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I just had to do it.
It's set before Jack meets up with the Doctor, so no spoilers. Ethan's about 30 and he's just met a stranger in a London bar...
Carpe Diem
Part One
"I'm a time traveller."
Ethan smiled encouragingly into the handsome face across from him. "You don't say," he murmured. "That's very interesting."
Confusion replaced the friendly look he'd been admiring in a detached way for the last fifteen minutes. Good. He liked confusion.
"That's ... not the usual reaction I get when I tell people I'm a chartered accountant."
Ethan carried on smiling. "I'm sure it isn't." He raised his eyebrows expectantly, waiting for the man to put the pieces together. It took a little while longer than he'd expected. Pretty but dim? He hadn't thought so when he'd allowed himself to be picked up by him. No; he'd been right. Jack, I hesitated just enough before saying my name to make Ethan cast a truth spell, Harkness swallowed and then sat back in his chair, glancing around the crowded pub with a rueful smile all ready to go.
"What did I say instead? Because, you know, I've had a lot to drink tonight and you're making me kinda nervous." Jack leaned forward, one tanned, strong hand covering Ethan's in what felt like a very well-planned move. "Tell me we'll be spending tonight -- well, a few hours of it at least -- together and watch me relax." He grinned, perfect white teeth on show. "It's the not knowing if I've gotten lucky that gets me every time."
"I can't imagine many people turn you down," Ethan told him, for once speaking no more than the truth. Pretty, he could walk by; charm he could do without, having plenty of his own, but this man had enough trickster in him to offset the tedious predictability of an engaging smile and warmly sparkling eyes.
"Yes, and see that? Right there?" Jack spread his hands expansively and Ethan surreptitiously checked that his watch was still on his wrist. It wasn't. "That's my problem. I'm not used to failure, but in a statistical universe --"
"Which you'd know all about, being an accountant," Ethan interrupted snidely.
"Naturally," Jack said. "As I was saying -- it's got to happen one day. One day I'll meet a man -- or a woman -- or a -- never mind. And they'll say 'no' --" His nose crinkled rather fetchingly as he screwed up his face in anguish. "And I can't relax until I'm certain you're not the one."
"Or that I am," Ethan pointed out. "That would be just as good, wouldn't it?"
Jack frowned. "I wouldn't get to have sex with you then, so, no, it wouldn't."
"I'm flattered. Not very; well, not much at all, really, but enough that I'll spare you that fleeting second of sadness." Ethan studied him. Brash, cocky, fly-boy type. He could have him kneeling obediently without lifting more than a questioning eyebrow or using a more complicated magic than a simple 'please' tacked onto an order. Didn't mean that he would but it was a pleasant enough thought to warm his gaze as he met Jack's eyes and said. "How do you travel in time, then? A spell? A charm? Do tell, as we're going to get chummy later."
Jack blustered of course and fairly convincingly, but with a spell tying his tongue in a tangle he couldn't actually lie. Finally he took out a card and slammed it down on the table. "My business card, Ethan. Christ, I could understand it if I'd told you I was an astronaut or something, but why would I tell you I was in one of the most boring jobs known to man, if it wasn't true?"
Ethan looked at the card without touching it. "To stop me asking questions you couldn't be bothered to answer?" he asked mildly. "What's your name?"
"Captain Jack Harkness."
"Ah, so that was the missing bit," Ethan said. "I did wonder. Captain in what?"
"The Time -- why am I telling you this?"
"If it's any consolation, you're resisting me slightly," Ethan said. "Good for you, except not really, as I want the truth and the other ways I could get it aren't nearly so painless." He pulled a sympathetic face. "Poor you."
"Look at my card," Jack said through clenched teeth.
"The card that gives me one of your vital statistics and an illustration to back it up?" Ethan flicked the card back at Jack contemptuously. "I've seen bigger and, trust me, it's not always better." He pursed his lips. "And no, that's not sour grapes."
"How are you doing this?" Jack demanded after one cursory glance of confirmation into Ethan's lap where reasonably tight trousers were doing a good enough job of backing up his words. Cheeky brat.
"Magic."
