Chapter Thirty-Two

Stepping Up to the Plate

North looked over at Pitch at hearing his laugh, but he said nothing returning back to his work and leaving the nightmare lord to his thoughts.

An hour or so passed before a knock sounded on North's office door.

"Come in," North called. The door opened, and in came Toothiana.

"Hi!" She waved at North, then she caught sight of Pitch. "Oh, hey, Pitch."

Pitch immediately brightened as he stood to greet her with a smile, "Toothiana!"

"How's… uh… how's everything going?" she said, nervously, remembering the implement she'd seen North making on her last visit to the Pole.

Pitch cleared his throat feeling awkward now since the last time they'd seen each other, she'd been leaving to go speak to North on his behalf knowing what he had coming, but she'd come the next day to obviously check on him. He gave her a sheepish smile, "Well, uh… I spent a lot of time at the library yesterday picking out some interesting books and took care of the reindeer this morning. Other than that, North and I have just been holed up here going over his lists." He chose to leave out the fact that he'd made the top of the naughty list.

Tooth smiled, a bit relieved. "Sounds good," She looked over North's desk, then back to Pitch.

"If you're up for it, maybe we could go for a walk? That's saying you don't have business with North of course," Pitch tumbled out before glancing back at North and giving him a pleading look to the tone of 'May I please!'

"That would be nice." She smiled. "Actually, no, I don't have anything important to talk over with North. I was just stopping by to ask how you were doing." Tooth said.

North looked at Tooth then back to Pitch. He nodded to Pitch.

Pitch mentally cheered as an impossibly wide smile whipped across his face, "Excellent! Let's go!" Pitch darted to the door opening it for her quickly all too eager to leave the confines of what had become a severely on the edge visit with North.

North gave Tooth a silent look that told her to keep an eye on Pitch. She understood and nodded before turning to leave the office.

Pitch was ever so grateful to see Toothiana and had exuded a vivacity now that was a sharp contrast to the lethargic demeanor he'd been exhibiting for the past couple hours of sitting restlessly in North's office. He turned a winning smile on her, "Thank you for coming to rescue me!" He let out a soft chuckle, "I think I was slowly starting to perish from boredom in there."

Tooth laughed. "Surely it's not that boring."

Pitch grimaced his countenance faltering as his shoulders sagged a bit, "It could have been better… but with things the way they are at the moment… everything's a bit… tense."

Tooth nodded. "Yeah, tell me about it." She rubbed at her arms as if the thought alone made her uncomfortable. "So... uh... what has North decided to do... about... well... you know."

Pitch was puzzled as he quirked a brow up at her, "About? …about what?"

"Everything that's happened."

Pitch blushed, "Oh… that. Uh… well …I'm sure you know what followed our last meeting," he couldn't keep her eye contact now as he found something incredibly interesting to roll his foot over on the carpeted floor, "And… uh… I'm going to fix what I destroyed. That's promised to take a few days to a week. Let's hope not too long eh?" He lifted his head to give her a weak smile before looking back down. He didn't mention his grounding because he'd hope she'd come by to visit him. North never said he couldn't have visitors after all, but he didn't want her questioning the matter either in case it influenced North to say no.

Tooth nodded. She didn't bother to comment on what had happened to Pitch after their last meeting. She already knew and she figured it'd be best to remain quiet so as not to embarrass him. "I hope nothing like this happens again."

He huffed as he muttered, "You and me both!" He looked back up then as if he were telling her a secret, "I don't think I could stand for anther encounter like that. He's really gotten quite ruthless with me!" Pitch whined.

Tooth raised an eyebrow. "Can you blame him? Sorry to have to say it, Pitch, but you haven't exactly been the easiest person to be around."

Pitch looked wounded that she would say something like that, "Are you going to gang up on me too?"

Knowing how Pitch had blown up at her the last time they had a deep talk, Tooth was now cautious. "Gang up on you? No, I'm just telling the truth."

