3

The Doctor blushed more deeply than before, his face so red his freckles vanished. He bit his lip and squirmed in Jack's arms as if he wished he could disappear.

"Come on, Doc," Jack said. "You can tell me. And seriously, I need to know," he teased, "Just in case I never decide to act on it at least I'll have a map of the terrain."

"But I—do I have to?"

"I'd say that's a given," Jack said. "And it can't be that bad!"

"But…but…I just, well, I…well, it makes me feel so different from you lot, and I sort of like fitting in. Well, I say I like fitting in, really I just like seeming to fit in, it's not as though I think I'm actually human or anything, that would just be rubbish, I just don't want you to think of me as being too different, you know, I wouldn't want anyone thinking I'm so different that they can't feel they're a little like me, even though we're not, and I really, truly do like you thinking of me as one of you on most levels, not all levels, mind you, because clearly I'm not, even though I want so badly for my companions not to think of me as if I'm just too weird—"

"Doctor." Jack said. "If I hadn't said no more kisses until you answered…and you'd better not be kissing anyone else… " Jack sighed. Well, then. Another show of gentle dominance was called for, apparently.

He pulled the Doctor into his lap again, this time not so gently but more like that of an adult with a mutinous little boy. Firmly, he wrapped his arms around the Time Lord, knowing he had no intentions to attempt an escape—just to assert his authority, since that seemed to work.

"Tell me," he said in his best mock growl. "You owe it to me. After all, how do you expect to please anyone if you aren't willing to share everything about yourself?"

"Time Lords don't share."

"Bullshit," Jack said. "This one is going to."

Still the Doctor would not meet Jack's eyes. Well then…

"I said no more kisses," Jack said, this time in a tone that would tolerate no defiance. "Open your mouth. If you won't tell me then I'll find out for myself. There are other ways besides kissing, you know."

Still flushed with embarrassment as well as angry defiance, the Doctor turned his face away. He tried to get up, but Jack hitched his dominant steak up several notches and forcibly held the Doctor in his lap. There was a struggle, but obviously a token one, since Time Lords are stronger than humans are. The Doctor could have escaped as easily as a bear from a two year old.

"Cut it out!" Jack barked. Without thinking, he brought the flat of his hand down in a hard—a very hard— slap on one hip. Before Jack had the time for an iota of remorse the Doctor…well, the Doctor trembled. And not in distress.

Well, thought Jack. That was…interesting.

The Doctor suddenly stilled, his pupils dilated, breath raspy, and was that a little squeak? As in one of pleasure? His body relaxed, yet his lips remained pressed together. His eyes were both pleading and determined. That was a challenge to take it further, for Jack to make him bend to his will, or, conversely, a plea for mercy.

"Open your mouth," Jack said.

The Doctor shook his head.

"I said open it!" Jack barked. "Do it."

Again, the Doctor shook his head, a look of hurt on his face. A different tactic, then.

"Come on, now sweethearts, don't make me angry with you. Just you do as I say, hmm?"

This time the Doctor seemed to be weighing his options. Looked like authority applied with a gentle touch would work best, then. Time for a little dirty pool. He gently kissed the Doctor's cheek. "Really, Doc, are you that afraid of what I'll think of you? Come on, you should know better. 51st century, remember? I'm the one that likes non-humans! Don't you trust me? Now just you listen to your Jack and let me see inside your mouth. You don't want to make me cross with you, do you? Besides, you did put me in charge of you. You can't have it both ways. Either you're on your own or you let me take care of you."

"Would it be all right if I just told you?" the Doctor asked, eyes suddenly large and liquid.

"You have to tell me everything," Jack admonished. "You're in my custody now so it's for your own good." Of course Jack would have to verify everything, and not only for his own curiosity. If his Time Lord was injured or became otherwise incapacitated he would need to have all the facts at hand.

"You won't laugh, will you?" This with a pout that could crumble empires.

"So this is something that embarrasses you? Of course I won't laugh, if I can help it."

The Doctor blushed again. "Please don't. It's…a very sensitive subject."

"This has to do with Time Lord reproduction, doesn't it?"

The Doctor nodded, still blushing.

The Time Lord sighed, giving Jack a look overflowing with so much trust that Jack's heart simply melted. "It's a relatively new evolutionary change, initiated by the High Council. We were becoming infertile. That business about looming children? Just a cover-up. Couldn't have our all-mighty race having it known we had something so base as a biological solution, could we? Our women were fine. But the men…well, we started having…ehm…problems." Again, a deep blush. "We…um, well, we had trouble. We couldn't—"

"You needed help?" Jack supplied.

The Doctor nodded. "Oh, we could have come up with a drug of some sort, but no, the High Council wanted something natural because what if we ran out of the chemicals we needed, or someone sabotaged a plant or something. So they initiated an evolutionary change so that it took two men to impregnate a woman."

"But wouldn't that confuse family lineage?"

"Yeah." He sighed. Now resigned to tell the whole story, the Doctor loosened up, relaxing into Jack's arms. "Only the husband could impregnate his wife, you see. Another evolutionary change. So the High Council fixed it so another Time Lord could…ehm…stimulate the husband enough to make it so he could…um…function. They could do that, you know, initiate evolutionary change."

"And what did they change?" Now Jack was intensely curious. And in all honesty sexually intrigued.

"They gave us additional glands," the Doctor said, blushing yet again. "Not exactly like prostates or anything. Just these little bundles of nerves. They're called talas. There are two talas in our mouths, one behind the front teeth, and the other oral tala in the back of the throat, so that well…ehm, when…uh, well both can be stimulated, if you get the picture." He buried his face in Jack's chest, too embarrassed to even show his face.

Jack cupped his cheek, forcing the Time Lord to look Jack in the eye. "Now, you stop that. You have nothing to be ashamed of. It's just a physical difference, that's all. The next question is this: you said oral talas. Does this mean there are others?"

This time there was a definite squeak. "Do I have to?"

"Don't you think it's for the best?"

"But it's so personal!"

"Doc, if you can't tell me, who can you tell? And you did put me in charge, you know. That means you have to be honest with me."

"I…well…how do I put this? It's…well, I say it, more they than it, really, I mean what's the point of only having one when we already have a prostate, not that they're extra prostates, mind you, they're much more sensitive than that besides which they, well, they…oh, my."

"Doctor." Jack tried to keep his tone patient, but this was killing him.

"All right, all right, they're inside me and they don't just feel good they…lubricate. There! Is that enough?"

"Well, that's quite…informative," Jack said, keeping his tone light and reassuring. "And it'll do for starters. But I need to know everything, not just the sexual aspects of your physiognomy. I need to know what to do if there's blood loss or infection or anything else that could put you at risk."

"Jack," said the Doctor. "You're, ehm, poking me."

"I know," Jack replied. "I'm only human, you know."

"Does this mean—"

"No, it doesn't. Just because I'm aroused doesn't mean we get to have sex. Yet. Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I could use a cold shower."