Jack - Play, then Work

[logan_echolls]

He was never going to get used to this. It wasn't as if they spent all their time together, this was still new after all, but they spent enough time that waking up in Jack's fucking hobbit hole happened more than Logan liked.

"You need a real bed. And a real bedroom. ...And sheets that don't date back to World War One," he complained, rubbing his face as he sat up and turned on the light.

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[logan_echolls]

Taking the initiative, he brushed past Jack to climb out of the shower.

"Can you smell that? It's like the air before a thunderstorm," he said. "First warning before you pack your board up and get the hell out of the water."

The air crackled again, the faint hiss and pop followed by a loud crack and a bright flash of light. It seemed to surrounded Logan, and though it was there for barely a second, it took a moment to recover from the blinding force of it.

Logan had fallen, but only to his knees. He seemed okay, bit visibly... Smaller? The pounds of muscle had been replaced with the lean figure of a swimmer. Slightly narrower shoulders, a rounder jaw and face...

He looked dazed, and he frowned as he looked down at himself, then over at Jack. Timelines crashed together inside his head, both sides fuzzy now as his brain did its best to weave together a story that made sense. Something to help maintain the now much younger man's sanity. Logan wasn't as young as his island self had been, but he was years younger than his military counterpart. A happy medium between the two it seemed.

"If you're going to bring electricity into the bedroom you've got to give me a safe word first, jackass," he grunted, rubbing his head and finding his feet. He appeared puzzled, and it seemed to take his mind a moment to lace together the timelines to explain where he was and why.

"This is why we need to move. This dump makes the island look like a five star resort."

[im_torchwood]

Jack had seen a lot of weird things. So many times that anymore he didn't even blink. But this was... new.

"Uhm, Logan?" Jack said, offering a hand up.

"Forget the bathroom...are you ok?"

[logan_echolls]

"I'm not dead after being hit by magic bathroom lightning, so I could be worse," he said looking at himself in the mirror but not reacting to his sudden change in appearance.

"Why do you look so pale? ...Aww, Captain, were you worried about me?" he asked, sounding like his younger and significantly more obnoxious self. "Takes more than a little lightning to leave you a widow, Harkness."

[im_torchwood]

It felt as if his heart had just stopped beating. Jack stepped out of the shower on autopilot and reached to take hold of Logan's arm.

"Hey," he said. "Look at me..."

Looking into Logan's eyes was like learning to breathe all over again.

[logan_echolls]

Logan softened slightly, holding Jack's gaze.

"I'm okay," he promised. "I think we should hold off on the shower until we figure out what that was though."

[im_torchwood]

"Yeah, we can definitely skip it," he agreed. He reached for a towel but the whole time he watched Logan.

[logan_echolls]

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Logan asked, frowning. "What the hell, man? It's like you're looking at a damn ghost."

[im_torchwood]

"Yeah. Um, maybe?" Jack said. His mind raced, going through years and years of theories about the island.

"What's your dog's name?" he blurted out, unable to think of any other test in the moment. The Logan from five minutes ago wouldn't know, he was sure.

[logan_echolls]

"...I don't have a dog," Logan replied, looking confused and not realizing he was showing that while some of his memory was there, not all of it was. It had been edited and tweaked to fit into this newer timeline.

"Maybe we should get you laid down."

[im_torchwood]

"No, I want to go to the hub. I want to hook you up to some sensors and see if we can figure out what that flash was," he said. One theory blown out of the water...but if it were temporal he'd be able to tell.

"Put on some pants. Trip to France is cancelled."

[logan_echolls]

"But I'd already picked out a stripy top and my favorite beret," Logan quipped, shrugging and pulling his pants on- Then frowning when he found them too big. Sweatpants it was then.

[im_torchwood]

Jack had a reason to move it now and he was dressed in minutes, his hair still wet.

"This is huge," he said. "How do you feel?"

He wasn't looking at Logan, though. He was looking at his strap while he scanned the younger, now much younger, man.

[logan_echolls]

"I feel fine, you're the one being weird," Logan scowled, swatting at Jack's strap. "Stop scanning me. I don't want cancer from all your future alien crap."

[im_torchwood]

"You won't get cancer," he said, but stopped. But only so he could reach out and touch Logan's face.

"You're so young..."

[logan_echolls]

"Yeah, well, you're old," Logan huffed- Though he leaned into the touch.

[im_torchwood]

"It's not a lie," he replied. He cradled Logan's face then. Much closer to the face he was familiar with.

"You should go look at yourself," he suggested.

[logan_echolls]

"Don't want to," Logan murmured, leaning in and kissing Jack soundly- A real kiss. Besides, he'd already looked at himself, the fact that he was younger didn't seem to trouble him, as though it was how he expected to look. All his memories had been altered, including memories of how much time had passed.

"Why do we have to work? Let's just go to bed," he complained.

[im_torchwood]

"Logan, this is imp-" he started, but then Logan was kissing him. Kissing him like that. Jack could only make a small sound of approval in his throat as he kissed him back.

[logan_echolls]

"What?" Logan asked between kisses, flashing that old cocky grin. "It's what, Jack? Important? More important than this?"

[im_torchwood]

"...No," he groaned. He had held himself back, trying to give Logan time and space. But with the crush of his kiss Jack couldn't think of a single reason to restrain himself anymore.

[logan_echolls]

Looking pleased, Logan grabbed the front of Jack's shirt and started to pull him towards the bedroom.

"Say you need me. It feels like it's been forever since you told me you need me," he grinned.

[im_torchwood]

"Jesus Christ, I need you so much," he groaned between snatches of hungry kisses. This was wrong. It was way too fast...and they should really do a scan...

"Fuck...I need you," he promised.

[logan_echolls]

"Damn right you do," Logan said, pushing Jack back onto the bed and practically pouncing on him.

He was grinning, but that smile faded a little after a moment. It really did feel like it had been forever- But why? Again, his mind tried to make sense of it all, but some memories just couldn't be woven into the narrative.

"I wasn't here," he said. "I was home, with Linus, and then- I wasn't here, I wasn't in London. ...It's like two lives are happening at once- Is this more island bullshit? Or is it- Is it this new thing? This mist... This- Fuck..."

He trailed off, rubbing his face before flopping onto the bed beside Jack and curling up against him. "I feel like we're way overdue a normal life."

[im_torchwood]

"Shh, shh," he hushed, rolling to face Logan and hold him.

"We'll figure it out," he promised.

[logan_echolls]

"I do really hate your place," Logan said curling up closer.