Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

If he stopped buying food today, he could still make rent. That was only like… six days of ramen and eggs. If he stretched it out, maybe counted some coins for a loaf of bread and some peanut butter, he could probably keep himself alive until this gig paid out.

But then he had to find another job. And that wasn’t looking remotely positive. His last few auditions hadn’t called back and the forums and wanted ads were dead. He couldn’t even find a small job voicing an art student project for gift cards like last month. (Living off sub sandwiches and iced coffee wasn’t his proudest moment but it worked.)

It was time for Gabriel Reyes to face facts; he had to get a ‘real job’. Freelancing had gotten him through the past year, sure, but every profession had its slow seasons. Apparently, for voice acting it started in May around here.

So that morning he got up, ate two scrambled eggs, told the dog to be good, and headed out the door for an interview. Some restaurant down the road looking for servers.

Maybe he didn’t look the part with how short the interview went. Not shocking considering the blonde college girl staffing they had going. Also, a resume that contained more than over two years worth of voice work might have helped. Either way, it was pretty clear he wasn’t getting a call back. And two eggs was hardly doing the trick at noon when he left, defeated, and his favorite spot for lunch was only a short walk.

He tried to stop himself, he did. It wasn’t a promise he could get even 10 bucks back before rent was due next week. But the cloud of hunger and defeat eventually won and drug him down the sidewalk for a Hawaiian BBQ plate. Maybe he could soothe the sting enough with pulled pork and mac salad to try for another walk-in interview later.

Walking down the strip, something caught his eye. One of the storefronts, previously empty, had a new sign posted on the door:

Below that, there was another sign:

Gabriel stared at it a long moment, then looked at the storefront itself. It was a good location, at least. Busy part of the hipper section of town. Peering inside, hands cupped to the glass, they already had a nice set up with shelving and a glass case counter ready to be filled.

Maybe it was a sign? Maybe it was nothing but somewhere he’d end up sinking his spare money—if he ever even got any more. But it was worth a shot, current situation considered. So he snapped a picture of the help wanted sign with his phone and headed in to get lunch. By the time he finished his meal, which was well worth the shortage in his bank account, he had decided to apply.

So he headed home and, after feeding the dog and seeing if he could count out the amount he’d spent on lunch in pennies (no such luck, he really would need a job in the next few days now), Gabriel settled in and fixed up his resume. Fingers crossed, he clicked send and sat back in his chair.

“Well, Reaper,” he said, watching the oversized Belgian Shepherd nosing his bowl around, “hope I hear back. Or we might have to move back with mami and the cats.” Reaper let out a low whine and sat back on his haunches, one paw on his bowl. Gabriel sighed. “You want an egg?” An excited bark. “Fine. I’ll just have one tomorrow, then. Maybe the pork will get me through a slim day.”

He got to his feet, dog dancing at his heels, and headed for the kitchen. By the time he finished and returned to his laptop he already had a reply to the email. That was promising! Plopping down in his chair, Gabriel read through the message.

Simple, to the point. It thanked him for interest, then listed a potential interview time and a reminder of the store location for reference. Nice! Gabriel typed out a quick reply, agreeing to the interview time, and let out a relieved sigh. Maybe he wouldn’t starve after all. His email dinged a few seconds later, already getting a reply. He clicked it, expecting a curt approval, and instead was met with something almost… cheeky?

'See you then. ;) Call me when you’re at the door. -Jack’

A cell number followed below. Gabriel went ahead and added it to his phone, chuckling faintly to himself. Well, should have expected that he supposed. Anyone opening a comic shop couldn’t be all business, after all.

The next morning, bright and early, he headed for the shop. One egg pushing his energy a little thin, he managed to make it to the door with only a minute to fumble for his phone before he looked late. Weren’t people usually early to interviews? Whatever.

The number rang twice, then a man’s voice answered.

“Hello?”

“Morrison? This is Gabriel Reyes. I’m at the door.”

Possibly the dorkiest laugh he’d ever heard followed. “Ah, just call me Jack. I’ll be right there, man.” Click.

Gabriel pulled back and glanced at his phone before stuffing it in his pocket. He returned attention to the door just in time for it to swing open, keys hanging out of the lock as it pushed out next to him.

At the door was a man around his age, guessing. Blond, blue eyes, and a huge smile that only managed to grow when he actually saw Gabriel.

“Shit yeah, you’re, like, an actual adult.” He said as Gabriel entered, closing the door behind him and retrieving his keys before sticking a hand out to him. “Nice to actually meet you.”

Gabriel took his hand with a faint chuckle. “Haven’t gotten many adults?” He asked.

Jack laughed again and shook his head, motioning for Gabriel to follow him back into the shop. “Not really, no. You’re the first person I even got with any kind of know-how experience. Mostly just students who really liked the old Marvel movies.”

They stopped at a make-shift table set up toward the back of the shop. Boxes of comics and other merchandise littered the area, everything out of order. It looked like Jack had been in the middle of un boxing some table top games when he arrived, a few miniatures littering a small glass case next to them. Jack caught him looking as they sat down.

“Sorry about the mess. I’ve been mostly opening by myself so… it’s a lot. Part of why I need the help so bad.”

Gabriel waved him off easily. “Hey, hopefully what I’m here to help with. I can pick up bigger boxes than most college students, I think.”

Jack grinned at him. “Certainly looks like it. You skipped a leg day since you were 14 or what?”

That got him chuckling. “Man, just once. Otherwise I might have transcended by now.” Jack laughed that dorky one from the phone and it was one of the more rewarding things to happen to Gabriel in a while.

“Okay, okay. You already made a good impression. Let me just—crap.” Jack turned in his chair, hunting for something, and frowned. Hopped to his feet and held up a finger to Gabriel. “One second. I gotta find my sheet.” And with that he vanished into the back of the shop, leaving Gabriel to curiously eye the main room.

Mostly, it wasn’t very exciting yet. Boxes, boxes, cat, box—wait. Cat?

Gabriel leaned forward to get a better look at the white feline curled up on the counter. It looked back at him, ear flicking, and yawned. Clearly unimpressed.

In the back where Jack was there was a thud, followed by cussing and then “I’m okay!” Gabriel glanced at the doorway he’d gone through, concerned, before looking back at the cat.

It sniffed the air and he held a hand low to the floor, clicking his tongue for it. After a solid moment of consideration it hopped up and off the counter, padding over to rub at his knuckles. He grinned and scratched at its ears, cat leaning into his hand. He'd almost reduced the thing to a puddle when Jack reappeared, papers in hand. He spotted the cat next to Gabriel, froze, and stared. Gabriel looked back, concerned.

“What?”

“He, uh, usually doesn’t… like anyone. At all.” Jack explained, baffled but relaxing some. He moved over to his seat again. “I might have to hire you just for getting 76 to let you pet him.”

“76?”

Jack actually looked embarrassed. “That’s, uh, the name he came with. I think he was a hoarder case or something and the shelter never got around to naming him. I… I mean, I couldn’t really think of anything either. Plus, sounds okay if he’s a comic shop cat, right?”

Gabriel shrugged and watched the cat rub behind his legs before settling down under the table at his feet. “Guess it works.” He said. “Seems plenty friendly to me.”

“You’d be the second person to ever think that, then.” Jack chuckled. “First was me. And that’s why they more or less forced me to take him.”

Gabriel stole one more glance down at the content feline before looking back at Jack with a grin. “Worse things to get stuck with.” he said.

“Fair enough.” Jack chuckled and returned his attention to what he’d brought out of the back room; a clipboard with what looked like a sizable stack of papers attached to it. “So I’ve only got one sheet of questions but this looks big because it’s like… all the resumes and interviews I’ve gotten so far. Don’t get intimidated.”

Gabriel cocked a brow at him. “I’ve had shorter interviews for an office job if that whole thing was it.”

Jack laughed again and waved him off. There was a brief moment where he dug for a pen, one Gabriel simply spent the whole time staring at the one clipped to his clipboard for, before he found it, shot Gabriel an embarrassed look, and clicked it.

“Anyway. Interview.” Jack cleared his throat, sat up in his seat a little. “You from around here?”

