Layers

by Berty

URL: http://www.area52hkh.net/asb/berty/layers.php
Summary: Jack develops a sudden and highly suspicious interest in archaeology

"So explain this stratosphere thing to me again."

Daniel stopped clearing supper and narrowed his eyes. "Stratigraphy?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"I'm interested."

Daniel's sceptical look bypassed disbelieving and went straight to scornful. He dumped a wooden spoon into the bubbly water, somehow managing to convey his contempt. "Since when are you interested in anything to do with archaeology?"

"Since I started doing you," Jack said smugly and ruffled Daniel's hair - just because he could. This was his house, they were off duty, alone, and this was his archaeologist. If he wanted to ruffle his hair, he would. If he wanted to back him up against the dishwasher, strip him and lick him from Adam's apple to...hmmm. Maybe later.

"I don't count as anything archaeological," Daniel muttered as he attempted to smooth his hair.

"Don't be silly, Daniel. You're an archaeologist - of course that counts. Now are you gonna teach me or not?"

Daniel sighed, knowing this was a set-up.

He'd seen Jack slide into the back row in "Archaeology for Dummies", adding his face to the other sixteen bored military personnel in the training room. He'd wondered if maybe, just maybe, Jack had come along to understand some of what Daniel did when he was 'playing with dirt' as Jack put it. His hopes were short-lived as Jack had doodled, stared at the ceiling and finally fallen asleep - all within ten minutes. Daniel's guess was that it was Jack's favourite paperwork avoidance that was the real reason for his attendance, although the Colonel had denied it.

Daniel took a deep breath; he might as well get it over with. "Stratigraphy?"

Jack nodded, all innocent smiles and wide eyes. He put the last of the leftovers away in the refrigerator and gave his lover his full attention.

"It's a term used to describe the different layers of deposits on an excavation," Daniel sighed. "Each time period is characterised by a stratum of material, and by carefully documenting these strata, we can ascribe dates to associated deposits which occupy these layers." He paused for Jack's punch line, but none came. The colonel nodded seriously and circled his hand, inviting Daniel to continue.

Daniel blinked. This was a good one, that was for sure. There's no way Jack would endure more than one sentence of geekspeak unless the payoff was going to be worth the trauma.

"So by the process of stratigraphy, we can record the sequence of layers and date them by what we find in them...sometimes."

"So you give each layer, like, a number?" Jack smiled to let Daniel know he had been awake for that part of the presentation.

"Context numbers, yes. But they don't go in order. One is the stratum and two, three, four and so on will be the artefacts or features found in that layer."

Daniel watched in wonder as Jack sat down at the kitchen table and pulled over a block of paper and a pencil, and began to write. Taking notes? Daniel's brain wouldn't even go there.

"When all of layer one and its contents have been recorded and given a number, the subsequent layer will get the next concurrent number."

"Right. So as each layer is revealed, it's numbered and removed until...?"

"Until you get to what you were looking for, or you get to the bedrock."

Jack continued to scribble on the paper, his pencil scratching in the silence that fell between them.

"So that's stratigraphy, huh?"

"Er...yes, that's it, basically," Daniel agreed. He was a little disoriented, being unable to recall the last time he'd finished an explanation without Jack cutting him off. It felt kind of weird. "Umm...what are you doing?"

Jack sat back, still eyeing his paper carefully. "Well, I'm a kinetic learner, Daniel. I find it easier to understand things if I can have a practical example."

"Practical example," Daniel repeated stupidly. He hadn't even realised Jack knew the word kinetic.

"So I've prepared a little exercise, to facilitate my learning experience"

Daniel whimpered a little. Facilitate? Kinetic? Oh God, this one was going to hurt, wasn't it?

Jack rose from the table and closed the gap between them with slow, thoughtful steps, still studying his notes.

"You don't mind helping me with this, do you?"

"Umm..."

"Good. So, say for example, I was excavating a Babe," Jack began, carefully peeling the first page off his notes.

"Babe?"

"Babe," Jack asserted in a gravely, 'Your ass is mine' voice. And SMACK! He hit Daniel with the slip of paper. Too late Daniel realised that they were Post-it notes and that he was doomed. He now had a big number one attached to his sweater.

"So this is the first layer, and features of this layer are the pants and the shoes." Jack quickly slapped three more sticky yellow rectangles on his friend; two, three and four - one on his pants and one on each of his brogues.

