Fetch (1/1)
Title: Fetch
Fandom: Eureka
Pairing: Jack/Nathan, established
Rating: PG
Warnings: Slash, so fluffy you may get cavities
Disclaimer: Not mine, etc.
Summary: Christmas present for turntap2. No matter how physically annoying, Jack really enjoys seeing new sides of Nathan's personality.
"Jack."
Jack closed his eyes and tried to focus on the book he was reading.
"Ja-a-a-ack."
It's not his fault, it's not his fault, it's not his fault that he's doing this, Jack repeated to himself. This will pass. It's not his fault. Don't get mad.
"Hey, Jack. Ja-a-a-a-ack. JackJackJackJackJa-a-a-a-ack."
He sighed. "Yes, Nathan?"
"Wanna play?"
Jack tilted his head and looked emotionlessly at his husband, whose head was just peeking over the arm of the sofa. Nathan had a happy, innocent I-aim-to-please smile on his face, and Jack had the urge to smash his own forehead repeatedly into the wall. "No, Nathan, not right now."
Nathan's smile faded instantly, and his entire body drooped. "No?"
"No, Nathan."
"Please?"
"Nathan, I'm tired."
"Please, Jack?"
Jack resolutely picked up his book again. He would not make eye contact. He would not fall victim to those eyes.
"Jack." Nathan nudged his shoulder. "Jack, please? Please, Jack? Come on, Jack, please?"
God, he nagged worse than Jack's ex-wife.
"It doesn't have to be for a long time, just a bit," Nathan wheedled, nudging his shoulder again. "I just wanna throw a ball around. Please? Ple-e-e-e-e-e-ease?"
Jack glanced sideways as he turned the page and instantly regretted it. Nathan's green eyes were wide and plaintive, and glossed with a little sheen of tears. Damn it. "Okay, fine," Jack erupted, slamming his book shut and giving in. "We'll go outside and throw a ball around. Fifteen minutes only, okay?"
Nathan's smile was dazzling. "Okay! Thanks, Jack!" He threw his arms around Jack in a happy, exuberant hug and then bounded away to the front door, bouncing impatiently on the balls of his feet as he waited for Jack to open it. For his part, Jack took his time, slowly climbing the stairs to grab a baseball from his room and then just as slowly going back downstairs. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy spending time with Nathan (or enjoy seeing his usually stoic husband acting like a two year-old), but damn it, Jack was tired. They'd been playing catch all afternoon, for God's sake.
Jack couldn't help but think, in a very disgruntled inner voice, that this was the last time Taggart got to run unsupervised experiments. It was all very funny, swapping Nathan's mind for that of a rather playful terrier, but it was starting to wear. Taggart may have gotten a very serious dog capable of running complex mathematical equations in its sleep, but all Jack had was a frisky husband who was very quickly becoming annoying.
"This is the last time, Nathan," Jack told him sternly as they emerged from the bunker into the gravel drive. Nathan ignored him, bounding away across the grass with a happy whoop. Jack followed, groaning a bit but unable to not smile at the delighted look on Nathan's face. "Ready?"
Nathan turned, saw Jack cocking his arm back, and froze, eyes intent on the ball, twitching slightly left and right as he tried to anticipate which direction Jack would throw it. With a grin, Jack feinted left and threw a not-quite-fastball hard right. Nathan, being ridiculously agile for a man of his age, threw his whole body right and managed to snag the ball with the tips of his fingers. He tumbled down into the grass, rolled with the motion, and sprang back up with a laugh. "Got it, hah!"
"Great job, Nate," Jack congratulated him. (He couldn't stop himself from using the hated nickname--Nathan was being much too adorable to do without, and in the state he was in Jack was fairly certain he wouldn't even notice.) "C'mon, throw it back."
Nathan glanced down at the ball in his hand, then back at Jack. He smiled. "No."
Jack groaned. "Come on, Nate, give it back."
"No!" Nathan tossed the ball lightly in his hand, caught it, and gave Jack a wild grin before darting off into the forest.
Jack made a mental note to see about electric fences as he ran off after his husband with a resigned sigh.
