A/N: And so, this concludes this Two-Shot. I'm going to mark this as complete, and if more things feel like it can fit into this universe/timeline, I'll just tack it on :p
Note: some of these prompts I'm using are years old in the Cavity Week tag on Tumblr (and probably elsewhere. I have no clue where these prompts came from). So please excuse the dust on some of these :)
Anyway, enjoy! If you're interested in helping inspire You Give Me Cavities, feel free to suggest prompts, situations, or moods you would like to see in a Cavity One-shot.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything of the Guardians of Childhood series or the Rise of the Guardians. That's all William Joyce and all associated entities.
Week 3 Day 4 Cavity: Exile
Appearing in his lair in a flurry of feathers and grins, Tooth quickly sought out Pitch, who sat in the living room in the attached living quarters, sitting in his chair with paperwork in his lap, reading glasses perched on the end of his nose. He looked up, startled, as she burst into the room, and quickly rose to his feet, setting his paperwork aside to go to her.
"Are you alright?" he asked, worriedly, scanning her for any injuries. She looked flustered, but there was a big grin on her face, so it didn't look like she was hurt. Instead, she looked like she was about to burst with some proclamation and-
"Pitch, I love you!" Tooth blurted out, drawing closer to him. He stood, rooted to the spot, blinking owlishly at her, his thoughts racing. Grabbing onto his arm, Tooth stayed close, her eyes locked onto his, wishing she could ready his thoughts. A few seconds of silence passed, and Tooth grew nervous and doubtful, Bunny and North's words from earlier echoing in her ears. "S-sorry, I-" she started, wanting to backtrack before she embarrassed herself further, but Pitch interrupted her before she could get too far.
"I like you too!" he proclaimed, a faint blush overtaking his features. He looked so completely out of his element, that Tooth tightened her grasp on him, one of his hands snaking out to rest on her waist, as if he was trying to ground himself. "I like you too," he repeated, as if he wasn't sure she heard him the first time. He rushed forward with his words, to make sure he said all he wanted to say before she started worrying again. "I don't remember what love actually feels like, but I feel like being with you is it. I...I have great affection for you, and would like to see this feeling develop, if you will have me in that way, of course," he added, and even before he had finished talking, Tooth was nodding.
"I will be your girlfriend for as long as you'll have me," she declared and Pitch grinned in response.
"Then that will be a very long time," he agreed, and the smile that lit up her face was worth it all. Her wings buzzed to life and lifted her up to his head height to place a chaste kiss on his lips before settling back down onto the ground. He grinned back at her before lacing his fingers through hers. "Now then, about this movie night that I promised you," he stated before leading her away, the both of them laughing in their joy.
A few weeks later of continual bliss, Tooth was hard at work collecting teeth and saving the good memories for all who might need it in the future. As she was collecting the last moral in the area, the Guardians Call went up, immediately catching her attention, and groaning in frustration. She had been looking forward to getting home to her Palace and soaking in her tub for at least an hour. Some of her feathers needed fixing, and she just wanted to spend her evening alone on a self-care night. Pitch had already warned her that he was having to clean up a mess out on the West Coast of America, so he wouldn't be home for a while. While delighted to be with him, both agreed they still needed their alone time.
Increasing her fly speed, Tooth headed North to the Workshop, which seemed to have become the unofficial headquarters for the Guardians. Her flight was short, and all too soon she was gathered with the rest of the Guardians in front of North's Globe, the Moon Chute open to let Mani's light in. Once Sandy swept in, all golden and plump, the meeting could begin. Tooth zoned out for part of it, until she heard her name called.
"Tooth, we need to talk. We have all come to agreement," North started. Tooth's eyes darted around, to see Jack avoiding her gaze and Bunny staring back at her stubbornly. Sandy sandsigned his question. It seemed as if he wasn't consulted with this decision. "We are giving you ultimatum. For the sake of the children, you need to either leave Pitch, or leave the Guardians."
