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Kozmotis had been enjoying a quiet afternoon and night. He had no project that needed work, nor did he have shoots or meetings scheduled for the next day. He was free to enjoy the winter night as he wanted, hidden away in a secret cwtch reading horror novels halfway for inspiration, and halfway to criticize and mentally mock them.
So, when his phone rang, naturally, like any sane soul awake in the wee hours of the morning, he ignored it. Then it rang again, pausing for only the moment it took whoever was calling him to press the call button again. A double call at midnight was an almost universal 'emergency' call. That or an ex. Depressingly, Kozmotis's ex was dead so it couldn't be her.
With a deep sigh, he stood and left his hideaway to go grab his phone, officially in a surly mood thanks to the depressing turn his thoughts had taken. By the time he reached the phone in the kitchen, it had hung up and started ringing a third time, at which point the concern in Kozmotis kicked up over everything else.
Apon seeing Jack's caller id, Kozmotis had no idea what to be feeling. Naturally, he felt concern, as he tended to whenever Jack was involved with something unknown, which happened a lot. On the other hand, it was Jack. Jack was entirely the type of person to spam call someone else because he had an idea or wanted to play a prank.
With a not insignificant amount of trepidation, Kozmotis answered the call, putting it on speaker and setting it back on the counter.
"Hello?"
"Ah, Pitch, hey-" the word got dragged out, "It's about time you picked up. Kinda rude not gonna lie." Well, Jack was drunk. There was defimately a lazy drawl to his words as he tossed difficult vowels out. Which, didn't give Kozmotis any ability to decide between concern and annoyance.
"You called because-" he prompted.
"Right, right yeah, about that, okay, so, uh," there was a small pause, "do I sound drunk?"
"Vaguely. Why."
"Because I am. Quite a bit so actually."
"That fails to explain the call."
"I'm getting there I'm getting there shut up. So, you know how I do stupid things sometimes?"
Well. It was officially concern. "Yes. Of course." Kozmotis picked the phone back up and started heading in the direction of being ready to leave, because it seemed he might have to leave soon.
"Okay so I did that."
After waiting a moment and Jack not explaining, Kozmotis pinched the bridge of his nose and held back a sigh, "That stupid thing was-" he prompted again.
"Right right. You know how I don't have a car?"
"Yes."
"I wanted to try out this new bar, but z'also like, hella away from my house."
"Did you walk to the bar?" Kozmotis could not keep the disappointment out of his voice.
"Well, sorta. See, I'm pretty good at directions, right? I know how to get around, 'm good at directions, but when I walked here, because that's what I did, I walked here, I kinda walked on rooves most of the way. Rooves and stuff. Stuff that's up. You get what I mean. Yeah," he seemed to reassure himself, "so I don't actually know how to get home by street and I'm too drunk to climb and balance without pulling a humpty dumpty."
Kozmotis, having gotten everything he needed while Jack was trying to say 'I don't know where I am,' leaned against the wall next to his front door twirling keys around a finger, "You helpfully have the option of both uber, and taxi."
There was a long pause, "Okay so nobody seems to understand me when I say my address and it's not coming up on anything they look it up on so I think 'm sayin it wrong, do you know my address by any chance?"
"Yes? You've forgotten it? Your address?"
"No. Well, yes. Do you know where I live?"
"Yes."
"Okay so, I forgot the address that's like, you go there, and then you get to my house. I know my house address."
Kozmotis pinched at his nose again, "Jack, your house doesn't have an address."
"It does too! It's just not recognized by google maps."
"Or the post, or delivery, or the city, or the government."
There was another pause, "Okay but I recognize it."
This wasn't getting anywhere. "At what bar did you cleverly get yourself stuck?"
"Okay see, uh, that would imply I'm still at that bar."
Kozmotis could tell this was going nowhere. Rather than continue to try to pull the answer from Jack, he pulled up google maps and signed in as Jack, pinpointing where his phone was. "Jack, there's a cafe near you, The Beanery, go stand by it and don't leave. I'm on my way."
"Oh my gosh you're right there is." Jack sounded genuinely impressed. "That's cool, thanks by the way." Then he abruptly hung up.
Jack was, in fact, a ridiculous distance from his shack of a house and Kozmotis puzzled for a moment as he got into his car just how determined Jack was to try a bar that he'd cross over half the city via skyline to get there, in the dead of winter. Without thinking about how he was going to get back no less.
