His Nightmare Queen (Pitch Black x Reader)

18: Watching

Pitch was not anywhere in the lair to be found by you, to your surprise, when the late afternoon arrived. Your head was still groggy with fatigue, though you were better rested now as you searched around by popping your head in nearby rooms while wandering the space in your nightshirt. You knew that at some point in the night he had stayed by your side, but you don't recall him having ever left the room. Something in your mind was silently hoping it had nothing to do with last night's brief event, and that hopefully you didn't hit anything too hard within him that struck him to need some time for himself. Whether he had left for his own sake, to allow you to rest more peacefully maybe, or possibly some unspoken third reason, it still struck you as odd.

Your bare feet padded over the stone floors, brows furrowing with confusion each time you peeked inside a dark room, occasionally calling out his name, and finding it empty of the dark spirit. Frustration mixed with concern as you could not tell whether he was still somewhere in the depths with you or if he had actually left you entirely alone when he had promised not to. Eventually though, you forced yourself to put it off for a bit to allow yourself back into the bedchamber and get dressed before proceeding for the day. You knew you had to shrug off any building fear and steer clear of the shadows to avoid any unwanted encounters again anyway.

It had only been almost a week since the mishap with what Pitch described as the fearlings, marking it mid-June and nearly two weeks since your graduation. The two of you still hoped that the first encounter was the last of them, perhaps a stray that had survived in hiding for decades only to prey on whatever victim it had seen as untainted by its magic. As your mind ponders it, you try to let it go through a long exhale of air past pursed lips while you retrace your steps after having turned around.

You re-enter the bedchamber through the set of doors you had left halfway open and gently push them shut behind you before continuing in on light feet. You then head over to what there may be for you in the wardrobe after having moved a fraction of your clothes from your previous room over to this one. Whipping open the twin doors to the massive carved cabinet, you examine your choices. Knowing you didn't have many plans for the day, it didn't bother you to settle for a pair of leggings set with one of your university sweatshirts that still carried the haunting scent of hot printer ink from essays submitted thirty seconds before the deadline. It certainly still did the trick in granting comfort while lounging with a cup of undercooked noodles.

The moment you fit your head past the hood and adjust the bottom hem of the garment, tossing your nightshirt aside, you swing around to get on with the day and instantly jump.

Pitch frowned while gazing down at you placing a hand over your chest to calm yourself, heart having skipped a beat at your sharp gasp in surprise and eyes shutting in accord. When you reopened them, your shoulders dropped and you stared back in both relief and seriousness.

"Where have you been?" You questioned. "I've been looking for you all afternoon!"

"Says the one who's only been awake for half an hour, and it's already past three," he responded flatly. You force a chuckle through your nose.

"It's not my fault I wasn't able to fall asleep until around five A.M." You crossed your arms at him, to which he hummed with a sly expression.

"To answer your question however, the mares had to be sent off a moment ago," he noted, "and I figured I'd come back to check on you."

You officially calmed yourself with the reassurance of your own nodding. "I was beginning to think you left me alone here," you joked. "Got kinda worried that you'd let me get attacked by a fearling while you were away..." you glanced down at the floor for a split second. When you looked back up at him, you bit the inside of your cheek to keep yourself from smiling too wide, but it didn't prevent the rose from blushing the surface. "Especially after last night."