Chapter Thirty-Five

It All Comes Back Around

Pitch and Toothiana spent the next hour commenting on the visual beauties that surrounded them at the fountains among many other passing topics of the goings on at the Pole that Pitch could actually weigh in on. Pitch had propped his lanky body over the fountain base's width crossing his legs so that his feet dangled kicking playfully in the air while his chest leaned partially over the crest of the fountain. He poked at the waters dipping tiny crumbs of fish food into the pond between his forefinger and thumb giggling mirthfully at the feeling of the fish taking the pieces of food from between his fingertips as he and Toothiana talked. This simple act seemed to amuse him to no end as he swayed rocking back and forth on his hips and peering into the water as the massive goldfish bobbed to the surface to retrieve the food and darted away just as quickly as it emerged.

"You know, I really need to go." said Tooth, suddenly. "It must be getting late by now, and I'm going to need to head out to collect teeth soon."

Pitch glanced up from his activity his smile faltering. He knew this was coming, but it still made him unhappy to know his fun with her was at an end. He'd have to go back to North's office now. Of course Toothiana didn't know this, so he threw the last of the crumbs into the pond and pushed himself back up and off the fountain's base stretching as he did so, "I understand; I'll walk you back to North's office. I'm sure you'll wish to say your goodbyes to him as well," Pitch stated as he smiled at her warmly.

"Well, I really don't have to. North knows that I sometimes come and go as I please. But if you want to walk back to North's office, we can." Tooth floated off the fountain.

Pitch needed her to accompany him back if to just keep up the ruse he'd so delicately laid with Toothiana by not telling her that he'd needed a chaperone. He strained a smile feeling slightly guilty for keeping secrets with her, but what she didn't know wasn't exactly hurting her. This omission would really only affect him if knowing about his grounding meant she wouldn't come back by until his punishment was over, so what did it really matter whether or not he told her? He was quick to start moving out of the fountain's gardens and towards the elevator, "Oh you know North likes to say his goodbyes. Uh... besides, it gives us a few more minutes to enjoy each other's company."

"Alright, we'll go." Tooth said with a smile. She followed Pitch to the elevator and both of them rode it to the main part of the Pole where they made their way to North's office.

Pitch was happy to have a few more minutes to spend with Toothiana even if keeping her company wasn't his true intentions of walking with her. North's office door was open, and the man had moved on to tinkering with some toy that had many small parts. He was leaned over one of his crafting desks looking full of concentration while using a magnifying glass to glue the pieces together.

Pitch watched on slightly curious as he glided into the office over to the side of North's desk to allow Toothiana to pass him and speak to North to say her goodbyes.

"Ah, I was wondering what happened to you. It has been too quiet." North said with a chuckle. "I'm glad to see you brought Pitch back, Toothiana."

"Brought him back?" said Tooth, a bit confused.

Pitch blushed furiously as he backed away praying that North didn't go into detail! He had backed away to the other edge of the desk, and while he was looking down to monitor that he didn't run into the desk, Pitch saw his naughty list partially unraveled, and bold as day was the newest offense with the elves at the very top. He barely contained a gasp as he slapped a hand over his mouth, and his eyes went impossibly wide registering the connotations behind this new revelation. His knees went weak as panic gripped his heart. He had to hide that thing!

"Hm? Yes, brought him back to office." said North, not looking up from his work.

"Ah," Tooth nodded, even though she still didn't fully understand why that was so important. "Yes, I'm about to head out since it's getting close to time for me to collect teeth. Pitch wanted us to stop by your office to say good bye."

While they were talking, Pitch quickly pilfered the parchment tucking it into one of the deep pockets in his robe as he stepped forward distractingly to draw the conversation away from any further explanation, "Uh yes! I told Toothiana you'd definitely wish to see her off of course!" His heart was hammering in his chest now; he was so terrified of the consequences he'd face if he was caught trying to hide his naughty list from North.

