FIC: "Iceberg Anatomy" (2/7)
Iceberg Anatomy
By Simarillion
Fandom: Supernatural RPS
Universe: Alternative Universe
Rating: PG-13
Beta: sulfuricfusion
Pairing: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki (one-sided), Jared Padalecki/Sandra McCoy (mentioned), others
Warnings: slash, M/M
Word Count: 3,635 (7,110 total)
Summary: Movie meets reality. At the end of the world a fateful meeting takes place.
Disclaimer: None of the herein presented happenings and events are true. Everything is 100% fiction and that includes the sexuality of the characters. I don’t claim to be in the know about their relations and private affairs, and I don’t make any money with the creation of this story.
Author’s Note: I changed the age of Jensen and Jared, they are the same age now. The plot wouldn’t really work otherwise.
This is part 2 of the Glaciology! ‘verse. Jensen is a scientist in the field of glaciology and he spends most of his time surrounded by ice, whereas Jared is a Hollywood movie star. Prequel to this story is Invisible Glaciers.
[ Masterpost]
Part Two
Jensen is in the bathroom brushing his teeth when a knock has Dean scrambling to the door, yipping excitedly. It’s no mystery who’s showing up at this time of the morning. For the last week, Jared had kept his promise and arrived every day at four-thirty. True, he wasn’t very coherent or helpful, but the effort was worth more than the results.
He spits out the foam and fights his way past the dog to let Jared in. Once again he comes to meet tousled hair and eyes puffy with sleep.
“Morn’n’.” He’s sure if he didn’t step to the side, Jared would just run over him on his way to Jensen’s bed.
There’s an ‘uff’ and then the other is spread facedown across the unmade bed. Dean has no reservations about climbing in with his human friend. The two of them don’t move a single muscle as Jensen returns to the bathroom and finishes getting ready for the day.
Yesterday, they had been snow shoeing for hours, exploring the surrounding area of the compound. For Jared and the other ‘recruits,’ as they have been calling the Hollywood guests, the experience had been draining. Usually, there would be excited talk about new things learned or discoveries made, but that evening, there had been silence during dinner. And the moment they had finished, the additional research team members had disappeared in their rooms.
Teeth brushed, face washed and hair almost tamed, he finishes getting dressed. Upon seeing the two bums sleeping on his bed, he thinks about letting them get off easy, but then he can’t help himself. Dean cracks his eyes open when Jensen sneaks out of the room, but he’s far too lazy to get up. Quickly, he gets a handful of snow from outside, and then he quietly comes back. He finds them just the way he left them.
The dog watches his approach and makes to get up. Most likely, he thinks that Jensen’s brought something for him. A determined shake of his head has Dean stopping his attempt at untangling himself from Jared.
The reaction he gets from shoving cold snow down Jared’s shirt is instantaneous. The other squeaks - in a very manly way, of course - and jumps up. Dean and the tangled sheets and blankets prove to be too much of an obstacle, and he almost falls face first from the bed.
Jensen can’t help it. He bursts out into laughter. True, it was a childish prank, but Jared’s sloth impersonation had been just too tempting to resist.
“Dude, so not cool.” Jared’s frantic tugging and pulling at his clothes makes things only worse. For one, the snow is slipping even deeper into his clothes, and he also looks like huge a dork doing it. “Dude!”
He leans against the wall and watches the spectacle before him. Just as Jared is starting to strip himself of his wet clothes, the door opens and Alona looks in. “Everything alright? I thought I heard someone screaming.”
“We’re fine.”
“No, we’re not.” Jared is now only wearing his pants; parka, sweater, shirt and undershirt lying crumpled on the floor. He’s wiping his chest down with one of Jensen’s dirty t-shirts.
“Hey, that’s my shirt!” Jensen makes a grab for his piece of clothing, but Jared’s freakishly long arms keep him at a distance.
“That’s what you get for pulling a stunt like this, bitch.” The grumbling is slowly turning into the other’s usual teasing banter, and now that the snow and the water are dried off, he’s more cheerful than he had been when he arrived this morning.
When he turns to complain to Alona about the t-shirt abuse, he finds her staring at Jared, eyes wide open, biting her lips. It is precisely at this moment that Jensen realises that he has a half-naked Jared Padalecki in his room, right in front of him.
