Chapter twenty

Eggscellent!

Pitch didn't sleep choosing to read through the better half of the night and just trying to relax. Not wanting the reindeer to be neglected, Pitch made sure to make a very early visit to them if only to brush and feed them before letting them graze an hour and replacing them back into their pens as he was unsure when North planned to fetch him for Bunnymund's expedition. He was kind of excited to be leaving the North Pole to go to the Warren if only just to be somewhere new.

He had been heading back from the stables when he saw North was already up and about coming from the hallway where his bedroom was. He hoped he hadn't kept him waiting too long lest North think he was avoiding the visit. Although to be honest any less time sitting to Pitch sounded preferable even if the delay was not intentional, "Looking for me?"

"Yes, I was," North replied, his face relaxing when he saw Pitch. "Tending to the deer?"

Pitch nodded, "I didn't want them to get overlooked," he said honestly. He had started to develop an affection towards them, and having personal loneliness issues, it reflected in his care for the deer and not wanting them to get disregarded.

North smiled at Pitch. "Well, if you are through, let us be off." He reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a snow globe, which he tossed to the side. It instantly created a portal to Bunny's domain, revealing lush green grass, hills, and springtime flowers. North waved a hand toward the opening. "After you,"

Although the landscapes were pretty, Pitch had to dart into the shade of the trees, "It's entirely too sunny over here," he complained lightly.

North stepped through the portal, the portal closing up behind him. He chuckled at Pitch's reaction. "Better get used to it, Pitch. You will find a lot of sun here."

Pitch blanched as he shrank back further into the shadows, "Used to it? There's no getting used to it! Have you forgotten I'm made up of shadow and darkness? I swear you guardians are going to be the death of me."

Having sensed their arrival, Bunnymund bounded out of the lush undergrowth to come up beside North with a winning smile, "Welcome to the warren mate! I've got ya all set up down below."

"Is there darkness and shadows down there?" North asked. "Pitch needs darkness to work properly."

Bunnymund laughed, "Crikey, it's underground, so I hope so." Looking over at Pitch skulking in the shadows Bunnymund's smile broadened, "Don't worry Pitch, you're not gonna melt I promise. Believe it or not, I'm not that cruel." Bunnymund leapt over to the shade trees where Pitch had retreated and opened a hole beneath them in one quick thump.

Pitch bellowed out as he felt the ground open up underneath them and the feeling of weightlessness took over as they plummeted downward into one of Bunny's tunnels. Of course sliding down one of the bumpy tunnels to the bottom was more than a little uncomfortable for Pitch, and by the time they landed and Pitch had scrambled to his feet, he was more than a little upset.

He rubbed fiercely at his backside as he snarled, "You did that on purpose!"

Bunnymund only shrugged a knowing smile on his face, "Of course I did, it's the fastest way ta get here, and I wanted to make sure you didn't have to contend with the overbearing rays of the sun. Ya should be thanking me."

Pitch bared his teeth, "Thank you! You make me want to skin you!"

"Pitch, that is enough," North scolded, scowling at the Boogeyman.

His jaw dropped looking over at North incredulously, "What?! That flea bag thinks my pain is funny, and I'm the one getting reprimanded?!"

"Hey there! Watch it" Bunnymund pointed a paw at him, "Enough with the name calling. Yer alright, besides, that's how I always travel. It's not my fault ya earned yerself a tender tush making it hard for you ta travel this way."

Pitch glowered at Bunnymund quite irate with him, "You could have found another… less bumpy means of travel rabbit!"

Bunnymund's ears plastered to the back of his head, his fists balling, but he pulled back his anger knowing Pitch was just jabbing him now in an effort to get him back. He wasn't going down that road again, "Come on. I've got ya set up for work over here," Bunnymund grumbled pointing down the long tunnel.

North sighed, his eyes rolling up toward the ceiling. He shook his head and walked forward, following Bunny. He stopped, looking back at Pitch. "Well? Are you coming?"

Pitch crossed his arms and scowled a moment longer at Bunnymund's back. He didn't respond to North but stormed after the two miserably.

