(no subject)

[echolls_cursed]

In the end Logan had never made it back to the hut. At least not to stay. He had stepped inside just long enough to grab his board and wetsuit, and had headed off to the beach.

Maybe leaving your husband's birthday to go surfing wasn't the best thing to do- but there was only so much Logan could stand to watch. BetweenJack flirting with others and others flirting with Jack, Logan felt ill. Maybe it was how Jack was, and maybe it was something he'd eventually get over, but today wasn't that day. he didn't like watching Jack flirt with others, and if that made him a shitty husband... Well then jack could just find himself someone more willing to share.

Someone like that asshole who'd been practically drooling on him.

He spent an hour in the waves, and then eventually made his way to the compound to shower and dress. Time had passed, and he felt guilty now for leaving Jack at the party- But a little voice in his head assured him that Jack had likely had more fun without him anyway. It was easier to smile and charm people without your husband glaring after all.

Still, he needed to go home. He couldn't hide forever.

Comments

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

The party had broken up and Jack had helped break down and clean up. He was coming back from taking a load of booze back to the Hub for Ianto when he saw Logan coming up the path. He hadn't realized he'd actually left.

"You missed it," Jack said. "Scotty and Prior are a thing. And I think Joe might have been looking for you."

He purposely didn't mention the board and wetsuit though he couldn't hide the look of disappointment in his eyes.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"Can't miss a party when the party doesn't miss you," Logan shrugged, Jack's look of surprise telling him all he'd needed to know.

Jack hadn't come to the hut to find him. He hadn't missed him at the party.

Logan had changed at the compound, but his wetsuit was still in his hand, and he draped it over the hammock as he made his way up the steps to the hut.

"No one stayed to hang out? You looked like you were having a lot of fun. I mean between Polly and that guy, I nearly forgot we were married," he said flatly.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"What guy?" Jack asked, leaving the rest of the clean up to other people.

"Logan...what guy? Is that why you left? Because I was talking to people?"

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"You weren't talking," Logan said, giving Jack a look. "Man, I know you can't help the charm, but I swear to god, it's like you don't even care that I'm standing there watching you. Do you get off on it or something? I mean, do you get hard knowing that I'm watching you flirt with other people?"

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"I wasn't flirting," he insisted. "I was just talking. I talked to everyone."

He sighed heavily.

"You told me to have fun. Mingle. But you don't want me to, do you? Would you have been happier if I'd just sat on the porch with you?"

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"Talking doesn't involve kissing people and grinning the way you do when you're being all charming and shit," Logan argued.

"And no, I didn't want that," he lied, picking a bit of invisible fluff off his shirt and looking uncomfortable. "Look, I'm glad you had a good time."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"No you're not. Don't lie," Jack said. It was rare that he called Logan out on it, but he was lying to Jack's face and not even doing a very good job of it.

"You do this every time there's a party, did you know that? Every single party I have to worry about not pissing you off. And tonight it wasn't enough to go inside. You left. I was giving you the benefit of the doubt and thinking you went to piss when I came looking for you, but nobody pisses that much."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"It's not like anyone noticed," Logan huffed. "Look, I left so you could have fun. I figured you wouldn't want me glaring at every idiot who wanted to check out your ass, so I left. You like parties, and I don't it's that simple. I wanted you to have something you'd enjoy, even if it meant feeling like shit while I watched you."

Folding his arms across his chest, he looked away.

"I just thought it would be different this time. I thought if I threw the damn thing people might actually say two words to me. I thought you could dance and do whatever it is that makes you so fucking happy at parties, and someone, anyone, would distract me long enough that I wouldn't care. Or hell, maybe someone would flirt with me for a change and I wouldn't feel like your reject ball and chain."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"Well, I noticed," Jack said flatly. "And you could talk to people first, you know. It wouldn't kill you to walk up to people and say hi. Somebody might even check out your ass for a change."

He was bitter and it stung to know that Logan hated parties so much. Hated them so much he was willing to be a martyr for Jack to have some fun. His lips were tight and his eyes were sad as he looked away.

