Chapter Text
Jack woke up in a bed. An actual one. A shitty one, arguably, but a bed, nonetheless. The blanket, that was draped over him, thick and warm. A scratchy type of wool, Jack reckoned, as he blinked his eyes open and stared at the boards of the crooked ceiling so awfully close above him.
There was a scent of candlewax on the air. The underlying hint of moist soil and root fruits not too uncomfortable, but it was there. The strands of the robust, woven carpet, that framed his low bed, rough and coarse against the tips of his bandaged feet, as he managed to swing his legs out over the side of it and down.
Somewhere in the distance, a burst of laughter rang out. Clear traces of merriment on the air. The snow outside, albeit thin, Jack found, as he turned his head to look - steadily falling. Layering itself against the slight edge of the window and rendering about a third part of the pane white. The bustling sounds, of the city further out, hinting at flourishing activity, as Jack abandoned the comfort and warmth of the blanket and managed it up into a standing.
He should definitely not be up yet. Head swimming from the fever that had barely broken, but he could manage.
And he would.
A string of garlic brushed his shoulder, as Jack took the first slightly wobbly step ahead. His newfound source, hooked over one of the sturdy beams that held up the ceiling as it were, swaying a bit back and forth, as he reached out a hand to touch it. Before him, around and behind as well, several buckets full of potatoes, kale, and what looked like parsnips, flanked the walls. Two large barrels likewise standing on either side of the doorless frame, with a thin curtain, that led into what appeared to be a kitchen.
It was as much, Jack found, as he left the, arguably rather crammed, pantry that he had apparently been sleeping in, behind – the kitchen here sporting a perfectly black stove, a table, five chairs, a bench, and a dormant hearth that was yet covered with enough fresh ash that Jack knew that it had been in use not an awfully long time ago.
There was a door opposite his own that led into another. The door firmly closed, but beside for that, there was nothing else to be traversed. No further rooms or nooks, and so, Jack turned to face the exit.
As in were with the pantry, no door sat in the empty frame at the front, either. Nothing but a second curtain separating the little house and that of the backyard beyond. The whole of the circular shape outside covered in snow as well as the window had been, he found, as Jack drew the curtain aside and stepped out.
The stone was smooth and cold beneath his bandaged feet. Moisture seeping into the carefully wrapped fabrics. The snow crunching softly, as he went through. All the way to the door that he had stumbled out of just the night before and went inside.
It was warmer here. A lot warmer. The few people, positioned in the corner and playing cards, looking up and over in Jack’s direction for a beat, before they lost interest and continued their game.
‘’Ah,’’ a chipper voice offered to the left. What appeared the innkeeper, leaned against the counter of a massive desk shielding the entrance to what seemed another kitchen or pantry. The surface of the desk itself covered by a rather generous stack of mismatched bowls. ‘’You must be the fainty one,’’ she roughed, as she briskly dried her hands off in the stained apron sat around her waist. Dark brown hair twisted up into a tight but messy bun bouncing a bit from the moment as she inclined her head at him.
Jack offered a rather stiff shrug right back. The movement aggravating the ache in the back of his neck. ‘’I suppose,’’ he agreed. Throat parched and aching from sickness, as he rubbed a hand over it. ‘’Have you seen Pitch?’’ he pressed, as shortly as he could to not irritate it any further. ‘’-Tall, dark and spooky,’’ he nevertheless added as he gestured out with his free hand.
The innkeeper waved him off. ‘’At work, that one,’’ she relayed as she pointed Jack to a chair near the softly crackling hearth, in which a huge, steaming pot sat squarely inside. The contents seemingly kept at a constant boil. ‘’Found himself a contract for the week through,’’ she concluded. Hands hardened by long and tedious labor finding his slightly tremoring shoulders and guiding him with, as Jack, slightly dazed, remained standing by the door.
Jack was forcefully sat down. Already half collapsed against the table itself by the time that the innkeeper drew back and made to grab a fire poker from an iron hook on the wall. One knee settled to the floor, before she rummaged around the smoldering embers.
‘’Where’s that at?’’ Jack pressed, just as a loud crackle, from the timber in the hearth popping, rang out.
‘’The old mill,’’ the innkeeper relayed, though that hardly brought Jack any closer to knowing the exact location, or distance, for that matter. Direction the only thing that he could sense. ‘’Think it’s to do with washing, but I ain’t got no certainties on that. He should be back by nightfall, though. It’s only a single shift for tonight if I got it right.’’