Bunnymund led them through a maze of winding tunnels lined with poking roots and trails of moss lined with patches of glowing blue mushrooms. The dampness of the tunnel left the scent of rain and spring flowers to waft through the airy caverns carried throughout by a gentle rustling breeze. The gust carried dandelion seeds and the scattered dusting of pollen that swayed in and out of the myriad of openings in the ceilings leading to the sunny surface.

Pitch was sure to avoid the smatterings of sunlight beaming down through the ceiling, but otherwise his eyes traveled about taking in the natural scenery of the tunnels mixed with the archaic looking totem sculptures that were embedded within the walls. He found he kind of liked their creepy eyeless stare thinking they would make a perfect complement to a nightmare. He'd been looking back at one of these sculptures and not paying attention to where he was going when he walked right into the back of North falling backwards from the impact. He was about to retort with a scathing remark as he scrambled to his feet when his eyes took in the reason they had stopped.

The tunnel had opened into a massive dome shaped room the seemed to be made of twisting vines, rock, and treetops tightly woven with little inlets that led in countless directions that branched out into the forest surrounding the warren. The holes reminded Pitch of looking at an ant farm except much greener and three dimensional. Along the walls where these outlets dotted, thin lined bridges and ramps crisscrossed across the expanse leading to other inlets or sectionals to go in many directions. All of them had routes that led down to this surface though, and hundreds of tiny legged googies scampered about the area here.

Peeking past North and Bunnymund, Pitch could see that the center of the room held a massive lake that flowed in to the room from the back wall and winded down to the left out of the massive dome to some other part of the warren. It filtered into the room through a set of three small waterfalls close to the base of the wall that bubbled mildly into small pools that spattered into a long ago impressed ravine. Several strands of ivy hung down here creating a sort of elaborate curtain as butterflies twirled about the strands ducking in and out of the sunlight as if in their own private dance.

In the center above the babbling stream sat a network of ramps that led to a large desk of sorts shaped out of the roots themselves and, just as Bunnymund had described, had an elaborate tangle of links and slides leading down on to the desk's surface where a huge magnifying glass had been weaved into the contraption and diamond reflectors had been artfully angled to catch the sun and create a concentrated lighting to where the googies could pass over and be thoroughly inspected. The desk stood high to capture these lights of the sun, and an equally tall slender stool made of a winding twisting set of vines was incorporated into the desk and spiraled in a swirl to set in perfect order next to the desk.

Pitch grimaced looking at the design of the desk and stool knowing he was going to practically have to climb to sit at it, and the sunlight shining in concentrated doses was sure to be annoying and frustrating. Thankfully the light was focused solely on the surface of the desk where the magnifying glass was positioned for inspecting, so Pitch would be able to avoid actually being in direct sunlight which would burn him if exposed in it directly for any extended periods.

To the side of the stream was a more customary desk with a wide surface brought in specifically for North and had an assortment of tools and materials that Bunnymund had dragged out in hopes that the Cossack would be able to work his magic with them. Of course a huge velvety chair was placed next to his desk that looked finely crafted and comfortable. Pitch also took note of this frowning hard at the fact that North's comfort was obviously being so well tended to unlike his own.

North nodded in appreciation as his eyes still gazed around him at the sight. "Impressive!" he said at last. "Most impressive."

Bunnymund beamed in appreciation, "I built it meself! It took years ta get it worked out just so, so that the googies didn't keep runnin' into each other during the process. Eh, they still do on occasion, but if'n they fall, the vines'll catch em and deposit them gently on the ground or the river will sweep them back into the warren unharmed."

Pitch pointed at the desk irritably wholly not wishing to sit hunched over that contraption for hours. Just looking at the stool and its wooden knotty surface promised pain, "And you want me… up there? Why can't I inspect them down here next to North's desk with a plush velvet chair of my own? Surely if you've got one extra chair and desk you've got another down in this dank hole."

"You have done fantastic job, I must say." North nodded again, walking forward to get a better view of the construction.

