Ch 5
As much as the sight of The Doctor undressing was something he had fantasised about for pretty much as long as he had known him Jack was also pragmatic enough to ask, "don't you think you should keep those on until I fetch your clothes from outside?"
The Doctor said nothing, and continued stripping of Jack's clothing until he stood, completely naked in front of Jack. The ex-Time Agent gulped audibly and for once his long life he was both speechless and completely unable to think.
Before his mind could function again The Doctor slid back into the sleeping bag next to Jack and gave him a kiss. That unlocked him, "Doc, what are you doing?" he asked softly as he pulled away, "you don't have to do this..."
"But..." the Time Lord rolled away, sitting up regarding him with a shocked expression, "I thought this was what you wanted?"
"More than you could ever imagine," Jack admitted, "but you can't do this. You can't sacrifice who you are for my adolescent fantasies!"
The Doctor was silent for a moment, "it's not like I've never done this before Jack, just not with you and not in this body," he explained with a slight smile.
Jack felt like his whole world had been, not only tipped upside down, but shaken like a snow globe and dropped from a great height, "you mean all this...all my flirting...you've known what I was getting at?"
"Of course," came the amused reply.
"Then why now? Why after all this time?" Jack wanted to scream but he kept his voice level. The memories of the cold showers, the nights of tossing in his solitary bed onboard the TARDIS coming back to him in a rush.
"Timing," was the one word answer.
'What is wrong with me?' he thought. The Time Lord was naked, right next to him, offering himself to Jack and all he could do was recoil in horror at the idea of taking him up on it.
Before he could reason it out, The Doctor was out of the sleeping bag and walking quickly, still unclad, out of the tent. Jack scrambled to his feet and ran after him. He watched, with regret as the brown suit, wrinkled but dry, was slipped back on followed by the long coat and the trainers.
The Doctor was unreadable, he refused to look directly at Jack and for his part the ex-Time Agent felt like a complete oaf.
"I was thinking today might be a good day to see what's in the valley," the Time Lord spoke at last, acting as if nothing had happened, "I had read that there are sheep that broke away from herds and have gone wild, and that this time of year would be lambing season, could be interesting to see..."
Jack stepped in close and took the other's hands in his, "look, Doc, I'm sorry. I handled that really badly. It's just all this time I didn't realise you...I mean that...ah, it didn't occur to me..."
"Forget it," The Doctor replied, still unable to look Jack in the eyes, "I shouldn't have presumed," his voice was quiet and it was almost hard to make out what he was saying.
"The mistake was mine," Jack smiled like a naughty school boy, "you just seem so innocent, so untouchable at times that I didn't expect that from you."
The word 'innocent' made The Doctor laugh, and it seemed to be what was needed to break the ice that had formed between them, "hardly," he smiled. Then he took Jack's hand in his and gave it a quick squeeze, "and I have to say there is no one in the known universe or beyond that is so thick to not notice when you turn on the charm. Did you really think I had no idea you were interested in me?"
"You didn't acknowledge it," Jack protested.
"It was amusing to see how far you'd go," the Time Lord laughed, "you are about as subtle as a brick to the head."
"You've been toying with me all this time?" Jack couldn't help but laugh at the idea, "that's just plain mean!"
"Funny though," The Doctor countered.
"If I promise to behave myself, can we try this again?" Jack asked hopefully after a few moments of silence.
"But you behave that won't be any fun..."
At that Jack scooped up the Time Lord carrying him back into the tent, "let me show you how much fun I can be."