“Born and raised in LA.” Gabriel paused, Jack scribbling on the paper, and considered the other man a moment. “You aren’t, are you?”

Jack didn’t look up to reply. “Nah. Moved here a few months back. Indiana native. I need some locals, lemme tell you.” He read off the next question, “I’ve got your work and education history already but you wanna give me a brief summary?”

“Finished high school, got a BA in phys ED, hated it, did the best 3 years of my life working for an arts center, place closed, did some acting for a cartoon studio, job finished, went into freelance, and have been doing that off and on for about 2 years now.” He waited a moment for Jack to finish his notes before going on. “Also did, uh, kickboxing completions for a while. Not really career just… part of the phys ed years, mainly.”

Jack raised a brow but didn’t look up. “Busy busy. I like it.” Something in his tone was utterly charming, Gabriel grinned as he moved on to the next question. “Favorite property? Any, uh, nerd facts about yourself?” He looked up. “This is just a get to know you question, really.”

“Punisher, the good years of Venom, Deadpool, X-Men in places, Ghost Rider, Constantine,” Gabriel rattled off easily, “and Batman when we’re talking about any of the arcs that don’t have the writer jerking off the Joker the whole time.” Jack laughed. “I also played a shit ton of D&D in high school; lends itself well to being theater kid king.”

Jack gave a little hmm of approval and struck through the next question. “I know your sales history is pretty old but I’m honestly not worried. Just two more questions. One; any special requests for your schedule if you’re hired?”

Gabriel shrugged. “I’m sort of between things right now, not concerned. Might have some voice jobs I do between shifts though.”

Jack nodded. “Alright, last question; when can you start?”

Gabriel glanced around the store. Boxes everywhere, shelving still to go up, and general disorder. Looked back at Jack grinning.

“Today, I guess.” His stomach, sufficiently empty after his meager breakfast, cut in there and he cringed.

“I’ll buy you lunch if you do.” Jack offered, setting his clipboard down and holding out a hand.

Gabriel took it gladly. “Deal. Want some recommendations on good places around here, Indiana?”

Getting to his feet already, Jack nodded eagerly. “Oh, definitely.”

Gabriel picked the nearest taco place the second Jack blanched at the idea of fish tacos. It took some conning but he got the man to swap out one of his shrimp and rice ones for a tuna and cabbage slaw and watched with unabashed joy as Jack melted the second he took a bite.

“I should not have doubted you, sir.” He said between bites, humming contently. “Only fish I’m used to either you catch yourself or get in frozen stick form.”

Gabriel pulled a face, mouth full of taco. He was doing his best not to behave like a ravenous beast but it was rough when he was getting something this good after pb&j for dinner and one scrambled egg for breakfast. Jack didn’t seem to mind, at least. He took a draw off his beer, looking thoughtful, and cleared his throat. Gabriel looked up.

“Guess I could tell you a little about myself, if you’d like. Most locals kind of take me moving all the way here to open a comic shop with a grain of salt but I know it’s weird.”

Now that he mentioned it, the idea Jack was from out of state was slightly strange. Not that transplants were uncommon in LA. Usually they just had other goals than ‘start a small business’. He sipped his beer to wash down his taco before speaking.

“Yeah, Indiana, give me some fun facts.”

Jack smiled. “Well, closest map town I’m from is Bloomington. But good luck finding my actual home town. Its population is mostly cows and tractors. I had some rough years in school, barely finished. Went for a law enforcement degree; wanted to be a fire marshal. It, uh, didn’t pan out. But I did a ton of volunteer work in my younger years. After that was just… aimless. Went back to school, got a business degree, figured out I hated my home town, met some people who offered me an out, moved here, uh…” he fiddled with his napkin, “didn’t pan out. Did some more volunteer work with the LAFD, made some friends, got a loan and a willing business partner through the weirdest means, and decided to see if I could live out that little kid fantasy.” He forced a laugh, looking strangely self conscious. “Sounds stupid when I put it in words. But life has been a whole lot of me not knowing what to do and doing shit for other people. This is the first thing I’ve really thought up all by myself.”

Gabriel offered up a crooked grin. “No better time to find yourself than the present, really. But, uh, fire fighter? Seriously?”

Jack shot him a sulky, indignant look over his beer. “Problem?”

“No no,” Gabriel laughed, “suits you. Just surprised 'comic shop’ is the childish dream.”

“My dad was a fire chief.” Jack explained, grin quickly returning. “It was a realistic goal. Follow the family tradition and all. But now I just get to be the weirdo at family reunions that left The Life for nerd shit.”

Gabriel laughed. “Sounds familiar. Years of them going 'Gabriel’s gonna be a teacher!’ only for me to bail after a year of working under the public school system. Now it’s 'hey Gabriel, going back to school yet?’ and occasional questions about whether or not I’ve bagged myself a rich spouse yet.”

Jack choked on his sip of beer, laughing. Blue eyes twinkling when he looked up at Gabriel.

“Nice to know we're from common territory there. I’m glad you applied, man.” he said, “We’ve got like a week of set up to do and if I had to do it working in boring, awkward silence with someone while the radio played I think I would have died.”

Gabriel couldn’t help but agree. He’d only applied out of desperation, sure, but he couldn’t complain about results like this.

“It’ll be good working with you,” he leaned in to emphasize the last word, “boss.”

Jack choked again, laughing, and waved a hand at him. “No, no, fuck off with that!” he said, “Never call me that again.”

Gabriel chuckled and drained his beer, Jack already stacking their empty baskets and readying to leave. “Suit yourself,” he hummed, “I’m sure I’ll be calling you Jackass in no time.”

Jack snorted. “Wouldn’t be the first time, Gabe.”

Normally, Gabriel would have corrected him. He’d never been fond of that nickname. 'They call you the name your mother gave you.’ always rang in his head, often referring to his sisters more than himself but still a standing fact. But there was something about how Jack said it that felt… right. So he just let it slide. Made it easier to win their little bickering fest if he didn’t react anyway, right?

“C'mon, let’s get back to your little disaster site.” he said, setting his empty cup down. “Thanks for lunch, by the way.”

Jack waved him off. “Least I could do for my star employee.”

“Pretty sure I’m your only employee so-far.” Gabriel deadpanned.

Jack laughed. “Actually, you aren’t. But nice try on the self-depreciation.” He headed for the door, beckoning for Gabriel to follow–like he needed the invitation at all.

After Jack went over the plan for the day, which was setting up display shelving and getting the locked cases put together, mainly to make sure they could, in fact, lock items up, they dissolved into small talk. It was easy, natural. Like they’d suddenly known each other for years.

“I’ll admit, I haven’t played D&D since college.” Gabriel remarked as he paused over a box of miniatures.

Jack looked appalled for a moment, head popping up from behind the case he was putting together. “My group plays every Wednesday.” he said, “If there, uh, isn’t a fire.”

“You play Dungeons and Dragons with the LAFD?”

“Just part of it. Like 5 people.”

Gabriel laughed. “Man, I want a spot just to see that. Middle of a boss fight and the alarm goes off.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time.” Jack beamed at him. “But seriously. I’ll work you in if you’re interested.”

“You DM?” Jack nodded. “Why am I not surprised?” Gabriel asked.

Jack struck a pose, hand under his chin and propped against his half-assembled case. “It’s the way I carry myself.”

“Yeah, like a know-it-all.”

Hissing like he’d been strung, Jack grabbed his chest and leaned away dramatically. “Harsh!” He laughed that same endearingly dorky laugh. “But probably true.”

“Bet your favorite character is Captain America.”

“Don’t call me out like that, Gabe. I thought we were becoming friends. Bros, even.” Jack said. He was really hamming this one up, brow furrowed and lower lip stuck out. “At least my list wasn’t all edgy anti-heroes.”

“X-Men.” Gabriel deflected.

“If your favorite isn’t a former Brotherhood member I will give you twenty bucks right now.”

“Phoenix.”

Jack stared at him a moment, measuring sincerity, and then dug into his pocket. He yanked out a 20 and slapped it on the top of the shelf. Gabriel stared at him, brow cocked.

