Chapter Forty-Seven

One Step at a Time

The soft knock at the door had actually surprised Pitch having gotten so lost in his book that he hadn't realized how much time had passed. He smiled brightly throwing the bookmark in his book, slapping it shut, and tossing it on his nightstand as he slid off his bed and glided over to the door to open it.

North smiled warmly back at him pleased to see Pitch greet him with a smile of his own. His eyes moved to the table, and his grin broadened as he pointed, "I see you finished horse!"

Pitch nodded vigorously as he moved aside for North to come in leaving the door open wide for Alla's sure to be soon arrival with their dinner. He was excited to see what the Cossack thought of his added improvements to the creation, and a small bit nervous since he'd grown to seek the man's approval badly.

North set the can of glaze down along with the sponge applicator on the edge of the table. He leaned down to peer at Pitch's paint job nodding, "Very nice, Pitch! I like the silver highlights! You did good job. It is very beautiful."

Pitch beamed soaking up the praise with a slight blush, "I… I was pretty pleased with the outcome." Pitch moved about eagerly around the table wringing his hands as he'd carefully watched North's expressions worried that the Cossack may only be saying as much to appease him. What he found though he saw no falsehood in, and for this he was grateful. The guardians had always been encouraging to him in this way, and Pitch adored the attention.

North rose; his gaze moved from the sculpture to Pitch taking in the dark man's nervous fidgeting. He smiled proudly, "You are doing very well, Pitch. Not just with painting; I was pleased with behavior with Alla today, not just with her being yeti, although this was good to see, but with learning language. You were attentive and polite without losing temper when word was being hard to pronounce. I have seen much improvement in attitude even though I know you are having hard time being in room by self."

Pitch ducked his head feeling a flush of embarrassment although it made his heart sing to hear North thought he was doing better. That warm feeling that he enjoyed so very much returned to fill Pitch with happiness and serenity as he lifted his gaze back to North, "I think Alla is a good teacher, and… I …I know I've needed to have a little better outlook as well. It can get a little difficult to see the brighter side when you're concentrating on the here and now …when the here and now is feeling bleak." He paused finding the words he wanted to say, "When I left… I …I had a lot of time to think, and I kind of realized things could always be worse." He dropped his sights back down to his hands. Admitting such things like knowing he was wrong always made Pitch feel acute shame being as prideful as he was. It was a little easier to acknowledge and disclose though when the topic was addressed in such a manner as praise by North bringing it about followed by a statement made on Pitch's own. He was learning to more readily admit fault even if it still felt like pulling teeth to do so.

North laid a hand gently on Pitch's shoulder, "Yes, sometimes it takes a journey to realize grass is not always greener. I trust you now know place is here with us?"

Pitch didn't look up, but he gave a soft nod. Most times Pitch would hate the way North had a propensity to reiterate points, but he didn't mind it at all now. He'd felt so alone for so long, to hear he was accepted and wanted meant far more to him than most any compliment North could give him. Deep down he had known this all along, but he'd found a need to prove it to himself that the guardians would truly want him back if he had left (even if he hadn't realized subconsciously he was looking for their approval.) The resulting collection and bringing him back to the Pole had assuaged the fear that they might simply discard him to his fate if he'd left, and of course the strapping that followed assured it would be the last time he would feel the need to prove as much to himself or otherwise. He always did tend to make things harder on himself than they needed to be.

North smiled wider at the nod as he nodded himself, "Good. This is home for you, and in time perhaps you may leave and seek out greener grass, but for now, I think you will find this is where you need to be."

Pitch shifted under North's words. Home; the thought that he'd have ever called this place home still astounded him, but that's most certainly what it was. He'd known it before, and he knew so even more now that the grass undoubtedly wasn't greener anywhere else and especially not back at his old lair. He decided that he was quite sure he never wanted to return there ever again. Any solace he had ever gained from the place only reminded him of pain, sorrow, and an emptiness that he never wished to return to now. He was ready to put that part of himself away and start a new chapter in his life. Pitch was finally truly ready to seek the redemption he'd been brought here all along to work towards. It was almost humorous to look back at how he had scoffed at the idea that the guardians had had the audacity to expect him to alter his way of thinking and how venomously he'd fought to undermine their efforts.

