Playtime

by Sistine

URL: http://www.area52hkh.net/ass/sistine/playtime.php
Summary: Jack wants to play

"It's true, you know."

"What is true, O'Neill?"

Jack switched off the episode of Star Trek that they had been watching. "That the more complex the mind, the greater the need for the simplicity of play," he quoted. "Remind you of anyone?"

"No," Teal'c replied.

Jack paused, his mouth already open to continue with his little speech. "Oh. Okay then, who do we know who are in great need of playing?"

"Daniel Jackson and Major Carter."

"Right. The two geniuses who think that having fun means translating new languages or fiddling with dangerous experiments." Jack mentally rolled his eyes. His kids really needed to get a life. "We are going to teach them otherwise."

"Is that a wise idea, O'Neill?" Teal'c had often observed that the two scientists were irritable if one tried to pull them away from their work.

Jack thought about that. "Probably not. But as their team leader, I have a responsibility to make sure that all my team members don't work themselves into exhaustion." Only last night had he seen Daniel close to that state, still on base at midnight trying to translate a text. Jack - who couldn't remember now why he himself had still been at the base at midnight - had forcibly removed Daniel and taken him back to the apartment. If he didn't look after Daniel, who would?

"Very well." Although Teal'c thought this was a bad idea, he would go along with it for the amusement factor. "What do you propose we do?"

"Ice-skating," Jack said promptly, dispelling the idea that this was a spur-of-the-moment brainwave. "It's fun, it's good exercise...." He stopped and thought for a second. "Can you skate, T?"

"Indeed."

Jack waited for an explanation but didn't receive one. "Good. I'll organise the skates. You get Carter, I'll round up Daniel, and we'll meet at the truck in an hour, okay?"

Teal'c nodded. This was going to be a very interesting excursion.

~~~

After organising the ice-skates, Jack went around to Daniel's office. As he had suspected, the linguist was hard at work, his head bent over his desk as he wrote furiously. Jack couldn't help but pause for a moment to observe his linguist in action. The lighting in the room was dim but Daniel had the lamp on his desk switched on. The light brought out the blonde highlights in his non-regulation length hair, just brushing against the collar of his jacket; Jack made a mental note to remind Daniel to get his hair trimmed soon before it got too long. He then focused on Daniel's face, and the intense concentration outlined there. The blue eyes moved quickly between tablet and notepad as he translated the language written there. And then of course there were those soft, full lips...

Jack stood up straight, cutting off that train of thought. He should not be thinking anything remotely sexual about his best friend. That was a big no-no. Concentrate on why you're here, Jack told himself. "Daniel!"

"Mmm?" Daniel said absently as he continued writing.

"Daniel!"

This time Daniel looked up. "Oh hi, Jack. What are you doing here?"

"I'm the one who should be asking that question." Jack sauntered into the room, hands his pockets. "Didn't you hear Hammond say that we're on stand-down for the next two days?"

"Yes, I did but I wanted to get this finished," Daniel stated. It wasn't like he had anything to do while he was on stand-down anyway except for more work. The only times he didn't work was when Jack decided to do something with him... "Oh no."

"Oh yes, Dannyboy." Jack grinned, having seen the metaphorical lightbulb switch on. "We - as in SG-1 - are going ice-skating."

"All of us?" The idea of Teal'c on skates boggled Daniel's mind. "Can Teal'c even skate?"

"Apparently. Don't ask, he didn't tell me how," Jack cut off the next question. "So, come on, let's get going."

Daniel didn't move from his chair. However, he did lean back and wrap his arms around his chest. "Ah, Jack?"

"Yeah?"

Changing his mind about what he was going to say, Daniel stated, "I've got a lot of work to do here. How about I take a rain check on the skating?"

Jack eyed Daniel shrewdly. He checked out the body language and matched it with the reluctance to leave. "Daniel, can you skate?" He hadn't really thought about whether Daniel would be able to but now that he had, he realised that the linguist might not have had the opportunity to considering the years he had spent in deserts.

Daniel paused for a second then decided to tell the truth. "No."

"I'll teach you," Jack offered. "Come on, it'll be fun."

"I'd really rather not, Jack." Daniel didn't feel like opening himself up to the kind of teasing that Jack could dish out.

"Daniel, you are coming skating. It's a team thing." Jack went over to Daniel, got behind the chair and started pushing. "You can walk or I can push you the whole way to the surface."

The linguist bit his lower lip. He knew that Jack would carry out his threat, and he didn't really want that. "Okay, I'll walk." He waited until Jack stopped pushing and got out of his chair. "You're really serious about this?"

"The skating? Yeah." They would all have a great time.

Daniel sighed. He was not going to enjoy this.