Jack was clever; it was one of the many things Kozmotis was rather enamoured with. The problem was, sometimes Jack's cleverness went out the window, usually as a result of curiosity, and those moments tended to have very big consequences. Kozmotis could only hope this would be simple. Pick Jack up and drop him off, done. Knowing Jack, he figured the chances of that were significantly low.
Kozmotis was pulled from his thoughts when his phone rang again, the sound disgustingly loud coming from the car speakers. A quick glance at the dashboard confirmed what he'd already guessed; Jack was calling him.
"Hello?"
"Pitch."
After a moment of silence Kozmotis realized Jack was waiting for an answer. "Yes?"
"The cafe's closed."
"I'm aware."
"Okay so why'd you tell me to go to the cafe?" Jack sounded absolutely baffled by the situation.
"I didn't, I told you to stand by the cafe. And stay there."
"Yeah, uh, that's boring as fuck, no. I'd die."
"You would not die Jack."
"I would and you cannot prove me otherwise."
"Just stay there."
There was a long moment of silence, then, just as Kozmotis was considering hanging up, Jack spoke. "'M gonna climb it."
"No. You just told me earlier you were too drunk to climb."
"Shit you're right. Nevermind."
At this point Kozmotis was almost afraid to hang up in case Jack forgot he was drunk again and tried to climb a building. Jack's uncanny ability and tendency to climb and navigate the skyline of the city was one of the more stress-inducing aspects of Kozmotis's life. Not that he'd stop Jack even if he could.
Alarm flashed through him when the phone hung up on Jack's end and he barely resisted the urge to call back, simply settled for the occasional anxious tapping against the steering wheel as he made his way to the cafe, hoping Jack would in fact still be there. Luckily, as he pulled down the street, his worries were eased as he saw the bright blue of Jack's favorite hoodie.
As Kozmotis pulled to a stop on the side of the road, Jack looked up from where he'd been sitting on one of the tables doing something on his phone. When he spotted Kozmotis as he stepped out of his car, Jack lit up and jumped off the snow-covered table in a tumble.
"Pitch! You came!"
"Yes." Kozmotis responded dryly. "I said I would, did I not?"
Jack blinked at him blankly before shrugging. His eyes slid to the side, looking down the street before his face brightened with an idea which immediately filled Kozmotis with dread.
"We should take a walk."
"No."
Jack looked back at Kozmotis, seeming to gauge if he was serious or not, before he let out an exasperated noise. "Pitch. You don't seem to understand. We should take a walk it'll be fun."
"No." Kozmotis gestured to the car behind him, "You are getting into this car and then I am taking you home. That's it."
Jack stared at him for another moment before he looked back down the road and seemed to come to a decision. He turned and started heading down the street and Kozmotis resisted the urge to simply kidnap Jack and drag him home forcefully. "Jack. Where are you going."
Jack shrugged again, "I'unno, somewhere and then home I guess." He stopped and looked back at Kozmotis. "Wanna join me?"
Kozmotis looked back and forth between Jack and the car.
Jack seemed to pick up on Kozmotis's indecision. "What, you don't want to go on a romantic stroll at midnight?"
Kozmotis looked back at Jack with unimpressed eyes, "It's two in the morning Jack."
Jack rolled his eyes like Kozmotis was being dumb. "A romantic stroll at two in the morning?"
"There is nothing romantic about this: walking about a dirty city in the dead of a winter's night."
"Aw come on now, don't be dull."
Kozmotis reared his head back a bit in offense. Something about Jack calling him dull hit Kozmotis. He scowled, "Fine, you get your way." And with that he retrieved his keys from the ignition, locked the door, and followed after a triumphantly grinning Jack.
Once Kozmotis had caught up, Jack cheerfully trekked forward down the street. After a few moments of silence, Kozmotis mostly focused on watching every alley way they passed, Jack sped up just enough to get in front of Kozmotis before he turned around and began walking backward.
"Jack, walk correctly."
"There's no wrong way to walk Pitch."
Kozmotis scowled, "You are drunk; you are going to trip."
Jack rolled his eyes, "I am no-" and then ran himself into a light post.
Kozmotis, having seen the light post approach and having said nothing, gave Jack a clear 'I told you so' look.
Glaring back, Jack stepped to the side and continued backward. "I didn't trip, I ran into something, there is a difference."