“Damn it.” he grumbled.

Gabriel stared at it a moment, gears turning. Just like that, he was caught up on rent and had some spare cash. Could buy what he needed for a huge pot of chicken and rice. That always worked for a good filler. He reached over and took the bill before he could reconsider it. Jack just grinned at him.

“Help me stand this thing up, Edgelord.” Jack got to his feet and motioned to the case.

Doing his best not to be too excited about 20 dollars, Gabriel hopped to his feet and moved the case into place with him. They finished a few more while talking about nothing in particular, just casual banter. Forth one done, Jack checked his phone for the time.

“Ah, I need to get some errands done. Make keys, paperwork, fun shit. I’ll put your hours in once I have payroll set up. Should have you your first check next week.” He rummaged in his pocket a moment before pulling out another 20 and shoving it at Gabriel. “In the meantime, here. I’ll bring coffee tomorrow if you show up at 7 with me, too.”

Gabriel shot him a flat look, trying not to grin. “Man, moneybags. How much cash do you keep on you?” Tried to deflect from the fact he’d already stuffed the other bill in his pocket. Jack laughed.

“That would be it. But I usually have some just for… uh, old habits, I guess.” Jack trailed off, looking slightly uncomfortable about the topic. He swapped it easily. “Anyway. 7. How do you take your coffee?”

“The more milk and sugar the better.”

Jack wrinkled his nose. “Ugh, fine. I’ll taint good coffee for you.” he drawled, heading for the door. Gabriel trailed after him. “But only because we’re bros now.”

Gabriel chuckled. “How kind of you.”

“I know.” Jack said, holding the door open for Gabriel to leave before locking up. “I’m just a giver.”

Gabriel said his goodbyes and headed home. But not before swinging by the store and ‘splurging’ on a few decent grocery items. He went home, cooked up a huge pot of chicken, rice, and vegetables and settled in for the evening gloriously contented. Yeah, this job might work out after all. If it kept him fed he’d gladly spend time building shelving and talking to that dorky Golden Boy. No complaints to be found.

So what if his boss texted him at nearly 10pm, asking if he was still up and what flavor he wanted in his latte tomorrow? It was a free latte.

Gabriel rolled over, barely coherent, and typed out a reply.

'caramel or cinnamon'

Rolled back over, ready to sleep, but his phone chimed again. Gabriel sighed and picked it up.

'sweet or savory breakfast?'

Breakfast? Hell yeah.

'surprise me'

'asshole'

Gabriel chuckled to himself, resting his phone against his forehead lazily until it buzzed again. Raised it back up to look at the message, eyes bleary.

'fine. but you have to eat it no matter what.'

'oh, free food. how will i ever survive?'

'you'll see'

He managed to pass out after that, phone going silent. He had to be sure he was up in time to get a good start on the next morning. Feed the dog, check his email (not that it completely mattered if he got any bites), and get ready for another exciting day of building furniture and talking to Jack. Which, as it turned out, was a rather nice thought.

He didn't make, or keep, friends very easily so whatever miracle occurred to help him so effortlessly bond with Jack already was odd but welcome. Gabriel wasn't in the market to question it, at the very least. He just intended to enjoy the free food and good company for as long as it suited them both. What was that saying? Don't look a gift horse in the mouth?

Gabriel didn't know much about horses—or friendship—to offer up any kind of appraisal anyway. Best to just go with the flow.

Chapter Text

It rained the next morning, making getting up before 7am a struggle. But Gabriel powered through it. Argued with the dog about going outside before he left and all.

(“You have to go out.” Low whining. “I’m serious. Go pee.” A louder whine. “Go piss on a bush already, asshole!” A final huff before complying.)

When he finally arrived at the shop the lights were still off. Gabriel crammed himself under the small overhang of the building and dug his phone out to call Jack. It only rang once before he picked up.

“I know, I know. I’ll be right down, I’m sorry!”

Couldn’t stay mad with him like that. Gabriel just huffed into the phone and squished himself up against the store window.

“Hurry up.”

“One sec!” Click.

Gabriel sighed and watched the rain flow off the overhang and onto the sidewalk below. God knows they needed it. But it really could have waited until he was at least settled inside somewhere.

True to his word, at least, Jack was down the stairs next to the shop momentarily. Must have rented out the upstairs apartment, how convenient. He squeezed past Gabriel under the overhang to open the door and then ushered him inside.

Jack handed him a bag when he got in the door properly, shucking off his dripping coat. It was still warm and smelled like heaven. Gabriel cast him a curious look, brow raised, before peering into the paper sack.

“Monte Cristo.” Jack explained, beaming. “Turkey, ham, and cheese with raspberry jam between two pieces of french toast.”

Gabriel took a bite before he even finished, eyes wide, and instantly melted. He could have died right then and there and it would have been just fine. Possibly better considering the fact he barely managed to avoid tearing up in from of Jack as he greedily took another bite.

“So... is it good?” Jack asked, bouncing up on his toes. Gabriel responded with a dramatic moan and he reeled back, laughing.

He finished the thing before Jack could really get any coherent words out of him. Instead, the other man just stood there chuckling to himself and sipping his coffee. Looking a little too proud for his own good, really.

“That may be the best thing I've eaten in my whole damn life.” Gabriel said, wiping his face. “Am I crying? I think I'm crying.”

Jack laughed. “Maybe a little. I won't tell. Glad my cooking still packs a good punch.”

“You?” Gabriel blinked at him. “You made that?” Jack nodded,. “Holy shit. Who taught you to cook that kind of sinfulness?”

“Wouldn't you like to know.” Jack hummed, tossing his empty coffee cup in the trash can next to the door as he headed for the back. “C'mon, that should definitely fuel you well enough for us to get the rest of these cases done.”

Gabriel wandered after him, tossing his trash on the way. Something from the night before occurred to him, however.

“You made 'surprising me' seem like it was somehow a threat. How the fuck was that anything but amazing?”

Jack tossed a grin over his shoulder. “Not to you, no, but your arteries are gonna have a rough time from that one.”

Gabriel patted at his chest roughly. “It was worth it.”

The morning started off smoothly enough from there; he and Jack managed to finish making the cases and get them into position well before lunch and set to work on the next task: spinning racks. There were only two but one had obviously already been opened and gone through when Gabriel reached for it.

“Eh, uh.” Jack coughed behind him. Gabriel glanced over his shoulder, brow raised. “I gave up on it.” he said.

Gabriel turned back to the box and pulled out a few pieces. Sorted through until he found the base and set it on the floor. Looked back at Jack grinning.

“Step one, done.”

“Okay, smartass.” Jack huffed, obviously trying not to laugh.

The rest of the steps were… slightly less doable, however. Halfway through the first rack, Jack having moved on to the other and making even less progress, Gabriel flopped backwards onto the floor from where he’d been sitting to work on it. Jack chuckled at him.

“What time is it, dude?”

“10.”

Gabriel frowned. “Feels later.”

“That’s probably because I was bothering you at 10 last night.” Jack replied, “Sorry, by the way.” Gabriel waved him off lazily from his spot on the floor. “I was up late fucking around on the net and–did you know you have an IMDB?”

Gabriel blinked up at the ceiling. “What?”

“Yeah. There’s this really glamorous shot of you eating a hotdog at some con on it, even.”

Gabriel rolled over to look at him, brow raised. “You were researching me?” he asked, feigning offense.

Jack held his hands up defensively. “I Googled you.” He narrowed his eyes at Gabriel, faux critical. “Gotta know my employees. Also… you said you’ve done voice work with an actual studio and I was curious. Sue me.”

“So, like what you saw?” Gabriel asked.

Jack laughed. “Well, you can fit almost an entire hotdog in your mouth. That’s cool.” Gabriel made a face and he laughed again. Held up a hand to placate him. “Also, your speaking voice is way different than I’d expect.”

“How so?”

“You have all these dark gloom and doom roles but when I first heard you on the phone you sounded like a radio host.”