"So, I record them and move on," Jack explained as he grabbed the hem of Daniel's sweater and pulled it over his head. Daniel began to struggle inside the material, but Jack was too quick, and took him down to the floor with a minimum of fuss.

With Jack sitting on top of him and his arms still trapped in their cotton knit prison, Daniel had little but his voice to protest his fate.

"Jack, you sneaky, low life asshole! Get the fuck OFF me!"

"Daniel, you disappoint me. I thought you believed in the exchange of information and knowledge." Jack twisted and yanked off Daniel's shoes, then made quick work of the fastenings on his friend's pants.

Daniel finally pulled his head and arms from the all-encompassing sweater, but not before Jack had skilfully relieved him of his smart pants.

SMACK! Daniel felt number five attach to his t-shirt, followed by six and seven on his socks.

"Jaaaaa-ack!" Daniel whined. "Just once, do you think you could ASK me - like a grown up - instead of tricking me into bed?"

"Don't be silly, Daniel," Jack scoffed once more, "That's no fun at all." Jack pondered number eight, his gaze darting between Daniel's face and his shorts as if sizing up the options. Finally he came to a conclusion.

SMACK! Daniel's world went yellow as Jack covered the lenses of his glasses with the number eight post-it. Daniel crossed his arms resignedly and waited for number nine. He didn't have to wait long, and thankfully, Jack knew that the chances of him getting any if he smacked this post-it on as hard as the others were less than good, so he just placed the last slip of paper carefully on Daniel's hip.

"Finished?" Daniel asked.

"Ummm..." Jack seemed to contemplate the question. "...yeah, I'm good."

"Can I get up now?"

"Errr, no," Jack decided. "You're good there." To illustrate his point he shimmied up Daniel's body and rolled his hips, grinding his ass over Daniel's groin.

"Not the kitchen floor again, Jack. It's cold and hard, and there's a nice soft bed, just fifteen seconds away," Daniel said. He sounded hopeful.

"Fifteen seconds, eh?" Jack weighed up the options. "Well okay, as long as you lose contact numbers five through nine on the way."

"Context."

"Whatever."

"Deal."

Jack followed Daniel through the house, dodging contexts as the younger man tossed his side of the bargain behind him on the way to the bedroom.

Daniel stretched himself out on the quilt and grinned as Jack knelt beside him. The sun had set but there was still enough light to see the warm appreciation in Jack's face as his eyes lingered on the body of his lover.

With exaggerated care, Jack took one last post-it from the pad and stuck it on Daniel's belly before pressing kisses all the way around it.

"Bedrock?" Daniel asked mischievously, wiggling his hips and making his cock dance under Jack's nose.

"Nah, this is what I was looking for. Now I just have to record the features," Jack murmured, mouthing a line up Daniel's sternum before bending to take the pulse point on his lover's neck gently between his teeth.

"Picking the right tool is essential," Daniel offered cheekily, craning his neck to give Jack more access.

"Mmm - hmm?" Jack encouraged as he changed tactic and bit down sharply, sucking Daniel's smooth skin between his teeth. Daniel hissed and squirmed on the bed.

"Accurate...uh...measurements are required."

Jack licked back down Daniel's torso, pausing to rasp his twelve hour beard over the dark pink circles of his lover's nipples, watching as they tightened.

"Ahhh...the location and relationship of each... feature... oh..."

Jack swirled his tongue in Daniel's navel, nosing lower and lower, kissing the line of hair that became coarser and more dense the closer he got to his goal. Daniel smelled delicious, warm and salty and all overlaid by the tang of his excitement.

"...must be recorded in th... th... three dimensions so..."

"Daniel?"

"...hmm?"

"Lesson's over."

"But I haven't g...got to the good bit,"

"I have," Jack growled and took the whole of Daniel's length into his mouth. The colonel ran his hand across the even skin of Daniel's belly, feeling the muscles spasm as he worked his jaw and tongue in harmony to wring strangled groans from the prone man.

Jack loved hearing Daniel make those noises; he got off on it like nothing else. It meant Daniel was losing it, about to crack and get all primitive on him. There was something so right about watching Daniel shed the inhibitions that made him such an uptight geek at work. Jack sometimes wondered if that was what had first made him think of Daniel in a sexual way - the sheer challenge presented by breaking him open enough to enjoy it.

There was no doubt that Daniel was enjoying it now. He panted and moaned quietly as Jack did his best to crack him. Jack shifted position, spreading his legs in an effort to give his own trapped dick some relief from the seam that dug into him. Daniel's hand ran up his jean-clad thigh purposefully, but Jack caught his wrist and growled around his mouthful. He had plans for that and they didn't involve Daniel's fingers.

