Chapter Forty
Sweet Tooth
As the day drew on, North and Pitch continued to work in relative silence only optimistically commenting on things around them pertaining to the progress of the conveyor system and the panels they were painting. It wasn't the awkward heavy silence from earlier that morning but more of a contented lost in their work as they moved through the panels kind of silence. North of course managed to whip through twice as many panels as Pitch, no matter how hard Pitch tried to keep up. The Cossack was much more experienced at this sort of thing, and his prowess at the job was shown to be quite evident.
Dave announced lunch then, and the smaller group of workers that were left (not as many were required for this part of the project) they all moved merrily toward the cafeteria to get an early bout of pizza having been quite delighted to hear about North's change in the menu.
Pitch looked to North, "Were you wanting to go to the cafeteria or eat out here again?"
"I thought we would eat out here. It is much nicer than cramped cafeteria." said North as he looked up, toward the path that led back to the Pole. "Ah! Here comes our lunch now."
One of the yeti cooks was walking toward them, carrying a covered tray in one hand and a fold-up table tucked under his left arm. When he arrived at the place they were to be sitting, he swung the table around and set it up between North and Pitch. Then he set the tray down on top of it. With one swift motion, he pulled the cloth off the tray to reveal two plates of pizza—one slice for Pitch this time. There were also two glasses of soda and a cupcake a piece.
Pitch smiled watching the yeti set up the table, "It is much better away from the crowds I'll always agree you know." Pitch saw that the slice of pizza was even a meats slice like he preferred, and the cupcake was chocolate with chocolate sprinkles. Pitch smiled wider, "You remembered my favorite flavor and even added sprinkles," Pitch's voice reflected that he was touched by the attention to detail.
He blinked quizzically now realizing that there were no chairs, "Uh... where are we going to sit?"
"I'm glad it pleases you." said North. "As for chairs…" North walked over and picked up a crate and set it down for Pitch, then picked up one for himself to set on the opposite side of the table. He seated himself down on it. "We improvise as we have done before."
Pitch gave a strained smile looking down at the crate as he absently rubbed his rear thinking that the last time he sat on the crate it wasn't overly comfortable then, it was going to be a lot less so now. He moved to gingerly sit at the setting North had placed for him.
North was indifferent to Pitch's discomfort as he turned his attention to the three slices of pizza on his plate, picking up one to eagerly take a huge bite out of, savoring the flavor as he reached out to take a second bite.
The rough planks of wood on the crate were more than just a little uncomfortable Pitch found as he moved from left to right trying to put more or less weight in one area or another to find the least uncomfortable position to sit in, but Pitch found North had done a very thorough job, and there was no comfort to be found. Instead he was privy to every groove, dip, and jagged patch in the wood's surface. Pitch pouted as he shifted about coming to the realization he was just going to have to endure it.
Pitch moved his focus to his pizza picking off a piece of sausage and plucking it into his mouth. He savored the rich spices in the meat before picking up his slice and taking another small bite. North was watching him he realized making him feel slightly awkward. Pitch cleared his throat, "Uh... it's good. Thank you."
North smiled and nodded before taking another bite of his own pizza.
Wanting to save room for the cupcake, Pitch just ate the cheese and toppings off the pizza, which to him was the best part before moving on to the cupcake where he licked all the frosting off first before eating half of the cake and feeling sick with it and slightly wired from the frosting and casual sips of the soda. Soda was still really new, and although he liked it, the bubbles always settled oddly in his stomach and tickled the inside of his nose every time he took a sip. Of course North was done with his whole meal within fifteen minutes where it took more than twice the time for Pitch. It felt slightly odd to Pitch to have the Cossack just staring at him as he carefully licked his frosting off of his cupcake (which he'd spent half of his time eating doing.)
"I am pleased to see you enjoying yourself." North said with a smile.
Pitch smirked, "I do like this… not just the eating part, even though that's why we're doing all of this, but …this, this is nice. Spending time together. I always wondered why people would spend hours doing this around a table. The food is good, but I understand now that it's not the food that they do it for." Pitch had contemplated the act before thinking it a waste of time, but now, he had come to see that the companionship shared in the presence of another person doing an enjoyable function gave a wave of pleasure to him.
North's smile widened as he gave a satisfied nod, pleased to see that Pitch was slowly learning about life's simple pleasures as well as actually appreciating and enjoying them. It did his heart good.
The two enjoyed the remainder of their lunch, and the rest of the work day that followed went smoothly to where the panels were all painted and hung to dry. The yetis had finished the technical rigging of the conveyor belt installing all the rolling pins and other specifics that needed a specialized hand, and all the work for the day was finished up more quickly than expected seeing to everyone packing up by the early afternoon.