North turned a puzzled look to Pitch before turning to look at Tooth. "Uh, yeah," He nodded. "Good bye, Tooth."

Pitch felt more than awkward now caught between a well-placed deception with Toothiana that was so very close to unraveling and trying to stay smooth in the face of North after so willfully stealing from the man evidence that showed he'd somehow been stupid enough to manage to get another line added to his list.

How was it that he created such a mess for himself so easily? It was like a snowball effect; one little mistake led to more issues he had to find ways to deal with that made the whole situation that much worse. A shiver rocketed up Pitch's spine; he'd already sealed his course of action now. There was no turning back as he'd already insured he was in pretty deep water by instinctually snatching up and hiding the page out of self-preservation.

More than a small part of him screamed that he was an idiot for grabbing and hiding the page in the first place; sure he likely would have gotten another spanking from North, but he may have gotten the Cossack to have a little mercy for the extenuating circumstances. There would be no pleading his case now he knew regrettably, so he just needed to do his best to destroy the page as soon as he could get away from North to do so.

"Yeah, good bye," Tooth replied. She felt awkward, wondering why they were even having this conversation. Finally, she turned and flew out of the room.

North shrugged and turned back to his work.

Pitch remained quiet watching as Toothiana left and feeling like he'd at least dodged that bullet. North seemed pretty distracted by his work, and Pitch thought now might be one of the few times that he could get away with not having an escort, "Uh... I was thinking of retiring to my room; you look like you're busy, so I can just make my way back on my own if it's all the same to you North."

North put down the pieces he was holding and turned to Pitch. "I will escort you back. I am not too busy to do that." He waved for Pitch to go first. "So how was your time with Toothiana?"

Pitch stutter-stopped, "Uh… well… uh… good! It… it was rather nice," he darted through the door avoiding eye contact with North in case the man somehow was able to discern something was amiss by looking at his face. Pitch babbled now in his nervousness as they walked, "We… we went quite a few places just traipsing about the Pole, you know… talking… and walking… and… we actually just came from the fountains. I… I was feeding the large goldfish," Pitch started to calm a bit now as they continued walking feeling he'd gained more of his faculties back as they moved towards his room.

"Is there something wrong?" North asked, noting Pitch's stuttering. "You seem nervous."

Pitch paused a moment needing to refocus before responding, "Na-nervous? No! Stars no! I… I am just still a little excited from my visit with Toothiana. We… I like spending time with her," he said this last part a little forlornly as he frowned knowing it'd be a while before he saw her again.

North smiled. "I am happy to hear that."

Pitch nodded solemnly, "So… uh, when will we start work on the conveyer tomorrow?" This was important as it would dictate when he could be expected to be gathered. Pitch wondered if North planned to be involved in that project as well, or if he planned to just have him work by himself.

"The earliest possible hour, whenever you think you will be ready." North answered. "I've been overseeing the supplies all day. Yetis have cleaned out most of wreckage and have been getting things prepared."

"I can be ready when the sun goes down, but I suppose that's not the 'early' you had in mind," Pitch mused. If they could work through the night, Pitch would be very pleased, but he doubted that North or his yetis would be comfortable working through the night since they primarily did everything during daylight hours.

North scowled. "No, it isn't. You will be ready in morning. And I will not hear any backtalk on the matter."

Pitch opened his mouth to say that he hadn't actually been serious, but the assumption that he would give backtalk only caused him to frown bitterly. "Then why bother asking me when I'll be ready if you just plan to roll over me like a dictator?" Pitch groused.

"You know very well what I meant, Pitch. The earliest hour in morning that you can be ready."

Pitch was irritable now responding with a derisive, "Just come by whenever you're ready. Stars knows I won't be going anywhere to not be ready for whenever you deem to come fetch me."

"Good," North said with a nod. "I will pick you up about six."