Jack sneered quite well for someone who smiled so much. "Sorry. I don't believe in magic. Along with a few other things, like a perfectly mixed martini and long goodbyes. Speaking of which --"
"Let me channel one of those tiresome religious types and tell you that you might not believe in it, but it believes in you," Ethan said. "Which is why, despite you being such a naughty unbeliever, you're going to find it impossible to stand up and walk back to your -- where are you staying, by the way? Or was my seduction, swift and hopefully ecstatic for both of us, to have taken place on my sheets to save you even the small inconvenience of tidying up after yourself?"
"I sleep on board my ship and yeah, got that right, Ethan. I wasn't planning on inviting a twentieth-century ape on board."
"A space ship?" Ethan murmured, entranced by the idea and filing the insult away to marinade in pique. "Well, I can't imagine why we're still in this tedious hostelry, can you?"
He stood up and Jack stood too. "It's your lucky night," Ethan said, patting Jack's face fondly. "You get a guaranteed stress-free fuck, if you still want it when we're done, and I promise I won't be angry that you lied to me when we met."
Not that he ever had been, not really. There was something delightfully chaotic about a lie after all.
"Does it have a name?" he asked chattily as they left. "Oh, I do hope so..."
Jack stopped at the end of an alley and did ... something that didn't work.
"Why can't I use the transport beam?"
"Is that a pout? How sweet. Because you're trying to leave me behind and I don't want you to," Ethan said absently. "Transport to where?"
Jack stared up at the night-time sky. "My ship. She's directly overhead."
Ethan didn't take his eyes off Jack. "Oh dear. Looks like you left the keys in and someone stole it."
"It's invisible."
"And you say you don't believe in magic?" Ethan shook his head. "I don't have time for this, you know."
Jack grinned. "Yeah. You do."
Ethan blinked. He was on a spaceship. Cramped, but even so...
"All the time in the world." A gun appeared in Jack's hand. "Until you die, but, hey, you look like a man who makes the most of life, am I right?" He sighed. "Sorry about this."
"Trust me, if you pull that, you will be," Ethan told him.
Jack did it anyway.
It's set before Jack meets up with the Doctor, so no spoilers. Ethan's about 30 and he's just met a stranger in a London bar...
Carpe Diem
Part One
"I'm a time traveller."
Ethan smiled encouragingly into the handsome face across from him. "You don't say," he murmured. "That's very interesting."
Confusion replaced the friendly look he'd been admiring in a detached way for the last fifteen minutes. Good. He liked confusion.
"That's ... not the usual reaction I get when I tell people I'm a chartered accountant."
Ethan carried on smiling. "I'm sure it isn't." He raised his eyebrows expectantly, waiting for the man to put the pieces together. It took a little while longer than he'd expected. Pretty but dim? He hadn't thought so when he'd allowed himself to be picked up by him. No; he'd been right. Jack, I hesitated just enough before saying my name to make Ethan cast a truth spell, Harkness swallowed and then sat back in his chair, glancing around the crowded pub with a rueful smile all ready to go.
"What did I say instead? Because, you know, I've had a lot to drink tonight and you're making me kinda nervous." Jack leaned forward, one tanned, strong hand covering Ethan's in what felt like a very well-planned move. "Tell me we'll be spending tonight -- well, a few hours of it at least -- together and watch me relax." He grinned, perfect white teeth on show. "It's the not knowing if I've gotten lucky that gets me every time."
"I can't imagine many people turn you down," Ethan told him, for once speaking no more than the truth. Pretty, he could walk by; charm he could do without, having plenty of his own, but this man had enough trickster in him to offset the tedious predictability of an engaging smile and warmly sparkling eyes.
"Yes, and see that? Right there?" Jack spread his hands expansively and Ethan surreptitiously checked that his watch was still on his wrist. It wasn't. "That's my problem. I'm not used to failure, but in a statistical universe --"
"Which you'd know all about, being an accountant," Ethan interrupted snidely.
"Naturally," Jack said. "As I was saying -- it's got to happen one day. One day I'll meet a man -- or a woman -- or a -- never mind. And they'll say 'no' --" His nose crinkled rather fetchingly as he screwed up his face in anguish. "And I can't relax until I'm certain you're not the one."
