The Watchers
Title: The Watchers
Author: GateGremlyn
Summary: What they see.
Word Count: 2700
Rating: PG13
Disclaimer: They're not mine. I keep asking. Still not making any money.
Written For: goth_clark
Requirements: first time, season 3, (off-world-which I couldn't do) Restrictions: no deathfic, no mpreg
Notes: set at the end of season 3 after Crystal Skull; spoilers for a lot of season
Written for the 2013
jd_ficathon
Also on Archive of Our Own
~::~
Jack watched because it was in his nature to do so. A person didn't get to be a full bird colonel in the Air Force without that ability. Oh, he could be a grunt if he needed to be, but most of the time, he knew how to watch. Sometimes he watched the enemy, looking for strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes he watched the team for the same reasons. From day one, he'd watched.
His team, the flagship team of the SGC, was an enigma to a lot of people, the Big Brass included, but you didn't mess with success. Carter, who had attitude to spare, had made Jack uncomfortable at first, not because she was a woman and not because of the attitude, but because she was so smart... and good at her job. For a geek and a scientist, she was a damn fine soldier. Over the years, Jack had come to rely on Carter. Eventually, she'd be a team leader if she wanted to be, or maybe a general... if she wanted to be. For the moment, she was one of the best officers he'd ever served with.
Teal'c was an enigma from the day they met, at least to everyone but Jack. He was the former First Prime of Apothis who didn't know how to use a contraction in a sentence. But he was a soldier like Jack and Jack got him. They'd become something close to brothers over the years. He knew he could count on Teal'c in a way he'd never known with anyone else. Teal'c was the definition of the word dependable.
Most often, he watched Daniel. Daniel, who was too smart for his own good and too idealistic for the military, drove Jack crazy. But even as Jack scoffed at Daniel's “we come in peace, don't shoot us” spiel, he watched. He watched as the fumble-fingered linguist became a competent soldier who was proficient with different kinds of ordinance. He didn't reach for a weapon as often as Jack would like, that's for sure, but he'd become a good soldier nonetheless. That too drove Jack crazy. He didn't want Daniel to have to be a soldier. But from the moment Sha're had been taken, Daniel had learned what he needed to know to try to get his wife back.
Despite his reputation on base as Mister Positive, Jack had known, almost from day one, that they weren't going to get her back. It was too much of a long shot, too much to hope for, but he tried for Daniel's sake. And because he'd made a promise. As the years passed, he watch Daniel's idealism take blow after blow. He watched the hurt and the loss. Daniel fought against injustice, an archaeological Superman in Clark Kent glasses, and Jack saw the little victories added up. Only Daniel couldn't see them because there was always one more cause waiting in the wings.
He watched the team come together. Teal'c and Daniel formed an unlikely and uneven friendship, at least at first. As a misfit and an outcast, Teal'c found an ally in Daniel whose innate sense of justice wouldn't let him hate the man who chose his wife for slavery. Sam and Daniel became close, too. At one point, Jack wondered if maybe the two of them would hook up. They had chemistry, they had proximity, and they had geekery. Jack thought it was a good combination for romance. But Daniel was loyal to a fault. He would never betray his wife. He watched and knew the two of them would be friends, close friends, but no more. Considering how much time Daniel and Teal'c spent together, he actually wondered if maybe those two would hook up, but he knew that their history prevented it. After Sha're's death, he was certain. Daniel and Teal'c rebuilt their friendship and went forward.
Jack watched as Sha're's death freed Daniel, not from the guilt which would never go away (as Jack knew from his own life), but from the obligation of finding her. Daniel worked through bitterness and resignation to resolve. When he finally accepted Sha're's death, he threw himself into his work in a way Jack knew was a coping mechanism. It was the best way to cope, in Jack's opinion, because it kept Daniel where he could see him. As Jack watched, he wondered.