Pitch wore a scowl, but he didn't comment further as they continued down the hall finally making it to his bedroom. Pitch was relieved, now he had a time to expect the Cossack, and knowing that gave him a window of time to destroy the page and get rid of it.

"Here we are. Sleep well," North said, opening the door for Pitch.

The kind words wiped the scowl from his face as he turned back to look at North feeling a tad bit guilty now. He walked through the door watching North as he went inside before glancing then at the painting on the wall that was effectively hiding the strap. Pitch was really glad he'd placed that picture there now, but even so, a ghost pain washed across his rear end knowing what he'd just done by stealing the page and the reality that he was most likely not going to get away with it one way or another. He never did get away with anything it seemed, and this fact was rather unnerving as his mind once more raced. No, if he got rid of the damned list, everything would balance out once more, besides, North hadn't even noticed the list until recently, why wouldn't he forget about it as easily? Pitch tried in vain to reassure himself now. He gulped hard before turning stiffly back to North, "Uh… Sa… sleep well too," he stated a little shakily as he worked to quell the fear that had momentarily overtook him.

North nodded, turned, and left.

No small amount of relief came to Pitch as the Cossack closed the door allowing his shoulders to slump while his lungs exhaled deeply a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Pitch clutched at the page in his robe now unable to will himself quite yet to bring it out to see the light of day, as if North would throw his door open as he pulled the page into the light to catch him red handed. This of course was just his ridiculously over active imagination at play. Pitch knew this to be true, but he couldn't fight the want to just wait a good ten minutes… just in case.

Ten minutes passed, and as it did so, Pitch wore a hole in the floor pacing and thinking about the 'what if's' of North looking for the list and somehow knowing he'd taken it. He couldn't know that! Could he? No, the man didn't read minds, and without the list to tell him what he'd done, there was no way he could actually know for certain! Pitch just needed to relax. If anything, his behavior would tell on himself if he wasn't careful and didn't get a handle over his nerves.

Feeling the Cossack had been gone long enough for it to be safe, Pitch pulled out the list briefly unraveling it just to make sure he didn't somehow botch horribly and grab the wrong list (that would be a bit of irony he thought humorlessly.) Of course now written on the top, it showed up in bold print, his newest offense of stealing the list which immediately erased all doubt that it was in fact his list.

Pitch sighed looking over the list one last time with a grimace; he would be more than pleased to see this thing ripped into a million pieces. That was his intention anyway as he yanked to tear it down the middle to no avail. He tried to rip it from several different angles, but the paper seemed impervious to his efforts! A small alarm started to course through him at seeing the page refuse to be damaged in the slightest, no matter how much oomph he put behind it. This was bad. He'd have to find some other means of getting rid of it he thought worriedly as he rolled up the list and deposited it back into his robe.

He waited, that sickening 'I can't wait to get this over' wait, as the time ticked away the countless hours of the remainder of the day and then the night. Pitch had books, but he couldn't concentrate his mind enough to read, and he had paints, but after spending almost an hour staring at a blank canvas, Pitch gave up and just laid on his bed wondering how he'd managed to yet again make so much trouble for himself. He whimpered in self-pity hating the fact that he was still being punished for his last offenses, and here he was actively screwing up all over again! What the heck was wrong with him? Was he a glutton for punishment? He sighed, a small pout forming on his face as he promised himself that he wasn't going to get caught for this, and once the dust settled, he was going to get back on track. This would be the last time he'd end up in such a state.

Scampering down the hall, Pitch froze in indecision hearing heavy footfalls as he pressed himself carefully up against the wall sucking in a breath as if to do so would flush him against the wall that much tighter. He needed not to have worried though as the yeti guard had only briefly headed in his direction before disappearing down another corridor.