Pitch moved his gaze up to North once more, "I don't need to be anywhere else… and I don't think I want to be. I don't rightly know what compelled me to assume that leaving would have been a good idea… after everything that happened the last day working on the conveyor, I'd convinced myself that to stay would only make things harder on everyone, but if I were to be honest with myself and you, I was mostly afraid that I'd burned too many bridges to recover from. I thought you may have been keeping me here out of obligation over actually wanting me to be here. I thought if I left that you'd have been glad to be rid of me," Pitch found he couldn't keep eye contact now as such thoughts brought to crop a harsh insecurity in his heart that no matter what he wanted to believe now, a seed of doubt seemed to always remain within him so deep that it felt impossible to root out.

North studied Pitch sensing his continued fear of abandonment and frowned, "Pitch, we guardians decided before we brought you here that we would help you. You are not obligation in sense that you believe, but it is our duty to help you. You needed us, and whether you believe it of yourself or not, you are worth saving."

"You… you're not just saying that …are you?" Pitch blinked soulful eyes back at North looking on the verge of tears as he tried to discern if he really believed as much about himself as the Cossack proclaimed. He had a large dose of self-loathing that often prevented him from being able to look beyond his past to see a potential future with anything good lying in wait for someone like him. In a previous circumstance he may have believed North would have said as much to manipulate him to behave, but the man's eyes portrayed nothing but honesty.

"Pitch…" seeing how vulnerable the nightmare lord now looked made North's heart ache for him and instead of voicing the words he had planned to say, North bent down and pulled Pitch forward into a gentle hug before he spoke softly, "No, I am not just saying so."

Pitch was taken by surprise by the sudden hug; such comfort was usually accompanied with emotional tears because Pitch was in a high amount of distress and North felt he needed consolation for the grief he was feeling. He wasn't crying or particularly upset, so Pitch hadn't realized why North had chosen now to embrace him. It wasn't until the Cossack's big arms had pulled him into his massive shoulder did Pitch realize how much at that moment he had really needed to be hugged.

He closed his eyes as he laid his face against the soft fabric of North's sweater letting his own arms extend out to enfold around North's neck in reply. Pitch always felt so small in instances like this where their size differences (especially in width) were made painfully obvious, but he also never felt so secure and protected. "I…" Pitch choked unable to speak from feeling a bit overwhelmed in his own emotions to say anymore now other than to inhale deeply and enjoy the loving embrace the Cossack afforded him in this moment.

The Russian felt Pitch's desire for a shared touch and gave him a little tighter squeeze happy to fulfill this need for him.

Pitch responded clinging desperately as if afraid what he was experiencing now would end too quickly. What he'd been craving and needing most all along was companionship, and small considerations like this made Pitch want to be better for the guardians if just to be able to feel like he did right now.

As he held Pitch, North absently wondered where they would be now if the guardians had thought to help Pitch in this way long ago over being solely invested in their own causes. They may have been able to save themselves a few hundred years of warring, but then Jack also would not have become one of them, so perhaps everything worked out in the timing it had needed to. Either way, North may have doubted the judgement of bringing Pitch to the Pole prior, but he did not question the validity of the decision he'd made now.

Pitch loosened his grip letting himself slide out of the hug. He felt and looked more visibly relaxed as his eyes flitted up to North, a shy smile decorating his face, "Thank you," he stammered his cheeks flushing slightly. He was still embarrassed by the act mostly he gathered because it left him feeling exposed to express how much he cherished the feeling of being cared for.

North only beamed, "You looked like you needed hug. I was more than happy to give you one," he chuckled. "Would you like to apply glaze? Alla was still quite busy when I went by kitchens, so she might take a bit to bring by food."

Pitch nodded, "Sure. That sounds like a good way to pass the time." He moved around the table to where the glaze was and picked up the can to give it a quick look over. It looked simple enough, but he still glanced toward North in case the man wished to depart any wisdom before he opened it up to start using it.

Moving the rag with the horse towards Pitch, North pointed at the applicator, "Is very thick; I would suggest dip lightly."

Pitch nodded his acknowledgement before carefully taking the lid off of the can and dipping the sponge into the glaze. The substance reminded Pitch of honey in its consistency as he pulled a dab from the can and watched it ooze back into the can when he lifted the applicator above the lid. He was careful to apply the glaze lightly as North had warned. He was slightly nervous he would glob too much on the horse, but after a few good swipes and dabs, Pitch began to feel confident in the medium and made quick work of the task. It only took about ten minutes for him to finish the entirety of the piece. He looked over at the Cossack on and off as he'd worked, and North gave him a nod of support when he did to let Pitch know he was doing fine.

