sid | 'In These Dreams', Jack/Daniel, PG (Dreamverse Chapter One)

Summary: Jack finally makes his move. ~600 words. Angsty humor? Not quite my usual

IN THESE DREAMS

It was the one answer Jack hadn’t anticipated. The world abruptly tilted five degrees and he scrambled to regain his mental footing.

All the time he’d spent running scenarios in his head… all the shouting, all the punches to the jaw, all the kisses (the sweet and the fierce and the sloppy), all the times he’d been coldly shown the door, warmly embraced, awkwardly, gently refused, dragged to the bedroom or down on the living room floor… not once had he envisioned this.

“I’m seeing someone.”

Daniel’s words hung in the air and the silence stretched.

“Well,” Jack finally managed. “Don’t I feel like an idiot.”

“Jack.”

“No. No, no. Just…” Jack turned towards the door. It was only about a mile away and uphill. “Just let me get out of here.”

“Jack, no. Listen.” Daniel followed him.

“Not listening. No listening. Not one word. Daniel, not another word.” Jack lurched the last step to the door and gripped the knob.

“No, Jack, you have to…”

“Be going,” Jack said firmly. “Sorry I disturbed your evening. Disturbed you, probably. Hell, I know I’m disturbed.” He swung the door open and stepped into the hallway.

“Jack, let me… come on, Jack! You can’t just leave after that. You have to listen… Jack, you know how much….”

Jack spun on his heel, fists clenched. “Not another word. Don’t you dare.”

Daniel smacked the door with the palm of his hand. “Fine! All right? You know what? Make it harder on yourself. See if I care.”

“What would make it harder,” Jack said, willing his voice to remain steady, “would be listening to you saying all the right things. You’ll excuse me if I pass on that pleasure.”

Daniel gaped for a second. “You think….” His face reddened. He reached out and grabbed Jack by the arm. “Get your butt back in here.”

Jack had never heard quite that tone of voice coming from Daniel Jackson before. He let himself be pulled through the doorway.

“You really are an idiot.”

Jack slid his hands, which weren’t shaking at all, into his pockets. “That’s already been established.”

Daniel snorted, sounding more like an angry bull than an amused man. He shoved at Jack’s shoulder, not hard. “Stop that.”

Jack rocked a little.

“You and me… you and me together, world’s worst idea.”

Jack rocked again.

“Seriously.” Daniel looked at him with a mournful face and eyes that invited him to see reason. “You’d want to kill me within a month. Probably sooner. Seriously.”

Jack shifted his shoulders uneasily.

“You thought I was going to say something soppy, didn’t you? Something about how much I care, and how honored I am and how I really wish things were different?” Daniel waggled his head back and forth, a smile beginning to tug at the corners of his mouth.

Jack lowered his head and pursed his lips.

“When have I ever said things just to make you feel better?”

Jack sniffed.

“Never. Right. We’d be a disaster. Better to forget about it.”

Jack cleared his throat.

Daniel eased to his side and threw an arm around Jack’s shoulders. “Come on in the kitchen and I’ll give you a beer and you can interrogate me about Bjorn. Come on.”

Jack began to shuffle forward, surprised and relieved to find the ground level beneath his feet. “What, you’re dating a Viking?”

Daniel laughed and squeezed his shoulder. It felt good. It was always going to feel good. Jack smiled, just a little.

“Does Thor know?”

~~~~
Now a WIP: Chapter Two, 'Scenes from a Mall'