"Why camping?" he protested as he tried to assemble the tent, "it's not as if the TARDIS isn't loaded with rooms, we could just set up the tent in the console room and pretend!"
"It's not the same thing," The Doctor replied, "the fresh air, the stars..."
"The mosquitoes, the things that could climb into your tent and chew bits of you off," Jack countered, "were these instructions written in Gallifreyan and translated by a drunk blind Time Lord?" he referred the the paper with diagrams showing how to assemble the tent.
"Perhaps Korean," the thin Time Lord admitted glancing at the paper, "but no this tent was purchased on Earth. I got it in the camping supply department at Hendricks!"
"I sure hope you got it on sale, this thing is a piece of..." Jack snorted, but before he could finish he realised he was surrounded by the now fully assembled tent, "how did you do that?" he asked with a low whistle.
"It probably would have helped if you were reading the English instructions, unless Tagalog is your native tongue."
"I thought the TARDIS translated everything?" Jack grumbled.
"It does but it's a literal translation and you have to still be able to figure out the meaning," The Doctor smiled climbing into the tent too, "either way it's up."
"It's pretty chilly are you sure we can't just spend the day outdoors and our nights in the TARDIS?" Jack smiled winningly, hoping to change the Time Lord's mind.
"You said you were getting cabin fever," The Doctor replied reasonably, "and that all the worlds we visited were beginning to blur into one. This is something we've never done together."
"Why Wyoming?" Jack hugged his knees to his chest, the cool wind seeming to creep through every seam in the tent.
"That movie you really like, the one I have seen you cry over," The Doctor tapped his temple, "what was it called? The one with the guy that played the Joker?"
"Brokeback Mountain?" Jack's eyes grew wide.
"That one! yes!"
"You do know what happens to the main characters?" Jack asked, "it's not a happy ending."
"Endings are never happy in my experience," The Doctor sighed looking into space, then he shook himself, "but you seemed to like that movie and I thought it would be nice to spend time here."
"And I wasn't crying at the movie," Jack protested, "the scenery was just breathtaking." He could tell that The Doctor wasn't buying it but was prepared to let it slide, "so you did this for me?"
The Time Lord nodded, "you've done so much for me over the years and never asked anything in return..." he trailed off, then he took a deep breath, "besides the TARDIS needs to do some internal repairs, so the timing just worked out."
"I hope you brought some thermal underwear," Jack laughed, "at least I have some padding, you're going to freeze to death," he gestured at The Doctor's outfit.
"This coat is plenty warm, and besides my body temperature is lower than a human's, so I am not as affected by the cold. Now let's get the rest of the camping supplies, it's looking like sunset is fast approaching!" he climbed out of the tent and took off towards the TARDIS.
Jack followed a bit more leisurely, he hadn't really anticipated any of this, but the idea of sleeping in a rather snug two person tent with The Doctor, was intriguing. The Time Lord had to be aware of how attractive Jack found him, if the constant flirting didn't give him a clue, then the outright suggestions he had made over the years should have cinched it. Every move was always parried or deflected, or outright ignored. It was all a part of the game the two of them played the rules were, seemingly, that Jack could flirt until he was blue in the face and The Doctor would pretend to be oblivious to his attempts.
Sometimes Jack wondered if he wasn't pretending. Maybe he really didn't understand what Jack was doing. Looking into those deep dark eyes, he saw no hint of acknowledgement, perhaps Time Lords just weren't wired that way?
But then, there was this, a move that took him completely off guard. Did The Doctor really think in this close of quarters Jack wouldn't try again? Not that he could force the Time Lord into anything nor would he want to, but spending time, in this small tent, tensions and other things, Jack smiled crookedly, would certainly rise.
His thoughts were interrupted as The Doctor emerged from the TARDIS arms full and thrust the load into Jack's arms. Jack cocked his head to glance at the pile, "what is all this stuff?" he finally asked.
"Two minus zero sleeping bags, cooking gear, dehydrated and irradiated food stuffs, boots, gloves, a hand held GPS, torches, matches, coffee pot, snow shoes and lip balm, and other important gear, I've had some of these things for ages, hope they still work!" The Doctor rattled off, poking various layers of the armful as he went.
"I have some stuff I'd like to get too," Jack nodded towards the time capsule.
"Better drop that off first and hurry up, the doors will shut in ten minutes and be locked until 48 hours from now," The Doctor replied, making no move to help Jack as he lumbered towards the camp site.
Setting the bundle down Jack trotted towards the TARDIS, ran up to his room, once inside and threw some things into a duffel bag and giving the wall a slight pat said, "I hope your pilot knows what he's doing!" he laughed before heading back out to the tent.
The Doctor had started a fire. He had managed to gather, in the brief time Jack was gone, stones to ring the pit, set up a grating over it, and start a coffee pot boiling. Jack checked his watch, he had only been in the time capsule for seven minutes, "how did you do all that in such short time?" he asked sitting on a log that the Time Lord had dragged from the nearby woods.
"Organisation," The Doctor smiled at him, then his voice dropped a bit, "and I set all this aside about a month ago, when you were back at Torchwood."
"And here I thought this was all spontaneous," Jack laughed.
"Planned spontaneity," The Doctor countered grinning widely, "now would you like some coffee?