Pitch looked around at the many panels that had been set out to dry along with the near finished construction of the conveyor belt. All that was left to do was install the panels and the belt itself along with all the other aesthetic aspects North had planned to affix to the structure followed by the final stage of cleaning up. The realization of this made Pitch frown knowing what that meant, he had one more day of semi freedom left from his room before the grounding would begin.
He glanced over to North who was washing out his brushes in the clean-up station. It had been three days since he'd spent time with the reindeer, and Pitch hoped since they'd finished up much earlier than expected, North might grant him a request to see them. Pitch wandered over next to North now waiting for him to finish his task, and once the Cossack straightened, Pitch blurted out dancing from foot to foot, "Uh… North? Do …do you think… uh, since we're done for the day here and all, would it be possible to stop by the stables for a little bit?" If he could, Pitch would check on and tend to them a little, if not, just a brief visit would make him happier than no visit at all.
"I don't see why not," North answered. "Although it just depends."
Pitch's face lit up at North's permission, but then it fell in confusion, "Depends? Depends on what?" He asked urgently.
"Depends on how you act." said North. "I am not taking you there if you are going to be jealous of Jack and complain about how he cares for them."
Pitch's jaw twitched before he answered, "Of course! I …I won't complain about Jack's methods." Pitch was glad that it was the afternoon since Jack should at least be gone by now. He hoped he was gone by now; it would make it much easier to keep his opinions to himself he knew if he didn't have to actively see the winter sprite having a good time with his deer.
North stared silently at Pitch a few minutes before turning to finish cleaning up. Once he had put all of the brushes and supplies back in their proper place, he motioned for Pitch to follow him. "Alright, let us go to stables."
Pitch seemed a bit antsy and was quick to fall in line behind North excitedly as the Cossack started lumbering towards the stables.
"Here we are." North announced when they approached the stable doors. He stood to the side, allowing Pitch to do whatever he wanted to do.
Pitch's senses were on high alert looking for Jack, and when he didn't see him, he visibly relaxed pleased to not be confronted with the frost spirit. He quickly assessed that Jack was in fact doing well with the reindeer. He'd worried the boy might take to the duties capriciously and the reindeer may suffer negligence. Deep down he knew this too was the thoughts of a jealous mind wanting to paint reasons that the boy would fail in his absence to tending them, but he was pretty sure North would not have asked Jack to help in such a capacity if he hadn't believed the boy capable. Jack had been with the guardians now going on sixty years from the time that Pitch had first encountered him, and he'd matured quite a bit.
Pitch sighed inwardly as he moved over to Donner's stall. It did his heart well that the reindeer recognized him, immediately dipping his head to nudge at Pitch's arm and giving his shoulder a gentle nip. Pitch gave a soft chuckle pushing at the deer's neck, "Hey! Cut that out," he stated affectionately. He encircled the beast's head from under its chin guiding its head closer, so he could lean into the reindeer in a light hug. He felt tears brimming in his eyes knowing that this was the last they were likely to see each other until the end of his punishment, but he was able to hold the tears back just closing his eyes and petting the side of Donner's neck.
It was only a week, Pitch kept telling himself. One week, and everything could start to get back to normal. Besides, North would come visit him and Sandy too. His mind was put a little more at ease to see that the reindeer were in fact being cared for (even if Frost made these ridiculous swirls into their fur. Just utter cockamamie! Pitch would at least fix that right now! He hauled the reindeer out of its pen to the tethering pole, and Donner was more than ready for another grooming as he trotted eagerly beside Pitch.
Pitch worked in silence as he grabbed a brush and got to work smoothing out the reindeer's fur. This time though, there was no scowl on his face, instead, Pitch beamed with affection and radiated a sort of peace as he groomed Donner. Pitch was just happy North was letting him come here at all, and he'd learned to appreciate what he'd been given in this regard not wanting to take it for granted.
Seeing that Pitch was going to spend some time at the stables, North moved to sit on the bench that was placed against one of the walls.
Pitch spent about an hour grooming Donner and then put him back in the stable, replaced the brush, and moved over to North. He didn't want to be rude keeping the man there all day as he'd done the last time they had come to the stables. Pitch knew North had other things he needed to catch up on, so he didn't want to be selfish and keep him at the stables all day, "I… thank you; I feel much better now after coming here. I know you've got a lot to do, so I appreciate you bringing me here regardless of that fact," Pitch gave North a warm smile of appreciation.
