This was a one-shot I'd been planning to do as a songfic to Steps - The Way You Make Me Feel, but after writing it, I decided that this is a bit overboard for a pop group song. In fact, its a bit too much all together. Laura, I know you'll love it, because it's jexy. In fact, a lot of people might like it because it's jexy.
Curiosity Killed The Cat
Jack watched the timer flip to 108 again after inputting the code. He hated pressing the button, but it gave him some alone time with Kate, at least. Recently, they had been growing closer, and whilst they never spoke about the kiss, which had become a taboo between them, he couldn't help but hope he'd get another opportunity to feel her lips upon his.
Locke entered the hatch, to take over his shift, and Jack went to find Kate so that they could leave. He walked towards the bathroom, and opened the door. "Kate, are you done?" He asked as he entered.
"Yeah." She called back.
"Okay, cause you-...Oh god. Kate, I'm sorry." He said, stumbling over his apology as he came into almost a dead on collision with Kate's body.
True to her words, she was finished with the shower, but she wasn't quite dressed yet. In fact, all that was covering her was a tiny towel. She was sat on the edge of the counter, pulling a brush through her tangled hair. She was literally about half a foot away from the door, which was, now open, directly before her, along with a very apologetic Jack.
"It's okay." She assured him with a gentle smile, whilst she continued brushing her hair. Something about this situation happening before meant that it wasn't quite as embarrassing before. She bowed her head, checking that there was nothing on show, and went back to her hair again.
"I mean it-" He started, but she cut him off.
"No, really, it's okay." She reassured him, nodding towards the door. "Just shut the door, will you? The breeze is cold."
"Oh, yeah, sure." He said, kicking the door shut behind him, and then wondering why he was still inside the room with her. Why hadn't he left right then? It would have been the perfect opportunity!
"I guess I should start using the lock on this door, huh?" She said after a few moments of uncomfortable silence.
He smiled back at her, nodding, and for a moment, his eyes travelled unwillingly south. He brought his eyes back up to hers quickly before he could make any thoughts appear in his head, and tried to play it smoothly.
"I'd agree, but it would put an end to my hobby of walking in on you." He said, sounding more flirtatious than he knew he was capable of.
Kate set her hairbrush aside, and raised an eyebrow at him. "Pretty pervy hobby, Jack." She pointed out to him.
He shook his head. "Not pervy...observent." He corrected.
"What's the difference?"
He took a step closer to her. "Pervy insinuates that I am doing this for sexual reasons, which are strongly disadvised." He told her, and places his hands either side of her body where she sat on the counter. "Observent suggests that I am making a medical examination."
She looked at him curiously, her damn hair now hanging from her shoulders, slightly less tangled than it had been a moment ago. "So, there's a medical side to all these encounters?" She said, accepting his explanation, even though she was clearly being sarcastic.
"Exactly." He nodded, not taking his eyes off of hers.
"Care to enlighten me?" She asked.
"I care to do many thing to you, but enlighten you isn't that high up on the list." He told her, clearly flirting with her and eagerly taking the challenge to see which could tease the other more.
Kate smirked at him, smiling seductively. "Well, then, how about we start at the bottom of this list, and work our way up?" She said, looking up and down his body as she spoke. "Starting with the medical excuse for walking in on girls in the shower."
"I just do it to check up on you." He explained, his eyes still trained on hers even though he had seen her blaitently checking him out. "Making sure that there's no cuts and bruises that are usually hidden."
"Hidden?" She challenged.
"By clothes. And seeing as you're so reluctant to be medically examined, there's really nothing else I can do to make sure you're okay."
It was a lie, they both knew that. Even their eyes were smiling tauntingly as they tried to outstare each other. Jack knew that Kate was winning the staring contest hands down, because she had already gotten her look at him, even though he was more dressed than she was, and he was frightfully aware of just how close their bodies were, especially with his hands positioned either side of her thighs.
Kate nodded, thinking ths over. "That's an interesting look on it."
"There's also curiosity." He added.
"So I though." She smiled. "But what, prey tell, is our doctor curious about."
"A lot of things." He said vaugely.
"Again, not an answer that divulges on anything." She said, trying to look unsatisfied as well as trying to get more information out of him.
He leaned a fraction closer to her. "I'm curious about why the rest of the ladies on the beach walk around all day in bikinis, yet I've never seen you in one." He said daringly.
"Maybe I don't have one." She suggested. "Or maybe I'm just waiting for when no one's looking."
"Which would explain why I've not seen you in one."
"What else are you curious about?" She asked, estimating that there was about six inches between their faces at the moment.
