Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Jack was alone.

Not in the physical sense; he had all the guardians to hang out with... theoretically. Sandy and Tooth still had to do their jobs every night, North was constantly working at the north pole making toys, so that he could please the children of earth on Christmas and renew their sense of wonder, and Bunnymund... he wasn't busy until about two months before Easter, but he just never seemed to warm up to Jack as much as the others.

Bunnymund was still upset about the Easter of 68'. It seemed a little shallow to still be angry at something that happened 80 years ago, but for those who are constantly busy and will never die, 80 years was the blink of an eye. For Jack however 80 years felt like several lifetimes.

Watching over the children of Earth although they couldn't see him, protecting them from whatever he could. Watching them grow up and have children of their own and those truly desperate days where he wished he could be one of them, that he had some sort of purpose in his life other than floating around and making it snow.

What made it all the more horrible, was that he couldn't sleep. No matter how hard Jack tried to, he never could succumb to his weariness and his immortal body would just keep going.

After many years Jack reached the conclusion that he didn't have to sleep like he had seen so many of the humans do, He didn't have to eat, either. Though 'couldn't eat', would be a more appropriate wording actually. The first time he tried eating was the day he met Mother Nature. She was extravagantly beautiful, with a dress made of flowers held together by intricately braided vines. The woman had found him reclining back against the large oak tree that overlooked the town of Burgess.

She'd smiled gracefully at him, and handed him the best looking apple he'd ever seen in his whole life. He was too shocked to say thank you, after all she was the first person to interact with him since he had risen from the ice almost thirty years before that. Before he could take a bite, she was dancing off to continue her journey. He had no idea that this apple would change everything.

He didn't know what exactly he was expecting food to taste like. It had just never appealed to him, so when he bit down and tasted nothing Jack thought it was normal. He didn't realize until he swallowed the piece that it was definitely not normal. The moment it hit his stomach he lurched over throwing it back up. For years he was under the assumption that Mother Nature had poisoned the apple until he tried to eat again and the same process repeated.

Jack wanted nothing more than a rest from this non-stop life he was living, and when he finally got that rest Jack realized that sleep wasn't as much of a 'couldn't' as it was a 'shouldn't'.

He was drifting through the air,  day-dreaming at he time and so the rouge Nightmare getting caught in his crosswind and knocking into him too him completely by surprise. Slamming into a tree trunk, his vision blurred, and soon his eyes shifted down until they closed fully.

When Jack awoke, he felt rejuvenated, he felt like running and jumping and laughing. He jumped into the air and the wind effortlessly caught him, He flew into Burgess on a cold breeze that made sprinkles of snow appear in the air around him. He didn't know why he like to stay near Burgess but the town was nice and quaint even though not many people lived there yet. It felt like home to him though, so he would stay there as long as it did. Something was off though. It was Summer. But Summer had just passed when he was knocked out. Feeling the beginnings of panic begin to unfold in his mind, Jack made his way to the nearest spirit, which in Burgess would have to be the Nightmare King; a title that fit the man's personality to a tee.

Jack made his way down the hole which served as an entrance to Pitch's lair.

"Pitch?" He called out timidly. At the moment he could only see darkness and a few spots where the light had broken though the surface.

"Jack Frost?" Jack had only met the man once before, when some snow had made it into his lair. While Pitch was an intimidating man, he was actually nice if you got to know him - just a little power-hungry and resentful from being stripped of his renown in the Dark ages.

"What's brought you here?" Pitch formed himself from the shadows and went to greet the frost prince.

"This may seem like an odd question but, what year is it?" Jack had a sneaking suspicion he wouldn't like the answer. Pitch frowned and his golden eyes narrowed.

"1852." Pitch drawled out. Jack felt his tongue go dry and he swayed when a dizzy spell hit him. Pitch was quick to catch him though.

"Are you quite alright?" Pitch asked placing Jack upright on the floor. If Jack heard him, he didn't show it. Jack jumped unsteadily up into the air and rode the wind out of the darkness. He had been asleep for nearly two years.

Chapter Text

Jack got the invitation the traditional way, (well traditional way for Bunnymund at least.) by getting shoved into a bag and hauled off to North's place, kicking and screaming all the way. When they arrived, he tumbled out of the bag still somehow gracefully despite the rough landing. He glared over at Bunnymund who wasn't even trying to disguise his laughter. Jack shook it off with a playful smile, and blew a cold breeze over to nip at Bunnymund's nose.

"Well what did you all call me over here for?" Jack asked, jumping up in the air so that he could float on the wind. He always felt more comfortable with the wind.

"Oh! Well tomorrow is the annual Spirit feast! Haven't you ever been before?" Tooth gushed flying over to check on Jack's teeth, after all she hadn't seen him in a few months.

"Not really, social gatherings aren't really my forte." Jack brushed tooth's hands away from his mouth. Tooth frowned at this, Jack never did seem to like people around him. She decided not to bring it though, this was a time for celebration after all.

"Well since North is hosting the feast this year all the spirits who are to attend will be staying the night here." Tooth explained, seeming way more happy about this gigantic sleepover than Jack. He hadn't noticed that the three of them had begun walking down the joyful hallways.

"Where is North?" Jack questioned, he figured that the old man would be there to greet him.

"He's greeting everyone at the front door right now. You'll see him later. Oh, and now might be a great time to mention that your going to have a roommate." Tooth tried her best to squeeze that fact in there without calling to much attention to it. Jack stopped walking and frowned.

"Why would you all need rooms anyway, do you all even sleep?" It'd been something he had wondered about for awhile now. Both Bunny and Tooth laughed at the notion though.

"Well of course we all sleep, we might not do it as often as humans, but we still have to sleep!" Bunny laughed as though it was the funniest thing he had ever heard. They reached the end of the hallway and Bunny hopped in front of a plain white door that had a chip at the bottom, it seemed this wasn't the first time North had hosted the feast.

"Well this is where you will be staying Jack." The usually hyper fairy seemed to deflate at that.

"Wait...Who's my roommate?" At that time the door decided to open. A tall man with dark hair and golden eyes decided to waltz out of the room.

"It seems as if my roommate has finally decided to show up!" Pitch was the only man Jack knew who could take a nice statement and make it seem like an insult.

"Pitch is my roommate? Seriously?" Jack couldn't believe they would willingly put him in the same room as that madman. Pitch could kill him in the middle of the night for all they knew!

"It's a location thing Jack!" Tooth soothed, trying not to anger her favorite frost spirit. Of course how was she to know that he was the complete opposite of angry? Jack was nearly shaking in terror. He would be stuck in a room with someone he helped throw from power just a few months ago. Pitch sent Jack a crazed grin.

"Ah, yes Jackie-boy. It's because our homes are right next to each other. Practically the same place if you ask me." Pitch teased darkly. Tooth and Bunny backed away in nervousness. Ever since Pitch's downfall, he seemed to regain his senses, making him more terrifying than ever. Before he was just acting in an insane backlash against the guardians, now his actions were more calculative. His new attitude was Just enough that it set the guardians on edge. However the rules of the feast allowed every spirit to join, even sinister ones.

"Well Jack, Sorry to leave you but we have to help the others find their rooms. See you at dinner!" And with that, they were gone. Leaving Jack alone with Pitch Black.

