Battle of the coffee shops

The Deception

"Crazy ankle-biter." Grumbled E. Aster Bunnymund as he watched Jack from the window, he was playing with the snow on the hood of his car. Rolling his shoulders and cracking the knuckles in his hands he took a step back from the wide window. North followed him with sharp blue eyes.

"Leaving already Aster?" North inquired, shifting his body so he could see both his nephew and his new employee. Aster shrugged his shoulders,

"Yeah, I've got classes in the mornin' an I'm beat." North gave the tall man a small, sad smile, which was so unlike the normally jovial man that Aster had to do a double take.

"I am glad you came back." Aster felt the corners of his mouth twitch upwards into a weary smile that seemed to take him too much effort to keep up as it slid slowly off his face like rain down a window.

"It's good to be back." Although his voice suggested that he wasn't quite sure that was true. Tooth managed to detract her face from the window long enough to say:

"See ya' tomorrow!" And then she was back to watching Jack again, 'Although.' Thought Aster rather reluctantly, 'I suppose he's not that hard to look at.' Before he could think about the snow haired boy anymore, he tapped he right foot twice and disappeared into thin air.

Aster appeared in the back of an empty parking lot right outside of Virginia state university. Only one street light was on in the area and even that one was flickering, Aster paid it no heed anyone who tried to attack him would be in for a rude awakening. Stifling a yawn with his rather large hand he started shuffling towards the dormitories. He only appeared outside of the college because his roommate would probably be in the dorm now and he was too tired to be bothered by some weak-willed runt who was straight outta high school wanting to know how he just appeared in the room.

He was unfortunate enough to have the room at the very end of the first floors hallway, it meant he would have to walk even more once he got into the building before he could collapse on his bed and go to sleep. He pulled the doors to the dormitory open and slipped in, delighted by how warm it felt compared to the biting winds outside.

He was halfway down the hall when a door shot open and a tall, pale man came bustling out. Aster stepped forward to see if he could just ignore the man and get around him but his movement just attracted the mans attention. The dark-haired man prowled up to him with flashing eyes. Aster thought for a moment that the man was going to try to hit him but then he stopped just before he reached him.

"You're phone! Can I see your phone? It's an emergency!" Aster stared blankly at the distraught man before sliding his hand into his pocket and pulling out his phone. The man snatched it out of his hand before he even had the chance to hand it to him and began furiously dialing.

The began dialing and when the receiver didn't answer immediately the man began to tap his foot impatiently. Just when Aster thought the man was about to wear a hole in the carpet, the phone picked up.

"Pitch, don't hang up, it's an emergency! I think they are after Jack!" Aster felt his stomach clinch. This was one of them. There was no way it could be just a coincidence that someone name Pitch and someone named Jack would be mentioned right in front of him at the same time, especially not when they just hired someone named Jack.

"What do you mean they're after him? He's only been working here for two days, how would they even know that I have a new worker!" A dark and dangerous voice shouted from the phone. Aster was beyond shocked. Pitch wasn't a common name and... what were the odds that someone named pitch owned a shop and had a new worker named Jack, and they weren't Pitcher Black? But wait, if Pitch had a worker named Jack who had only been working there for two days then... Aster's mind was reeling.

"He said it today, he told me 'Next time you get drunk with a Russian Santa try not to mention me' There's only one 'Russian Santa' I know Pitch and I would never even look in his direction. Why do they know about him. And then he called when he was leaving your shop and, and his phone cut off mid word and I couldn't tell him to stay away from them-" The man in front of him was becoming even more upset but Aster couldn't find it in him to care now, he was too caught up on the fact that Jack was a double agent. He was a spy, sent over by Pitch. Now Pitch probably already knew to expect that package, Pitch had an inside man in the field now.

"Loki." The voice was so commanding and loud in the silence of the hallway that it made Aster look up. Aster furrowed his brow in thought. Loki...Where had he heard that name before?

"What's today's date?" It took a moment for Aster to realize that this Loki fellow was talking to him.

"Uhm, it's the 30th." They should know that. It's the day before the annual battle.

"I'm heading to the shop right now. He will be fine, don't worry." Aster held his breath as Loki handed him the phone, the dark-haired man's green eyes flashed with fear and his skin paled as he walked away.

"Thank you." He called quietly to Aster, before slipping back into his dorm. Aster kept walking for a moment just in case Loki came back out for some reason. When he passed Loki's dorm room, all he could hear was hissing. 'Ah,' thought Aster in realization, 'Loki. The snake North was talking about.'

He took a calming breath before tapping his foot again and disappearing.

Aster appeared right behind North, who was watching Pitch's shop with an expression like steel.

He hesitated in telling him about Jack. Pitch was on the way to the shop and would catch Jack in the act, it wasn't like that would matter as Jack works for Pitch. Pitch probably had this whole thing planned out already and alerting North to his presence might be just part of his plan to with this years coffee shop battle. Looking out the window he could clearly see that Jack was already in the other shop. There wasn't really anything they could do now if he told them, Aster weighed down his options quickly and came to the conclusion that if they let Jack think that they didn't know he was working for Pitch they could lull him into a false sense of security much quicker. Besides it would be nice to have a spy in Pitch's shop, even if they wouldn't bea spy willingly. Aster smirked and stepped beside North.

"So where's the little ankle-biter now?" Jack wouldn't know what hit him.