Once Pitch had finished, North rose looking the horse over, "Is good. You did not miss anything. I will bring this to kiln and be back shortly." He carefully grabbed Pitch's horse and moved towards the door. He turned back a moment before walking out, "By time we finish dinner, horse will be ready. I will go fetch for you then, and you can see finished product."

Pitch's eyes brightened at the prospect as his smile widened in his excitement, "Wonderful!" While North was gone, Pitch carefully recapped the glaze once the applicator had been dripped and pressed out as much as could be allowed. He wasn't sure what to do with the applicator, so he just placed it on top of the lid and moved the glaze off the table and onto the dresser to clean off the table once more. It looked bare now that the centerpiece was no longer there.

After about ten minutes of milling about, Pitch moved over to the open door looking out to see if North was coming back yet and was pleasantly surprised to see Jack, "Jack!"

Jack wasn't expecting to see Pitch's door wide open and hesitated in midflight when he heard his name, "Oh? Hey, Pitch. How's the grounding going?"

Pitch gave Jack a deadpan look. What kind of question was that? How did he think being grounded to his room would be going? He had to pause as he realized it was going unexpectedly well actually. He smirked, "It's been alright… so far as being a captive in my own room can go." He glanced back, "Actually, I've got new furniture now! You can take a look; if you'd like to see?"

Jack floated to the ground to peek inside while Pitch moved to give the boy access to his room. He wore a proud smile being able to show off his new accommodations, "Look, North brought in a dinner table with six chairs for each of us. You can see there is a specialized chair for both Sandy and Toothiana…" he trailed off thinking once more of the Tooth Fairy with a small frown.

Jack was taking in the table running his hand over the finished top, "Wow. This is really nice, Pitch! So when are we all going to get together to have dinner?" He turned a winning smile back on Pitch.

Pitch blinked, he couldn't rightly say, "Uh… soon I suppose. At least I'd like it to be…"

"Pitch!" North's voice boomed from the doorway and both Jack and Pitch both jumped and spun back towards the door. The man was standing in the doorframe with his arms crossed and a frown plastered on his face.

Pitch shrank back at North's tone and stance, "Ya-yes?"

"Why is Jack in room? You are grounded yes? What did I tell you about guests?"

Pitch swallowed pouting as he glanced from North to Jack and then down at the floor as he meekly replied, "I… I just saw him flying by, and I wanted to show him the new furniture."

North sighed placing his hands on his hips as he walked into the room, "Pitch, you were told not to have visitors except for me and Sandy." He looked apologetically to Jack, "I am sorry Jack, is not meant against you, but Pitch is being punished, and no visitors is part of punishment, Sandy comes by to help aide Pitch to sleep."

Jack held up his hands shaking his head, "No problem! I shouldn't have stopped; I'll steer clear from here on out until Pitch's grounding is over." Jack didn't wait for North to ask him to leave as he whisked himself out in a whirl of cold wind.

Pitch was highly embarrassed that North would make such a scene and chase Jack off like this, he frowned in his clear disapproval but said nothing as he watched the winter sprite float past North and quickly out of sight.

He glowered at North in his frustration once the boy was gone as he snapped, "You didn't need to go to such extremes! You could have just asked him to leave when you saw he was in here over humiliating me by thundering down edicts from across the room!"

North's brow drew down as he took a step closer to Pitch giving the nightmare lord a dangerous glare, "You should have told him not to come in room. I would not have to raise voice if you followed rules that you were already told to obey. This is not open for discussion, Pitch."

Pitch's mouth formed a thin line as he straightened in his annoyance, "Of course it isn't. Nothing ever is with you."

North did not comment, he only grabbed Pitch's bicep and yanked him up and across the table before bringing his calloused palm down swiftly in three successive hard swats before releasing his hold on Pitch's arm.

Gasping, Pitch reeled as he felt his body pulled up onto the smooth hard surface. It didn't take him but a moment to understand what was happening before the pain in his backside registered fully his suspicions. It was over almost as quickly as it had happened, and Pitch wriggled backward as he backpedaled off of the table rubbing fiercely at his rear. It smarted quite well from the three heavy-handed swats, especially since he still bore soreness from the strapping which ached dully to accompany the fresh bout of stinging that he now suffered from.

Pitch's face portrayed betrayal as his lip quivered, and he stumbled back shakily towards the bed, "You… you hit me for having Jack look at my new furniture?"

