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Jack would never cease to be astounded by the mercuriality of Pitch's moods, no matter how many years passed since the first time pale blue-veined limbs entwined with grey-skinned ones, no matter how often citrine eyes looked into sapphire ones and did not look away.
He'd learned quickly enough when to joke with his bedmate, and when to remain silent, when to be supportive of Pitch's melancholy and when to distract him from it.
But Jack never expected Pitch to be the one to suggest a night out on the town... a night spent in company... a night NOT spent brooding on his obsidian throne or cavorting between black satin sheets.
Not Mister "I am the Boogeyman and you will not have fun in my presence unless I'm sticking my tongue down your throat". Not Mister "oh I miss the Dark Ages when people actually fainted when they saw a plague doctor mask".
And certainly not "a night out" on Hallowe'en itself, a working holiday for the King of Nightmares, a duty Pitch took very, very, VERY seriously and defended to his fellow Guardians.
Thus, when Pitch casually worked into conversation the phrase "I thought we could drop in at Sanderson's little soiree in coordinated costumes this year", Jack was thoroughly flummoxed.
"Mmmmmmmmmmmmm-okay?"
Pitch's clever hands kept kneading Jack's shoulders, claws retracted for a change. "And since the little creampuff likes marine life so much, why don't we indulge him?"
Jack turned over and looked the Nightmare King in the eye. "Seriously? You actually want to be seen in public with me outside of Guardian meetings?"
Thin grey lips quirked and revealed a hint of fangs. "I would have thought by now that you'd relish a chance to mix fun and fear. What goes better than All Hallows Eve and showing off that mix?"
Further conversation halted when Pitch simultaneously unsheathed his claws and trailed his tongue over Jack's collarbone.
====================
A week later, Jack swooped into Pitch's lair to collect him for their trip to the Island of Sleepy Sands. He'd crafted his ice to coat his body in a brilliant blue shade and lengthened the ice into a long tail, so that he now resembled an electric eel.
He couldn't help but yelp and leap backward as something that was all teeth and uncanny swiftness emerged from the darkness and lunged towards him.
A throaty chortle from the Nightmare King calmed Jack enough that he could catch his breath and sputter out, "When... will I learn... that you're always going to pick the... creepiest... FREAKIEST... way of saying hello?"
Pitch proudly waggled the sinuous shadows emerging from his rump that finished off his lamprey look. Jack did not even want to TRY to guess how Pitch had reshaped his own head so that his eyes were now on either side of his skull; he was too disconcerted by the ever-open mouth ringed by triple rows of teeth that Pitch was now sporting.
"Okay, now that you've scared a century off my immortal span, can we get going to the party?" the Guardian of Fun asked the Guardian of Caution. He was surprised to see a hesitance come over Pitch, and wondered about its cause.
Pitch fidgeted before replying, "I actually have two costumes planned for the evening. This one is just for show... can't have the rabbit or the fat man gloating that I've gone soft in the head over you, after all." He cleared his throat and continued, "But I came up with the idea of another costume, just for you. A private viewing, maybe for later?"
The Nightmare King made some kind of motion that Jack did not immediately catch, but the result was striking. The essential eel-ness of Pitch's body did not change, but his colouring faded to an icy white, nearly as blinding as Jack's normal skin tone, mottled with deep-space-black markings that looked like... snowflakes.
Jack could only stare. Before he could stop himself, he blurted out, "Now THAT'S a moray!" and was rewarded with a full-throated laugh from Pitch.
They arrived at Sandy's party hours later than expected, with Pitch's lamprey teeth back in full evidence, but the self-satisfied looks they kept throwing one another gave the game away to their fellow Guardians.