[for gwen]

[more_flexible]

Jack had talked to Dream, the Lord Whatever, and as the sun dropped beneath the horizon the potential of dreaming was something he just wanted to avoid. Horrible was what the man had said, and he hadn't been off.

So, under the guise of 'pain relief', Jack had taken a joint and matches out into the grass near the treehouse and laid back to look at the stars. As he inhaled the smoke he wondered which of them he'd been to. Which of them he'd never be close to again.

Comments

[be-normal.livejournal.com]

Gwen tells herself that the Treehouse is to be avoided. That the Treehouse really only brings her trouble. Yet, she seems to find herself there quite a lot anyway, and aimless wandering can only account for so much of it. When she spies Jack lounging on the grass, the decision to not tell him she had been looking for the Doctor is instantaneous and unconscious.

"Hello," she greets, and her smile is easy enough in spite of the fact that things have been decidedly strained between them of late. She still has to force herself to look at him twice -- Once, as she's been trained to see him, and then again, for the reality -- each time they meet.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"Gwen," he smiled, her name creeping from his mouth with a cloud of heady smoke, "Gwen, beautiful Gwen. Did you draw the short straw tonight?" he chuckled.

[be-normal.livejournal.com]

Well, then. She'll be keeping her distance today, apparently, as she remembers all too well what happened the last time she'd come round when he was high.

"Why would you say that?" Gwen asks, brows arching as she approaches. He's still a few steps away, surely that's sufficient.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"Oh, Ianto was here the last time I did this. Put me to bed while House went to see if Wilson was okay. I totally kicked his ass," he chuckled, the bruise from the fight still lingering on his jaw.

[be-normal.livejournal.com]

"Yes," Gwen replies, tapping the fingers of her left hand idly against her thigh. "I was in his body for a weekend just after that, remember?" Not that she cares to remember that. "Is everything alright, then?" It's entirely possible he's smoking strictly for the recreational value, but the last time she saw him high is still all too clear in her mind.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"Oh, sure. Things are always all right, right? Nothing to worry about," he lied. "See that one?" he asked, pointing to a star. "I'm naming that one Gwen. Okay?"

[be-normal.livejournal.com]

Without thinking, Gwen's gaze lifts to the sky, although logically she knows she'll not be able to tell which star Jack means. Never mind that he's high and it could very well be an empty sentiment. "Ah, yes. Okay," she answers, as if it makes any difference whatsoever, and looks back to him, studying his figure in the half-light. "I bet you name stars for all the girls," she teases, although she reckons there could be a kernel of truth there.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"I name the stars here for everyone," he said, suddenly serious. He pointed a different direction. "That's Jaime. That's The Doctor. Over there is Rob. There's Maureen and there's Lisa. That one is Maladicta and that one that is really two is Padme and Sola. Want me to keep going?" he asked, looking up at her.

[be-normal.livejournal.com]

If there's one primary difference between him and the Jack she knows, it's his uncanny ability to make her feel utterly unremarkable without even trying.

"Nooo," Gwen replies with a very faint chuckle and a wrinkle of her nose. "That's fine, I think." Point taken. "Ianto, Tosh and I are going to build a club, did you hear?"

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"Ianto and Tosh and you and Owen and...shit, there's lots of new people. Good things there's a lot of stars," he said, stuck on the idea for another minute before he took another drag and focused on her. "Is it the 'Jack ruined our lives and doesn't have the decency to be here from the right time' club?" he asked evenly. He might have been joking, might have not, but it wasn't accusatory.

[be-normal.livejournal.com]

It doesn't matter if he's joking, it guts her all the same, and Gwen has to look away, her lips pursing. "No," she quietly answers, recalling the last conversation she'd had with Peter. Why does she feel so guilty? Isn't it well within her rights to miss her Jack, to wish the man in front of her was him? "Just a club."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"Excellent!" he exclaimed, slapping his hand on the ground with a dull thud. "Sit down and tell me about it. I've been to all sorts, you know. My favorite were those little smoky ones underground and in back rooms. The hell with the Blitz...people wanted to dance. Remember they were alive..."

