He thinks it was a nice dream. He can't remember much of it now. There must be better ways of being ripped from your sleep in the middle of the night. What time is it anyway? Stupid alarm clock, with it's stupid incessant beeping. Wait...alarm clock?
Jack sits up in bed, blindly feeling his way around the now crumpled sheets. He leans towards the beeping noise, trying to feel for the now missing body he swore he fell asleep next to. Jack starts to rub his eyes so hard, that if there was light in the room he'd be seeing stars. A deep, tired voice brings his attention to the corner of the room near the bathroom.
Close your eyes Jack manages to drawl out, sounding more tired then he's beginning to feel. Suddenly he's blinded by a sudden glow of light from the corner of the room.
I told you to close your eyes.
Jack focuses and sees a tired Sky sliding his pants on. His eyes look red and rubbed, and his hair? Forget it, spiked in every direction. He'll probably have to stick it under the sink and comb it through before he goes. He can't return to base looking like that.
Was that your morpher going off? Jack's sitting up in bed all the way now, with his legs crossed and the blanket pushed to the edge. Sky just grunts a soft yeah', and walks to the bathroom shirtless, and buttoning his pants. Within seconds Jack hears the sink running. Jack can't help but smirk, and feel a little proud of himself. He's feeling more awake now, and it's setting in that Sky has to leave.
I thought it was an alarm clock going off, and then I realized I didn't have an alarm clock, so... Jack trailed off as he saw Sky run into the room with his hair wet and freshly spiked, grab his shirt from the floor, and give it a quick yank over his head. Not before giving it a quick sniff. Why must he always do that? How dirty does he think Jack's floor is if he's sure his shirt will begin to rot after a mere four hours of lying there?
So, your going in, huh? Jack couldn't help but notice the dejected tone in his voice.
I was paged Sky said simply. Ahhh, a man of many words...yeah that wasn't Sky. Shame too, cause he had the silkiest bedroom voice. Not the I get to hear it as often anymore', Jack mentally sulked.
Is there an emergency? Jack asked, knowing it was nothing serious by the lack of Sky's running. Feeling a bit rambunctious he added, Do I need to grab the women and children and hide in the basement? Sky whipped his head in Jack's direction and gave a quick leer in Jack's direction. He didn't think that was funny. Sky ran back to turn off the light, and Jack waited for some movement so he could find a direction to turn his head to.
Zipping up his jacket, sky sat at the edge of the bed, getting ready to put his shoes on.
Swallowing his pride, he tried to ease back into Sky's good graces. What's going on that they need you at, a quick glancing squint to his clock sitting on the floor at the other end of the room,
Sky gave a quick, sharp exhale. With his back still turned to Jack, he stayed seated at the edge of the bed. There's a message from Kat. I'm being summoned by the D Squad. They came across some trouble and they need my help.D squad? Jack asked, almost as if he wasn't sure he heard correctly. The D squad need you? Why the hell are they paging you in the middle of the night? He was now on his knees in bed, watching Sky search the room to make sure he wasn't leaving anything behind. And why are you going in? Sky was doing a great job drowning him out. It was just making Jack madder. This was his apartment, damn it. He will not be dragged out of a sleep like this, only to have his...boyfriend(?) called away from him but a bunch of snot-nosed cadets who need help tying their shoes.
You know it's for something stupid, like an all night training gone wrong, and they need help with their roundhouse kicks!I KNOW!!!! Sky turned around and bellowed so suddenly at Jack that he was knocked off his knees and back onto his ass. I know. But I've been paged to come in. I have to go. Sky seemed to force himself to calm down and reply to Jack. He didn't want to leave like this.
Jack slid back under the covers and watched as Sky walked out of the room. He managed to yell back at Sky before he made it into the very small hall that lead to Jack's very small living room. You can tell them to wait, You don't have to go in! He couldn't believe those words left his mouth. And in that tone! He knew he sounded needy and whiny, and he hated it. Was he that angry of being disturbed at night? What made it worse was Sky's reaction. He just stood frozen in the door frame. A few seconds later he balled up his fist and gave a loud bang against the wall and walked into the hall. Defeated and again exhausted, jack slid back down into the bed, not expecting to fall asleep any time soon.
Sky did a mental check as he walked towards the door. All items of clothing, check. Morpher, check. Spare key in his bottom left pocket? Check. At that thought, Sky stopped just before his hand could reach the doorknob. Damn it! They've been trying so hard. He's been trying so hard. He promised himself he'd be better. He didn't want to leave like this.