Pitch held the door open and waved for Jack to walk in. Jack hesitantly did so. The inside of the hotel room was made up of two queen sized beds, a bathroom and a balcony that included two lounge chairs, Jack was in luck that he could go outside now and lay out on them. It wasn't yet sunset and Jack could take the cold.

"I've taken the bed closest to the door." Announced Pitch, Jack looked up at him. He had been lost in his thoughts for a moment, he had to be more careful. Pitch could have killed him or something while he was distracted. While Jack mentally berated himself, Pitch took his time in examining Jack.

He noted that Jack looked more exhausted than ever, he had dark bags under his eyes and his shoulders were slumped like he could barely hold them up.

Ignoring Pitch, Jack walked out onto the patio. He laid down on the lounge chair and gazed up at the sky. He always loved the way the sun splashed light though all the clouds, but night-time was always his favorite. His first site in his new life was Manny, shining up above him. The moon made him less afraid. Pitch slid the patio door open and took a seat on the accompanying lounge chair.

"I hope you don't mind me joining you, Jack." Pitch and his ever present pride decided to make their presence known. Jack looked over slowly, for some reason he was soo tired. It had just hit him as soon as he stepped outside, but he couldn't sleep. Sometimes, he worried that if he fell asleep he might never wake again.

"When's the last time you got some sleep Jack?" the man in question looked away quickly.

"Not too long ago, why do you care." The comment came out more biting than Jack would have wished and he saw that he shouldn't have said it as soon as he looked at Pitch's eyes. They narrowed and his pupils seemed to become larger. In one swift movement Pitch had Jack held over the banister by his neck.

"Don't lie to me. I can sense fear and I know when you are lying, now tell me the truth." Jack clawed at the gray hands that enclosed his neck, hoping they would drop him. That is until he looked down and saw that below them was a frozen over lake. Jack had only been over at North's a few times before so it was only natural that he didn't know about the lake. Jack's struggles increased as his ever increasing panic fueled them. He was a guardian now and could fly away before he hit the lake, in his panic he forgot this detail though. All he could think about was falling in and drowning again. Pitch pulled him back on the patio.

" Now when was the last time you slept?" through his gasping breaths Jack managed his answer.

"S-since..1852." Pitch's eyes widened.

"H-how is that even possible! That's almost two hundred years!" Pitch picked Jack up with little resistance as Jack was still trying to catch his breath and put him into one of the beds. Jack jumped from the bed before Pitch could stop him and made a mad dash for the door.

"Don't be crazy Jack, just sleep you need it for god's sake!" Jack opened the door feverishly and managed to get a foot out of the door before Pitch grabbed a hold of him. Jack grabbed a hold of the door frame with both hands and Pitch grabbed a hold of his legs. Jack was squealing and screaming and Pitch was yelling at him to shut up when bells began to ring. It was dinner time. At almost the same time all the guest stepped out of their rooms, most of them, hearing the noise looked over to see what all the commotion was at the end of the hallway. Jack and Pitch both stopped what they were doing and looked up, causing Jack to fall to the floor. Before anyone could say anything Pitch disappeared into the shadows and Jack was left there, looking up at a bunch of spirits he had never seen before. Jack looked around before standing up and rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Uhm...Hi?" This would be one of the most awkwardest dinners he had ever attended.

Chapter Text

Jack wasn't sure where to go, so he followed the mass of spirits who seemed to know their way around. Why would they have a feast anyway? Spirits couldn't eat either right? Tooth had said that they could sleep if they wanted to but Jack could sleep also. He just didn't wake up for years if he did. He had seen North gobbling down cookies before so..maybe it was just him.

The group he was following was so loud he could have followed them through a maze blindfolded with both arms tied behind his back. He guessed it was in most of the spirits natures to be loud, especially North. It was like the man was always speaking through a Russian megaphone. Jack sighed as the group led him into a large room where the other spirits were a filing into. Tooth was jumping up and down and waving towards Jack, so with a smile finally appearing on his face he walked over to her. There were long picnic tables spread out all along the room, and on both sides of the room were buffet tables filled with all different kinds of food that Jack had never seen before.

He sat down at the end of the picnic table across from where Tooth was sitting. She already had her food and seemed stuck between staring happily at it and eating it. Bunny sat next to her munching on a plate full of cooked carrots, oblivious to all those around him. Sandy was across from Bunny, and a seat away from Jack, but where was North? The sound of boisterous laughter caught his attention and Jack looked past Tooth to see that North was sitting with a group of viking looking men that all had long flowing white beards. One of the men looked up as if he could feel Jack watching them. He had on a mask that made it look as if he had a long tongue, but through the eye holes was the color red. A deep dark red that made Jack look away in fear. Hands clasped his shoulders and a velvet like voice whispered into his ear.

"And what's gotten you so afraid little one?" The unexpectedness of both the touch and the voice pushed Jack a little over the edge of terror and before he could stop himself Jack screamed. He screamed like a scared little girl, loud enough to stop all movement in the cafeteria. All eyes were on him and Jack's face adopted a faint red. As much of a blush as a frozen body could have, at least.

The hands left his shoulders hesitantly and Pitch laughed nervously. He wasn't much-loved in the spirit community because of his 'take over the world' plan that had failed earlier in the previous year. He definitely didn't want to get accused of trying to attack Jack, he was just too easy to scare. Definitely not the confident Jack that had beaten the holy crap out of him when he tried to give every child in the world nightmares. Pitch sat down next to Jack, and Sandy scooted down a bit more. He was still a little sore about Pitch temporarily killing him. Bunny went to object, but Tooth elbowed him in the side to shut him up and soon all eyes had gone back to their own conversations.

"Hey Jack I've got a question." Bunny began after he had finished shoveling the carrots into his mouth. Jack nodded for him to go on.

"How old are you?" Jack counted on his fingers for a moment before replying,

"I'm about 320 years old." Bunny shook his head,

"Naw, I meant how old are yah' like physically. When you became a guardian." Bunny specified. Jack frowned in thought, almost to aware that Pitch Black was sitting next to him, waiting for him to answer.

"I had just turned eighteen, I think." He finally responded.

"I didn't know that Manny recruited them so early now!" Tooth exclaimed covering her mouth in shock. While Bunny found it shocking as well he was more than a little distracted by Pitch, who was now staring just a little too intently at Jack for his liking.

"Heh, yeah well recruiting wasn't the word I would use for it." Jack muttered glaring at the Christmasy tablecloth.

"So tooth, how did you become a spirit?" Jack asked, glad to change the subject.

"Well just about the same as everyone else. I was a bird, and one night when I was flying under the moon, it asked me if I wanted to fulfill a better purpose in life. So I said yes, and here I am!"

While Tooth was more than happy to share her story, she was completely unaware of how Jack was reacting. Jack's jaw tightened and if someone looked close enough they would see the beginnings of tears forming in his eyes.

"About the same as everyone else?" Jack mumbled, Bunny's gigantic rabbit ears picked it up.

"I remember mine. I was just a wee bunny rabbit and Manny asked me if I wanted to be stronger." Bunny grinned, and at the sound of North's laughter behind them, began talking again.

"North, was born into a family of magic though. They all grew up with Manny's magic in them. The bloke with the mask next to North, is his brother Belsnickle. He's creepy though, I try to stay away with him when I can." Jack felt stunned. All of these people had some sort of choice? None of them had to die? None of them had to suffocate under water while their baby sister watched in horror? Why was it just him?