~~~

As he finished tying up his skates the way Jack had shown him, Daniel looked at the people skating on the pond. There weren't many people there - just SG-1 and two other families who obviously preferred this place to the ice rink - so he wouldn't be making a fool of himself in front of a crowd. Sam and Teal'c were already out there, both of them moving easily on the ice. He was surprised by how good Teal'c looked, the big man skating with a grace that belied his size. Daniel knew that his own attempts were going to be rather pitiful.

"Come on, Danny, let's go."

Jack's voice broke into his thoughts. Taking a deep, fortifying breath, Daniel got to his feet. He immediately wobbled, not used to being balanced on the thin blades. "You sure you're not regretting your offer?" he asked Jack, who was hovering nearby.

"Positive." Jack went forward and put a steadying hand on Daniel's arm.

"And the ice is solid so there's no danger of falling through it?"

"Daniel, relax. This is supposed to be fun." Jack gently guided Daniel down to the edge of the pond. He put an arm around Daniel's waist to help him balance; he was going to make sure Daniel had fun if it killed him. Which it just might if Daniel fell on top of him and their combined weight broke the ice. "Just take it easy."

"I'm trying." Daniel gingerly put one foot in front of the other, gradually inching his way onto the ice. Straight away, the skates started to slide out from underneath him so he grabbed at Jack, desperately trying to stay upright.

It didn't work.

As they hit the ice together, Jack thought about how easy it had been to teach Charlie to skate. Somehow he had forgotten when he'd offered to teach Daniel that the linguist was a lot bigger than his son and therefore would be harder to keep upright. "Well, that was a good start."

"Jack, don't." Daniel didn't think he could cope with the sarcasm today. He rolled carefully onto his side then sat up. His butt ached where it had impacted with the ice. Daniel thought about rubbing it then decided against it. "Help me up?"

"Sure." Jack got to his feet and helped Daniel get his feet under him. Then he helped the young man slowly stand up.

Daniel's feet shot out from under him again and he fell, narrowly missing knocking Jack over too. "Ow!" he protested as he again landed on his butt.

Jack couldn't help smiling. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." Daniel remained lying on the ice. "I think I'll just stay here."

Their friends skated over to them, amused by what they had seen. "Come on, Daniel, it's easy once you get the hang of it," Sam said, grinning widely at him. It had taken very little persuading by Teal'c for her to cease her experiments and come skating.

"Easy for you to say," Daniel said dryly. "You're upright."

Teal'c moved behind Daniel Jackson, put his hands under the linguist's armpits, and pulled him to his feet. He then steadied the scholar until he was standing on his own. "So are you," he stated.

"Thanks, Teal'c," Daniel said gratefully. The ice had been starting to get really cold. "Okay, how about I just go back to the log and..."

"Don't you quit on me now, Daniel," Jack admonished him. "Where's that sense of adventure of yours?"

"Out to lunch." He really didn't think he could do this.

Something on Daniel's face alerted Jack to the linguist's mood. Jack discreetly gestured for the other two to give them some privacy, then he moved so that he was standing directly in front of Daniel. "What's up?"

"Nothing." Daniel avoided Jack's eyes.

"This isn't like you, Daniel. Tell me what's wrong." Jack hated seeing Daniel like this.

In a very quiet voice, Daniel said, "I've never been very good at physical stuff."