Jack hummed as the other stood up again. The fire poker placed back to hang from its iron hook before she trailed away. Back to the desk and the massive stack of bowls. ‘’I’m Katherine, by the way,’’ Katherine offered, and Jack only felt a little guilty for not having immediately asked.
‘’Jack,’’ he nevertheless offered back.
Katherine nodded. Clearly not one bit offended by his lacking manners. ‘’Care for some stew?’’ she trotted on.
Jack’s stomach immediately agreed. His mouth, however, did not. ‘’I ain’t got the coin,’’ he roughed. Hands numb, where they raked over his clammy face.
Katherine waved him off. Single hand already on top of the bowls and having picked one out. ‘’It comes with the room. Two meals and all, and you already missed the first,’’ she reassured, as she found her way back to the huge, steaming pot. ‘’Besides, it’s already paid for. Ain’t no stress for anyone that way. It’s better, you see.’’
Jack pressed the meat of his palms into his stinging eyes. Willing his headache to let up.
He supposed that was Pitch’s treat, then.
Somehow, he would have to see the favor returned.
‘’A bowl would be nice,’’ Jack finally agreed as he lightly parted his fingers, to which Katherine hummed and then poured the contents into the chosen one. The kink in her posture, as she stood up, obvious now that Jack was paying attention.
Katherine hummed. The sound light but disinterested.
‘’Had the whole house in a panic yesterday, you did. Gave us all quite the scare,’’ she roughed on a renewed beat of pace, as though the abrupt change in conversation made any sense, but alas, Jack reckoned – such it simply tended to be with busy folk. ‘’Especially the dark one,’’ Katherine huffed on, just as the filled bowl was sat down in front of Jack. A slightly bend spoon clattering to the sticky wood of the table right beside a moment later. ‘’-Came running in asking for aid. Ain’t think I’ve ever seen old William be up that fast and down on his knees outside before either.’’
In the corner, one of the men briefly abandoned his cards to flick his fingers to the ceiling. ‘’Aye,’’ the man, that Jack supposed must be old William, agreed on a bright note. Clearly acknowledging the conversation, though he did not partake any further. Attention back on the game that he appeared to be losing.
‘’I assume you are acquainted? The dark one and yourself,’’ Katherine asked. Narrowed eyes full of a heavy sense of scrutiny that Jack did not know what to make of.
‘’We traveled, yeah,’’ Jack answered back on a raspy, thin note. ‘’Got separated.’’
That at least seemed to give the other pause. ‘’Ah,’’ the tone had softened a bit under Jack’s solemn own. ‘’Not a pleasant tale I take it?’’
Jack briefly stared into the dark behind his clinging eyelids. ‘’Not really,’’ he gruffed before looking down at his stew. The slight orange of carrots, amongst the murky browns, the only bright colour in the bowl. ‘’What happened exactly?’’
Katherine shrugged. ‘’Dunno,’’ she shrugged again. ‘’-Said you’d drawn ill and needed a bed and a blanket. So,’’ she nodded her head towards the circular yard. ‘’Fog was willing to switch rooms with you three in order to get the bed that we fetched for you, into the pantry of his old,’’ she relayed. ‘’Got some water in you while you were out as well before tall William carried you along.’’
You three, Jack mused as he grabbed a hold of the spoon, fingers shaking, fogging up the bended steel as he dug in – Supposedly, that must be Seraphina that was the third, then.
‘’Where’s she at?’’ Jack asked, as he gently blew on the spoonful. ‘’The girl.’’
‘’With Kailash, my daughter,’’ Katherine named another individual, that Jack had yet to be introduced to. ‘’At the sanctuary during the day until you all move on. Safer that way, really.’’
It got quiet for a moment. Then, a set of knuckles rapped to the countertop. The sound slightly urgent.
‘’-Say, I’ve already stressed it, but that man needs to pay for all of you. Kid or not that little girl, you’re three now. Not to mention the mess you made yesterday, scaring my customers and all- so he gotta pay in full.’’
Jack gave a serious nod as he kept his focus on the stew. The thoroughly cooked carrots mushy and slightly sweet against his tongue. ‘’I’ll let him know,’’ he agreed and mercifully, Katherine left him alone after that.
And so, Jack ate the rest of his stew. The far-too-salty mixture warming him right through. All the way to his shivering bones. The warmth lingering still, as Jack got up and managed to push the used chair in on his own. ‘’Thanks,’’ he roughed. Whole body feeling prickly in his standing state.
Swiftly, Katherine waved him off when Jack went to snatch the bowl and bring it over.