He could barely see Nathan through the trees, but he followed the sound of laughter--the kind of laughter Nathan would never produce if left to his own devices, the kind of laughter Jack only heard when he caught his droll and serious scientist off-guard. Even though this was the most ridiculous situation he'd ever been in and his headache wasn't getting any better with this little chase, Jack's spirits couldn't help but lift slightly at the sound of it.
"Come on, Jack, you're too slow!" Nathan called, looking back over his shoulder. His eyes were alight with that same childish glee, and the flash of green spurred Jack onward--and to his relief, the burst of speed was enough to catch his fleeing lover. He lunged forward to grab Nathan's wrist, and the resulting conflict of centers of gravity brought the pair tumbling to the ground.
"Gotcha," Jack grunted in satisfaction, rolling and pinning Nathan in one smooth move, his hands on Nathan's shoulders and his knees firmly planted on either side of Nathan's waist. "You wanna give that baseball back now?"
Nathan was breathless with laughter, looking up at Jack with glorious green eyes shining with happiness. Without any warning, he stretched up and gave Jack a light, playful kiss on the lips.
Jack blinked. "What was that for?"
"Just 'cause" Nathan said simply, pressing another kiss to Jack's nose, and forehead, and chin, and generally any part of Jack's face he could reach (like a dog licking its beloved master's face, Jack thought distractedly) before flopping back into the leaves and pine needles with a happy sigh. "I love you."
It was the kind of simple declaration that Jack had barely been able to wring from Nathan under the best of circumstances, and the surprise of hearing it made Jack hastily blink back unexpected wetness in his eyes. One corner of his mouth tugged up in a wry smile. "You never say things like that," he murmured quietly.
Nathan looked back at him, cocking his head slightly in an odd mannerism that was simultaneously quintessentially terrier and quintessentially Nathan. "Well, maybe I should more often, then." He smiled up at Jack, and then in a swift motion flipped them over, pinning Jack to the ground. He ducked his head for one last kiss and then leapt up, taking off through the trees back toward the bunker.
Jack lingered on the ground for a moment, however, and smiled to himself, reaching up to brush a finger across his lips. Then he was up and running, following Nathan home.
- - -
Nathan sat on the couch in the living room, trying to read the book in front of him but not doing very well. He couldn't focus. Aftereffects, Taggart had told him, and advised him to get some rest. Nathan had smiled pleasantly and promised to do just that, and done his very best to avoid stopping by Allison's office and getting Taggart's funding yanked.
He'd succeeded. Just barely. A man could only take so much, after all.
Footsteps on the stairs behind him, and then a pair of strong arms reaching over the back of the couch to encircle his shoulders. "Hey, tiger. How ya feeling?"
"Hey, Jack." Nathan tilted his head back against Jack's chest, closing his eyes and listening to Jack's heartbeat. "I'm okay."
"It's weird seeing you be so quiet after you ran me ragged yesterday," Jack teased.
Nathan groaned. "Please don't remind me. I was such an idiot."
"I kinda liked it."
"I was acting like a Jack Russell terrier hiked up on sugar, Jack."
Jack's voice was still light, but it had turned serious somewhere between this sentence and his last. "True. But don't knock it. I've never seen you so happy."
Nathan considered this.
"And," Jack added, a little more quietly, "I don't think I've ever loved you more."
"Loved me?" Nathan looked up at Jack, frowning. "Why? I was a nuisance."
Jack chuckled. "Can't argue. But you were spontaneous, and playful, and...I just don't get to see you like that, Nathan. It was nice."
"And I wanted to spend all my time with you." It wasn't a question, and Nathan couldn't help but grin up at him. "I did. You were everything. I think it's because...a dog's brain is so much simpler. Eat, play, love."
Jack's eyebrows lifted slightly in surprise.
Nathan looked at him seriously. "If you like hearing me say 'I love you,' all you have to do is ask."
Jack blinked at him for a moment, and Nathan smiled at the emotions in his eyes. Finally Jack grinned. "I'll keep that in mind."
"Do."
"Come to bed?"
"In a bit."
Jack nodded and turned to head back upstairs. But he paused, and turned around. "Oh, Nate?"
"Don't call me--" he began automatically, but bit it off as he looked over his shoulder. "Yeah?"
"In case this happens again, I took the liberty of getting a collar and a leash--"
It was Nathan's turn to give chase as Jack, laughing, fled upstairs.