Jack got it. "And the other kids picked on you and laughed at you, right?" From the bits and pieces that he had gathered over the past eighteen months, Jack had determined that Daniel's childhood had just been one kick in his self-confidence after another. No wonder Daniel preferred working to playing. "Danny, you know that's not going to happen here, don't you?"

Daniel kept silent. He knew that Jack was his friend but he also knew what Jack's sense of humour was like.

"Aw, Danny." Jack put his arm around Daniel's shoulders, being careful not to disrupt his balance. "None of us would do that. And if we do laugh, it's going to be with you, not at you. Well, Carter and I will laugh, Teal'c will just raise his eyebrow."

A small smile pulled at the corners of Daniel's mouth. "You promise not to laugh?"

"Promise. If I do, then I'll buy you a steak dinner tonight. Deal?" Jack didn't know where the suggestion came from, only that if he was having a good time with Daniel, he wouldn't want the afternoon to end.

"Deal." A steak dinner sounded wonderful, especially with Jack as company. "Okay, how do we do this?"

Jack carefully removed his arm from Daniel's shoulder then, facing the linguist, took both his hands. Slowly, he started to glide backwards, pulling Daniel along with him. "Don't try and move your feet, Daniel, just let me pull you along for a bit. When you feel ready, we'll do the advanced stuff." He grinned and received a tentative smile in return. Things were beginning to look up.

Daniel let himself be pulled along, trusting Jack completely. He discovered that if he remained completely still, there was less chance of him falling over. After a couple of minutes, Daniel actually found he was enjoying himself. He grinned at Jack, gaining in confidence since he hadn't fallen over again. "This isn't too bad," he admitted.

"See, I told you." Jack's heart started thumping faster at the sight of that grin. It felt good to see the enjoyment on Daniel's face. "Ready for some of the advanced stuff?"

"Okay." His butt was going to be black and blue tomorrow but he might as well go for it. "What do I do?"

Jack explained how Daniel should move his feet and then held on tight as the young man tried it out. He felt immense pride when Daniel actually managed to lift his left foot and put it back down again without falling. "That's it," he encouraged the linguist.

Daniel took a couple more steps before his feet flew out from under him. This time he managed to pull Jack down on top of him, knocking the air out of his lungs. He lay there stunned, Jack's weight pinning him to the ice. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a giggle escaped him. He could just imagine what he and Jack looked like sprawled on the ice, and it struck him as funny.

Jack looked down at Daniel. "Was that a giggle?" he asked in amazement. In all the time he had known Daniel, he had never heard the linguist giggle.

Daniel shook his head, his mouth tightly closed to prevent any more giggles from escaping. But he couldn't stop himself from smiling, which soon changed into grinning, and soon he was laughing.

Rolling off Daniel, Jack just sat back and watched the man laugh. He was surprised by how good it felt to hear that sound coming from Daniel, and he realised that he wanted to hear it as often as possible. Jack couldn't help grinning as Daniel continued to laugh, and suddenly Jack was laughing too, the humour infectious.

Sam glided up to the two men. "What's going on?"

Neither of them could stop laughing to tell her. Daniel tried sitting up but he was laughing too hard and soon flopped down again, holding his sides which were beginning to ache. Jack tried to stop laughing but couldn't - just hearing Daniel was enough to set him off. Pretty soon, Sam was laughing too.

Teal'c came up behind the trio and looked at them in puzzlement. "What is funny?" he asked.

"Noth-nothing," Daniel managed to gasp out, tears beginning to roll down his face. He wiped them away, still laughing hard.

"Then why are you laughing?"

"Don't know," Jack said. He looked down at Daniel - he couldn't imagine a happier sight than seeing the linguist laugh himself silly. "Danny, why are we laughing?"

"Don't know." Daniel waved a hand at Teal'c. "Help me up?" His laughter started to die down.

As before, Teal'c picked the scholar up and put him on his feet. Fortunately, he was still holding onto Daniel when the young man lost his balance again.

"Whoops!" Daniel said, his laughter reappearing again. He tried to get his feet under him but they kept sliding around, which just made him laugh harder.