‘’Leave it. I’ll take it. Just you go and rest up for now, yes? I’d rather not have a corpse on my hands. Bad for business and all,’’ she rasped and only somewhat sounded as if she were joking. Still, Katherine paused, as Jack started his wobbly walk back towards the door leading out into the backyard. ‘’Can you manage on your own?’’ she called after him, to which Jack’s hand clapped twice to the old frame of it.
‘’Yeah,’’ Jack’s raspy wisp of a voice pressed back as he passed through and then went out onto the cold stone of the yard. ‘’Thanks, though.’’
-
The crammed pantry had obviously not been built to fit a bed in it at all, Jack reckoned, as he managed it all the way in – Still, it was by far warmer than that of the kitchen, or the outside, for that matter. The woolen blanket offering the rest of the barrier against the cold that he needed, and really, Jack settled right then and there, as he climbed back under it, the curtain at the front blowing gently inwards in the breeze that swept through the snow-covered yard – this was by far preferable to that of the bread-smelling cabin that already seemed a faraway memory.
Now, Jack settled, as he, still exhausted as he were, promptly closed his eyes and settled a bit deeper under the blanket – Now he just needed for Pitch to end his shift and return.
Preferably safe. Preferably soon.
In a matter of seconds, Jack had passed out again.
-
Jack woke to the bustling of activity in the circular yard outside. The sound of several individuals returning. Doors opening and closing all around out there. The clinking of pottery, and other food-related activities, just loud enough to give the idea of scale,
Most of the houses and rooms were clearly occupied.
A good hour passed however, before a pair of feet made their way over the floor of the kitchen. The wielder obviously trying to keep their steps light, as they brought the gentle glow of a single lit candle along. The pinpoint of light drifting through the air. Subdued, until they made it all the way up, and then stayed right outside of the pantry for a prolonged beat.
Another passed, before an awkward elbow managed to shimmy its way around the curtain. Drawing it aside, just enough, for the wielder to peek their head in.
Jack recognized her instantly, as long raven hair cascaded over Seraphina’s shoulder. A bowl of what smelled like mashed potatoes in her hand. The lit candle in the other.
She looked rather irritated. The aggressive demeanor of someone deeply on edge at the addition of a stranger in what was, at least for the time, her home.
Regardless, she made her way inside. Stride secure. Spine straight.
‘’Katherine said that you’d woken up,’’ she clipped. The tone stern and regal. A driving force of nature. Unhurried yet hesitant to turn her back even for a second, as she placed the bowl next to Jack’s given bed and then went to the barrel furthest away from the window. Here, she placed the lit candle down first, then retrieved the other two wedged securely under her arm. Lit those. Left the two, and then grabbed the third to place to the windowsill instead.
Jack’s eyes felt sweaty as he squinted against the faint light. Observing the way that its shine illuminated the squared mountain of white that had collected outside during the day. ‘’I’m up,’’ he agreed. Hissing voice sounding as if someone was trying to force a raccoon through a pipe full of cotton.
Or it felt like it, at least.
Seraphina just raised an unimpressed brow at him as she turned. Chin raised. ‘’Pretty sure you are down right now,’’ she snubbed. A teasing edge to her tone despite the rudeness, and Jack could not help it. His lips spreading over a bright grin as he, while still reclined, managed it onto his side.
‘’I’m Jack,’’ he offered, as he reached for the bowl of, he had correctly assumed, potato mush. Keeping it in his lap as he sat up enough to eat.
‘’Seraphina Pitchiner Black,’’ she offered back, just as Jack grabbed the spoon and managed to somewhat hold it secure. The grin easing into a small wistful smirk.
‘’Bless you.’’
Seraphina, evidently, did not quite have the same type of humor as Jack did. Her eyes acutely narrowed, and Jack had not even said anything else. Did not get the time too, either, as Seraphina glared at him before huffing something clearly offensive.
Such foul words from someone so young, Jack had thought as he bit into the slightly grainy mush. The taste entirely too salty but a relief after days with nothing but evergreen leaves and snow to keep him fed – But at least, it had not sounded too terribly offended, if just a tad on guard, he mused on, as he watched her elegantly turn on her heel and stride away. Right out the same way she had come in.
‘’Try not to choke. I think we’d somehow have to pay double for that,’’ she called right back in way of parting, the second before the only door in the house opened and then promptly slammed shut.
Jack decided right then and there that he liked her.