North took in a deep breath as he shook his head, "No, this has nothing to do with Jack. I told you we would have no more attitude problem. You start with bad attitude, so I address it with spanking. That is way it will be from now on. You know how you need to behave, and you will do so, or have stinging bum for your efforts. I do not wish to spank you, Pitch, but I have met limit, and I will tolerate no longer. Understood?"

It took a moment to digest what the Cossack said before Pitch ducked his head giving a small nod of acknowledgement. His face looked positively miserable as the ramifications that North planned to now simply resort to spanking with no further warning if he responded in any manner that the Cossack deemed to be considered a bad attitude. He was going to have to take special care to watch himself to prevent unexpected swats. At least before, North had always given him warning that he was stepping over the line. Now it seemed that there was going to be no strike system, it was just going to be straight to the painful reminder.

North hated to see what had been such a promising day soured by this one incident, "You did so very well all day today. Please, let us go back to good attitude. Da? We can still have good day and better night."

It pained him, but Pitch played the event back over in his head knowing at exactly what point North had decided to upend him was the point he'd decided to be spiteful. Yes, North had embarrassed him with Jack, but he'd done so after Pitch had tried to bend the rules to suit his favor already knowing what had been expected of him. It had stung his pride for Jack to see him get chided like that, but as much as he disliked that it had happened, he'd brought it on himself just like he had just brought the spanking that followed on himself.

He had two choices now, he could wallow in self-pity, and stay mad at North, or he could get over it and move on so as not to let the incident ruin the rest of his night.

In the past, Pitch would have fumed, ranted, and raved (even if just inwardly,) but this time, Pitch swallowed his pride, "O…okay. I …I'm sorry. I just got a little carried away." Pitch's eyes flitted up to North now guiltily.

North's demeanor softened as he brought a hand up to rub lightly on his back, "Is okay; we move past now. Maybe I could have been eh… less loud."

Pitch let go a soft snort as he smirked glancing back up at North's admission.

"Ah! There is smile I was looking for!" North laughed as he playfully tapped Pitch's chin giving the nightmare lord a wide smile himself as he pulled out the end chair that he'd sat in the night before and sat himself at the table.

Pitch couldn't help a bigger smile crossing his own features as North's smile was infectious. He took a few steps over to the table and pulled his own chair out now to sit gingerly beside North.

North began a topic covering the basics of the manipulation of making clay sculptures when Alla finally rolled the cart into Pitch's room. Pitch gave her a happy smile always glad to see her, "Good evening, Alla," Pitch greeted.

Alla said her hellos, and North translated, "She says there was accident in kitchen that held her up. She is very sorry." North waved her off, "Is no problem, Alla. Pitch and I were able to get a few things taken care of while we were waiting. Pitch finished painting horse, and I brought to kiln. You will get to see it tomorrow when we have language class!"

Pitch was relieved North hadn't mentioned anything that had followed the glaze application. He watched as Alla laid out the plates and cutlery as well as a bowl. She had brought clam chowder, garlic bread, and shrimp fettucine for dinner as well as a pitcher of iced tea to drink and a few slices of cheese cake for dessert. Alla didn't stay long, but she's made sure to move around the other side of the table to say a personal goodbye to Pitch with a tender pat on the head (which seemed to be a go to friendliness for Alla) and some grunts of affection.

"She says to have good night and enjoy cheese cake. She will see you tomorrow," North smiled wishing Alla a good night as Alla gave him a quick one armed hug and a pat on the head before heading out.

Alla's grunts could be heard in the hallway, and North laughed, "Sandy! He is just in time for dinner! Perfect!"

Pitch beamed as he saw Sandy round the corner to join them, "We haven't even put the food on our plates yet, so you're getting better at this dinner crashing Sandy," of course Pitch was smirking playfully as he said as much making it clear he was joking, and both Sandy and North seemed to enjoy the humor.

"Is extra dishes and silverware in cart. This time, I remember to ask Alla to pack you something to eat on!" North stated jovially.

Sandy seemed pleased enough as he floated over to the cart and removed a set of dishes for himself and splayed them out on the table before plopping in a whoosh into his specially made seat. He seemed excited to eat as he held both fork and spoon eagerly in hand as he looked about the table at all the goodies Alla had spread out.

North stood, "Okay, Sandy! I see you are quite ready to eat!" the Cossack chuckled as he maneuvered around the table portioning out the food to the specifics each preferred. There was still plenty left over if anyone wanted seconds.

There wasn't much talking once the food was served only the clinking of silverware on plates and the clattering of ice cubes in glasses of iced tea as cups were drained and refilled. Alla made a special lemon brew that was quite tasty!