"J-...ck."

"J-...ck?"

"A-re y.. there J-..ck?"

"Jack? Are you okay?" Jack became aware that people were calling him and he looked around. It seemed that Pitch, Bunny and Tooth had all been trying to get his attention. They were all looking at him with worry, why worry? Then he felt something warm splash against his cheek. He raised his hand to his face and wiped away whatever had fallen, only to see that it froze at his touch. It was a tear, that was slowly being followed by more as he became more and more worked up.

"So you all had some sort of choice? You all were asked to become this?" His voice cracked at the end of sentence but he couldn't seem to care. Everyone at the table seemed to know what was going to happen next before it happened, and Sandy was prepared. He floated up with a hand of dream sand, fully prepared to put Jack to sleep before he could cause a scene. Out of the corner of his eye Jack saw Sandy float upwards and looked over, seeing the dream sand being aimed at him Jack began a mad dash to get up. He stood as quickly as he could and in the process was tripped up by the picnic table's bench. Even after falling on the floor, Jack still scrambled to stand up and get away before he could be sent to sleep. Some people had begun to notice the commotion but missed what happened as Jack sped out of the cafeteria and back to where him and Pitch were staying.

Back at the table Pitch stood and held out his hand.

"Give me the dream sand, Sanderson." Sandy looked more than affronted and the pictures forming above his head said more than words ever could, or that there are actually words express what he was saying. Like seriously, Everyone at the table now knew who created new curse words and his name was Sandy.

"Well if you don't let me use the dream sand then I'll have to give Jack nightmares. Which would you prefer?" Giving Pitch the biggest glare he could muster, Sandy handed over some dream sand. And with that Pitch disappeared into the shadows, a bright gold light following quickly behind him.

Chapter Text

Pitch appeared again outside of their rooms. He hesitated to just open the door and barge in, even though it was technically his room also. Jack had always been quite agreeable, he remembered meeting the Frost spirit for the first time.

"What are you doing." Pitch had seen many stupid things in his lifetime but this had to top the list. It was the start of the eighteenth century and it was just about time for Pitch to start his nightly rounds of giving out nightmares. When he approached the first house he was to visit, he thought he might have been dreaming. He thought Sanderson might have gotten him with some dream sand when he wasn't looking because this sight was to crazy to actually be happening. In front of the cabin was a silver-haired teenager who wore in ragged pants and a shawl that seemed to have been hand stitched. Next to him was another spirit that Pitch actually knew; Loki, the spirit of mischief. He was in his usual ornate green and gold getup, but what wasn't usual was what they were doing.

"Oh my, oh dear, I am so sorry Jack!"

"eh snuck!"

"Just...oh dear just pull away!"

"Nuh Nit nook nike nigh can null anay?!"

"Here, I'll pull you and you pull back!"

All that followed that statement was muffled screaming and Loki beginning to become upset.

"I'm so sorry. Oh no it's oka-OH MY MOON IS THAT BLOOD?" Pitch was only able to gawk at the two younger spirits as the ice sickle that Jack had gotten his tongue stuck on fell from the porch and hit Loki on the head, knocking him unconscious while it was still stuck to Jack's tongue. Pitch turned around and decided that he would skip that house tonight...

Pitch smiled fondly. He only wished that Jack hadn't been around when he had gone on his 'every once in a while' grasp at power. It was like his own version of the monthlies but it was every thousand years. When he opened the door, the first thing Pitch noticed was the sniffling. Jack was crying, that he was sure of. Pitch began to walk into the room only to trip up and fall face first onto the floor. He groaned and sat up to see what he had tripped over only to see it wasn't a 'what' as much as it was a 'who'. Jack had curled up in front of the bed Pitch claimed, crying like a baby roadblock. Pitch was swift and had Jack tucked into bed before the frost spirit could even realize what was happening. Pitch raise his hand and went to rub the dream sand on Jack's face, but he hadn't been quick enough and Jack opened his eyes just as the dream sand reached his face.

"No you can't! I.. won't wake.. up..." Pitch shushed him like a mother hen,

"Shh Jack, you need sleep. I will wake you up before the feast, have no fear." He comforted, ignoring the insane urge to cackle at the phrase he had used. Have no fear? Since when did the boogeyman not give fear to those around him? Pitch instead settled for kissing Jack's forehead. It wasn't like Jack would remember this in the morning, heck he was too drowsy now to even recognize what was happening. Even so Pitch didn't fail to notice the odd look that passed Jack's snowflake eyes before they closed.

"I'll wake you up Jack, don't worry." Leaving Jack to his bed Pitch decided for a change of scenery and headed out onto the patio. Sitting on the lounge chair and looking up into the starry sky reminded Pitch of the first time Jack and him had spoken. It was also the first time that Jack had ever seen Pitch.

It was about 1820 and Pitch had just woken up from a glorious nap among the shadows and was preparing to leave his lair when a large clump of snow fell on his face. Pitch wiped it off with a look of disgust before shadow jumping out of the entrance. He already had an idea of who's fault this was, and it sure as hell wasn't gravity.

"FROST!" Pitch called out in a voice that could rival thunder. The ice-sickle boy appeared only a few seconds later shaking like a tree leaf.

"Umm.. yes sir?" His eyes were as wide as saucers his face was even paler that usual.

"Did you throw this snow down here?" He wasn't joking and Jack knew this more than anything.

"It was an accident I swear I was just flying to fast and I ran into a tree and snow fell out and I didn't know you lived down here otherwise I woulda' came and apologized!" When he finished confessing, Jack was out of breath and panting. Pitch was trying to keep up with his strict act but the spirit was so worried it just made him burst out laughing. Jack stared in amazement at the now laughing, living embodiment of darkness. Trying to keep his scary reputation from being too damaged he shooed Jack away.

"It's alright, just calm down and make sure it doesn't happen again." He tried but he couldn't keep the mirth from his voice. Jack flew away wondering what the hell had just happened, but true to his word another drop of snow never touched Pitch's lair.

Pitch wandered back inside and plopped down in the empty bed. Choosing to look over at the sleeping ice-sickle once more before he surrendered to sleep's warm embrace.

Chapter Text

Pitch woke up to the sound of barely controlled laughter and sniggering. He rolled over in an attempt to fall back asleep, stretching his muscles across the bed. His eyes snapped open as his mind caught up with what he was hearing. Why was someone laughing in his room? Was Jack already awake? There was no way, he hadn't been to sleep in 150 years, there's no way he was awake so soon. Pitch sat up as quick as his body would let him and nearly snapped his neck to look over at where he heard the laughter. Jack's bed. What he saw didn't surprise him nearly as much as he thought it should have. Loki and the spirit of summer were standing over Jack's sleeping body with an army of sharpie markers. They were like college kids the morning after a crazy party, well they did leave dinner early, who knows, they could have brought out the alcohol early. They usually didn't bring that out until the night after the feast though. Pitch decided that the best course of action would be no course of action and started to slide back under the Christmas tree covers, until the spirit of Summer started talking.

