for Logan

[more_flexible]

Jack was cold. He snuggled deeper under the covers and pressed closer to Logan, but it didn't help. His head ached and his mouth was dry so he sat up to get a drink. He was surprised by the fact that his nose was so clogged he couldn't breathe and his chest was tight. He coughed and pulled the covers up around him, unwilling to get out of bed.

"Logan," he said, pitifully congested. "Logan, I don't feel good."

He couldn't recall the last time he'd been sick. Not since he was young, that was for certain. The Time Agency had pumped him so full of vaccines and things that getting sick simply didn't happen. Ever.

Comments

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

He tilted his head and closed his eyes, following Logan's touch. He nodded and finished what little he had left and then followed the other man to the bedroom. He sat heavily on the bed, kicked off his shoes and socks, then crawled under the covers and curled up. He shivered and his teeth clacked together for a minute before the chill passed.

"People die from influenza," he said. "In the early twentieth, there was a pandemic. Millions died of it. This isn't that, is it?"

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"It's just a cold, Jack," Logan replied, sounding tired. Tired of being sick, and tired of having to coddle Jack. He wanted to take care of the other man, but it was hard to care or be compassionate when he was going through the exact same thing as Jack.

"It's a cold, and the more you sleep the more chance your body has of fighting it off quickly," Logan sighed.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

Jack believed him and curled up. Going to sleep was easy- His eyes were so heavy and he was so tired. And then there was the fact that he was sure Logan had been sick before, which made him the expert. If the younger man said to sleep, he would. He'd sleep for a week if he had to.

Except he never really got to sleep. He coughed and sniffled, tossed and turned as he alternately burned and froze. Finally he must have drifted off because when he woke it was nearly dark and he felt better. His mouth was dry and his chest was tight, he still felt like general crap, but the fever seemed to be completely gone.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Logan had slept a little, but not much. His fever was gone, but his head was aching, and he had his face hidden in the pillows and his arms wrapped tightly around himself.

He heard Jack stir, and Logan rolled over slowly to look at the other man.

"Feeling better?" he asked, his voice tight and quiet.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"A little. My head hurts," he replied, closing his eyes again. He inched closer and pressed against Logan, still warm but no longer burning.

"This is never how I imagined staying in bed with you for the day," he quipped, the small laugh making his face ache. "I'm so tired, but I'm not sleepy. How about you? Any better?"

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"Got a headache," Logan replied softly. "I feel less hot though. I think my fever's gone..."

He sighed a little and moved closer. "You look a little better," he said softly.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"Better than what? I always look good," he said, managing a grin before he sniffled again. He wasn't so stuffed up, though the feeling of his nose running wasn't pleasant at all.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"You know what I mean," Logan laughed, coughing when he laughed too hard.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

Jack reached and rubbed Logan's back as the coughing fit passed.

"I know what you mean," he agreed. "I probably looked just like I felt this morning."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"You looked pale. ...It was weird seeing you look so pale. You have more colour to your face now. It's better," Logan said softly.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

He sniffled again and yawned, then blinked away the remnants of sleep from his eyes.

"That's good, right?" he asked, content to lay pressed against Logan. "Maybe I'll get over it fast. I'd like that. I don't like feeling like this. I don't know how people put up with it for so long. During the second great and bountiful human empire, they rendered practically all viruses inert."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"You probably have a good imune system. I mean, you're healthy... you'll probably fight it off fast," Logan assured the other man.

"And for the record, people didn't have a choice, Jack. Just like we don't."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"I don't know. I've never been sick here before, and I've never caught anything anywhere I went. The Time Agency pumped us so full of stuff...so we wouldn't catch anything and so we wouldn't spread anything to the civilizations we went to, see. It makes me wonder if they're...wearing off, or something," he said, brows furrowed deeply. With the whole not-staying-dead thing and the having-a -daughter thing in his future, Jack had assumed that maybe the inoculations didn't matter anymore. He hadn't thought that given long enough, they might wear off.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"I know, you've never been sick, you've only told me, like, 500 times today. Logan sighed. "And so what if they wore off? Don't you want to be normal? At least a little? Because this? This is normal, Jack. This is life."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"It changes things," he replied, sniffling and then scratching his nose. "It changes everything. Viruses weren't the only things we got inoculations for."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"Wait, what do you mean?" Logan asked, suddenly looking confused as he drew back to get a better look at the other man.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"Viruses. Retroviruses. Metatoxins. Resistance to most microbes and parasites. Temporal cellular degeneration," he said, the list coming slower and softer with every word. "...Children."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"Well you knew you could have children," Logan pointed out. "I mean, you know you have one. ...Might have one. Whatever. Point is, it doesn't matter. So you're less- future-y. So what? ...Is it really such a bad thing to be normal like me?" he asked quietly, wondering just what Jack really thought of him.

He had no amazing drugs in his system. No immunity to any toxins or whatever. He was normal. Just a primitive little human.

Pulling away, Logan wrapped his arms tighter around himself and turned back over.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"I just never really thought about it," he replied, pressing himself up against Logan's back. "Not getting sick is normal for me. But I don't think I'd mind being like you. Except, you know, with less snot."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Logan huffed a little, but slowly relaxed, leaning back lightly and taking a deep breath. "I'm flattered," he replied coolly, though his body language made it clear he wasn't too annoyed, no matter how much he huffed and sighed.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"Some things just don't turn me on," Jack chuckled, the sound a harsh rasp deep in his throat. It made him press his face to the pillow and cough for a minute before turning back to brush his lips and nose against Logan's back.

"I think you're extraordinary, you know. Normal...that's kind of average. You're not average."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"Your charm is less effective when you're coughing all over me," Logan said, clearing his throat again and sniffing loudly.

Reaching back, he reasted a hand on Jack's hip. Just a soft touch, and a small show of comfort.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"Shut up," he shot back, nuzzling the base of Logan's neck, though that was all he had in him. Just a need to be close. He had no desire to strip out of the warmth of his clothes or exert himself. He was just fine with an arm around Logan and the thick blankets over them both.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Logan curled and uncurled his toes under the covers. Sure, he felt sick and gross, but he was oddly content.

"This is nice. I mean, it's awful, but- it would be nice if we were healthy. You ever wish we could have a real house all the time?" he asked.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"I don't know. Not really. Our hut is...home. This feels like a vacation," Jack replied after thinking about it for a minute. "It's nice, though. A good bed. And I like the fireplace. It's a novelty like the snow."