Thanks for all the support with the last chapter! I feel encouraged by all the Sandy love (And Annamore too). I'm going to be trying to stick to updating every two to three days, depending on my work load and how inspired I am. - Not The Milk
Another month flew by for the red-winged avatar of love, and she fell into a routine that involved shooting people in the day, and napping on a cloud of sand by night. Not doing anything, just keeping her friend company. She would have felt weird about it, but she convinced herself that the kiss was a combination of Jack's bad advice and Leprechaun booze. Certainly the little guy was his normal, gentlemanly self.
She was, she admitted to herself, highly attached to Sandy. She just didn't know if she would call it love. Annamore didn't even know if she could love. She would think back to the words Kirai said the day she died, and feel like there might be a curse on her.
This night she was sitting on the cloud complaining loudly to Sandy about how much her workload was going to be in a couple of weeks, on Valentines day. He shook his head at her good naturedly and continued his work sending out dreams.
"Hey guys!"
They both glanced up to see Jack floating sheepishly above them with his staff. "Did I hear you mention Valentines Day?" He landed between them. "That's exactly why I'm here!"
"This can't be good." Annamore raised an eyebrow at him. "What fresh torture's have you come to heap on my work schedule?"
"Aaaah... I was kind of hoping you guys might be interested in a double date with Tooth and I on Valentine's day." His cheeks turned red, and he hid his face to try to cover for it.
"But Jack, that's my busiest day!" She was both flattered and horrified. That Jack considered her friend enough to ask her to be a part of something so monumental was grand, but for all that others considered her an item with Sandy, they hadn't actually been on a real date. She hadn't ever been on a real date.
"It can be later, whenever you're done." Jack insisted. "Come on guys, help me out! I've never done this sort of thing before."
Opening her mouth to argue, Annamore felt a tug on her sleeve as Sandy attempted to get her attention. He held a finger up, telling her to wait. He turned to Jack and gave him a thumbs up. "Thanks! I appreciate it, really!" The frost boy flew off.
"That... I... Sandy!" She flopped over in defeat. "You win, but you are evil. They don't know, but I know!"
He smiled at her with a look that said she'd live, and went back to work while she continued to pout. Eventually he walked back over and ruffled her hair. "No, I'm not angry." She surprised him by pulling him into a hug, resting her chin on his head. "Just not used to this sort of thing. But if Jack needs us, we'll be there."
A dark figure dressed in old fashioned armor the color of congealed blood landed on a busted lamp post, folding leather wings over his back. With a sword hanging from his belt, he cut a dangerous figure in the shadows. He'd been flying around that night assisting his weakened mentor, Pitch, the embodiment of fear. His hair was long, tightly curled, and the darkest brown, and was pulled into an almost amusingly fluffy pony tail to keep it from his face.
"You seem disturbed tonight, my child." A slippery, mocking voice rose up to him from the dark alley below. "Having problems?"
"No, none at all." He was quick to defend himself, he did not want to anger Pitch. "Those who have fear are always willing to hate." Dropping to the ground, he put his hand on the hilt of his blade.
"But...?" The taller spirit asked knowingly.
"I saw my greatest enemy today." Hate looked oddly worried. "Love. All this time and I'd never actually seen her."
"Oooh, let me guess. Did she mesmerize you with her great beauty, or shoot you with an arrow and kill all your hate?" Pitch clapped his hands. "Defeated you instantly, didn't she?"
"As if my heart were so soft. She never saw me. She was hanging out with an old friend of yours. Short, golden, doesn't talk much..." Hate wasn't going to let himself be made fun of without fighting back, and he knew Pitch's sore spots.
"Don't test me, boy. You may be helping me for now, but remember you would not exist without me." Pitch snarled.
Hate flinched slightly, which calmed down his ally. What he said was true, hate wouldn't exist without fear in people's hearts first. This was why he was helping Pitch.
"So what about her?" Pitch asked, eyes still narrowed.
"I knew her. She's the one who made me... This way. The one who killed me." He crossed his arms angrily. "And I think she's dating the sandfreak."
"Really?" Pitch looked miffed for a moment, before smiling wickedly. "Oh, this is wonderful."
"I hope that by wonderful you mean we can heap layers of destruction on them." Kirai growled.
"Of course we can." Pitch spread his hands grandly. "But shouldn't we torment them first? Make them fear... Make them hate?"
"Making them suffer is fine, too." A smirk crossed Kirai's face.
"I thought you'd feel that way. You go play in a war zone for now, and I'll figure out the best way to have fun with our old friends. We need time to properly plan." Pitch slid into the shadows and vanished.
"Sounds good to me." The avatar of hate stretched his bat-like wings and flew off into the night. He always enjoyed wars, after all.
On Valentine's day Annamore found herself in a panic. Her hair was a mess from the amount of flying she'd been doing all day. Her wings ached, too. She'd had to visit almost every city and town on the world. Thankfully, she was a spirit and had special abilities to help, but she still found herself wishing she had little minions like Tooth did. She headed back to her cloud, where the others had agreed to meet her.
