for quitehomoerotic: Welcome to Assiap 7

[rude_not_ginger]

Follows this.Jack might've been a brilliant pilot all on his own, but the Doctor never did like giving up control of the wheel. Or the positronic space manipulator, in this case. He steered them swiftly down to Gamma Beta 9, where they were promptly arrested for endangerment of the crew. But, the Doctor still had the sonic and Jack had his charm

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[quitehomoerotic]

"Famous last words," Jack said with a vague hint of a smirk as the pair ventured out towards the darkness.

"Why is it always the shadowy places? Why is it never a pool, or a bar, or a six star hotel and spa?" He wasn't really complaining. Just... talking, filling a silence that didn't really need to be filled.

He squinted a little in the darkness to see as far as he could, following the line of the torchlight. "That spidey sense of yours tingling yet, Doctor?"

[rude_not_ginger]

Famous last words indeed. The Doctor was beginning to get concerned by how easily they'd tracked the TARDIS this far. If he were a thief out for a TARDIS, he'd keep it shielded, safe. This person...well, it almost seemed like they wanted to be found.

"Not yet," the Doctor admitted. "But it's not exactly Google maps, this connection with the TARDIS is a very complicated thing. But she's alive, a little frightened, and not too far away."

The Doctor shone the torch down the roadway. The streets were lined with dark red gems, terribly rare and precious in all parts of the universe, but impossibly common here.

"Think we're coming towards a town," he said.

[quitehomoerotic]

"Well that's something. Just you tell her that as soon as I find whoever took her? I'll kick their ass." Jack nodded as they advanced, noting the trees and the way the stones in the road shined in the moons light.

"Oooh a town," he said with more than a hint of sarcasm, his hands shoved into the pockets of his trousers, pushing back his greatcoat. "Maybe there will be people who want to arrest us again. Or maybe shoot us. You know, because I'd hate for things to get stale. We really need the variety, don't you think, Doctor?"

He smirked slightly and knocked his elbow against the Doctor's as they walked. A light started to become visible in the distance, an intermittent glow of orange and blue.

"Hey, Doctor, that your town?"

[rude_not_ginger]

"I'll tell her, Jack," the Doctor said with a wide grin. "She'll be touched that you're so sentimental, I'm sure."

Privately, the Doctor wanted to inflict some sort of violence on whoever made his ship so afraid. Why was she so frightened? She'd been through everything he had. The more frightened she got, the more worried he got. He'd spent 600 years apart from her once and it nearly destroyed both of them. He didn't want to have to spend another week away, not if he could help it.

The Doctor nodded at the lights. "I think it is, yeah. With your charisma and my way with people, we'll get some information on a great big blue box appearing out of nowhere, I'm sure!"

[quitehomoerotic]

"Sure, as long as by 'your way with people' you don't mean walking up to them like you own the place and telling them to tell you. It doesn't work as well as you think it does, you know. Trust me, I tried it a lot."

He grinned a little as they advanced, stepping ahead as the clearing opened up and the town emerged around them. It seemed small, quaint. Like something that might be written about in a fantasy novel. "Huh, cute," he commented, looking back to the Doctor.

"And if I'm not mistaken, that looks like an inn. Guess that's our first stop. Time to work a little Harkness charm..."

[rude_not_ginger]

The Doctor looked at the inn with disdain. He didn't want to stop. He wanted to ask someone, and just keep going until he found the TARDIS. All the same, he felt tired, more tired than he did in the vortex. How long had it been since he'd slept? He'd lost track after Orion.

No matter. Finding the TARDIS was the most important.

"We'll grab something to eat, ask a few questions, then head back on the road." He paused. "Unless you're...tired?"

It was something that hadn't even occurred to him. Maybe it was because Jack could keep up with him much more easily than other human companions could, the idea of him being tired enough to sleep just never dawned on him. It should've, he figured, but the TARDIS wasn't there with its convenient bedrooms for him to shoo Jack off to while he worked on the console.

[quitehomoerotic]

Jack nodded. Food. Food sounded like a good idea. Especially if they had cake. Jack liked cake

[rude_not_ginger]

"Or we could lose track of the TARDIS by the time the morning comes," the Doctor said. He hated admitting Jack was right. Even more so, he hated the thought of the TARDIS out there, alone and afraid without him.

He gave Jack a smile, then hopped through the door. The music inside cut out abruptly and the people---well, not necessarily people, more like very large squirrels with three eyes---turned to look at them.

"Hello!" the Doctor said, waving. He leaned over to Jack. "I'd say more, but I'm fresh out of Harkness charm."