"Whatever. It doesn't matter now. Now I feel like shit. I'm going to bed."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Logan looked scolded, and he shrank back.

"Okay," he said quietly, "I'll just... I'll go lay in the other room I guess."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"Great. Do what you want," Jack snapped. "Because it's not like you're the one person I wanted to see today. But whatever. Just...whatever."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Logan watched Jack storm off, and he walked quietly over the the bookshelf.

Reaching up, he lifted the puzzle box jack had made him off the shelf and opened it carefully. Inside was his newest gift for the other man. Another bullet, this one from the rifle. It was hollowed out just like the first, with a hole drilled so it could join it's brother on the chain around the other man's neck.

On the side he had carefully engraved a simple message.

'Shut up.' Two words they said to one another a lot. Words that went all the way back to the beginning.

Swallowing hard, he closed the box and wandered into the bedroom. "Before you go to bed, I... Uh. Here," he said awkwardly, putting the box down at the foot of the bed and heading out of the room and into the workroom.

In the future, he would leave the parties to people who knew how to enjoy them.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

Jack glared at Logan as he walked out but it was only moments before curiosity overtook him and he fiddled with the puzzle box. He turned the bullet over and over, reading it again and again.

Undoing the cord around his neck and added the shell to it. The two of them together jingled softly. He closed his eyes and sat the box aside and left it open as he went to find Logan.

He didn't say a word when he found him. He just approached him slowly and kissed him and said everything that way that he always seemed to fuck up.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"I'm sorry," Logan said quietly between kisses. "I'm really sorry. I just- I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought if I left, you'd just have fun. I thought I'd come home, and I wouldn't care that you'd been flirting and having fun. I wanted today to be good for you."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"Logan..." he sighed softly. "You make things good. I'm sorry you hate parties, but I always have more fun when you're around. Parties are fun, but they aren't every day. And did you ever consider that I kind of like showing you off? Even when you were just hanging on the porch, I kept pointing you out. Because...well, you're my husband. And you did all that for me. And I want people to know what a good thing I've got."

He kissed him softly.

"But then you disappeared."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, well, no one was looking," Logan assured the other man, pushing him away. "Most of them didn't know I was there."

He sat down on the edge of the bed and looked up.

"Did you open the box?" he asked.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"I noticed," he said as he reached up and made the shells clink together.

"Shut up? Really?" he grinned.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"It's our thing," Logan replied, offering a hint of a smile. "It's what we say."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"That and 'don't tell me what to do'...but that's a lot to fit on a bullet," Jack replied. He moved closer, kissing Logan again.

"Thank you for throwing me a party and for this. You are way too good to me sometimes."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"No I'm not," Logan replied quietly, scratching the back of his neck. "I ruined your birthday."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"Nah. Not really," he purred, stealing another kiss. Jack was good at hiding things, but with Logan he was an open book. He didn't purposely manipulate his husband and he didn't really hold back. It was always clear what was on his mind. Maybe it was the light in his eyes or the tone of his voice- sometimes it was just the fact that he couldn't keep his hands to himself.

"You can make it better than ten minutes ago, though. I don't like fighting with you."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"I hate fighting with you," Logan admitted, swallowing hard and gasping against Jack's lips. "When we fight, it feels like things are never gonna be good again. Like maybe this time you'll give up on me."

He held on tightly, his fingers digging into skin. "I don't think I'd bounce back if I lost you."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"Never gonna happen," Jack promised softly. "I made a promise. Til death do us part, you know? It's just a fight. We always work it out. Always. Promise me we always will, okay? Swear it."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"I swear," Logan promised,, pulling Jack down onto the bed as he lay down.

"Tell me what you want for your birtday," he said softly. "You can have the date and the day on the beach, but what do you want right now?"

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"You know I'm easy to please," Jack rasped, sliding his hand beneath Logan's shirt. "I want you. Naked. I want you."

He kissed Logan's neck for a few moments before he made it to his ear.

"Fuck me," he whispered. "No fights. No games. I just want you inside me."