Pitch breathed a sigh of relief as he dislodged himself from the wall and hurried down to one of the many crackling fire pits around the Pole. Of course the pit held nothing but hot embers having burned down hours ago. Heat still radiated here though, and Pitch knew it wouldn't take much to get it going again. If he couldn't rip the paper, he'd burn it! Carefully Pitch unhinged the guard that covered the bed of ash from accidental fires breaking out and pulled it far enough over that he could add a bit of kindling before blowing on the twigs to ignite them. As he did this, Pitch took momentary fearful glances back behind his shoulder to ensure he didn't hear or see anyone in the distance that might catch him here. There was no one, but throughout this whole procedure, Pitch felt like his skin was crawling with his anxiety, but maybe that was the fearlings within him excitedly feeding off of the apprehension coming off of Pitch in waves.

The fire was ready enough, and Pitch pulled the scroll from his robe watching intently behind him now as his heart hammered away. He placed the parchment on the flames and waited for the sight of the paper shrinking in on itself like a dying spider with holes eroding through it to consume the page and disintegrate it to ash, but nothing happened. Pitch's blood ran cold at the sight of this as he quickly snatched the page from the flames carefully ensuring none of the embers were trapped within it before shoving it back in his robe.

Pitch scrambled to replace the guard and soundlessly made his way back to his room. More than a little panic now stewed within him as he contemplated how to get rid of the page. His first thoughts were to skillfully burry it in the trash when he had a free moment at the landfill site, but North and he would be working side by side, and that was much too risky to be spotted especially since he had no idea what the Cossack planned to have him be doing while he was working on the conveyer belt. He wasn't exactly a skilled laborer, so he expected he'd mostly be doing clean up. Either way, it was a threat he didn't want to contend with. As he made it back to his room, Pitch finally decided that the back of the mirror was as good a place as any to hide it. The magic pages he'd scrawled out a while back were still hidden there, so it would do just as well to hide the naughty list Pitch decided much happier once the page was securely hidden.

It was after 3AM now, and Pitch knew to expect North in a few hours, so feeling quite weary from all of his worrying, Pitch climbed on his bed to rest easily finding himself passed out, curled in a ball, on top of his sheets in a matter of minutes.

"Pitch! Is time to get up!" North's voice bellowed over the Boogeyman as he shook him.

Pitch practically jumped out of his skin feeling the man's hands jarring him awake. He let out a shrill yelp of surprise gasping in terror as he spun his head up to face North before realizing the man was just waking him. He clutched his chest, "Oh stars! Don't do that to me!" He huffed still clearly startled by the action. Although North would not know it was more the dread of getting caught that had him so jumpy rather than the surprise of being woken abruptly. He swiveled his body into a sitting position immediately regretting his lack of ease to his posterior having temporarily forgotten in the haze of sleep how sore he still was.

Hoping off the bed quickly and giving a quick rub at the offended area, Pitch scowled a moment before his face softened and he looked up at North apologetically, "Sorry, I must have dozed off."

"Well, I should hope so. You will need rest for day of work ahead."

Pitch rubbed absently at his bicep pulling himself into a sort of self-hug as he regarded North and nodded, "Uh… right. Work. I guess we should get going then?" Pitch looked up to follow North now.

North's eyes had been quickly glancing around the room as if searching for something. He nodded, turning to walk toward the door. "After you," he waved.

Pitch was still rubbing sleep from his eyes and hadn't noticed the cursory glance only stepping wobbly forward to move out of the door and down the hall unable to help a yawn from escaping. He was still feeling a bit dragged out he realized, but he was sure the morning air would wake him soon enough.

North followed after Pitch as he rambled on about the day's work that was ahead of them.

Pitch wasn't really listening to North letting what the man said move through one ear and out the other as they walked across the Pole's hub and towards the tunnels that led outside. Pitch couldn't help looking about slightly annoyed by all the cheery faces of yetis and elves that gave their way too sugary good mornings to North as they moved about to start their day.

