Chapter Rating: PG-13
Content Warning: Mention of boners, OCD Jack that stems from my own need to have a ritualistic coffee routine, hella flirty Gabriel attempting to make a move.
Summary:
Jack just wants a goddamn cup of coffee.
It had been two weeks since Jack called Gabriel to his office, two weeks of dealing with that rough and rowdy jerk slipping cheeky little smirks at him in the hallways.
There were few things in life that pleased Jack more than having a situation control. He was a man of simple means; he called the shots, others listened, and all-in-all it kept a smoothly running ship. Simple and sufficient, neat and tidy. Just as he wanted.
However, with Gabriel taking extra steps to mess up that neat and tidy ship, well… Jack was getting frustrated. The occasional stop by his office ending with the items on his desk left askew, an improperly buttoned shirt at a press conference, purposeful and idiotic typos in a report. He nearly threw the stack of papers in a shredder when Gabriel had the nerve to switch fonts halfway through a paragraph. Did the man have to shame? No morals?
After fixing the thirteenth typo in the report he was proofreading, Jack sighed, deeming that yes, he was working, and yes, he still had a stack the size of Winston's foot tall to finish going through, but dammit, he needed some caffeine to make it through Gabriel's bullshit this time. It felt as though it was quite literally eating away at his energy to have to fix everything the man did wrong.
He set the report down, tapping its edges on the desk and set it perfectly parallel to the stack of remaining reports; the highlighter, now capped, being set right alongside it. He pushed up out of his chair, stretching and shifting around until his bones gave a satisfying pop, one side after another.
A quick stroll down the hall leads him to the communal kitchen area, making a beeline for the coffee maker. A quick sniff alerted him to the staleness of the brew, and he busied himself with making a fresh pot. It was mechanical, rhythmic, and a ritual he prided himself in damn near perfecting.
Retrieve a new filter, dump the old grounds. Rinse the holder, tap dry, set on the counter. Dump the pot, rinse in the sink, swish, dump again, turn the faucet exactly a quarter of the way on return to the holder, grab the large can of coffee to the left of the cocoa mix. Pop in the new filter, fill with exactly three and a half scoops of the coffee. Return the coffee can, turn off the water. Put the holder back in place, fill the tank with the fresh water, and hit the power button with a sense of satisfaction that never gets old no matter how many times he's done it.
The smell of brewing coffee brought a hint of a smile to his face, taking a seat and waiting. It was more work, in a sense, but it relaxed him. Precision and control, both fair mistresses he could never live without.
The door to the kitchen hissed open, breaking Jack's momentary reprieve, and the devil himself strolled in in sweats and a beanie. Well, not the literal devil, but at this point, Jack could picture horns fitting quite nicely on Gabriel's forehead for all the crap he'd been pulling over the last two weeks. "Reyes, have you ever taken a typing class?"
The question seemed to have caught the man off guard, one fuzzy eyebrow raising up. "Yes? Why do you ask?"
"Well," Jack huffed, crossing his arms, "your reports could've fooled me. Every single one you've brought to me has had mistakes, some being a hell of a lot more than just a wrongly pressed key or two. It's downright disgraceful."
An unimpressed snort was his only response, and Jack glowered as he watched Gabriel stroll over to the pantry. "Whoops, my bad, Commander. I'll make sure and double check my work next time. Jesus, you're like the teacher I can't seem to get rid of even after graduation." The comparison made the dark-eyed man snort, grinning just a bit at his own wit. "Unless that's what you're going for, of course."
"If I'm the teacher, does that make you the irresponsible slacker who fails my class?" Damn, that was a good quip. Jack held back a small grin at his own wit, a bit of pride seeping through at coming up with something that, hopefully, would shut Gabriel up, make him think about his actions.
"Only if you want me to be." The suggestive tone in Gabriel's voice made him stop, a knot forming in his throat. Oh god, not this again. "And there it is, just what I was looking for. Rosy red as always, Jack. I'm starting to think you might like when I tease you."
Jack swallowed hard, giving an affronted huff. "This again, Reyes?" he chuckled, trying to divert the other man's attention. "You caught me by surprise last time with that crap in my office, but I know you're just trying to embarrass me. It's not going to work twice."
The roll of Gabriel's eyes and mischevious chuckle did nothing to comfort Jack; if anything, it made him even more flustered.
"So you think you have it all figured out, huh?" Gabriel turned from the pantry, a pastry in hand. "So, you genuinely believe that I'm just trying to get under your skin and embarrass you, Jack?"
"Obviously."
A pause as Gabriel casually took a bite of the pastry, humming as he chewed.
"And so what if I am? What are you gonna do about it, Jackie?"
The question actually stunned him; what would he do about it? What was he going to do to get Gabriel to stop acting like a brat?
"No answer?" The question pulled Jack from his thoughts, as did Gabriel strolling over to sit on the countertop damn near in front of him. "Truth is, I just want to watch you squirm. It's hilarious, seeing you all red-faced and out of shit to say. The great Commander Jack Morrison without a plan." Gabriel's laugh sent pangs of heat to Jack's face, a combination of anger and embarrassment flooding him.
"Just shut up and let me enjoy my break. Don't you have someone else to bother, Reyes? I'm busy fixing your crap report."
"Oooh, getting sassy, I see. I like it. Bite back, Jack. Maybe it'll help get that stick out of your ass."
That was enough. Jack slammed his hands on the counter, rising out of the chair to stand eye to eye with the other. "I do NOT have a stick up my ass, and I'd appreciate it if you kindly fucked the hell off, Gabriel!" By this point, Jack was damn near nose to nose with the cheeky bastard.
"Dame un beso, cariño. Give in and let off some steam, you worked up asshole. You seem like you need it." Gabriel's grin was downright obscene, and it sent a wave of heat somewhere Jack most certainly didn't expect it to.
Jack swallowed hard, stepping back as though he was only just now aware of the far too close proximity of his and Gabriel's faces. Oh god, this was not happening. Why, he asked himself, why on Earth was Gabriel doing this to him?!
He spun on his heel, storming out of the kitchen as quickly as he could without downright running, heat flaring in his cheeks. He heard Gabriel hollering after him, but he ignored it. He didn't stop until he was behind his now locked office door, pressing his back against it and sliding down in a slump.
Why was this happening and, more importantly… why was he hard?
Jack buried his face in his hands, taking deep breaths to try and calm himself when a thought occurred to him.
He hadn't even gotten any of the damn coffee.