Just a few feet behind Jack, Kozmotis spotted a step where the sidewalk lifted a bit and walked just a little closer to Jack. As easily predicted, Jack, distracted by Kozmotis stepping closer, caught his heel on it and, with a look of surprise and something like betrayal, he fell backward. Fortunately for him, Kozmotis was already prepared and shot an arm out to catch Jack's. "And that? What would you call it?"
Jack, once he realized he was hanging off of Kozmotis's arm and not on the ground, gave something in the general area of a glare, "Laying down."
Kozmotis raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Well then, I suppose I shouldn't stop you." and let go.
"Wai-!" Was all that Jack managed to get out before he hit the ground sitting. With an over dramatic flare, he flopped back and sprawled his arms out to his sides. "Laying down. What did I say." He refused to look to Kozmotis, instead preferring the inky black above them.
"You know," Kozmotis drawled, hands clasped behind his back as he leaned over Jack, "A much better place to lay down would be your bed." His voice conveyed the obvious hint.
Jack's eyes flicked down to look at Kozmotis and Kozmotis could almost see the cogs turning in Jack head before he grinned and lifted himself up to prop on his elbows, "You know, I think an even better place would be your bed." The wink he tried to give after the poor attempt at a flirt was painfully obvious and overdone.
Kozmotis hummed a small noise and straightened up, looking down his nose at Jack. "It seems when drunk, your flirting is terrible."
Jack, in the process of getting himself off the ground, paused to give Kozmotis a horribly offended look. "It is not!"
Kozmotis, refusing to dignify the conversation any farther, stuck a hand out to help Jack up. Jack just glared at the hand before waving it off and stumbling to his feet on his own. "Can you walk normally now?"
Jack looked very sour, "Fine. But only because I've decided I want to." He declared.
Kozmotis was very ready to get back home.
A small almost-gasp came from Jack and Kozmotis turned to see Jack lit up with another idea. Then Jack turned to Kozmotis with a cocky smile and Kozmotis looked back down the street toward his car and wondered if leaving Jack was really such a bad idea. "You know what I've also decided I want to? You."
Kozmotis blinked at Jack as he puzzled out what that was supposed to mean.
"Do, I mean. Do you. That's what I want to." At that point Jack seemed confused by his own nonsense.
"If you're going to flirt with me, at least have the decency to flirt with me when sober."
"I do!" Jack threw an arm into the air, extremely exasperated.
A moment of silence stretched as Kozmotis tried to figure out what the conversation even was. "You do?"
"Yes." Jack hissed out.
"You do not." Kozmotis's voice came out a little affronted, "I've seen you flirt; you flirt with the rabbit. It is nothing like how you treat me." He was not jealous.
"Okay, no, that's fair, I do flirt with Cottontail a bit, but I mean, he's easy to rile up. Besides, he knows 'm not serious." There was a pause before Jack spoke up again, voice conveying a small amount of concern, "Probably."
"I wouldn't be so sure." He was not jealous.
Jack contemplated that for a moment before almost muttering to himself, "That's a problem."
Kozmotis simply hummed an acknowledgement. The conversation lulled and the two continued on in mutual quiet. He could not even begin to guess at what was going on inside the shorter man's head, and so decided he simply did not have the energy for it at two in the morning, and instead took the time to study the ghostly dead buildings around them tucked next to buildings still lit up and awake in the night.
"So," Jack started up again, dragging out the word, "you have any crushes?"
Kozmotis stopped walking to look down at Jack like he couldn't be serious. "Are you a child?"
Jack looked at him for a moment, before he shrugged.
"No." Kozmotis answered for him, voice dry, and began walking again, "You're not. You're an adult. So a-"
"Dam'it."
"-ct like one."
"Adulthood is overrated, how do I go back?"
Kozmotis raised an eyebrow, "You'd want to go back?"
"Well, yeah, wouldn't you?" Jack looked up at him with a questioning little smile.
"Well, my childhood was not, by any standards, fun. So no."
"Ah. That's sad." Jack stated like he was remarking on the weather, nodding a finger at Kozmotis. There was another moment of silence that Kozmotis didn't really feel the need to fill considering the turn the conversation had taken. Unfortunately, Jack had no such misgivings. "So. Tell me about this childhood." Jack gave him a prompting gesture.
Kozmotis returned it with an unimpressed side eye, "And why should I?"