The funny thing is that he didn’t even think about it, or react to it. Nothing has changed about Jensen’s attraction to Jared, but ever since the actor walked up to him on the first day and asked to be allowed to help with the dogs, he had gotten to know the other. Jared is a good and friendly person, and he’s slowly but surely becoming Jensen’s friend. Not his best friend, but a friend never the less.
While Jensen was busy with his introspection, and Alona continued to stare at the suddenly exposed chest, Jared had started digging through Jensen’s clothes and pulled on an undershirt and a t-shirt.
“Well, at least the sweater and the jacket are dry.”
The words make him focus on the here and now again. Jared is fully clothed again. He tosses his wet clothes into Jensen’s hamper and turns to look at him expectantly.
“Dude, I’m not doing your laundry.” But his words are more amused than confrontational.
“I’ll do the shirts I just borrowed. The least you can do is take care of the stuff you got all wet in the first place.” Dean is back at Jared’s side and whines pitifully. His doggy eyes do their best to convey the pain he feels for having to live with Jensen. “Dean, it’s you and me, pal. Together, we’ll stand a chance against him.”
Jensen laughs in amusement. In the last couple of days, the two of them have been found plotting against him more than once. It’s almost as if they found their long lost twin in each other.
“Uh, I’ll just…okay.” The stammered words are Alona’s goodbye. They can hear her calling down the corridor, “Sam, the best morning ever!”
“I’ll never live that down, will I?” There is a hint of anxiousness in Jared’s voice.
“Nope.” He pulls on is parka and zips it closed. Behind him are the sounds of toenails clicking and boots shuffling. Together they head out, and make for the first stop of their morning routine - the dogs.
Cas and Sammy are up and yipping at them as they make their across the newly fallen snow. During the night, a blizzard had covered everything under a thick white blanket, brighter and colder than the one before. The huskies dig themselves out and stand at attention as Jensen and Jared prepare their food.
While the humans are busy filling bowls with dog chow, Dean greets his two best friends and plays around with them. There are disgruntled yowls and a short growl at their antics from some of the other dogs, but mostly they are watching the progress of their breakfast.
Jared hands out his bowls with a pat here and a scratch there. He seems to enjoy the time he can spend with the huskies. From the first course the actors had with Jensen, they have been asking about going out with the sled, but Jensen refuses to go anywhere until they are able to walk and move around in the snow. In the case that something happens, they have to be in the position to continue on without the help of the dogs.
The snow shoeing class yesterday was a perfect lesson to show the amount of energy needed to keep moving in the deep snow. In the beginning, everyone had been joking around, but after the first hour of trekking through snow and ice, everyone had been much more subdued.
In the end even Jared’s seemingly boundless reservoirs of energy had emptied, and the only talking had been done by Jensen.
Jensen takes a short inventory of their supplies of dog food, and then he joins Jared in watching the huskies devour their breakfast. It is actually a quick affair and soon the bowls are washed and stowed away. When Jensen tries to get Jared and Dean to come with him for a walk, he’s met with much resistance, in the form of grumbling and pitiful looks.
It takes a lot of name calling and tugging to get them ‘on the road,’ and Dean constantly stops to look back at the dogs he’s leaving behind.
“See, even Dean thinks that we shouldn’t walk today.” Jared sounds whiny. He trudges slowly and dispassionately down the path Jensen’s making in front of him. “My legs are still tired from yesterday.”
“Well then, it’s perfect training for you.” He knows that for a person not used to the environment and the weather conditions here, the trek on snow shoe had been very demanding, but he had been told to make no exemptions for any of the recruits. Even Chad had made it till the end. Granted, that was with a lot of complaining and douchiness, but he made the whole trek.
Their walk takes only forty-five minutes, but during this time, Jared complains so much that they’re only able to cover half the distance they usually do. Dean doesn’t complain about that though. He’s more interested in returning to the other dogs.
When they arrive back at their starting point, the dog dashes to the other huskies without so much of a glance back. His return is greeted with yips and a lot of licking from Sammy and Cas, the three of them twisting around each other with excitement and happiness.
Jared doesn’t even comment on the display of affection, he just moans about his feet, mutters something about torture, and makes for the entrance. Jensen can’t help but smile at the protesting. The big-ass movie star sounds more like a whiny brat than a famous actor.
“Come on, let’s go for breakfast.” He follows him into the compound. The grumbling and whining has stopped now that there’s the prospect of food. The faces they find in the cantina range from amused (scientists and staff) to dead-on-their feet (Hollywood).