Pitch observed the other two with a small smile as they ate. He thought back to what Jack had said about all of them dining together, and once he'd seen North finish his second helping of fettucine and settle back in his chair as a sign that he was finished dining, Pitch decided to ask, "So… I was thinking …uh, maybe once this whole grounding business has concluded, do you think we could have a dinner with everyone?"

North took in a deep breath looking torn his eyes moving first to Sandy and then back to Pitch. He didn't want to set a tentative date because he knew Tooth was still on edge with the whole situation left unsettled between the two, and a sprung upon dinner might not make for the best forecast to mend their differences. "Eh… One cannot say; we will have to see, Pitch. It make take some time to coordinate."

Sandy's expression was strained since he'd already seen Toothiana when he'd returned to his runs last night. Most of the guardians used Sandy as a sounding board rather than to ask advice of when they were having some inner turmoil, and Sandy was just fine with this since he often didn't have much advice to give that whomever was speaking to him couldn't work out on their own in the long run. Toothiana had vented to Sandy for quite some time her frustrations with both herself and Pitch while he'd nodded doing his best to show her support in his own silent way. She wasn't angry with Pitch anymore, but she also was definitely not in a place to be a dinner guest with Pitch again anytime soon.

Pitch wasn't dull witted, and it didn't take much to put two and two together for him to understand there was a problem with what he'd asked that had a lot more than scheduling as an issue. He was the issue. His shoulders slumped as his face drew into a sullen frown, "Oh… I guess she's still really mad at me, isn't she?" He stated mutely.

Sandy frowned looking at North sadly as if he might be able to help fix the situation. He really hated whenever any of his friends were fighting. Granted, Pitch was a new addition, but there were previous occasions where guardian and guardian may have had one too many eggnogs and got to bickering which led to a few week long huffing and puffing stubborn fits before all was made well once more.

North opened his mouth to speak but deflated as he sighed, "I would not say mad at you, Pitch. She is unhappy with situation. You two will need to talk once grounding is done."

Pitch nodded, but it was hard to find the good mood he'd just had since his mind was continuously brought back to thinking about he and Toothiana's fight and how it was still affecting their relationship now. It made him very unhappy Pitch found, and the feeling seemed to permeate around the table into a long drawn out silence. It was finally broken as North rose stiffly and began to shuffle about gathering up his dishes and placing them on the cart.

"Is anyone still wanting more?" North asked pointing at the leftovers, and both Sandy and Pitch shook their heads no.

"I… I think I'm done," Pitch sighed pushing his half eaten plate away from him. He'd lost his appetite now as he continued to sag in his chair.

Sandy placed his silverware on his plate blowing an uncomfortable puff of air out as he glanced up at North worriedly.

North tried to lighten the mood, "We have yet to have cheese cake! Are you sure you do not wish to have a slice?"

This seemed to brighten Sandy's mood, and he smiled widely nodding vigorously before turning to see Pitch still moping. He frowned pictographing a picture of Pitch and Toothiana squabbling before swirling an image of their table and Pitch looking depressive. A sand impression of Sandy put a slice of cheesecake in front of the sand Pitch, and the sand Pitch's face split into a smile. Sandy then pointed at the cheese cake.

Pitch watched Sandy's display with an unenthusiastic eye before responding, "I'm sorry; it's just hard to have a good time while I can't stop thinking about making things right with Toothiana."

North gave Pitch a soft smile, "It is good to see you care to make things right with Tooth, but for now, we cannot fix until Tooth is ready to talk. She will come round. Just give her time, Pitch. Until then, is not doing you any good to mope, so cheer up."

Pitch sighed giving a reluctant nod as he let Sandy slide the cheese cake over to him. He looked up at both of them watching him expectantly and grabbed a forkful of cheese cake. It was pretty good; he gave them a small smile, "Alla would be disappointed if I didn't at least try it."

Sandy and North seemed pleased by his efforts and conversation resumed mostly about Pitch and North's yeti language class and the progress made with Pitch finishing his horse statuette.

"This reminds me! I will go grab from kiln! It should be done and ready to put back on table" North stated excitedly as he finished off the last bite of his cheese cake, "I will go fetch!"

The thought of seeing his horse finally complete had Pitch fill with a flood of elation as he rose to quickly clean off the table. He wanted the surrounding area to be ready for the statue by the time North returned with it.

Sandy smiled widely to see Pitch bouncing about happily as they awaited North's return.