Fandom: Eureka
Pairing: Jack/Nathan, established
Rating: PG
Warnings: Slash, so fluffy you may get cavities
Disclaimer: Not mine, etc.
Summary: Christmas present for turntap2. No matter how physically annoying, Jack really enjoys seeing new sides of Nathan's personality.
"Jack."
Jack closed his eyes and tried to focus on the book he was reading.
"Ja-a-a-ack."
It's not his fault, it's not his fault, it's not his fault that he's doing this, Jack repeated to himself. This will pass. It's not his fault. Don't get mad.
"Hey, Jack. Ja-a-a-a-ack. JackJackJackJackJa-a-a-a-ack."
He sighed. "Yes, Nathan?"
"Wanna play?"
Jack tilted his head and looked emotionlessly at his husband, whose head was just peeking over the arm of the sofa. Nathan had a happy, innocent I-aim-to-please smile on his face, and Jack had the urge to smash his own forehead repeatedly into the wall. "No, Nathan, not right now."
Nathan's smile faded instantly, and his entire body drooped. "No?"
"No, Nathan."
"Please?"
"Nathan, I'm tired."
"Please, Jack?"
Jack resolutely picked up his book again. He would not make eye contact. He would not fall victim to those eyes.
"Jack." Nathan nudged his shoulder. "Jack, please? Please, Jack? Come on, Jack, please?"
God, he nagged worse than Jack's ex-wife.
"It doesn't have to be for a long time, just a bit," Nathan wheedled, nudging his shoulder again. "I just wanna throw a ball around. Please? Ple-e-e-e-e-e-ease?"
Jack glanced sideways as he turned the page and instantly regretted it. Nathan's green eyes were wide and plaintive, and glossed with a little sheen of tears. Damn it. "Okay, fine," Jack erupted, slamming his book shut and giving in. "We'll go outside and throw a ball around. Fifteen minutes only, okay?"
Nathan's smile was dazzling. "Okay! Thanks, Jack!" He threw his arms around Jack in a happy, exuberant hug and then bounded away to the front door, bouncing impatiently on the balls of his feet as he waited for Jack to open it. For his part, Jack took his time, slowly climbing the stairs to grab a baseball from his room and then just as slowly going back downstairs. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy spending time with Nathan (or enjoy seeing his usually stoic husband acting like a two year-old), but damn it, Jack was tired. They'd been playing catch all afternoon, for God's sake.
Jack couldn't help but think, in a very disgruntled inner voice, that this was the last time Taggart got to run unsupervised experiments. It was all very funny, swapping Nathan's mind for that of a rather playful terrier, but it was starting to wear. Taggart may have gotten a very serious dog capable of running complex mathematical equations in its sleep, but all Jack had was a frisky husband who was very quickly becoming annoying.
"This is the last time, Nathan," Jack told him sternly as they emerged from the bunker into the gravel drive. Nathan ignored him, bounding away across the grass with a happy whoop. Jack followed, groaning a bit but unable to not smile at the delighted look on Nathan's face. "Ready?"
Nathan turned, saw Jack cocking his arm back, and froze, eyes intent on the ball, twitching slightly left and right as he tried to anticipate which direction Jack would throw it. With a grin, Jack feinted left and threw a not-quite-fastball hard right. Nathan, being ridiculously agile for a man of his age, threw his whole body right and managed to snag the ball with the tips of his fingers. He tumbled down into the grass, rolled with the motion, and sprang back up with a laugh. "Got it, hah!"
"Great job, Nate," Jack congratulated him. (He couldn't stop himself from using the hated nickname--Nathan was being much too adorable to do without, and in the state he was in Jack was fairly certain he wouldn't even notice.) "C'mon, throw it back."
Nathan glanced down at the ball in his hand, then back at Jack. He smiled. "No."
Jack groaned. "Come on, Nate, give it back."
"No!" Nathan tossed the ball lightly in his hand, caught it, and gave Jack a wild grin before darting off into the forest.
Jack made a mental note to see about electric fences as he ran off after his husband with a resigned sigh.