-
It was several hours later when the curtain that led out into the yard was drawn aside again. A set of heavy boots making their way over the floors in the kitchen. Dragging snow and mud with them, before they were discarded under the bench near the table.
Jack heard the door on the other end open. Then close again. A muffled conversation taking place, before it abruptly drew quiet.
After a few beats, the chatter continued. Softer this time. More heartfelt, and Jack entirely felt as if he were intruding. Gaze drifting to the window, as he hoped to distract himself from the semi-private interaction.
The sun had gone completely down. The pale, silvery light from the full moon illuminating what he could see, of the opposite wall of the yard, in its ghostly glow. The room around him mostly bathed in a pleasant dimness, just on the right side of bright, as well. The two remaining candles only adding further to the agreeable visibility.
It was a couple of minutes more before the chatter finally died down. The door opening. Closing. Lithe feet making their way through the kitchen. Towards the pantry and finally, Jack felt a beat of restless energy shoot through him. The mattress of his bed creaking softly as he hoisted himself up on an elbow to at least sit up a bit.
An eternal beat seemed to pass.
Then, the curtain drew aside and despite his nerves, despite everything, Jack felt a genuine smile take to his features. Fondness flooding his chest as his eyes met with brilliant gold in the flickering candlelight.
If anything, Pitch seemed equally stunned.
‘’Hey,’’ Jack’s hoarse voice managed to croak out. Legs already hallway out over the bed, and Pitch just about looked as if he had been punched. The clawed hand that was caught in the thin fabrics of the curtain blindly flicking it behind him before he fully entered, hissed an urgent little noise and swiftly rushed to Jack’s side.
‘’Stay down,’’ Pitch urged as he kneeled. The hand on Jack’s shoulder gentle but insistent, as it applied pressure. ‘’Just please, stay down, Jack- You are not well.’’
Jack threw him a look. Brow slightly raised. ‘’I'm fine,’’ Jack rasped, to which Pitch’s mouth just thinned even further. Thumb gingerly gliding over Jack’s thin shoulder as he held his gaze.
‘’No, you are not.’’
A long moment passed.
Then, Jack laid back down, though he stayed on his side. Facing the other, just as Pitch sat back on his haunches. The tops of his thighs touching to the underside of the bed as he leaned closer.
It could hardly be comfortable like that. Still, Pitch did not seem to care. Most of his attire - Jack noted, as the hand on his shoulder moved in to press against the skin of his neck, checking for a break in the fever or perhaps just to be close - covered in dust and a fine hint of soil. The marks of hard, tedious labor littering his form.
If the tic between Pitch’s brows was anything to go by however, then the check-up had hardly been satisfactory. Pitch seeming hesitant, as the hand came to hover a bit beside Jack’s head. Seemingly uncertain if he was even allowed to touch any further- And that would not do. Not even for a second. The clawed hand, that Jack managed to snatch in his own before it could retrieve, red and raw from tedious repetition. Twitching slightly in his grip as Jack held it close, at the level of his ear. Pitch’s breath shuddering, as Jack proceeded to turn his cheek and nuzzle into it.
‘’We,’’ Pitch sounded awfully unsure of himself. Strangely forlorn and entirely off kilter as he visibly swallowed. Still, the palm on Jack’s person finally relaxed. Clawed thumb tracing a bit out over the delicate skin beneath Jack’s stinging eye. ‘’We managed to get a bit of water in you while you slept. Tall William and I, that is-’’ he offered.
‘’So Katherine told me,’’ Jack roughed with a small glance towards the general direction of the inn. Jack guiding the hand on him down until he could hold it at the level of his heart instead. Fingers gingerly interlocking while the other moved up to cover both.
Pitch’s slight smile seemed tired as he looked at their joined hands. Eyes growing a bit vacant, though truthfully, Jack was just as unsure of the whole thing as well. Even more so, as the brilliant stare of gold settled back on his own again.
Pitch drew a slowed, grounding breath. The sound achingly tender.
‘’You came back,’’ he pressed. The hesitant statement sounding almost like a question.
Jack could only offer up a small smile in return. Hoping, that it at least seemed firm. ‘’I did,’’ he agreed, to which Pitch’s lips grew a tad thin.
‘’Why?’’
It sounded as if he knew but needed the reassurance.
‘’-Told you I’m with you, didn’t I?’’ Jack pressed. ‘’I wanted to be there, with you, when we left. I still do. I didn’t-’’ it was all a little too much, really, but it had to be said. No matter how much it hurt to speak, it had to be said aloud. To be made real. ‘’I didn’t want to leave,’’ Jack settled. ‘’I didn’t mean to leave- especially not like that after everything that had happened, but it…’’
Pitch’s gaze grew heavy as Jack trailed off. Neither saying anything.