Of course Pitch was hit with a state of longing as they exited the building to see the reindeer stalls. This sad feeling erupted into immediate jealousy though as Pitch stopped in his tracks growing rigid. He could clearly see Jack busying himself away tending to his reindeer. Pitch huffed crossing his arms at the sight and scowling so hard that if looks could kill, the winter sprite would have collapsed from the sky and died on the spot.

North looked from Pitch to the stables, a hint of a scowl appearing on his face. "Keep moving, Pitch."

Pitch had to speak his mind waving a hand out at the sight he saw as he groused, "I could have already taken care of them by now; just… just look at the way he's grooming them? He's brushing them in swirls! They are going to look ridiculous!"

North grunted. "They may look ridiculous, but they will survive." He grabbed hold of Pitch's robe and urged him forward.

Pitch growled snatching his robe back and stomped off towards the landfill prickling with irritation at both Frost for tending to the reindeer and North for not letting him do so before starting work on the repair job. He could have finished the tasks with the deer twice over before North had planned to even start work!

North knew Pitch was mad and jealous over Jack. It didn't take a genius to figure it out. He gave an approving nod as he trudged along behind the Boogeyman. Pitch had no one to blame but himself, North thought. Everything Pitch had done had brought down consequences of every form on his head, including someone else temporarily taking care of the reindeer. He could only hope that Pitch learned a valuable lesson from all of it.

Pitch wore a scowl now his mood instantly soured by the sight he'd left. His fists were balled as he raged across the field to the landfill site at an increased clip just as much to get away from what he saw with Jack and his reindeer as much as not having to walk next to North. Once they reached the landfill, Pitch stood looking down at it with a snarl as he crossed his arms once more staring hatefully around at the scene as he waited for North to catch up.

North walked up to stand beside Pitch. He pointed at a yeti wearing a hardhat. "That is Dave. He will show you what you need to do. If you cannot understand what he says, I will be here to translate as well as oversee your work and progress." North decided to leave off that he was also staying there to make sure Pitch actually did the work and also to make sure he didn't try anything else that would cause problems.

"You might as well just translate here and now since I can tell you that I won't understand gibberish," Pitch snapped looking over at Dave with contempt. He was still thinking of Frost laughing about doing summersaults in the air. Oh he was just having so much fun doing his job!

North frowned. "You know I can't do that until he speaks to you! Now, get moving." He gently pushed Pitch in the direction of Dave. "Do not make me take you back to room for discussion with certain piece of leather."

Pitch's face flushed at the mention of the strap, and the push was all he needed to propel him in the direction of Dave without further comment other than a wary glance behind him. He made his way over to Dave now standing in front of the yeti still scowling as he grumbled, "Alright, go ahead and spit out what awful task you're going to bestow on me."

North held up a hand for Dave to wait as he turned his attention down to Pitch. "First, I just want to remind you that faster you do this work, faster you get it done, faster you go through grounding, and faster you get back to caring for reindeer. It is up to you to determine how long or short this work is carried out. If you are worried about how deer are cared for, then you will make effort to get all of this done and behind you as quickly as possible. The longer you drag it out, the longer you take getting back to deer."

Pitch huffed, "I realize that, so let's just get on with it already." Thinking on the reindeer was just making his anger go from a simmer to a boil.

Dave nodded and pointed at a small pile of thin metal beams, then pointed toward the wrecked conveyor.

Pitch grimaced moving to the pile of beams before bending down to grab one and march it over to the emphasized area, "Alright, now what?" Pitch sneered.

Dave motioned from the beams to the wrecked conveyor then back again several times, emitting a few grunts.

"He wants you to carry all of beams over to the conveyor." said North.

Pitch sighed muttering as he dumped the beam on the ground to go retrieve the next beam, "So, pack mule it is. How pointless to have dropped the beams this far away anyway! One would think that you did this just to make extra work!"

North allowed Pitch to say whatever he wanted as he watched the Boogeyman pick up the beams and pack them to the conveyor. He secretly motioned to Dave to ignore Pitch's words.