Gabriel grinned and put on his best morning talk show voice. “Smooth as silk here at OWC, it’s Gabriel Reyes here to take you through your morning.” Jack bubbled with laughter, grasping his chest. “I brewed my tea with honey instead of water to save my voice from that last role but damn if it wasn’t worth it.”

Jack heaved, trying to recover, and slapped at his chest. Managed to breath properly again. Gabriel grinned at him.

“Holy shit, bro. Don’t ruin a guy like that.” Jack finally managed, still coughing slightly. “But seriously. Do you have, like, multiple voices you can do?”

“Just 3 so-far,” he said, using the voice for each name to demonstrate. “There’s talk show host, literal demon, and,” he cleared his throat for the last one, “small squeaky creature.”

Gabriel was fairly certainly Jack almost flatlined from the last one. As it was he took a full 3 minutes and chugging a bottle of water to recover. By this point he’d sat up again to be sure he was alright, feeling more proud of himself than guilty for the whole thing.

“Don’t. Do that.” Jack coughed. Clearly was trying not to laugh again. Gabriel grinned at him.

“So does that mean I can’t use that voice for my D&D character if I play a gnome?”

“God, don’t you dare! No one would survive more than 5 minutes!” Gabriel beamed at him. “No! DM says no.”

“No fun.”

Jack waved him off. “C'mon, asshole. Let’s finish these things before lunch.” He paused, glancing at the rack. “Did you bring lunch?” Looked back at Gabriel for an answer.

“PB&J.”

Jack raised a brow. “And that’s going to keep you alive for 8 hours?” he asked.

“Ideally.”

“Nah, nah not happening.” Jack waved him off. “I’m ordering Chinese food. Place down the street delivers for free if you buy enough.”

Gabriel frowned at him. Felt a little guilty for all the money Jack had already spent out on him.

“Listen, I’m fine. Really.”

Jack, however, seemed undeterred. “Don’t sweat shit.” he said, clearly catching on, “You’re really just an excuse for me not to go upstairs and make myself leftovers, anyway.”

So Gabriel caved. They finished the racks by some miracle and Jack ordered like he was feeding a damn army. They spent the following 20 minutes cleaning up various trash from their unpacking and making a semi-comfortable place to sit for the break.

Food arrived and, as Gabriel cracked open his box of fried rice, a familiar face made an appearance. 76, nose in the air, stuck his head out from one of the empty boxes in the corner. Jack squinted at him.

“Want a shrimp, shithead?” he asked, clicking his chopsticks.

76 prowled over, tail high, and put his front paws on Jack’s knee. Gladly took the piece of shrimp he was offered and hopped down to eat it properly on the floor. When Jack looked over at Gabriel he looked a little guilty.

“He loves people food, okay? It’s one of the only ways we bonded at first.”

Gabriel shook his head and swallowed his mouthful of food. “Just don’t spoil my dog and you’re good.”

“You have a dog?” Jack sounded a little more excited than Gabriel was expecting. Kind of endearing…

“Yeah,” Gabriel went digging for his phone, pulled up a picture to show Jack. “Reaper is my bud.”

The picture in question was his beloved shepherd on his back, legs sprawled, asleep. Tongue hanging out. Jack laughed as soon as he got a good look at it.

“He’s beautiful.” he said, grinning. Then, “Wait, did you name your dog Reaper?”

Gabriel stashed his phone and stuffed another bite of noodles in his mouth. Ducked his head a little. Jack laughed.

“You are such an edgy dork!” Jack shook his head. “Oh my god.”

“It suits him just fine.” Gabriel replied, pointing his chopsticks at Jack before going in for another bite. “He also answers to Reapsy.”

Jack snorted. Shifted so 76 could hop into his lap, sniffing around. He held his take out box higher to keep it out of the cat’s reach.

“More creative than you managed.” Gabriel ribbed. Jack cut his eyes at him.

“Low blow. But probably fair.” He ruffled at the cat’s head, earning an annoyed huff for it.

Gabriel smirked at him. Watched Jack battle to finish his food without having it stolen by the cat. Also watched him cave and sneak the feline another bite of shrimp. Weakling… He would never stand up to Reaper’s puppy eyes.

When they finished up food they cleaned up and set to work on the rest of the day. Mainly unpacking with a side of fixing some shelving. 76 returned to his haunt after pestering Jack a while longer, enviably sleeping away the day. They talked off and on through the day, radio playing softly in the background. By the time 4 rolled around Gabriel barely realized it had been that long.

Jack pointed it out before he did, in fact.

“Ah, you’re free to go. Thanks for all the help today, Gabe.”

Jack went digging in his pockets a moment while Gabriel grabbed his bag and said goodbye to 76. When he looked up again, he had his phone out and was going through his calendar.

“Tomorrow I can’t be in till 9, if you want to swing by again. The more time we can devote to set up the better.” Gabriel nodded when he looked up, so Jack continued. “Aaand Saturday afternoon is D&D. If you’re coming.”

Gabriel grinned at him. “Well, since I’m not working…”

“Nope. So I’ll make sure I have things set up for you. I’ll send you the time and place when I get done with errands today.”

Gabriel nudged his arm lightly. “Sounds good.” With that, he turned for the door with Jack on his heels.

“You need, uh, any food tomorrow?” Jack asked as he unlocked the door.

Gabriel paused, feeling apprehensive. He could say no. He had eggs. And cereal, after that shopping trip. (So what if he didn’t have any milk?) Should have his last gig check by tonight. But Jack was eyeing him something fierce in his pause so…

“You offering another sandwich?” he asked.

Jack laughed. “Sort of.” he said, “I’ve got somewhere to be tomorrow and I always leave with leftovers. Want me to grab something?”

“Sure.”

By then, the rain had cleared out leaving just puddles and clouds for his walk home. Jack glanced up at the sky briefly as he locked the door, smiling.

“I’ll grab you something good, promise.” he said, tossing a grin over his shoulder. “I’ll have a key for you then, too. So you don’t have to wait for me in the rain.”

“Aw, but I like standing in the rain.” Gabriel teased. Jack laughed and waved him off as he started down the sidewalk.

“See you tomorrow, asshole.”

The next day, Jack was already there when Gabriel arrived. Not that it mattered much this time; the rain had long passed, leaving a rather nice summer day in its wake. When Jack let him in he immediately turned around and handed him a carry-out box and a set of keys, grinning.

The box contained a sizable pile of pancakes and bacon, still surprisingly warm, and the two keys were on a small keychain of what looked to be a tiny, cartoony grim reaper. Gabriel looked it over a moment, then up at Jack with a raised brow.

“I got it as a free promo in one of the orders I did and thought you might like something to help you keep track of your keys.”

Gabriel looked back at the keychain. It had a little robe, skull face, and tiny skeletal hands clutching a scythe almost as large as it was. He looked back at Jack.

“I fucking love it.”

Jack laughed. That awful, endearing, dorky thing Gabriel was already so fond of. “I thought you would,” he said, “now eat. We've got shit to do.”

Gabriel did as he was told; pocketed his keys and scarfed his food before they set to work on their task for the day. They kept up their usual banter and working went smoothly. By the time they broke for lunch the place was actually starting to look relatively put together.

“Almost got a real shop on your hands, Morrison.” Gabriel remarked, glancing around the room.

Jack laughed and lingered next to him a moment, uncertain. Then asked, “You need something to eat?”

This time, however, Gabriel had come slightly prepared. His last gig had finally paid out and, being that Jack had been so generous, he'd decided to return the favor. He pulled two Tupperware dishes out of the cooler by the door (for drinks, eventually, but unimportant right now) and held them up for Jack to see.

“Joke's on you, bro. I'm feeding you today.” he said, grinning widely. “Hope your ass likes lasagna ice-fucking-cold because I did not think about whether or not there was a microwave for employees yet.”

Jack let out a loud snort-laugh and shook his head. “You're so stupid.” He shook his head and stepped toward the door, motioning for Gabriel to follow. “We'll just warm it up upstairs.”

Admittedly, the idea hadn't even crossed Gabriel's mind. But the second it came up, it only made sense. Good thing he hadn't had the forethought not to bring something that needed to be microwaved. Would have missed out on seeing the boss' apartment!

