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There were a lot of times that Jack wasn’t particularly pleased by the fact that his home was caught in a bygone era. He didn’t really have the money to replace the way too creaky stairs and Jerry had recently needed to caulk the windows because whichever genius had built the house hadn’t bothered to do it. Don’t mind the fact that he hadn’t ever done it either– that’s irrelevant.
Something he was suddenly very grateful for, at this moment, was the old fireplace in the living room.
It was ringed by brick of varying shades of red with a little fence-like metal structure that stood at least two sideways bricks tall. It sat inside the building rather than sink into the wall like many others did, so it took up a decent amount of space in the living room. Every other day it felt like an annoying inconvenience– something that prevented him from putting up a new shelf or sticking a chair there, but right now he thanked God for the small life saver he'd unknowingly been allowing to gather dust all these years.
When the blizzard had hit it’d knocked out the power, and with that it’d taken the heat and lights– he assumed that his entire block was now without power. Everytime he glanced out the windows at any of the nearby homes they remained dark no matter the hour. Maybe the power was out for the whole town, given this shithole's impressive weather history he wouldn’t be surprised if they were caught in a town-wide blackout. He hoped not, but he’s smart enough not to rely on blind hope and optimism. That only led to an early grave and serious disappointment around here.
Every room in the house was frigid, snow and wind beat against the sides of the house loud enough to make him concerned about the structural integrity of his home. Jack didn’t even want to look outside– to have to see the complete misery that waited outside in the form of waist high snow. They’d decided to set up camp in the living room, specifically in front of the fireplace. It wasn’t the most comfortable space in the world to set up, especially due to the hardwood floors, but he’d much rather have a sore back than try to sleep somewhere without access to any heat.
“So now are you glad I convinced you we should keep the emergency wood?” The look Jack was giving Jerry must have made his opinion on that comment clear, raising his hands in mock surrender before poking the burning wood with the end of the fire poker.
The story of how they came to possess the emergency wood was quite unpleasant, if he's honest. Much worse than you'd think given the name.
“This is so stupid, we’re in the South-West for Godsake– why can’t we just have warm winters? Or at least not winters like… this!” He groaned from where he sat on the floor, pulling the quilt wrapped around his shoulders tighter to his body. He wished he could sink into the floorboards, maybe then he'd finally be warm.
“This place is cursed, duh!” Jerry hung the fire poker from it’s hook on the wall before sitting down beside him with a thud that reverberated throughout the room.
“Yeah, always figured that was it.” Being cursed would explain so much about this place, but he knew that it certainly wouldn't be so… simple.
“Yo, since the power is out and we can’t use the stove or anything… Think we could roast sausages and stuff over the fireplace?” Jack grimaced at the idea. Sure, while hot food would be nice, cooking something over the fireplace would inevitably cause a massive mess, specifically from the grease that would drip from it as it cooked. He didn’t want to add a huge mess into the list of things he’d have to deal with because of this stupid storm.
“No, that’d make a mess. We have plenty of stuff that doesn’t need to be cooked to be eaten safely– I’m sure the power won’t be out for too long. Amy probably has people heading out to fix whatever caused this in the first place.” Jerry grumbled disappointedly but easily gave in.
“Want me to check if we have some chips or whatever?” Jack didn’t even want to untuck his chilly arms from the blanket to eat, if he’s honest. This was probably the coldest he’s ever been, and that’s despite wearing a long sleeve shirt, sweater and being basically swaddled in a thick blanket.
God, he felt like he was gonna die .
“I don’t really want anything, you can get something for yourself though.” Jerry gave him a funny look, one that was slightly difficult to interpret.
“Dude, are you really that cold?” Jerry is not someone who tends to adhere to what's considered dressing ‘weather appropriate’. Jack has seen him go out in negative thirty shirtless and in shorts without blinking an eye. It was just a weird quirk about him, temperature was something petty and not to be worried over, if Jerry wanted to take his shirt off in a blizzard he damn well would. Jack, however, is not like that. In the summer he wears two layers, his shirt and whichever hoodie was nearby, and during the winter that number tended to go up. It was pretty common for the gas stations' heat and air conditioning to break because of that weird green goo that oozed from the walls, so wearing a parka indoors was not that uncommon for him during that season.
“I hate the cold. Plus I have thin skin or something.” He nodded thoughtfully.
“Yeah, probably doesn’t help that you’re so skinny, huh? Less insulation and all.” Jack passed him an unimpressed look.
“Yeah, thanks for that.”
“Nah, for real dude, you should totally try working out!” The flames danced, casting light across the ground, illuminating their faces as they sat side by side on the floor. Jack couldn’t be less interested in working out– sure, it would probably help to put on some muscle, people might think first before messing with him, but if he were thinking realistically… He most likely wouldn’t even be able to. Plus, he’s already got a routine, changing it up will just make things more difficult.
“I already get enough of a workout from chasing raccoons and customers out of the station. And hey, being so skinny has really worked out for me in the past. Remember how I kept zoning out and digging holes?” Jerry let out a loud ‘oooh!’ that echoed around the dark room.
“Yeah, man I took over the register so many times while you were out there doing that! You still zone pretty hard, but I haven’t noticed you digging any more holes. I think.”
“Well, climbing out everytime I accidentally ended up there was way easier ‘cause of it.” Jerry hummed.
A particularly vicious gust of wind pounded against the windows, and the sudden anxiety-inducing thought that the windows might not hold introduced itself to him– this house was old, after all. He’d never had any of the windows replaced in his time living there, so he didn’t even have a vague idea of what condition they were truly in.
