His Nightmare Queen (Pitch Black x Reader)

12: Mockery

"...Pitch?" You questioned skeptically. You took in all of your surroundings some more, looking all around you. "Is that you?" You peered as thoroughly as you could into the cornered shadows that distanced themselves from the few sunbeams you stood under. Still, just like minutes ago, you gained no reply. Although, you knew that if the Nightmare King was within your presence, this meant that he was aware of you having been away from the lair today. In that case, you forced yourself to quickly come up with a cover. "If it is, I just got back from a long walk, so that's why I sort of...just got here."

Well, you weren't completely wrong.

Another shadow crossed past the corner of your other eye in a blur like what you could have sworn were ghostly whispers momentarily teasing your ears, causing you to whip your head around once more in the opposing direction in search of the source. The unmoving darkness of the surrounding walls stared back at you, the sudden quiet emptiness settling in. You bit your lower lip nervously, wondering if you should try calling out for the King of Nightmares again or ignore it all and head on to the room he lent to you. Then, you took in a deep breath and let it out to relax, assuming what you were experiencing was possibly due to a stray nightmare scampering around in search of its master. You would think that Pitch may have been attempting some sort of trick on you for the sake of getting out an occasional chuckle, but he wasn't exactly all that of the pranking type. That seemed more relative to someone like Jack, or maybe any of the Guardians - but mainly Jack. Then again, just to be positive...

"You know, if you're trying to scare me, it's not really working," you announced to the surrounding kingdom, hoping Pitch could hear from somewhere nearby within. You crossed your arms over your chest as you waited for another sound or twitch from the shadowed corners. The stillness of the open space in which you stood weighed down on you, and you couldn't help but hug yourself a little tighter to make sure the pressure that you were feeling compressing on your internal organs was your doing. Maybe he isn't actually here, you wondered to yourself. Or maybe he's playing hard to get. You smirked to yourself and looked up to scan the stone walls for evidence of his hiding some more. "You're very funny," you dragged on. Giving up on waiting for another sign of his presence, you began to turn away with the knowledge that the king would turn up eventually. "I'll be up in my room if you need me," you spoke out, not caring if it would turn out that you were actually talking to yourself without awareness. With your arms still crossed, you chose to get a move on again to your intended destination. You then lowered your voice to a level for only you to hear this time. "'Course if you did need me, it would be more convenient for you to actually show your face once in a while..." you muttered under your breath.

A few more steps in the direction of the entrance to the corridor that would take you to your room and your guard began to gradually lower with rebuilding self-assurance. Although, just as you were about to head through the entryway and toward the other section of the lair, you were stopped dead in your tracks once more by a tall and dark figure smoothly turning around the corner from where you were headed in order to face you. The piercing eyes locked onto yours and made you jolt at the slightest and intake a sharp breath.

"Oh, Pitch!" You gasped in surprise, tossing a hand up to your chest and holding it there. You exhaled in relief as you registered the one who was now standing in the way of where you were about to go. "You are here!" You confirmed with a small smile, still getting your breathing under control to ease your sudden jump in heart rate. "A bit earlier than I expected, but..."

He showed you a partial shrug paired with the lift of a brow, not removing his glowy eyes from you that seemed to warm under the shade. "I decided to make my return sooner than intended," he responded. You hummed.

"Any particular reason why?"

He let out a light chuckle through his pleased smile. "To see more of my dear (Y/n), of course," he replied. You gave a breathy chuckle in return to break through any developing awkwardness in the atmosphere, and that's when you noticed the Nightmare King had started moving your way.