Bunnymund regarded Pitch shaking his head in frustration, "Ta inspect the googies ya need ta be where the magnifying glass is. Besides, even if I did have another desk… which I don't, it would be utter chaos ta try and work out another process ta get the googies in line for inspecting and cleared out of the way for the next ones in line."

Pitch rolled his eyes as he fumed, "It's absolutely preposterous that you need to inspect them for cracks so dutifully with a microscope anyway. Aren't they just going to get hidden, found, and eaten on Easter anyway? The children that gather them are only going to crack them open themselves, and I doubt they would even be looking to see if there were any cracks!"

"Pitch!" North said, turning around to give Pitch a scowl. "You are to do work for Bunny. This is job he has chosen for you. You do it or we have another talk in private." North raised an eyebrow. "I don't know why you complain. All you have to do is check for cracks. If you can care for my reindeer without complaints, surely you are not too lazy to look for cracks in googies."

Pitch flinched at the mention of a private talk, but the indication of laziness set him off, "I'm not being lazy! There's a big difference between this job and caring for the reindeer! The deer actually need my assistance and care, looking over these two legged freaks for infinitesimal lesions is an utter waste of time!"

North lumbered over to stand in front of Pitch, his face a dangerous scowl. He put his face into Pitch's face, their noses inches away from each other, "It may be waste of time to you, but it is not to Bunny. One of these days, Pitch, you are going to learn that not everything revolves around you and your wishes. The sooner you learn that, the better off you will be. Right now, you have job to do, and whether or not you see that job as waste of time does not matter. You are still going to do it. If you don't, we will have private talk and I guarantee you that you will be checking googies for cracks kneeling on that stool."

Pitch withered as North's imposing form stood over him his eyes widening impossibly big. He gulped feeling the hackles rise on the back of his neck as North boomed down at him. Arguing his point fully wasn't worth the impending consequences he decided as he groused rebelliously not being able to help giving a small quip to assuage his feelings on the matter, "Fine. I'll do this futile work. I never said that I wouldn't… not that I wasn't going to be forced to do it anyhow! Although if we're being completely honest with ourselves here, you have to admit I have a point." Pitch huffed his agitation as he moved to back away from North not liking the other man so close in his personal space. Pitch side-stepped the large man to begin ascending the ramp to get to the desk when Bunnymund moved to stop him in his tracks.

Bunnymund was fuming staring at Pitch with folded arms as he griped, "Ya better take good care of me eggs Pitch! Against my better judgement I'm trusting ya here!"

Pitch smiled maliciously, "I'll do my best. I'd hate to see one of your precious eggs accidently fall and get smashed to smithereens on the rocks below." As he said this he made a mocking hand gesture of walking and falling off of a ledge before turning back to Bunnymund, "That would be very unfortunate wouldn't it?" He stated with a dramatic woeful expression. Pitch enjoyed the instant look of horror that played across the Pookan's face and the swell of fear that coursed through the rabbit. He had to take in a deep breath just to savor it.

North pointed a warning finger at Pitch. "Yes, it would." he said darkly. "Just remember that I am watching you." He turned to Bunny, lowering his voice. "Do you happen to have…" he shrugged, "a switch of some sort?—for me to keep around."

Bunnymund's eyes widened at the insinuations behind North's query before he grinned cheekily responding, "We're surrounded by trees mate, I can go ahead and fetch ya one right quick if ya'd like, or I can watch him while you pick one of your own liking."

As the two guardians whispered conspiratorially, Pitch had stormed across the small bridge leading to the center of the room and stared up at the elevated desk as he muttered crossly, "Stupid rabbit and his infuriating senseless tasks!" Pitch had to tentatively step on the vines and grab the edge of the desk to climb onto the stool which was just as uncomfortable as he had imagined it would be. He shifted his weight around a bit realizing there was going to be no happy medium and grumbled, "Let's hurry this up already!"

"I will leave it up to you to choose." North smiled. "Since these are your googies he will be handling. You probably know where the most flexible branches are, anyway."

"That I do mate," Bunnymund smiled at North no lack of amusement on his face as he leapt off to the left disappearing into the thicket of trees.