"Well, you know what they say, you must be level 34 boyfriend to unlock the tragic backstory."
Sometimes Kozmotis genuinely questioned if Jack was of that world, "I was not aware anyone said that, no."
"Well, there's a secret second part."
"Oh?"
"You must be level 34 boyfriend, or be very drunk." Jack gave him a look like he was trying to show Kozmotis how very serious and true the statement was but was falling short a few marks.
"Is that so?" Kozmotis responded, voice dry.
"Yeah, and I just so happen to be drunk, so I've unlocked it. Give it to me, I've earned it."
"By getting drunk."
"Yes. Tell me."
"Somehow, I find this logic extremely doubtable."
"That's your problem, tell me."
"Why must you be so insistent?"
"Because it gets me what I want, now tell me."
Kozmotis sighed and let the quiet stretch. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to muddy the air anymore with sour memories but, looking down at Jack, there was something about knowing Jack was horribly drunk that made things feel, lighter, less dire if he were to speak. Part of Kozmotis whispered that had nothing to do with Jack being drunk and everything to do with Jack being Jack and Kozmotis promptly crushed and ignored that part of him. "Simple classic tragedy I suppose, mother was abusive, father threw me in her path to avoid her himself, constantly demanded things, specifically perfection, of me, then he left, and I was left with only mother."
"Hey!"
Kozmotis jerked a little in surprise at the sudden exclamation.
"Dad ditched me too. Same club." Jack gestured between the two.
"Am I also getting the tragic backstory?"
"Yeah sure." Jack shrugged.
"But I'm not drunk."
"What?"
"You said you had to be either, level 34 boyfriend, or drunk. I am not drunk."
After considering that for a moment, Jack made a face of pure indignation, "Well that's not my fault!"
Kozmotis opened his mouth to respond before realizing there was no responding to that. He shook his head. He wasn't even sure they were still having the same conversation. The mutual quiet built between them again and he realized Jack had completely forgotten the conversation from twenty seconds ago. "You claimed your father 'ditched' you?" He prompted.
"Oh, yeah. Yeah he did. Was homeless for the last three years of my childhood." Jack said, far too casually.
Kozmotis stopped walking as he tried to process that and how Jack got there. "Homeless?"
"Yep," Jack popped the p, stopping as well to look back at Kozmotis, "Dad ditched, and I ran from the social workers when they came for me once I was found."
"Jack." Kozmotis found he couldn't think of anything to say, once again, and so settled on continuing down the road.
"Yeah?"
"Your mother?" He finally settled on.
"Oh yeah, I didn' see mom or my sister until like, a year ago."
Once again, Kozmotis was completely lost, "She was alive?"
"Yeah?"
"Why did she not take you in?"
"Oh she didn't know I was thrown out. We didn't have contact, for all she knew I was dead."
At that point Kozmotis was just absolutely baffled, he stopped and grabbed Jack's shoulders, stopping him as well, and turning him to face him, "Jack. Start over. From the beginning. Explain this nonsense?"
"Okay, okay, so." Jack started, waving his hands down as though to calm Kozmotis, "Dad ditched all of us when my sister was born. Came back when I was twelve, decided he wanted one of us. Was threatenin' legal custody stuff, I vollenteered to go so sister could stay with mom. I guess dad got sick of having a kid two years later 'cause he ditched, again, and they didn't find me 'til the landlord came to demand rent. Got all that?"
After a moment of silent contemplation, Kozmotis finally answered. "I did."
Their walk took them through to a city park where white snow covered anything it could. The occasional circle of light shined on a winding pathway that circled the park. Carefully manicured trees speckled the field, all missing their leaves, and the occasional bench or picnic table sat, empty and almost ghostly. Kozmotis and Jack weren't the only souls unfortunate enough to be awake at two in the morning and wandering the city, and a few other people milled about the park, mostly, it seemed, couples.
None of that was what caught Jack's attention. Kozmotis only got a warning gasp before Jack was running off toward a pile of snow that was made by the snow being pushed off of the path, and threw himself face down into it.
Kozmotis winced. He had no idea how Jack could bear cold like that and, after a bit of time apon realizing Jack's tolerance meant he wasn't getting back out of the snow like a sane person, Kozmotis sped up until he was next to where Jack was. He almost looked like a corpse just laying there, pale as he was.
"Jack, get out of the snow." Kozmotis commanded, almost a grit to his voice.