She wasn't granting him any sympathy, and this made Pitch scowl, "Well, have you ever thought that maybe I'm not that easy to be around because of everything that I'm going through? And before you say it, yes! I absolutely, positively, have been drilled with the fact that I've brought this atrocity on myself! So just don't even utter the words out of your pretty little mouth!" He muttered irritably now, "You wouldn't believe how tired I am of being told that!"

Tooth said nothing. Instead, she just lifted her eyebrows and rolled her eyes.

Noting this reaction in her only served to upset Pitch, but he had to have a chaperone (even if that hadn't been expressed to her) so Pitch just growled, "Let's just… just be on our way!" He was getting angry now having expected a much nicer Toothiana, not this self-righteous siding with North Toothiana. Pitch started moving with arms placed tightly at his sides now as he stormed in the direction he wanted them to go.

"Go wherever you wish to go." Tooth said, following after him.

Those words pleased Pitch that she was more than willing to conform to wherever he wanted to go. He wished she had come earlier now, "I was thinking that we could walk up to the upper decks. It's quiet there and peaceful. You might like it actually. It's been one of my favorite places to go to think." He didn't know why he was sharing this with her, it was one of his secret places. But he supposed out of all the guardians, he was willing to share it with her. This of course was mostly because he was craving to go there, and he didn't really feel threatened by Toothiana in any way that he should regret showing her.

She nodded, smiling. "Lead the way."

The two were quiet as they continued; Toothiana zipping after Pitch as he artfully darted to and fro down the halls. Avoiding elves and yetis in this fashion had almost become a vague game for Pitch as he'd whoosh past the elves and would come just close enough to the yetis to often startle them to stop in their tracks (but not close enough to collide.) He enjoyed that stutter stop panic they elicited when the yetis came close to bowling him over. It gave Pitch a momentary glean of fear from them that acted like a jolted pick me up of energy. It was savory and about as much fear as he was going to get these days.

The workshop was still in full swing only being early afternoon, but as they continued up the stairs and back around the side of the building to where the line of huge powerful windmills stood, the grounds had grown silent enough to barely hear the muffled commotion of the work progressing three flights below them. Pitch inhaled deeply as he straightened hands crossed in a loose fashion behind his back as he steadily walked toward the silted windows the windmills sucked air in from.

This was a good time of day to come up here as the sun had dipped to the other side of the building leaving long shadows to trace along the floor. Pitch regarded them longingly. He really missed jumping in and out of shadows… yet another freedom taken from him he thought bitterly. It never did him well to dwell on these things since they made him resentful, and that cynicism pushed him back from his ultimate goals he and the guardians wanted him to attain to be a part of their group. Besides surely one day the guardians would let him have his powers back… wouldn't they? With the way things were going, a seed of doubt was starting to grow within Pitch. No. Stop it! He shook his head willing these thoughts away. Those were the thoughts that led to him making bad choices… which led to other bad things like what he was experiencing now, and he needed to put a cap on them like he promised himself he would.

He turned tired eyes to Toothiana now, fighting himself was likely his most wearisome battle he faced, "So… what do you think? Do you like it?"

Tooth nodded. "I always did like it here." She replied. "Although it's been ages since I last came up here."

Pitch looked surprised, "So you've known about this place? And here, I thought it was one of my secrets." He smiled at her, "I like the solidarity of the place. It's often much too… busy below for my liking."

"Of course I know about it." Tooth said with a chuckle. "North built this place, remember? Not much of it is a secret."

He snorted replying softly as he moved to stare out the window, "Well, not a technical secret Toothiana, just… private. It's one of my private places I've found to be alone and just think."

"Ah," Tooth nodded. She flew over to hover next to Pitch.

"I feel much better up here," he sighed turning away from the window to face her. He gazed up at her earnestly now, "I… I'm sorry. About downstairs. I didn't mean to lash out at you. I'm… I'm feeling a bit cloistered, and it's got me on edge." He found himself averting his eyes now as he tilted his face towards the window, "I'm having a lot of difficulty processing what I've done… what I'm facing. I feel like I've fallen as far as I possibly can, and I'm not going to be able to get back to where we were a few days ago. …I" He sighed regretfully, "The weight of this is crushing, and I haven't been taking it well," as he spoke Pitch had brought his chin to his chest to look down at his hands that had clasped together at his sternum effectively making him visibly shrink into himself.