"Heh...maybe we should..hahaha..write on Pitch's face too." Pitch looked up at the ceiling as if asking it what to do. He glanced over at the duo to make sure they weren't looking at him and to his relief they were both rummaging through the box of markers. Taking his chance he shadowported onto the bed next to Jack. He sat criss-cross apple sauce facing the mischief causing spirits, and he just stared unblinkingly at them. Loki was the first to look up, but he was so focused on Jack's face that he didn't notice Pitch at first. Pitch was almost scared to look down at Jack's face now, they were using way to many colors for their own good. They even used...Purple. Pitch tried not to shudder at the thought of the hideous color. The spirit of summer looked up, and Pitch saw her golden locks dim down to an almost white as she noticed Pitch. At first she wasn't sure what she was looking at as they had left the light off when they snuck in, all she could see was golden eyes. As her eyes adjusted more to the dark she could make out the outline of of a body and became more increasingly aware of the fact that Pitch Black was sitting next to them, fully aware that they were about to turn over and write on his face too. The sun spirit, Helios tapped Loki on the shoulder, her hand shaking. Loki looked up with a grin on his face that just as quickly faded and turned into pure horror. Before Loki could start screaming a barrage of apologies, Helios grabbed a hold of his shoulder and started shaking him.

"Pull yourself together man, We're gonna die!" Her statement turned to screaming and soon both her and Loki huddled on the ground crying and screaming like five year olds. It was times like these Pitch thought of what the rooms near his and Jack's must think is going on in here, those poor, poor souls. With a sly smirk on his face Pitch got off the bed and stalked over to the two.

"You weren't really going to draw on my face, now were you?" Pitch asked in a mocking voice, Loki shook his head furiously.

"N-no way man, just Jack! We swear- Please don't kill us! I'm too young and my hair is too beautiful to die!" Loki swished his black locks around a little to better emphasize their beauty.

"Well then, you better get to cleaning off Jack's face then, before he wakes up. And if he does wake up and it's not all off, I'll kill you." It was said so simply that they weren't sure they heard him right at first, but all he did was turn around and walk out of the room without another word. Helios and Loki shared one terrified look before they were rushing off to the bathroom. Loki conjured a bucket and soap and they both started throwing water into it. Five minutes later they were running to Jack with a bucket full of soapy water and the entire stack of wash cloths. They were rubbing the green and purple Christmas trees off of Jack's face with the force of a great typhoon and the were surprised by how deep a sleeper Jack was.

"It's not coming off!"

"Maybe we're not using enough soap!" Helios dunked Jack's face all the way into the soapy water, Loki tried to pull him away from her as soon as he realized how stupid their idea was.

"You're gonna kill him! Stop he'll drown!" He screamed frantically pulling up on Jack. Helios pulled Jack up and checked his face.

"The markers coming off though! We're not gonna get killed!" She yelled back, throwing Jacks face back into the water. This is how Jack woke up. Being held under water, unable to breath and his face burning like it had been rubbed furiously. Jack screamed loud enough that it carried though the water and to the two that were holding him under water. Helios and Loki started screaming also, but for a completely different reason.

"AHHHHH! He woke up! Pitch is going to kill us!" Helios got a dark gleam in her eyes and she looked Loki in his eyes.

"Not if he doesn't know Jack woke up." Loki and Helios both looked crazily over at Jack who was still trying to catch his breath.

Pitch was relaxing in the cafeteria with a cup of hot coffee, taken black of course. He was sitting at the same table as the spirit of darkness and the spirit of death, who actually weren't that bad of guys once you got to know them. They were quietly discussing the rising crime rate in Los Angeles when the screaming began. All the spirits in the room looked startled and began to stand up but Pitch just sighed.

"Well there's my call." He announced sitting his coffee down on the table.

"See you boys later." He then disappeared into the shadows, reappearing directly into his and Jack's shared rooms. That was probably the biggest mistake he had ever made in his entire life. Soap was everywhere, Jack was hanging from the ceiling fan that Loki had flipped on and Helios was trying to knock him off of it. Jack was just in his pants for some reason, his sweatshirt was abandoned on the floor next to a bucket. Pitch was standing next to the door, his jaw had dropped and for a moment he was tempted to run to North and ask for a room change for christmas. After coming to his senses he realized that was a stupid idea, he could ask for some cool black sunglasses instead and maybe that would keep him from catching their crazy.

"What are you all doing?" Pitch hissed walking over to Helios who was trying to hit Jack with a baseball bat. Helios dropped the baseball bat as soon as Pitch started walking over, she fell to her knees and Loki tried to slide over to join her, but ended up with a rug burn.

"Please don't-OWWW IT BURNS- kill us! We didn't get it all off we're-IT BURNS-sorry!" Helios pleaded while Loki rolled on the floor grasping at his knees. Pitch started to look up to see what was left on Jack's face when Jack lost his grip on the still swinging ceiling fan and fell right into Pitch's arms. Pitch's quick reflexes reacted and he held onto Jack before he could fall to the floor. Jack looked up at Pitch, amazed he was able to catch him so fast. Jack looked a mess, his face was rubbed red with a little line of purple visible, soap was all stuck in his hair and he was soaked to the bone. Pitch looked down at Jack and smiled, a real, genuine smile, before he dropped Jack. Jack fell to the floor in an undignified heap and Pitch started to walk away. Pitch stopped before he reached the door and glanced back at the terrible trio.

"I hope you know I expect this room spotless when I return. Oh and Jack?" Jack looked up at the nightmare man who had just dropped him.

"You should take a bath. You look like you just rolled around outside." Pitch gave a laugh as he opened the door (That somehow had sharpie marks all over it) and walked out. From outside the room, Pitch listened as the yelling began again and it sounded like a herd of elephants had started a stampede in the room. Pitch allowed himself another small smile as he walked down the hall, headed back for his coffee which he figured he would need if this was how the rest of the day would pan out.

Chapter Text

Helios threw Jack into the shower with all his clothes still on the second Pitch shut the door, screaming about cleaning. Jack scoffed, what did she know about cleaning? She was the summer spirit, all she cared about was partying on the beach and swimming. Two things that Jack detested. Jack took of his now soaked clothing, at least his ice powers made the water cold. He couldn't take the heat at all, it made him feel powerless. He spent his summers in nice cold places, like Alaska and Antarctica. There was a travel pack of shampoo, conditioner and a bar of soap. Sighing he rubbed the shampoo into his hair, he didn't usually have to take many showers as since his body is essentially frozen it always stays the same. He rinsed it out and emptied nearly the entire thing of conditioner onto his head, picking up the bar of soap he realized that they had taken all the wash cloths out of the bathroom. Jack was still a little confused on what that whole crazy ordeal was this morning, something about his face... He was just happy that he had woken up. When he saw Pitch with that dream sand he really thought he was a goner. He had been convinced Pitch was there to kill him, make him sleep for years like some gender bended version of sleeping beauty. He woke up though, and he felt good now despite nearly being drowned again.

Jack always had a fear of bodies of waters, even before he saw his memories. Now that he had seen his memories the fear of being submerged underwater just hit him harder. Jack opened the shower door and called out.

"Hey Loki can you toss a wash cloth in here?" There was a scrambling sound and before he knew it the door was open and he had a wash cloth thrown in his face. Not expecting the wash cloth he dropped the soap and stepped back to catch it. The soap slid under his foot as he took a step and he slipped back into the tub.

"Thanks Loki." He muttered under his breath, his side now definitely bruised.

