(Untitled)

[torchwood_gwen]

Who: Gwen, anyone else up for a dip in the pool
When: Mid afternoon
Where: The pool
What: Swimming, sitting in the spa.

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[capj_harkness]

Jack wandered into the pool area with his hands in his pockets. He hadn't been thinking about swimming. He'd been thinking more about lunch, actually, but the hotel had decided to put him at the pool instead of the cafe.

He did recognize the brunette in the very skimpy bikini testing the waters though.

"Gwen Cooper, I don't remember that ever being in your wardrobe before. I'm sure I'd remember!" he joked with a friendly grin.

Maybe it wasn't the pool the hotel was trying to give him. Maybe it was Gwen. After the previous night's conversation with Owen, maybe he needed to see Gwen.

[torchwood_gwen]

Gwen looked up, looking a little startled. "Jesus, Jack! You scared me." A smirk played on her lips at the mention of her swimming attire. "You like it?" she asked, turning so he could admire all angles.

Jack was really the last person she expected to see here. When did he ever mention swimming? Did the guy even know how? Well, probably.

[capj_harkness]

He grinned. "Sure do," he told her. "Good choice." He paused, with a bit of a smirk. "Oh, wait," he said, referencing the fact that it probably wasn't Gwen who had actually chosen it. He looked up at the ceiling. "Good choice!" he shouted.

[torchwood_gwen]

Gwen giggled and shook her head. "So are you going to get changed, or are you just going to watch?" She waggled her eyebrows a bit.

[capj_harkness]

"You don't have to," he told her, standing up when she did. "Want to go for a swim?" he asked, nodding towards the pool.

[torchwood_gwen]

Gwen had intended to change and leave, but she just couldn't refuse Jack. She took off running, careful not to slip, and dove in. The sudden temperature change took her breath away. "Shit!" she gasped, "Body parts are freezing off."

[capj_harkness]

Jack grinned and jumped in after her.

"It's bracing," he agreed. "Good conditioning for naked rugby."

[torchwood_gwen]

"If we ever end up playing. I haven't heard anything from my team." said Gwen, floating on her back

[capj_harkness]

Jack looked up at her. "I didn't have any plans this afternoon," he told her. He frowned slightly. "But if you do, you can say so. I'm not trying to... impose."

[torchwood_gwen]

Gwen shook her head, frowning, too. "No! I didn't mean it like that. You...well, it seems like there's something wrong. Talk to me, Jack." She reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.

[capj_harkness]

He shook his head, but it wasn't a refusal. "I just... had a bad day yesterday," he told her.

She was having a hard enough time with the Doctor's impending death. He couldn't tell her about Owen's. He couldn't.

"It's nothing in particular," he assured her. "It's just... this place. You have to remember how long I've been here. Some days... it hits me."

[torchwood_gwen]

"I know." she said. "I'm sorry." Gwen could only imagine what it was like for Jack. He had mentioned, the last time they saw each other, how things had ended badly with the Doctor, and there were three of them here. Not to mention team members from different points in time, and several less than pleasant residents.

[capj_harkness]

Jack expression darkened momentarily before he forced lightness into it.

"Yeah, I saw him last night," he said pleasantly.

[torchwood_gwen]

Gwen frowned at Jack. She may have been preoccupied with her own problems, but she still had eyes in her head. "I saw that look. What happened?"

[capj_harkness]

Jack sighed. "I don't know. It just seems like every time I talk to him anymore, we have an argument. Half the time he comes to see me specifically to pick a fight. I thought we were closer than that," he told her. "You know. Back home." He shrugged self-consciously and looked away.

[torchwood_gwen]

Gwen loved Owen--like she loved Tosh, Ianto, and Jack--but he had a serious knack for taking his frustration out on those who were least deserving. "Owen, bless him, doesn't know how to cope. When he's stressed, or scared, or sad, he lashes out," she said. "The man has a 'little dog' complex."

[capj_harkness]

Jack shrugged. "I don't really know," he said. "It's been a long time since I had occasion to use it."

[torchwood_gwen]

Gwen nodded. It was kind of funny how Ianto--sweet, shy, loving, Ianto--managed to tame the wild beast within Jack. It was fitting. "I see."

[capj_harkness]

"Yeah," Jack remarked. "Sometimes it seems like I've been living in a basement in Cardiff for a hundred years," he told her with a smirk.

[torchwood_gwen]

"Sometimes." she agreed, grinning. "How ever would you entertain yourself?"