In which Jack discovers that Pitch is actually a barnacle with legs.
((AN: Takes place right after The Intervention.))
It has been a really. really. long day.
And Jack isn't the sort to usually give into exhaustion. Sleep is boring, he could be DOING things instead of just dreaming about doing them!
But right now he just feels completely worn down. He doesn't even feel like he had gone through THAT much but he's just…tired. That and Pitch is storming into the lair with a fierce determination and utterly refuses to put Jack down. He's even too tired to protest being carried around like a dainty bride. So he sighs, tolerates it, relaxes, and lets it happen. He may feel a bit ridiculous but the warmth is almost soothing and he feels…safe. Even if he KNOWS he wasn't in danger, it's nice.
He doesn't realize he's drifting off right there, not even when his eyes finally, slowly, shut.
The first thing he notices when he finally wakes up is HEAT.
It's surrounding him and suffocating and there's condensation all over him and he feels like he's going to MELT and it's too much too much too much!
Then he notices it's dark. REALLY dark. It's dark and too hot and he's laying on hard, rough stone that's digging into his back and probably leaving several bruises.
He twitches back automatically but then he can't MOVE. There are long, unyielding THINGS wrapped around him and he gasps and flails and cant get out cant get out and there is some monster pulling him into the heat and dark and-
His panic is interrupted by a soft growl and the things, arms he realizes, tighten.
He blinks, going still as he pants, waking up enough to finally assess what's going on. He looks up and see's dark slats from one of the many beds that he never got around to asking about because honestly, he was a little bit afraid to. The heavy bed-skirt blocks his view of where he is but really, it's Pitch's lair. He'd look out and see grey and stone and shadows everywhere. The view never really changes much.
So he's under the bed, and the incredible heat and tangle of arms is Pitch, doing his best impression of the leggiest barnacle Jack has ever seen.
"…Pitch?"
A low, rumbling noise answers him and the arms tighten further. He definitely does NOT squeak as all the air is squeezed out of him. He does jump though when he feels LEGS tangle up with his own and hold him even more firmly.
"Um…"
It's…all a bit much actually. He had already figured out that Pitch was a pretty tactile guy. Since that first VERY surprising and REALLY intense kiss he had suddenly gone from never being touched to being touched ALL THE TIME. Pitch was constantly finding any excuse to grab onto him or keep a hand on his back or in his hair or on his face. But this was more than a couple hands petting him. There was heat against every inch of him and there was definitely a hot hand up under his shirt pressing into his bare skin and soft puffs of warm air against the top of his head.
It's then that he works out the final bit of information.
"…are you asleep?"
He's answered again with muttering growling noises and he didn't even know Pitch DID sleep. How does a nightmare king sleep? Does he dream? Wouldn't that be weird with the Sandman? He carefully shifts enough that he can look up into Pitch's face without making the arms tighten even MORE.
And he goes completely still.
He wouldn't say that Pitch looks peaceful, he's pretty sure that's impossible, but he's…relaxed. He's breathing soft and even and his mouth isn't pulled down into it's usual scowl and the frown lines on his forehead are gone. Jack slowly works a hand up, running it over those ridiculous cheekbones and can't help but chuckle when Pitch mumbles again and buries his face against Jack's hair.
He's too hot, his back is bruised, and he can barely move with all the limbs tangled around him.
But he guesses he could stay a little longer.