"Don't say that," Tooth said, looking concerned. "You'll be able to get back to the place where you were. It might take some time, but you will. The thing is, will you learn enough from this mistake to ensure you don't repeat it and put yourself back in the same place in the future?"

Pitch looked uncertain. If his track record said anything, it was that he seemed to be on a downward spiral. He brought his eyes up to glance at her carefully. They were opened wide with a touch of doubt, "I… I don't know honestly. I want to say no, but… well, I seem to get caught up making stupid mistakes. I don't even know how I manage to get myself in the trouble I do. I confound myself I swear. One minute I'm promising myself I'm going to stay on track, and the next thing I know I've done something horribly wrong and am having a regrettable show down with North," Pitch's pout deepened.

"Perhaps this is a part of yourself that you need to examine closer and try to work on adjusting."

Pitch's brow furrowed, "I have been trying… just not very successfully. Not that you couldn't notice my epic failures lately if you were blind." Pitch turned his face back to the window, "I …I don't know what's wrong with me. I know what I need to do; I just often lack the willpower to deny myself… although I'm getting better about some things. It's the newer things I tend to encounter that have me tripping all over again. I will say in my own defense, this recent screw up was actually a cumulative effect from a month ago… not that it really matters of course," he gave her a partial uneasy quirky smile out of the side of his face.

"I would think that the... well... the spankings you've gotten would be enough to strengthen your willpower." Tooth replied. "After all, the purpose of discipline is to keep you on the right path. I know you don't like hearing stuff like that, but... you have to face the truth, whether you like that truth or not. You've gotten spanked because you lack the willpower to keep yourself in check. To me, the fear of getting spanked should be enough to encourage you to want to do better."

The fear of spanking did keep Pitch in line more than he was willing to admit, but having Toothiana mention it like she had made Pitch involuntarily cringe. He tried to use the logic in her statement to back up his own point, "Yes, well then it clearly shows that spanking isn't working for me. You should tell North that it doesn't seem to be doing what he intended, so he can find a different tactic. Stars knows he won't listen to me."

A small smile tugged at Tooth's lips. She knew what Pitch was trying to do, so she kept quiet. She had been against spanking from the start and even tried to sway North's decision, but he went ahead with it anyway. Now, after all of the recent events concerning Pitch, she was beginning to think that spanking had been the right choice after all. It seemed to leave a positive impact on the nightmare lord. She knew Pitch was extremely strong-willed, so spanking was the only thing that would probably get through to him in the way it needed to. North had known that all along, even during the times when she had been blind to it.

"He won't listen to me either." Tooth finally replied. That was the truth, and the only thing she felt she needed to say on the subject lest she rile Pitch up again.

Pitch frowned pitifully; he thought at this sullenly, North was never going to stop putting him over his knees if he couldn't straighten out. Just the thought of the act made him blush fiercely, "Eh... North is rather hard headed in that regard. He really won't listen to reason," Pitch whined.

Tooth shook her head over Pitch's comment. She was tempted to say a few things like, 'You shouldn't point fingers until you look at yourself in a mirror.', but she chose to keep quiet. Pitch was determined not to listen to anything or anyone, and trying to bring Pitch's problems to his attention only served to make him madder. But she felt she needed to say something. "He's not the only one," she said, and left it at that.

Pitch grimaced, he supposed she was right in that regard, "I... have been known to be a tad stubborn on occasion."

More than a tad, Tooth thought, but she didn't say anything. "Pitch, North really does mean well. He's trying his best to help you because he's concerned about you and cares about you."

Pitch pouted as he shifted uncomfortably, "I... I know. I just wish he had better ways of showing it is all. What he does is... highly embarrassing to say the least."

"I... think that's part of the idea of it."

Pitch glowered but said nothing more on the subject as getting spanked accomplished that goal tenfold, and he definitely had no plans of endorsing its use on him!

Pitch wanted desperately to get away from the subject of getting spanked. It seemed to be a popular revolving topic he was unable to avoid talking about these days no matter how he tried to maneuver away from it.

