rude_not_ginger | for quitehomoerotic: Welcome to the Boeshane Peninsula

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for quitehomoerotic: Welcome to the Boeshane Peninsula

Follows this.

When the Doctor woke, he was prepared to feel stiff and uncomfortable. Usually, when reaching that point of exhaustion, he usually found himself on the floor or on the console, in some sort of an awkward position that left him sore for the next day. This morning, however, he was out of his clothes and stretched out on his bed, under the covers with a heating blanket.

A breathing heating blanket.

He raised an eyebrow and looked to where Jack had an arm around him as he slept. The previous day came rushing back. Pearl Harbor, the goodbyes, the return of Gallifrey, being captured by the Shadow Proclamation, and finally nearly killing Jack. They came so very close. Too close.

Without really thinking about it, the Doctor found himself wrapping an arm around Jack's shoulder. Jack, who was ready and willing to die the previous day. And the Doctor was willing to give him that. He had been willing to give him that. Not anmymore.

Where could they go, now?

Onwards, of course. It was the only way they could go.

The TARDIS wasn't moving anymore, and the Doctor slowly extracted himself from Jack's embrace. He grabbed his trousers and shirt and threw them on quickly, heading towards the console, hopefully before Jack woke.

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"Yeah," Jack confirmed. "I'll be 5 minutes, 10 top. And with food. If you get bored, oh I don't know, take the transmitter apart or something."

He shot him a smile before disappearing out the door, and even as it closed behind him, he was doubting that the Doctor would be there when he got back. For some reason though, he really couldn't mind.

Much as he'd like to bask in the afterglow of the evening before though, Jack knew he had work to do, and so he got to it, doing his best not to get distracted by the Boeshane marketplace. People he knew, faces and voices and placed and smells. It was fantastic.

It took a little longer than he might have planned (he couldn't help the odd meandering here and there), but he soon had a bag with two small regulators (small, no tubing, they converted the water to breathable air), a bag of clothing for the Doctor, and a box with breakfast for them both. He was also redressed in a variety of sandy coloured layers. He felt somewhat like he was playing dress up as his younger self.

He headed back to the room and pushed the door open.

"Doctor you here or am I going to have to spend two hours walking around looking for you?"

The Doctor did manage to stay in the room for a good chunk of time, in his opinion. Though, at four minutes, sixteen seconds, he'd repaired the faulty chip in the manipulator and had decided that waiting was really, really overrated. Jack would understand, wouldn't he?

Jack,
Taking a look from the rock face where we jumped.
-D

In the bright morning light, the lightning beneath the water still managed to glimmer and shine. It seemed duller, though. Like something was holding it back. The Doctor stepped to the edge of the cliff, watching as sand and rock fell into the rocky water below.

Whatever made him think jumping off the edge was a good idea, he'd never know.

The room was, of course, empty. Jack had expected nothing less. He was glad though that a note had been left for him, and at least he had a destination to head to.

He gave the room one last look and gathered up his coat from where he'd left it, shoving it, and his other non-essential items into the waterproof sack he'd acquired with everything else. And on that, he headed out.

He was there of course, on that cliff face.

"Hey, handsome!" he called out, jokingly as he approached, "Looking for a good time?" he smiled and swung up the box in his hand. "I got breakfast."

He squinted slightly in the morning sun and looked down at his attire and back up with a pleased sort of grin. "How'd I look?"

"Like a native," the Doctor said with a grin. He plucked his glasses off his face a little awkwardly. He didn't have any reason to be awkward about his glasses around Jack, but still, there it was. His nose was large enough without his glasses making it more obvious.

He gestured for Jack to join him, and pointed out to the sea.

"It's moved," he said. "Do you see? With the light up, it's shifted its position, gone down. Possibly to pull sulfides out of the soil, maybe? Coming back up to respire at night?"

Jack gave another beaming smile at the Doctor's summation. He liked that, a native. He liked that it sounded just a little ridiculous too, even though it was the only place such a statement (in many ways) could ever be true.

He took a step over, watching the Doctor for a moment or two longer than entirely necessary, and he turned his head out towards the sea, squinting slightly in the sun.

"Yeah," he said slowly, looking out and trying to gauge the distance. "Well. Guess there's only one way we'll find out, right?"

He glanced back to him, and offered out the box. "But first, eat. Won't do any good diving down there on an empty stomach. I got some rolls. You'll like them."

And at that, Jack sat himself down on the cliffs edge, his legs hanging over the precarious edge.

"Yeah, but then we can't go swimming for another hour," the Doctor whined before joining him. He wasn't about to turn down breakfast, especially not with how much his stomach was growling, but he did want to make a point of complaining about going down as soon as possible. He was pretty sure they shouldn't have waited all of last night, too, but he wouldn't have given that night up.

He sniffed and sat near Jack, not quite so close to the edge. The box had some strange sort of fruit and some roll with a fish-like meat inside. He took a bite. It was strange, but definitely filling.

"How's the city this morning?" he asked.

"Yeah and it's not going anywhere," Jack said, somewhat amused. "And we're here, look, we can keep an eye on it."