Of the four of them, Teal'c was the healthiest because he had people in his life, a wife and a child who gave his life meaning, and Bra'tac who gave him history. Carter had her doodads and whatsits. She had her father and Selmak, and a brother, Mark. She didn't seem to have a significant other that Jack could see, yet she seemed okay with that. Early in their relationship, he'd thought about hooking up with Carter. But not for long. The two of them respected each another as officers and teammates. Neither of them would mess that up. Their friendship knew its boundaries, and when they socialized, they did it with the rest of the team. She meant the world to him, but she would never be more than a damn good friend. As for Jack himself, he too had his job, a job that included taking care of his team. For now, that was enough. Still, he remembered what it was like to have someone in his life, and so he watched. And waited.
And Daniel. What about Daniel? After that horrific Keira / Linea / Destroyer of Worlds thing, Jack wondered about what Daniel needed to make him complete. Searching for his wife had given Daniel purpose. Once that was gone, work, especially his search for Sha're's son, had become a priority. But Jack sensed Daniel needed something more. So he kept watching.
The two of them had a friendship that Jack couldn't explain, despite his skills as a keen observer. Every once in a while, they hung out after work. They ate pizza and drank beer. They played chess. Sometimes they went to a hockey game. Sometimes they want to museum. They'd even been to the opera together, although having Daniel translate every damn line of the libretto had driven Jack nuts. Seeing him in a tux, though, had made up for it. The man who looked ridiculous in oversized BDUs looked terrific in a tuxedo.
The shit hit the fan (as it usually does) when Jack couldn't watch. He spent weeks on Edora with Laira, cut off from his world and his team. He spent more weeks undercover, working a sting operation for the Asgaard and Tolan. For the better part of six months, he hadn't been able to watch any of them. When he was able to watch again, he noticed something surprising. Daniel was also watching. He was watching Jack watch him.
Daniel was always friendly when Jack stopped by his office, and when they hung out, Daniel was always good company. So outwardly nothing between them had changed. They were both a little older and a little more jaded. They went to work and, every once in a while, they went home. They were friends, best buds, coworkers. But Jack was missing something, something important.
The job continued to consume them, Daniel most of all. The bad guys didn't take a vacation so the good guys didn't either. As more weeks passed, the search for Sha're's son drove Daniel to work almost around the clock. Jack didn't believe in a mythical harcesis, but he did understand the need for closure. He let Daniel look. When the creepy alien with the glowy octopus arms finally left with the baby who was Sha're's son but not Daniel's, Jack could see one more line, one more wrinkle, etched in Daniel's face. He could also see that chapter of Daniel's life close. When Daniel looked at him, Jack saw overwhelming sadness.
With Sha're's son out of the picture, Jack wondered if Daniel would stay with the SGC. Much to Jack's relief, he did. Even after the loss of Nick, “the not-so-great grandfather” (Daniel's opinion), the complete asshole (Jack's opinion), Daniel stayed. But with one more hurt and one more loss, the sadness stayed as well. Jack watched and wondered what to do.
One night shortly after Nick's disappearance-another event where Daniel had been out of his sight-Jack invited Daniel over for beer and pizza. Daniel was quiet.
“While you were a ghost, did you watch me?” Jack asked as he passed Daniel a beer.
“A ghost?” Daniel smiled.
“Non-corporeal, invisible, what word do you want?”
“Ghost is fine.”
“So, did you?”
Daniel fiddled with the label on the bottle. “Did I what?”
“Daniel, you heard the question.”
“Yes.”
“Yes, you heard the question, or yes, you watched me.”
“Yes to both.”
“Ah.” Jack sipped his beer. “And?”
“You shouldn't have tried to get out of bed before Janet said you could.” The smile was more mischievous this time.
“Hey, I needed to go look for someone who was lost.”
“I wasn't lost, Jack. Obviously. I was in the room with you.”
“Metaphorically lost,” Jack clarified.
“Ah.” They hadn't turned on the lights and the room, lit only with the last of the afternoon sunshine, faded into shadows as night approached.
“So, did you watch me any other time?” Jack asked.
“Like when you were in my office?”