As if sensing that there was someone ready to inspect them, the eggs had started to funnel up the ramp and move across the table pausing in front of the magnifying glass and wandering about aimlessly awaiting direction to proceed. Pitch's frown deepened as he leaned in to look closer at the egg. Such odd things he thought as he had to wonder what became of their legs once they had found their intended hiding spot. Realizing it was waiting for him, Pitch waved it on, "Next," he stated unenthusiastically. Pitch took the next one and spun it on the table getting some small amount of joy watching its little legs kicking futilely in the air as he did so. He wasn't really examining them at all but simply watching them march onto the table to toy with them by picking them up by their feet, spinning them about, or otherwise finding some other means to pass the time as they processioned through.

Bunnymund had returned to North with a thick whippy limb that he was quite sure would leave an impression and laid it on the desk before hopping over to the ramp to peer up at Pitch.

Of course seeing Bunnymund bounding up the ramp, Pitch all of a sudden took the duties of egg handling seriously and pretended to scrutinize each egg carefully.

Seeming satisfied, Bunnymund announced more for North's benefit than his own, "I'm a gonna head on down ta the vats then. I'll come back after I get the first one going in an hour or so ta check on ya."

North nodded. "Thank you for that certain item." he said.

Bunnymund's smile broadened, "Any time mate; any time."

Pitch now curious twisted his head around curiously to see what North had been talking about, but from the distance away he was and the fact that North's desk was shrouded in shadows, he was barely able to make out North's features let alone anything on his desk. Deciding it was likely some gizmo or another to make North more comfortable, Pitch turned back to his work with no less than mild annoyance.

Bunnymund sprang off down one of the many tunnels, and once the rabbit was out of sight, Pitch went back to the droll task of sending the eggs through one by one. Of course North couldn't tell what he was really doing this far away Pitch was well aware, and so he continued on playing around in the same fashion as he'd started finding the task quite mind numbing. His eyes fluttered from the boredom he was feeling now, and if he'd actually been paying attention to the eggs, he would have seen that one of the googies had a horrible split in its shell over just waving it on back down the ramp to cluster at the bottom with the other hundreds of eggs that had amassed there since he'd started this venture.

Bunnymund returned close to two hours from the time he'd left bringing chocolate snacks freshly set from the vat he'd been churning and working with. He was about to call Pitch down to join him and North, who had managed to make an array of wondrous items with the materials he'd left the Cossack, when Bunnymund noticed the googie sporting the horrible crack. He scooped it up, "Whoa there bugger, how did you get over here in this pile?" Bunnymund looked to see if he'd been mistaken to where the inspected eggs were heading, and his expression darkened when he realized this was in fact the inspected batch.

He vaulted up the ramp hotly as he held up the cracked egg, "What are ya doing up there? This egg is so badly cracked ya'd have ta be blind ta miss it!"

Pitch spun around looking at the egg in Bunnymund's hand with disdain, "Hmm. So it is. It must have wandered in from somewhere else," Pitch shrugged thinking there'd be no way to tell one way or another.

Bunnymund's whiskers twitched, "They know ta stay in one area until I dismiss them Pitch; this egg is not one of the uninspected ones!"

Pitch sighed responding indifferently, "Well, I must have missed that one. What can I say rabbit? This isn't exactly my forte."

Bunnymund was more than angry now as he spat, "Are ya serious? The gap in that egg is comparable ta the Grand Canyon!"

"What goes on here?" North asked, lumbering up the ramp and approaching Bunny.

Becoming nervous now Pitch spun around and interjected quickly, "Uh, one of the cracked eggs managed to make its way in to the inspected batch, or… it somehow got past me." Pitch's brow beaded with perspiration now trying his best to pass off the bold faced lie he'd just told.

Bunnymund practically shook with rage, "That is NOT what happened Pitch! Ya aren't doing squat up there but passing the googies through! The past two hours of time you've been up there have been a total waste!"

"Let me see googie," North said, offering his opened hand out to Bunny.