Pitch had cleaned off the entirety of the table as well as pushed the cart into the hallway and came to sit back across from Sandy. Having a moment alone with Sandy, Pitch glanced up at him studying him a moment before asking carefully, "How are you doing? I know last night was a bit of a shock, and I was thinking about you this morning wondering if you were… okay." Pitch fidgeted as he spoke running his long fingers up and down the edge of the table gracefully with an occasional glance over at Sandy to judge his reactions.

Sandy wasn't phased though, but he could tell Pitch was worried about how the picture had affected him. He smiled depicting a picture of a sand version of himself hanging the picture in front of a sand version of his bed.

That was more than Pitch could have hoped for, and his face brightened, "I want to make you something else… but this time a little less emotionally evoking." Pitch was sure to add.

Sandy rippled in silent laughter as he gave Pitch a vigorous nod of agreement.

North lumbered back in and both Pitch and Sandy turned to the door to see him holding up the centerpiece, "It came out perfect! You see! Just like I told you, is good yes?" North set the horse down in front of Pitch and Sandy, and both looked it over in unison.

"I really do like the look of it glazed," Pitch nodded in approval.

Sandy gave a hearty thumbs up.

"Would you like to try hand at making clay statue by self?" North grinned.

Pitch nodded his smile growing impossibly as he hopped out of his seat, "I'll grab the supplies!" Pitch had been looking forward to this for most of the day. He moved quickly over to the dresser and unloaded all of the supplies on the table. He nudged Sandy, "Are you going to try it out?"

Sandy blinked in surprise and shrugged before nodding that he in fact would try his hand at making something in clay alongside North and Pitch.

North gave them both a quick tutorial on how to manipulate the material as well as some techniques he'd developed that worked well for himself. Once he was finished, all three went about working mostly in silence.

Sandy chose to make a rather simple design for his first clay sculpture by making a dolphin with the base being a splashing wave it was riding.

North made a detailed Christmas wreath with several decorations mixed within the branches. It was quite intricate with many fine lines and well above the talents of Sandy or Pitch, but this was to be expected.

Pitch tried and tried to make several different things, but nothing seemed to work the way he wanted it to. It seemed to his disappointment that this was a talent that he wasn't going to get as easily as painting. He settled on something simple, a gift for Toothiana. It was a big crown tooth that he tried to make as detailed as he could. It was a tooth, so its overall look wasn't too difficult to capture, still, Pitch couldn't say he was overly happy with the end results. He was half tempted to squash it into oblivion, but decided since both Sandy and North had finished before him (mostly due to the many times he restarted) it may have seemed rude to have wasted their time just to crush the finished product. Still he sighed his dissatisfaction.

North rose clapping Pitch on the back, "Is good first try, Pitch. Do not give up. Besides, I do not think that Tooth will be unhappy with gift."

Pitch's lip tugged into a wry smile, "Let's hope the paint job will salvage it."

Sandy rose gliding behind Pitch and using his sands pulled his chair back as a sign it was time to call it a night.

Pitch rose from his chair not really wanting to go to bed yet, but knowing Sandy still had his runs to do begrudgingly sighed, "Fine, fine. I'm coming."

Sandy smirked floating over to pull back his sheets as Pitch climbed into bed.

North watched on as Sandy proceeded to tuck Pitch in putting Pitch to sleep with a gentle kiss on the forehead before Pitch had even realized he had done so. Sandy was good, and his tenderness with the way he smoothed back Pitch's hair as he blew enough dreamsand around Pitch to pull him into good dreams that would last through the night pleased the Cossack.

He moved to the table and gathered up both Pitch and his clay figures, "Sandy," he whispered, and once he had the golden man's attention he motioned with a nod towards Sandy's sculpture, "When you are finished, meet me down at kiln with dolphin, and we will put them all in to fire."

Sandy smiled nodding his acknowledgement as he watched North teeter off with the other two. His eyes shifted back to Pitch now as he sat back and watched the nightmare lord's dreams unfold, they skipped around to several scenes that involved Alla, North, and he. Sandy sighed happily as he observed the smile that tugged at Pitch's lips as he dreamed. He ran a hand through his hair enjoying the fact that he no longer had to work so hard to give Pitch good dreams because these days Pitch had plenty of good memories for Sandy to pull forward and weave into a safe place that replaced the many nightmares he'd always been plagued with.

Satisfied now, Sandy glided back to the table to grab his figurine and quietly floated out of Pitch's room closing the door with a soft click behind him.