He turned around and slowly walked back to the bedroom. Instead of entering, he leaned against the door frame he had just punched moments ago. Jack was lying in bed, covers up to his chest, with his hands underneath his head looking up at the cracked ceiling.
You know I have to go. Jack turned his head towards the door, shocked to see Sky hadn't left yet. He realized that in his personal stewing, he never noticed the door opening, closing, and being locked. Sky inched closer to the bed and continued. I know it's probably nothing. I know. But I'm Red Ranger, and I'm supposed to be helping train the D squad. They need me for something, anything, and I have to go in. You remember what it was like.
Jack gave a quick nod, and his stomach settled when he heard the soft, clam tone Sky was using. But after another moment's thought, he added, Yeah, but I never ran at every little thing. There are priorities, and I wasn't going to run every time there was a wolf or the sky was falling.
Sky gave a swift smile that never showed his teeth. I know, but I have to. You know that. I mean, come on Jack! You know that. It's, it's my thing. If it weren't for the darkness, Jack would have sworn that Sky looked sad. I have to put my books in a certain order, I have to keep on reading the manual I know by heart, and I have to come in when called. I don't want to go, but I have to. Whether I was Red Ranger or Pink Ranger, I'd have to go in when called. You know that. And I'm angry because I don't want to go in, and I know that there's no real reason for me to go in right now, but I have to. Sky's words woke Jack up. They had recently been talking about the fact that Sky was almost obsessive in his rules about keeping order. It had amazed Jack to learn that Sky knew he was acting crazy at time, but he couldn't help it. And sometimes, all he really wanted was to rip the SPD manual up and track mud through the hall. But he couldn't, and at times it had really damped his mood. Since then, Jack had been a lot more understanding to Sky idiosyncrasies, and had even gone to the library to take out a book on Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Not that he'd let Sky know. He looked into his eyes as Sky said the words that made Jack's heart melt.
I'm sorry, for getting pissy with you. I'm angry at myself to needing to go in, and at D squad for calling me in at night over nonsense. But I don't want to get mad at you.
Sky took a deep breath, such communicating was foreign to him until he started sleeping with Jack. Their friends with benefits' package have evolved, and while it frightened Sky, it scared him more to lose the relationship they had developed. So he promised himself he would make an effort to act like a human being, and talk with the people he cared about, instead of blowing up, walking away, and closing himself off.
I'm not mad at you. I just wish you wouldn't give me a hard time about going in. I don't like it any more then you. But I don't want to fight. I don't want to leave like this. Sky's bright blue eyes shone in the dark, and they held Jack's gaze for minutes. Once the trance was broken, Jack called out to Sky, I'm sorry for giving you a hard time. And that was all Sky needed to hear. For in those words Sky heard more then a simple apology. It was an awareness of Sky's trouble and effort to make things right.
Before Sky could turn around Jack said, You're getting really good at this, you know?
Sky held his head up high and with a smirk asked, Being Red Ranger? He had been proud of himself. His leadership skills had greatly improved, and the higher ups were more then satisfied with the job he was doing. Deep down, Sky was beginning to think even his dad would be proud.
Jack said in all seriousness. Communicating with me. You're getting really good at it.
Sky's smirk dropped and his eyes glowed with happiness. His heartbeat sped up, and butterflies started flapping in his stomach. He walked towards the bed and stood over Jack. He placed one hand at the back of his head, fingers playing with dreadlocks, and pulled Jack's face up to meet his own. Sky bent his head down and gave Jack the sweetest goodnight kiss he had ever gotten.
They pulled apart, but not away, as Jack reached out to play with Sky's hair. He pulled him back down to him for another quick kiss, then let Sky go so he wouldn't get a sore back from bending to long. There'd be plenty of time for sore backs when he returned.
, Jack gave Sky a quick flirty grin. You think when you come back, you can bring a Pink Ranger suit with you? Cause, you in that suit, now that's something I'd like to see.
This got a proper smile out of Sky, teeth and all. He bent back down to kiss Jack once more. He said nothing, but gave a low and lusty chuckle. With his morpher tightly in hand, he turned and left the room.
Jack pulled the covers up to his chin. He heard the door open, close, and lock. With a smile, he began to drift off to sleep. Whatever dream he was having before, it wouldn't be as good as watching Sky strip out of tight pink spandex...and a skirt.