It took two hours for Pitch to move the pile of beams from one side of the landfill to the point where Dave had instructed. Pitch wasn't one to perform manual labor, so by the time he was done, he was looking rather tired. It hadn't helped that he had only rested about two hours prior.

He leaned against the beams now as he watched some of the yetis weld parts together and prepare for lifting the connected pieces into the air.

Dave grunted, nodding in approval at Pitch.

"He says good job and that you may rest a bit." said North, walking up to inspect the work.

Pitch was still annoyed, but the two hours of work had lessened the degree having been separated from the scene with Jack and the reindeer long enough to have let his mind drift to less unhappy thoughts. He tried to keep his mind turned towards calculating how much work actually needed to be done to stretch it to Saturday. There definitely was plenty to do he realized with a pang of guilt. He really did make a huge mess out here, and it was going to take at least a few days to fix what he'd so recklessly done. Pitch just stood watching the yetis and North work now. Until he was given another task, Pitch figured he could use the rest.

Dave walked up to North and grunted a long stream of gibberish before walking off. North took a break from his work long enough to address Pitch. "When you're done resting, you can help yetis erect the frame."

Pitch wasn't overly interested in working over just watching the yetis work, so his eyes only flicked momentarily to North taking in what he said before going back to just watching the work being done deciding a bit of an extended break wouldn't hurt.

Thirty minutes had passed when North walked up to Pitch. He was mopping sweat from his brow with a candy cane printed handkerchief. "Break's over, Pitch. Time to get to work."

Pitch merely shrugged noncommittedly choosing to just move away from North in the direction of the work. He wasn't really interested in being told how he should be working, and to have North feel the need to tell him as much served to annoy him. He glided to stand by where the yetis were diligently doing a multitude of tasks to the framed track before sending the finished piece up with a wench of sorts to two yetis that were expertly securing the pieces to a basic skeleton structure they were working to build. Of course not really sure what to do and not overly interested in asking, Pitch was just spinning about looking around at the goings on and getting more in the yetis' way than helping them.

Dave angrily grunted at Pitch, waving his arm and pointing to where several yetis were still doing welding.

"Pitch! He wants you to help them hold the beams in place while they weld them." said North, scowling.

Pitch scowled back at North snapping, "I may not know what he's saying to me, but I can tell whatever he's saying, he's not asking politely! Dave here better find an appropriate tone of addressing me; I don't take orders from minions!" Pitch snarled turning back to Dave folding his arms to stare up at the large yeti defiantly. How dare this yeti boss him around! Pitch planned to work, but he wasn't going to put up with this kind of treatment!

"Pitch!" North yelled over the noise going on around them. "You have a lot to learn about working. Dave is your boss. You obey whatever he tells you, or so help me we will be having different conversation."

What did North expect from him? Pitch didn't appreciate the manner that the yeti was lecturing him. It wasn't fair that these hair balls could speak to him in any way they wanted, but let Pitch respond in kind, and he was getting threatened with a strapping! Pitch really didn't want that though, so he didn't comment further. Skulking over to do as North had told him, Pitch held the beams in place. He wore an incredibly grouchy expression as he did so making it clear that he was doing the work, but he was definitely unhappy with the situation he was enduring.

North just shook his head at Pitch's pathetic display. But then again, he should have expected it. After all, it had been a very long time since Pitch did any actual work.

This particular task wasn't difficult, but it was horribly boring, so Pitch found his attention drifting as he looked about watching the yetis do much more complicated tasks that Pitch thought he'd be much more suited for, but he stayed dutifully doing this particular chore for several hours. He had been repositioned as they worked from the base of the building leading out towards the landfill. The sun was starting to crest higher into the air eroding the shadows on the field and creeping toward them. Pitch noticed with slight worry as he worked to maneuver himself to avoid the patches of sun that stabbed through the clouds and reflected off the metal.