Jack turned his head to the side so he could talk, which made Kozmotis wonder if he'd been breathing for the past near minute he'd been facedown in the snow. "No."
"Jack."
"No."
"Get out of the snow."
"No."
"Now."
"No."
"Get out of the snow Jack."
"No."
"Jack, get out."
"No."
"Jack."
"No."
"If I have to, I will drag you home, forcefully." Kozmotis growled out.
That, at least, finally seemed to give Jack pause. Unfortunately, Jack still ended up on the same result, "No."
With a heaving sigh Kozmotis leaned down to grab Jack with one hand to pull him up. Jack eyed Kozmotis's hand before he rolled away from it, consequently also rolling himself off of the snow and onto the pathway. Kozmotis walked around the pile of snow to get to the pile of Jack.
"Do I need to carry you?" Kozmotis raised an eyebrow.
Jack huffed, "You can't carry me."
With an unimpressed look Kozmotis once again went to grab onto Jack's arm. "I'm quite sure I could."
"Could you carry me against a wall." There was a suggestive tone to Jack's voice but Kozmotis wasn't entirely sure what that meant.
"Jack."
"Yeah?"
"Stop."
"No."
Kozmotis gave a quick resigned sigh and grabbed Jack's wrist, tugging him up. He raggdolled until Kozmotis had him sitting up, and then finally decided to comply and stood up, relying heavily on him.
"Jack, we should head back now."
Jack's eyes slid to the side to look at the park before they returned to Kozmotis, "One walk around the park, then we can go home. Deal?"
Koz supposed that was better then what they had been doing. "Deal."
Thankfully, Jack was surprisingly quiet for the trip. When Kozmotis looked over to him, which happened more often then he cared to admit, Jack seemed almost at peace. Multiple times Kozmotis found him with his eyes closed, which was a little concerning but it never seemed to hinder him. The night air was almost silent beside the background buzz of the city around them which Kozmotis had been in for so long, it barely registered. What did was the soft sound of their footsteps and the occasional heavy breath Jack let out to see it turn into a little cloud in front of him. Each time he did that the image of him watching the soft white in something between awe and wistfullness had Kozmotis's fingers itching to take a picture. Unfortunately he was far too close to Jack for him not to notice it.
As they walked, Kozmotis found himself more and more relaxed in the atmosphere and had to admit, it was nice. He was almost almost glad Jack had called him and brought him out there. While he would have been perfectly content with continuing to read until the sun came up and he decided to hide from it by sleeping, the walk was a break in the routine that came as a breath of fresh air.
Regardless he was still annoyed with Jack dragging him out there and so when they finished their circle and Jack shot him a pleading look, Kozmotis shook his head with a scowl. "No. We will go home now."
With a very heavy sigh, Jack bit out "fine." And started marching forward. His ire lasted about a third of the way to the car before he relaxed, probably forgetting what he was angry about to begin with.
"Hey Pitch?"
Kozmotis simply gave a short hum in response.
"I just realized. After your tragic backstory, things didn't get much better, did they?" Jack tilted his head to look at Pitch with a side eye, a surprising glint of sobriety in them.
"What brings you to that conclusion?"
Jack shrugged and looked back ahead of them, "I mean, military, prisoner of war, wife dying, child going missing." Ah yes, always nice to be reminded of that, "I mean, you've straight up just got a middle school O.C. thing going on."
"O.C?"
Jack sighed, "Original character, it's a thing. I can teach you."
"I beg of you not to."
Jack snorted, "Anyway, I had a point earlier with the backstory thing, but I think I've forgotten it."
"Fantastic. Word of advice? Don't go on strolls only to bring up past traumas." Kozmotis gave Jack's head a curt pat.
Jack made a grumbling noise and swatted at Kozmotis's arm, missing horribly, before he lit up, "Oh! I remembered."
"Fantastic." Kozmotis responded sarcastically.
"Yeah, anyway, do you ever worry that streak will continue?"
Kozmotis bunched his eyebrows and looked down at Jack for a moment wondering where this sudden subject came from. "You mean?"
"Like, when thing after thing happens, don't you-, you feel like something else is on the horizon?"
Kozmotis watched the buildings slowly pass them as they walked for a bit, not expecting the question. It wasn't like he didn't know the answer though, and, after as much hesitation as he felt he could get away with, he gave a quiet sigh and responded in a near whisper, "All the time."