He could barely see Nathan through the trees, but he followed the sound of laughter--the kind of laughter Nathan would never produce if left to his own devices, the kind of laughter Jack only heard when he caught his droll and serious scientist off-guard. Even though this was the most ridiculous situation he'd ever been in and his headache wasn't getting any better with this little chase, Jack's spirits couldn't help but lift slightly at the sound of it.
"Come on, Jack, you're too slow!" Nathan called, looking back over his shoulder. His eyes were alight with that same childish glee, and the flash of green spurred Jack onward--and to his relief, the burst of speed was enough to catch his fleeing lover. He lunged forward to grab Nathan's wrist, and the resulting conflict of centers of gravity brought the pair tumbling to the ground.
"Gotcha," Jack grunted in satisfaction, rolling and pinning Nathan in one smooth move, his hands on Nathan's shoulders and his knees firmly planted on either side of Nathan's waist. "You wanna give that baseball back now?"
Nathan was breathless with laughter, looking up at Jack with glorious green eyes shining with happiness. Without any warning, he stretched up and gave Jack a light, playful kiss on the lips.
Jack blinked. "What was that for?"
"Just 'cause" Nathan said simply, pressing another kiss to Jack's nose, and forehead, and chin, and generally any part of Jack's face he could reach (like a dog licking its beloved master's face, Jack thought distractedly) before flopping back into the leaves and pine needles with a happy sigh. "I love you."
It was the kind of simple declaration that Jack had barely been able to wring from Nathan under the best of circumstances, and the surprise of hearing it made Jack hastily blink back unexpected wetness in his eyes. One corner of his mouth tugged up in a wry smile. "You never say things like that," he murmured quietly.
Nathan looked back at him, cocking his head slightly in an odd mannerism that was simultaneously quintessentially terrier and quintessentially Nathan. "Well, maybe I should more often, then." He smiled up at Jack, and then in a swift motion flipped them over, pinning Jack to the ground. He ducked his head for one last kiss and then leapt up, taking off through the trees back toward the bunker.
Jack lingered on the ground for a moment, however, and smiled to himself, reaching up to brush a finger across his lips. Then he was up and running, following Nathan home.
- - -
Nathan sat on the couch in the living room, trying to read the book in front of him but not doing very well. He couldn't focus. Aftereffects, Taggart had told him, and advised him to get some rest. Nathan had smiled pleasantly and promised to do just that, and done his very best to avoid stopping by Allison's office and getting Taggart's funding yanked.
He'd succeeded. Just barely. A man could only take so much, after all.
Footsteps on the stairs behind him, and then a pair of strong arms reaching over the back of the couch to encircle his shoulders. "Hey, tiger. How ya feeling?"
"Hey, Jack." Nathan tilted his head back against Jack's chest, closing his eyes and listening to Jack's heartbeat. "I'm okay."
"It's weird seeing you be so quiet after you ran me ragged yesterday," Jack teased.
Nathan groaned. "Please don't remind me. I was such an idiot."
"I kinda liked it."
"I was acting like a Jack Russell terrier hiked up on sugar, Jack."
Jack's voice was still light, but it had turned serious somewhere between this sentence and his last. "True. But don't knock it. I've never seen you so happy."
Nathan considered this.
"And," Jack added, a little more quietly, "I don't think I've ever loved you more."
"Loved me?" Nathan looked up at Jack, frowning. "Why? I was a nuisance."
Jack chuckled. "Can't argue. But you were spontaneous, and playful, and...I just don't get to see you like that, Nathan. It was nice."
"And I wanted to spend all my time with you." It wasn't a question, and Nathan couldn't help but grin up at him. "I did. You were everything. I think it's because...a dog's brain is so much simpler. Eat, play, love."
Jack's eyebrows lifted slightly in surprise.
Nathan looked at him seriously. "If you like hearing me say 'I love you,' all you have to do is ask."
Jack blinked at him for a moment, and Nathan smiled at the emotions in his eyes. Finally Jack grinned. "I'll keep that in mind."
"Do."
"Come to bed?"
"In a bit."
Jack nodded and turned to head back upstairs. But he paused, and turned around. "Oh, Nate?"
"Don't call me--" he began automatically, but bit it off as he looked over his shoulder. "Yeah?"
"In case this happens again, I took the liberty of getting a collar and a leash--"
It was Nathan's turn to give chase as Jack, laughing, fled upstairs.