North waved him off. "It is no problem. I said that you could go anywhere you wish as long as you have escort until your grounding starts." North pushed himself to standing.
"You mentioned checking out the new toy line yesterday… I uh, I know that those plans got kind of derailed," Pitch blushed deeply knowing well the reason as he scratched at the back of his neck, "Did… were you interested in grabbing a quick shower and then getting back together to check them out now?" Pitch offered not wanting to stay in his room but also wanting to go somewhere that would simultaneously gratify North's wishes from the day prior. He was doing his best not to think selfishly; it didn't come easily, and Pitch found he had to work at it.
"Sounds like good idea." North smiled. He led the way back to the Pole, and back to Pitch's room.
Pitch took his time washing out his clothes and then showering. He hadn't worked particularly hard today, but he found he enjoyed the feeling of a hot shower pelting his skin. Ever since the shower's installation, Pitch found he'd sometimes just sit in the shower for close to an hour just enjoying the rhythmic patter against his back and neck loosening the taut muscles. He of course knew that North would be back soon, so Pitch settled with a generalized shower where he was in and out within ten minutes so as not to make North wait when he did arrive.
Pitch was dressed and ready, laying on his stomach on his bed, feet kicking lazily in the air and head propped up on his elbows as he relaxed waiting for North to arrive.
It was about twenty minutes later when North knocked on the door.
Pitch was quick to slide off his bed and open the door with a big smile ready to head out.
"Let us be on our way," said North with a smile, leading the way down the hall and into the toy factory. Some of the yetis that worked in the factory still milled about, trying to finish up as much work as they could before calling it a day. North walked over to a corner of the room where toy prototypes were designed and assembled, some of them being North's own designs.
Pitch had never been to this area of the Pole's workshop, but as they entered, he looked about curiously. He poked and prodded at a few of the toys to see how they worked. Pitch jumped as one of the toy cars unknowingly had a traction pull on the wheels that moving it caused it to jet forward to crash on the floor noisily. "Uh, sorry..." Pitch cringed blushing at the racket the car made and rushing to pick it back up.
North turned toward the sudden noise and watched as Pitch picked up the car. "Be careful. Prototypes are very fragile."
Pitch frowned putting the car carefully back onto the podium it was originally set on and backed away from the displays pulling his hands to wrap around his waist feeling rather clumsy now.
"This is prototype area of workshop." North explained. "Designs for new toys begin here. I contribute to it a lot with my own designs. Once the designs are complete, a prototype of it is made, which is what you see here." He reached out to carefully pick up a remote control dinosaur.
Pitch moved forward to look keeping his hands wrapped around himself to discourage his want to reach out and touch everything, "If they are toys, why are they so fragile?"
"They are prototypes, Pitch. They are models that are constructed to give idea of what finished toy will look like. At this stage, we can look it over and see if there is anything that needs to be modified or adjusted, and we can test out different materials, paints, and colors. It also helps us to locate flaws that might pose danger in finished product."
"I guess I can understand that logic," he said this, but Pitch looked a bit miffed that he felt he couldn't touch any of them without the threat of breaking it.
"Logic? It is just one of many steps that is normal in this line of work."
Pitch nodded his understanding even though he didn't have the first clue when it came to the physical creativity of toy making. It was an interesting look into North's every day activities he had to admit as he studied the detail of the toy in North's hand.
North put the dinosaur back where it had been setting and walked around, examining some of the other prototypes and making notes.
Pitch followed timidly behind not wanting to interrupt as North worked. He found it difficult as they went along not to touch anything since so much of it caught his interest if just to see what it did. Pitch did resist though distracting himself by looking over North's shoulder to see what kind of notes he was writing. It was obvious though that Pitch was getting antsy from the lack of interaction with all the wonders surrounding him.
North glanced at Pitch. "You may touch prototypes if you want. But be careful with them. They are more fragile than finished product."
"I can?" This came out a little more excited than Pitch had intended, but he didn't let the momentary surge of elation embarrass him too much as he glided over to look at the toys more closely. There was a large robotic spider that had caught Pitch's attention earlier, and he gathered it off of its podium and gently placed it on the ground grabbing the controller and kneeling down next to it trying to figure out how to work the machine. He wasn't overly adept with technology it was painfully obvious, but he'd seen the yetis working with mechanical toys before and pushed on the buttons and pulled on the toggles looking horribly disappointed that it wouldn't move. "I… I can't get it to work!" He pouted.
North suppressed rolling his eyes, settling instead for giving an amused smile. "You might want to turn it on first. Look for a power button. That usually works."
