A Day Without A Gay 2

A Night With

by Mitch H

URL: http://www.area52hkh.net/asm/mitchh/daywit02.php
Summary: Jack experienced a day without Daniel but a night without him was something he refused to endure. He sets out to find the errant archaeologist and finds everything he desires.
Info: The conclusion, in which we get our Archaeologist back. A holiday, even a protest, is what we make of it. Make joy, make love, make smiles on the faces of those around you. Bring good will with you everywhere you go this season and everywhere you go, you will find good will.

Wednesday evening Jack was speeding just a little bit over the limit...Okay, a lot over the limit. The tires of his truck spit gravel as he took the last corner into town. The drive from the entrance of Cheyenne Mountain's military complex used to be far from the edge of Colorado Springs but the town had grown to the very edge of the base. A nice neighborhood, houses with big yards and tall trees bordered the east of the base now. There was a dusting of snow along the edges of the road, decorating the scene beautifully.

But Jack's mind was not on the neighborhood. It was on Daniel. At the sight of other vehicles, of a loose dog, Jack slowed immediately. He was only a few minutes from Daniel's now. Around the next turn he passed the two-story Victorian style home that was a senior citizen's center. There were a few cars parked on the curb at the house but only one caught Jack's eye. It was Daniel's green Volvo.

Stepping quickly on his brake pedal, Jack steered his truck to the curb and parked. He slid from the bench seat, pausing long enough to snag his jacket out and shrug into it before trotting up the sidewalk to the tall, graceful structure.

In the gathering evening darkness warm yellow light glowed from each window. Someone had been busy decorating the place for the holidays. Evergreen boughs adorned the tops of the windows and the front door. Leaded glass set in an oval of the door was partially obscured by a magnificent pine wreath accented with blue bows and pine cones. Happy music, something from the fifties he thought, drifted out through the walls and glass of the old structure. The music was a Christmas carol, he realized.

Jack paused, not sure if he should knock or just go on in. it was a public building, open to any resident of The Springs. He settled on peering through the faceted glass panes, his hand cupped by his face to clear the vision as much as possible.

Definitely jamming in there. The place was full. The foyer was large and he could see coats hanging in a row to his right. To his left through a wide doorway he saw folks milling about in the Victorian parlor. Punch and cake was in evidence and Jack couldn't resist. He slipped inside.

A few feet in the door he paused by the entry table, listening to the voices of happy people. A couple of the ones he could see looked far under retirement age. They were decorating a huge tree by a piano. The place smelled of cinnamon and pine.

Jack stayed back in the foyer, out of the mix of people and peered from his secluded vantage point, trying to spot Daniel. He shifted right for a better view and lightly bumped into a tall table that held a guest registry and literature about events going on around The Springs. One paper caught his eye. It had a picture of a hand, rainbow painted, holding a phone receiver. Jack picked it up and peered at it.

"Call in Gay," he read, arching one eyebrow in surprise. "Instead of sick? What the hell is this about?" Scanning down the page he saw the reason for the protest, the suggestion of giving time doing good things for one's community. There was a listing for a website, the title was A Day Without Gay. The flyer implored gay people to not show up for work, but to spend the day doing community service. Jack stared at the paper, his mind whirring into high gear.

Then Jack heard Daniel's clear voice singing above the others. With the flyer still in his hand Jack turned and backed up a step. There. He found the source of that voice. Seated at the piano, playing a carol was Daniel.

The archaeologist was smiling broadly, nodding and encouraging those who'd gathered around him to sing along. And sing they did! Jack stared, mesmerized by the sight of Daniel, by the look of happiness on the man's face. There were no lines of stress, no frown of deep concentration. Daniel was just having fun, a rare sight, and Jack savored the moment.

Carefully, Jack put the flyer back on the foyer table and quietly left the house.

On the sidewalk outside Jack paused to look up at the Victorian home again. There were merry, colored lights in the upstairs windows that complimented the ribbons on the wreath hanging on the front door. The evergreen boughs draped over the lower windows framed the warm yellow glow from the rooms full of celebrants. The place was cheerful and inviting. And he knew how Daniel had spent his day.