It seemed like every winter there had to be some massive snow storm– something so big that it had the town tucked in doors with warm coffee and all the blankets they could desire, but this time they were without power, no way to cook or even heat any drinks up. To put it simply, this was like God had realised Jack’s own worst nightmare and had decided to inflict it upon him. It could only get worse if Spencer showed up, and he’s definitely praying that he won’t. Jack has enough crazy in his own life, he doesn’t need to add Spencer resurfacing to fuck with him onto that list.
He really should stop thinking about this, he's only going to freak himself out more…
“Hey, you think Krampus is going to show up?” Jerry’s voice snapped Jack out of his thoughts, startling him. It’d just been so quiet, only the creaking of the house and the crackling of the fire filling the air around. Never had Jerry’s voice sounded louder than in this moment.
“What are you talking about?” He screwed his face up, regarding the other with evident confusion. Jerry's brows shot upwards.
“You know, like in that 2015 movie… Directed by Michael Dougherty?”
“Oh yeah, man that movie was awful, but awful in a way that makes it funnier?” Jerry grinned.
“Exactly! Shitty B movies are the best– like Sharknado or Mega Python vs. Gatoroid!” Jack snorted. With the fire hot and burning he was at least a little bit warmer, though not quite the average comfortable temperature.
“Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus?” Jack offered.
Jerry countered his suggestion, “How about Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark?”
“That one was pretty recent too– 2014 or something? Oh, maybe 2-Headed Shark Attack!”
Jerry shoved his finger into his face with a loud cry of ‘aha!’ before saying, “You know what’s better than two heads? Five heads! 5 Headed Shark Attack!” He looked smug about this perceived victory over him in regards to cheesy monsters versus movies. He wouldn’t even see it coming.
Jack shook his head slowly. “Sorry Jerry– but 6-Headed Shark Attack is way better.” Jack let the blanket go, leaving it draped over his shoulders but he finally felt warm enough to relax his arms and pull them away from his body.
“Wait, there’s another one, when?!” His eyes were wide in exaggerated awe at his words, grasping Jack by the arms and shaking him wildly. “When, Jack, when?!”
Jack smooshed his hand into Jerry’s face, eventually causing him to let go, leaving Jack to fight off the mild nausea all the shaking had brought. Sometimes Jerry seems to forget that he isn't an oddly shaped maraca. “Jesus, man– this year back in October.”
“We need to watch it!” Jerry exclaimed.
“In case you somehow managed to forget– we literally can’t.” All the stupid chatter over dumb movies had temporarily taken his mind off of their current situation, but just as quickly as it had gone he was back to worrying about it. Thankfully temperatures in the house were indeed improving, the heat from the fire had warmed the living room to a semi-comfortable level and he felt that he could finally drop the blanket entirely from his shoulders.
“Hey, you don’t think this will go on so long we’ll run out of wood, right?” Sure, the amount Jerry had stored in the basement was impressive, but he wasn’t exactly a wood burning expert. For all he knew things could get worse and they’d be stuck like this for days, weeks even– okay, maybe weeks was a little bit dramatic and unlikely, but nevertheless his point still stood. He had no clue how long it would take to restore power and he could only hope their wood would last.
“It’ll be totally fine! Plus, even if we do run out of wood we could always start burning some of the shitload of books around here, right?” Jack didn’t like that idea, and he made sure Jerry was perfectly aware of that fact. Jerry backtracked, “Or we could just figure something else out? Doesn’t matter, I’m totally sure we won’t need to do anything like that! Amy’s definitely got a handle on the situation, just like you said!”
Jack sighed. Yeah, maybe he should have a bit more faith in her– she wasn’t incompetent, she was the best damn cop he’d ever met and she wouldn’t let something like this go on, she’d go out there and fix it herself if need be.
Jerry slung his arm over Jack’s shoulders and shook him lightly. “Quit worrying! We’re gonna be just fine, man. If we run out of food I can go out and scavenge for nuts and berries! Wood too! The cold never bothered me anyway~! ” He sang the last sentence in an obnoxiously high tone, and Jack couldn’t help but snort. He didn’t feel like pointing out the fact that nuts and berries wouldn’t grow during winter, so they’d be totally shit out of luck. Also any wood he’d find outside would be completely soaked– it’d be impossible to light a fire with it, but he didn’t feel concerned. They had lots of food and he trusted Amy. She’d know what to do about all this. She always managed to make things work out. He had no reason to think that would suddenly change.
Jack leaned into Jerry’s half embrace, humming lightly. His hair tickled the back of his neck, but Jack didn’t mind. It was a feeling he was used to by now.
“This is totally so romantic right now. This feels like the plot to a made for TV Christmas movie, right? You're a rich business man who hates Christmas and I’m a lumberjack or something who meets you under a strange coincidence and teaches you the spirit of the holidays. Then you quit your job after a romantic couple of days accidentally caught in a cabin together with me and we get married after two weeks and retire to live in a tiny house in the woods! Would you watch it? I’d so watch it.” There was a lot of stupid coming out of Jerry’s mouth again. He knew what he got into when inviting him to live with him, so he hardly minded.
In all reality, it sounded like the sort of thing he'd mindlessly purchase from a bookstore for ninety-nine cents, but somehow less weird.
“That sounds genuinely horrible. Definitely something you’d see playing around this time of year.”
“Right?!” Jerry shouted excitedly. Jack’s head was way too close in proximity to his so it ended up hurting his ears.
“Wait, so do you wanna eat now? I’mma go grab some stuff, stay here! I think we have some caramel covered popcorn!” Jerry removed his arm from around his shoulder and made a break for the kitchen, excitement leaking into every movement. Jack didn’t get what was so interesting about this, but he pretty commonly didn’t get stuff. Some people found stuff exciting that he didn't– he supposed that was just how humans were, always having differing attitudes and opinions.
He turned his eyes back to the fire, watching it dance and crackle before him. This all sucked– but it sucked significantly less with Jerry around.