“Dude.” The words are meant to sound accusatory and confrontational, but Chad barely manages to lift his head from the table in front of him. The other actors aren’t doing any better. “You’re in league with my ex-wives, I just know it.”
Jensen ignores the remark and makes for his oatmeal, tea and bagels. While he’s filling up his mug and grabbing a bagel from the bread basket, Jared’s piling food left and right on three separate plates. He doesn’t even check to see what it is he’s taking.
“How are you going to get all of this to the table?” His only answer is a growl that sounds eerily like a pissed off grizzly before the gathering of food continues.
When he has finished getting his own breakfast stuff, he stays and watches Jared as he attempts to break the world record in breakfast piling. One of the eggs is precariously close to the edge of the plate, and he reaches out to keep it from dropping off. Wrong move, if ever there was one. Jared almost spears his hand with a fork he produced out of thin air, and grabs his three towering plates. Surprisingly, nothing falls or drips on his way to the table.
With the actors in such a foul mood, Jensen decides to let them eat alone. He joins Sam, Jim, and Jeff at their table, and eats his own food. His occasional glance at the Hollywood table is noticed by his friends.
“You know, I think you broke them,” Sam winks at him, amused. In the last week, she’s been tearing at her hair, complaining about incompetent morons who get in her way and wreck her lab. It’s understandable that she takes some sadistic pleasure in the subdued (more like worn out) state the actors are in.
Jeff just chuckles and continues sipping his black coffee. Ever since their guests arrived, he’s been laughing and cackling gleefully at the interactions between nerd herd and Barbies, as he likes to refer to the actors and their instructors.
“Laugh it up, Jeff, but I seem to recall that they‘re scheduled for Polar history with you in about an hour.” The comment has the intended effect, and the laughing stops. Jeff eyes the table across the room warily.
Jim just ignores everyone and continues reading the reports he brought with him to breakfast.
“Well, Cap, I’m sure you’ll enjoy beating some knowledge into their pretty heads.” Sam grins evilly at Jeff, who speedily drains his cup and makes a mad dash for the exit. “I wouldn’t be too surprised if he suddenly has to take care of things, somewhere far away from here.”
“I wish I could say that was beneath him, but unfortunately I know that it’s not. Why is he so scared of them? I thought that he got along with the group great when they arrived?” He eats the last of his oatmeal, and pours himself a glass of OJ.
“That was before the underaged thing propositioned him.” Jim doesn’t look up from the papers, but he’s grinning with amusement. “The girl locked herself into the supply closet with him and tried to do unspeakable things with him. She claimed that Jeff’s voice is making her do it.”
Sam and Jensen laugh out loud. If there is one thing that Captain Morgan can’t deal with, it’s overtly flirting. Being used to geeky scientists and long stretches of solitude somewhere at the end of the world, their fearsome boss (for everyone agrees that Jeff is the one in charge around here) is more than a little awkward where interpersonal relationships (of the non work or friendship kind) are concerned.
Their amusement is noticed by the table at the other end of the cantina, and there are some disgruntled looks thrown in their direction. The three of them decide that a tactical retreat is the best procedure right now, and so they slunk out of the room.
Jensen promises Sam to help her in the lab until he gets the new data from the Russian research station in Siberia. He has to check on Dean first though, and when he opens the entrance to head out, he’s almost bowled over by an eager dog, who doesn’t mind letting him know that he wanted to come inside a long time ago.
A few rubs and scratches and the husky is reasonably calmed down, once more convinced that his human is his willing and obedient slave.
The two of them head for the lab, where Dean curls up in his basket and Jensen starts on the samples and readings Sam has set aside for him. They work alongside each other peacefully, ignoring other people coming and going, continuing with their own tests. Around lunchtime he takes Dean for a short walk around to compound, and then he returns to the lab to finish the last batch.
The results having been recorded and filed, and samples either locked up again or disposed of, he makes for his office. During his walk at lunch time, the data he’d been waiting for had arrived. The labelling of the tables is in Russian, but they are structured the same way their own are, and he knows which numbers are equivalent to what.
Dean leaves him on the way to the office - just around the corner of the cantina he spied Jared, and the dog decided there and then, that Jared is more fun than Jensen. It’s more likely that the actor will pet Dean, since Jensen’s too busy with work.
It takes him the whole afternoon to go through half of the data he received, and he hadn’t even started to compare them with the data he collected himself. His computer decided, upon opening the files, that it would completely screw up the formatting, and so he spent most of the time trying to reformat the whole thing.
