had turned into something far more serious. And he had to get out right now or suffer the consequences!

'I can't do this…' he groaned, shutting his eyes as his body started to calm.

What she had said…no, this could not happen. He would not allow it. He was the Boogeyman! He was incapable of such…such…disgusting thoughts and feelings! He could not, would not, think such things about that fairy woman! He couldn't…!

'I need to get out of here…' covering his eyes with one hand, Pitch forced his energy back into his center and down into his legs.

His legs merged and became the long, scaly tail he had become so familiar with over the past few weeks. The body he so loved to hate and hated to love. The body that she had come to know so well…

Pitch hid inside his coils, uncaring of where he was or how he looked. The towel he used lay abandoned on the floor. He felt miserable, this unknown feeling, this ache, in his chest only making his pained body feel even worse.

He couldn't do this. He could not stay here any longer. He had to leave, and soon.

Pitch had never felt so defeated in his life…

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