Recovery Mechanisms
Sometimes, Jack Landors thought in disapproval as he stared at the blank wall, life sucked. "You want me to what?"
"Help decorate," Sky repeated easily, handing him a paint roller. "If you're here you might as well help out."
"But--" It was no use. Sky had already turned away, paintbrush in one hand, can of paint in the other, bumping against his leg. Why was he doing this again? he wondered as he regarded the wall with a suspicious look. Oh yeah, he'd come over to spend time with Sky while he was on medical leave, that was why. He just hadn't expected to be roped into decorating while he was here. Still, if Sky was focusing on this he wasn't thinking about the events of the past few weeks. They still didn't know what had happened to Sky while he'd been missing and the not knowing was what ate at him. He knew that the Commander had taken over the case personally, knew that the Sirian knew more than he'd told the rest of them and that knowledge made him want to scream with frustration. How was he supposed to help if he didn't have all the facts?
On the plus side, he reluctantly conceded, the bruises on Sky's wrists were gone, as were most of the other physical signs of trauma, save the circles under his eyes that spoke of too much nightmare-haunted sleep. Fortunately there hadn't been any more transformation scares, that was something, he supposed. At least, Jack corrected himself, he was assuming there hadn't been any based on the lack of middle-of-the-night calls from Sky's mother. Nightmares Sky had in plenty, but so far it seemed that was as far as it went, and Jack was cautiously hopeful that they were past the danger point.
Sighing, he carefully dipped the roller in the paint by his foot and approached the wall with grim determination. He could do this. Just because he'd never decorated before in his life that didn't mean it was beyond him. He could do this. Stepping back he froze and closed his eyes as he stepped on the tray of paint. Damn it.
"Good thing we covered the floor," Sky said dryly behind him and Jack turned to find his boyfriend giving him a look that was part resigned amusement and part annoyance, which was actually pretty normal for Sky so Jack didn't comment. The sooner Sky was back to normal the better. He settled for giving the other man a half-hearted glare and sank into a crouch, trying to limit the damage he'd already done.
After that things went a bit more smoothly, Jack settling into the rhythm of painting the wall while Sky worked on the wood panelling. It was almost relaxing in a way, focusing entirely on the job at hand, not thinking about anything except vaguely noticing that his wrist was beginning to ache from the repetitive movements. He was pulled out of his reverie by a faint clatter as Sky put his brush down, carefully pouring more paint from the can into the tray. The frown of concentration on his face as he did so was oddly appealing and Jack couldn't resist. Strolling over to where Sky was crouched he waited until his boyfriend looked up, then lightly bumped the paint roller against Sky's nose.
Sky stared at him incredulously for a moment, then his mouth quirked in an impish grin that was all the warning Jack had before paint was flicked in his direction. Instinctively he phased out, hoping he wouldn't fall through the floor. He smirked at Sky before frowning at the chagrined expression on the other man's face. "What?" Sky jerked his chin at the wall and Jack turned round. There, splattered across the newly painted wall, was white paint, stark against the terracotta Jack had just put up. He winced. "Oops?"
"We'll have to wait for it to dry now," Sky said in resignation. "Then paint over it again."
"Do you have any idea how long it took me to do that the first time?" Jack asked in mock-severity, only half-joking. Sky simply raised an eyebrow at him. "Okay," he said brightly, "I think it's time for a break anyway." Maybe if he was lucky he could score some necking time on the couch.
-----
Shauna Tate edged her way in through the front door, shopping bags in hand, wishing she'd thought to take the boys shopping instead of leaving them to do the walls. The bags were heavy and she could have done with the extra pairs of hands. She put them down with a sigh of relief and was about to close the door behind her when she realised the house was too quiet, no sound of the quiet bickering that characterised the interactions between the two young men.
Just then there came a soft groan and her eyebrows shot up. Sticking her head round the door to the main room it was to find the two of them on the couch, Jack sprawled on top of Sky, one hand curling in Sky's hair while he kissed his way down Sky's neck. Sky, for his part, had his hands fisted in the back of Jack's shirt. She stepped back from the door in amusement and went back to where she'd left the bags. Wincing, she picked them up against and leant back against the front door, closing it with a loud slam before walking back along the hall. There came the sound of hissed voices followed by soft thuds as they scrambled off the couch. She'd just got as far the main room as the pair met her at the door, distinctly mussed with overly surprised expressions on their faces.
"How's the work going?" she asked as they quickly took the bags off her and she watched with amusement as they flushed.
"Ah, fine," Jack started. "We were just, ah--"
"Having a drinks break," Sky finished quickly, ducking past her into the kitchen and dumping the bags on the floor.
"Decorating can be thirsty work," she agreed blandly and her son gave her a suspicious look that she met with an innocent smile. "I should let you get back to it, I suppose." She frowned as a small detail from before sank in and she stuck her head back into the main room. Was that white paint splattered on the wall?
"Accident with a paintbrush," Jack said quickly. "We're just waiting for it to dry so we can fix it."
She nodded. "Okay." Accident with a paintbrush her ass. More like a paint war that had got out of hand. The two nodded in relief and she let them get as far as the door before clearing her throat. They froze in place before turning back, markedly guilty expressions on their faces. "Seeing as you're having that break, I could use some extra hands to put these things away."