Pitch studied the controller turning it over in his hands and finally saw an indented panel that had a switch that said on and off, "Oh…" he let out a soft bashful chuckle as he flipped the switch to on and the spider jolted to life when he pressed one of the toggles forward. He let out a small gasp of glee as he watched the intricate leg joints move in a fluid motion very much like an actual spider. Pitch's eyes widened in silent wonder as he pushed one of the buttons on the device, and the spider raised its two front legs in an explorative gesture, "Fascinating!" Pitch exclaimed enthusiastically as he learned to better operate the controls. His eyes remained impossibly glued on the mechanical moving spider as he manipulated its movements to scuttle around in a figure eight looking quite proud of himself that he'd managed to learn to work the toy.
North smiled as he watched Pitch play with the toy.
After about ten minutes of maneuvering the robot spider around, Pitch turned the controller off and placed the toy back on the pedestal as carefully as he'd removed it and began moving around testing out a plethora of other toys seemingly captivated by the myriad of designs and what they could do. After an hour had passed in this way, Pitch blinked looking at the clock on the wall as it chimed five O'clock. Looking back up at North from the floor where he was testing out a specialized ramp jump for toy cars, Pitch stood dusting himself off looking apologetic. "I… I'm sorry. The time seemingly got away from me. I didn't realize I'd spent so much time …testing out your inventions (he avoided saying playing with your toys although his cheeks reddened as it was most apt and the first thing that had come to mind.)
North waved him off. "It is no problem. I am glad to see our prototypes getting such a good testing." He also was glad to see that Pitch was thoroughly enjoying himself. He eyed Pitch a moment. "Would you be interested in doing this again?" he questioned carefully. "As in like job? It could be something you could do alongside caring for deer."
A bright smile lit up Pitch's face at the prospect, "Really? You… you aren't afraid I might accidently break something?" He looked unsure remembering how very not technologically inclined he was and thinking how he'd accidently sent the one car jetting across the workshop when they'd first entered the room. He wouldn't admit it, but Pitch had never played with toys, but he did find manipulating them and just kind of getting mentally lost with them was actually kind of fun. Having spent plenty of time by himself, he was readily able to slip into a state of mind to just use his imagination while he tested them out. The workshop had literally hundreds of prototypes, and Pitch had barely touched the tip of the iceberg concerning them. He knew that if he was allowed to, he'd also not feel so rushed and could take his time exploring each new type of toy and what it had to offer. As a job, it definitely wasn't a bad one, and with new designs coming in all the time, it'd take quite a while to get bored with it.
"I trust you will be careful." North replied. "But there is lot more to job than playing with prototypes. You will need to study each one and take note if they develop any flaws. If you see something not quite right, you will have to take notes."
Pitch nodded eagerly, "I can do that!" That sounded pretty easy actually, "Do you have a special report to write for each new toy?" Never having studied a toy, Pitch thought it would be nice to have some kind of direction.
"Actually, yes, we do." North turned and rummaged through the papers on the desk to his left until he found one of the forms. "Ah! Here we are." He handed it to Pitch. "You will have to fill in name or description of toy and write down any flaws or glitches it might have. Such as... non-working parts, pieces that can easily break off, faulty wiring, stuff like that. Anything that would pose danger to child. Then you just slip this piece of paper under toy when you put it back on shelf."
He took the slip of paper looking over all the different fields neatly spaced for ease of filling out. Pitch grinned, "Sounds simple enough. I think I could do this job," he gave a satisfactory nod as he studied the page a moment longer before handing it back to North. A smile touched his lips thinking on a couple of the toys that were meant for more than one person that Pitch had to pass over, "I saw that there are quite a few toys that require more than one person to use, do you think Jack would want to test some of those out with me?" Pitch was sure it would be an activity he could share with Jack and that both could enjoy with him being the guardian of fun and all.
North was surprised to hear Pitch request Jack, considering he had been jealous of him not more than a few days ago. He gave a shrug. "I do not know. You can always ask him."
Thinking of asking Jack made Pitch grimace as he thought on the last time he'd seen Jack and how he'd treated the boy. He felt bad now realizing how jealous he'd been and how he had acted in the face of such intense jealousy. Looking back on it now made Pitch a bit embarrassed; Jack hadn't deserved that. Pitch had been made to wait on North until late in the morning that particular day, and it was just before the work on the conveyor had officially started, so it had surprised Pitch to see Jack already there tending to the reindeer; it hadn't helped that Pitch was still getting adjusted to having to have an escort along with the weight of the entirety of his punishment. It had all blended to make for an incredibly volatile and quick to temper Boogeyman that had lashed out at Jack without provocation. Jack had flown off in a hurry to leave the atmosphere that Pitch had created, and at the time, Pitch had been grateful because it gave him time with the reindeer by himself. Pitch looked down feeling even more shamed the more he thought on his horrible behavior as he replied hesitantly, "Uh… I …I need to apologize to Jack first I think."