Getting his own laughter under control, Jack moved forward and grabbed hold of Daniel's ankles, moving them back so that the linguist could stand up. He saw Teal'c pull Daniel higher but the young man was so far gone that he kept flopping over. "Daniel!"

"I can't-I can't help it," Daniel stated through his giggling. "You - you laughed."

"I wasn't laughing at you, I was laughing with you," Jack clarified. "That doesn't count."

"Yes, it does." Daniel nodded his head, causing him to lose balance again, which in turn set off a fresh peal of laughter. It felt so good to be laughing as if he hadn't a care in the world, pretending that they were just ordinary people having fun on a winter's day. It was very liberating.

Jack chuckled as he got to his feet. "Okay, Danny, I think that's enough skating for the moment. T, you wanna help me take him over to the log?"

Teal'c inclined his head and proceeded to push the scholar along in front of him until they reached the edge of the pond.

Daniel wiped the tears away again; he hadn't laughed this hard in years. "Thanks, Teal'c." He stepped onto the snow and found that he could actually stand up, even if he was a little unbalanced.

His swaying alarmed Jack, and the older man quickly moved to his side and put an arm around his waist. "Steady there, big guy." He looked over his shoulder at the other two. "You guys go have some more fun. We'll join you later."

Sam nodded her agreement, getting her own laughter under control. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen Daniel laugh so much, and she felt sad at that memory. She thought that Daniel was someone who needed to laugh a lot, and she resolved to help him do that from now on.

Jack helped Daniel to the nearest log and they both sat down. Daniel's giggles were becoming more intermittent as he slowly calmed down. Jack kept his arm around Daniel's waist, not knowing why he was doing it, only that it felt good.

Daniel leaned into Jack, resting his head on his friend's shoulder. He liked the feel of Jack's arm around him - it made him feel wanted. When the laughs finally faded out, he sighed. "Thanks, Jack." He felt... happy.

"What for?" Jack wanted to know.

"For dragging me here today. You were right - it is fun." But only because his friends were there to help him. Because Jack was there.

"You've only just started. Wait till you can skate on your own," Jack promised.

Daniel giggled again briefly. "I don't think that's going to happen." The heat from Jack's body was beginning to warm him, and a familiar heat started up inside him also. He stared at the pond, trying to make sense of the feeling. The last time he had felt that... no, he couldn't be attracted to Jack! Jack was his best friend, and he was not going to muck that up by wanting more. Unless, of course, Jack wanted more too but Daniel didn't know how he would go about determining that.

In the middle of the pond, Sam stopped and looked over at the two men. When Teal'c stopped beside her, she said, "I wonder whether they're a couple."

"Not yet," Teal'c replied. "But I do not believe it will be long now." He had been observing their interactions and had seen the love gradually developing. However, it had not been his place to say anything to either one of them. It was something they would have to discover for themselves.

"Maybe we should give them a helping hand," Sam mused as she observed the closeness of the two men. She had got over her crush on Jack some time ago and, given her affection for both of them, she wanted to do something that would make them both happy.

