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The sound of the morning breeze out in the wilderness was always calming. It was cold, but mostly the calming nature overweight that feeling.
"Let's do sushi. I owe you that, yes." Jack said after Ted suggested getting breakfast, keeping the robe closer to him.
Ted rumbled something that sounded like a question.
"Yeah, you choose," Jack replied, pointing at Ted with his cup. It's barely visible to anyone, but Jack noticed Ted nodding his giant head slightly.
He took one last sip at his cup before bracing himself to stand up. It's an excellent coffee too. "You wanna finish that first?" Jack asked, gesturing at the cards laid down on the ground. "Or can we go?"
Ted said something that sounded like hold on as he slowly collected his cards and put them in a suitcase next to him.
"Hmm?" He asked Jack, pointing at the french press.
"Sure, let's take that. But leave the phonograph and take the vinyl out." Jack said. Record players were easier to purchase. A first edition copy of The Wizard of Oz soundtrack? Now, that's a rare find.
Once Ted was ready with all their stuff, they started walking back to their previous path. Based on their current location, they were already back at their camping site, where they had resided for the last three days. It was supposed to be a quick stay, only for Ted to regain his energy. Jack left him for a moment to find logs, only to find their campsite empty and Ted roaring away from him. This led him to once again have to infiltrate the Bloodstone Manor to save his beloved friend.
He knew he was risking it. Joining a group of monster hunters for Ulysses Bloodstone's funeral in what was essentially the residence of one of the most notorious monster hunters in the world was not exactly his brightest idea. His only argument was that he kind of was a hunter himself. Not the ones with guns or swords, but a hunter nonetheless. Thankfully, it was enough for him to gain entry to the ceremony.
The rest was history.
Jack walked ahead before stopping right in front of Ted. "Promise me, you'll be more careful next time. Okay?" Jack asked firmly, mainly to make a point. "We're lucky we have Elsa on our side this time."
Ted only nodded and patted Jack's shoulder with his wooden hand.
"Good, I'm holding you to it."
A few minutes of walking brought them to a little cabin just out of Boston but still far deep in the wilderness. It's a small, inconspicuous cabin but also a sturdy one. The whole cottage was made of pinewood which helped it not decay throughout the years. It's no Castle Russoff (nothing really was anymore), but it's home. And when you already lived long enough as Jack had, it kept you steady and grounded in an ever-changing world.
Jack still missed it sometimes, especially when he traveled the world and saw one just like his family's castle. Sometimes he wondered whether he missed the place or the people living inside. His father, his mother, Lissa.
Maybe it was the people.
Ted's quick grunt brought him back to their current residence. By the look of it, no one seemed to come by and disturb their place. The pile of logs that they had cut before was still left undisturbed. So was the little campfire that Ted had set up earlier. Its remote position made it well-blended in the wilderness, easily missed by people. Still, if what happened to Ted was a lesson, better be careful than sorry.
"Give me that suitcase. You can put the french press somewhere near the kitchen." Jack said, his hand stretched out to take the suitcase.
"I'll clean up first, okay? Then we'll order sushi."
"Sushi?" Ted asked in the most Ted way possible, which basically sounded like two distinct grunts with different intonations.
"Yes! Sushi." Jack grinned at Ted before walking to the bathroom.
As soon as he reached the bathroom, he shed all of his clothes which now only consisted of a long robe Ted picked up from the Manor and his dress pants from last night. His shirt had obviously been torn apart while his tie was still with Elsa to wrap her wounds. His face paint had also started to fade, so he took care of that first. Splashing his face with water, he used the face soap on the sink to clean his face. Then, he stepped into the shower and let the water hit his entire body, cleaning all the dirt away.
Sometimes he would groan - or growl so loud as his remaining bones popped back into their place after his transformation. An additional bonus of living in a cabin in the middle of the woods. You could be as loud as you wanted to, and no one would be close enough to notice
Once his entire body was clean, he took the towel already placed inside the bathroom and wrapped it around his waist. He then went to his drawers to obtain his clothes for the day, settling in for a green t-shirt and jeans. He had been doing this long enough to know that one must have spare clothes when the other was torn apart.