“You saw that?” Had he seen Jack putting all Daniel's pens in order on his desk? Had he seen Jack check for the extra pair of glasses in Daniel's desk?
“I saw it.”
“And?”
“I missed you too, Jack.”
“Good to know,” Jack said. Daniel sat drinking his beer and waiting. “So....”
“So.”
“It's been a rough year.” Jack kicked himself for stating the obvious. What he wanted to say was “I'm sorry we couldn't find your wife. I'm sorry we couldn't bring the kid back. I'm sorry your grandfather is such a dick.”
Daniel swallowed. “The roughest,” he agreed. “I wasn't sure if I was going to stay, you know, after....”
“I'm glad you stayed.” Jack meant it and Daniel heard it.
“Yeah, me too.” They sat in the silence as the day faded, Jack on the couch and Daniel on the chair across from him. The chess set was spread out on the coffee table, paused in the middle of their last game. Maybe they would finish it today.
Jack watched because he could, because it was what he did, and because it was Daniel. What he saw this time shocked him. Daniel wasn't watching Jack watch him, Daniel was watching. Him. Watching him. As in watching him. It shocked him because he wasn't used to missing important details like that.
Daniel grinned as Jack caught on. “Took you long enough.”
“I'm not used to being watched,” Jack admitted.
“Me neither,” Daniel said. “And truthfully, I haven't been watching that long.”
“How long?” Jack asked, his curiosity piqued.
“Since Netu,” Daniel confessed. “I wasn't sure we were going to get out of that one.”
“We wouldn't have made it out of there if you hadn't snagged that communicator,” Jack said as he absorbed the information. “Well, I guess it's the first time somebody's told me to 'go to hell,' and it's been a good thing.”
“And then I couldn't watch you because you were gone.” Leaving his beer on the table, he stood and walked to the glass door that opened to the porch. The sky was the eerie blue of twilight now and the room almost as dark. Jack watched as Daniel stretched, looking outside, but actually following him in the reflection.
“I didn't do it on purpose.” Jack tried to defend himself and what he'd done with Laira.
“I didn't say you did,” Daniel said calmly, still pretending to look out the window. “You didn't think you were coming home. Whatever you did is perfectly understandable. Less than a month later, you told me our friendship didn't mean anything at a time when I was beginning to think our friendship meant more to me than just friendship.” Daniel looked out of the window, into the encroaching darkness and away from Jack.
“Also not my fault,” but oh, how that had hurt him to say. His friendship with Daniel meant everything. “The house was bugged. I had to get you out of the way so Maybourne could make his move.” So Daniel didn't blow the operation, so Daniel didn't get hurt.
“I know,” Daniel said. “I know now. At the time, it was pretty hard to take. Not being able to talk to you, to see you.... Not being able to help you. I almost handed in my resignation. General Hammond convinced me to stay. He said things would change, and that I needed to stay for the good of the team. I guess he had a little inside information.”
Jack owed Hammond for that one, big time. He came up behind Daniel, resting a hand on Daniel's shoulder before moving it down the arm and back up, a gentle motion that barely rustled the fabric of the shirt. The face reflected in the glass kept watch. He put the other hand on the other shoulder and repeated the motion, up and down both arms. He moved his chest to Daniel's back, not touching but close enough to feel heat. If Daniel wanted to walk away, all he had to do was step aside, no harm, no foul.
There was no wariness in the body in front of him, no tension, no hesitation, just a watchfulness that Jack should have expected. After all, Daniel was a watcher too. He evaluated strengths and weaknesses just as Jack did. He acted on that information differently, though, and Jack wondered what the watchfulness meant here. Perhaps Daniel was threat assessing as he did in any alien situation.