Not that Jack felt like much of a boss as he lead Gabriel out of the shop and upstairs to his door, a little hop in his step at the mere idea of pasta. He fumbled with the lock briefly, babbling something about 'don't mind the mess' before finally pushing the door open and letting Gabriel inside.

The place was very... spartan. The entry room transitioned into a sort of den that had a couch, coffee table, and small tv mounted to the wall. One way lead off down a hall, presumably where the bath and bedrooms were, and the other opened up into a small kitchen. Jack appeared to have at least two appliances relating specifically to coffee, which gave Gabriel some pause as he set off toward the oven, but something about the way the man chugged black coffee stopped him from being surprised by this.

“Better if I can heat it in this.” he explained over his shoulder, preheating the oven as Jack flopped onto the couch loudly in the background. When Gabriel glanced at him he had his head thrown back and was yawning widely at the ceiling. “There's, uh, not really a mess by the way. More like the opposite of one.”

Jack let out a muffled laugh. Covered the remains of a yawn with the back of his hand.

“I just moved in like a few weeks ago, cut me some slack. Most of my shit is boxed up in the spare room.”

“Uh-huh, sure.” Gabriel drawled. “Least the kitchen seems fairly put together.”

He got lunch reheating and, left to his own devices, went poking through the kitchen a bit. It was well stocked—almost enviable considering his own situation until just a day earlier. But it was also rather clear that Jack hadn't exactly settled in all the way. Dishes in odd places, pantry disorganized... Unless that was just how he lived. Which was worth debating but felt unlikely at this point.

Gabriel didn't dwell on the matter. Instead, he found the necessary dishware for serving lunch and piled the servings onto them before handing Jack his over the back of the couch. Nearly half-asleep, sprawled over the back of the couch, Jack perked up instantly.

He almost melted just one bite in. That was a nice ego boost.

“God, this is the shit. I'm so happy I hired you, Gabe.”

Gabriel laughed, mouth full, and plopped on the couch next to him. “Whatever.” he said, “Least I could do to return the favor. That sandwich was still the best thing I've ever eaten.”

Jack laughed but didn't even pause between bites to argue. Too busy; too much pasta to eat. Instead, he nudged Gabriel's knee with his own for some attempt at the desired effect. He finished in record time and went about cleaning Gabriel's dishes before they headed back down for the rest of the day. Not that there was a whole lot of intensive work to be done.

Mostly, they just unpacked books and talked about D&D. Picked out Gabriel's class and character traits for the following evening and Jack did his best to bring him up to speed on where everyone else was. It seemed simple enough. The existing team was solid and already prepared for potential additions. It would just be a matter of some finalization when the night rolled around.

As far as Gabriel could tell, things had gone surprisingly well. It wasn't until Jack stopped him before he left he was under any impressions that there were concerns to be had.

“Hey, so...” Jack was fidgeting when he turned to face him, brow raised. Something in that expression had the other man ducking his head a little. “I just wanted to be sure you're, uh, cool with the lack of professionalism here.”

Gabriel blinked at him.

“Lack of professionalism?” he repeated. Jack nodded.

“I mean, some people would probably be wary of their boss being bro-quality buddies with them.” he explained, “Just wanted to be sure you wouldn't rather I, uh, take a step back. You're in no way obligated to do the D&D thing.”

Gabriel frowned at him. Almost instantly, Jack dodged his gaze.

“Dude... seriously?” He snorted. Tried not to outright laugh in Jack's face. “I don't do a damn thing I don't want to, Jack. You really think I would have brought you fucking homemade lasagna if I was 'uncomfortable' around you?” Then, Jack did laugh. Shook his head. “Yeah, exactly. We're cool, man, really. I like how things are going.”

Jack seemed to relax at that, at least.

“Oh,” he said, “oh good. Because I was really worried you were going to just get fucking sick of me and bolt.”

Gabriel raised a brow. “That happened before? Because I can't imagine.”

Jack just shrugged. Didn't offer an actual answer. The subject seemed a little more raw than he was letting on, so Gabriel dropped it. He didn't want to make things weird any more than Jack did, after all.

“Yeah, anyway,” he said, nudging Jack's arm, “don't get to bail on bringing me into D&D now. You dug your own grave there.”

Jack grinned at him. “Oh no, another melee in a part of ranged.” he feigned dramatics, throwing a hand over his forehead. “What ever will we do?”

Gabriel just waved him off.

“Seriously,” he said, “you good?” Jack nodded. “Then I’m good.”

He stepped out the door but held it a moment. Tossed Jack a grin.

“See you tomorrow, boss.”

Jack made the best disgusted face as he let the door swing closed behind him.

The next morning, during his daily routine, Gabriel got a call from his landlord. Blah blah, rent’s always late. It dwindled down to a simple thing; his broke ass was getting put on a month-to-month lease until he cleaned up his act. No deposit back on his year lease if he fucked it up in the next 6 months. Great…

He laid on the floor, Reaper gnawing a toy uncomfortably close to his head, for the following hour just thinking. He couldn’t afford a deposit on a new place. And the long term at this place didn’t look great even if he did have a proper income now. But he couldn’t hang onto that well if he moved across town to live with his mother again, either.

Amidst his mulling, Gabriel pulled out his phone and shot Jack a text. He was looking for a sounding board mostly and Jack had quickly become one of the easiest people for him to talk to. Maybe he’d have some idea that could make sense of the situation.

What he was not expecting was a phone call only a handful of minutes after the text.

“Hey man, that’s uh… really shitty.”

Gabriel chuckled faintly, phone to his ear as he stretched his free arm up toward the ceiling. “Yeah. But it’s whatever. Know anyone renting a room or something?” Long shot but worth a try.

Jack made a thoughtful noise and went quiet a moment. Gabriel was almost worried he’d lost connection until the other man spoke up again.

“Well, there’s my spare room.”

“Um,” Gabriel laughed–-a nervous thing he wasn’t fully expecting to come from his mouth, “seriously? You’ve known me less than a week, dude. Not that I’m not flattered but… you sure you wanna offer something like that?”

Jack made a little dismissive ‘pfft’ noise. “Longer than I’ve known a roommate I’d get from a wanted ad.”

“You really even need a roommate, though?” Gabriel asked.

“Mm,” Jack hummed softly, “no. Not really.”

Gabriel laughed. He rolled over onto his side and got up, stretching.

“Man, what was that you told me when we met? Always doing things for other people? You really gotta work on that.”

“Old habits die hard.” Jack said. Then, “I’m not hearing a firm no.”

“I’m debating. I’ve seen the way you live now.” he replied. Jack laughed. “You need a deposit?”

“Nah.”

Gabriel glanced at Reaper. “Not even a pet one?” he asked.

“Okay, that’s like 30 bucks. I paid for 76 but you wouldn’t have to cover your dog until like start of next month.” Jack explained, “I’ll split rent and utilities with you. The place is actually pretty cheap, all things considered.”

Jack rattled off some numbers then. It was all pretty reasonable, especially considering location. There was apparently even a washer and dryer hidden in the place; downstairs in the shop but still.

Gabriel hemmed and hawed over it a moment more, Jack trying to woo him with offers of getting the place set up that night even (unnecessary, he insisted, since rent was paid for the month so-far). Finally, he sighed. Tried to sound long suffering and likely failed miserably.

“Okay, okay. I mean. You’re fucking nuts, man.” Jack chuckled at him. “But if you really want to move me into your home. If you think that’s a good idea. Then I'll think about it.”

“I’ll wear you down yet.” Jack said. His excitement was a little infectious, honestly. “Remember, D&D in a few hours. I sent you the address, right?”

“Right.”

“Okay. Good.” Gabriel heard Jack moving things around over the phone. “I’ve gotta finish prep for that, by the way. But let me know if you need anything else, alright man?”

Gabriel could almost feel his heart growing. This blatant display of true friendship was kind of disgusting.

“Thanks, Jack. For everything.”

Jack laughed. That awful, dorky laugh. God, Gabriel felt blessed by that damn laugh.

“Hey, just being a true bro.”