His eyes are tearing up and his head is constantly aching when he saves the Excel book and shuts down his computer. In the afternoon there had been occasional shouts and laughter, but now everything’s quiet. He rubs over his eyes and stretches. The movement makes his spine pop, and he releases a contented sigh.
“Tired?” The question takes him by surprise, and he swivels his chair around. Jared is leaning on the doorway, looking much more upbeat and coherent than he had this morning.
“You could say that.” He gets up and puts away the print outs and folders that are covering the desk. “You have a nice day?”
“Yeah, Jeff was great fun. At first he seemed to be a bit nervous; he kept glancing at Hayden as if she was going to attack him, but he calmed down later on.” Jared’s words have him crack up laughing. “What’s so funny?”
“Your cheerleader tried to molest him couple of days ago.” He laughs even harder now. “I was told that it’s the voice.”
Jared laughs with him. “That would explain why he refused to give her the private tutoring she asked for.”
They smile at each other, amused by Jeff’s predicament. Now that everything’s where it’s supposed to be, Jensen pushes Jared away from his doorway and in the direction of the cantina.
“And, are you recovered from the excursion of hell yesterday?” They push through the door and into the crowded room. The tables are crammed full with people and plates. Unlike breakfast, where no one eats at a set time, dinner is an affair where everyone comes together.
“Mostly. My legs and arms still feel weak and heavy, but I can actually walk and talk again, and string words into sentences.”
“An amazing feat, all by itself,” he quips. He grabs a tray and gets soup, salad and a slice of pie. Today was Alona’s and Brock’s day to cook. He’s learned the hard way to be very careful what to eat when those two are on kitchen duty.
“Fuck you.” Jared is busy loading his tray up with more food than should be physically possible. “I’ll have you know that my verbal skills are so awesome, I even got an Academy Award Nomination for them.”
“Didn’t win it though. Maybe you should train some more.” Jensen likes teasing Jared. The other gives as good as he gets, and it feels like they’ve known each other for years, been friends for a long time.
“I hate you.” The words are accompanied by a pout, but it is soon replaced by one of Jared’s trademark smiles. Bright and sunny.
“Sure you do.” Their bantering confused people in the beginning, especially Chad. They couldn’t understand how two strangers could get along that easily. Jensen just shrugged the questions off, and told them that ‘since they attended the same school’ they were practically brothers.
Danneel had made fun of him for that comment, saying that everyone in Texas is related to each other, but it had stopped the looks and the comments. Once Jared knew that they attended school together, he had made it his personal task to find out if he remembered Jensen from CW High. So far he had never been right, and Jensen knows that he never will be. But that doesn’t matter. They are talking now, and that’s all that counts.
They part ways, each one joining their own table. It reminds him strangely of High School, and he has to smile. But at High School, the most popular guy would never have talked with one of the science geeks.
Danneel makes space for him, and Jensen squishes himself between her and Jim. Their table isn’t even nearly as loud as the Hollywood table, but there are conversations, shared jokes and stories as well.
“Were able to finish the data you got?” Sam sits down opposite him.
“Nope, the stupid computer fucked up the formatting of the file. I spent almost the whole afternoon trying to reformat it. Otherwise, I can’t make heads or tails of the figures.” He reaches under the table and scratches Dean’s ear, who has returned from Jared, and is now wrapped around Jensen’s feet.
“Sorry.”
“No problem. I sorted it out and have started going through the tables. It will take me all of tomorrow before I can tell you the results of the comparison though.” The dog’s cold nose pushes at his hand, demanding food.
“Did the dogs behave?” His question is directed at Danneel next to him.
“Yeah, Jared helped, and they were on their best behaviour with him.”
“They love him.” He smiles and continues eating his soup.
“They’re just trying to suck up to him, so they can go to Hollywood, become movie stars, and leave here.” She grins at him and winks at Sam.
“Treacherous bastards.” A whine from under the table has him laugh. “Not you, Dean, I know that you’d never betray me.”
Danneel snorts. “Yeah, dream on. Your dog would sell his own grandmother for a good belly rub.”
“I don’t believe a word you’re saying.” His fake naïve voice and shocked expression has Sam and Danneel laughing, him joining in soon after. He likes the people here. Everyone is nice, and it feels almost like a family.