Jack proceed cautiously. He moved his hands to Daniel's sides, sliding them slowly over the hard muscle, enjoying the shudder that rippled through Daniel's body. Jack's hand came to rest on Daniel's stomach and Daniel placed his hand over the top to entwine their fingers. Jack couldn't tell where his hand ended and Daniel's began. He placed his free hand on Daniel's hip and then to his thigh. To do so he needed to bring his body against Daniel's. The sensation was overwhelming. Both bodies shuddered, and in the reflection of the glass, Jack saw a smile that finally reached the eyes of a man beleaguered by sadness. He met those eyes with his own and asked, “Okay?”
“Always. With you, always. You're the only person I haven't lost,” he whispered, “the only person who's been there for me, watched out for me.”
“Always,” Jack said. “And backatcha. As far as I'm concerned, the 'more than friendship thing' is solid.”
Daniel laughed as he pressed himself against Jack's chest. He took the hand resting on his thigh and moved it to cover his crotch. The intimacy and trust made Jack light headed, the thrill of watching Daniel almost too much for what he wanted to do. Soon there was nothing but the sway of the bodies, the sweet caress of their fingers as they clutched and released, the hardness in his hand, the echoing movement of each pelvis, give and take and give and take; Jack's breath in Daniel's ear, Daniel's breath frosting the glass until Jack could barely see him.
And then there was no need to see. Daniel sighed as his chin dropped and his eyes fluttered closed. They stilled. The blood pulsed through Jack's body, moving from his fingers to his groin to his face. His whole body felt flushed and hot. He felt Daniel's pulse as well, cupped in his hand, whispering through Daniel's neck, escaping in puffs of air. With a sigh of his own, Jack rested his head on Daniel's shoulder. This was what he'd been missing, the thing he hadn't see for all his watching. His eyes closed.
Despite the arousal, there was no urgency, just the sweet expectation of more to come. The pleasure was in being together. In a minute they would move, perhaps to the kitchen for more beer or to the couch to finish a game of chess. Perhaps they would end up in bed, skin to skin and heart to heart. Perhaps they would talk and plan and make love. Jack would watch Daniel slid into his body, or Daniel would watch as Jack groaned and came into the hand now holding his. It didn't matter. For a brief and perfect moment, the watching was finally over.
~::~
Author: GateGremlyn
Summary: What they see.
Word Count: 2700
Rating: PG13
Disclaimer: They're not mine. I keep asking. Still not making any money.
Written For: goth_clark
Requirements: first time, season 3, (off-world-which I couldn't do) Restrictions: no deathfic, no mpreg
Notes: set at the end of season 3 after Crystal Skull; spoilers for a lot of season
Written for the 2013
jd_ficathon
Also on Archive of Our Own
~::~
Jack watched because it was in his nature to do so. A person didn't get to be a full bird colonel in the Air Force without that ability. Oh, he could be a grunt if he needed to be, but most of the time, he knew how to watch. Sometimes he watched the enemy, looking for strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes he watched the team for the same reasons. From day one, he'd watched.
His team, the flagship team of the SGC, was an enigma to a lot of people, the Big Brass included, but you didn't mess with success. Carter, who had attitude to spare, had made Jack uncomfortable at first, not because she was a woman and not because of the attitude, but because she was so smart... and good at her job. For a geek and a scientist, she was a damn fine soldier. Over the years, Jack had come to rely on Carter. Eventually, she'd be a team leader if she wanted to be, or maybe a general... if she wanted to be. For the moment, she was one of the best officers he'd ever served with.
Teal'c was an enigma from the day they met, at least to everyone but Jack. He was the former First Prime of Apothis who didn't know how to use a contraction in a sentence. But he was a soldier like Jack and Jack got him. They'd become something close to brothers over the years. He knew he could count on Teal'c in a way he'd never known with anyone else. Teal'c was the definition of the word dependable.
Most often, he watched Daniel. Daniel, who was too smart for his own good and too idealistic for the military, drove Jack crazy. But even as Jack scoffed at Daniel's “we come in peace, don't shoot us” spiel, he watched. He watched as the fumble-fingered linguist became a competent soldier who was proficient with different kinds of ordinance. He didn't reach for a weapon as often as Jack would like, that's for sure, but he'd become a good soldier nonetheless. That too drove Jack crazy. He didn't want Daniel to have to be a soldier. But from the moment Sha're had been taken, Daniel had learned what he needed to know to try to get his wife back.