Daniel arched his back as the vibrations of Jack's warning sent spikes of sensation into every inch of his body. He was closecloseCLOSE but instead of cranking it up to get him there, Jack chose that moment to back off, gentling his mouth and pressing soft kisses on his cock instead.

Daniel grunted in frustration. He was too close for this, too close to be let down gently. He flexed every time Jack's mouth touched him, trying to persuade that infuriating sweetness to take him in again. Jack radiated smugness as he pretended to be oblivious to Daniel's insistence.

"Okay, Babe?" he asked quietly.

"Jack, please, I need you to..." Daniel's voice was high and tight.

"What is it, Daniel?"

"Oh God, suck me, Jack. Please!" Daniel pleaded, twisting and struggling beneath Jack, trying to get what he needed.

Jack obliged, slowly sliding his lips down the length of Daniel's dick. Daniel sighed, his body taut with anticipation. This was swiftly replaced by disbelief as Jack retraced his path back up Daniel's length and let him go again, the cool air taunting him after Jack's hot mouth.

"Jack!" he yelped.

"Yes, Babe?" the colonel asked mildly, and he must have overdone the innocent act because Daniel cracked spectacularly. Driving both of his hands into Jack's short hair, he guided the talented mouth back to his aching erection, and when Jack obediently opened his lips, Daniel thrust in with a snarl.

"Fucking tease," he panted in time to the force of his jerking hips. He didn't relinquish his grip on Jack's hair, but held him in place with it. "You know I'm... god... oh fuck... you know how... close... I... Oh FUCK!"

Jack would have grinned from ear to ear if he hadn't been busy swallowing and licking and sucking the last tremor out of Daniel. Finally, his lover subsided onto the bed, sprawling and panting and looking so fucking edible that Jack had to lick his way back up his body. The clean taste of Daniel's sweat was sweeter than his come and the flavours mingled on Jack's tongue. Greedily, he kissed Daniel's hair before sinking down onto his mouth for a deep, messy kiss, sharing this combination of Daniel tastes with the man himself.

"Pushy little bastard; it's all about you," Jack whispered in Daniel's ear.

The sleepy man chuckled quietly, twisting his head to briefly recapture his lover's lips. "Well, if you didn't want me to come, you should have played nice," Daniel scolded playfully. "Just let me sleep for an hour, then we'll sort you out."

Jack put his lips back to Daniel's ear. "I think not," he murmured, low and filthy.

"But I'm sleepy," Daniel moaned. His eyes were closed, but the smile on his flushed face proved his words were intended to provoke, not prevent.

With a hiss of fabric, Jack slid off the bed and began to undress. The whisper of cloth on skin, and the muffled clink of his belt buckle made Daniel turn his head, no longer feigning tiredness. He watched as Jack stripped, deliberately and slowly.

Daniel loved the easy relationship Jack had with his own body. He had no inhibitions about nakedness; he was comfortable in a way that had Daniel struck dumb when they'd first become intimate. And it had turned Daniel on all the more that Jack actively enjoyed being watched.

It had taken a long time for Daniel to be able to return the compliment, but he'd forced himself to strip for Jack, watching as his lover's eyes turned from sparkling with delighted surprise to dark and edgy with lust. The appreciation and fervour with which Jack had made love to him that night had dispelled any lingering doubts that his body wasn't beautiful to the older man. Now Daniel revelled in it almost as much as his lover did and he would casually wander around the house undressed, just to see the slow burn in Jack's gaze.

Leaning back over him, Jack pulled the post-it from Daniel's stomach and kissed where it had been. His cock stood hard from his body, seemingly independent of the rest of him as he slowly knelt between Daniel's spread thighs, trailing his hands down his archaeologist's abdomen and rubbing over the sharpness of his hips. He took his time to appreciate what a lucky bastard he was.

"You just do what you've got to do, Jack. I'll just doze," Daniel told him with a devilish grin.

"You do that, Daniel. I'll try not to wake you," Jack replied, tongue firmly in cheek.

Daniel shut his eyes, the smile still lingering on his lips, and scooched into the mattress. Jack's fingers began to trace hot figures on his inner thighs, trailing up to his balls then running back down deliciously slowly, raking with his nails.