Jack didn't seem to have a response to that and Kozmotis wondered if he was thinking or had simply grown bored of the topic. Something must have led up to the question though; it was hardly just a natural conversational response. Pondering over their words, it clicked as he recalled what Jack had told of his childhood. He also knew that Jack was essentially alone before he got sucked into the 'guardians' little click.
"And you?" Kozmotis asked, "Do you ever dread the unknown of what's coming?"
Jack's mouth twisted into a humorless smile, "All the time."
Kozmotis didn't know what to make of the conversation, or the night in general and by the time he spotted his car, he'd almost forgotten why he was out there in the first place.
Once they reached the car, Kozmotis went ahead and pulled the passenger door open after unlocking it, partly out of chivalry, mostly with the intent of getting Jack into the car with the least amount of interruption as possible, "Get in." Kozmotis gestured to the seat inside and relaxed his shoulders in relief as Jack complied and started crawling into the car.
Unfortunately, it was Jack, and halfway in, he stopped to look back at Kozmotis with mirth, "You could get in me."
"What?" Kozmotis's voice was somewhere between dry and baffled.
Jack just blinked at him and evidently didn't think of anything else to say and just turned back and finished settling himself into the seat. Kozmotis took a moment to stare ahead blankly and try to process how they got from existential dread to the worst pick-up line Kozmotis had ever heard. He shook his head and gave up, simply closing Jack's door after a quick check to make sure he actually buckled, and walking around to get into the car himself.
Once they were on the road, Jack seemed absorbed in watching the city pass them, the wayward souls out at night milling about and the lights sporadically lighting up windows and storefronts. Kozmotis couldn't help himself with the occasional glances he shot Jack's way. Just seeing Jack still and relaxed was enough to enchant him, reminding Kozmotis of just why he was out there. When things came to Jack, that enchantment always seemed to make him weak to the other's whims. Kozmotis gave his steering wheel a glare at the reminder.
"Wait, just one more thing."
Kozmotis sighed. "What?"
"I'm hungry, which is absolutely reasonable because I'm drunk so just, one more stop for food?"
Kozmotis looked over to Jack ready to say no, but he found Jack looking right back at him and in the dark of the night Jack's eyes always seemed to glow, and that close Kozmotis could see the ice-like flecks in them. Curse Kozmotis for his weakness. "Fine." With that bit out word, Kozmotis changed his course toward a small hole-in-the-wall gas-station like shop.
As soon as Kozmotis parked in front of it, Jack lit up and nearly started buzzing. "This is my favorite place!"
"I know. That's why we're here." Kozmotis responded in a flat tone.
Jack, already drunkenly hopping out of the car, looked back at Kozmotis with stars in his eyes that caused a little catch in Kozmotis's breath that he swore was due to dust, before continuing his tumbling out of the car and quick walk-run into the store. Kozmotis got out a little slower, not particularly worried about keeping up with Jack so long as he knew Jack wouldn't suddenly leave the building, and took a breath of the crisp night air to steady himself, looking up at the speckled sky with patches of stars missing, hidden behind invisible clouds.
He slipped his phone out of his pocket to check the time and gave a gentle sigh when he saw it was closer to three. Slipping his phone back in his pocket, he went to follow after Jack, having to take a moment to close the car door that Jack had left open and lock the car for the second time that night.
Once inside the store, Kozmotis took a moment to look around the colorful place. He'd only been there two times, the first time checking the place out after he'd found out from google maps how often Jack went there, and the second time to grab one of Jack's hoodies he'd lost. Jack had been huffy about it for a few days and never thought to retrace his steps from the day he lost it. Luckily, Kozmotis did. Not that he ever actually returned the hoodie to Jack.
The varicolored shop wasn't so much colorful in a rainbow child-like way, more so the sheer amount of stuff the shop held. Various decorations with no discernible theme covered the walls, each one serving both as decoration for the store as well as ware as every single one was up for sale. The store was mainly split into three parts, the first section was the area people came in. That was the most normal section of the store and the shelves and wares were all very classic things one could find at a gas-station, though there was an abnormal variety of snacks and candies, some of which Kozmotis wouldn't believe existed if they weren't literally right in front of him.
Surrounding that area like a ring were shelves full of, stranger, wares. It almost reminded Kozmotis of a tourist shop combined with all the none-clothing stores of a mall. The ring could be split into smaller sections of different themes, hippie, fantasy, gothic; it was almost a museum of things.