Smiling to himself, Jack left to do some very important shopping.

~0~0~

Two hours later full dark had settled on Colorado Springs. Jack parked his truck in front of Daniel's tidy home and sat there a moment, studying the place. Jack was still smiling. Daniel's Volvo was where it should be.

With a deep breath he gathered up the huge pine wreath and grocery bags and walked to the door. Before knocking he jostled the bags enough to get the wreath from under his arm. It had been squashed a bit, and pine needles fell to the porch floor. Daniel's front door had a brass knocker on it. Jack straightened the wire hook on the back of the wreath and hung it from the knocker. The wreath had taken him the longest to find. It was exactly like the one he'd seen earlier on the house were Daniel had spent his day. It looked great on Daniel's door too. Satisfied, he thumped his fist on the door.

"Daniel, let me in," Jack said loudly. "These bags are heavy."

Seconds later the door was pulled open widely. "What? Jack, what the... Get in here. It's starting to snow again." Daniel stepped out of the way.

Swinging the two grocery bags in before him, Jack stepped in to the warm home. The refreshing scent of pine wafted in the house in Jack's wake. "Hey," he greeted the archaeologist.

"What are you doing here?" Daniel asked, his face screwed up in puzzlement.

Before the man could shut the front door Jack shrugged a shoulder at it and nodded toward the wreath.

"Oh," Daniel said, blinking in surprise. "How did that get there?"

"I put it there. You're not the only one who can do a little holiday decorating."

"Not the only one?" Daniel asked, finally closing the door.

From the street viewpoint the bits of sparkle on the blue bow glimmered in Daniel's porch light. The windows of his house were aglow with yellow, welcoming warmth. The chimney puffed hazy smoke, barely discernible column of gray against the blanket of snow clouds overhead. A short gust whipped falling snow onto the porch, lightly dusting the merry wreath.

Daniel held a hand out to help Jack with the grocery bags but Jack shook his head and moved past Daniel into the cozy kitchen and put the bags on the small, drop-leaf table under the bay window.

He trailed after Jack but a step inside the kitchen the older man took him by the shoulders and steered him to a chair at the table.

"Sit," he commanded, but with the most brilliant smile on his face.

Bemused, Daniel sat and watched Jack unpack the grocery bags.

"Wine?" he said, startled into sitting up straighter.

"And some of that crazy nut cheese you like," Jack said, proudly displaying the small package wrapped artfully in a string net. He retrieved a platter from the cabinet above the stove and got a thin knife from a drawer near at hand. Jack sawed through the string and then cut the wax off the cheese round. He opened a box of thin crackers and dumped them in a messy heap beside the cheese.

"Glasses?" Daniel asked, smiling up at Jack.

"Oh." Jack got stemmed goblets and a cork screw. He opened the bottle expertly and poured the deep red liquid into the goblets.

Daniel took an appraising sip of the wine and then relaxed back in his chair again. He sliced cheese and laid thin wafers of the sharp white on crackers. As he worked he divided his attention between the cheese and crackers, and Jack's happy movements around the small kitchen.

Jack hummed a Christmas tune as he worked at covering two plates with the prepared food he'd brought from a local French deli. Each plate was popped in Daniel's microwave until the contents were steaming perfectly. Mushroom sauce in a separate container was then warmed and Jack sat everything before Daniel.

"Joining me?" Daniel asked because Jack was still standing by the table, proudly surveying the spread feast.

Oh," Jack said, repeating his earlier statement. He sat and smiled broadly across the intimate little table. "You can add the sauce over the little baked thing. It has chicken and stuff inside the pastry shell."

"It looks delicious. I'm sure I'll enjoy it." Smiling over the rim of his glass, Daniel watched as Jack took a bite of the flaky pastry concoction. "Good?" he asked, nodding already.

"Wow," Jack mumbled around a mouth full of diced chicken and mushrooms.

Daniel tasted his own and nodded along with Jack. "Delicious."