Thinking on punishment though had Pitch considering that he was going to be rather lonely during the week of his grounding, and he was hoping to ensnare Toothiana's company if he could manage it. It would make that time go by much less painfully, "Will you be coming by more often now? You disappeared for a while there, and I had thought maybe we could paint more together. I'll paint something else for you; anything you can think of!"

"It just depends on what my work looks like. I don't always know when I'll have free time." She said with a sigh. "But I can try to come by a few times."

Pitch looked down saddened by the lack of commitment she assured him, but he nodded, "I would like your company if you are up for it. When you can make it of course," he added.

Tooth reached to put a hand on his shoulder. "I'll try." She said. "From what I understand, you're going to be busy with repairs for a while. So I'll try to get caught up on work and then we'll see what happens after that. Sound good?"

Pitch perked to hear this; it would be better after all if she came when he wasn't going to be out and about anyway, since that was the time he would want her company most, "That sounds fantastic!" He flashed a winning smile on her, "North said the repairs should take a couple days up to a week, so maybe we'll both be caught up around the same time."

Tooth grinned and nodded. "Hopefully."

He smirked, "Well, I'm not going anywhere, so I suppose whenever you are ready to visit, you'll have a captive audience." It was meant as a joke, but it was a bit too close to reality and had Pitch falter in the smile he'd offered her. He cleared his throat, "That is neither here nor there though. Why talk about tomorrow when we have today? How long can you visit? Maybe we can take a walk on the outer rim of the perimeter? I… I can't go there by myself, but if you're with me, the yetis should let us be."

"Sure, I'd love to." Tooth smiled. "I can stay most of the day. But I need to get back before nightfall, since I go out to gather teeth tonight."

It was still pretty early in the afternoon, so this all sounded good to Pitch, "Yes, we can go for a walk, and before you leave, if you feel like eating anything, the yetis like to make stroganoff on Tuesdays… I don't tend to eat as many of their sweets anymore, and I'm fairly certain you're not interested in them. Of course after having Bunnymund's chocolate most every other sweet thing here pales in comparison," he brightened at the memory feeling a pang of nostalgia and something more for the time spent with the rabbit. His eyes were bright and cheery now as he regarded Toothiana feeling much less babysat as he had with North, and it was a relieving change of atmosphere, "What do you think?"

"Sounds good. We can think about food later, though. Right now we can go on our walk." She smiled.

He nodded enthusiastically more than ready for a nice jaunt to stretch his legs after several hours cooped up in North's office. The two made their way back to one of the many elevators that brought them back towards the front of North's fortress. Pitch had asked Toothiana how she had been since they last saw each other, and he quietly listened to her go on about the teeth that she had collected the night before. The teeth hadn't interested him much, but the vibrancy that she exuded while she talked about them made her happiness infectious within him. It really did brighten his day to see her like this, and his joy in her joy was reflected in the warm smile that Pitch wore now as they continued to make their way towards the front of North's bastion.

"So what about you?" said Tooth after she exhausted her chattering about teeth. "Have you thought anymore about what you plan to do? Are you going to try that... thing... you did with Bunny again?"

Pitch's countenance shifted when she mentioned the training with Bunnymund to a look of slight apprehension, "Uh… eventually," his eyes then took on a spark of joy as he beamed at her, "But North did promise to practice magic with me once everything is said and done with my current punishment. Can you believe it? I never would have thought North would be willing to train me how to use his spells. I'm rather excited to see what he'll teach me."

Tooth looked concerned. "You're going to learn magic after everything that happened?"

Her lack of confidence made his smile abate, "Well, with North's guidance this time. I'm …I'm not going to try to learn and practice spells on my own anymore," his attention to the remembered pain in his rear end attested that at least for the time being, he had enough of a lesson learned to know that he didn't want to mess around with magic outside of the purview of North any time soon.

"Ah," Tooth nodded. Hearing that made her feel better. "Well, I hope it goes well."

Pitch's smile returned although now it was a pale imitation to how he had felt when he'd originally expressed his intentions with learning magic to Toothiana, "Me to. He uh… mentioned he planned to start off with simple spells and we could go from there," he shrugged, "It could be fun."