It always felt nice to wear casual clothes again. Made him feel normal for once, though his mother would comment on how handsome he looked with his black suit and tie. It matched the event at least; part of the reason he wore La Calavera on his face. It was a funeral, a part of the tradition.
When Jack finally came out, Ted was idly sitting on the sofa with the menu book in his hands. He blinked silently at Jack, asking the obvious question.
"I know. Do you know your order yet?" Jack asked. Ted flipped the menu to his face and pointed at his pick, raising 2 fingers.
"Ah, I got it. Ramen?"
Ted shook his head. Ramen had always been more of a Jack thing.
"Okay, then. I'll be right back, okay?" Jack said, reaching for his wallet and phone in the desk drawer. "Keep the house safe for me?"
He left with Ted giving him a thumbs-up.
"Good morning, hi. I'm currently on the way to your restaurant, but could I put my order in all to go? Great." Jack said on the phone as he made his way to the city. "I would like two California rolls, two Dragon Rolls with extra avocado, and one Shoyu Ramen. Make sure you pack extra wasabi for all of them." He chuckled through yet another joke on his name. "It's Jack. Yes, exactly like Jack Frost."
Once the server on the other side repeated his order, he said again. "That's all correct; thank you so much. I'll be there in uh... 10 minutes."
He ended the call, stopping for a moment to take a complete look at the city.
" Dios mío. " He sighed once, a little out of breath. "I should maybe look into more houses than cabins." He said as if he had more than one place right now.
Which... well , he currently had two residences. One was the cabin he and Ted now stayed in, and the other was a more traditional two-story house in California. He tried to get as far away as possible when he first got the curse at eighteen, worrying about hurting his mother and sister. But, instead, he discovered his stepfather (and uncle , which by the way, holy shit!) tried to kill his mother to get the family's fortune.
Worse, Phillip had already sold the castle to someone else piece by piece being the greedy man he was. He was so lucky that Jack's mother chose to spare him; Jack would have fun ripping his face to shreds. That was pretty much Jack's living state today, thanks to his family's well-kept fortune. Not even Phillip knew of the existence.
Almost ten minutes later, he finally reached the restaurant. It was near brunch time which explained the small crowd inside the place. Only a few seats near the sushi bar were empty.
"Hi. An order for Jack?" He asked once he was in front of the cashier.
The woman - Agnes, by the name of her nametag, smiled at him as she checked the computer.
"Two California rolls, two Dragon Rolls with extra avocado, and one Shoyu Ramen?" She checked once more, then proceeded once Jack gave her a nod. "Great, we're just about done with your orders. So if you could just step aside, our server would bring them to you."
"Got it, thank you." Jack said as he stepped aside to the bar area, waiting for his orders.
Another thing that tended to happen right after his transformation was that his metabolism was through the roof. So along with his acute senses, he could feel himself wanting to just put anything - food or not - through his body. Which was very easy to do when there was a good amount of sushi in the bag he was holding if he did not remember a protest from Ted. There was only so much grunting he could hear this early in the morning.
"I'm home." Jack said when he finally stepped inside the cabin. He called out for his friend. "Ted? I'm here. I bring sushi."
The sound of a muffled grunt from the backyard caught Jack's hearing. He walked out to the back to find Ted gently picking up overgrown grass near the flowerbed they had grown together last summer.
"Hey, buddy. It's time for breakfast. We'll do that later, okay?" Jack said, pointing at Ted as he walked back inside. "And wash your hands." He reminded again, like a brother telling his younger brother. In a lot of ways, that was what they were.
The last sound he heard when he went inside was Ted mumbling something that sounded like an argument.
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" Oh my God. It's so good." Jack said into his ramen, taking another sip of the soup. "How are you over there?"
Sitting on the other sofa, Ted did not look up and only focused on picking the sushi with his chopstick, fully conscious of not breaking it. However, he did end up giving up a thumbs-up, so everything was good.
"Let's do this again sometime." Ted looked up right after he said that. "Yeah, yeah. This is fun, right?"
Ted grunted once, affirmative. Then,
" Thank. You. " Ted said, and Jack had been his friend long enough to recognize that tone anywhere.
He smiled warmly at his tall, giant friend before returning to his food. "Anytime, hermano. Anytime."