The meal was consumed amid companionable conversation about past missions, base gossip and of course, hockey.

"Want desert by the fireplace?" Jack asked.

"You brought desert too?" Daniel smiled broadly, his eyebrows climbing to betray his surprise. "Jack, what's all this about?"

"Desert?" he asked, with a depreciative shrug. Jack left the table and placed slices of cheese cake on two small saucers. "Ready?" he said, holding them and nodding toward the door.

After only a brief hesitation, Daniel snagged the wine, their goblets and led the way. "No arguing with the man holding the cheese cake. My one rule for the day."

"Sweet," Jack said, tilting his head to admire the backside of the man he was following. As he passed the living room light switch Jack used his elbow to flick it off. The flames from the fireplace were now their only light.

They sat on a rug in front of the small fire. Last winter Daniel had acquired a fur rug. Made in Peru, it was amazingly soft to the touch, and a mixture of brown and light beige. Cushions from the couch and a quilted throw were pulled down to the rug and strewn around them. The wine and glasses safely on the coffee table, it didn't take either man long to finish their desert. Daniel leaned back on a cushion at the left side of the fireplace and idly watched Jack swallow the rest of his wine.

"You didn't answer my question."

Jack lowered the glass and then turned to Daniel. He stared at the man, watching the firelight gleam off his hair. Jack then bent forward and unlaced his boots. He toed them off, kicking them out of the way under the coffee table. "Want more wine?"

"No." Daniel waited but instead of an answer he got Jack pulling his shoes off. They were cast under the coffee table by Jack's boots. "My feet are going to get cold."

"I'll keep you warm," Jack said, his voice dropping lower with each word. "I missed you today." Climbing to his hands and knees, Jack crawled forward, his hands straddling Daniel's legs. He crept up higher, his knees now past Daniel's feet. On Jack came, walking on hands and knees over Daniel until his face was inches from the younger man's.

"Um," Daniel said, leaning back farther against the cushion behind him. He blinked a few times up at Jack. "Missed me?"

"Missed you," Jack agreed in a husky whisper. "Missed you very much, Daniel."

"Um." With a little more blinking Daniel reached up and adjusted his glasses.

Jack shifted his weight to one hand and with the other, swiftly removed Daniel's glasses and put them by the wine. "Very much."

"General Hammond was supposed to let you know I..."

"He did. Told me you weren't coming in. I know, but I still..."

"Missed me?" Daniel asked, his voice squeaking just a bit.

Jack chuckled. "Are you nervous?"

"Um. No," Daniel finally said, a definite note of defensiveness in his tone. "I'm not. I'm just a little surprised is all."

"So was I," Jack said quickly. "Surprised by the whole day. And I'm done with feeling surprised now."

"Okay," Daniel said very slowly. "Is that why you surprised me with that meal?"

"And the wreath," Jack said with a nod. "But you're not going to be surprised by what comes next, are you?"

A dazzling smile lit Daniel's face. "No. If it's what I think it is, I'm not."

"Good." Jack leaned down the few inches that separated their lips and kissed Daniel.

Not content to rest on the cushion, Daniel wrapped his arms around Jack, locking one leg behind him too and pulled Jack down onto him. The cushion slipped back and both men were prone on the soft rug. Firelight lit one half of their features.

Daniel ran his hands up Jack's back and touched his collar. He pushed the tips of his fingers up into tidily shorn hair. "Love you," he murmured between their briefly parted lips.

"Love you," Jack said, settling himself over his lover. "Love you, Danny." He renewed the passionate kiss they'd begun earlier.

Rolling to his left a little bit, Daniel got enough space between their bodies to undress Jack. Though his heart never wavered from the kiss, he unbuttoned, unsnapped and unzipped everything within reach.

Jack had to roll more to the side to get off his hands so he could do the same to Daniel. He undressed him, taking a new thrill with each area of flesh that was revealed to his probing touches. "Danny," he murmured frequently.

"Love you," Daniel replied eagerly.