With another pat on Dean’s head he pulls his hand back from under the table and continues eating dinner. Jim is teasing Jeff about his reaction to the flirty actress, and soon the whole table is involved in a heated discussion about Jeff’s dating skills.
continue: Part Three
By Simarillion
Fandom: Supernatural RPS
Universe: Alternative Universe
Rating: PG-13
Beta: sulfuricfusion
Pairing: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki (one-sided), Jared Padalecki/Sandra McCoy (mentioned), others
Warnings: slash, M/M
Word Count: 3,635 (7,110 total)
Summary: Movie meets reality. At the end of the world a fateful meeting takes place.
Disclaimer: None of the herein presented happenings and events are true. Everything is 100% fiction and that includes the sexuality of the characters. I don’t claim to be in the know about their relations and private affairs, and I don’t make any money with the creation of this story.
Author’s Note: I changed the age of Jensen and Jared, they are the same age now. The plot wouldn’t really work otherwise.
This is part 2 of the Glaciology! ‘verse. Jensen is a scientist in the field of glaciology and he spends most of his time surrounded by ice, whereas Jared is a Hollywood movie star. Prequel to this story is Invisible Glaciers.
[ Masterpost]
Part Two
Jensen is in the bathroom brushing his teeth when a knock has Dean scrambling to the door, yipping excitedly. It’s no mystery who’s showing up at this time of the morning. For the last week, Jared had kept his promise and arrived every day at four-thirty. True, he wasn’t very coherent or helpful, but the effort was worth more than the results.
He spits out the foam and fights his way past the dog to let Jared in. Once again he comes to meet tousled hair and eyes puffy with sleep.
“Morn’n’.” He’s sure if he didn’t step to the side, Jared would just run over him on his way to Jensen’s bed.
There’s an ‘uff’ and then the other is spread facedown across the unmade bed. Dean has no reservations about climbing in with his human friend. The two of them don’t move a single muscle as Jensen returns to the bathroom and finishes getting ready for the day.
Yesterday, they had been snow shoeing for hours, exploring the surrounding area of the compound. For Jared and the other ‘recruits,’ as they have been calling the Hollywood guests, the experience had been draining. Usually, there would be excited talk about new things learned or discoveries made, but that evening, there had been silence during dinner. And the moment they had finished, the additional research team members had disappeared in their rooms.
Teeth brushed, face washed and hair almost tamed, he finishes getting dressed. Upon seeing the two bums sleeping on his bed, he thinks about letting them get off easy, but then he can’t help himself. Dean cracks his eyes open when Jensen sneaks out of the room, but he’s far too lazy to get up. Quickly, he gets a handful of snow from outside, and then he quietly comes back. He finds them just the way he left them.
The dog watches his approach and makes to get up. Most likely, he thinks that Jensen’s brought something for him. A determined shake of his head has Dean stopping his attempt at untangling himself from Jared.
The reaction he gets from shoving cold snow down Jared’s shirt is instantaneous. The other squeaks - in a very manly way, of course - and jumps up. Dean and the tangled sheets and blankets prove to be too much of an obstacle, and he almost falls face first from the bed.
Jensen can’t help it. He bursts out into laughter. True, it was a childish prank, but Jared’s sloth impersonation had been just too tempting to resist.
“Dude, so not cool.” Jared’s frantic tugging and pulling at his clothes makes things only worse. For one, the snow is slipping even deeper into his clothes, and he also looks like huge a dork doing it. “Dude!”
He leans against the wall and watches the spectacle before him. Just as Jared is starting to strip himself of his wet clothes, the door opens and Alona looks in. “Everything alright? I thought I heard someone screaming.”
“We’re fine.”
“No, we’re not.” Jared is now only wearing his pants; parka, sweater, shirt and undershirt lying crumpled on the floor. He’s wiping his chest down with one of Jensen’s dirty t-shirts.
“Hey, that’s my shirt!” Jensen makes a grab for his piece of clothing, but Jared’s freakishly long arms keep him at a distance.
“That’s what you get for pulling a stunt like this, bitch.” The grumbling is slowly turning into the other’s usual teasing banter, and now that the snow and the water are dried off, he’s more cheerful than he had been when he arrived this morning.
When he turns to complain to Alona about the t-shirt abuse, he finds her staring at Jared, eyes wide open, biting her lips. It is precisely at this moment that Jensen realises that he has a half-naked Jared Padalecki in his room, right in front of him.
The funny thing is that he didn’t even think about it, or react to it. Nothing has changed about Jensen’s attraction to Jared, but ever since the actor walked up to him on the first day and asked to be allowed to help with the dogs, he had gotten to know the other. Jared is a good and friendly person, and he’s slowly but surely becoming Jensen’s friend. Not his best friend, but a friend never the less.