They said goodbye and hung up and Gabriel had to focus on finishing up his daily tasks before D&D to stop himself from calling back and accepting the offer that moment.

Chapter Text

The address was walking distance, thank God, so Gabriel headed out with a backpack after stuffing some leftovers in his mouth for lunch. He found himself a little thankful they weren’t at the fire house this time; probably best to save that for a time when he wasn’t relearning how to play the game.

The place was nice. Small two-level duplex. Jack had directed him toward the lower floor so he stepped over to the door and knocked. Waited. Considered pulling out his phone to shoot Jack a text before the door finally opened.

He had to look down to see the woman who answered the door. Dark hair, brown skin, and warm eyes, a tattoo notable under one. She grinned when she saw him and stuck a hand out.

“You must be Gabriel. I’m Ana.”

There was an accent on her voice. Hard to place but it was nice. Gabriel took her hand and received a firmer grip than he’d been expecting. She gave it a solid shake then released him, sidestepping to let him enter.

“Nice to meet you.” Gabriel murmured, glancing around the room.

The place was nice; certainly had more character than Jack’s had. Gabriel noted a few children’s toys in the corner, along with a few other pairs of shoes next to the mat. He didn’t even have to look at Ana for confirmation before toeing out of his own.

She grinned when he did look over and motioned for him to follow before setting off into the house. Lead him through a small hallway and a living room (more kids’ toys as well as a rather impressive entertainment set up), finally stepping into what looked like the dining room.

Jack was at the table, already setting up. He seemed to light up when Gabriel stepped in, bouncing up halfway in his seat to hold a small box out to him.

“Gabe! Here.”

Gabriel took it, backpack sliding off his shoulder, and popped it open. Inside were a set of dice, onyx with red numbering. Gabriel flattened his gaze at Jack.

“You got these out of the shop.”

“You liked them, right?”

“Jack. This is no way to run a business.”

Jack laughed and waved him off easily. Immediately, he tried to divert the subject to the other three men at the table with him.

“You met Ana. This is Torbjörn, Reinhardt, and Gérard.”

He motioned to them in order; an exceptionally short man with a thick beard, another with blond hair pulled back in a ponytail and looking a little too small for his chair, and the final with a thin moustache and thick black hair. Gabriel nodded to them all, doing his best to try and peg names to their faces.

“So, you’re his new favorite person.” Gérard remarked. He gave Gabriel an appraising look, hand on his chin. Then clicked his tongue. “Better make some good rolls.”

“Favorite person?” Gabriel repeated, glancing at Jack with a raised brow. The other man dodged his gaze behind his DM screen, smiling.

Behind him, Ana made a noise of confirmation. “Gabe this, Gabriel that. You’d think you hung the damn sun with how he talks.” She chuckled softly, returning to her seat and leaving the spot to Jack’s right open. “It’s been kind of cute, really.”

Cute?

“Yeah. That is a pretty good word for Jack.”

Gabriel took his seat, table bubbling with faint laughter, and watched Jack try to duck further behind his screen. The other man awkwardly cleared his throat and sat up straight again–-apparently trying to recover quickly.

“Anyway.” He coughed faintly. “Is this game night or pick on Jack night?”

“It can’t be both?” Gérard asked, earning a firm glare from the DM.

“No. Moving on.”

Gabriel shot Jack a grin before moving to pull out his notebook. Actually got one back even despite how cross he’d looked just moments before. Maybe he was the favorite after all…

The game itself went rather fluidly once they got set up. The team was at least semi-balanced; warlock, paladin, ranger, and cleric. Toss in Gabriel as a rogue and things actually looked a little fleshed out. They spent the first half of the session primarily roleplaying anyway; introducing Gabriel’s character to the bunch and working toward progressing the story. Jack seemed to have a blast either way; whether it was throwing enemies at them or just watching as Ana’s character verbally flattened Gérard’s for a little petty jab.

A few hours in they broke for dinner, Ana promising to order a pizza as soon as she checked on ‘Fareeha’. Gabriel blinked and glanced over as she stepped out, curious. Noticing, Jack nudged his side.

“Her daughter.” he explained, “She’s probably watching cartoons right now. Usually she likes to watch us play but I told Ana I didn’t know how you were with kids so…”

Gabriel felt slightly hurt. Probably looked it, judging from how Jack frowned back at him in concern.

“I love kids.” he huffed, “Jack, I went to school to be a teacher!”

Jack paled. “Oh. Um, right. I… Oh.”

Gabriel laughed. Reached over and roughly nudged at his shoulder. Jack seemed to relax some.

“Please tell our host that I wouldn’t mind if her daughter joined us. Holy shit, Jack. I directed kids through like 5 plays a year for 3 years at the arts center.”

Jack laughed, still sounding a little nervous, and nodded. Leaned back in his chair to call down the hall.

“Hey! Fareeha! Come and meet my friend Gabriel!”

A young girl’s voice answered. “Am I allowed, uncle Jack?”

Jack tried not to laugh. “Yes! Come here!”

The girl who came bouncing down the hall looked no older than 8. The spitting image of Ana, nearly, with her hair cut in a bob. She glued herself to Jack’s side the second she was in the kitchen, peering up at Gabriel curiously. He winked at her and she clung tighter to Jack.

“This is Gabriel.” Jack motioned to him with his free hand. “And Gabriel, this is Fareeha. Ana’s daughter.”

Gabriel dipped his head to her, grinning. “Nice to meet you. I hear they told you some awful lies about me.” He tutted, glancing at Jack.

“Uncle Jack said he didn’t know if you were used to being around little kids. And that you had pretty eyes.”

Gabriel blinked. Glanced at Jack. Immediately, Jack raised his hand defensively.

“I said you had eyes like her’s, when she asked what you look like.” he explained.

“Yup! Said he had pretty eyes like mine.” Fareeha chimed in.

Jack rubbed a hand over his face. Sighed and shook his head.

“Well, he is right about you having pretty eyes.” Gabriel chuckled, leaning on his elbow. “So I guess if mine look anything like yours then they’ve got to be pretty too, huh?”

Fareeha nodded energetically and detached herself from Jack’s arm. Grabbed a chair from the bar around the counter in the kitchen and drug it over to squeeze between Gabriel and Jack.

“I like him, uncle Jack.” she informed him, matter-o-fact.

Jack laughed and ruffled at her hair. “Yeah,” he said, “he is pretty likable, huh?”

Ana returned not long after, pizza ordered, and went about passing around a few drinks before settling down again. Fareeha abandoned them for a bit to climb on her mother, mainly in the aim of stealing a soda despite being first told it was too close to bed. She returned when they had pizza, triumphant with her drink.

The rest of the night went along easily. Fareeha made a wonderful audience, even despite the need to cut back on the language, and they managed to progress a considerable way before calling it a night, Ana citing that she and her daughter both needed to sleep. It was relatively late, already long dark outside as Gabriel said his goodbyes to Torbjörn, Reinhardt and Gérard before helping Jack pack up and bidding Ana and Fareeha goodnight. They made it to Jack’s apartment at an easy pace, chatting as they went.

At his door, Jack cast him a wary look. “You, uh, walking home?” he asked. Gabriel nodded and he looked more concerned. “Bro. No.”

“Jack, I walk in the dark in this part of town all the time. It’s seriously no big deal.”

Jack frowned at him. “I could call you a cab or something.” he offered. Gabriel waved him off. “Then stay here.”

“I’ve got the dog back home. Plus, what’s all this fretting about me? You forget the kickboxing thing too or?”

Jack shot him a sulky look. “No. Just…” he sighed and shook his head, “Alright. Just be safe, okay?”

Gabriel smiled at him. Nudged at his shoulder lightly. “Of course. Don’t worry; I’ll be living here in no time anyway.”

Jack lit up. Ah, he hadn’t… actually told him yes yet, had he? Well then.

“Hell yeah, I knew you’d take me up on that offer!” Jack actually fist-pumped over it. Gabriel laughed loudly and clutched his stomach.

“I’ll see you Monday, Jackass.” Gabriel grinned, shaking his head before patting Jack’s arm and heading toward his apartment.

