Part 6

Disclaimer and Copyrights

Jack was adjusting the fly on his fatigues as he rounded the hut in the early morning sunshine on their final day of stay on P4r3999. Today was the celebration of the “Rites of Passage’. Jack recognized the crudeness of the term because what it basically meant was that the couples that had formed the day before – on the Day of Choosing – were now being prepared for a mass ‘mating’ session. He found it odd, and a little refreshing, that same-sex coupling was permitted on this world the same as opposite-sex coupling was. He figured he should grab Phil and they could live out there days in freedom on a planet like this one. Not ON this one, however, because, like the rest of his team Jack was really looking forward to going home. The thought foremost on his mind was one of stripping off all his clothes and indulging himself with a long soak in a hot tub. He knew his first desires should be Phil, but commonsense told him that even Philip would prefer him to have the long soak in the hot tub before coming anywhere near him at the moment. This village was surrounded by water but no one seemed to bathe.

After the candid conversation with Daniel in the moonlight two nights ago Jack realized two things. One, he needed to avoid the potent home-brewed wine that they served up with their roast meat at dinner time on this world, and two, that he and Philip had a lot of talking to do.

Suddenly he stopped, mid-step, and watched Daniel over by the fire. The anthropologist was talking to Teal’c – something Jack noticed he didn’t do a lot of the day before. He wondered if he could recall the last time he saw the two of them in deep discussion and put down the fact that he’d missed noticing that they’d hadn’t been lately because he just assumed they were keeping a ‘working’ distance between them.

From that distance it looked like the two men were quietly disputing something - the flush on Daniel's face always was a dead giveaway that he was talking passionately about something. Suddenly Teal'c bowed his head, swiveled on his heels and walked away. Daniel clapped both hands over the top of his head as he gave a heavy sigh, watching the Jaffa stomp off towards a row of trees.

"Aye.." Jack sighed beneath his breath as he screwed his face up slightly. He decided to wait, to see if the anthropologist was going to go off after him, before going over to the fire. Daniel lowered his arms, resting his hands on his hips but made no effort to chase his ex-lover.

Just as he was about to move over towards the fire Jack felt a heavy slap on the back of his shoulder and turned to see Nesquar's smiling face.

"Colly-nell," she said in a thick accent. He forced a smile to his face and nodded.

"Nesquar. Good to see you."

"You ... eeet?" She asked, making an eating action with her hand. He shook his head.

"No," he said as he patted his stomach. "I'm watching my waist." The stench of cooked meat had assaulted his senses all morning, and after two days of eating nothing but dead hairy beast, Jack was looking forward to going home and making up some vegetables. Lots of vegetables!

She looked at him a moment then roared with laughter as she slapped him across the back once more. "Come. You eeet wiv Nesquar!" She gripped his arm above the elbow in her large palm and steered him over to the fire, leaving him beside Daniel. As she passed him a bowl of meat, she nudged him and said, "You eyed you boy."

Jack frowned, totally perplexed by what she was saying then he turned to Daniel, who looked just as lost. Nesquar pointed to Daniel then to Jack. "You eye him."

"Eye him?" Jack asked, finally understanding her thick accent.

"Watched me." Daniel offered then rolled his eyes and shrugged when Jack looked at him as if to say, 'how the hell do you understand her?'

"Watched him?" Jack said to her and she laughed loudly.

"Yes. You wad-ched him. I eye you!"

Jack's mouth moved as he tried to make sense of her statement but the linguist had adjusted to the accent with more ease.

"When were you watching me?" he asked Jack.

"Huh?"

"When were you watching me?"

"Over there." Nesquar pointed to the hut. Daniel frowned and looked towards the hut then back at Jack.

"You were?"

Jack looked like a man caught. He shrugged then turned to the tribeswoman. "About today's itinery."

Nesquar looked perplexed and Daniel sighed. "Don't try to change the subject with big words, Jack."

"I wasn't," the older man argued.

"Yes, you were."

"No, I wasn't."

"Yes - You were!"

"No - 'I' wasn't!"

Nesquar roared with laughter and patted Jack's back. "You tell him off. He no talk to you-chief like that. Smack Smack!" She indicated her words with a light pat on Daniel's behind.

The indignant anthropologist’s eyes widened as he stared at Jack. The colonel pursed his lips together then shrugged, trying hard not to laugh at the mere suggestion that he had any right to punish Daniel for insubordination with a well-placed smack. Not that he didn't feel like doing just that sometimes. Daniel seemed to sense this and rolled his eyes before he turned away.

"Hey!" Jack said, getting his attention once more.

"What?"

"Where're you going?"

"I'm taking this to Sam. Today's the third day of the Rites. She's with the women folk." He added a shrug, indicating that their friend was not too happy about spending the morning with the women in preparation for the consummation of the relationships formed yesterday.