Jack swivelled himself slightly, angling his body back a little towards the Doctor.

"Beautiful," he said with a beaming smile. "Traders just setting up, people running around. Had quite a nice chat with my uncle Saf. Didn't tell him who I was, of course. Oh and I got these," he said and reached over for the other bag. "Regulators, sonar thingies. Oh and something with flashing lights I thought you might enjoy taking apart. You got my manipulator?"

He reached for his own roll then, taking a large bite and letting out an overly satisfied noise.

"Yep." The Doctor pulled the manipulator out of his pocket and tossed it towards Jack. "Should be able to get us out of a rough situation if things get out of control."

He picked up one of the sonar manipulators and grinned madly. "Perfect."

He began taking apart the top, ready to do a little tweaking. After all, perfect was only really perfect once the Doctor had perfected it.

"Well, once we've got all of this sorted out, we can probably look around a bit before the storm." He nodded to the sky where darkening clouds neared. "Seems we're always caught in a storm, you and I."

Jack caught hold of the manipulator and immediately re-buckled it to his wrist. He couldn't help but feel just that little bit comforted by it being there.

He grinned too at the Doctor taking apart the equipment. "You know I used to do that when I was a kid," he said. "I'd take apart anything. Used to get in so much trouble for it."

As the Doctor pointed out the storm he looked up and over it.

"Yeah weird that," he said. "Doesn't happen a lot round here. And we had that here, had it on that planet, had it at that bar. Huh."

He looked back to him, thoughtful a moment. "Nah, just a coincidence, right?"

"Yeah, well, your dad made clockwork droids," the Doctor said. "I know if mine did, I'd have done the same. Instead, I spent a good deal of time taking apart things from the Academy, which they did not appreciate at all, might I add."

He pulled a safety pin out of his pocket and twisted it to connect two wires. He grinned. "There we go. Now, this should amplify the wave frequencies so we could communicate with the creature down there or---"

He sniffed. "Or, if necessary, defend ourselves."

Jack let out a small laugh. He could almost imagine the Doctor as a child, getting into trouble for messing with things he shouldn't. He supposed in many ways they weren't that different after all.

"Yeah well lets hope it's the former," he said with a decisive nod.

He finished off his little roll and paused a moment, thoughtfully.

"You know I've been thinking," he said, "where we should go after this. You got any ideas? All of time and space and all that-- well, you know your spiel."

He paused again, and glanced down and back up. "It's good, you know," he said, not making much sense, he knew. "This, I mean, it's good."

The Doctor handed the sonar device over and looked over Jack's shoulder. He'd purposefully not replied to Jack's question about coincidence, because the Doctor didn't like believing in coincidences. But, really, a storm? Could something like that actually follow them?

"Ooooh, we'll hit the randomizer, I think," the Doctor said with a smile that was at least 67% genuine. "Give us a surprise where we land. Always do love surprises! Well, some surprises. Well, certain surprises. Well----this is good, what sort of fruit is it?"

He agreed with Jack, though. This was good. It made him happy, just sitting here with someone with whom he wasn't preoccupied with the end. Jack could stay as long as he wanted. He would die, eventually, the Doctor knew that. But not for so long. Maybe the Doctor really could grow old with him.

Domestic, again, Doctor?

Jack took the sonar and turned it in his hand, nice and small, wouldn't take up too much space. Perfect. And much better, he was sure, now that the Doctor had fiddled with it.

"Sounds good to me," Jack said with a grin. "Fine some planet, or you know... Norwich in 1973, either way, I'm sure we'll make the most of it. Mana Berries," he nodded, "good huh? They grow them in the gardens back in the hunches."

He pulled his other bag over and tugged it towards the Doctor's direction. "Clothes. You've ruined your suit enough as it is without going down there and damaging it any more. Besides, this lot will be better in the heat."

He paused, and then grinned a little cheekily. "And I think you'll look hot in it."

The Doctor gave Jack a Look. "Really, though, Jack, some things are meant for practical uses."

He tugged off his tie and suit jacket before slipping into the offered suit. It felt like changing into the suit on Mars and how he felt a bit more like he was part of the environment. Not quite a native, not like Jack.

"Right," he said, straightening the collar. "We'll need to go fairly far down, it looks like."

"Hey I can think of lots of practical uses," Jack said, still grinning before shooting him a wink. He wanted Jack Harkness? He was going to get him.

He gathered up the Doctor's removed items and put them into the waterproof bag he'd put his own things into. Nice and tightly compacted, safely stored away.

He shifted up onto his knees in the sand and looked up at the Doctor.

"Yep," he said decisively. "Just like I thought. Hot." And then, "There's a pathway down the rockface, a ledge down there where we can leave our stuff before making the dive."

"It's not bad, is it?" the Doctor agreed. He gave Jack a little self-satisfied smirk. Two good-looking men about to jump into a great big waterfront.

"Do we have to jump?" he asked, scratching the back of his head. "I mean, really, it's a bit far down. Might be better to leap off something...a bit shorter."