While Jensen was busy with his introspection, and Alona continued to stare at the suddenly exposed chest, Jared had started digging through Jensen’s clothes and pulled on an undershirt and a t-shirt.
“Well, at least the sweater and the jacket are dry.”
The words make him focus on the here and now again. Jared is fully clothed again. He tosses his wet clothes into Jensen’s hamper and turns to look at him expectantly.
“Dude, I’m not doing your laundry.” But his words are more amused than confrontational.
“I’ll do the shirts I just borrowed. The least you can do is take care of the stuff you got all wet in the first place.” Dean is back at Jared’s side and whines pitifully. His doggy eyes do their best to convey the pain he feels for having to live with Jensen. “Dean, it’s you and me, pal. Together, we’ll stand a chance against him.”
Jensen laughs in amusement. In the last couple of days, the two of them have been found plotting against him more than once. It’s almost as if they found their long lost twin in each other.
“Uh, I’ll just…okay.” The stammered words are Alona’s goodbye. They can hear her calling down the corridor, “Sam, the best morning ever!”
“I’ll never live that down, will I?” There is a hint of anxiousness in Jared’s voice.
“Nope.” He pulls on is parka and zips it closed. Behind him are the sounds of toenails clicking and boots shuffling. Together they head out, and make for the first stop of their morning routine - the dogs.
Cas and Sammy are up and yipping at them as they make their across the newly fallen snow. During the night, a blizzard had covered everything under a thick white blanket, brighter and colder than the one before. The huskies dig themselves out and stand at attention as Jensen and Jared prepare their food.
While the humans are busy filling bowls with dog chow, Dean greets his two best friends and plays around with them. There are disgruntled yowls and a short growl at their antics from some of the other dogs, but mostly they are watching the progress of their breakfast.
Jared hands out his bowls with a pat here and a scratch there. He seems to enjoy the time he can spend with the huskies. From the first course the actors had with Jensen, they have been asking about going out with the sled, but Jensen refuses to go anywhere until they are able to walk and move around in the snow. In the case that something happens, they have to be in the position to continue on without the help of the dogs.
The snow shoeing class yesterday was a perfect lesson to show the amount of energy needed to keep moving in the deep snow. In the beginning, everyone had been joking around, but after the first hour of trekking through snow and ice, everyone had been much more subdued.
In the end even Jared’s seemingly boundless reservoirs of energy had emptied, and the only talking had been done by Jensen.
Jensen takes a short inventory of their supplies of dog food, and then he joins Jared in watching the huskies devour their breakfast. It is actually a quick affair and soon the bowls are washed and stowed away. When Jensen tries to get Jared and Dean to come with him for a walk, he’s met with much resistance, in the form of grumbling and pitiful looks.
It takes a lot of name calling and tugging to get them ‘on the road,’ and Dean constantly stops to look back at the dogs he’s leaving behind.
“See, even Dean thinks that we shouldn’t walk today.” Jared sounds whiny. He trudges slowly and dispassionately down the path Jensen’s making in front of him. “My legs are still tired from yesterday.”
“Well then, it’s perfect training for you.” He knows that for a person not used to the environment and the weather conditions here, the trek on snow shoe had been very demanding, but he had been told to make no exemptions for any of the recruits. Even Chad had made it till the end. Granted, that was with a lot of complaining and douchiness, but he made the whole trek.
Their walk takes only forty-five minutes, but during this time, Jared complains so much that they’re only able to cover half the distance they usually do. Dean doesn’t complain about that though. He’s more interested in returning to the other dogs.
When they arrive back at their starting point, the dog dashes to the other huskies without so much of a glance back. His return is greeted with yips and a lot of licking from Sammy and Cas, the three of them twisting around each other with excitement and happiness.
Jared doesn’t even comment on the display of affection, he just moans about his feet, mutters something about torture, and makes for the entrance. Jensen can’t help but smile at the protesting. The big-ass movie star sounds more like a whiny brat than a famous actor.
“Come on, let’s go for breakfast.” He follows him into the compound. The grumbling and whining has stopped now that there’s the prospect of food. The faces they find in the cantina range from amused (scientists and staff) to dead-on-their feet (Hollywood).
“Dude.” The words are meant to sound accusatory and confrontational, but Chad barely manages to lift his head from the table in front of him. The other actors aren’t doing any better. “You’re in league with my ex-wives, I just know it.”