North nodded in agreement. "Yes, you do."
North's ready agreement made Pitch cringe, "I… I was that bad was I?" Pitch had known he'd acted badly, but he hadn't known exactly how badly he looked through others eyes until now.
North nodded again. "Jack is just trying to help. I could have had one of yetis take care of deer during your grounding, but I chose Jack because he is used to being around animals. He knows what he is doing. He may not do the job same as you, but he does it well. And you had no need to treat him as you did. He is not taking job away from you."
Pitch's shoulders sank, "I know," he replied demurely lowering his head, "I …I don't know why I got so upset…" he sighed, "Okay, maybe I do. I just hated seeing him taking care of the reindeer over me; I got jealous when I didn't need to be. I know Frost doesn't want to take over my job, I just kept thinking the reindeer were going to take to liking him more. It's ridiculous… believe me, I know! It… it's more of those irrational emotions I keep having that I can't seem to get a handle on. I really don't mean to get so out of control… I just can't help it sometimes," Pitch pouted hating to admit this level of inability to manage his outbursts but needing to give some sort of justification for his actions.
North raised an eyebrow. "I could always give you swat when you get out of control." he said casually.
Pitch's face flushed at the notion, "Na-no, that's not necessary! I... I think I can manage on my own actually!"
"Make sure you do." North said, a hint of warning in his voice. "Because I will start giving warning swats to help remind you. In fact, it is actually good idea. Probably something I should have been doing all along."
Pitch groaned inwardly, of course North would think it was a good idea! Why did he have to mention not being able to help his mood swings? He'd said it as an explanation for his behavior thinking North would give him a little more understanding and a bit of a break, but instead it worked against him to ensure North would help him nip any bad mood in the bud before it had a chance to get bad enough to create a scene like what had happened with Jack. Pitch frowned pitifully thinking about how embarrassing North doing that to him in public would be. He definitely was going to be watching out for any slips that might rise the Cossack's ire in any way, "I ...I'll be sure to keep myself in check," Pitch stated quickly.
"Good," North said, giving a curt nod.
"I… I'd prefer just a verbal warning. I'm pretty sure that will work just as well…" Pitch hoped to avoid actually getting a physical reminder if at all possible.
"I'll be the one to decide that." said North.
"You've made that painfully clear; I have no say in my own rehabilitation," Pitch muttered under his breath feeling no small amount of self-pity to be reminded how little control he had over the way North decided to punish him. "What have you got planned to do now that we've inspected the new prototypes?" Pitch worked to change the subject not enjoying the current topic.
North regarded Pitch. He then shrugged. "Don't know. Is there anything you would like to do?"
"Well, it's a little after five now, maybe we could go visit Bunnymund? Isn't he usually winding down around this time?" Pitch didn't really want to get holed up in North's office while the man went over lists and also didn't want to go back to his room anytime soon while there was still the ability to wander about freely.
North shook his head. "No, Pitch. You haven't done anything lately to earn trip outside of Pole. Besides, I have a lot of work to do."
"Oh…" Pitch pouted, "O-okay, well, I guess we can do whatever you need to get taken care of I suppose," he didn't sound overly enthused by North's edict on visiting Bunnymund.
North thought a moment. "There is one thing we can do. I was going to save it until after your grounding, but I suppose we can do it now."
Pitch perked, "Oh? And what's that?" He asked curiously.
"We could go look at my candy factory."
That sounded promising! Pitch beamed, "You did tell me about your specially made candy! I would love to try it! Uh, if you were offering some of course," he amended shyly.
North laughed heartily. "A tour of candy factory is not complete without free samples."
Pitch nodded enthusiastically as he clasped his hands rubbing them eagerly in anticipation, "I do like the sound of that!"
"Come on, then," North led the way to the elevator. He looked around them to make sure no elves had seen them, then he pushed the button. When the elevator opened, he waved for Pitch to go first.
Pitch was quick to board the elevator looking rather excited now to know not only was there candy in his near future, but he was also traveling to some unexplored part of the Pole.