Daniel turned his head in the pillows, settling into a comfortable spot, and refused to be distracted by Jack's actions. Jack simply raised his eyebrows and his game. With single-minded intensity, he began to kiss a path, following the trail his fingers had just made. The short hairs of Daniel's thighs prickled against his lips as he worked his way further up Daniel's legs. Against his cheek, Daniel's softened dick gave a lazy twitch of interest, making Jack smirk and redouble his efforts.

Reaching the crease where thigh met hip, Jack used the tip of his tongue to chart the smoothness of Daniel's skin and taste the faint remains of the soap from this morning's shower. His lover lay silent under him, but Jack could feel the involuntary tensing of Daniel's muscles and the continued stirring of his cock.

Jack lifted Daniel's knee and let it fall naturally to the side, giving himself more skin to play with. Flattening his tongue, he swiped long, hot stripes around Daniel's balls before taking one, then the other softly into his mouth. The younger man's breathing had begun to speed up, hitching whenever Jack applied his talented tongue somewhere new.

Jack gazed in smug appreciation as Daniel's cock slowly began to fill again, thickening and lengthening under his very eyes. Jack scooted lower and pressed a soft kiss behind his lover's balls, then very softly began to lap across the exposed cheek of his ass, drawing close to his entrance, then teasingly drawing away in another direction. Daniel began to hum softly.

Taking that as a cue, Jack crawled up Daniel's body, hovering over him and reaching for the bottle of lube that they had left out that morning. The younger man persisted in keeping his eyes shut, but the soft smile was still in evidence and he had begun to rock gently, touching Jack when he could reach with a thigh or a shoulder.

Jack's dick was protesting the length of time it took to get this party going. The cool slick of lube made Jack inhale sharply as he coated his hot length.

"You gonna play nice?" Jack growled.

"Can't," Daniel sighed. "I'm asleep."

"You're gonna pay for that."

"I'm counting on it," Daniel murmured.

Jack grabbed behind Daniel's knees, holding them up and apart and eased forward on his knees until he felt Daniel's cool skin against the burning head of his cock. Daniel was still pretty relaxed and open from this morning and Jack decided that he couldn't wait anyway.

He bit his lip as he pressed slowly inside. Very quickly one of Daniel's hands came up and grabbed his own thigh, taking the onus off Jack to bear his weight. Jack trailed his fingers to Daniel's ass and took a handful, pulling him wider so he could slide in all the way in one slow push.

Daniel gasped and arched up to meet Jack's groin sweetly. As Jack paused, fully enclosed now by Daniel's body, he muttered, "Still sleeping?"

Daniel just grunted and wrapped Jack's hand around his dick, showing him the pace he wanted. Jack obliged, pressing his hips in time to their joined fingers. When Daniel sped up, so did Jack. When Daniel paused and changed his grip, so did Jack. The colonel was soon trembling, waiting for Daniel and biting his lip to hold back from tipping over before his lover was close enough to be with him. Daniel's amazing recovery period and Jack's stamina and control were things they gave thanks for every night and ragged each other about every day.

When Jack thought he couldn't hold on anymore, the throb in his cock and the ache in his thighs becoming all-consuming, Daniel's hand suddenly squeezed and his rhythm was lost to helpless jerks. With a low groan, he pulsed into their joined fists, coating their hands with warmth. Jack followed with a shout of combined relief and pleasure, filling every inch of Daniel with slippery heat.

Daniel caught Jack as he slumped down and deftly rolled them both, so Jack's exhausted weight didn't smother him. He pulled the comforter up from the bottom of the bed and contentedly eased under the older man's arm.

"Shower?" Jack murmured when his heartbeat had settled.

"Tomorrow," Daniel soothed.

"Ew!" Jack sighed, but his sentiment lacked conviction.

To his surprise, it was Daniel who fell asleep first and Jack was left in the sweet evening silence to contemplate life with his archaeologist with a nose full of Daniel's sweat damp hair and a low heat in his thighs that told him that he was bottom tomorrow.

Getting an early night meant that they could be up nice and early to take advantage of the first of three days downtime. Jack had plans for this time off, and some of them even involved being dressed. Firstly they'd have to do laundry if the sheets beneath his hip were as bad as they felt, and he remembered that the supper dishes were still awaiting attention in the kitchen, but the rest of the day was theirs.

Indulgently, Jack wondered if Daniel wanted to go to a museum. He guessed he could spare an afternoon, although he was still at a loss to know why Daniel would choose that over beer, a game and making out on the couch. So they'd do that too, the following day. But tomorrow was the museum and the Persian exhibition Daniel had been making moony faces about. Jack could do that.

After all, he was interested in archaeology.

Fin