Jensen ignores the remark and makes for his oatmeal, tea and bagels. While he’s filling up his mug and grabbing a bagel from the bread basket, Jared’s piling food left and right on three separate plates. He doesn’t even check to see what it is he’s taking.
“How are you going to get all of this to the table?” His only answer is a growl that sounds eerily like a pissed off grizzly before the gathering of food continues.
When he has finished getting his own breakfast stuff, he stays and watches Jared as he attempts to break the world record in breakfast piling. One of the eggs is precariously close to the edge of the plate, and he reaches out to keep it from dropping off. Wrong move, if ever there was one. Jared almost spears his hand with a fork he produced out of thin air, and grabs his three towering plates. Surprisingly, nothing falls or drips on his way to the table.
With the actors in such a foul mood, Jensen decides to let them eat alone. He joins Sam, Jim, and Jeff at their table, and eats his own food. His occasional glance at the Hollywood table is noticed by his friends.
“You know, I think you broke them,” Sam winks at him, amused. In the last week, she’s been tearing at her hair, complaining about incompetent morons who get in her way and wreck her lab. It’s understandable that she takes some sadistic pleasure in the subdued (more like worn out) state the actors are in.
Jeff just chuckles and continues sipping his black coffee. Ever since their guests arrived, he’s been laughing and cackling gleefully at the interactions between nerd herd and Barbies, as he likes to refer to the actors and their instructors.
“Laugh it up, Jeff, but I seem to recall that they‘re scheduled for Polar history with you in about an hour.” The comment has the intended effect, and the laughing stops. Jeff eyes the table across the room warily.
Jim just ignores everyone and continues reading the reports he brought with him to breakfast.
“Well, Cap, I’m sure you’ll enjoy beating some knowledge into their pretty heads.” Sam grins evilly at Jeff, who speedily drains his cup and makes a mad dash for the exit. “I wouldn’t be too surprised if he suddenly has to take care of things, somewhere far away from here.”
“I wish I could say that was beneath him, but unfortunately I know that it’s not. Why is he so scared of them? I thought that he got along with the group great when they arrived?” He eats the last of his oatmeal, and pours himself a glass of OJ.
“That was before the underaged thing propositioned him.” Jim doesn’t look up from the papers, but he’s grinning with amusement. “The girl locked herself into the supply closet with him and tried to do unspeakable things with him. She claimed that Jeff’s voice is making her do it.”
Sam and Jensen laugh out loud. If there is one thing that Captain Morgan can’t deal with, it’s overtly flirting. Being used to geeky scientists and long stretches of solitude somewhere at the end of the world, their fearsome boss (for everyone agrees that Jeff is the one in charge around here) is more than a little awkward where interpersonal relationships (of the non work or friendship kind) are concerned.
Their amusement is noticed by the table at the other end of the cantina, and there are some disgruntled looks thrown in their direction. The three of them decide that a tactical retreat is the best procedure right now, and so they slunk out of the room.
Jensen promises Sam to help her in the lab until he gets the new data from the Russian research station in Siberia. He has to check on Dean first though, and when he opens the entrance to head out, he’s almost bowled over by an eager dog, who doesn’t mind letting him know that he wanted to come inside a long time ago.
A few rubs and scratches and the husky is reasonably calmed down, once more convinced that his human is his willing and obedient slave.
The two of them head for the lab, where Dean curls up in his basket and Jensen starts on the samples and readings Sam has set aside for him. They work alongside each other peacefully, ignoring other people coming and going, continuing with their own tests. Around lunchtime he takes Dean for a short walk around to compound, and then he returns to the lab to finish the last batch.
The results having been recorded and filed, and samples either locked up again or disposed of, he makes for his office. During his walk at lunch time, the data he’d been waiting for had arrived. The labelling of the tables is in Russian, but they are structured the same way their own are, and he knows which numbers are equivalent to what.
Dean leaves him on the way to the office - just around the corner of the cantina he spied Jared, and the dog decided there and then, that Jared is more fun than Jensen. It’s more likely that the actor will pet Dean, since Jensen’s too busy with work.
It takes him the whole afternoon to go through half of the data he received, and he hadn’t even started to compare them with the data he collected himself. His computer decided, upon opening the files, that it would completely screw up the formatting, and so he spent most of the time trying to reformat the whole thing.