North pushed a button to go up and the elevator began moving. When they stopped on the third floor, the doors opened again. North walked out and led the way down a quiet hallway that was devoid of life save an occasional yeti that lumbered from room to room. North led Pitch a good distance before stopping at an elaborately carved wooden door that was missing a doorknob. He patted at his clothing until he found and fished out a wallet, pulling out a key card. He quickly swiped the card through the reader. It beeped and a light on it turned from red to green and a loud click of an opening lock was heard. North smiled at Pitch, then pushed the door open. He gestured for Pitch to enter.
It amazed Pitch how much modern technology that North incorporated into his workshop, but he supposed having to keep up with technology was essential when it came to keeping children content with the gifts he gave. He doubted the same toys he gave to children fifty years ago would sate the ingrates now, and the man couldn't use magic in their toys, no; that would be too dangerous. Stars knows they couldn't be happy with something simple! Children were always so demanding! Pitch was stunned honestly that the man could deliver so many presents in one night let alone keep up with the constant flux of change in wants from year to year. From the small amount of time that Pitch had observed the guardian of wonder working, it seemed quite exhausting to say the least.
Pitch finally walked through the door. Just as many places throughout the Pole, this section had a life of its own, and Pitch had to pause as he walked through the entry way to take it all in. Several yetis moved back and forth to different stations checking the whirring machines that churned and thumped as it mixed some form of candy. Along the ceilings, rods moved quickly back and forth stretching taffy that led out from several vats while yetis carefully cut stretched out strands as the rods pushed the taffy strips to lower down on to a table from an automatic feed continuously moving the candy forward from the vat to the table. Several conveyor lines moved up and down with machines and yetis working in tandem as different candies were spit into a mold to cool and moved down the line for packaging such as little chocolate Santas, gumdrops, and of course candy canes.
Everything was all so well timed Pitch observed trying to track the myriad of motion. The floor was colorfully painted in rich green, red, and white stripes to look like the design of a candy cane. The stripe design was making Pitch dizzy from the slight vertigo of looking at the spirals around and on everything especially on vats that spun to keep certain cadies in motion.
Along the walkway were several barrels at the ends of each conveyor belt, and as one filled with finely packaged candies, a yeti would sweep by and switch out the full barrel with an empty one. Everything seemed so fast paced up here! It was wise of North to keep the elves out, even if they wouldn't have gone crazy for the candies, they would have surely been unable to traverse this floor without the medical ward filling up daily with accidents just from the severe precision of the working crew and the multitude of moving parts around the majority of the workshop.
"This… this is remarkable North! There's so much variety, and intricacy you've got going on here that my eyes can barely keep up!" Pitch was quite staggered by the display. Unlike any of the other floors in North's workshop where the yetis and elves seemed to mosey through their work, this area was very fast paced and almost tiring to watch the yetis work.
North beamed as he nodded and smiled. "Yes. Even after all these years, it still amazes even myself."
Pitch moved to the side to let the Cossack lead them through the workshop, "It's more extensive than I had imagined when you mentioned it earlier."
"It wasn't always this large." North said. "We added on and updated equipment some years ago. Made it bigger and better."
Pitch nodded as he followed North looking at all the various controls and dials the yetis were examining as well as all the shiny colorfully wrapped pieces of candy littered at every juncture of the tour. "I'm surprised you've been able to keep this a secret from the elves with how elaborate this set-up is, but then again, they are not exactly very bright I suppose. I'd imagine this whole wing would get shut down if they blundered in here," Pitch scoffed as he thought on the air-headed pint-sized denizens.
"That is why I installed the lock you saw on door. If they do ever make it up here, they won't be able to get in without keycard, which is only given out to yetis that work here, and myself." said North.
Pitch nodded, "Speaking of the reasons to keep the elves out, may I?" Pitch pointed at one of the barrels with a chocolate wrapped Santa. He was eager to see if North's chocolate was anywhere near as tasty as Bunnymund's.
"By all means," North said cheerily. He reached over and plucked one of the chocolate Santas out and handed it to Pitch.
Pitch greedily unwrapped it to pop it in his mouth. It was good! Unlike the majority of candies that made their way around the Pole, this chocolate had a richness that was worth savoring. The chocolate was good, but not on the caliber of Bunnymund's chocolate, but unlike Bunnymund's candies, North had a different variety of candies that Pitch had yet to ever try, and seeing how good North's chocolate was had Pitch eager to try these new candies even more, "It's quite tasty North! Definitely better than the stuff floating around downstairs. Can I try some of those?" Pitch pointed at a barrel of plastic wrapped see through gumdrops.
North nodded.