"Ah, women-folk!" Jack nodded then flung his hand in the direction of the women's area. Daniel bowed his head and went across to her.

Turning to Nesquar, he asked, "What happens later today, in this Rites?"

Nesquar threw her hands up over her head and roared loudly. "More Dancing and more feasting! And then.." She reached out to pat Jack's groin but the colonel jumped back away too quickly. This made Nesquar laugh loudly, so loud that it seemed that her laughter reverberated on the clouds above them. Jack rolled his eyes and sighed as he muttered, "Aye, ai, yai..."

*

The early morning sun shone through the window of Philip's bedroom. The artist, asleep in the crumpled bed, woke slowly and took his time focusing on the face beside him.

"Good morning," Todd said, his voice a deep purr and his face filled with a smile. Philip gave a deep groan as he struggled to sit up.

"Is it?" He muttered, before starting to cough as he rolled onto one elbow in the attempt to kick his feet from the bed. Todd shifted from where he was sitting on the edge of the bed to give him room to get out. Concerned by the constant hacking, he reached past Philip and handed him his medical inhaler from the side table. The younger man, raising shaking hands to his mouth, used the inhaler then flung himself back onto the bed, gasping between coughs to regain his breath. Wordlessly Todd reached across the partly exposed torso to pick up the dropped inhaler from the rumpled bedsheet, making sure it was able to be located the next time he needed it. Soon the coughing slowed and the breathing became less audible. Philip covered his face with both hands as he moaned loudly.

"Want a cup of tea?" Todd asked, patting his friend's legs and getting up off the bed. A muffled 'yes' came from behind the trembling hands and so Todd left the room and went into the kitchen, leaving Philip to get up on his own.

As he entered the kitchen he jutted a thumb over his shoulder and said, "No way is he coming to work today."

Graham looked up from where he was buttering his toast. "Again?"

Todd shook the kettle and reached over to fill it with water from the faucet. As he placed it over the flame he said, "His doctor did tell him to get a few days rest.."

"And he has been. The past few days all he's gotten out of bed for was a leak. I think the poor kids going to start climbing the walls if he stays home one more day."

Graham started to raise the toast to his mouth and noticed the hungry look in the brown eyes watching him. He passed over the slice in his hands and Todd smiled before biting into the toast.

"Thanks," he muttered between bites. Graham rolled his eyes a little and reached behind himself for his glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.

Raising that to his mouth he said, "Well, it's good of you to call by to give him a ride in..." His sentence slowed warily as he watched Todd eye off his glass now. With a sigh he passed over the drink and the librarian smiled again.

"Thanks."

The Lieutenant said drolly, "You 'did' move out - two days ago, didn't you?"

Todd noted the sarcasm and acknowledged it with a raise of his brow as he downed some more juice then finished off the last of his slice of toast.

"I mean," Graham said with a restrained smile, "I do actually recall you saying you'd found a place, not to far from here - wasn't it?" He went to the friddge and pulled out some more oranges and took them to the counter.

"Sure," Todd said as he poured the now boiling water into the three cups lined up. "Right around the corner, in Mainland Street." Then turning back to face him, Todd added, teasingly, "After you threw me out and all..."

"Threw you out?" Graham snorted with laughter as he cut the oranges in half for juicing. "You're the one that went to the store for some candy and came back with an apartment!"

Todd laughed as he nodded - for he had. After Janet had left Philip the other night Todd had insisted on spending the night on the sofa so that Philip slept in his own bed. The next day, feeling a little craving for chocolate, Todd told them he was going to the corner store for some candy and some milk. Along the way he noticed a 'Loft To Let' sign on a window in Mainland Street so he went in, viewed the loft and signed the papers, all on the spot. When he came home he told the brothers his good news. Graham's reaction of 'but I thought you just went out for some candy' had them all reduced to laughter. For Graham though, the laughter stopped when they all went around to see the place. It was in Daniel's apartment block at 1152 Mainland Street. The Loft was different than the anthropologist's place though and it overlooked the opposite side of the city.

"You got any furniture in that place yet? Other than that abandoned sun chair on the balcony?"

"Nope, not yet. It's got this lovely 'spacious' look about it," Todd said with a grin.

"I bet." Graham smirked.

"Last night I went to sleep on the balcony. Under the stars! It was beautiful!" Todd said with a sigh.

"On the balcony?"

"Yeah, on the sun bed. Belissimo!"

Graham looked Todd up and down. "No wonder you and Phil get along so well, you're both mad!"

Todd laughed heartily. "We both love the feeling of freedom."

"You're both are addicted to the night sky," Graham said about to bite into the remaining piece of toast. He saw Todd's hungry look once more and passed it over.

"Thinking of getting a fridge anytime soon?" he asked, turning to make some more toast. Todd laughed around his mouthful of food.

"Sure, right after I get the hot water turned on. By the way, I think I drained your tank."