A small thrill of fear went up Pitch's back as he watched Bunnymund hand over the flawed egg. He was very much fully regretting his lack of assiduousness in actually doing this chore now. If he'd even been halfway paying attention, he'd have spotted the dreadfully noticeable fracture in the egg's shell. He just hoped North would find he could have by chance over looked the damaged egg somehow.

Bunnymund wasn't helping matters as he vastly exaggerated the blemish on the googie to North while the Cossack looked the egg over.

"Could it be that he just overlooked it?" North said in a low voice to Bunny, handing the egg back. "After all, he is new at this. You can't expect him to do perfect job first couple hours."

Bunnymund glared disbelievingly back at North, "Overlooked! We don't even have a magnifying glass down here and this crack is painfully obvious! Heck, I spoted it passively on the ground not even looking for a mistake from ten feet away!"

Pitch had spun fully around now wringing his hands, "North's right! You can't expect perfection for my first time doing this job. I'm not as skilled as you at seeing such defects clearly."

Bunnymund whipped around angrily to look at Pitch, and instead of addressing him, he turned back towards the crowd of eggs and began randomly picking them up to inspect them himself. After only a couple minutes he had another six eggs that should have failed inspection, "And what about these ones Pitch? Did ya miss all of them by chance? No. You aren't taking the job at all serious. I'm gonna have to go back and recheck all of these eggs all over again." Turning in frustration to North Bunnymund sighed resignedly, "Ya might as well bring him back to the Pole mate, it's obvious this chore is not gonna get done properly by Pitch. He's wastin' all of our time if'n I'm just gonna have ta inspect them all over again."

"It will if I have anything to say about it." North said, turning to glare up at Pitch. He said nothing, but motioned with his hand for Pitch to come down.

That look the Cossack gave him promised pain, and Pitch was not at all ready to endure that! He stammered unable to move as the blood in his veins ran cold, "Wait! I can do this! I… I… was just a bit distracted! It won't happen again! Just give me another chance!" Pitch was feeling panicked now. The last thing he wanted to endure was another spanking so close to the last one! Oh why didn't he just take this chore a little more seriously! If he'd even put the smallest effort into the task, he'd not be getting reprimanded now.

Bunnymund scowled at Pitch, "Oh now ya want ta do it right! What about the two hours of time ya already wasted? I'm sure North would rather be back at the Pole working on gadgets in the comfort of his home than down here. Not that it isn't quite lovely, but that's beside the point. Ya took us back ta square one with this project, and now I'm gonna have ta spend extra time getting the googies back in line ta be processed all over again… more wasted time!"

Pitch paled the more Bunnymund spoke; he was really mad! He gulped, "I… I get it. I'll take the inspections seriously. It won't happen again I swear it. I… I should probably get back to work."

Bunnymund squeezed the bridge between his eyes, "Ya can't until I clear these ones out of here, or they're all just gonna get mixed back up." He sighed tiredly as he bent down ushering all the googies to start moving single file off the platform.

"I want you here, right now, Pitch." North said, again pointing to the floor in front of him. "I wish to speak while Bunny gets googies prepared again."

Pitch shivered involuntarily looking quite stricken at the prospect of getting down from the stool and going to North, but he found himself timidly climbing down as the Cossack demanded and moving sullenly over to stand beside him. He'd already lowered his gaze to the floor knowing he'd gotten himself in a world of trouble. He hoped North might feel generous and only give him a severe chiding. Needing to justify his actions, Pitch pouted, "I'm sorry. I know I should have done better, but the work was so tedious my mind drifted. I see where I can improve, so once Bunnymund has everything back in order, I feel I can do the job without error."

North stood without moving or talking and scowled at Pitch. Finally, he reached out and took the Boogeyman by the hand and pulled him over to his desk where he snatched up the switch. He spun Pitch around and gave him three quick swats across his backside with it before letting Pitch go, "That is only taste of what you will get if you do not do the job expected of you." North shook a finger at Pitch. "You are right. You should have done better. Maybe what I just gave you will encourage you."

Pitch had followed tautly as he was pulled inexorably forward by North. A part of him was screaming to pull away and fight this, but he was sure if he did, it would only make things worse on himself. He wasn't really interested in fighting a battle he could in no way win.

