Ars Amatorium: Jack/Sky
And because I can't abandon my other boys, even if their muse seems to have gone on vacation to somewhere warm with lots of sea and sand, here are a few I wrote earlier.
Mirror
They mirrored each other, Sky noted once. He and Jack that is. Light and dark. Yin and yang. He brooded a lot and Jack was the exact opposite - outgoing and friendly. They were opposites, but they complemented each other pretty well too. In some ways they were exactly the same, while at the same time they were completely different.
They were both stubborn, both guarded, but they reacted in different ways. He kept people out with his attitude, his walls, keeping everyone at a distance. Jack deflected attention away from him with his smile and sometimes lazy attitude. He was everyone’s friend, and no-one really seemed to notice that they didn’t know him at all. Except for Z that is. She knew Jack better than anyone, and Sky doubted Jack could fool her on anything personal.
Sky followed the rules, and he knew that he was almost obsessive about it on occasion, though he was slowly learning that following the rules blindly didn’t always work. Again Jack was the opposite. He bent the rules as much as he could get away with. He’d never really been one for rules apparently, and the number of regulations here was something he’d struggled to deal with during his early days at the base.
“Go for it” seemed to be Jack’s personal motto. He went for things, threw himself into situations without hesitation, unlike Sky’s more regimented way of going about things. Sky knew himself, knew that he held back, and he knew that sometimes that hesitation cost him dearly in terms of personal issues, just like his occasionally impulsive behaviour also cost him dearly. It was a contradiction he had yet to resolve to his satisfaction.
As Sky finished rinsing the soap off his face and picked up his razor he realised that maybe that had to change. Maybe it was time to resolve that confusion and just go for something he wanted, without worrying about the consequences that came after.
Darkness
He had a dark side, he knew. It was the part of him that knew things he should never have had to know, the part that had seen things he should never have had to see. It was the part of him that had done whatever was necessary to keep himself alive, things not even Z knew about.
It was something he never talked about, something that he repressed, afraid of lashing out and hurting someone, particularly someone he cared about. He had the strangest feeling though, that personal darkness was something Sky understood only too well, and following that train of thought was the slowly dawning realisation that maybe Sky would be able to take whatever he threw at him.
Beautiful
Jack gritted his teeth as Syd kept distracting Sky’s attention with the crossword at the back of the magazine she was reading. He wanted his boyfriend’s attention fixed on him. Was that too much to ask?
“Nine letter word, synonym for ‘attractive’. Gap, then E, two gaps then a T, three gaps and ending in L.”
“Beautiful,” Sky replied, absently and Syd laughed lightly, treating the blue ranger to a mock flutter of her eyelashes.
“Thank you, Sky!” she said with a bright smile. “You say the nicest things!”
Jack bit back the faint growl he could feel building. He knew Syd didn’t mean anything by it, but that didn’t mean it was any less annoying. Sky’s faint smile didn’t help either and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The movement attracted Sky’s attention from his book and he glanced across at Jack’s less than pleased expression, lips twitching slightly.
Jack narrowed his eyes - Sky should not be finding this amusing, damn it! - but Sky caught his gaze and held it instead, before slowly running his gaze over Jack in intense scrutiny, his eyes lingering in certain areas, slight smile on his face. In spite of himself, Jack felt himself blushing under that gaze, which was embarrassing in itself. He didn’t embarrass easily, and he’d frequently been accused of being shameless, but right now, with Sky’s attention so focused on him, looking too much like the cat who got the cream, he felt absolutely naked, and he felt his cheeks burning as he squirmed in his seat.
Just then though, Sky raised his eyes and smirked, just a little, before deciding to take pity on him, and returned his attention to his book. Taking a few deep - and hopefully quiet - breaths to calm himself down, Jack was a little disconcerted to still feel eyes on him. Glancing up, he found Z regarding him with an amused expression, eyes dancing and suggestive smirk firmly in place.
He felt himself flushing again before he stuck his tongue out at her in a juvenile, but ultimately satisfying, gesture of defiance. Z simply shook her head, smirk growing into a grin, and went back to the card game she was playing with Bridge.
Glad of the reprieve, Jack returned his attention to Sky, who was for all intents and purposes engrossed in his book. Jack was learning though and he knew that Sky wasn't reading. Stretching a little, he smirked as Sky bit his lip hard. It shouldn't be too hard to get Sky out of here and go somewhere else instead, especially somewhere they wouldn’t be interrupted.
Standing up, he sauntered casually out the room, no point in being subtle after all. He smiled to himself as he heard Sky making his excuses and following. Today was a very good day.
