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Jack shielded his eyes from the burning sun as he looked up towards the sky. He watched as an airplane shot across the sky, creating a trail of splitting clouds behind it. Sweat dripped down his pale skin and caused his clothes to stick to him in an almost disgusting manner. With a groan, he squeezed his eyes shut, trying and failing to fully block out the sun’s overbearing rays. In only a second, everything went completely cool around him. Relief flooded his system, his shoulders slouching as he slowly blinked his eyes open.
His breath hitched as he gazed up towards where the bright mid-morning sky had been. In its place, he was met with multitudes of silvery-gold sparkling dots(?) that covered the dark, nearly pitch black, eldritch-being of a canvas they seemed to inhabit. They almost looked like stars.
“Hello again.” Jack whispers under his breath, a tiny grin forming on his face. A few of the dots ‘blink’ (something he’s learned is more of a formality, one to make them less disturbing for Jack specifically; he doesn’t mind either way), a voice speaking back to him so quietly it’s almost a whisper in the wind.
“Overland.”
It’s such a simple response. Only one word, his last name, but it brightens the boys day tremendously. His smile grows more, stretching from ear to ear as a small chuckle leaves his lips.
“You’re looking… Very different from usual, Pitch.”
“I am experimenting. I find that, in today’s time, fictional monsters called ‘Kaijus’ are feared heavily by many.” The dots seemed to close slightly, as if squinting. “You’d be surprised by how many people fear something much, much larger than them.”
Jack nods, a small hum of agreement leaving his lips. “You’d be surprised by how many people are attracted to something much, much larger than them.” He picks up his skateboard, tucking it under his arms, and shoves his hands in his pockets. As he does, the burning early autumn sun sears into his exposed arms once more, but only for a moment, quickly soothed by a tall, looming shadow behind him. He turns on his heels, looking up at the shadow-like being before him. His brows raised high as a small sound of surprise pushed past his lips.
“ This is also different. Extremely so.”
A sharp and bone chilling grin settled on Pitch’s long face. His silvery-gold eyes looked down at Jack, his head staying stationary and pointed forward.
“As I said before. Experimenting. I figured you might enjoy a more human form when we communicate. Opposed to the usual ‘anthropomorphic blob of darkness’ as you like to call it.”
“It’s a pretty accurate name for that form, isn’t it?” Jack chuckled out.
The dark figure, Pitch , kept his expression the same. His head tilted slightly to the side, an indifferent hum leaving him in response. The new form was an odd one for Jack, slightly unsettling in an uncanny valley type of way. Despite the unproportionate anatomy and the eerily tall height of the supposedly humanoid form, Jack found comfort in it anyway.
“You're really nice for a boogeyman, Pitch.”
“ The Boogeyman.” He corrects.
“Right, but seriously, no one would expect the boogeyman to make a whole new form specifically to make someone more comfortable . Especially not for a human.”
“Am I not allowed to play favorites?”
“Am I your favorite human?”
Jack’s question is met with silence. Pitch doesn’t move; he doesn’t nod or shake his head. He simply stares down at the human in silence. Jack does the same for a few seconds or minutes. Small bubbles of laughter begin to rise from his throat. Within only a few moments, unrelenting laughs and giggles are spilling from Jack’s lips, his deep brown hair falling over his crinkled eyes. The tall figure fully looks down at the human boy with wide eyes. His grayed skin slowly flushes darker on the bits of his neck that Jack can see.
“Do not laugh about this, Overland.” Pitch seems to grumble out.
“But this is golden ! I’m your favorite human? You can’t be for real!” He presses his lips together, trying and failing to suppress his laughter.
“I did not say you were correct.”
“Your silence implied that, though, so… I’m saying I’m right!”
“...Fine.”
Jack's face broke into a wide grin, his snow-white teeth fully on display. A lighthearted and content chuckle left him as he spoke once more, his tone airy. “The boogeyman has a soft spot, it seems.” Another round of laughter courses through him, his eyes squeezing closed and only letting in small rays of sunlight that slowly seemed to disappear. He opened his eyes as an out-of-place, cold breeze flew past him. Pitch had disappeared, too.
The boy’s eyes darted left and right while another small chuckle left him. Slowly, he looked up towards the suddenly dark sky; his eyes once again met with Pitch’s silvery-gold star-like ones.
“Drama queen.”