"I'm curious about where we stand with each other, and about what's keeping us apart... I'm curious as to whether I should act on what my mind is telling me or what my heart is telling me...I'm curious as to what your reaction to either of those would be...but most of all, I'm curious as to why we've shut the door, but I'm still on this side of it." He said, edge forward yet again.
Kate looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, to cure your curiosity..." She started. "We're currently standing just in front of each other. What's keeping us apart is half a foot of air and a very thin towel, and the reason we've shut the door and you're still here is because maybe I don't mind you being on this side of it with me."
He grinned again. "But you've forgotten something." He pointed out. "Shall I go with my heart, or my mind?"
"That all depends on what they're telling you."
"My mind is telling me to do the honourable thing..." He revealed. "...to walk out the door, apologize for barging in like this, and then pretend it never happened."
It took all she had for her to beg him not to do that, but she kept her cool. "What about your heart?" She asked.
"My heart is telling me to act on impulse for once." He smirked, finally letting his eyes venture south quickly before looking back up at her face again. "And it involves removing this towel and something very, very, naughty."
Kate fought at the blush climbing up her cheeks, and tried to still the fire aching behind her stomach. "Which are you most in favour of so far?"
"Well, at the moment, standing this close to you...my heart is being backed up by a variety of body parts that I'm not quite sure I have the capacity to argue with." He told her, seeing a full blush spread across her cheeks and he smiled at her reaction.
"You know," She said, "I have some curiosities of my own."
"And what are they?"
She was the one who leant forward this time. "I'm curious as to why you'e finding it so hard to control yourself, when you've kept up the image of the good doctor for so long."
"Everyone has a mask, this is mine." He said, although he could hardly refer to the 'good doctor' side of him when it was swiftly being taken over by another side of him that Kate was yet to see. Yet still, here she was, coaxing his other side out to play. "And control is a very hard thing to get a hold of."
"I'm sure it is." She said seductively, her voice barely more than a whisper, but having more effect on him than any of her previous comments.
He gulped discreetly, managing to keep up his mask and not show how much she was effecting him. "What are these other curiosities?" He asked her.
"Well, I'm curious as to why there's a lock on this door, and it's not being used." She said, trying to sound innocent and failing as her eyes wandered to the bolt at the top of the door.
Jack reached up, not moving away from her as he quickly pulled the bolt over, hearing it snap as it locked into place. "Problem solved." He said simply.
"Most of all, I'm wondering how you can make me feel this way by doing so little." She whispered to him, her lips just slightly pulled back from grazing his ear.
For the first time, Jack allowed himself to full take in what was happening. Kate had tried to make her move by seducing him, and it had gone horribly wrong as she had completely fallen to his mercy. There was a longing in her eyes, a longing for him, and he loved it.
"Words can be very effective when used in the right way." He told her. "Only, I plan on using a lot more than just words."
"Oh, really?"
"I plan on using quite a lot of things in this room." He told her. "This counter and the shower included."
She grinned. "Well, aren't we full of surprises." She commented innocently.
Jack moved his hands from either side of her, and placed them on her bare knees, the contact driving them both wild. "I'm starting to think that you were waiting for me to walk in on you." He said suspiciously.
Kate shook her head. "I simply use the tiny towel and didn't lock the door because I thought I was alone."
"Uh huh..." Jack nodded, not believing her for a second, but he found himself not caring. "Did this thought come before or after you left me in the kitchen saying 'I'm going for a shower, if I'm not out in ten minutes come get me'?" He asked her.
"Oh, after, definately." He insisted.
He grinned, shaking his head. "Well, I hate to disappoint you, Kate, but I don't think that you're leaving this room for some time." He told her, allowing his hands to move up from her knees, travelling up her thighs.
"No?" She questioned, as he stepped that final step, closing the gap between them, and she placed her hands over his shoulder, drawing circles in the skin just below his neck.
"Definately not." He confirmed, and let his hands disappear underneath the towel and travel straight to her hips whilst she let out an involuntary sigh. "We've been dancing in circles around each other for too long. I think it's about time we stopped teasing each other."
Kate smirked as he brought his face closer. "On the contrary, you seem to have enjoyed this."
Finally, their lips met, and as Jack had planned, they didn't leave the shower for a very long time. In fact, they didn't leave until people started banging on the door, demanding it was thier turn in the shower. They gathered their belongings, and went to face the music.
They left the bathroom as quickly as they could, hand in hand, whilst the audience of Sawyer, Claire and Hurley, looked on in absolute disbelief.
"Oh, dude." Hurley said. "They were just---"
"Well, it's about time." Sawyer said, and then walked away to tease them. Of course, he couldn't do anything as good as the job the two had done on each other.