Confidence
(Reflection, Part 2)
Jack lay on his bed, mood switching between fuming and hurt. You think you know someone, he thought, then you find out you really don’t. He’d thought he’d gotten Sky all figured out, mostly anyway, but today had been a harsh reality check, forcing him to realise just how wrong he’d been. Firstly there had been the shock of Sky saying he’d done a good job as red ranger, an admission that made him feel better than it probably should. It wasn’t that he needed Sky’s validation to do his job, but it was still nice to hear. That pleasant surprise, however, had been followed by a not so pleasant shock.
Sky projected this aura, an unshakeable confidence that sucked everyone in, that sucked Jack in, and how much of an idiot had he been to be so blind? In reality, the confidence Sky projected was a lie. Oh, Sky had confidence, right enough. He had confidence in his fighting skills, his ability to take down any criminal stupid enough to get in his way, but that seemed to be about it. His self-esteem wasn’t as unshakeable as everyone thought it was. He’d come to realise this after he slowly got closer to the other man, but really, he’d had no idea.
The events earlier in the day had really highlighted that fact, highlighted how little he knew about how Sky’s mind worked. Mirloc had been mocking Sky, telling him he was worthless, and Sky had bought it, for God’s sake, believed it, believed he was alone when he was surrounded by his team, with Jack standing right next to him. Jack punched his pillow viciously at that thought, seeing again the surprise on Sky’s face as they rallied round him. He’d rarely been prouder of his team than he was at that moment, the way they’d jumped to defend Sky when he wouldn’t do it himself.
“Go for it,” he’d said, handing Sky his morpher. Show him what you’re made of. Show yourself. And Sky had. He’d kicked Mirloc’s butt and shoved him in a containment card, ready for transportation to the furthest, darkest planet imaginable. It seemed he had a little more confidence now, in himself and his friends. Until now, he’d called his team-mates friends, but hadn’t seemed to really believe they cared about him back. Now he knew better. Or he’d better, anyway.
All that was left, Jack thought as he left his room, heading for Sky’s, was making sure Sky didn’t believe all that crap about him being worthless. Jack had confidence in Sky, as did the others, he just had to make sure Sky knew it.
Okay, anyone who lives in America, what kind of celebrations do you have involving fireworks? I'm guessing you don't have Bonfire Night over there and I have an idea for a ficlet in my wolf series, if I ever get those particular versions of the boys back, and I kinda need to know, so help is much appreciated. :)
Mirror
They mirrored each other, Sky noted once. He and Jack that is. Light and dark. Yin and yang. He brooded a lot and Jack was the exact opposite - outgoing and friendly. They were opposites, but they complemented each other pretty well too. In some ways they were exactly the same, while at the same time they were completely different.
They were both stubborn, both guarded, but they reacted in different ways. He kept people out with his attitude, his walls, keeping everyone at a distance. Jack deflected attention away from him with his smile and sometimes lazy attitude. He was everyone’s friend, and no-one really seemed to notice that they didn’t know him at all. Except for Z that is. She knew Jack better than anyone, and Sky doubted Jack could fool her on anything personal.
Sky followed the rules, and he knew that he was almost obsessive about it on occasion, though he was slowly learning that following the rules blindly didn’t always work. Again Jack was the opposite. He bent the rules as much as he could get away with. He’d never really been one for rules apparently, and the number of regulations here was something he’d struggled to deal with during his early days at the base.
“Go for it” seemed to be Jack’s personal motto. He went for things, threw himself into situations without hesitation, unlike Sky’s more regimented way of going about things. Sky knew himself, knew that he held back, and he knew that sometimes that hesitation cost him dearly in terms of personal issues, just like his occasionally impulsive behaviour also cost him dearly. It was a contradiction he had yet to resolve to his satisfaction.
As Sky finished rinsing the soap off his face and picked up his razor he realised that maybe that had to change. Maybe it was time to resolve that confusion and just go for something he wanted, without worrying about the consequences that came after.
Darkness
He had a dark side, he knew. It was the part of him that knew things he should never have had to know, the part that had seen things he should never have had to see. It was the part of him that had done whatever was necessary to keep himself alive, things not even Z knew about.
It was something he never talked about, something that he repressed, afraid of lashing out and hurting someone, particularly someone he cared about. He had the strangest feeling though, that personal darkness was something Sky understood only too well, and following that train of thought was the slowly dawning realisation that maybe Sky would be able to take whatever he threw at him.
Beautiful
Jack gritted his teeth as Syd kept distracting Sky’s attention with the crossword at the back of the magazine she was reading. He wanted his boyfriend’s attention fixed on him. Was that too much to ask?