Dave was getting frustrated with the dark lord's weaving about commanding in gruff barks to remain where he'd been expected to hold the beams in place, but the sun was starting to become painful as it singed Pitch's skin feeling like acid. He snarled snappishly, "I'm doing the best I can for you! Be glad I'm standing here at all!"

Dave had no clue the affects the sun was having on Pitch and grumbled a scolding thinking Pitch was just being disagreeable again.

To this Pitch became enraged letting the beams go as he stormed off, "If you don't like the job I'm doing than do it yourself!"

North, having caught sight of the last part of the scene, quickly turned from what he had been doing and walked over to where Dave was and where Pitch was walking away. "What goes on here?" he said as he reached out to snatch a hold of Pitch's arm before he got far.

Pitch hissed as North yanked him by the arm back towards Dave and unknowingly into a direct patch of sun. The exposed flesh began to burn like an instant sunburn on his pale skin, and Pitch jumped with the sudden pain as he writhed uncomfortably, "Let me go! Let me go!" Pitch squalled as panic and pain prickled through him, and he desperately wrenched to get free from North's grasp.

North frowned at the fit Pitch was throwing. "What ails you, Pitch?"

Pitch whimpered jerking madly as his exposed flesh now began to blister, "The sun! Please! You're hurting me!" Pitch pleaded almost hysterically as the sun's direct rays penetrated his skin more fully without his ability to escape it.

North quickly jerked Pitch into the shadowed area, a bit taken back by the situation. "I am sorry, Pitch. I did not know."

"You never asked!" Pitch squirmed uncomfortably staring at the back of his hand. He whined, "Oh that smarts!"

North heaved a hefty sigh. "Pitch, it was your responsibility to tell me before we started. Do not wait for or expect people to ask. How should I know to ask if you have sun allergy?"

"Allergy? You could have killed me!" Pitch huffed dipping back further into the shadows of the constructed framework, "I'm a master of shadow and darkness; what would you think direct sunlight would do to me? I mean honestly North," Pitch groused heatedly.

North rolled his eyes. "Do you need to go to medical bay?"

Pitch frowned, he didn't want to look weak in front of North, no more than he already had, but the burns really did hurt. Through a tight lipped frown he mumbled almost inaudibly a sharp, "Yes!"

North turned and explained to Dave what had happened and that he would take Pitch to the medical bay. When Dave nodded that he understood, North took Pitch and headed back to the Pole.

Pitch followed quietly behind North thinking back on the conversation he'd had with Toothiana. She'd warned him that he should have had a talk with North about his vulnerability to the sun, but he didn't really think North would have pulled him into the sun and actually put him in danger. He would have otherwise told him, and now Pitch felt a little foolish that he hadn't.

North and Pitch soon arrived at the medical bay, North stepping aside to let Pitch walk in.

Pitch moved timidly forward to meet the yeti waving him into the medical ward. The yeti pointed Pitch to a small section compartmentalized for individual processing where a single chair sat next to a hospital bed. Pitch was about to sit in the chair but since North was following behind him, he gingerly climbed to sit on the bed. He was staring unhappily at his hand now touching the scorched flesh tenderly.

North spent a few minutes talking to one of the yeti nurses about what had happened before walking over to stand beside the bed.

"Not to worry. They will get you fixed up." he said.

Pitch frowned, "That's good to know, I'd like to get this over with, so we can make up for the lost time. You can inform foreman Dave to give me work that I can do in the shade, I'd like to avoid anything like this in the future." Pitch was worried that this little accident would interfere with getting the repairs done in a timely fashion. He was thinking of Frost now and just wanted to get back to tending the reindeer as soon as possible.

North nodded. "I will speak to Dave when we return."

Pitch sighed feeling a bit embarrassed now, "I... I guess I should have told you. I wasn't really expecting you to pull me into direct sunlight like that."