Meanwhile in the other room Helios had a plan. Some people might say that she's too 'loud and aggressive' and yeah, she was. But sometimes you just had to be, it was who she was and she made that work into her everyday life. She even ended up with a great boyfriend, Loki, who she had been happily dating for 15 years now. It might seem like that was a long time, but for spirits that was barely any time at all. She was Summer, she was the spirit of sunshine and happiness so what would she be if she didn't try to give Jack a little happiness? She definitely had a plan and all it depended on was how many outfits Loki brought with him. She rounded on him with a feather duster while he was cleaning up the soap mess on the floor.

"Loki, darling, do you happen to have an outfit Jack could wear? I accidentally threw him in the shower with his clothes on." She looked into his eyes with her golden brown puppy dog eyes and he found he just couldn't say no.

"I'll go find one real quick sweetheart." he promised sweetly before running back to their rooms. Helios grinned and continued her cleaning. Operation: Blackice, stage one was complete.

When Jack stepped out of the shower he hadn't expected clothes to find clothes there waiting for him. When did someone walk into the bathroom and how did he not notice? Maybe it had something to do with this pounding headache he had from bashing his head on the tub floor. Either way he was grateful for clothes. With a towel wrapped around his waist he examined his clothes. It was obviously Loki's as it was all fancy, the shirt was black with a low dipping collar and with long sleeves. The pants were tight and also black, he felt like he was going to a club, not a feast. How was he supposed to move around in these anyway? The shirt was way too tight around his torso and he felt like he couldn't breath. Shaking the water out of his hair like a dog, Jack walked stiffly out of the bathroom. Helios jumped up and down in excitement,

"Oh Jack you look great!" She babbled excitedly. Jack felt heat rise up to his face,

"Thanks Helios, but I can barely breathe."

"Oh that's the new fashion these days, if you can't breathe, you're wearing it right." Jack frowned but then looked around the room and whistled.

"Well you two got this place looking nice didn't ya'?" Helios nearly exploded in joy at the comment. If there was one thing Helios loved, it was compliments. Loki headed towards the door, ready to leave that nightmare of a room they had just cleaned. Helios and Jack followed soon after.

They arrived in the cafeteria just in time for the announcement of the first activity.

"Activity?" Jack questioned suspiciously. He hadn't heard anything about activities.

"Oh yes you're new to these events right? The hold little events so the spirits can get to know one another better. It's how I met Helios." Loki explained, looking at his girlfriend with a goofy smile.

Before it could get awkward for Jack, North began talking.

"Fellow spirits, it is great honor for me to announce that the first activity is ice skating! Bunnymund here, will lead you to the lake!" Jack felt his blood freeze for a moment and he would have tipped over if someone didn't stop him. Pitch had finally shown up to where they were waiting, and just in time too.

"Well Jack, looks like you'll be my partner for this. You are my roommate after all." Jack could barely stand, they would be...ice skating? He couldn't ice skate again... It was different before he remembered, now all he could hear was his sister's worried voice, and the clinking of her skates as he threw her with his shepherds hook to safety.

"Do we really have to ice skate?" Jack tried to keep his voice steady. Pitch looked over curiously before barking out a laugh.

"Hah! Jack Frost the ice spirit is actually afraid of ice skating!" Pitch couldn't believe it. Of all the things for Jack to be afraid of, ice is something he never would have guessed. Jack however didn't find it funny and was looking at Pitch expectantly for an answer.

"Of course! I'm not losing because my partner has a little fear of ice skating, that's idiotic." Pitch's expression darkened when he saw Jack walking away despite what he said. Pitch grabbed Jack's arm roughly and pulled him to where Bunny was leading the group.

They ended up at the frozen lake that they could see from the patio outside their room. Jack couldn't stop the shudder that racked though his body at the sight of it. It was like day all over again. He was going ice skating with someone, what if the ice broke? No that couldn't happen, he had ice powers now. He pushed the fear back as much as he could and instead focused on Pitch's grip on his arm.

"Alright because some spirits do have heat powers we had the elves make two pairs of skates that powers cannot flow into, these skates will also expand or shrink to fit you feet. Think spandex." North announced. Jack felt his fear return at full force.

"Jack, don't worry. It's not like we're going first. Someone else is more likely to find thin ice first." Pitch soothed, releasing his grip on Jack arm in favor of stroking Jack's soft hair. Jack nodded, his eyes not once leaving the lake.

"First on the lake would be..." North flipped though a book in his hands,

"Ah, Jack frost and Pitch black. Frost is a frost spirit after all!" North handed the skates to the two of them. Jack and Pitch both laced up and clomped towards the lake. Pitch could see that Jack wasn't going to start skating himself so he decided to give the snowflake a little help. Pitch pushed Jack forward, Jack wobbled as he got on to the ice and almost fell, but once he started moving his feet he realized it was just like without skates. He could do this. Jack began spinning around and sliding happily. Unaware of Pitch, who had never felt the need to ice-skate before and therefore was like a baby deer walking for the first time. Pitch wobbled, embarrassed that all the spirits could see him failing. His skate got caught on a small crack in the ice and it snagged him forward. He toppled over and knock over Jack who was in the air at the time doing a jump. Jack fell hard on the ice in the middle of the lake, he started to stand up rubbing his already sore back, when he heard a horrible sound. The ice was beginning to crack. Jack had fallen hard onto already thin ice. His vision had clouded over and all he could hear was that horrible crackling sound. Everyone watching was silent, the gravity of what was happening finally hitting them. Pitch looked on in horror as the cracks lengthened and reached farther. His eyes met Jack's as the ice finally broke. Jack screamed, but it was stopped as he hit the water. The underwater current pulled him under and before he could even try to swim upwards, his ice powers activated. The surface of the lake froze over again, leaving Jack falling deeper and deeper into the water. A silent scream echoing though the water.

Chapter Text

Pitch re-joined his fellow dark spirits in the cafeteria, but instead of listening to their conversations, he found himself distracted by something. A white haired, blue eyed something to be exact. The crazy spirit of fun he had met several decades back had definitely changed over the years. Every time Pitch met him he seemed to be different. From innocent of the world, to weary of it. People thought that Pitch loved misery but was he called 'the misery king'? No? That's right he's not because he's the nightmare king. He is the balance where Sanderson is the fun. Sandy brings children a good nights sleep and something good to dream of. Pitch brings them fear, not because he wants to but because he needs to. Children need fear in their lives so that aren't reckless little Griffindors (Yes he had read the book, and yes it was wonderful). Healthy fear is good. If children didn't know to be afraid of a snake they would just march right up and try to pet it, where would that get them? The guardians were so high on their positions as 'Guardians of all children' that they think anything 'negative' that comes into contact with 'Their' children was evil. Sure he went on a power rampage every now and then but c'mon! When you had the amount of power he had in the dark ages, you would do anything to get it back. But that's what's so special about Jack. He cares about the children. Even when they couldn't see him, he knew them by their names and wanted them to be happy despite the fact that he so obviously wasn't. That's what the guardians needed to be, not some old people who live to be believed in. The reason the other guardians care more about the number of believers they have than who their believers are is that they are (Besides Sandy) dispensable. The world doesn't have to have Santa clause, or the tooth fairy or the Easter bunny, it can go on without them. Spirits like Jack Frost are needed though, they do more than create fun they also control the weather. Without weather control people could die, people wouldn't die with the tooth fairy.

Pitch was pulled out of his musings when the spirits gathered began to stand up and make their way to the entrance where North was waiting.

