Unexpected Pleasures

Disclaimer: see chapter 1

Jack wasn't sure why he'd done it, but it had seemed a good idea at the time. He and Sky had been out, enjoying their rare time off, him from the shelter, Sky from SPD. It was rare for them to have time off, period, let alone time off together, but for some reason it seemed that Fate had smiled on them and today they both had the day off. A whole day instead of just mornings, just afternoons, or simply a few hours together before they had to return to their respective jobs.

They'd done the stay-in-bed thing, but neither of them were inclined to spend the entire day there, no matter how much fun they could have in said bed, and they'd gone out, walking round the city they'd worked so hard to protect, that Sky still protected on a day-to-day basis, although granted it wasn't quite the same situation as before. Now there was no big bad trying to take over the galaxy, just criminals trying to shake things up in a city that was still rebuilding. Jack wasn't sure if that was better or just different, but for the moment he was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. Until the next time Sky or Z or one of the others got badly hurt again.

Ironic as it was, the city and its streets were one of the few things he and Sky had in common, albeit for different reasons, he from living on them, Sky from patrolling them for as long as he had. When you patrolled the same streets for any length of time you got to know them and their shortcuts. It had been something of a shock the day he'd learned he couldn't lose Sky on the streets - a training exercise where use of powers had been banned - and it had left him with a new respect for the then blue ranger.

Walking past the park Jack had ducked inside the gates, followed by a startled Sky. They could take the scenic route back to his apartment. He enjoyed this, quiet time spent with Sky when they didn't have any other concerns on their minds, and as far as he was concerned this walk couldn't last long enough. He smiled inwardly as he noticed Sky scuffing his feet through the leaves lying on the floor. His life at SPD had changed him in more ways than one, one of those reasons being he had a new appreciation for autumn and winter instead of greeting them with uncertainty and trying to find enough clothes to keep warm in.

Despite being autumn, today was a nice day: cool but not uncomfortably so, the air was reasonably clear and the sun was out. And Sky was still kicking his feet through the leaves as he walked. Jack wondered if he even knew he was doing it. "You always do that?" he asked and Sky looked at him quizzically. "Walk through the leaves like that."

Sky smiled a little. "When I was a kid, yeah. I used to love jumping in the piles of leaves, sending them flying everywhere and watching them fall." He frowned. "I seem to remember a lot of them ending up in my mom's hair."

Jack grinned. "Her hair?"

Sky nodded, small smile on his face before he paused. Jack took another couple of steps until he realised Sky had stopped and he turned back. "Sky?"

He had one moment to take in the bright, and completely unexpected, mischievous grin on Sky's face before the other man quickly bent down, scooping his hand under a nearby pile of leaves, hand glowing a faint blue. It didn't sink in what was about to happen until the leaves had already hit his face, leaving him standing there, staring in utter incomprehension.

"Oh, you did not just do that."

Sky just grinned and threw some more. Exaggeratedly brushing leaves off his jacket, Jack quickly got into the spirit of things, but before he could return the favour Sky was already off and running, leaving Jack chasing after him, directing wild and improbable threats at his boyfriend's back.

By the time they got back to his apartment, they were both exhausted but happy, Jack feeling strangely exhilarated when he collapsed into the nearest seat. Today was a day to remember. Sky didn't usually smile all that much, being far too serious for his own good, but today he'd clearly taken the opportunity to let his hair down, metaphorically speaking. Unsolicited smiles, laughs, both were extremely rare, about as rare as their time off, and as a result Jack treasured them all the more than the ones he'd worked at getting. Getting to see Sky indulging his inner child just made the whole thing even better and Jack wished he'd had a camera to capture some of it, to remind them when times were harder just how good things could be.

Settled on the beaten-up couch, Jack leant into Sky's body as they switched on the small TV and found a football game. Cheerfully mocking the players and their tactics, Jack sighed inwardly in contentment as Sky's fingers threaded themselves through his dreads, no longer quite as short as they had been during his SPD days, now that he had the freedom to grow them a little, but still, not that long.

He glanced sideways at the quiet snort that had nothing to do with the game and found Sky studying him with wry amusement. About to ask what was up, Jack just blinked when a leaf was held in front of his face.

Oh.