“Text me what day you want to start moving!” Jack called after him excitedly. Gabriel just laughed loudly and waved over his shoulder.

He made it home fine, because of course he did, and made sure Reaper was all set before passing out for the night. By morning, he was certain he’d made the right call telling Jack he’d move. No way anyone else, even his own beloved mother, would get that excited about him moving in with them.

Sunday, given that he was free, Gabriel had promised to visit his mother for dinner. It was free food so he’d put up with the doting and cat hair. But that morning, waking up late and putting around his kitchen, he got a text from Jack.

‘Want to get lunch or something? I’m bored and lonely.’

Gabriel mulled over his options. Usually he went over for early dinner and eating lunch would throw off his schedule. But Jack seemed like he could use some company; Gabriel knew by now that his only family was a long ways from LA. So, he came up with an idea.

'I’m going to my mom’s for food today. Want to go along? There’s cats and enough food to make you sick.’

Jack’s reply took a bit. Gabriel could just imagine him waffling about it. Finally, his phone buzzed as he was going through his email.

'You sure she’d be cool with that?’

'Mom will feed anyone, Jack. She’ll be calling you son five minutes in.’

'Haha, okay. If you’re sure. What time?’

Gabriel grinned at his phone. 'I usually head over by about 12. She’ll feed us twice if we’re early enough.’ He followed up with the address, as well as an offer to walk him anyway–which Jack took him up on.

He finished out his morning and strapped Reaper into his harness before heading out the door. They kept an easy pace and made it to Jack’s apartment around 11:30, plenty of time. He dug in his pocket and shot Jack a text to let him know he was there and waited, leaned up against the wall of the narrow stair hallway.

When Jack met him at the door he looked exhausted. Bags under his eyes and mouth pulled into a little frown that he fought to undo the second he registered it was Gabriel.

“You okay, man?”

Jack shrugged but said, “Yeah. ’M fine.”

Gabriel raised a brow at him. Jack dodged his gaze, shrugged again. So he stuck his arms out wide, beckoning him in.

“C'mere, bring it in. Someone needs some love.”

Jack stared at him, startled. Blinked. Gabriel waved his hands a little, urging him, and he finally seemed to cave and stepped into the embrace.

Gabriel squeezed his arms around his shoulders and felt Jack tense briefly before pressing his nose into his shoulder and sighing faintly. He all but melted when Gabriel rubbed at the spot between his shoulder-blades, palm flat against his spine. When Gabriel moved to pull back and give him space Jack dug his fingers into his coat and held him there a little longer, breathing deeply. Must have really needed it…

He didn’t think anything of it when they finally pulled apart and Jack glanced at the floor and rubbed a hand over his face. He looked a little less miserable at least.

“Thanks, Gabe…”

“Don’t mention it.” Gabriel nudged his shoulder with a fist and Jack looked up at him, grinning. “Wanna talk about it?”

Jack shook his head, looked a little more energized. “N-no. Just something I’m figuring out. I’m good, things are okay.” he explained, at least sounding more convincing than before. He cleared his throat and changed the subject. “We, uh, need to head out?”

“Whenever you're ready.” Gabriel replied easily.

Beside him, Reaper sniffed at Jack's pant leg. As if noticing the oversized canine for the first time, Jack lit up and dropped to a crouch to greet him. Enter puppy mode... for both of them.

“Oh, look at you!” Jack cooed and ruffled at Reaper's cheeks, making kissy noises. “Whose a handsome boy?”

Reaper, obviously aware of the answer, wiggled on his haunches and licked the air near Jack's face. Still so polite even in the face of Jack's excited praise, maybe there was hope for him yet! Reaper, anyway. Not Jack.

Jack, who was now energetically rubbing at Reaper's ears and showering him in compliments. Gabriel chuckled into his fist, watching the display. A thought occurred, however.

“I thought you'd be more of a cat person, seeing as you own one.”

Jack looked up at him, Reaper still licking the air near his face, and beamed. “I like both.” he said, “76 is my first cat, though. Always had dogs growing up. Dad loved German Shepherds.”

That explained it. Gabriel smiled to himself as Jack finally gave Reaper one final pat and got back to his feet, dusting off black fur as he went. He cast a wary look at Gabriel, however.

“Are you sure your mom is okay with this?”

Gabriel gave an over-exaggerated sigh and threw his hands up. “Yes, Jack. I told her I was having a friend come along and she went 'friend?' in that mom voice and I had to explain to her that you were my boss-roommate... bro.” Jack laughed. “And then she got all excited about being able to make extra food and told me to text her if you have any allergies.”

“Not food related.”

“Good. Now c'mon, Jackass. She'll start calling me if we're late.”

The trip across town required a bit of a hike, hence Gabriel's hesitance to move, but it was well worth the cab fare. And a much nicer trip with Jack cooing over the dog and making small-talk with the driver the whole way.

They got out at practically the doorstep, paid, and headed inside. Gabriel went in first, Reaper nosing the door open with him, and didn't give Jack any chances to linger in the front yard. Beckoned him along expectantly, only relaxing when he stepped past him and into the door.

“Mami! I'm home!”

Next to him, Jack cringed. Probably should have considered volume... Not that there was any saving Jack when his mother responded across the house.

“Gabi! Get your ass in the kitchen!”

Jack looked at him and mouthed the word 'Gabi'. Gabriel swatted at him and let Reaper off his leash, following the dog through the house as he b-lined for the kitchen with Jack trailing behind him. By this point, the house smelled like Heaven; if Heaven contained a bunch of tamales, anyway.

His mother was in the middle of prepping food but dropped everything the second Reaper padded in, wiping her hands a dish towel and leaning down to ruffle his ears. She easily turned her attentions on Gabriel and Jack when she noticed them.

“There's my wayward boy! Come here, come here.”

She held her arms out and Gabriel stepped into the embrace, ducking to bring himself a little closer to her level. Tiny woman or not she still managed to squeeze the life out of him every time. Content with how she'd likely bruised his ribs she released him and gave Jack an appraising look.

Jack squirmed under it, clearly unsure of what to do. Actually waved at her.

“Hi, Ms. Reyes.”

God, he was awkward. How did he go from 'charming little shit' to 'bundle of nerves' so seamlessly? Not that Gabriel's mother was phased in the least.

“Oh, come here! None of that.” she fussed over him, arms out, until Jack shuffled over into the embrace. Squeezed him until she had Jack making pained faces over her shoulder at Gabriel. He just watched, muffling laughter into his fist and offering absolutely no help what-so-ever.

She had Jack alternating between calling her 'Carmen' and 'mommy' (he couldn't hack the Spanish pronunciation, as much as she tried with him) in a few hours. She also managed to get him talking about cat ownership at one point and it was all down hill from there. A pleasant trip, of course, but a spiral none the less. Gabriel watched the whole thing with unbridled glee.

After an exceptionally long and delicious dinner, drawn out with conversation about the start of the shop—the first time Gabriel had seen his mother genuinely excited about his career path in a few years now, it was time to head home. His mother made a point of hugging Jack first, cheek squished up against his when he ducked down, and then yanked Gabriel's ear close to her face when he hugged her.

“He's cute.” she whispered.

Too loud considering Jack's scrunched up smile he rapidly fought to hide when Gabriel noticed. He just shook his head at her antics and kissed her cheek before wrangling Reaper back onto his leash and heading out.

Another short cab ride to Jack's place and they stopped outside the shop, Reaper sniffing around the light poles as they said goodnight.

“Offer to couch crash still stands, if you don't want to walk home in the dark.” Jack ventured, motioning over his shoulder towards the stairs. “You've, uh, got the dog with you this time.”

Gabriel just grinned at him. “I'm a big boy. With a big dog. I'll make it home fine.”

“You're both giant pushovers if anyone gets past the silhouettes.” Jack teased, arms folded over his chest. “But fine. Enjoy your walks home in the dark while you can.”

“When are we starting tomorrow, boss?”

Jack wrinkled his nose at him. “Early. 8 at the latest. Text me if you need more time in the morning but I'll be here. We've only got two more days till opening day.”