"Pitch, you know full well I wasn't trying to pull you into sunlight on purpose. I saw you walking away from job, so I was pulling you back to your post." North replied.

Pitch complained, "Well, if you didn't feel the need to yank me about, I may have been able to explain beforehand!"

North lowered his face down into Pitch's. "Then don't give me reason to yank you about."

Pitch's eyes widened, and he blanched with the gesture of North moving to be face to face with him. He watched the man intently looking slightly apprehensive. Pitch went quiet now holding his wounded hand to his chest wearing a pout.

North drew back, crossing his arms over his chest.

At that moment, one of the yeti nurses walked over, depositing a few items on the bed before stretching a hand out toward Pitch and grunting.

Pitch didn't immediately reach his hand out, looking on curiously at what the yeti had brought and placed on the bed. It was some cleaning swabs, ointments, and a gauze wrap. She motioned again for him to extend his hand to her a little less gruffly, but Pitch was still hesitant feeling wary now that the yeti might be too rough on his sensitive skin. Studying the yeti a long moment, Pitch decided he could trust her and finally outstretched his hand to her.

The yeti took his hand gently studying the damage there before nodding affirmation and setting the hand down gently on the mattress. She began opening up several packets of antiseptic and unwrapped the gauze to prepare it for use before gently slipping a massive hand under Pitch's hand to begin cleaning the wound.

As the alcohol made contact with his hand, his eyes widened in alarm as the burn was immediately painful, and he hissed angrily, "Ow! Are you incompetent?!" He snatched his hand away quickly sneering at the nurse and wishing he'd not trusted her as the topical solution was still actively stinging his hand.

"Pitch, give her your hand." North said. "It is antiseptic to clean wound. The pain you feel is normal."

Pitch's brow drew down stubbornly, "I think not! Here," Pitch waved his hand in a 'give me' gesture towards the supplies, "I'll just do it myself!"

The yeti nurse's brow also drew down and held out her hand for Pitch to give her his hand once more.

Pitch gave her hand a sneer as he quipped, "No."

"Give her your hand, Pitch." said North. "We don't have all day."

Pitch looked offended, "Why? I don't want her dressing my hand, I'd rather just do it myself; why can't I?"

The yeti nurse scolded Pitch, and of course he had no idea what she was telling him, but it was obvious she wasn't pleased with his decision.

"Because you don't know proper way of doing it," North replied. "And you only have one hand to do it with."

Pitch grumbled finally extending his hand once more, "Fine. But be more careful!" Pitch snapped.

The nurse sighed grasping his wrist this time to ensure he wouldn't pull away again and began to apply the antiseptic once more.

Having his hand locked in place only served to upset Pitch as he jerked, pushed, and pulled cursing the nurse.

The yeti only ignored Pitch continuing to finish sanitizing the burn.

North reached out and grabbed hold of Pitch on both of his upper arms with his large hands to hold him still.

Pitch stopped struggling knowing he wasn't going to make any headway to fight against North, he only trembled now from his heightened anxiety. He seemed to relax once the yeti nurse moved to putting the cooling ointment gently across his hand and then carefully wrapped the flesh that could be covered with the gauze.

Once finished, the nurse backed a step away picking up the supplies but leaving one tube of ointment barking out to keep his hand well lubricated once the hand was healed enough to remove the gauze.

Pitch had withdrawn his hand to stare at the yeti looking perplexed due to the lack of understanding, but was nonetheless happy the whole ordeal was finished. He wore a frown now still rather flustered by the experience as his gaze moved to North, "Can we go back now?"

"Don't you think you should rest?" said North, concern on his face.

Rest? That didn't sound very productive… worse it sounded like the rest of the day being spent in his room. That also was rather unappealing, so Pitch shook his head no, "Nonsense," he held up his wounded hand, "It's not that bad really. I can work just fine!"

"Alright," said North, waving for Pitch to follow him. "I will find you something to do in shade."