Pitch took one of the packages opening it and popping it in his mouth. The textures alone were fun Pitch noted as he chewed it. He smiled, "These are pretty good to! Can I try all the different types of candies?" Pitch's eyes were growing wide at the prospect as he looked around the factory and back to North wanting to taste them all.
"Go right ahead." North answered. "Just be careful of machines."
North didn't have to say anymore as Pitch nodded quickly gliding around to all the different barrels to take one sample to eat then and sticking one in his pocket to eat later. By the time he'd made his way through the factory and stopped at every different table and barrel, his robes were bulging with candies and he was on a definite sugar high with eyes dilated and bubbling with barely contained energy.
Pitch was nibbling a piece of cotton candy as he returned from the other side of the factory exclaiming, "This stuff just instantly dissolves on your tongue! And oh stars! The chewy stuff," he held up a piece of taffy in his other hand, "This stuff you can chew forever! I took pieces of each for later," he looked down at his bulging robe, "I hope that's okay?" Pitch was of course speaking excitedly at a mile a minute trying to spit out everything at once.
North shook his head, smiling. "Only if you eat it in moderation. Right now, I think you have had too much again."
Pitch pouted at North's admission but knew from the way his hands were already jittering that the man was probably right. He looked at the two pieces of candy in his hands, "Okay, I'll finish these last two pieces and will hold off eating anymore." He smirked adding as an afterthought, "You know if Tooth saw me with all this candy she'd likely have a heart attack. She was surprised my teeth already weren't rotting out of my mouth."
North lifted an eyebrow. "Are you sure eating those two pieces is wise?"
It wasn't, but Pitch wanted to eat them anyway regardless, "I've already started eating them, and besides, it's only two more pieces," Pitch reasoned.
North lifted his hands and shook his head, showing that he was done with it. "It is your stomach."
Pitch smiled greedily willing to take his chances as he gobbled the cotton candy and then the taffy quickly. The cotton candy alone was enough to send Pitch off into another babbling tangent as he went on about the different types of candies and how much he'd liked specific ones (namely the gummy varieties) and the pop rocks that he had originally thought were acting as some sort of acid in his mouth, but once he'd realized that it was just a specialized texture, he enjoyed the shock the candy had elicited. Thinking on this sent him into a bout of giggles, "We HAVE to get Toothiana to try them! Can you just imagine her reaction!" Pitch gushed at the thought of pranking the poor fairy.
"Indeed," North muttered. "I think you have had enough for one night."
Pitch never liked limitations, but he smirked replying, "Sure, sure," but all along he was thinking to himself that he still had oodles of candy to munch on later within his robe one way or another, and he planned to munch on them later after North had dropped him off at his room for the night. It would help keep him going while he read another chapter of the current book he was reading.
"Are you through touring my factory?" North asked. "Or is there something else you wish to see?"
Pitch took a moment to glance around once more; the two had been up here close to two hours, and Pitch was pretty sure he'd seen everything the factory had to offer, "I think I've seen it all, that is unless you've got any secret areas not readily accessible I've yet to discover here," he jested as they made their way back to the elevator.
"No, can't say I have." North replied.
"Well then I gather we're done here for the moment," Pitch chirped as he bounced into the elevator shifting about not wanting to stand still from the effects of the sugar high, "Where to now!" Pitch exclaimed springing over to North's side once the man had entered the elevator and keenly looking over his shoulder at the elevator panel to see where North planned to take them next.
"You are going back to room." North said, pushing the down button to go back to the main floor. "And hopefully will sleep off sugar."
Pitch's face fell, "But it's still early," he protested not ready to go back to his room yet, "Why can't I just stay with you? I won't be a bother; I promise!"
"Because I have work to do before calling it night." North said with a frown.
It was Pitch's turn to frown, "What, you can't perform work in my presence? Surely I'm not that much of a distraction," Pitch complained crossing his arms. As if he could prevent North from doing his work by just being there! Pitch thought sourly. In reality, he just didn't want to be dumped back in his room for the night. Going to North's office would serve as a distraction for himself, and if any of the other guardians showed up, he could use it as an excuse to meander about the Pole untethered to his room. He only had one more day of freedom after all, and he didn't plan to waste it if at all possible!
"You are hyped up on sugar. Believe me, you will be distraction. Besides, I thought you didn't like spending time in boring office."
Pitch huffed, "It's better than my boring room!"
"Of which you are going to."
A surge of anger swelled through Pitch at North's finality as he stiffened growling with a deepening scowl, "Fine! I'm not even supposed to be confined to my room yet, but you're making me feel like I already am," he hissed drawing his brow down and staring hatefully at the elevator door.
