Ch 2

As the fire died down Jack realised the Time Lord was right, it was beautiful out here. The stars were so bright and seemed so close on this ridge that he fancied he could reach out and pluck them out of the sky. The air was growing cold and the glowing embers were not enough to keep him warm any more so he stood up and announced he was turning in.

The Doctor carefully extinguished the fire and joined him in the tent. Jack had already stripped to his vest and pants and zipped himself up in the sleeping bag by the time The Doctor joined him. The tent was really too small for two grown men, but the Time Lord's thin frame didn't take up a lot of space width wise so it was manageable.

Instead of climbing into his sleeping bag The Doctor sat on top of it and looked around the tent, "why are they called pup tents?"

Jack yawned, "I hadn't really considered it, maybe because it looks like a dog house?"

That seemed to be enough of an answer as the Time Lord lay down on the sleeping bag, flat on his back arms folded across his chest.

"You'd probably be more comfortable if you got inside that," Jack suggested, "you're going to get cold in your sleep if you don't."

"I don't need a lot of sleep," The Doctor replied, still staring up at the top of the tent, "and I'm not cold."

"Suit yourself," Jack sighed, his eyes closing as the warmth of own body heat lulled him to sleep.

He woke a bit later, unsure of where he was at first. The light from the moon shone through the small vinyl window set in one wall of the tent providing enough light to illuminate the small enclosure.

The Doctor was no where to be seen, Jack wriggled out of the sleeping back and crawled to the opening to peer out. The Time Lord was sitting by the fire pit, bathed in moonlight, staring at the ashes motionless. Not wanting to disturb him and frankly beginning to feel bits of him were going to freeze off, Jack crawled back into his sleeping bag.

What seemed like moments later Jack's eyes opened again. He was still alone in the tent but the sun was streaming through the window now, the frost patterns on the vinyl making the whole place sparkle like a disco.

There was a fire burning as he stepped out of the tent. The Doctor had laid a heavy coat on his feet sometime in the night, with boots and gloves nearby. He had bundled himself in them before venturing out.

The Time Lord was still only dressed as usual, his long coat open and his feet in what would have to be somewhat soggy canvas trainers. He smiled as Jack approached, "did you sleep well?" he asked cheerily.

Jack grunted something that seemed to translate into, "give me coffee first, then chat," because The Doctor did just that.

After his second cup, Jack felt a bit more sociable, "what did you do last night?"

"The usual," The Doctor replied taking a sip from his cup, clearly not willing to talk about his activities.

"I think I know the real reason you took me here," Jack grinned, "no chance of me getting you in a compromising position and taking advantage of you," he teased.

"Those bags are capable of being zipped together to make one larger sleeping bag," The Doctor replied mildly, "if the need or desire arose."

Jack was in mid swallow when he said that. He almost exhaled the steaming coffee through his nose but instead quickly gulped it down, and gaped at the Time Lord in disbelief.

The Doctor seemed not to notice at first, the faraway look still in his eyes, then he focused back on Jack, "why are you staring at me?"

"I just can't believe you said that," Jack cleared his throat, trying to get the last of the coffee out of his sinuses. Jack sniffed his cup expecting it to smell like some sort of chemical compound but it smelt only of strong coffee. Then pinched himself once on the arm, "this can't be happening."

Thinking that he had somehow offended Jack, The Doctor rose from the log, quickly changing the subject, "I thought today we could hike over to that ridge," he pointed off in the distance, "I hear a waterfall, it might be nice to get a closer look."

Taking another sip of the coffee, Jack began to see that he had misunderstood the Time Lord. He was his normal oblivious self when it came to Jack's lust for him, as usual. Obviously the comment about the sleeping bags was about sharing body heat, nothing more. 'Too bad' he sighed inwardly, 'for a moment there, I almost thought...' he shook his head.