Despite his reputation on base as Mister Positive, Jack had known, almost from day one, that they weren't going to get her back. It was too much of a long shot, too much to hope for, but he tried for Daniel's sake. And because he'd made a promise. As the years passed, he watch Daniel's idealism take blow after blow. He watched the hurt and the loss. Daniel fought against injustice, an archaeological Superman in Clark Kent glasses, and Jack saw the little victories added up. Only Daniel couldn't see them because there was always one more cause waiting in the wings.
He watched the team come together. Teal'c and Daniel formed an unlikely and uneven friendship, at least at first. As a misfit and an outcast, Teal'c found an ally in Daniel whose innate sense of justice wouldn't let him hate the man who chose his wife for slavery. Sam and Daniel became close, too. At one point, Jack wondered if maybe the two of them would hook up. They had chemistry, they had proximity, and they had geekery. Jack thought it was a good combination for romance. But Daniel was loyal to a fault. He would never betray his wife. He watched and knew the two of them would be friends, close friends, but no more. Considering how much time Daniel and Teal'c spent together, he actually wondered if maybe those two would hook up, but he knew that their history prevented it. After Sha're's death, he was certain. Daniel and Teal'c rebuilt their friendship and went forward.
Jack watched as Sha're's death freed Daniel, not from the guilt which would never go away (as Jack knew from his own life), but from the obligation of finding her. Daniel worked through bitterness and resignation to resolve. When he finally accepted Sha're's death, he threw himself into his work in a way Jack knew was a coping mechanism. It was the best way to cope, in Jack's opinion, because it kept Daniel where he could see him. As Jack watched, he wondered.
Of the four of them, Teal'c was the healthiest because he had people in his life, a wife and a child who gave his life meaning, and Bra'tac who gave him history. Carter had her doodads and whatsits. She had her father and Selmak, and a brother, Mark. She didn't seem to have a significant other that Jack could see, yet she seemed okay with that. Early in their relationship, he'd thought about hooking up with Carter. But not for long. The two of them respected each another as officers and teammates. Neither of them would mess that up. Their friendship knew its boundaries, and when they socialized, they did it with the rest of the team. She meant the world to him, but she would never be more than a damn good friend. As for Jack himself, he too had his job, a job that included taking care of his team. For now, that was enough. Still, he remembered what it was like to have someone in his life, and so he watched. And waited.
And Daniel. What about Daniel? After that horrific Keira / Linea / Destroyer of Worlds thing, Jack wondered about what Daniel needed to make him complete. Searching for his wife had given Daniel purpose. Once that was gone, work, especially his search for Sha're's son, had become a priority. But Jack sensed Daniel needed something more. So he kept watching.
The two of them had a friendship that Jack couldn't explain, despite his skills as a keen observer. Every once in a while, they hung out after work. They ate pizza and drank beer. They played chess. Sometimes they went to a hockey game. Sometimes they want to museum. They'd even been to the opera together, although having Daniel translate every damn line of the libretto had driven Jack nuts. Seeing him in a tux, though, had made up for it. The man who looked ridiculous in oversized BDUs looked terrific in a tuxedo.
The shit hit the fan (as it usually does) when Jack couldn't watch. He spent weeks on Edora with Laira, cut off from his world and his team. He spent more weeks undercover, working a sting operation for the Asgaard and Tolan. For the better part of six months, he hadn't been able to watch any of them. When he was able to watch again, he noticed something surprising. Daniel was also watching. He was watching Jack watch him.
Daniel was always friendly when Jack stopped by his office, and when they hung out, Daniel was always good company. So outwardly nothing between them had changed. They were both a little older and a little more jaded. They went to work and, every once in a while, they went home. They were friends, best buds, coworkers. But Jack was missing something, something important.