'Where was Jack?' Pitch thought upon noticing that no blue hoodie wearing boy was flying above the crowd to see what everyone was gathering for. He looked around once more, in case he had missed him but no neither Jack, Loki or Helios could be seen.

"What are they up to now?" he grumbled, standing up. Nodding goodbye to the others once more he shadowported back to the room. It was empty, but spotless. He grumbled something under his breath about some spirits never being on time while he jumped into another shadow and appeared in the cafeteria. He finally saw Helios and Loki, but where was Jack. As he got closer tho them he realized that the moon haired boy next to them was actually Jack. He was dressed differently, dressed better if he were to be honest. Actually if he were being honest with himself he would say that the tight clothing made Jack look editable. But everyone lies to themselves every once in a while.

"Well Jack, looks like you'll be my partner for this. You are my roommate after all." Pitch was disappointed when Jack didn't jump in fright. He seemed to be scared of something else, and as the king of nightmare he could read peoples fears but he seemed to be getting this one wrong because there was no possible way this was right.

"Do we really have to ice skate?" Jack asked, his voice wavering ever so slightly. Pitch looked him in the eye before he started laughing. He couldn't help himself, this right here was irony at it's greatest.

"Jack Frost the ice spirit is actually afraid of ice skating!" Pitch thought it was the funniest thing he had hear in a very long time. He looked over to Jack who was waiting for him to answer his question.

"Of course not! I'm not losing because my partner has a little fear of ice skating, that's idiotic." He responded. Sure it wasn't really a competition, more of a 'get to know the person, fairy or bunny who's sharing a room with you!' type of game. Everything was a competition to Pitch in some way or another. Jack turned around to leave. He had never listened to Pitch before why should he now? Pitch grabbed a hold of Jack's arm with a little more force than he meant to, but it was enough to stop Jack from leaving. He pulled Jack out to where Bunnymund was leading the group to. They ended up at the frozen lake he had held Jack over outside on the patio.

Pitch could feel Jack's fear start to become stronger so he figured it was time to step in. It's not like it was a punishment to help Jack, either. He could hear North announcing something to the group, but to be honest he really didn't care right now. He released Jack's arm and pulled him closer

"Jack, don't worry. It's not like we're going first. Someone else is more likely to find thin ice first." Pitch soothed, stroking Jack's hair. It was surprisingly soft. Pitch always figured that it would course and frozen, but apparently cold does wonders to the hair. Pitch could have gone on comforting Jack for the rest of the day but North just decided to cut his fun short.

"Jack Frost and Pitch Black. Frost is a frost spirit after all!" Pitch had no trouble lacing up the skates the jolly man had given him, but Jack took longer as his hands were still shaking. He gave Jack a push onto the ice, it's not like he could get seriously hurt if he fell in Pitch could just reach in and pull him out. Pitch watch as Jack wobbled and then began what look like dancing on the ice.

'The ice truly is his home.' thought Pitch as he saw how alive Jack looked on the ice. Pitch stepped out to join him and for a moment he thought that an earthquake had begun. How did Jack do this so easily? Pitch looked up to see what Jack was doing and flushed in embarrassment. Jack was spinning and jumping as if he was just flying, and a Pitch could manage was to slide for a few second without falling. Since Pitch was watching Jack and not paying attention to his footing, he didn't notice the uneven ice and thus his skate snagged on it. He tripped up and knocked into Jack who was mid-air at the time. The force knocked Jack several feet from where he was and into the middle of the lake. Pitch managed to stand up and was about to go out to make sure Jack was okay when he heard the cracking.

His gaze moved to Jack faster than anyone else could realize what was happening, but Pitch saw it in Jack's eyes. Jack's eyes were widened in pure terror, and he was looking straight at Pitch. Did he blame Pitch for this? Was this his fault? Pitch; the spirit who was supposed to promote healthy fears, disregarded Jack's and now he was in trouble. Before Pitch could do anything the ice gave way under Jack and he fell in, a scream following him down. Pitch tried to run forward to pull Jack out, but he forgot he was wearing skates and he fell once again, this time only the water was below him. Before he could fall into the water too, the surface froze again. All Pitch could see was Jack's bright eyes looking right at him through the ice. This was his fault...All his fault.

Chapter Text

Pitch, along with everyone else present was unable to move. Unable to grasp what had just happened, until Pitch snapped back into reality. With fierce determination ripped the skates off of his feet and started ordering people around. He wasn't going to let Jack die. He was a general before he became the nightmare spirit, and he had never been more grateful for that than right now.

"I need all spirits who control heat over here right now!" Pitch wasn't a fool, he knew that standing around and trying to break the ice by himself was the stupidest thing he could do right now. He would get them to melt the ice and keep it warm until he brought Jack back up. The spirits of summer, fire, and the sun ran at neck breaking speeds to the middle of the lake and began firing whatever powers they could at the sheet of ice. The ice would disappear for a moment but start forming again as soon as they stopped shooting at it. The spirit of rain, a blue haired nymph by the name of Equius, had made her way onto the ice.

"I will go down and get Jack, it is the safest way as I can control water." She might have meant well, but Pitch was having none of it.

"You will not. I am going. Only I am going." He hissed as her his eyes darkening in threat. Equius moved back in shock and Pitch took his chance to jump into the water. He dove in, the cold biting at him through his clothes. He used his shadows to get closer Jack, thankful that it was somewhat dark in the water. He could make out the white of Jack's hair against the black of his outfit.

Jack's hand was reaching up at the little bit of light he could see, fighting the sleepiness that had invaded him. He wasn't so sure why he was sleepy, after all he had just woken up a few hours ago... Why was he cold? He had never been so cold before, he was past struggling against the current and just as his eyes closed he noticed something from the corner of his eye. A grey hand was reaching toward him.

Pitch had finally reached Jack, who was just floating there, un-moving. Pitch gripped Jack's shirt as tight as he could and began to swim as fast as his feet would allow him. His throat burned from the lack of oxygen but he continued forward, keeping in mind that it wasn't just his life on the line anymore. The closer he got the surface the faster he realized that it was frozen over once again. He couldn't help the tendrils of fear that began to constrict his heart. They other spirits must have decided that it would be better for them to leave him down here. A world without fear would be better...Pitch pressed on, increasing his speed, hoping that somehow he would be able to break the ice. But his clothes were becoming so heavy and his legs were beginning to feel like lead. He ran full force into the surface fully expecting to try and break the ice with his free hand. Instead he was gulping in breaths of fresh air?

"Damn, we thought you were never going to make it!" The spirit of fire shouted joyfully, helping pull Pitch and Jack out of the water. Pitch would have snapped at him but at the moment he couldn't stop breathing. The air actually hurt to breath in now, but his body still swallowed it greedily. Equius began trying to move the water out of Jack's lungs with her powers, and the other spirits helped Pitch stand. Pitch was shaking, whether from fright or adrenaline the other couldn't tell. He was too busy watching Jack to care what the others thought. It was all a waiting game now. If Equius pulled the water out there was still only a slim chance that Jack would wake up. Pitch wasn't even sure how long they had been underwater. A person could only go six minutes without air before they died, Pitch was sure he had only been under for at least three minutes...But how long had they left Jack under there?

Equius issued a gasp of relief when she felt the water move up. Jack sputtered and coughed, water spewing everywhere, but he was alive. Pitch felt like he couldn't move, Jack was alive. He was alive and there and Pitch was never going to let him go again.