"There you go, getting angry again." said North.
"Of course I'm angry! I'm getting shoved in a box after I'm no longer amusing," Pitch spat complaining in indignation. Maybe North would change his mind after seeing how upset he was making Pitch by isolating him like this!
North reached out and gave Pitch's rear a hard, quick swat.
Pitch gasped jumping at the contact on his already sore bottom. Not having expected such a response, he side stepped quickly turning to face North with a hung open jaw of surprise as he rubbed at the newly radiating pain in his posterior. He pouted then realizing he'd been getting a little carried away, "I… I didn't mean to…" he went quiet knowing that he did in fact mean to influence North's decision, so instead he dropped his gaze, "Yes, of course… I …I'll go back to my room." There was no point in arguing as it was clear North had already made up his mind.
"Good to hear," North said.
The elevator came to a stop as North said this, and Pitch exited quickly shame faced as if those facing the elevator now had seen what had just occurred. Thankfully North had chosen to swat him in the elevator over on the hub floor. Still it didn't make Pitch feel any less lousy for having received it in the first place. North had warned him that he planned to take a more active approach, Pitch was just so caught up in the moment that he had not heeded North's subtle warning. He was going to have to get better about paying attention to such signs in the future Pitch decided as he followed behind North silently contemplating what had just happened.
Sighing he moved up next to North, "I… I'm sorry I got a little upset back there. Ma-maybe it's the sugar and maybe just a little bit of disappointment to have to go back to my room so early. I… I get bored easily you know, and… and I just didn't want to be stuck in my room for the rest of the night when I'm feeling so wired with the sun just setting and what not. Surely you can understand right?" He explained more to justify his actions to himself than to North.
"It does not matter what excuse you choose to give. You acted out of line, and that is that." North said. "But, yes, I understand about boredom. However, not everything revolves around you. I can't always be with you. I have life as well. You must learn to entertain yourself when others cannot be with you. And by entertain, I mean in good way, not getting into trouble. You have things in your room to keep you entertained. I have provided you with art supplies and books. If you need more than that, then I can always have some of the toys brought there for you to paint."
"I… I'll find some way to occupy myself," Pitch stated dejectedly. Pitch knew he was going to already have plenty of time to reacquaint himself with finding things to do without the company of others. He also knew North had other things to do than to entertain him through the night, and Pitch supposed he was acting a bit selfish to demand so much of the man's time as he did seeing North was already having to spend each day this week organizing the construction of the new conveyor belt when he could have been doing many other activities associated with his Christmas preparations. All of this considered, North still went out of his way to take Pitch to his prototype lab and his candy factory to amuse and entertain him. Pitch ruminated on all of this silently as they made their way back to his room.
"Alright, here we are." North said, opening the door to Pitch's bedroom. "Perhaps, if I get work done early, I will stop by later tonight. But I will make no promises."
Pitch nodded his acceptance, "O-okay, and if you can't… and any of the other guardians show up… and uh, they feel like visiting…" Pitch scratched at the back of his neck trailing off feeling a bit pathetic now as he sulked into his room.
"I doubt other Guardians will be around. Tooth and Sandy are out on rounds by now. Jack…well, I never know when he'll show. Bunny usually only shows when he has to."
Pitch moved to sit on his bed tentatively, "I know," his shoulders slumped, and he clasped his hands in his lap as he spoke looking rather melancholy.
"Good night," said North, closing the door.
Pitch huffed, good night indeed! It was only half past seven! Pitch flopped on to his pillow feeling the bulge in his robes and remembering all the candy still stuffed in his pockets. He rose opening the drawer on the nightstand and deposited the candies in the drawer. He'd gotten quite a bit of it!
A couple more pieces wouldn't hurt… thirty minutes later he was moaning his discomfort on his bed having eaten half of the candy he'd brought back. Why didn't he stop himself! He moaned pitifully; it had tasted so good though! He wasn't sure if it was worth it now as he felt a wave of nausea sweep through him, and he ran to the bathroom to empty the contents of his stomach. His whole body was shaking not having done this in a long time either, although this sort of nostalgia he'd had been more than happy to have forgotten.
He felt awful! His head was swimming and his body felt like a limp noodle. He stripped leaving his clothes on the floor as he crawled into the shower turning the water on to blast him with a hot bombarding stream of water. He sighed; the steam rose around him like a warm blanket as he leaned into the cold shower wall and crumpled into a ball in the corner. His head lulled to the side as he let the heat of the shower pacify his mind until he passed out.