Teal'c tilted his head. "What do you suggest?"

~~~

A couple of minutes later, Jack led Daniel back out onto the ice. They went through the 'easy stuff' again, Daniel feeling a lot better about the whole thing. There was still a lot of falling down when he tried to actually skate but he took it in good humour, and after forty-five minutes, could actually travel by himself for quite a distance.

"Yes!" Jack shouted in triumph when Daniel skated halfway across the pond without falling down. He skated over to Daniel and grabbed him in a bear-hug, spinning him around.

"Jack!" Daniel grabbed hold of Jack as his balance went again, and they both fell onto the ice, this time side by side. "Ow!" Daniel complained - he had landed on his butt again - as he slowly sat up. "I'm not going to be able to sit down tomorrow."

A totally different reason for that shot through Jack's mind, shocking him. There was no way he was going to do that to Daniel! "Well, you would insist on falling backwards," he said, his mouth dry.

"It's better than falling forwards," Daniel replied. He waited till Jack got to his feet before attempting to stand up. This time he managed it without falling down again. "I think I'm getting better at this."

"Ah, but the most important part is, are you having fun?" Jack asked as he stepped back a bit, putting some space between him and Daniel.

"Actually, I am. Thank you, Jack." Daniel smiled at him. "I know I wasn't keen on this to begin with but you were right. This is fun."

"I'm always right when it comes to fun, Daniel." Jack grinned back.

"Hey guys," Sam skated up to them, Teal'c not far behind her. "I've been thinking--"

"No thinking allowed today," Jack interrupted.

"Yes, sir," Sam said automatically before continuing. "Teal'c's never made a snowman before."

"Excellent idea!" Jack took Daniel's hand and led him to the edge of the ice. "Ever made a snowman, Dannyboy?"

"Well, once I made a snow-sphinx," Daniel said with a straight face. When Jack looked sideways at him, he just stared back, daring Jack to call his bluff.

Jack couldn't decide whether Daniel was kidding or not because it sounded like something a potential Egyptologist would do. "Right."

Daniel followed Jack over to the log and proceeded to unlace his skates. "And snow-pyramids are pretty easy to make," he continued conversationally.

"You had to do things differently, didn't you?" Jack observed.

"Of course."

Meanwhile, on the other log, Sam and Teal'c quickly changed into their boots. Then they got a head start on the snowman while the other two were chatting. They had most of the bottom ball done before the others joined them. They had also secretly stockpiled some snowballs ready for the fight they were going to start.

There was a lot of good-natured joking around while the four of them created a snowman. Or a snow-Jaffa, as Jack called it, meticulously carving Apophis's tattoo into the snowman's forehead. He was concentrating hard on it but not so much that he wasn't aware of the snowball heading his way. Ducking to the ground at the last second, he gathered up a handful of snow, packed it together into a ball, and then threw it at Carter, who didn't manage to duck fast enough.

The war was on. It soon quickly formed into teams, Sam and Teal'c against Jack and Daniel, although it didn't really seem to matter when the snowballs were flying thick and fast. Daniel seemed to get hit more often than the others, his reflexes not as fast as theirs, but he definitely gave his own back, his aim spot on. When his teeth started chattering though, he held up a hand in surrender. "Uh, guys?"

Jack stopped immediately and turned to Daniel. He felt a tug inside him at the sight of his linguist - melted snow had plastered the long blonde hair to Daniel's skull, and his cheeks were red from the cold. "What is it?"

"Um, I think maybe it's time to go somewhere warm." Daniel wrapped his arms across his chest, trying to warm himself up.

Getting closer to Daniel, Jack realised that the young man's clothes were soaking wet from the melting snow. Then he realised his own clothes weren't so dry either. "Sounds good to me. Come back to my place? I'll get the fire going." He turned to the others. "Carter? Teal'c?"

Sam shook her head. She was freezing too but she had a plan. "I'm going to head back to the base, get some more work done." Of course, that wasn't what she was really going to do but she wouldn't tell Jack that. "Give you a lift, Teal'c?"

"That would be most kind," Teal'c replied, sticking to the plan.

"Looks like it's just you and me, Danny," Jack said, blowing on his hands to try and increase the circulation. Then he put a hand on Daniel's back and started to guide him to the truck.

The other two watched them leave. "Do you think this will work?" Teal'c asked.

"Oh yeah," Sam replied. She would bet on it.

~~~

All the way home, Jack had the heater in the truck on high, trying to get both of them warm again. Their clothes were still wet when they reached the house though, so the first thing Jack did when they got inside was order Daniel to get changed into the clothes the linguist kept in the spare bedroom.

"Okay, Ja-Jack," Daniel stuttered, the cold still making him shiver. He quickly went into the spare bedroom, hunted out a pair of socks, thick sweats, a long-sleeved t-shirt, and a thick jumper, and then got changed. By the time he had done that and gone back out to the living room, Jack had got the fire going.

"It should get hotter soon," Jack said, his knees creaking as he stood up. "Make yourself comfortable. I'll be back soon."