His eyes are tearing up and his head is constantly aching when he saves the Excel book and shuts down his computer. In the afternoon there had been occasional shouts and laughter, but now everything’s quiet. He rubs over his eyes and stretches. The movement makes his spine pop, and he releases a contented sigh.
“Tired?” The question takes him by surprise, and he swivels his chair around. Jared is leaning on the doorway, looking much more upbeat and coherent than he had this morning.
“You could say that.” He gets up and puts away the print outs and folders that are covering the desk. “You have a nice day?”
“Yeah, Jeff was great fun. At first he seemed to be a bit nervous; he kept glancing at Hayden as if she was going to attack him, but he calmed down later on.” Jared’s words have him crack up laughing. “What’s so funny?”
“Your cheerleader tried to molest him couple of days ago.” He laughs even harder now. “I was told that it’s the voice.”
Jared laughs with him. “That would explain why he refused to give her the private tutoring she asked for.”
They smile at each other, amused by Jeff’s predicament. Now that everything’s where it’s supposed to be, Jensen pushes Jared away from his doorway and in the direction of the cantina.
“And, are you recovered from the excursion of hell yesterday?” They push through the door and into the crowded room. The tables are crammed full with people and plates. Unlike breakfast, where no one eats at a set time, dinner is an affair where everyone comes together.
“Mostly. My legs and arms still feel weak and heavy, but I can actually walk and talk again, and string words into sentences.”
“An amazing feat, all by itself,” he quips. He grabs a tray and gets soup, salad and a slice of pie. Today was Alona’s and Brock’s day to cook. He’s learned the hard way to be very careful what to eat when those two are on kitchen duty.
“Fuck you.” Jared is busy loading his tray up with more food than should be physically possible. “I’ll have you know that my verbal skills are so awesome, I even got an Academy Award Nomination for them.”
“Didn’t win it though. Maybe you should train some more.” Jensen likes teasing Jared. The other gives as good as he gets, and it feels like they’ve known each other for years, been friends for a long time.
“I hate you.” The words are accompanied by a pout, but it is soon replaced by one of Jared’s trademark smiles. Bright and sunny.
“Sure you do.” Their bantering confused people in the beginning, especially Chad. They couldn’t understand how two strangers could get along that easily. Jensen just shrugged the questions off, and told them that ‘since they attended the same school’ they were practically brothers.
Danneel had made fun of him for that comment, saying that everyone in Texas is related to each other, but it had stopped the looks and the comments. Once Jared knew that they attended school together, he had made it his personal task to find out if he remembered Jensen from CW High. So far he had never been right, and Jensen knows that he never will be. But that doesn’t matter. They are talking now, and that’s all that counts.
They part ways, each one joining their own table. It reminds him strangely of High School, and he has to smile. But at High School, the most popular guy would never have talked with one of the science geeks.
Danneel makes space for him, and Jensen squishes himself between her and Jim. Their table isn’t even nearly as loud as the Hollywood table, but there are conversations, shared jokes and stories as well.
“Were able to finish the data you got?” Sam sits down opposite him.
“Nope, the stupid computer fucked up the formatting of the file. I spent almost the whole afternoon trying to reformat it. Otherwise, I can’t make heads or tails of the figures.” He reaches under the table and scratches Dean’s ear, who has returned from Jared, and is now wrapped around Jensen’s feet.
“Sorry.”
“No problem. I sorted it out and have started going through the tables. It will take me all of tomorrow before I can tell you the results of the comparison though.” The dog’s cold nose pushes at his hand, demanding food.
“Did the dogs behave?” His question is directed at Danneel next to him.
“Yeah, Jared helped, and they were on their best behaviour with him.”
“They love him.” He smiles and continues eating his soup.
“They’re just trying to suck up to him, so they can go to Hollywood, become movie stars, and leave here.” She grins at him and winks at Sam.
“Treacherous bastards.” A whine from under the table has him laugh. “Not you, Dean, I know that you’d never betray me.”
Danneel snorts. “Yeah, dream on. Your dog would sell his own grandmother for a good belly rub.”
“I don’t believe a word you’re saying.” His fake naïve voice and shocked expression has Sam and Danneel laughing, him joining in soon after. He likes the people here. Everyone is nice, and it feels almost like a family.
With another pat on Dean’s head he pulls his hand back from under the table and continues eating dinner. Jim is teasing Jeff about his reaction to the flirty actress, and soon the whole table is involved in a heated discussion about Jeff’s dating skills.
continue: Part Three