Chapter 4! Yay! ...This was kinda rushed, cos I never got round to it, but hopefully next week's Sloth will be much better formulated! :)

Envy

"I… envy… that guy."

"Why? He's totally ugly."

"He isn't! But, look! He has a nice house."

"Doctor, we're at the high end of town. Everyone has posh houses. I mean, in this time, you either have a nice house or no house at all! And… Doctor…"

"What?"

"You don't envy him, come on!"

"I do! I said I did!"

"Doctor! You have a TARDIS, for God's sake! Why would you want a posh house in the Roman times? I mean, you have the whole universe!"

"…I just – oh I dunno…" the Doctor mumbled, shrugging.

"Now, that guy –" Jack pointed out a handsome young man in a toga, laughing impatiently with a handful of attractive young women. He looked about twenty, quite rich, judging by his clothes – and rather fed up, as if he was in the wrong company, and not enjoying one single second of it.

The man flinched as a slim blonde woman placed her hand flirtatiously on his thigh, leaning in to whisper in his ear. He turned his face away from hers, frowning. The Doctor didn't even notice as the man caught Jack's eye for a fraction of a second – someone could have written a novel on how much that look had communicated between them.

"Why would you envy him? He doesn't exactly look happy," the Doctor commented.

"Okay, fine. Not envy. I've skipped them all and gone straight to 'lust'."

"Jack!"

"Oh come on – he's totally gay! Don't tell me that you couldn't tell."

The Doctor shot him a disapproving look, then twisted his head away, glaring back at the (quite frankly, gorgeous) young man.

He could tell. He couldn't blame Jack for wanting him. If Jack hadn't already been already after him, he might have gone for him himself. Except… well, he'd never let Jack know that. If Jack was around, he had no chance.

And if Jack was such an expert on picking out men who were interested in him, how could he miss this one, standing right here?! Maybe it was one of those things – if it's right in front of you, you can't see it. But the Doctor desperately wanted Jack to know. He'd tried to make it as obvious as he could – it just didn't seem to be working. Just three more days. He was waiting for the right moment – perhaps 'lust' day – and then he could make the whole thing blindingly obvious. Well, he hoped.

Snapping the Doctor back to their conversation, Jack said, "Look, Doctor, it's fine. I won't be long. Just – stay there and… envy people." Jack climbed over the low balcony, sauntering over to the man, who looked up, smiling gratefully. Oh, but that was lust in his eyes, too, the Doctor could see it. Quickly, skilfully and efficiency rescuing the man, Jack took him by the hand and pulled him into a small nearby storage building, shutting the door behind them.

That was envy, right there. The Doctor hadn't expected it to be green. But, surprisingly, it was. Bright, acid green, bubbling away inside of him. And there was the pinkish-orange curiosity – what, pray, were they doing in there? Undoubtedly, something exceedingly intimate…

He waited a few minutes. Then a few more. Perhaps they were just talking. Perhaps they were hiding from those giggling women. Perhaps they were … – No; wishful thinking was no longer a match for the Doctor's curiosity. Hopping over the balcony and walking to the door that Jack and the man had entered, he pulled out his stethoscope and placed it to the door. Immediately, his ears filled with sounds of muffled moaning, groaning, panting. He heard a resounding crash as something metal fell to the floor – a grunt, then a thud, as if a body was thrown against a wall. A rhythm of grunts quickly built up, a body pounding against the inside wall of the building. A cry of utter pleasure seemed to slam into the Doctor's eardrums, followed by another, then a groan, and still more grunts; fingernails scrabbled at the wall, a scritching noise tickling right at the edge of the Doctor's hearing range. There came a loud sigh, another cry, and then all was silent. The Doctor pressed the ear pieces deeper within his ears, hoping that would pick up the silence better. But all that he could hear was the quiet – the lack of more grunts, more groans – no more of the sounds that inspired such jealousy.

Then the door burst open and out fell the young man, walking backwards, smiling back inside. His fair hair was messy, his toga only hanging on to one shoulder. Turning, he bumped straight into the Doctor, who hurriedly stuffed the stethoscope into his pocket. Nodding embarrassedly to him, the young man passed the Doctor wordlessly, and went on his way, looking away from the group of girls as he passed them. They giggled, whispering to each other behind their hands. Then they got up, chasing the poor man down the street. The Doctor couldn't help but smile at that. He didn't look like he'd escape them for a while.

"Doctor?"

The Doctor jumped. "Jack!"

Jack emerged from the small storage room, still tucking his shirt into his trousers. His greatcoat hung over one arm, his hair messed up and out of place. Smiling, the Doctor tugged at his ear, feeling awkward. "Uh… having fun, Jack?"

"Hell yeah." Jack said, his eyes shooting the Doctor such a steamy look that the Doctor swore he could feel his knees melting. Embarrassed and lost for words now, the Doctor turned away, shoving his hands into his pockets. He started walking towards the Tardis, feeling they had to leave now. Like, now now. Before Jack hooked up with someone else.

Jack was getting too distracted with this 'Seven Sins' thing. Not good. But at least he followed him back to the Tardis. The Doctor had half expected him to turn and go after the young man. Obviously their relationship was short-lived and meant nothing. He didn't want that from Jack. He didn't want spontaneous. He wanted Jack to be with him and then stay with him. He wasn't sure how Jack would survive that, being so relentlessly promiscuous, but the Doctor hoped they could cross that bridge when they came to it.

It was 'sloth' day tomorrow. On lazy days the Doctor spent the day in the Tardis. If they didn't leave, Jack couldn't pick up some other random guy from the Stone Age, or whatever. Or wherever. Or… you know, whenever.

They could watch a few films, read a few books, maybe. And the Doctor had a pretty good idea what to read and watch. Tomorrow was Big Hint Day.

This ought to be fun.

Soooo... Sloth up next week! :)

Please, please, PLEASE review! (please?)

Update: Cannot update next week. Come back the week after next! (Week beginning 6th April) :P

Sorry, and thanks. :)