[be-normal.livejournal.com]

There's a moment's hesitation, Gwen weighing her innate need to be near him against her sense of self-preservation, but predictably the first wins out and she settles onto the grass beside Jack, cross-legged and eyeing the joint in his hand. "There's not much to tell, yet. We've just got the site, and the karaoke machine."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"Who's building it?" he asked, taking another lazy pull and offering it to her. He'd done the same with Ianto who had politely and discretely seemed not to notice.

[be-normal.livejournal.com]

Yes, well. Gwen's not Ianto, and she reaches to accept the joint in spite of the fact that she can't recall how long it's been since she was high, and that it's very obviously an ill-advised move on her part. Sod it.

"Ianto, Tosh and I," she answers, and takes a very brief hit, almost immediately coughing. "God," she says, blinking at the thing. "That's a bit strong, yeah?" Or, it's just been so long she doesn't know what strong really is anymore.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"Yeah," he grinned. "It's the stuff I brought back from the other side of the mountain. There's no Vicodin, so I got it for Greg for when his leg is really bad. It's a lot better than the shit that grows by the Compound," he explained, curling an arm behind his head and watching her. "It does the trick."

[be-normal.livejournal.com]

One more quick puff, handled a bit more gracefully this time, and Gwen passes it back, her head already swimming. "I'd say so," she answers, blinking. "D'you smoke a lot?" Seeing as how before she came to the island, she'd never even heard of Jack smoking so much as a cigarette, the fact that she's caught him getting high twice seems odd.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"Not a lot. Just when I need to sleep or I hurt. The lack of the tech I'm used to here, see, I've never been really careful because I've almost always been able to get patched up quickly. It's different here," he said, taking it back and drawing the smoke once again.

"And today I met a man who wasn't a man before and he knew about me. Knows who I am. Or...who I'm not," he said quietly. "And I don't want to dream. So...yeah. Not a lot."

[be-normal.livejournal.com]

"D'you want to talk about it?" Gwen quietly asks as she scoots closer, although she thinks she already knows the answer to be no. Reaching out, she smoothes her fingertips over Jack's temple, the action artless, steeped in genuine concern.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"Not much to talk about," he shrugged. "Two years gone and...oh, you know. You saw the film. He, this man, he was the Lord of Dreams. He knew me. Like...knew me. It was weird. He's human now and had no idea how horrible dreaming really is."

[be-normal.livejournal.com]

For nearly thirty seconds, Gwen doesn't say anything, instead letting her hand fall away to her lap and then watching where it rest there. She'd tell him, maybe, about the dreams -- Nightmares, really -- if he wouldn't feel so guilty over it.

"It can be, yeah," she quietly contributes at length without looking up. "I don't think I want to meet this man."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"He's easy to spot if you want to avoid him. Taller than me, thinner than the Doctor. Pale, dark hair, dark eyes that look right into your heart," he said, taking one last, long pull and passing the joint again. "Have it, I'm done."

He rolled a bit to see her better, and smiled. "You should have a whole constellation, not just a single star."

[be-normal.livejournal.com]

As she accepts the joint, Gwen flushes, but it's faint and difficult to discern in the low light. "Now you're just trying to flatter me," she gently chides him and takes a slow hit, but she smiles as she exhales. After studying the joint a moment, she decides, "I don't think I should have anymore."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

He waved his hand dismissively. "Put it out," he said softly.

He was quiet for a minute, just looking at her. He could tell she was darker, a bit. Recognized that tone in her voice. And that smile...what a smile.

"I like your smile," he continued. "I like you a lot, Gwen. You're...nice. And pretty. And...Gwen. My Gwen."

[be-normal.livejournal.com]

Part of Gwen wishes that she could deny that, could say she wasn't his, but it's a very faint sort of protest when compared to the part of her that wants so badly to see the Jack she left behind in the Jack sitting before her. He is fundamentally the same man, and she may say she understands the differences, but it's possible she'll never actually believe them.

"You're high," she observes, and her face is very hot now, and God help her she wants to touch him so badly her fingers are practically itching with need. "But I like you anyway, Jack." A thought occurs to her, and she giggles as she stubs the joint out. "You're pretty, too."