“Nine letter word, synonym for ‘attractive’. Gap, then E, two gaps then a T, three gaps and ending in L.”
“Beautiful,” Sky replied, absently and Syd laughed lightly, treating the blue ranger to a mock flutter of her eyelashes.
“Thank you, Sky!” she said with a bright smile. “You say the nicest things!”
Jack bit back the faint growl he could feel building. He knew Syd didn’t mean anything by it, but that didn’t mean it was any less annoying. Sky’s faint smile didn’t help either and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The movement attracted Sky’s attention from his book and he glanced across at Jack’s less than pleased expression, lips twitching slightly.
Jack narrowed his eyes - Sky should not be finding this amusing, damn it! - but Sky caught his gaze and held it instead, before slowly running his gaze over Jack in intense scrutiny, his eyes lingering in certain areas, slight smile on his face. In spite of himself, Jack felt himself blushing under that gaze, which was embarrassing in itself. He didn’t embarrass easily, and he’d frequently been accused of being shameless, but right now, with Sky’s attention so focused on him, looking too much like the cat who got the cream, he felt absolutely naked, and he felt his cheeks burning as he squirmed in his seat.
Just then though, Sky raised his eyes and smirked, just a little, before deciding to take pity on him, and returned his attention to his book. Taking a few deep - and hopefully quiet - breaths to calm himself down, Jack was a little disconcerted to still feel eyes on him. Glancing up, he found Z regarding him with an amused expression, eyes dancing and suggestive smirk firmly in place.
He felt himself flushing again before he stuck his tongue out at her in a juvenile, but ultimately satisfying, gesture of defiance. Z simply shook her head, smirk growing into a grin, and went back to the card game she was playing with Bridge.
Glad of the reprieve, Jack returned his attention to Sky, who was for all intents and purposes engrossed in his book. Jack was learning though and he knew that Sky wasn't reading. Stretching a little, he smirked as Sky bit his lip hard. It shouldn't be too hard to get Sky out of here and go somewhere else instead, especially somewhere they wouldn’t be interrupted.
Standing up, he sauntered casually out the room, no point in being subtle after all. He smiled to himself as he heard Sky making his excuses and following. Today was a very good day.
Confidence
(Reflection, Part 2)
Jack lay on his bed, mood switching between fuming and hurt. You think you know someone, he thought, then you find out you really don’t. He’d thought he’d gotten Sky all figured out, mostly anyway, but today had been a harsh reality check, forcing him to realise just how wrong he’d been. Firstly there had been the shock of Sky saying he’d done a good job as red ranger, an admission that made him feel better than it probably should. It wasn’t that he needed Sky’s validation to do his job, but it was still nice to hear. That pleasant surprise, however, had been followed by a not so pleasant shock.
Sky projected this aura, an unshakeable confidence that sucked everyone in, that sucked Jack in, and how much of an idiot had he been to be so blind? In reality, the confidence Sky projected was a lie. Oh, Sky had confidence, right enough. He had confidence in his fighting skills, his ability to take down any criminal stupid enough to get in his way, but that seemed to be about it. His self-esteem wasn’t as unshakeable as everyone thought it was. He’d come to realise this after he slowly got closer to the other man, but really, he’d had no idea.
The events earlier in the day had really highlighted that fact, highlighted how little he knew about how Sky’s mind worked. Mirloc had been mocking Sky, telling him he was worthless, and Sky had bought it, for God’s sake, believed it, believed he was alone when he was surrounded by his team, with Jack standing right next to him. Jack punched his pillow viciously at that thought, seeing again the surprise on Sky’s face as they rallied round him. He’d rarely been prouder of his team than he was at that moment, the way they’d jumped to defend Sky when he wouldn’t do it himself.
“Go for it,” he’d said, handing Sky his morpher. Show him what you’re made of. Show yourself. And Sky had. He’d kicked Mirloc’s butt and shoved him in a containment card, ready for transportation to the furthest, darkest planet imaginable. It seemed he had a little more confidence now, in himself and his friends. Until now, he’d called his team-mates friends, but hadn’t seemed to really believe they cared about him back. Now he knew better. Or he’d better, anyway.
All that was left, Jack thought as he left his room, heading for Sky’s, was making sure Sky didn’t believe all that crap about him being worthless. Jack had confidence in Sky, as did the others, he just had to make sure Sky knew it.
Okay, anyone who lives in America, what kind of celebrations do you have involving fireworks? I'm guessing you don't have Bonfire Night over there and I have an idea for a ficlet in my wolf series, if I ever get those particular versions of the boys back, and I kinda need to know, so help is much appreciated. :)