[quitehomoerotic]

"Doctor, she's not going anywhere. She's parked. We just need to find her," Jack insisted with a slight nod for emphasis

[rude_not_ginger]

The Doctor nodded at the first two (honestly, though, he expected the specials and dessert at least!) but at the last, his face broke into a the widest grin. She wasn't far. Ten miles. They could walk ten miles. Maybe Jack could get one of the people to loan them a NightWalker, the horse-like creatures they rode on in this sector of the universe.

But at the same time, the Doctor was tired. He needed to sleep, even if only for a few hours. A few hours, and then they'd borrow a NightWalker.

"Brilliant," he said, patting Jack on the shoulder. He opened his mouth to add something along the lines of 'Not much further', but reconsidered. "Any comments I make from here on out will probably fit rather easily into that 'Famous Last Words' list of yours."

[quitehomoerotic]

Jack felt a warm little rush when the Doctor smiled. It was nice to think that something he said promoted that. Nice to think that he did something right (especially as he'd been wondering if that were possible).

"So that sorts it!" Jack grinned. "Good night's rest and then we can go get her at dawn. Bob's your uncle we're back on the TARDIS none the worst for wear."

He turned to direct them both towards the thin staircase that lead upstairs, and looked back over his shoulder with a smirk, "Oh don't you worry, I'm noting it all down."

To say the staircase was small would be quite a grand understatement. So small in fact that Jack had to step sideways to reach the top. Still, they had a room and that was what mattered. The room was in the corner of the upper floor and Jack unlocked the door and pushed it open.

[rude_not_ginger]

The room was small and quaint, but had one large, comfortable-looking hammock and a table with a pitcher of water and basin for washing up. The tiny window looked out over the forest they'd walked through and let in a small beam of moonlight.

The Doctor headed to the large, waxy candle and lit it. The room had a cozy sort of warmth. It wasn't the royal palaces, but the Doctor had most certainly slept in worse.

"The longest I was ever separated from the TARDIS was six hundred years, when I was in my eighth incarnation," he said, tossing his coat over one of the chairs. "Nearly killed her and very nearly drove me mad."

He wasn't anywhere near that point, but all the same, it still hurt, thinking of her gone. Thinking of what could happen to him. He didn't want to forget Jack, the way he forgot Lucie all those years ago.

[quitehomoerotic]

Jack strolled inside and shrugged off his coat before hanging it on the back of the door.

"Cute," he ventured and gestured a hand out towards the hammock, "That'll be cosy." He smirked a little as he flicked a finger against the glass water pitcher.

He heaved out a long sigh and moved over to the Doctor, putting a hand on his shoulder. "And tomorrow we'll find her," he said with a defiant nod. "A little shaken, maybe, but none the worst for wear. She'll be fine and so will you. Come on, you don' think for a minute I'm going to let anything happen to you, now, do you?"

[rude_not_ginger]

The Doctor turned at Jack's gesture and offered him a small smile. He had no doubt Jack would try to help and would do everything he could, but...there was a point where a Time Lord could no longer take being apart from his ship. He just hoped that Jack never had to see him like that.

But if it was anyone who did, the Doctor supposed that it could be Jack. He'd seen Jack through a lot, it was really only right that Jack saw him, too.

"Hammocks are traditional among mustelid-evolved species, actually," the Doctor said. "Instead of adapting fur coats to fight the cold weather, they adapt sleeping behaviors to ensure maximum warmth." He ran a hand along the inside of the hammock, which was fur.

"Besides, we've slept through worse."

[quitehomoerotic]

Jack could see the worry in the Doctor's eyes. He could see how he concealed it. He knew it because it was exactly what he did himself. Smile and hope the world never notices. He could hardly blame the man for that, and he wouldn't try and make him open up unless he wanted to.

So he continued in his playful way, a slight hint of (mostly) harmless flirtation in his voice. "Mmm, so how will we adapt our sleeping behaviour for maximum warmth, Doctor?"

He grinned at him, cheeky and very Jack. Hopefully providing a little comfort in some way.

"We have," he breathed out, clearing his throat a little. "Much worse. You know what they say, Doctor. The only way is up."

[rude_not_ginger]

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at the flirting nature of Jack's words. If he was honest with Jack, he'd tell him he hadn't really thought about sharing the bed with Jack apart from sleeping and staying warm. And if he was totally honest with himself, he'd admit that he'd briefly wondered exactly how they'd manage to sleep together and, well, sleep.

"I'm sure we'll figure out a way," the Doctor said, letting a little smirk settle on his lips. He mentally chided himself as he turned back towards the table. That was very nearly flirtatious. Shouldn't push that boundary. He'd set up boundaries with his companions for a reason.

He tugged off his suit jacket end went to the basin to splash a little cold water on his face.