Seeing them standing on her cloud waiting for her, she decided to pull a melodramatic stunt and faked a crash landing at their feet, complete with plane sounds. Not like it was going to make her hair look any worse, after all. Tooth looked worried for a moment, but Jack cracked up. "Very good! We need to figure out a way to make you smoke next time."
She let Tooth pull her to her feet with a smile. "I survived the day! Now, to celebrate. Where do we go?" "Inside to change." Tooth held up a bag she brought along.
"We'll wait for you two out here." Jack said with a wave indicating Sandy too.
"Nope." Tooth shook her head. "You two are changing too."
The two guys exchanged confused, slightly panicked looks. "But we didn't bring any-" Jack started.
"We work with Santa. You think North doesn't know your clothing sizes?" Tooth crossed her arms.
Annamore started giggling a little at the sight of Tooth intimidating both of the guys, and at how creepy it was that North knew that much about them. "Come on, it's only fair." She added to back her friend up.
The girls retreated into Annamore's bedroom, leaving the guys the use of her spare room. Half an hour later they emerged. Annamore's hair was gently curled, and she was wearing a dark blue dress that was far too short in her own opinion. The dress was long sleeved, but open in the back to allow for her wings.. "I always wanted to try to curl someones hair, don't have any myself." Tooth had told her.
Tooth was wearing a red dress, tight fitting over her feathered body, with a long slit up to her thigh. It was interesting to see her wearing clothing, for a change. Jack was in a white shirt with a sky blue suit over it that perfectly matched his eyes. Sandy took a moment of getting used to, since while his suit was gold colored, it was actually made of cloth and not sand like his normal clothes. Both men looked distinctly uncomfortable.
Annamore walked in a circle around them, grinning impishly. "Looking good, guys. Stylish, even. If other girls would be seeing you, I'm sure they'd be jealous of us." She winked at Sandy.
He blushed slightly, then noticed an invisible spot on his jacket that needed his attention.
Tooth nodded, catching Annamore's eye. "I agree. Good thing we are invisible, right?"
"Absolutely, can't have anyone trying to steal them."
"So, one thing before we get started tonight. If I do any flying in this dress, you guys go ahead of me." The cupid said firmly, tugging at the fabric as if it would lengthen the dress. They all laughed at her and headed off into the night. Jack found the perfect ball to crash, so that's where they started the night. As Tooth and Jack headed out on the dance floor, ignoring the bodies of people dancing right through them, Sandy and Annamore looked at each other awkwardly. "Do you want to sit this out?" She asked, pointing to their height difference.
In response he floated a few feet into the air and bowed to her. She laughed, accepted his arm, and let him lead her out to the dance floor. "You know what the great thing about being us is?" Annamore asked him, a serious look on her face.
He shook his head, looking at her questioningly. "We can't step on each others feet." He laughed in silent reply. Two feet appeared over his head, both left. "I don't think that you can say that when technically, you're floating."
A few songs later and they all took a break to steal food from the fancy buffet. They didn't have to eat, being spirits, but it kept with the feeling of the night and they appreciated good food. They hid under the table with their plates, to keep the normal people from seeing food moving through the air while they ate. "I feel like a kid in a fort." Tooth giggled, poking at the table cloth surrounding them.
"I have no idea what I just ate, but I like it." Annamore nodded. "Now, onward, to greater battles!"
"Battles?" They looked at her questioningly.
"What I mean is, I'm not done dancing." With that she grabbed Sandy's hand and dragged him out, his mouth stuffed with food like a hamster.
"Jack..." Toothiana smiled sweetly. "You created a monster by bringing her here."
"I don't think our little buddy is minding." He smiled and put an arm around Tooth, drawing her close to him. "We could go join them, but this is kind of nice, too."
Eventually they had to call it a night so that some of them could get back to work. Walking out of the building, Jack glanced around. The ball had been in a large, classy building on the waterfront. "This night could use a chance of snow, don't you think?" A few seconds later large, light flakes slowly started falling around them.
"Perfect. I like snows on Valentine's day." Annamore nodded in approval, looking at the snowfall over the water. "Well, it was a wonderful night, guys. Thanks for the invite."
Jack and Tooth waved to them and flew off into the night, leaving her and Sandy alone. He was already creating the usual plane. "You should let me pilot tonight." She said jokingly, knowing she couldn't control the sand.
A few minutes later they were back on her cloud, where he took her hand and looked at her questioningly. "Of course I had fun." She smiled cheerfully. "Did you?" He replied by holding out his free hand, making a bouquet of flowers out of glowing dream sand, and handing them to her.
After staring at them for a moment, an odd look on her face, she reached down and grabbed him by his suit front, lifting him to her level. He looked concerned for a moment, before she kissed him fiercely. She set him back on her cloud, looking embarrassed with herself. "Good night, Sandy." She retreated into her home quickly, sat the golden flowers in a vase, and wondered what on earth was wrong with herself.