The job continued to consume them, Daniel most of all. The bad guys didn't take a vacation so the good guys didn't either. As more weeks passed, the search for Sha're's son drove Daniel to work almost around the clock. Jack didn't believe in a mythical harcesis, but he did understand the need for closure. He let Daniel look. When the creepy alien with the glowy octopus arms finally left with the baby who was Sha're's son but not Daniel's, Jack could see one more line, one more wrinkle, etched in Daniel's face. He could also see that chapter of Daniel's life close. When Daniel looked at him, Jack saw overwhelming sadness.
With Sha're's son out of the picture, Jack wondered if Daniel would stay with the SGC. Much to Jack's relief, he did. Even after the loss of Nick, “the not-so-great grandfather” (Daniel's opinion), the complete asshole (Jack's opinion), Daniel stayed. But with one more hurt and one more loss, the sadness stayed as well. Jack watched and wondered what to do.
One night shortly after Nick's disappearance-another event where Daniel had been out of his sight-Jack invited Daniel over for beer and pizza. Daniel was quiet.
“While you were a ghost, did you watch me?” Jack asked as he passed Daniel a beer.
“A ghost?” Daniel smiled.
“Non-corporeal, invisible, what word do you want?”
“Ghost is fine.”
“So, did you?”
Daniel fiddled with the label on the bottle. “Did I what?”
“Daniel, you heard the question.”
“Yes.”
“Yes, you heard the question, or yes, you watched me.”
“Yes to both.”
“Ah.” Jack sipped his beer. “And?”
“You shouldn't have tried to get out of bed before Janet said you could.” The smile was more mischievous this time.
“Hey, I needed to go look for someone who was lost.”
“I wasn't lost, Jack. Obviously. I was in the room with you.”
“Metaphorically lost,” Jack clarified.
“Ah.” They hadn't turned on the lights and the room, lit only with the last of the afternoon sunshine, faded into shadows as night approached.
“So, did you watch me any other time?” Jack asked.
“Like when you were in my office?”
“You saw that?” Had he seen Jack putting all Daniel's pens in order on his desk? Had he seen Jack check for the extra pair of glasses in Daniel's desk?
“I saw it.”
“And?”
“I missed you too, Jack.”
“Good to know,” Jack said. Daniel sat drinking his beer and waiting. “So....”
“So.”
“It's been a rough year.” Jack kicked himself for stating the obvious. What he wanted to say was “I'm sorry we couldn't find your wife. I'm sorry we couldn't bring the kid back. I'm sorry your grandfather is such a dick.”
Daniel swallowed. “The roughest,” he agreed. “I wasn't sure if I was going to stay, you know, after....”
“I'm glad you stayed.” Jack meant it and Daniel heard it.
“Yeah, me too.” They sat in the silence as the day faded, Jack on the couch and Daniel on the chair across from him. The chess set was spread out on the coffee table, paused in the middle of their last game. Maybe they would finish it today.
Jack watched because he could, because it was what he did, and because it was Daniel. What he saw this time shocked him. Daniel wasn't watching Jack watch him, Daniel was watching. Him. Watching him. As in watching him. It shocked him because he wasn't used to missing important details like that.
Daniel grinned as Jack caught on. “Took you long enough.”
“I'm not used to being watched,” Jack admitted.
“Me neither,” Daniel said. “And truthfully, I haven't been watching that long.”
“How long?” Jack asked, his curiosity piqued.
“Since Netu,” Daniel confessed. “I wasn't sure we were going to get out of that one.”
“We wouldn't have made it out of there if you hadn't snagged that communicator,” Jack said as he absorbed the information. “Well, I guess it's the first time somebody's told me to 'go to hell,' and it's been a good thing.”
“And then I couldn't watch you because you were gone.” Leaving his beer on the table, he stood and walked to the glass door that opened to the porch. The sky was the eerie blue of twilight now and the room almost as dark. Jack watched as Daniel stretched, looking outside, but actually following him in the reflection.