Jack stroked fingertips along Daniel's throat, feeling the hot pulse there, feeling the reaction he caused by touching this erogenous zone. He knew well how Daniel loved to be touched on his throat.

Naked, warmed by the fire on one side, his lover on the other, Daniel closed his eyes and tilted his head back.

Accepting the invitation, Jack replaced his fingers with his nimble lips. He kissed lightly at first, barely more than a brushing of dry lips over sensitive flesh. Then he opened his mouth and kissed, building to a slight sucking motion and then a wet bite.

Daniel arched up, moaning deeply.

Jack licked around Daniel's throat, moving to the front to the slight protrusion of his Adam's apple and sucked. With his right hand he touched Daniel's fluttering stomach, wandering lower quickly to find his erection growing harder by the moment. He let his palm glide down the length of Daniel, until the spongy tip of his cock was brushing Jack's wrist.

At Jack's first touch, Daniel parted his thighs, lifting himself into the older man's touch.

The eagerness, the love Jack felt emanating from Daniel's body spurred him on. He pushed lower, cupping warm balls in his palm and squeezing so very gently. When he got the desired gasp from Daniel, Jack moved to the side of his neck and bit firmly.

"Oh, Jack!" Daniel sang out, his tone as sharp as the crackles from the fireplace.

He climbed on Daniel, sparing a moment to pull a tube from a pocket of his discarded pants. Jack sank back onto his knees and opened the tube.

With a visible effort, Daniel opened his eyes and groped at Jack's bare chest. "Hair. Love the hair on your chest."

"Fuzzy gray—" Jack began to object.

"Love it," Daniel insisted. "I love it." He let his fingers roam through it for a moment. Then his hands went down lower. Daniel had to round his back and rise up off the soft rug. He touched the tip of Jack's weeping erection. "You don't need the lube. You're making enough—"

Jack interrupted him with a happy laugh. "Give me a break. As tight as you are?"

Daniel sucked in his lips but then laughed with his lover. He lay back down, bringing his hands up over his head. "You're going to show me?"

"Show you?" Jack echoed even as he put the tube down and stroked himself, spreading the gleaming mixture on his head and down his shaft. He leaned forward on his elbows, keeping his right hand off the rug. His cock was so hard, pulsing almost tight against his stomach and has he pressed himself to Daniel he felt the younger man's hard erection too. It was like a scorching rod against Jack's upper stomach.

Daniel glanced to his right and snagged his shirt amid their pile of clothing. "Wipe your hand on this."

Smirking at his lover's practicality, Jack wiped off the excess lubricant. He hissed in pleasure as Daniel shifted, bringing his thighs up on either side of Jack's.

"I want to see your face as you go in me," Daniel implored.

"You always say that," Jack protested. "I look goofy as hell—"

"For me. Please?" Daniel insisted. "Just close your eyes and let me watch."

"Voyeur," Jack accused softly. He was grinning.

"Can't be," Daniel started but paused to hiss as Jack moved enough to bump the end of his hot cock against the bottom of Daniel's balls. "Oh, yeah."

"Love you, Danny." Jack said. He leaned down and gave him a sliding, wet kiss and then attacked his neck again.

Daniel thrashed, lost in the pleasure of the moment. Jack pushed forward, sliding his cock around the smooth skin below Daniel's balls.

"Uh," Daniel protested, pushing weakly at Jack's shoulders. "Face."

"Crap," Jack said against the side of his lover's neck. He rose up. "Then you have to guide me in."

"It's a deal," Daniel whispered. He reached down with his right hand to find Jack. He palmed his own cock with his left hand and had to bend his back to be able to guide Jack to his puckered opening.

"Voyeur," Jack repeated, forcing the word as sexual stimulation rolled through him. "God, your hand feels good."

"Can't be a voyeur if I'm involved in it. And I am involved, aren't I, Jack?"

"Fuck," Jack swore. He hung his head low and rounded his back.

"Face," Daniel reminded him, but didn't stop what he was doing.

Jack thrust his hips forward and managed to lift his head even as he breached Daniel's hot body. "Oh," he moaned in a deep and velvety tone. "Oh, Danny."