Jack continued to look up at the Doctor, that wide grin on his face. "Oh I think you'll do."

He dusted himself off a little as he stood, slinging the bag over his back and turning his head to look out to the path and then back to the Doctor beside him.

"Oh now who's changed their tune?" he shook his head, "There's a ridge, it's lower down, there's usually a rope ladder tied down the side."

And on that, he took a step forward and put his hand almost absently (but in truth not at all) to the Doctor's upper arm.

"We'll be fine. About a 5 foot drop from there."

"Good," the Doctor said with an approving nod. "Good. Once you fall off of a hundred-foot satellite forcing a regeneration, you don't tend to fancy heights as much as you would beforehand."

A beat. "Not that I'm frightened, of course. Just...would prefer the five feet or so. Fewer rocks, can't risk damaging myself up more than I already have." Which was to say, he was rather terrified of heights. He couldn't believe he'd leapt from that.

He gave Jack a smile at the touch. The Doctor only initiated hand-holding, and intimacy like this, while brilliant in itself, wasn't something he could do naturally. It felt good that Jack could.

Jack stood there and listened as the Doctor spoke. He had no idea, of course; he'd never heard that story before, and hearing it only seemed to make what the Doctor had done yesterday all the more stark.

But he was there for him now, and he didn't want him to be frightened (if he was or wasn't) or uncomfortable, and so he let his hand fall down from the Doctor's arm to his hand and he took a gentle hold of it, squeezing just a little.

"No damaging," he said with a small nod. "Not for either of us, right?"

He smiled, trying to reassure, and then gave a gentle tug on his arm. "Come on, this way."

"Good," the Doctor said. He could only hope Jack's brazen attitude with dying was finally over. The Doctor was becoming far too attached, and he knew it. He couldn't stand to think of that death, that painful return to life. Not for Jack.

"Course, it was my own fault," he continued, keeping hold of Jack's hand as he led the way down the side of the cliff. "Fighting with the Master, sort of preoccupied with my own death." He snorted. "Good to see some things change with time."

Jack couldn't help it; the incredulous look on his face. He turned his head to the Doctor, both eyebrows raised slightly.

"Yeah," he said, "sure, some things do." But he didn't press on it, there was hardly any point. It was though, a small reminder. The Master, somewhere, was still out there.

"You think everything is your fault," Jack said idly as they continued to walk. "But it's not," he added before turning his head to the Doctor's, and despite his words, smiling, "Some of it's mine."

"Nah, but then it's still my fault, isn't it?" the Doctor said, giving Jack a smile. "You're my responsibility, after all."

Jack had grown so much since the Doctor said that last. All of the things he did, the person he became. It might've been awe-worthy if the Doctor hadn't seen so much potential in Jack the first time they met. Well, technically it was the second time, wasn't it? Timey-wimey wibbly-wobbly and all that. If only he could get those two years back for Jack somehow.

One day.

"Here we go! Quick hop in, then dive down to the bottom. And no getting hurt, no making any stupid moves, all right? And here---" he handed Jack the sonic device again. "Keep hold of that until we get to the bottom."

"Am I?" Jack asked, a half smile on his face as he looked towards the Doctor.

It wasn't as simple as that though now, was it? He didn't just want to be with the Doctor, one of his team, under his wing, a step behind. He wanted to be here, a step beside, always there.

"Yeah," he said with a nod, "well you're mine. So it evens out."

Jack looked down to the water and the frayed edge of the rope ladder he could see just ahead. He let the bag fall down from his shoulder and hooked on his arm and he took hold of the device.

"Got it," he said, swinging the back down to an alcove in the rock face. "Time to do some heroics. No stupid moves, got it."

He threw the device up and caught it again before nodding to him. "One more thing though, before we go down..."

And on that, he leaned in and kissed him.

"Right. Now I'm ready."

The Doctor found he actually expected the kiss. He grinned into it and nodded down to the water afterwards.

"I'm going to end up used to this, you realize that?" Which was potentially brilliant and potentially disasterous. After all, he wasn't domestic. But, then again, neither was Jack, was he? And there they were, kissing before risking their lives. Again.

"All right, off we go. Allons-y!" Without hesitating, the Doctor leapt the few feet into the icy water.

Still cold. Positively frozen, and worse than before, if the Doctor wasn't terribly mistaken. He took in a breath and dived under, waiting once he'd gone down a few feet in order to look back and make sure Jack was following.

"Oh I hope so," he replied with a twist of a grin. "But don't worry, I'll always keep you on your toes." Because of course there was no way Jack Harkness would ever allow anything to stagnate. And he was quite certain that would never happen.

Jack watched the Doctor as he disappeared into the water and he was behind him, merely a pace or two.

He braced as he hit the water, the cold biting and taking his breath away. "Jesus!" he said to himself, and took a deep breath before ducking beneath the surface and following him down.

The water seemed a little more clouded before, and it was certainly colder, but it seemed to clear up a little the lower they got. He continued down until he reached the bed and reached out an arm for the Doctor beside him.

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