"You'll have to show me what you learn some time." She smiled.

He brightened at her interest, "I've perfected the one spell I originally horribly botched actually. I could technically show you that one, but I think it'd be best if I show it to you in front of North…" he said this last bit almost inaudibly his shoulders drawing up as it shamed him to think of the man's ire should he not ask, "…with his permission."

"That's fine," Tooth held up her hands. "I can wait. I'd rather you show me when you have more knowledge of the subject. Don't want anything else happening."

Pitch frowned a bit miffed, "It wouldn't. I told you I mastered that one, and with North there… it doesn't matter," he shook his head; it had irked Pitch though as he'd wanted to show off a little of what he considered to be a neat trick. Even Jack had thought so, but Toothiana was always the mother hen he realized and said no more.

"Why do you wish to learn magic?" Tooth asked. "I don't mean to pry or anything, but I'm just curious."

Pitch peered up at her curiously as if it were one of the oddest questions he'd ever heard, "You wouldn't?" Seeing she still wanted an actual answer, Pitch thought a moment before continuing, "I've been around for countless years, but magic is something I've yet to understand. I guess to learn something that can affect the world in a different manner than I'm accustomed I find to be fascinating. It's a force of will, and that in itself is enticing to want to play with to I suppose."

"That makes sense." Tooth replied.

They were nearing the entrance to the Pole, and the yetis were on very high alert after everything that had just happened at the landfill. The four that guarded the entrance scrutinized Pitch with hands on hips forming a fury line that barred the door. One of them garbled some angry barks at Pitch wagging a finger as it did so before pointing in the opposite direction a note of finality in its tone.

He snarled back at the yeti that had obviously told him off. Pitch sneered, "Move out of my way throw rug; I'm allowed out there as long as I have an escort."

"Pitch!" Tooth said, a bit annoyed by the tone he was using with the yeti. "He's only doing his job. There's no need to get nasty." She turned to the yeti. "It's okay. I'll keep an eye on him."

Pitch scoffed squinting hatefully at the yeti that still very much forbid his passage, "He got rude with me first!"

The yetis looked from Toothiana to Pitch and started arguing among themselves. They knew the Tooth Fairy could come and go as she pleased, but they also knew that North had left explicit instructions that Pitch was not to leave the Pole. One garbled that they would verify North's wishes as it trundled off towards the elevator while the other three shook their heads a firm no.

"You don't have to be rude back, Pitch." Tooth scowled.

Pitch ignored Toothiana focusing on the yeti shaking his head no. Pitch fumed now quite tired of restrictions as he spat, "This isn't the first time I've walked outside with one of the guardians. Jack and I took a stroll on the back side of this hovel a few weeks ago even."

Pitch moved to step past the giant only to have a massive arm jet out in front of him to stop him in his tracks.

Growing heated at the yeti's continued stalwart refusal to let him pass now, Pitch began poking the yeti in the chest as he railed at him, "I see what this is! This is just a show of power because of what happened yesterday night and nothing more! You're just wasting our time because you can! Get out of the way!"

"Stop it!" Tooth shouted. Before she realized what she was doing, she flew forward and smacked Pitch's backside hard with her hand.

Pitch was taken by complete surprise jolted from his thoughts and tirade at the sharp slap that may have otherwise only been mildly annoying compared to North's heavy calloused hand. But, applied to his still very sore and swollen rump; her lightning quick hand stung quite profusely with a bite that rang through him like a shot. His immediate reaction was to gasp a choked yelp and jerk at the pressing pain. He stiffened like a rigid board jarred as if momentarily frozen before the realization of who had struck him sank in.

He quickly took several steps backward away from the yetis and away from Toothiana no small amount of shock playing across his face mixed with a hint of betrayal, "You… you…" Pitch found no words now, but the fire of his fury was snuffed in an instant by her action. Pitch clasped his hands bringing them up to his chest in a nervous gesture as he stood staring at her looking both hurt and confused.

"I... I'm sorry, but I didn't know what else to do." Said Tooth. "You were getting too out of control."