It was silent for a grand beat. Pitch looked off to the side. Then,
‘’How much is left of the week?’’ Jack pressed, to which Pitch’s lashes fluttered. Clearly a bit blindsided by the question, though he did not judge.
‘’Three days,’’ Pitch relayed, just as his gold met with Jack’s own again. ‘’We will stay until you are well enough to travel,’’ he relayed the second before his lip twitched a bit. ‘’If... you wish to come along, that is.’’
Jack cracked a tiny huff. The sound pleased despite everything. ‘’I do,’’ he reassued. ‘’And I’m fine,’’ Jack immediately said again, and while Pitch instantly seemed relieved for the first, he glared for the second. No real heat to it, though his tone was dry.
‘’No, you are not,’’ he repeated. ‘’Gods, Jack-‘’ Pitch pressed. A bit of renewed energy seeming to take to the line of his shoulders as the clawed hand in Jack’s clenched. A hint of teeth visible in the midst of the lingering, stress-induced sneer. ‘’You were so very pale. Barely breathing. It-‘’ Pitch swallowed something thick. Eyes briefly falling shut, and abruptly, he seemed far more worn than anything as his gold found equally tired blue again. ‘’Fog was not sure that you would make it. Insisted that we would all just have to wait and see, and I had wanted to-… You were finally here, and then to find out… To find out that I might not even get a chance to talk all of this through with you. Our mess of a relation, and the fact that I wanted you to come with me once it was all over. Once we were free to do as much. It…’’ Pitch did not finish that last sentence.
Jack did not press. Simply waited, until Pitch shook his head a little. Gold clearly pained.
Evidently, however, he was not going to continue. And so,
‘’Hey,’’ Jack tried for casual and knew that he had entirely missed the mark. ‘’I managed, didn’t I? I’m here, yeah? I got back to you.’’
Pitch’s small sigh sounded more tired than anything. The clawed thumb careful, as it caressed out over his knuckles. Gaze still achingly fond as it found Jack’s anew. ‘’You have done well, my dear heart,’’ he relayed, to which Jack just hummed. Still awfully sleepy as he were.
Pitch’s did not seem offended. The kiss that he laid to the back of Jack’s hand understanding in its press. Lips lingering for a beat. Then,
‘’Do you wish for me to leave?’’ Pitch offered as he lowered Jack’s hand back down again. Genuine care in his tone, despite his obvious need to be close.
Jack squeezed his hand for it. The small shake of his head entirely too stiff, but he could not do much about it. ‘’A little longer, if you don’t mind?’’ he pressed before he raised a shoulder at a semi-shrug. ‘’Or you could just spend the night? Unless you’re afraid of pantries. Or parsnips. Or-’’
Pitch’s sharp inhale cut him right off. Something clearly bothered in the shadow that passed through his eye. ‘’She cannot be alone, Jack. Sera is...’’ Pitch trailed off. Then sighed. ‘’Forgive me,’’ he started again. ‘’She cannot be alone and she cannot have a stranger in her bed either, and there is only the one except for this,’’ Pitch relayed as he nodded down to Jack’s.
Jack frowned a bit. Fully unwilling to press the issue any further. No, he fully understood. Could very well remember Emma’s own night-terrors that had left her unable to sleep unless she had company. His company, specifically, and at the end of the day, Jack dreaded to think on what Seraphina might have seen. What she might have experienced, under Jamie’s care.
Or the lack of it.
‘’I am sorry,’’ Pitch pressed and sounded sincere enough that Jack wanted to hug him for it.
Later, he would. For now, Jack just shook his head. Not one bit upset. ‘’Don’t think about it. It’s alright. I’m just glad you can be there for her.’’
That, at least, seemed to bring the other a wistful smile. The edges pained. ‘’As am I.’’
It got quiet for a beat. Each second feeling heavier.
Then, something within Pitch seemed to break. The tension fizzling out of him at an alarming rate. ‘’After we separated,’’ Pitch’s voice had gotten awfully low. ‘’I thought-‘’ a clawed hand settled to his own chest. Right over his heart. ‘’I knew you weren't. It kept pulsating. I felt it, but I thought-‘’ Pitch could not quite finish that sentence either. Jack entirely aware that he might not ever be able to.