"Drinks break?" Jack hissed under his breath as he restocked the fridge, apparently assuming she was out of hearing range.
"I didn't hear you coming up with any better ideas," Sky hissed back.
"Something wrong, boys?"
"No!"
"No! We're fine."
"Good." Oh, it was fun being a parent sometimes.
-----
And it was going so well, Shauna thought in resignation as the electronic beep filled the room and two sets of eyes flickered to the morpher in Jack's pocket. But it had been due to happen at some point, she supposed. Jack pulled out the small black box and flipped it open. "Landors."
"Trouble at the docks," came a girl's voice. "We could use the help."
"I'm on my way," he replied, flipping the communicator shut again and moving towards the door. "Not you," he added as Sky went to follow.
"Jack--"
"You're on medical leave," Jack said pointedly. "Doctor Felix would have my ass in a sling if I let you go out there."
"Jack," Sky replied evenly. "I'm fine."
"Physically, yeah. I know. Not the point."
"But--"
"Don't make me make it an order, Sky, because I will if I have to."
She almost flinched as Sky's expression shut down. "Fine."
Jack glanced in her direction, expression just as unreadable as Sky's. "Sorry to run out on you," he said and she nodded briefly. He nodded back and was out the door a moment later.
Sky stared at the wall, not even watching as Jack left, his grip on the paintbrush tight. Outside there was the sound of a bike's engine starting up, then pulling out. The moment the engine faded Sky calmly put the brush down and stalked out the room. The atmosphere in the room could have been cut with a knife it was so thick and Shauna remained silent as her son walked past her without a word. For a moment she was furious at Jack for doing that to Sky, forcing him to stay behind when he wanted to be out there, but it was only for a moment. Jack hadn't liked doing that to Sky any more than she'd liked watching it, but she understood why he had.
It just wasn't fair, she thought. Getting back into the fighting wouldn't help Sky if he wasn't ready to go back, and despite what he said, she didn't think he was. On the other hand, knowing he was being left behind wasn't helping either and she couldn't come up with anything that might resolve the conflict. Squaring her shoulders, she picked up the paintbrush Sky had set down and went to work on the unfinished bit of wall.
-----
When Jack got back he rang the doorbell and waited uneasily. He wasn't entirely sure how he was going to be received after that mini confrontation. He knew Sky would still be pissed, an hour and a half was nowhere near long enough for him to get over Jack coming so close to pulling rank on him, he just didn't know how Shauna would react now. He liked Sky's mother, they got on well, but she was Sky's mom first, everything else afterwards. He scowled at himself and shrugged, wincing a little at the ache between his shoulder blades; if she was angry, she was angry, there was nothing he could do about that, except maybe leave and come back later.
The door opened and Shauna gave him a wry smile. "Taken care of?" she asked and he nodded, somewhat nonplussed at the casual question.
"Ah, yeah. It's fine. All safely confined and everything."
"Good. Well, what are you doing hovering on the doorstep? We have work to do, remember?"
He grinned and went inside. Of course Shauna could be casual about having people skipping out to go blow things up; she'd been married to a red ranger, for God's sake. He wasn't sure how he'd managed to forget that, considering it was so much a part of Sky. Sky. He winced. "How much trouble am I in?"
Shauna gave him a faint smile. "He's in the attic."
He scowled at the non-answer, but nonetheless turned around to head up the stairs. Sky was leaning over a table, scowling at what looked like plugs, fingers deftly replacing a small object inside it. Checking fuses. "Hey," he said in greeting and Sky glanced up briefly, eyes flickering over him rapidly before he went back to the fuses without comment. Jack winced inwardly. "The guys say hi," he tried and Sky grunted something that probably passed for acknowledgement in Sky-language. "Checking the fuses, huh?" It was like beating his head against a wall for all the reaction he got. "Sky!"
"What?" the other man snapped, looking back at him with an annoyed expression. Jack opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again. "Never mind," he muttered.
"What do you want me to say?" Sky demanded and he shrugged.
"I don't know," he admitted, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"Well, when you make up your mind let me know. Then maybe you can order me not to argue with you."
Yeah, Sky was definitely still pissed. "I'm sorry, okay?" Jack said. "Pulling rank on you was a stupid thing to do, I know that."
"And yet you still did. I suppose there's logic in there somewhere."
"You're on medical leave," Jack stated from between gritted teeth. "Medical leave means you don't fight."
"I'm fine, Jack," Sky snapped. "There's nothing stopping me--"
"You're not fine," Jack interrupted and Sky halted mid-sentence, scowl deepening as he prepared to counter the blunt statement, but Jack pre-empted him. "Oh, physically, sure, there's nothing that means you can't fight, but the physical's only half of it."
"I'm not going to freeze or freak out in the middle of a battle!"
"You don't know that," he said softly and Sky swallowed before he looked away. He could have followed up with a comment about how going back to work too early could compromise the team, but Sky knew that already, it was why he no longer met Jack's eyes. Saying the words out loud would be simply one more low blow to add to his pulling rank earlier and he wasn't sure how many of those blows his relationship with Sky could take, especially now. In some ways the relationship between the two of them had strengthened and yet in others it seemed more fragile. Only time would tell if they really had the chance of going the distance or if it was just an illusion they were fooling themselves over.