"Or that I am," Ethan pointed out. "That would be just as good, wouldn't it?"
Jack frowned. "I wouldn't get to have sex with you then, so, no, it wouldn't."
"I'm flattered. Not very; well, not much at all, really, but enough that I'll spare you that fleeting second of sadness." Ethan studied him. Brash, cocky, fly-boy type. He could have him kneeling obediently without lifting more than a questioning eyebrow or using a more complicated magic than a simple 'please' tacked onto an order. Didn't mean that he would but it was a pleasant enough thought to warm his gaze as he met Jack's eyes and said. "How do you travel in time, then? A spell? A charm? Do tell, as we're going to get chummy later."
Jack blustered of course and fairly convincingly, but with a spell tying his tongue in a tangle he couldn't actually lie. Finally he took out a card and slammed it down on the table. "My business card, Ethan. Christ, I could understand it if I'd told you I was an astronaut or something, but why would I tell you I was in one of the most boring jobs known to man, if it wasn't true?"
Ethan looked at the card without touching it. "To stop me asking questions you couldn't be bothered to answer?" he asked mildly. "What's your name?"
"Captain Jack Harkness."
"Ah, so that was the missing bit," Ethan said. "I did wonder. Captain in what?"
"The Time -- why am I telling you this?"
"If it's any consolation, you're resisting me slightly," Ethan said. "Good for you, except not really, as I want the truth and the other ways I could get it aren't nearly so painless." He pulled a sympathetic face. "Poor you."
"Look at my card," Jack said through clenched teeth.
"The card that gives me one of your vital statistics and an illustration to back it up?" Ethan flicked the card back at Jack contemptuously. "I've seen bigger and, trust me, it's not always better." He pursed his lips. "And no, that's not sour grapes."
"How are you doing this?" Jack demanded after one cursory glance of confirmation into Ethan's lap where reasonably tight trousers were doing a good enough job of backing up his words. Cheeky brat.
"Magic."
Jack sneered quite well for someone who smiled so much. "Sorry. I don't believe in magic. Along with a few other things, like a perfectly mixed martini and long goodbyes. Speaking of which --"
"Let me channel one of those tiresome religious types and tell you that you might not believe in it, but it believes in you," Ethan said. "Which is why, despite you being such a naughty unbeliever, you're going to find it impossible to stand up and walk back to your -- where are you staying, by the way? Or was my seduction, swift and hopefully ecstatic for both of us, to have taken place on my sheets to save you even the small inconvenience of tidying up after yourself?"
"I sleep on board my ship and yeah, got that right, Ethan. I wasn't planning on inviting a twentieth-century ape on board."
"A space ship?" Ethan murmured, entranced by the idea and filing the insult away to marinade in pique. "Well, I can't imagine why we're still in this tedious hostelry, can you?"
He stood up and Jack stood too. "It's your lucky night," Ethan said, patting Jack's face fondly. "You get a guaranteed stress-free fuck, if you still want it when we're done, and I promise I won't be angry that you lied to me when we met."
Not that he ever had been, not really. There was something delightfully chaotic about a lie after all.
"Does it have a name?" he asked chattily as they left. "Oh, I do hope so..."
Jack stopped at the end of an alley and did ... something that didn't work.
"Why can't I use the transport beam?"
"Is that a pout? How sweet. Because you're trying to leave me behind and I don't want you to," Ethan said absently. "Transport to where?"
Jack stared up at the night-time sky. "My ship. She's directly overhead."
Ethan didn't take his eyes off Jack. "Oh dear. Looks like you left the keys in and someone stole it."
"It's invisible."
"And you say you don't believe in magic?" Ethan shook his head. "I don't have time for this, you know."
Jack grinned. "Yeah. You do."
Ethan blinked. He was on a spaceship. Cramped, but even so...
"All the time in the world." A gun appeared in Jack's hand. "Until you die, but, hey, you look like a man who makes the most of life, am I right?" He sighed. "Sorry about this."
"Trust me, if you pull that, you will be," Ethan told him.
Jack did it anyway.
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