‘’Hey,’’ Jack pressed again. Hoping to sound reassuring despite how hoarse his voice remained. ‘’It’s alright. It’s alright, Pitch- we made it, yeah? We made it through. That fucker is dead and we’re still here,’’ Jack shrugged as much as he were able, ‘’-somewhat in one piece, but we’re here and we did it. We did it. We got through, and I got back to you,’’ Jack pressed, as he threw the other a winning smirk, to which Pitch just closed his eyes. Too many emotions claiming his face all at once, and it was enough, it was enough- all of it, Jack leaning up on the elbow of the arm, that still held the other’s hand, so that he could tug on Pitch’s clawed own in an attempt to regain his attention. To tug him closer. Tug him down.
Still, it took an unreasonably long time before Pitch got the memo. The flare of brilliant gold tired but willing, as he gracefully bowed his head to claim Jack’s lips. The soft press of them unhurried. Gentle in their approach, as Jack kissed back with as much passion as his thoroughly exhausted state and the odd angle would allow.
Pitch stayed mindful of his injuries, and it was all that Jack could do not to breathe out a shaky sigh of contentment. The edges slightly desperate despite his tired state, as he snaked an arm around Pitch’s neck to keep him in place just a bit longer. The embrace loose. Accepting a retreat if wanted but needing the closeness.
In turn, a hand worked its way around Jack’s head. Claws gingerly skimming through his hair before the palm cradled the back of it. Holding him up and tilting his head ever so slightly back to allow for Pitch to deepen the kiss, and Jack all but melted. The soft moan staying in the back of his throat, as his nails gently bit into Pitch’s shoulder as his arm started to tremble from the light strain. Jack wanting to anchor himself and yet entirely becoming lost in the process.
The concept of time seemed a distant idea for both, it would seem. At least for a moment, before the hand still in Jack’s squeezed before Pitch started to draw back. Throat making a pained little click as he nevertheless stayed close.
Pitch let out a slowed exhale. Breath skimming across Jack’s grinning mouth as he seemed to deflate a little.
‘’I have been considering something,’’ Pitch started, as he traced a nonsensical pattern into the back of the hand in his. ‘’I felt you, Jack. I felt you move. I.... felt you. Alive and breathing. I could tell where you were. The direction of it. I could not tell if you were coming closer or drawing away, but all of the rest, it-’’ Pitch sounded awfully hesitant. The hand behind Jack’s head moving out. Settling deep into the mattress. His eyes a tad intense as he drew back enough to look at him proper.
‘’I swore to myself, that if I ever got the chance to do so, then I wanted to offer you a piece of my core in return for the one that I stole,’’ Pitch pressed, to which Jack just blinked. A tad stunned. ‘’Do you want a shard of mine, Jack?’’ Pitch asked. ‘’Do you want mine instead of getting your own back?’’ The hand in Jack’s clenched. Pitch awfully determined. ‘’That way, we may always find each other. That way, we will both have a strengthened sense of defense against anyone that would dare attempt to move against either of us. You, with your element. Me, with my shade. Cold and darkness. Ice and fear. We would be able to use both and be all the stronger for it.’’
Jack blinked on for a few beats. Then, his brow furrowed. ‘’Wouldn't it hurt though? It's... It's been hurting me a lot.’’
Pitch’s gold seemed heavy. Mouth pinched a little. ‘’I do not know,’’ he said truthfully. ‘’But I have a theory that it hurts because your core, in this present state, is, in fact, not whole,’’ Pitch explained, as he raised a hand and placed it to his own chest. Just above his heart. ‘’Jamie’s core did not hurt him, as he had stolen enough from others to fill his own. As does it not hurt me to have yours, Jack,’’ he explained. Head lowered ever so slightly to get his point across. ‘’And, if I give you a piece of mine, then perhaps yours would simply slide into that vacant space and fill it up. Completing it.’’
Jack hummed. Thinking it over. ‘’Do you think it could be reversed? If one of us, or both, end up not wanting it?’’
Pitch’s lashes fluttered at the creeping scent of victory. Jack’s building interest not one bit lost on him. ‘’If done quickly enough, then yes,’’ he said. ‘’Yours have... started to integrate with mine. It is becoming a part of me. Not merging as per say, but it is there. The edges of the shard fusing with my own core to protect it. To keep it whole. Or a part of the whole, if you will.’’
He was in. Jack was in. Of course, he was- The twitch of his lip betraying as much. ‘’Alright,’’ Jack agreed. ‘’Alright, we’ll do it.’’