Then there was the second floor, which was where Kozmotis was sure Jack was, just on a hunch, even though all the food items were in the first area. The second floor was, distinct. It was like the strangest thrift-store Kozmotis had ever seen. There were rarely replications of items and everything was unexplainable in how it got there or why it was there. Paper tags with handwritten prices were attached to everything and Kozmotis had absolutely no idea how the place stayed in business. He couldn't fathom just how many people wanted to buy that stuff. He also knew that the place was open at the strangest hours, though he was pretty sure some of that was specifically so many of its customers were drunk.
With a slow stroll through the shop as he eyed the wares with vague curiosity, he headed to the back and up the stairs to the second floor and sure enough, he caught sight of Jack's stark white hair past random furniture and a short wall covered in random hats. When he approached Jack, he found him staring in fascination at a winter themed wind chime, little metal snowflakes bumping against musical pipes shaped to look like icicles. He lost himself a little bit as he watched Jack play with the thing for two minutes before he decided enough was enough. Before they moved on though, Kozmotis still took his phone out to snap a quick picture he knew the drunken Jack wouldn't notice.
"Jack. We are here for food, remember." He reminded once he had the picture in the right file and his phone was safely back in his pocket.
Jack gave him an angry look before obliging and carefully placing the thing in the little wooden, also winter themed, chest it seemed to come in. Once it was put up, Jack bounded his way around the maze of stuff and Kozmotis kept his eye on him until he disappeared down the stairs before his eyes slid back to the box. Out of a vague curiosity, he flipped the paper tag to check the price.
If he ended up buying the box while Jack was busy picking up various candies before putting them down once he spotted another candy that struck his fancy, well, that was his business and his business alone.
Once he had the thing in a bag, he looked back to Jack who was still entertained by continually picking things up and putting them back down, only it seemed he'd moved on to the chips at that point. Jack didn't seem like he was going to be aware of his surroundings or Kozmotis anytime soon so Kozmotis headed back out to his car to sequester the box away in the back seat.
Though, it seemed Jack was not quite as oblivious as Kozmotis had thought as, when he reentered the store, Jack seemed to pop up at his side.
"Pitch! You left!"
"And I'm back." With one hand behind his back, he gave Jack a single pat on the head with the other.
That seemed to satisfy Jack and he moved on to presenting Kozmotis with the handful of things he chose. Kozmotis just raised his eyebrows as he looked at them impassively.
Glancing down at Kozmotis's forearms where they disappeared behind his back, Jack looked back up to him with an almost offended look. "You didn't get anything!"
"That's because I didn't want any-" he was cut off by Jack grabbing his arm and dragging him back into the shelves. Kozmotis looked over the items and found no interest and Jack, after glancing up to Kozmotis's face, huffed and started flitting around, grabbing a few things Kozmotis had never had before.
"Okay, we can go now."
"That's a relief."
Up at the front desk, Jack poured his hourd out onto the counter in front of the woman unlucky enough to be working at that hour. The woman lifelessly scanned through the items and Jack got visibly more impatient as she went up and practically threw the money at her once she listed off the total. Pocketing his wallet and grabbing the bag, he seized Kozmotis's arm again and dragged him back out of the store, tossing a "Keep the change," over his shoulder.
Once they were both in the car, Jack drew out a few things from his bag and tossed them over into Kozmotis's lap. Kozmotis gave him a confused look and Jack rolled his eyes, "It's food, you're supposed to eat it. It's not that hard Pitch."
Kozmotis scowled and picked up one of the items: a strange potatoe based snack that almost looked like a chip but just off enough to make it questionable. He looked back over to Jack who was staring at him expectantly before he sighed and opened the bag, taking out a piece and popping it into his mouth. Once it hit his tongue he felt his own eyes widen, and he looked back down to the front of the bag in minor surprise. They were actually good, significantly so. He heard Jack make a smug little noise and looked over to see Jack settling in with his own snacks, looking quite satisfied.
Kozmotis felt a rise of hurt pride swell in him before it all left him in a gust. He still muttered a, "I suppose it's acceptable for an excuse of a potatoe." Jack didn't bother to react.