Daniel sat down in front of the fire, putting his hands out towards it and feeling the heat that was building. He inched closer, trying to get warm as quickly as possible. He sat there for a few minutes, trying to unsuccessfully stop shivering. It felt like the cold had gone straight through to his bones.

When Jack came back from his bedroom, he was surprised to see how close Daniel was sitting to the fireplace. Daniel must be really cold, Jack thought to himself. Going over to the young man, he knelt behind Daniel and then used the towel he had brought with him to dry the long hair.

Daniel started at the touch but then relaxed and let Jack dry his hair. It was an intimate thing to do, he mused absently, remembering all the times he had dried Sha're's long, black tresses. And there was something soothing about it as well. Warming, even. The touch warmed his body more than the fire was. But Jack stopped after a couple of minutes, leaving Daniel cold again. He shivered and wrapped his arms around himself, trying to keep the warmth in.

"Still cold?" Jack asked. When Daniel nodded, Jack made a quick decision. He sat down, his legs either side of Daniel, and then put his arms over the young man's, holding him close. "Better?"

"Much." Daniel sighed and leaned back into the embrace. The warmth from Jack's body seeped through to his own, and between that and the fire, Daniel felt that he was finally beginning to thaw out.

Jack had thought that Daniel wouldn't have welcomed this kind of touch but the young man once again proved him wrong. Maybe... had Daniel had the same kind of thoughts as him about being together? Earlier, it had just felt so right to keep his arm around Daniel's waist, and now, being here and holding him... he didn't want to let go. All his thoughts and desires came rushing into the forefront of his mind and he saw clearly now that he loved Daniel, and had done so for quite some time. He had being trying to hide those feelings from himself but having Daniel here like this showed him that he couldn't hide from himself any longer. He turned his head slightly and kissed Daniel's cheek, taking the plunge and hoping that Daniel would feel the same way.

Daniel felt the lips against his skin, surprised at the gesture. "Jack?" Did that mean what he thought it meant? He turned his head to look at the older man.

"Yeah?" God, those blue eyes were so beautiful up this close! Daniel was beautiful. Jack felt his groin stirring as desire started to build within him.

"What was that for?"

"I, uh, I..." Just say it, Jack berated himself; if Daniel hasn't already run screaming from the room, what's the worst that can happen? "I love you."

Daniel's mouth formed the word 'oh' but no sound came out. It wasn't exactly what he had been expecting to hear.

"And before you ask, I love you as more than a friend," Jack continued.

This time, Daniel actually managed to say, "Oh." He wasn't sure what to think. He was attracted to Jack but he hadn't thought that Jack might be attracted to him as well. "Me too." He wanted to say the words but they wouldn't come.

Jack grinned with relief. "Sweet." He brought one hand up so that he could trace Daniel's lips with his fingertips. "I want to kiss you." The thought of tasting those full, soft lips...

"Me too. I mean, I-I want you to kiss me," Daniel corrected himself. He didn't think he could make the first move.

"Nervous?" Jack felt like he was a teenager on his first date; his insides were jumping around, and his heart was pounding loudly. It's only Daniel, he told himself before realising that maybe that was the reason he was so nervous. They were best friends, and if this didn't go well, it could totally ruin things between them. He didn't want to lose Daniel.

"No," Daniel lied, the butterflies in his stomach making him feel strange. He had never felt this nervous about kissing anyone before, and he couldn't figure out why he was feeling this way about Jack.

"Right." Jack moved his hand around to the back of Daniel's neck, his fingers sliding through the damp hair. Then he closed the gap between them and pressed his lips against Daniel's.

Jack's lips were cold - that was Daniel's first thought as he closed his eyes. His second thought never fully formed as a shock of desire went through him and settled in his groin. Then he groaned as Jack pulled back. Daniel slowly opened his eyes and looked straight into the love-filled brown ones only inches away.

"Did the Earth move for you?" Jack joked, trying to cover his nervousness. He was feeling a little light-headed after that brief kiss. He was also hard, his erection pressing into Daniel's back.