"Good thing Phil's not going to work then, huh?"

"Who said I'm not going to work?" Philip asked from the doorway. Graham and Todd snapped around to see him.

"You should be in bed," Graham told him, looking at the stubble on his face and the dark circles under his eyes.

"Here we go again, telling me what to do," Phil muttered playfully. Graham spluttered then looked at Todd.

"Will you tell him then? He takes it from you."

"Philip Simmons! You are too sick to go to work! Get that cute little ass of yours back into bed this instance, boy-oh! Or I might be forced to restrain you in there! Graham, lend me your handcuffs!”

Phil looked at him a long moment then bowed his head as he wet his lips. "You know, Todd," he said, looking up with a deadpan look in his eyes, "ordinarily that kind of talk would just do it for me-"

Graham and Todd both smirked at the younger man, who continued to say, "But I had a wet dream last night - you weren't in it by the way - and I'm kinda feeling spent.. so.." He reached for his cup of tea and announced, as he crossed his arms, "I'll be going into work today, thanks all the same!"

Graham bit his lips together as he stifled his laugh.

Todd just laughed and said, as he held a finger up, "Firstly, glad I'm not sleeping on those sheets again!"

Graham snorted as he swallowed his laughter now and Phil settled his partly closed eyes onto his cheeky friend. Todd laughed even louder. "And secondly, look at you! You're so damn cute!" he said, pinching Phil's cheek. The younger man flinched away and growled at him, baring his teeth and pretending to snap at him.

"Didn't you move out?" Phil asked, changing the subject abruptly. He looked to his brother, who shrugged, and he returned the shrug. Rolling his eyes he went slowly over to the fridge to get out some oranges then he turned to the counter where the juicer sat.

"We've already had this conversation," Graham muttered to him as he tapped him on the shoulder and handed him his untouched glass of juice. Phil gave his brother a thankful smile then took a sip of the drink as he turned back to Todd.

"And - the verdict was?"

"I've no hot water there nor do I have a fridge in which to keep food. I will, soon though.."

"Oh, but he has a lovely balcony on which to sleep," Graham mumbled and Phil smiled and looked at Todd.

"Yeah? Cool!"

"Slept there last night as a matter of fact," he said, watching Graham squeeze his third glassful of oranges for that morning.

"Sounds great! I'll have to come and sleep over one night," Phil suggested, as he put two bits of bread into the toaster.

"Sure! Whenever!"

Graham looked between the men then sighed. "Just pack a picnic basket before you go," the lieutenant said teasingly. Phil laughed.

"Sounds like it."

"You get a gorgeous view of the night sky though," Todd said, ignoring the provoking.

"He gets a gorgeous view of the night sky here too," Graham said then added, cautiously, "Though he shouldn't be sleeping out doors!"

Phil sighed. "Don't nag."

"I nag because I care!" Graham said sleepily before clipping his little brother lightly up the back of the head.

Phil smiled at him. "I know."

"Good. And on that note, I'm off to bed. Please don't bang the front door too loudly on your way out."

"We won't," Phil said, deliberately cutting off anything Todd was about to say.

"Night," Todd said the watched him until the door closed before looking back at Philip, who was leaning against the counter on outstretched arms.

"So, babe.." He moved to him now, slipping his arm across the rounded back and tilting his head to look at the lowered face.

"Don't call me that," Philip said abruptly.

"Huh?" Todd was taken aback.

The younger man looked up at him and explained, "Jack calls me that."

"Oh, okay," Todd said with a shrug. "Guess I really shouldn't call my boss 'babe' anyway. Might constitute some kind of sexual harassment."

With a soft snort, Philip took the toast from the toaster and dropped them onto his plate. "Only if I objected," he muttered.

"Which you just did-" Todd commented.

"I objected to the term, not the sentiment," Philip said quietly, moving around and preparing his toast while not meeting Todd's eyes once.

"Oh," Todd said with a growing smile as he folded his arms across his chest. "So you don't object to the fact that I find you a babe.. just that I call you one?"

Philip lifted heavily hooded eyes to look at the tall man in the doorway. "I doubt anyone would find me 'babe-ish' at the moment.."

Todd frowned slightly, concerned about his friend's sudden despondent response. He went over to him then, by gently gripping his shoulders, turned him to face him. "You could do with a shower and a shave - but you know, that's kinda a turn on, too-"

Both men laughed now and then Philip pulled back and slapped Todd's arm playfully. "You're so weird."

The older man laughed throatily. "Moi? I'm shattered. Anyway, I've used up all your hot water and now I'm off to work."

"I'll see you in there," Philip said with a fading smile.

"You should take the day off, go back to bed. Get over this damn cold of yours! Your Doctor said that she wanted you to take it easy..." He jutted a pointed finger at his friend.

"Which I did yesterday. All day. I laid in bed - all day - staring up at the ceiling..."