From there, Pitch had gotten up onto the bed and kneeled before him. Then obeying the movement, as Jack pushed him back until the other sat down enough so that Jack could straddle him. Letting Pitch take his slight weight and keep him upright.
‘’So,’’ Jack started, as he leaned his head on Pitch’s shoulder and willed the room to stop spinning. ‘’I guess it’s the same procedure as last time. Just reversed?’’ he pressed.
‘’Something like that, yes,’’ Pitch agreed, as one of his hands curled around the edge of the shelf beside them to hold on. Stern fingers clutching at the wood, as the other found its way around Jack’s middle to keep him secure.
For a moment, they just breathed.
Then, Jack softly cleared his throat. The tip of a tongue darting out to wet his lips before he leaned in. Softly pressing against Pitch, just as the other took a deep breath to brace himself.
It took a moment. Nothing at all happening at first, but then, it seemed as though something within Jack’s chest started to vibrate. The hollow ache in his chest feeling like a gaping wound, as the shattered edges responded to the missing shard that was so achingly close. The pressure increasing further, until it managed to reach out. Softly colliding with something else. Finding the return denied, and then it pulled. Coaxing at first, gently, before it abruptly tugged. A yanking sensation, as though Jack was trying to find his footing in the midst of a storm.
It hurt. It did not hurt quiet as much to receive it, but it so obviously hurt Pitch as well, and in the end, Jack realized, as a soft little mewl, that came disturbingly close to a pained whimper, pressed itself into his open mouth and the shelf beside them cracked in half under the crude strain of Pitch’s clutching hand – it was not so much Jack taking it as it was Pitch pushing it through. The feel of it like scratchy fingers slipping down the back of Jack's throat. Coating his insides in white and black and red until it all ruthlessly collided with his own tingling core and curled up tight in the space that had been vacant. The space, that Jack's already stolen shard was claiming for itself in Pitch, equally filling out, before something in them both just clicked.
It was a strange feeling. Connected, as they were in that moment. Like two mirrors held up in front of each other and reflecting each of their physical attributes while still staying perfectly whole.
Both had access to the other. Both were their own.
And then it was over. The transfer of energy sealed. The gifted shard pulsating in Jack’s core where it sat snugly. Tight, in that vacant little space. Like a boulder in the middle of a river. The water running wild and free around it. Not one bit bothered, but it was unmistakably there.
He could breathe easier. A lot, actually, and Jack had not quite realized just how bad it had been. How hollow, his tingling core had echoed.
Or, he had, Jack knew, as a rather large chunk of wood fell from the death-grip that Pitch had been keeping on the broken shelf - He had just opted to ignore it.
Now, Pitch’s slightly shaky hand drew back to embrace Jack as well. Arms tight around him. Face buried in his neck for stability. A ragged breath skimming his skin, as Jack, a little winded himself, managed his own arms around Pitch in turn.
It was a strange sensation. Strange, in the sense that Jack could feel the shadows. Could feel them, but through another source. As though he were touching the leaves of a tree and felt the roots respond to his call.
If he pressed just a little though. Just a simple push, and-
Pitch abruptly shuddered, as Jack managed to make the shadows around the flickering candles sway. Jack raking his nails over his scalp in the aftermath for it. Soothing the other, as best as he could. ‘’Does it hurt?’’ Jack asked to which Pitch shook his head.
‘’It's...’’ his voice was heavy. Obviously tired, ‘’-a different sensation. As if there is wind in my veins, dragging me forwards,’’ Pitch relayed, as both of his arms slid a bit down. Around Jack’s middle instead before Pitch, face still in his neck, practically collapsed against him. ‘’Not much, per say. But it is there.’’
A long moment passed in quiet. Then, the shadows around the candles flickered again, as Jack started to get a feel for it. Not that it was easy. Not by a longshot, but the responding core, that he had stolen the shard from, allowed for a bit of control. Aiding him, as Jack successfully made the shadows thicken and thus managed to snuff a candle.
Pitch hummed. The sound as acute as it was distracted. Seemingly pleased by the outcome as he thought something over. Then, he surrendered a hand down to the bed, and moments later, a light layer of frost spread out. Swirly patterns weaving their way out from his spread fingers.
Pitch drew back a tad. Just enough to meet Jack’s gaze. ‘’Does it still hurt you in turn?’’ he asked, and Jack could not help but grin at the prospect.
‘’No,’’ Jack, more than a little delighted, answered.
