Title: Taking a Break
Pairing: Jack/Sky
Rating: PG-13
AN: MENSA-verse SG-13
Jack leant against the doorframe of Sky’s lab, waiting for his pair-bonded to notice he was there, unlikely as that could be when Sky was caught up in something. Arms folded across his chest, he shifted slightly to rest his sword more comfortably across his shoulders and sighed dejectedly when it sank in that, yes, Sky was more interested in playing with Ancient artefacts than he was in getting lunch. Just typical. It was almost a shame to disturb him, though, because when Sky was concentrating on something he had a tendency to chew on his bottom lip and that was just plain distracting at the best of times. Unfortunately that was also when Sky was the most preoccupied and hardest to distract.
Giving up on the idea that Sky might recognise he was there Jack cleared his throat in an effort to get his attention; he didn’t want to make a scene like the last time. Which completely wouldn’t have happened if that shy Dr. Cadman hadn’t freaked out, he reminded himself. And she should really know better than to sneak up on someone carrying a broadsword anyway. She was lucky he’d recognised her quickly enough to prevent bloodshed, his sword stopping a few inches from her throat. Thankfully the woman wasn’t there today, probably in one of the other labs; although timid as she was he had no idea how she’d been selected for such a dangerous mission as the Atlantis one. However, his attempt at a tactful entrance didn’t seem to work either. While a couple of the scientists in the room looked up (and promptly busied themselves with their work again) Sky remained blissfully ignorant of his presence. It was demoralising, it really was.
With an inward sigh Jack straightened up from his lounge against the door and walked over to where Sky was sitting and frowning at his laptop; clearly it wasn’t giving him the answers he wanted. There were times Jack was truly frustrated at the fact that his pair-bonded was taller than he was, it made it very difficult to loom convincingly, but when Sky was sitting down it was easier and Jack took shameless advantage. “Sky,” he said, loudly enough to attract his husband’s attention finally and Sky jumped, turning to face him with a startled expression. “Lunch,” Jack continued, before Sky could say anything, but his pair-bonded’s expression fell anyway.
“Five more minutes,” Sky hedged, “I’ve almost…”
“Sky,” he growled. “Lunch time. Now.”
“I’m almost done,” Sky protested and Jack mourned the fact that his most fearsome scowls no longer seemed to work on him. Not that he missed the days when Sky had been afraid of him, not at all, (he still flinched at the memory of fear in Sky’s eyes, fear of him that had taken too long to fade, fear that had no place in a bonding) but there were times when a little healthy intimidation was necessary: like getting Sky to take proper care of himself and actually eat.
Jack shook his head, looked for the stand-by option on the computer and shut it down. Ignoring Sky’s protests he grabbed hold of the light blue shirt and tugged Sky out of his seat. “You need to eat something,” he said blandly. Sky had skipped lunch the day before and hadn’t had much for breakfast either, too busy working on the thing Captain Carson had brought back from P5X-wherever.
“But Jack--”
“Eat and you can go back,” he compromised. He had been planning on a training session, try and get the other man a little more co-ordinated when it came to defending himself, but once Sky got his heart set on unravelling a mystery he could rarely think of anything else and he’d be hopeless in training (as well as practically everything else) until the problem was solved to his satisfaction; as random as Sky could be, he took his job very seriously, despite the frequent trouble he got into as a result.
Sky brightened at his concession, posture relaxing as they entered the transporter that would take them to the commissary. Lunch actually went quite well, and Jack contented himself with watching Sky eat and talk at the same time, outlining what he was working on with enthusiastic hand gestures; while the technical language meant nothing to him he always enjoyed seeing Sky so animated. Apart from the times he wished the other man was a little less hyperactive, anyway. There was such a thing as too animated.
When the meal was over, and Sky was safely back in his lab, fingers flying over the computer’s keyboard, Jack wandered off in a search for Ronon Dex. Maybe the Satedan would be interested in a sparring session; just because Sky couldn’t spare the time for training, that was no excuse for Jack to slack off, he needed to stay at the height of his abilities and not shame his people by letting himself get soft and complacent.
***
It was a very resigned Hcetwen warrior that made his way back to the lab that night: was it too much to hope for that just once Sky could finish at a reasonable hour? It had been bad enough at the SGC but it was even worse here. Not bothering with the tactics of lunchtime, Jack walked straight over to his pair-bonded and leant over his shoulder. “Still working?” he asked quietly.
“Mm,” was the distracted reply, Sky not even sparing a glance at him. Well, that was it, Jack decided. He was getting Sky out of here for the night. Brushing his fingers up the back of Sky’s neck, Jack smirked as Sky shuddered in response and he bit down gently on Sky’s right ear, thankful for the dim light of the room that obscured his actions from the other people in the room.
“It will still be there in the morning,” he murmured, mouth brushing against Sky’s ear and Sky nodded hurriedly.
“Yeah, I guess it will.”
Smiling to himself, Jack rested his hand at the base of Sky’s spine and gently propelled him out of the room, silently defying Dr. Kusanagi to comment as they walked past her and smirking in triumph when she stayed quiet. Now all he had to do was get Sky back to their quarters, then naked in bed. As the people from Earth were so fond of saying: piece of cake.
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