This proclamation hit her in the gut like a ton of bricks, and she felt her temper flare up. Before she could get a word in otherwise, North plowed on, explaining that, until she made her decision, she would be suspended from Guardian duty. The meeting broke up soon after that, and Tooth whirled out of there, too angry to talk to anyone, not even Sandy who had immediately tried to approach her to see if she was okay.
Back at her Tooth Palace, she paced back and forth on one of her many platforms, her wings nestled in against her back in her agitation. She worried her thumb's fingernail with her teeth, muttering in her agitation all the words she wanted to say back there before North steamrolled the discussion.
"This is ridiculous! Since interacting with Pitch, my work ethic and devotion to the children hasn't wavered at all, and our interactions together seems to have mellowed him out more as well! He doesn't harm or scare children besides what is needed to keep them safe! Safe! All we want to do is keep the children safe!"
She continued to pace, her Mini-Selves fluttering around her agitatedly, and Tooth swept a hand out, not getting close to them, but the motion was clear. "Leave me be! I need to be alone!" she declared, and with sad looks on their faces, they did as she bid, leaving Tooth completely alone.
"I don't want to leave the children, my duty is to them as a Guardian...but I don't want to leave Pitch either! I love him! I love him! It's so unfair!" She made a noise of frustration, and after pacing some more and repeating everything she couldn't say at the meeting earlier, Tooth suddenly took to the air. She couldn't decide, but she knew someone who could help. She knew her decision was on the tip of her tongue, but she wanted to make sure she wouldn't regret her decision.
Taking a well known path, Tooth appeared in Pitch's lair, her angered breaths echoing in the silent room. Her eyes swept the room, glancing for a moment on his empty throne, before touching upon the cages that now sat on the floor, their doors completely off, now housing blanket and pillow nests for any of her mini-selves when they needed their own alone time. Pitch wasn't here right now, but that didn't mean she couldn't wait for him.
Heading to the living room where they had finally revealed their feelings to each other, Tooth grabbed a pillow off of the couch, clutched it close to her chest, and sank down into an overstuffed armchair, her glare nearly burning a hole in the dormant fireplace.
It couldn't have been more than an hour that she had to stew in her anger before she heard hurried footsteps coming down the hall.
"Toothiana! Are you alright? My shadows told me you were here and agitated. I came as soon as I was able," Pitch exclaimed as he strode to her. She stood to meet him, letting the pillow fall to the ground, and just let herself fall into his arms after he gave her a once-over to make sure she was alright. "Are you okay?" Her arms tightened around him, and then everything spilled from her lips, starting from the Guardian meeting, the Ultimatum, her pacing at home, before her decision to come here, to come to him.
Pitch's arms tightened around her as she continued to tell him everything, and she felt him rest his cheek on the top of her head. Eventually, her words came to an end, and then there was just silence between them.
"What should I do?" she asked, her voice wobbly and emotional. She burrowed deeper into his arms, unwilling to face the rest of the world at the moment.
She felt Pitch sigh against her.
"Pick the children," he said softly into her head feathers. Tooth jerked back in shock, but before she could argue with him, he swiftly continued, explaining his reasoning. "I care for you a lot, and I know how much the children and your job in securing their pasts means to you. If...if our separation meant that you can keep doing what you love to do, then it is a sacrifice I will make, even if it is one that will wound me terribly," he admitted, lifting his hand to cup her face. She just stared at him, incredulously, his words reminding her of something. She spoke, her words slow and collected, and she spoke them with meaning.
"Before all of this Guardian nonsense, and battling you, I already collected teeth. Being the Tooth Fairy, and bringing back Memories when the children need them the most, is what I did because I loved it, not because I had a duty to the children. Seeing the children smile was a bonus, and no way did gaining the title of a Guardian change any of that. Without having you as an enemy, there is no point to being a Guardian. I will keep doing my job, collecting teeth and storing the memories inside of them. I don't need to be a Guardian to know that I am doing good."
"What does that mean?" Pitch asked, her explanations unclear about what she was saying.
"That means that I pick you, Pitch," Tooth replied with a soft smile as she hugged him, his arms automatically coming up to wrap around her. "I will always pick you."
[FIN]