Pitch was looking down flushed with embarrassment as they walked past Bunnymund who surely knew what North had meant when he'd stressed 'talk.' So caught up in thinking about his humiliation, it hadn't registered that North planned to use an implement on him until North's meaty paw had snatched the switch off of the desk and spun him about. Pitch gasped about to protest when the explosion of pain erupted across his rear and his body jumped onto tip toes, his posture going rigid on contact. Pitch let out an inarticulate cry hands swiftly darting to cover his already very tender flesh. Wow did that smart! It was a mind reeling sting that radiated long after the swats had been initially applied. He rubbed fiercely at the tortured flesh trying his best to remove the awful bite as he stared wide-eyed in disbelief at North still trying to comprehend what had just happened. Pitch was glad it was already done and over, but it didn't leave him feeling any less mortified as he ducked his head unable to respond to North's statement.

Bunnymund continued getting the googies marching back around to the other side of the lake without taking obvious note of what North had done to Pitch, and Pitch was silently grateful the rabbit hadn't chosen to gloat over North taking him in hand over his precious eggs as Pitch had more than half expected the rabbit would have.

"Now," North continued, setting the switch back on his desk, "I want you to get back up there and show Bunny you can do job right."

Pitch's eyes followed the implement as North placed it on the desk before he glanced back at the Cossack his cheeks flushed with his shame. He swallowed hard trying to work past the lump that had formed in his throat to no avail. Not trusting his voice, Pitch gave a small nod of silent agreement as his shoulders slumped and his face took on a picture of misery.

There was nothing left to say, so Pitch bowed his head and moved sourly back towards the desk letting out a deflated sigh as he stared up at the stool knowing his previous difficulties were about to be dwarfed with North's new reminders for him to cooperate. He supposed he had no one to blame but himself, but he couldn't bear to tell himself that. Instead, he blamed his lack of diligence on sheer boredom and the uselessness of the task at hand. He of course was in no way willing to voice this opinion more than he already had. It did make Pitch feel slightly better defending his actions at least to himself silently for why he'd truly gotten in trouble since it made the guardians out to be unreasonable bullies over what it truly was, Pitch trying to shirk his responsibilities to Bunnymund.

Bunnymund was able to get the googies back in line within twenty minutes, and the line moved once more, except this time Pitch sat somberly shifting about uncomfortably, but nonetheless performing the task expected of him. Bunnymund watched on for several minutes and gave a slight nod of approval before turning to look over at North with a serious expression, "I'm impressed North. I honestly expected ta see him fight ya or at least complain about having ta get back ta work on the googies. Whatever you're doing, it's working. I'm sorry I doubted ya. If we'd have known bringing Pitch into the fold would have benefited all of us way back when, we could have saved ourselves years of fighting each other."

"Yes," North nodded. "But I have to say it has been hard on all of us. There were a few times when I questioned my decisions. I still have moments of questioning them. Sometimes Pitch seems to be changing, but then other times he seems to be taking steps back."

Bunnymund's gaze traveled back to watch Pitch a moment before responding, "What's that old expression? Rome wasn't built in a day? I think it's only natural he's gonna take some steps back, but what I see before me now, and what I saw the day we brought him ta us three weeks ago, he's changed. He's changed a lot North! Honestly, I expect the road ta get bumpy before it gets smoother. He's always been as stubborn as a mule! We just need ta make sure we're keeping his best interests at heart, or he's gonna rebel, and that is a day I don't wanna see. For him or us," Bunnymund stated gravely.

North nodded in agreement. "You are right, Bunny. You are right about everything. And thank you for reassuring me. It means a lot coming from you, since you were against it from the start."

Bunnymund smirked pointing to himself, "Hey, guardian of hope over here remember?" He patted North on the back, "I think we got everything sorted concerning Pitch and the googies, so I'm gonna head over ta get the second vat going. It's the cookies n' crème vat, so you've got something ta look forward to!" Bunnymund's smile was impossibly wide now knowing how much his friend always enjoyed that particular chocolate from him.