Pitch reeled at the notion; Toothiana, sweet Toothiana, who had been so adamantly against such things had thought he'd gotten so far out of line that she felt the need to step in and correct him in this way. His face flushed deeply, and a pang of sickness welled in his stomach. He glanced over at the yetis who made no comment but seemed satisfied with the results before he glanced back at Toothiana a small pucker forming to his lips as if he might cry before he looked away, "Uh… you're right, I… I lost my temper. I'm… I'm sorry."

He was afraid now. What if she told North how he'd behaved? The Cossack would surely tan his hide for upsetting the fairy enough to do that to him! He still was in a state of disbelief that she'd raised a hand to him in this manner at all. He would have been able to cope better with a slap to the face, that would have put them both more on equal footing of lashing out followed by a response versus this where she took the mantle over him to actually punish him.

Tooth was a bit surprised by the reaction. She had expected Pitch to get mad and start screaming at her or something before storming off to who knows where. She gave a quick nod of approval. "I'm glad you're able to admit it."

He swallowed hard trying to fend back his shame as he asked almost timidly, "Did… did you just want to go walk elsewhere?" His eyes darted from her to the floor hoping she'd acquiesce, so the two could quickly make their way away from this juncture where the incident still hung thick in the air. He wished he could melt away now, but he'd accede to just getting as far away from what he saw was the smug looking yetis watching him as possible. No doubt this little show would make its way around the Pole as a running joke Pitch thought nauseatingly.

"You're the one who wanted to go for a walk. You choose." She replied.

Pitch nodded darting away from the front entrance and down a side hall away from all mocking stares. Pitch felt on the verge of tears from not just the humiliation but how he'd managed to change the dynamic of his and Toothiana's relationship. He wanted her as a confidante, someone he could seek solace in, not to be a ward to like that of North. He glanced back with worried eyes at her now looking to see if she was angry with him. He really hoped not.

"Is there something wrong?" Tooth asked, softly. Worry etched her face now. She hoped she had done the right thing.

He shook his head, "Na-no. You… you're not mad at me now are you?" Now that the two of them were alone, he stopped, turning back to look at her earnestly. He was afraid he may have damaged their bond by pushing her too far.

"Mad? I was never mad at you." Tooth replied.

That was good. Pitch seemed to visibly relax at that admission before asking her tentatively, "You're… you're not going to tell North… about… about what happened back there are you?" His face took on the connotations of deep apprehension in obvious fear of what North would do to him.

"I hadn't planned on it. Although I don't know what the yetis will do."

Pitch gasped in horror; he hadn't even considered the flea bags telling North what had happened. His face paled as he thought on this biting his knuckle as he digested this new probability. He half whispered with no small amount of desperation, "Do you think they will?"

Tooth shrugged. "I don't know. It's hard to tell with them sometimes. Most of the time they keep to themselves, but there are some that do report things back to North if it's important enough."

He had to wonder then if it wouldn't be better to admit it to the Cossack first over having the man be informed by a random yeti. He was more than sure that would most assuredly not go over well. He glanced back up at Toothiana now openly fretting now, "I really hope they don't! Do you think they'd have seen that as something important to report?"

Tooth actually had to suppress an amused smile over how Pitch was acting. She gave a shrug. "Don't know. Probably not."

He nodded thinking she was right, the yeti were a quiet lot over all, so they most likely would say nothing to North. He took in a deep breath smoothing out his robe as he regained his composure although he seemed at a loss now where to go and just stood there aimlessly. Feeling rather silly now, he gave her a quirky smile, "I… I don't suppose you have any suggestions where we should go? You've probably seen more of this place than I have with the many years you've known North." He watched her carefully now to see how she would interact with him. He was still a little off kilter from the scene in the entry way.

"I don't know. We could go back to your private place if you want to, unless you just feel a need to walk around."

Pitch smiled liking the sound of that, "Why not. It'll be a quiet atmosphere for us to relax." Pitch was happy as the two made their way back across the Pole towards the windmills, and he and Toothiana carried on as they normally did. It was as if the happenstance at the entry way had never occurred, and Pitch was ever grateful.