"Something definitely did," Daniel replied, a smile forming on his face. He wriggled a little bit. "I can see it did for you too." The feel of the erection pressing against him should have made him even more nervous but it didn't. What was happening between them was right, therefore there wasn't anything to get nervous about.

Jack returned the smile, loving the way Daniel's eyes lit up. "Shall we try again?"

"I'm game if you are." This time Daniel was the one who leaned in, angling his head slightly before reaching his destination. The kiss was firmer this time and soon progressed from chaste to more adventurous. Daniel parted his lips, allowing Jack to deepen the kiss. He wasn't kissed like this very often; the last time had been Sha're's parting kiss in the Abydos gateroom. There was a twinge of sorrow inside him as he remembered Sha're but he didn't let it spoil this kiss. Daniel eventually drew back, feeling dazed but happy.

"Is it too cliched to say 'wow'?" Jack wanted to know. He hadn't felt this good in a long time.

"Probably," Daniel replied. He turned slightly in Jack's embrace so that he could put his arms around his new lover. "But I can't think of anything else to say either."

"Danny," Jack whispered reverently before kissing him again. He got his fingers under Daniel's clothes and stroked the bare back, aware that Daniel was doing his own explorations. Breaking the kiss, he pulled Daniel's jumper off, then the long-sleeved t-shirt, and then gently pushed the young man until he was lying down. Jack took off his own clothes so that they were both naked from the waist up. Then he lay down next to Daniel, propped up on one elbow so that he could explore Daniel's chest with his fingers. "So smooth," he commented.

Daniel grinned and looked at Jack's chest. "So hairy."

"Hey!" Jack lightly slapped Daniel's chest in retaliation. "Be nice." He continued trailing his fingers over the flat stomach, watching it move in and out as Daniel breathed. "Warmer?" he asked as he rested his hand on the smooth skin.

"Much warmer," Daniel replied, not talking about the same thing. All Jack needed to do was move his hand just a little bit further south... "Almost hot, actually." He flicked his eyes down to where Jack's hand was currently resting.

Jack got the idea immediately and grinned; Daniel was getting the hang of playing. He inched his hand south, stopping when his fingers dipped under the waistband of the sweats. "How's this?"

"Very hot," Daniel said, breathing in sharply as Jack's fingers caressed his skin. When Jack's hand didn't move any lower, Daniel went to move it for him.

"Uh-uh." Jack quickly removed his hand. "Be patient, Dannyboy. All in good time."

Daniel scowled at him. "I don't want to be patient. I want your hand on me now!"

"We have all night," Jack pointed out. He wanted to make the first time last as long as possible.

Rolling onto his side, Daniel pushed Jack flat and pinned him to the floor. "Jack, I'm really horny for the first time in around eighteen months, and you want me to wait?" He had been too busy working to become romantically or sexually interested in anyone around him. Not that he hadn't noticed, but no-one had turned him on like this.

Jack had to laugh at that; Daniel's expression was such a picture. He locked his arms around Daniel's back and held his soon-to-be lover to him. "I do, actually. I'm trying to be romantic here, you know," he grouched. "Special first time and all that."

"Oh." Daniel was taken aback by the sentiment. In that case, it might be worth waiting for. "Sorry."

"I'll forgive you this time." Jack rolled them both over so that he was lying on top of Daniel, then dropped his head to kiss the soft lips.

"Mmph!" Daniel protested, then pulled his mouth free. "Jack, you're squashing me!" He pushed upwards with his hands, trying to move Jack off him.

"Oops." Jack slid off slightly to the side, one leg resting between both of Daniel's. He was glad that the team had gone skating because if they hadn't, he wouldn't have ended up with a half-naked Daniel in his arms. Of course, that snowball fight had helped... his thoughts stumbled to a halt. Carter had started the fight. Had she started it deliberately, knowing that he would have to take Daniel back here and sit in front of the blazing fire to get warm again?

"I love you, Jack," Daniel stated suddenly, the words coming to him as he looked at the man leaning over him.

"Love you too." Jack leaned over to kiss him again, at the same time slipping a hand under Daniel's sweats. 'The simplicity of play' - what would be more simple than this?