(Untitled)

[captainjack]

Seven cats and two dogs was too much for one snowed in house. When they could all be outside most of the time, Jack had no problem with it, but with them all inside, it was driving him crazy. Dulcita's litter was old enough now to leave their mother. He'd already promised to give a couple away, but that still left him with more kittens than he

Comments

[has_2ls]

The rec room was usually a stop off during any given day for Jack and this day was no different from any other. Damn island meant routine and while Jack preferred routine than a nasty surprise, it was still grating on him. He'd never really been a meet and greet type or a charmer and the island seemed chock full of 'em.

Today's entertainment was apparently a tangled mess of mewling kittens and one man attempting to wrangle them all.

"Anyone ever tell you that cat wrangling's about damn useless? You'll end up with nothing but scratches and a headache."

[captainjack]

"Tell me about it," Jack laughed, dropping a kitten into the box only to have to make a grab for another one in the process of escaping. It took a moment for him to look up and really get a good look at the guy, but when he did he got a knowing gleam in his eye.

"Care to see if you can find the one hiding in the tree...Colonel?" he asked.

[has_2ls]

Jack looked down at the t-shirt and the cargo pants and looked back up at the guy, wry smile twisting his lips.

"You see any birds on this uniform? How'd you know I was a Colonel?"

Some said that the uniform was so much the man that you could tell even in civvies but Jack had never gotten the sense he was that kind of guy. He loved the Air Force more than anything but he knew when to toss it off and just be Jack O'Neill...or so he thought.

[captainjack]

"Because Daniel told me about you," he replied smoothly. The kittens would not be controlled, so he gave up so he could stand and offer his hand. "You're Jack O'Neill. Captain Jack Harkness...it's nice to meet you. Finally."

[has_2ls]

"Pleasure," Jack said, shaking the man's hand quickly. He was just grateful he hadn't tried to salute...nothing bugged him more than all that decorum when they were out in the middle of nowhere and around the corner from nothing. Apparently being on Gilligan's Island for three years meant Daniel'd been swapping war stories. Or something.

"Hopefully only the good stuff. Anything he tells you about Argos is a complete lie."

[captainjack]

"I'm sure he stuck to just the good stuff," Jack chuckled. "He has built you up as some sort of legend, though. He said you're from earlier than he is, though. That's got to be hard."

[has_2ls]

"More than a little. Half the people around here think I've earned a couple stars and a helluva lot more respect than I think I should get. It's nice to meet someone that's not saluting at me."

Jack scratched his head a little, considering the man in front of him.

"He hadn't gotten around to mentioning you to me yet. What branch of the service?"

[captainjack]

"None you've heard of, though I was a decent pilot for the RAF in 1941," he replied. "I earned my stripes. A few times over, actually. Promise I won't salute you, though. Not unless you ask really nicely." He wore a teasing, flirtatious grin that he was aware wouldn't go over with...well...anyone of any rank from a late twentieth or twenty-first military. Too bad Daniel hadn't gotten around to mentioning Jack to him. It might have made things easier.

"He really didn't mention me? I think the first thing he did when Vala showed up was warn her away from me."

[has_2ls]

"Met Vala," Jack said absently, giving his own grin in return albeit a good deal less flirtatious and more on the side of cautious. "One hell of a hustler. Liked her a lot. Pilot in '41, huh? Must be another one of those weird island things."

Jack would never get used to the alternating timelines thing, even if the stargate made a mess of things more often than not; some things just weren't meant to be understood.

"And unless you're planning to take me for everything I've got, I think we're good. I can handle myself and then some."

A cocky grin replaces the cautious one with that.

[captainjack]

"You're a new arrival. All you've got can't amount to much," Jack pointed out with a chuckle. "You're staying with Daniel, huh? How's that working out?" Yeah, he was blatantly showing his hand, but what he knew about O'Neill wasn't secret, and Daniel had told him...so there was always the added benefit of the man getting an earful for being a gossip. Jack would take his entertainment where he could get it.

[has_2ls]

"Not anymore. Empty hut next door that I sort of co-opted," Jack admitted, grinning. "Which benefits Daniel more than anything considering I allegedly snore."

"Did the first few nights though. I've had worse. I've had better...so it comes out in the end."

[captainjack]

"You're lucky. When I first got here, I slept on the beach. We all slept on the beach," Jack told him. "That was a long time ago, though. Now it's easy to find a real place to live."

[has_2ls]

"Don't think these old bones could handle a beach," Jack said, wincing at the thought. "My back hasn't been right since that stint I did in Iraq back in the eighties. I'm pretty sure I'd be done for if Daniel had me sleeping on a beach."

[captainjack]

"Daniel never had to sleep on the beach. By the time he showed up, we had civilization up and running," Jack replied, scooping up a wayward kitten. "You have no idea the joy of finding the compound and its most precious resources...the kitchen and the showers. It was heaven."

[has_2ls]

"Nothing like a nice, hot shower when you've been in the boonies for more than twenty-four hours," Jack agreed, closing his eyes with the thought. "Don't get me wrong, I like camping, but technology is a beautiful thing."

[captainjack]

"Try over a month," he said with a sigh. "A shower, real soap...razors. It was like heaven."