Battle of the coffee shops

Hugging iceburgs

Jack awoke with a startled gasp. He jolted upwards, unsure where he was. The last thing he could remember was finding blood on his hand and then everything was just a blur. He was laying in his bed, in his dorm. Although it seemed to be colder than usual, nothing else seemed to be different. He didn't even remember getting into bed last night... Had Loki came and picked him up? He got out of bed with no problem. but from outside the window he could see it had snowed like crazy overnight and it was still snowing, although much lighter now. He stretched his arms overhead and walked over to the bathroom, although he didn't feel sore, he felt...Different. It made him just want a nice hot bath. Before he entered the bathroom he realized he had absolutely no idea what time it was. The sun was out which could only mean that it was way past six, when he had his first class of the day. He rummaged as quickly as he could through his nightstand and the surrounding counters for his phone but it was no where to be found.

"Dammit! I must have left it in my car." He grumbled, he must have left his phone in the car when Loki picked him up. Deciding to worry about that when Loki got back to the dorms, Jack headed off to the showers.

He gave an involuntary shiver as he stripped off his clothes. He was wearing the same clothes from yesterday which were bloodstained and torn to shreds by glass. Jack couldn't believe all the blood that was on his clothes. Taking off his shirt, he could see all the blood that stained it now. Where had all this blood come from? Jack looked patronizingly at the mirror, hoping it would give him some kind of insight into what all went on last night. Staring into his reflection, he couldn't believe it was him at first.

Instead of the brown eyes he had expected to see, bright dazzling blue ones were looking back at him. He stepped back in shock, but when the eyes stayed the same he moved back closer to the mirror. Other than his eyes, nothing seemed wrong. Absolutely nothing was wrong with his face, which scared Jack more than anything else possibly could have. Every scar he had ever obtained, any small blemishes he had had before had all disappeared. His skin was paler than what he remembered also. The color wasn't too different from his normally tawny skin color but it light enough for him notice the changes. What had happened last night? Even his amulet was different. It looked like the symbol had been broken and now it just looked like a long wooden hook.

Another shiver passed through him and he rubbed his arms together, breathing out deeply. A mist of cold air blew into the air. He was astounded, how could it have been so cold in the dorms? He could see his own breath for Christ's sake! Still shivering he turned on the shower, waiting impatiently for it to warm up. He stuck his hand in to test the water and gave a startled shriek. The water was like molten lava! He turned down the hot water and waited again, nursing his burned hand. A few moments later he tested out the water only to draw his hand back once more. The hot water was still scolding even though he had turned it down a considerable amount before. He turned up the cold water and tried to balance the two out. What was going on with him today? Finally, after turning the water down just a little more he stepped in. The water still felt hot, but he could bare it. After all, he supposed a shower that was too hot was better than a shower that was too cold. After washing up for a few minutes he felt much better, that is, until he turned the water off again. The cold feeling spread all around him and he almost fell down with the intensity that the frigid air had hit him with. He grabbed a towel from the rack and wrapped it around him, hoping to find some kind of warmth from the soft fabric. He left the bathroom in search of clothes and was surprised to find Loki sitting over on his bed waiting for him. His surprise was only fleeting, as he soon remembered that he had been waiting for Loki as well.

"What happened last night?" Jack asked as he searched through the messy closet for something warm to put on. Loki tensed up. He had been expecting Jack to ask questions, and even though he had spent the whole day thinking up excuses he still had no idea what to say.

"Umm, well I just came and picked you up last night when you called. You were asleep when I got there, so me and Pitch got you loaded in the car..-" Loki felt sweat start to form on his face despite the chilly air that surrounded him.

"Pitch?" Jack queried turning around to face Loki with a blue sweatshirt hanging over his shoulder.

"What was Pitch doing there." Loki tried to keep from cursing and thought up a reason quickly. He was supposed to have kept Pitch out of this whole situation. Jack wasn't supposed to have remembered anything from the night before and he was supposed to keep it that way.

"Oh? Pitch was.. I had called him to come help with your car. He drove it back here and then after we brought you back I drove him back to his car." He supposed it wasn't all the way a lie. Pitch had  helped him with Jack's car... Among other things.

"Thanks, I was wondering about my car. I left my phone in it." Jack let out a triumphant cry as he finally found what he had been searching for. A pair of brown jeans that were actually pajamas on the inside. Jack scurried into the bathroom to change. Looking at himself in the mirror once more, and the ruined clothes that he had tossed on the floor, Jack felt hundred of questions swim into his mind. He pushed them away for now though. Loki wouldn't lie to him about something so serious...Right? Jack shook his head. No way he wouldn't, Loki was his best friend and he would never lie to him. Besides what reason would he have to lie about something like that?

"So what time is it anyway?" Jack called from inside the bath room, hoping to take his mind off of his troubling thoughts. Loki looked over at the door, wishing silently that Jack wouldn't question him about last night anymore.

"It's almost three. That's why I came to get you up." Jack walked out of the bathroom and flopped onto his bed, finally glad to be in somewhat warm clothes. He still hadn't escaped the chilly air entirely though and pulled some socks from his nightstand.

"Why is it so freezing in here? I feel like I just hugged an iceberg!" Loki shrugged his shoulders.

"I dunno, I guess it's from all that cold weather we got last night. They must not have turned the heating up yet." Loki was glad that Jack had stopped asking questions. He was sure that he would never want to talk about last night again. If Pitch hadn't of came to his aid, Jack would have died and that was too terrible a thought for Loki to keep in his mind.

Jack walked over to the door, before turning back around.

"Do you have my keys?" Loki dug the keys out of his pocket and threw them to Jack.

"Thanks buddy. Oh and one more thing." Jack felt a smirk slide onto his face as he looked at Loki, the one who was usually doing the teasing.

"Next time you get drunk with a crazy Russian Santa, try and refrain from bringing me into the conversation." He left the dorm and headed out to his car, missing the way the color fled from Loki's face.

Loki watched the door shut in horror. There was only one person that could have fit the description 'Russian Santa' and Loki wouldn't even be caught dead in the same room as scum like that. Loki felt the breath leave his body and he grasped at his phone desperately. If Nicholas North had contacted Jack, then the youthful cook was in more far danger than he could have ever thought. He had to inform Pitch before Jack got himself involved with the wrong crowd. He dialed for Pitch but his answering machine picked up after one ring. Pitch had declined his call. Determined to help his friend Loki listened to Pitch's message, waiting for his time to record.

"Hello, you've reached the Phone of Pitchner Black. Either I'm not available to take your call at the moment or you're Loki. If the latter, then I told you no more favors so stop calling me." Loki huffed in annoyance and hung up. He would just have to warn Jack himself then.