Gasping for breath, Jack looked around. The edges of his vision were still blurry and he could here something echoing around him but he couldn't make out what it was. And then he was warm. Warmer than he had been in a long time, he felt protected and although he wasn't sure what was happening, he felt safe. Relaxing he pushed closer to the warmth. Pitch had swaddled Jack in his shadows and picked him up. The spirits from the group that weren't taken inside by North were watching Pitch in curiosity. The usually stoic man had been displaying so many emotions while he looked at Jack that they weren't sure what to make of it.

"I'll be taking Jack back to our room. Please alert the rest of the guardians that Jack is fine. We will be back down for the feast when he wakes up." Pitch glared at them, as if daring them to say something about his sudden niceness, before he walked off back into the building with Jack tightly wrapped in his arms. Helios gave a loud wolf-whistle as Pitch walked off though, cheering and dancing around.

"Operation: Blackice complete!" She cheered. Someone tapped on her shoulder and she turned to see Loki looking at her incredulously.

"You mean that was your plan the whole time?" Helios laughed and shook her head.

"Of course not silly. My first plan was to throw them both in a bag and only let them out when they became friends, or bonded over their mutual hatred of bags and me." It was said much to cheerfully and the other remaining spirits started backing away slowly, hoping they could outrun her to the safety of North's house. Loki however just pushed her golden curls out of her face and kissed her.

"And this is why I love you." he whispered into her ear. Before she could respond, he picked her up and began running back to North's factory. As he opened the door he announced that they were just practicing being Pitch and Jack for Halloween. The spirit of Halloween rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"As if you could ever pull off that role." Loki scowled over at him, putting Helios down.

"Do you not see this hair? This hair can do anything." And with that, North decided to start activity two to put everyone at ease.

"Alright, since Jack is alright now we shall move onto activity two. Log rolling! Is a group favorite, is it not?" All the spirits shared a look while they debated whether or not to run for their lives. North would be having no running though and began leading everyone to the indoor pool, It looked like Jack wouldn't be the only spirit getting hurt toady after all.

Chapter Text

Pitch believed the worst to be over when he laid Jack down on the bed. Jack was alive and with Pitch around nothing could change that fact, or so he thought. He in the bathroom getting towels to dry off Jack with when he heard a strange noise from the other room. Leaving the bathroom he looked over to see what Jack was doing. Jack was hanging off the side of the bed puking. Pitch was over in an instant, he sat next to him on the bed, rubbing him back and whispering,

"Shh, it'll be alright Jack, It's fine, don't worry." Jack laid back against Pitch, his chest bobbing as he started crying. It had been hundreds of years since Pitch had had to deal with a sick person, let alone comfort them. Was there something he was supposed to do? Jack was just so tired but his stomach felt like it was ripping itself apart, and once more he was bent over throwing up onto the floor. Having Pitch there made it a lot better, even if it didn't ease the pain. This had been the first time someone had actually tried to help him when he was sick. All those times he had ingested something and no one there to tell him what was wrong with him. Sometimes he felt that he would never stop throwing up. That it would continue on forever and ever until he died. Of course he knew it couldn't happen, humans puked all the time but they stopped after awhile, being sick just made upset him terribly and made him more emotional. Pitch was terrified though. Jack had almost drown and now he was throwing up? Despite his hatred of the guardians he suspected he would need their help. Pitch pushed Jack's bangs away from his face but immediately drew back. Jack's forehead was burning hot, for a being who created ice and froze what he came into contact with Pitch could only guess how bad it was for him to have a fever. Without further hesitation Pitch stood up.

"Jack, you're going to have to stay up a just little while longer okay? I'll be right back. It's all going to be fine." Pitch shadowported to where The guardians were. North was running on a log in the pool, next to mother nature who looked as if she was giving North a run for his money. He made his way through the crowd of spirits to the other three guardians who were sitting next to the diving board. Bunnymund was the first to notice his arrival.

"Where's Jack? Did you just decide to leave him and come join the fun down ere'?" For a bunny he sound Australian enough, alright.

"No, I came down here to get you three, I-i need your help." He hated admitting that but Jack was in trouble.

"Why? Whats happened to Jack? Is he alright?" Tooth was frantic and Sandy had a barrage of question marks hanging over his head.

"He's sick, he puking and he has a fever." Pitch explained, trying to ignore the urge he had to wring his hands.

"A FEVER!" Tooth screamed, Pitch went to put a hand over her mouth to prevent her from alarming the other spirits but Bunny stepped forward threateningly. He had never had much reason to fear the bunny but Pitch had to admit that the look in his eye when he stepped toward Toothiana was a frightening one. Pitch threw his hands up in apology.

"Yes, now we have to go, grab each others hands." They did so and Pitch shadowported them back to Jack.

Jack was laying back on the bed, a sheen of sweat on his face. He was coughing ever so slightly but he looked up when they walked forward. Tooth called some baby tooth's to come clean up the mess, although the strange thing about was it was just pure water. No stomach acid at all. Jack felt hazy, a great weight was upon his heart and he looked up at Tooth and Sandy.

"It's just not fair." He began, trying his best to sit up and failing miserably.

"I just miss her so much, and I couldn't even remember her for so long. She was so scared.." The others present looked at him in question, what was he talking about? Had he had a girlfriend that they hadn't know about? Bunnymund hopped into the bathroom to get him a cold washcloth, because apparently this fever had really messed up his brain.

"A-and mom had told us not to go on the ice, said it wasn't safe." Jack felt bile rise up in his throat once more, but not enough that he was actually going to throw up yet. He shifted uncomfortably before he continued talking.

"But I said we would be fine. I-I thought we would be fine, and- and then the ice started cracking and she was just so scared." Jack started sniffling, and sandy joined Bunny in his search for a washcloth. Tooth felt an overwhelming wave of horror strike her as she realized what Jack was telling them.

"I told her we would just play hopscotch like usual and everything would be okay, but she was smarter than that. She knew it wouldn't be alright. Still I got her to play and on three I pulled her over with my shepherds hook, and she was safe." He had started crying now and Pitch was back over on the bed, brushing his hands through Jack's hair.

Sandy floated in with a cold washcloth that he found behind the door, He handed it to Pitch. Pitch rubbed it on Jack's head soothingly, hoping it would help him.

"The force I had to throw her with threw my back too. But I fell where she was before. An' when I stood up the ice broke all the way. All I could hear was her screaming for me as I fell down." The sobs were racking through him but he felt like he needed to tell someone.

"And I was just so scared, I couldn't breathe no matter how hard I tried and I didn't know how to swim. But when I woke up it was so dark. And then I saw the moon." Despite being cooled by the washcloth he carried on with his story. Though now he felt well enough to sit up on his own, he still leaned back into Pitch.

"The moon he just told me that my name was Jack. That's it, just Jack. And I wandered around for years, with no one that could see me, and I didn't know why! I couldn't eat or I threw it all up, I couldn't sleep or I wouldn't wake up, it was horrible!" He was back to crying again. After three hundred years of keeping all this to himself he was finally telling someone, not just keeping it all to himself. The rest of the guardians looked horrified, Pitch tensed more and more as Jack continued his story. How could one boy go through so much without them noticing?

