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Jack settled the Doctor on a worn black sofa near his office. When he started to walk away to make tea for his friend, he nearly had to pry the Doctor's hand out of his own hand. The Doctor looked up at him, all brown pleading eyes and near panic. Jack knelt beside him and patted the Doctor's hand that gripped a pinstriped knee anxiously.

"You're all right, Doc, I'm just going to get you some tea and pizza," he said, struggling to control his own emotions. Unsure of what to say next, he gave the Doctor a peck on the cheek, going so far as to tousle his hair, a thing he's wanted to do for years.

Before this night, he wouldn't have dreamt of trying it. His Time Lord, his proper Time Lord, would have "gone all Belgium," as he would have put it, referring to the time he had once run into his fifth incarnation and nearly blown a hole in the universe the size of that country. Tonight it seemed nothing could bring about that reaction, and that worried Jack. Still, he allowed himself to secretly enjoy certain aspects of this, such as tousling that wild head of hair. To his surprise, the Doctor leaned into his touch, letting his eyes slide shut in a manner entirely catlike.

"You just relax, now," he said softly. "Be right back, okay?"

This time the Doctor seemed a bit calmer as he went to go make tea. But by the time he got back, the Doctor once more hugged his knees, causing Jack to think how silence and solitude loves self-contempt, where the Time Lord was concerned. He sat near the Doctor, setting a tray with tea and pizza on a table in reaching distance. The Doctor didn't budge.

"Come on, now," Jack coaxed. "Eat up, won't you?"

The Doctor looked at his meal apathetically, but when he looked at Jack and saw his friend looking back with an air of authoritative expectancy, he took a slice of pizza and his cup of tea and slid across the couch so he was snugly against Jack before taking so much as a nibble or a sip. He looked anxious to Jack, so the immortal slipped an arm around the Doctor's shoulders and felt the tension slipping away out of the Time Lord. Right, then. This was going to require patience and kindness as well as authority, and Jack vowed to himself not to run short on any of those things.

Once the Doctor started eating, he practically wolfed down every scrap. Jack wondered if his friend had been eating at all. "Good, huh?" he asked, allowing himself a grin, which seemed to perk the Time Lord up a bit.

He watched the Doctor suck pizza sauce off his fingers and then toss back what remained of his tea. He suddenly belched rather loudly. His face turned pink. "Sorry," he said with a sheepish grin. "Ate too fast, didn't know I was so hungry." He curled up next to Jack and hugged him, resting his head on Jack's chest.

Jack's hand unconsciously drifted to the Doctor's head, where he let his fingers toy with the Doctor's hair. Wild as it was, felt much softer than it looked. "Belch away," Jack said, smiling. "More room on the outside. You still hungry? I could send for some Chinese."

"Nah," the Doctor replied, shaking his head, snuggling into Jack as he did. "If anything I'm full. Thanks."

"Anything for you," Jack said, smiling. Distress might have been the cause of all this attention-seeking from the Time Lord, but knowing once this passed, so would all the solicitations for comfort, Jack allowed himself to eat it up. Before he could stop himself, he dropped a kiss onto the top of the Doctor's head, grinning at the contented little hum the Doctor gave. He wrapped his other arm around the Doctor in a gentle hug. "Sorry you're going through all this," he murmured. "But I have to admit, I wish you were this cuddly all the time. It's nice. Don't you think?"

"I was worried I might be too much trouble," the Doctor said. "You really don't mind?"

"Not in the least," Jack said, dropping another reassuring kiss on the top of the Doctor's head. He inhaled deeply, enjoying the Time Lord's unique scent, something like honey, and something else akin to cedar and citrus.

"Do that again?" the Doctor asked.

"What, this?" Jack went to kiss the top of the Doctor's head again. The Time Lord tipped his head back suddenly, adjusting the movement so that Jack's lips landed instead on the Doctor's upturned mouth. "Hey," said Jack in a mock growl. "That was tricky!"

The Doctor blushed, apparently surprised, himself, with what he had done. "Sorry…I don't know what's gotten into me, Jack. It's just…I don't feel so scared now, and it's good being like this with you and I thought it would be nice if I gave you a kiss just to show you how much I appreciate it since I know you lot like this sort of thing, especially with you, being a 51st century guy and all that goes with that, so I thought I'd just show you how grateful I am, not that you don't already know that, after all, since we know each other so well and ummph!"

Kissing the Doctor, Jack found, was an excellent way to stop him babbling.

"Now," he said. "As much as I'm enjoying this, I'm setting boundaries. As much as I love indulging you in all this, don't think for a minute it's going any further. Kissing and cuddling is one thing. But sex, at least for now, is out of the question."

"Jack?" The Doctor looked truly puzzled. "I thought…well, I mean, really. You, turning down sex? I mean, not that I'm ready to go that far or anything, in fact the idea is a bit, well, daunting. Well, I say daunting, really it's more like terrifying, and it's very complicated for Time Lords to say the least, not like you lot where all you have to do is agree you both want it, I mean really, I'll never understand how you lot cut to the chase so quickly without even thinking about forming a pair-bond, not that some of you don't, I mean obviously a lot of you do, but on the same token a lot of you don't so I thought that maybe you wouldn't and you'd like to have me like that, not that I wouldn't like a pair bond mind you, just that I'm all over the universe so much of the time and you have Torchwood and Ianto not to mention anyone else you want besides me, and really I can see where I'm not exactly at the top of your list even though I do know you fancy me so I thought uummph!"

Yep. Kissing. Best way ever to shut him up.

"No sex," Jack asserted. "If we can get you sorted out, back to your old self where you're able to make a decision, then maybe," Jack said sternly. "But not now, not when you aren't yourself. If you want to give yourself to me, I want it to be a hundred percent. You knowing what you want and able to give it to me with a clear mind. Otherwise, it's a bit much like rape on my behalf. Understand?

The Doctor nodded, "Anything you say, my Captain. You're in charge. After all, I am in your custody."

"Yeah, kind of a dream come true, if you were your normal self."

"But," the Doctor looked distressed.

"What, sweethearts?"

"Well, I rather like the kisses and cuddles." He was blushing furiously, the picture of a befuddled virgin.

"Consider me an all you can eat buffet," Jack grinned.

"Only, well, I have a hard time initiating it. So could you?"

"Only if you'll let me know when you aren't in the mood."

The Doctor gave another contented hum, looking up at Jack happily.

Seeing the invitation, Jack took it. That's when he noticed a soft little bump just behind the Doctor's front teeth. Jack manipulated it with his tongue, noting that it swelled and became firmer as the Doctor began to moan. He pulled back, looking the Doctor in his eye. The Time Lord was flushed, his cheeks a bright red, and he was panting.

"Interesting bit of anatomy, Doc," Jack took on his authoritative voice again, like a stern school-master. "Explain. Or no more kisses. And while you're at it, I want to know everything."

TBC