"Jack," Daniel answered his lover's sweet call.

All argument of positions and concerns about lubricant were completely shoved aside as Jack and Daniel's bodies came together perfectly.

Daniel's hard erection was trapped between them and as Jack slid back and forth the build of friction had Daniel gasping.

Jack spread his toes and tried to dig them into the rug for more leverage. He pushed himself forward and then rocked back. Daniel was writhing, pumping himself in counterpoint to Jack's drive.

They moved in harmony on the soft rug surrounded by pillows and lit by the glowing flames dancing in the fireplace. The tendons and stringy muscles in Jack's legs bunched and flexed as he worked to bring himself to completion as deeply inside Daniel as possible.

Daniel brought his right hand from between them and laid it on the pillow over his head. Spread under Jack he gazed up lovingly. "I love looking...looking at you," he gasped between his lover's deeper thrusts.

"Baby," Jack answered, opening his eyes for a moment. He screwed up his face in concentration and drove on. As he heard Daniel begin to gasp Jack worked hard to keep his rhythm even. He could feel Daniel getting closer to the edge of orgasm. Jack bit his bottom lip to keep from coming too soon. He pushed, digging his toes into the rug again and rocked his hips, adjusting his angle just enough, just that little extra bit to touch the front of Daniel's body more.

Now Daniel was the one biting a bottom lip. He squeezed his cock with his left hand and a pulse of cum worked down the vein on the underside, spilling out the tip. The milky fluid was joined quickly by another and then another which was spread across both men's stomachs.

Jack thrust again and again, groaning now as he let himself find completion. "Oh, Danny," He gasped, breathing heavily now. A bead of sweat formed on his brow and Jack clenched his eyes closed. He pushed with his toes, pushed hard to extend his legs as much as possible, staying still and deep inside Daniel as the last volley of cum left his own hard shaft.

A few breaths later Jack sagged down on Daniel. The younger man panted in the stillness, the room had no other sound than their breaths and the fire crackling nearby. As their bodies cooled down, Daniel shifted to his left and Jack moved away enough to lay on his side, his right leg and arm draped over Daniel.

With his eyes closed, Daniel groped around blindly until he found the shirt Jack had used moments earlier. He swiped it across Jack's groin and his own. Then he reached across Jack's hip and pulled the quilted throw over them both.

Jack dragged a large cushion closer, propping his head on it and sharing it with Daniel. "Beautiful night."

"Yes," Daniel agreed, the word ending in a hiss of satisfaction.

The fire burned lower. Jack rose and put two split logs on the glowing embers. He returned to Daniel in the warm nest of cover and pillows. "Missed you all day long."

"Missed you too," Daniel said. He snuggled against Jack and peered at the warm flames. "You know, sometimes we get so busy, so busy saving the galaxy, saving the universe, we forget what's right under our noses."

"We do," Jack agreed.

"It's kind of like living in Cairo and never driving out to see the great pyramids. Or living in New York and never going to see the Statue of Liberty."

"It is?"

"Yeah. There are things happening right here that we need to pay attention to." Daniel snuggled the throw around Jack's shoulders. "Things that are important to humans living right here in our neighborhood."

"So you had to take the day off to pay attention to some stuff?"

"I did," Daniel agreed.

"This stuff important to you?"

"The people involved are important to me. Their needs are important to me, even if I don't have exactly the same need."

"Knew that about you," Jack said. "No matter where we go, you tend to look beyond any rules, any limitations and you focus on the people. Always knew that about you."

Daniel scooted down until his head was resting just below Jack's shoulder. He curled one leg up, pushing it between Jack's knees. He laced the fingers of his left hand with the fingers of Jack's right. "I'm glad you know me so well."

"Love you so well too," Jack said. He kissed the top of Daniel's head.

"It was a beautiful day. You made it a beautiful evening, Jack."

"I did? I did," he answered himself. "Did. Beautiful evening."

As the fire burned lower Jack and Daniel held each other and had a beautiful night. Then they followed that night with a beautiful life.

The end