The two once again fell into companionable silence as they enjoyed the treats in front of him, Kozmotis finding himself actually liking each one. Each one except the chocolate. Kozmotis didn't like chocolate but Jack had been under the impression that he did for a year and Kozmotis figured he was in too deep to do anything about it now.
Eventually they started chatting again, this time luckily not about traumas or poor flirts. They talked about each of their jobs, Kozmotis explaining the current movie he was directing and picking out the flaws and fears of each person who worked under him. Jack particularly enjoyed Kozmotis describing the many ways he played on those fears just to mess with his staff.
Jack occasionally interrupted as something popped into his alcohol influenced brain but for the most part just sat there and listened. Kozmotis found himself telling much more than he'd intended to, losing himself in the descriptions and rants, his energy rising and falling with the reawakened emotions of each one and at some point he almost forgot Jack was there until Jack butt in with some quip. Eventually Kozmotis winded himself down and looked over to Jack who had a strangely fond expression that took Kozmotis back a bit.
Jack made it worse by asking, "Is this a date?"
Kozmotis hesitated as he processed how to navigate that question and he once again reminded himself that Jack was very drunk. "No."
"But it could be." Jack suggested.
Kozmotis pinched the bridge of his nose, "Well, if it was, for a first date, you've made a terrible first impression, what with you being drunk and all." Kozmotis couldn't help but wish Jack wasn't drunk. As horrible as all his attempts at flirting were, it still hit Kozmotis, and he wished Jack actually meant them instead of them being the product of an already flirty person being terribly drunk.
"Ah shit nevermind." Jack's mouth twisted in an unhappy look and Kozmotis got hit by a small pang of guilt. He opened his mouth to say something and fix it but Kozmotis had never really been very good at fixing social mistakes and so closed his mouth and started cleaning up the various bags and packets they'd gone through.
"Well, are you finally satisfied enough to go home?" Jack sat back in his seat and nodded, staring up at the ceiling with a despondent contemplation. Kozmotis once again hesitated, trying to find some way to undo whatever it was he did, but ultimately just shifted the car in gear and headed off.
The silence on the way to Jack's home was the first uncomfortable silence of the night and it ate at Kozmotis's skin. He almost never had difficulty with quiet and Jack. Jack was easy, for all that he could be a pest and dragged chaos with him. Kozmotis had yet to find a single person who could dislike Jack for very long after interacting with him. Unless, of course, he disliked them. So the cold air rolling off of Jack set Kozmotis on edge and when the turn to Jack's home finally came into view, Kozmotis couldn't help the wave of relief.
Once he pulled up on the side of the road and parked, Jack got out of the car and hesitated a moment before sticking his head back in the car. "You should probably walk me to the door, what with me being drunk and all."
Kozmotis gave him an unimpressed look. "Aren't you sobering up by now?"
"Unfortunately." Jack continued to watch him expectantly and so, with a put on sigh, Kozmotis also got out of the car, having to lock it once again. Once he rounded it, he and Jack walked down the strange alley-sidewalk that lead to Jack's technically-illegal home. "Thank you, by the way." Jack said once Kozmotis was by his side, "For, all this, obviously."
"You mean coming out at two in the morning, just to get you home, because you completely failed to think ahead?"
Jack snickered but something false rang in it, "Yeah, that."
"Especially when you had four different people, perfectly happy to come save you."
"Yeah, but I didn't ask them," Jack stopped as they reached his door, "I asked you." He looked at Kozmotis like his statement was supposed to mean something significant, like his choice meant something significant. A small pain flared up in Kozmotis as he tore himself between wanting to believe that and knowing better. Jack, after studying Kozmotis for a bit, broke the moment with a sad but amused sounding scoff looking down and shaking his head like Kozmotis had done something ridiculous which was unfair as he had literally done nothing. Jack reached up and patted his shoulder, causing him to lean slightly to the side in surprise at the sudden touch. "Well, again, thanks. I'll let you get back to whatever creeps like you do in the middle of the night."
"Two in the morning." Kozmotis protested without thinking.
Jack gave him a strange little half-grin, "Two in the morning." He agreed, sounding fond in a way that had a warmth spreading where the pain had been earlier, and went to unlock and open his door.
Kozmotis found himself stuck there, watching Jack until the door was firmly shut behind him, before he was able to move. His walk back to his car and drive back home felt distant and thoughtless, like he'd floated through water the entire way there and as he opened the door to his own house, he could help but feel there was something about the night he'd completely missed.