"And then finally, I got a chance to be a hero, a guardian. Though you all would have turned on me at any minute, like you did when you thought I was working with Pitch. Did you know that I was hugged for the first time in 300 years, by a kid who had just met me? My first hug in 300 hundred years and its someone who barely knew me, not someone I had known for years. Jamie didn't even have to know me, it just makes me think that humans are so much better than us.." And then he was glomped into a hug by a sobbing Toothiana.

"I'm s-so sorry Jack, I had n-no idea!" She whined, only to be interrupted by a knock on the door. Loki walked in with Jack's old clothes, fresh out of the North's dryer.

"Here Jack, I got these dried for you since those got soaked." He helped Jack out of the bed and to the bathroom, handing Jack the clothes at the door. Jack walked out of the door, yawning, with his old clothes back on a few minutes later.

"Listen Sandy, Tooth, Bunny, Loki? You all should head back downstairs, I'll stay with Pitch." He looked over to Pitch, his eyes full of hope.

"That is, if you'll stay with me?" Jack hadn't meant to sound so hopeful but it just made Pitch smile.

"Of course I'll stay with you." Jack climbed into the other bed, since his clothes had gotten the previous one wet, and Pitch joined him. The others left, Bunny and Tooth left hand in hand, but Loki halfway down the hall realized he had forgotten his clothes that he had lent Jack, in the bathroom. Loki went back and quietly opened the door, hoping not to disturb Jack. What he hadn't expected to see was Pitch asleep also. Jack and Pitch were laying next to each other, Jack snuggled into Pitch and Pitch's arms around Jack.

Loki smiled and shut the door, he could always pick up his clothes later.

Chapter Text

Jack woke up feeling surprisingly warm. Not uncomfortably warm, but just right. He went to stretch out but found that his arms were constricted by that same warmth. Not sure if he wanted to move and destroy this comfortable feeling he had he tried to fall back to sleep, but then something touched his hair. He opened his eyes and looked to see exactly what was holding him and saw a gray pair of arms wrapped around his torso. Blinking he turned around so that he could see what touching his hair and found himself face to face with a sleeping Pitch Black. Pitch's chin had found it's resting spot on Jack's head. Jack let out an out of character giggle at seeing the sleeping nightmare king. For some reason he didn't see Pitch as much of a snuggler, more of a 'You sleep on the bed and I'll sleep under it' type of person. In fact he didn't see Pitch as the type of person to share his bed with anyone. He squealed as Pitch reassessed his hold and pulled Jack closer. Pitch opened his eyes and smiled down at Jack.

"You feeling alright then?" Pitch's voice was gravelly from sleep but the concern was still there. Jack decided he liked this side of Pitch.

"Yeah, a little warm, which is weird, but not bad weird." He was babbling and he knew it but he couldn't stop, so Pitch decided to stop him. He silenced Jack with a kiss. Jack stopped talking immediately, and looked up shocked before returning the kiss, or at least trying to. He wasn't the most skilled guy when it came to kissing, the only other time he'd been kissed was one awkward mix-up where Loki thought he was a mortal he had promised to meet up with earlier that day. (That's actually how they met believe it or not.) Pitch broke the kiss with a laugh that he couldn't entirely smother out.

"I'm sorry it's just-Heheheh- you're just too cute for you own good!" He stretched out and started to get out of bed when he noticed that Jack wasn't following suit. He glanced over to see that Jack was sitting on the bed with a... puppy-dog pout on his face. Pitch huffed and slid back on the bed.

"We can do this the easy way, or the hard way Jack. It's your choice.." Pitch looked at Jack to see what his decision would be but he just looked away in stubbornness. A grin spread across his face and he scooted over to Jack.

"Alright Jack, you want another kiss?" Jack looked over curiously, wondering why Pitch changed his mind so quick and that's when he saw the gleam in Pitch's eyes. Before he could get up and choose the 'easy way', Pitch made his move. Pitch once again moved his lips onto Jack's and while Jack was too dazed to think he moved them off the bed, and shadowported them to where the other spirits were.

They appeared in the middle of the cafeteria, lips locked in a kiss and hair tousled from sleep. Everyone around them gasped and their mouths fell open. Murmurs of 'Is that Pitch and Jack? I didn't know they were like that!' surrounded them and Jack pulled back with a bright red blush covering his face. Pitch laughed and guided the overly embarrassed snowflake over to Bunnymund, Tooth and Sandy's table. Pitch left to get a plate of food and left Jack at the table with all his friends waiting for an explanation. Jack opened his mouth to say something, then snapped it shut. What could he say? What exactly was going on? He liked Pitch for his surprisingly good humor and Pitch just liked him for his body? While he would love to say something like that to get back at Pitch, his friends wouldn't be able to look at him the same way again...

"I'm gay." They stared at him like he had grown two heads.

"Of course we know your gay Jack! Everyone knows that! What we don't know is what going on with you and Pitch." Bunny was 'surprisingly' blunt in his wording, but everyone present at the table nodded in agreement. Even mother nature, who had swept by to see what was going on with one of her weather spirits, nodded. Jack felt himself break out into a cold sweat. All of the sudden his shirt collar felt like it was choking him and the room suddenly felt too small.

"Yes Jack," Pitch whispered into his ear,

"Tell them what's 'going on'." Jack's blush deepened and he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

"Pitch is gay too." Pitch nearly choked on the cake he was eating, of all the things he thought Jack would say, that was not one of them. Everyone stared at Jack and then slowly nodded.

"Oh. We see what's going on here now, Jackie boys got himself a 'budding romance'." Bunny mocked playfully.

"Oh just go back to flirting with Tooth!" Jack retorted. Toothiana blushed, they hadn't known they were being that obvious. Bunny glared over at Jack before cracking a smile.

"Touche, snowflake, touche." After that the feast went on as normal. Spirits conversing with each other, moving from table to table to talk to old friends and tell corny jokes that they had heard from other tables. Around the middle of the feast North broke out the alcohol, saying that only spirits of a physical age of '21' could drink, which Jack thought was a shitty rule but went with it anyway. By the end of the night North was drunk, singing Christmas carols with the rest of the Christmas spirits and Pitch was dancing on the table with the other spirits that were more darkly centered. When it became announced that it was time to leave a wave of 'Awwws' surfed the room and everyone filed out of the workshop, saying goodbye to their fellow spirits, until the next year. Pitch came up to Jack before he could leave. Jack felt awkward, he wasn't exactly sure what this thing him and Pitch had, if it was anything.

"Would you like to come back to my place?" Pitch asked holding out his hand. Jack gasped, he was expecting Pitch to tell him that they could never work, that they 'were too different' and instead he was inviting him to his home? Pitch thought the worst when Jack gasped, maybe he was asking too soon, but it's not like he was just looking for a one night stand, he was planning to make it work with Jack.

"We can just sleep, if you like. I would just like you to come home with me, it's much easier to sleep with you around." Pitch couldn't believe he was still talking, but like Jack earlier, he just couldn't stop. Jack smiled a brilliant smile at Pitch and if you would have asked Tooth she would have said that his smile reflected the moonlight. Pitch felt all the breath leave his body and even more so when Jack answered him.

"Yeah, I'd like that Pitch." Jack took Pitch's hand and soon they were at Pitch's lair in Venice. Jack looked at the man who's hand was still linked to his and smirked.

To sleep or not to sleep, that truly was the question.