“I didn't do it on purpose.” Jack tried to defend himself and what he'd done with Laira.
“I didn't say you did,” Daniel said calmly, still pretending to look out the window. “You didn't think you were coming home. Whatever you did is perfectly understandable. Less than a month later, you told me our friendship didn't mean anything at a time when I was beginning to think our friendship meant more to me than just friendship.” Daniel looked out of the window, into the encroaching darkness and away from Jack.
“Also not my fault,” but oh, how that had hurt him to say. His friendship with Daniel meant everything. “The house was bugged. I had to get you out of the way so Maybourne could make his move.” So Daniel didn't blow the operation, so Daniel didn't get hurt.
“I know,” Daniel said. “I know now. At the time, it was pretty hard to take. Not being able to talk to you, to see you.... Not being able to help you. I almost handed in my resignation. General Hammond convinced me to stay. He said things would change, and that I needed to stay for the good of the team. I guess he had a little inside information.”
Jack owed Hammond for that one, big time. He came up behind Daniel, resting a hand on Daniel's shoulder before moving it down the arm and back up, a gentle motion that barely rustled the fabric of the shirt. The face reflected in the glass kept watch. He put the other hand on the other shoulder and repeated the motion, up and down both arms. He moved his chest to Daniel's back, not touching but close enough to feel heat. If Daniel wanted to walk away, all he had to do was step aside, no harm, no foul.
There was no wariness in the body in front of him, no tension, no hesitation, just a watchfulness that Jack should have expected. After all, Daniel was a watcher too. He evaluated strengths and weaknesses just as Jack did. He acted on that information differently, though, and Jack wondered what the watchfulness meant here. Perhaps Daniel was threat assessing as he did in any alien situation.
Jack proceed cautiously. He moved his hands to Daniel's sides, sliding them slowly over the hard muscle, enjoying the shudder that rippled through Daniel's body. Jack's hand came to rest on Daniel's stomach and Daniel placed his hand over the top to entwine their fingers. Jack couldn't tell where his hand ended and Daniel's began. He placed his free hand on Daniel's hip and then to his thigh. To do so he needed to bring his body against Daniel's. The sensation was overwhelming. Both bodies shuddered, and in the reflection of the glass, Jack saw a smile that finally reached the eyes of a man beleaguered by sadness. He met those eyes with his own and asked, “Okay?”
“Always. With you, always. You're the only person I haven't lost,” he whispered, “the only person who's been there for me, watched out for me.”
“Always,” Jack said. “And backatcha. As far as I'm concerned, the 'more than friendship thing' is solid.”
Daniel laughed as he pressed himself against Jack's chest. He took the hand resting on his thigh and moved it to cover his crotch. The intimacy and trust made Jack light headed, the thrill of watching Daniel almost too much for what he wanted to do. Soon there was nothing but the sway of the bodies, the sweet caress of their fingers as they clutched and released, the hardness in his hand, the echoing movement of each pelvis, give and take and give and take; Jack's breath in Daniel's ear, Daniel's breath frosting the glass until Jack could barely see him.
And then there was no need to see. Daniel sighed as his chin dropped and his eyes fluttered closed. They stilled. The blood pulsed through Jack's body, moving from his fingers to his groin to his face. His whole body felt flushed and hot. He felt Daniel's pulse as well, cupped in his hand, whispering through Daniel's neck, escaping in puffs of air. With a sigh of his own, Jack rested his head on Daniel's shoulder. This was what he'd been missing, the thing he hadn't see for all his watching. His eyes closed.
Despite the arousal, there was no urgency, just the sweet expectation of more to come. The pleasure was in being together. In a minute they would move, perhaps to the kitchen for more beer or to the couch to finish a game of chess. Perhaps they would end up in bed, skin to skin and heart to heart. Perhaps they would talk and plan and make love. Jack would watch Daniel slid into his body, or Daniel would watch as Jack groaned and came into the hand now holding his. It didn't matter. For a brief and perfect moment, the watching was finally over.
~::~