No, his core was indeed whole again. Not entirely his own anymore, but the tiny shard, that he had been gifted, was so obviously a part of him, now. Foreign, perhaps, in the same way that the numerous scars, that littered Pitch’s skin, was a foreign part of him and yet a bigger piece of the whole.
‘’It sorta just tickles,’’ Jack concluded and fully meant it. The sensation in his chest marginally faded already. Reduced to a quiet buzz in the center of his heart. Ready, if he needed it, and Jack had kissed him for it. Had kissed Pitch with all the energy that he did not have. The pace slow and gentle, until a soft, subtle, shuffling motion had sounded outside of the curtain and drew them both back into the present.
Seraphina was listening in. No doubt alerted by the noise of her father’s pain. The shelf breaking. Or both.
Pitch let out a soft sigh. The man quiet for a moment. Gold knowing, as he looked at Jack in a slightly apologetic manner. ‘’I have to start the fire,’’ Pitch relayed on a tone that held far more strength to it than he looked to possess in that present moment. ‘’These nights get awfully cold without it.’’
Jack simply nodded. Throat hurting from the amount of speaking that he had subjected it to, but he was glad that they had.
Still, despite what he had said, Pitch stayed. Hands clutching Jack close, as though he was afraid that the other would slip away from him if he did not. Seconds drifting into nothing. A near minute passing by, until Jack was the one to gently push the other away.
‘’You gotta,’’ Jack said as he made a vague gesture with his hands. As though striking two rods together. Hands coming out to imitate something expanding, before warming his hands against it. ‘’You know,’’ he prodded with a slight wiggle of his brow. The teasing edge to his tone obvious. ‘’And I gotta sleep, you know. This is lovely and all, but I’m kinda passing out. So,’’ Jack tapped the tip of Pitch’s nose with a finger. ‘’Go do your thing, sweetheart.’’
‘’Yes,’’ Pitch agreed. His gaze a bit vacant, as though far away for a moment. ‘’Right,’’ he mumbled. ‘’Fire. The fire- yes, of course.’’
It was arguably strange to see him this lost for words. This lost in general, and Jack leaned in to press a lingering kiss to his temple for it. ‘’We’ll get another chance to speak pretty soon, yeah?’’ he urged. ‘’Gods know I’m not done talking, and I doubt you are either, but you gotta go now- okay? Sera needs you and I… I need to pass the fuck out,’’ Jack insisted, as he pressed their foreheads together for a fleeting beat.
Another creak sounded by the curtain, and Pitch seemed to snap out of it. His gold far less illuminated with there only being one candle left, but the fond look in them was unmistakable, as was the hesitancy. The notion of both only growing stronger yet, as he nodded.
‘’Soon,’’ Pitch promised.
‘’Soon,’’ Jack sealed with one last chaste kiss pressed to the way too serious lips before him.
If anything, the hints of the soft smile, that broke over Pitch’s face for it, seemed to smother the worst of his tension. The look on his face almost cautious, as he snaked a hand around the bend of Jack’s neck. Claws careful, as they drew him back in again for a final kiss that was anything but chaste. Soundless, perhaps. But filled with an underlying promise for more.
‘’Right then,’’ Pitch’s content tone settled as he gently, carefully, tipped Jack backwards. Back onto the bed. The position kept as decent as Pitch could, as he drew backwards. Out of the cradle of Jack’s thighs. Further back yet, before he stood. Grabbed the edge of the heavy blanket and delicately tugged it up and over the other. ‘’Rest,’’ Pitch agreed, as he leaned down. Lips soft, as they settled to Jack’s forehead. ‘’Rest, my dear heart,’’ he urged, to which Jack’s smile turned bright and pleased. As warm as it was happy. ‘’Rest. Rest now, and let us speak once you are able.’’
Claws gingerly caressed Jack’s cheek at a final farewell. The last candle snuffed on its own, before Pitch turned to leave. The soft chatter, that immediately broke out at a hiss right outside, sounding urgent. Worried, as Seraphina started pelting her father with questions.
Patiently though, Jack could hear the soft tones that came in return. The reassuring words that Pitch offered her in the face of her own frights. The two managing the nervous tension that had clearly built in her, until Seraphina finally huffed. Then sighed. Then swallowed something thick and seemed to accept it. Her heart settled. Not at peace, exactly, but settled enough that Pitch could guide her back to the room with the door. Tuck her in, and then leave to go stoke the fire before rejoining her for the night.
Back in the pantry, Jack had already settled in. Snug and warm under the heavy blanket, as he closed his eyes, and was out like a light.