Pitch hadn't heard the conversation shared between Bunnymund and North, but he'd seen the rabbit bound off once more and North move back over to the desk he'd been given to use. He sighed already quite bored of the task once more, although he didn't let that stop him from actually inspecting the eggs this time. Bunnymund didn't return again until about three hours had passed, and begrudgingly Pitch noted that the rabbit surveyed the googies well before giving a satisfied nod of approval to North. Pitch wasn't sure if it made him happy to have the rabbit's endorsement or irritated that the guardian had gone behind him to recheck his work as if Pitch hadn't gotten the point the first time.

Bunnymund handed a bar of chocolate to North before glancing up at Pitch, "Pitch!" Bunnymund called out taking the nightmare lord out of his self-pity induced state as Pitch turned a melancholy look the rabbit's way. Bunnymund held up a bar of chocolate, "Why don't you come down and take a break."

That sounded like more than a good idea Pitch thought so very tired of sitting on this stool and leaning over this desk inspecting googies. He climbed down and made his way over to Bunnymund scrutinizing the bar, "What's this?"

Bunnymund smiled, "Just try it."

Pitch took the chocolate carefully and took a small nibble his eyes lighting up by just how good it tasted. No one made chocolate like the Easter Bunny, and Pitch was discovering just how tasty it was.

Bunnymund's grin grew, "It's good isn't it?"

Pitch nodded his head vigorously as he'd stuffed much more of the chocolate in his mouth making him unable to speak past his chewing.

North laughed from where he sat at his desk. "Careful, Bunny, you'll get him addicted." he said, taking another bite of his own chocolate bar.

Bunnymund sat on the desk, "Ah, I got plenty. I was thinking we could call it a day for now and head out ta the stream before ya two head out, so Pitch can try out painting one of the googies. That's saying ya still want to eh Pitch?" Bunnymund looked over at Pitch curiously now.

Swallowing the chocolaty goodness Pitch blinked thinking he was more than happy to be calling it quits for the day, and on some level he was surprised Bunnymund was going to still let him paint one of the googies after what had happened earlier that morning. He nodded to Bunnymund that he was still interested before looking over to North for approval.

"I think it is excellent idea!" North said, finishing his chocolate. "I have been waiting to see what you can do with eggs."

Pitch blushed, he was interested to paint them as well although to say so made him feel sappy.

Bunnymund took them up to the surface and into a shady part of the grove where he handed both North and Pitch a paint brush and an egg pulling out a brush for himself. Hopping over to the edge of the stream Bunnymund grabbed an egg and dipped the paint brush into the river drawing the brush down over the egg as colors akin to a pastel tie-dye pattern emerged on the shell of the egg, "And it's just that simple," Bunnymund explained showing the egg as he finished painting it.

Making his way over to the river now, Pitch sat and delicately tipped the brush into the waters as he drew the tip across the egg, and an indigo blue coated the base of the egg, and a pattern that looked like ice blue lightening streaks designed the top layer. Pitch looked horribly concentrated as he did so more than a little interested in the fact that the river painted anything he thought of.

Bunnymund peered over his shoulder, and Pitch looked back at him expecting ridicule, but the rabbit only kneeled down taking his finished egg in hand studying the designs and colors as he gave the nightmare lord a smile, "That looks good Pitch. Did ya want ta paint another?"

Pitch felt a warmth from the rabbit's approval as he nodded lightly, "Yeah, I think I'd like that."

North dipped his brush in the water and began painting his own egg, a look of concentration on his face. He painted it in a hot pink, and then covered it with a light coating of sparkling pink glitter. Smiling, he held it up for Bunny to see. "There! That is what I was thinking of. You could do it in all sorts of colors."

Bunnymund laughed taking the egg from North looking the egg over with an admiring smile, "Blimey mate; that would make some little girl happy."

The three stayed painting eggs for about an hour just enjoying the peace of the grove and making small talk about nothing in particular. Pitch looked over the dozen eggs he'd painted now all of them different shades of gray, blue, purple, and black, and he felt an almost inner peace to look at them feeling content with the way the day had ended.