Damn, that was right. They had most of the stock in and interior built, now it was just a matter of getting everything put out and ready for sale. Some decorations, a few promos, make sure the register actually worked...

“I can do 8.” he replied, nudging Jack's arm before starting off down the sidewalk with Reaper at his heel. “You bring coffee, I'll bring breakfast?”

Jack beamed at him. That 'charming little shit' smile he got whenever he felt like he was winning at something. Gabriel wasn't sure what victory this one was, didn't question it.

“Sounds good.” he called after him, “Thanks, Gabe. Tonight was nice.”

Walking backwards, Gabriel waved him off. “Hey, couldn't let my bro sit alone on a Sunday night!”

Jack laughed, all dimples and scrunched nose and that awful dorky sound to it, and shook his head. Waved after Gabriel before he turned his focus back down the sidewalk he was headed down.

“See you tomorrow.”

Being excited about getting up before 8 for work was... such an odd feeling. Gabriel didn't try to question it. No reason to try at this point.

Chapter Text

Gabriel made it to the shop by 7:45 the next morning. Let himself in with his bag of breakfast tacos and found Jack already battling with the register. He perked up when Gabriel stepped in, peering over the back of the computer.

“Morning, dude!”

“Heeey.”

Gabriel wandered over to the counter and set the bag down, going through it as Jack set down the wires he was messing with and leaned against the other side to watch. Gabriel handed him the box he’d made up; two tacos and salsa. Jack was making grabby hands at it before it even got to him.

“I left the salsa on the side since your white ass couldn’t handle part of dinner yesterday.” he teased, digging for his own food as Jack cracked his box open. Heard Jack huff at him.

“I got a seed.”

“Mmhm.”

“I did!”

Gabriel grinned and shook his head at him, dumping salsa on his tacos before digging in. They ate in silence, Jack stepping aside for a moment to grab a thermos of coffee for them under the counter.

When they finished up Jack returned his attention to the register. Motioned for Gabriel to come around the counter with him.

“Know anything about computers? Because this thing is being fucking stupid.”

Gabriel chuckled at him, sliding his arm down the counter to stand next to Jack. “I know a few things.” he replied, “Like how it’s generally operator error.”

Jack shot him a pouty look and he laughed. Waved him away to poke at the register. Jack stepped behind him and started unpacking a box on the floor next to him into the glass case on the counter.

While Gabriel got the register going Jack unboxed all of the figures and things into the case and tossed the cardboard to the side for Gabriel’s packing. A few boxes a day and he’d be done in no time. Just a small other matter to address.

“Shit man, I don’t have anything to haul my furniture. Barely use my car anymore unless I’m going out of town. You know someone with a truck?”

“Yeah!”

Gabriel glanced down in time to watch Jack thumb toward himself, grinning up at him from the floor. Stared at him a moment, then sighed.

“Why am I not surprised?”

“It goes with my farmboy aesthetic.” Jack reasoned, hopping to his feet. “I just… really hate driving in this city. I’m pretty sure a woman was going to murder me when I went grocery shopping last week. I didn’t even do anything!”

Gabriel laughed and shook his head. “Yeah. That’s LA.” Then, “Well good. That problem solved. When are we opening this place so I can work around it?”

“Wednesday.” Jack explained, leaning on the counter. “I’ve got you Wednesday and Thursday with me, on your own Friday. I can’t promise you get weekends every time but my high school and college kids are our main weekend people so I can at least try to keep us off for game night.”

“Perks of hanging with the boss?” Gabriel teased. Jack snorted.

“Something like that. Really, I just need you to cover Friday opens and whatever else you want to work is your call. You’re my only management assistance, so…”

Gabriel blinked at him. “So that’s why I got a key?”

“Yeah, yeah it is.” Jack replied, chuckling. “Damn, probably should let people know when I promote them, huh? My bad.”

“It helps.” he replied, chuckling, “But shit, that’s good.”

Jack let out a relieved sigh. “Good. I really needed a cohort in this. My original plan fell out a while back. Was just going to be me.”

“Your business partner?” Gabriel ventured, brow raised. Jack nodded. “What’s up with that, anyway?”

“Ana.” Jack explained. “She and her ex were originally going in on this. She got me the finances but she’s got another job to help with Fareeha since she split.” He shrugged. “Life. I understand. She feels bad but it’s not like she could have planned for this.”

“I was wondering where 'dad' was.” Gabriel remarked as he plugged up the card reader.

Jack made a small noise of acknowledgment. “Yeah, it's been a little under a year. 'Irreconcilable differences'. I won't get into it but it was... rough on them both. We keep up game night just to give her something else to think about sometimes. It's helped. I think she still wants to work here a few weekends a month for the same reason.”

Gabriel glanced over at him, grinning faintly. “You're a good friend, Jack. Anyone ever tell you that?”

Jack laughed. Swatted at the air between them, trying to wave him off, and pushed off the counter but stayed where he was standing.

“She's done the same kind of stuff for me. It's just what you do.”

“Mm, if you say so.” Gabriel drawled, returning his attention to the register. “So was her ex the fire fighter or..?”

“Pfft, no! He's an accountant or something. Ana's a trained EMT.” Jack laughed. “She's back in school to try for RN and pulling all her extra hours with the fire department.”

Well, that sort of explained the handshake. Gabriel nodded and finished starting up the register, thinking for a moment. It begged some questions about the rest of the D&D crew now.

“So who all were the fire fighters there the other night?” he asked.

“Rein and Gérard—I guess formerly me. Torb's our favorite dispatcher.”

Gabriel held up a hand. “Wait, wait. I'll give you Rein but you mean to tell me the guy who played a boarderline homicidal warlock convincingly goes into burning buildings to save people?” he asked, “That Frenchy?”

Jack laughed and nodded, clutching his side. “Yes, that one. He and I talked down like 5 potential jumpers during my time there, too. Dude's got a soothing way about him, I swear.”

“I can't believe it.”

“Hey, you're one to talk.” Jack poked a finger toward him. “Wasn't one of your longest lasting roles a literal boogeyman? But look at you; you cried over a sandwich and have mostly pictures of your dog on your phone.”

“Touché.”

“I literally cannot imagine you kickboxing, either, Gabi.”

Gabriel glared at him. “Don't.” he warned, “You get Gabe.”

Jack laughed and held up his hands, placating. “Alright, alright.” he turned on his heel, moving out from behind the counter and toward the far wall. “Come help me get shit unpacked if you're done with the computer wizardry, Gabe.”

“Sure thing, boss.”

Jack groaned and Gabriel laughed. He abandoned the register to update while he helped Jack unbox graphic novels.

When they broke for lunch they debated a while before splitting the order on a pizza and sprawling out in the over-sized beanbag chairs Jack had drug downstairs the day before. 76 made his presence known just to climb up in Gabriel's lap and shed white hair all over his hoodie, kneading pinpricks into his jeans while he made over-exaggerated pained expressions. Jack, offering no help, just laughed at him.

Once they'd finished up lunch the register was up, so Jack went over the basic managerial money-handling procedures. Basic things, really, but he still made sure there was a book of notes to review on Friday if needed.

“Why do you need Friday mornings off, anyway?” Gabriel asked, offhand, as Jack filed away the notebook.

He hadn't really been expecting Jack to freeze up momentarily. It was just a split second, most probably wouldn't have even caught it. But Gabriel was used to watching for cues in certain situations; whether it be a conversation or a fight. He could tell there was some hesitation when Jack tried to smoothly move on.

“I have a meeting.” he said slowly.

Intentional vagueness. That was Gabriel's window to step back before Jack got uncomfortable.. So he did. Dipped his head in a little nod and grinned at him.

“Well, can't be bad if they give you breakfast.”

Jack laughed. Still uneasy but clearly relieved.

“Yeah. It's not so bad.” he said. Then, quickly, “You want to try and get a few more boxes put up before it's time for you to go? More we get done today the less to do tomorrow.”

The rest of that day and the next was a bit of a blur. Gabriel unpacked things at the shop, went home, and packed things from his apartment back into the same boxes. Reaper watching him the whole time as he broke his apartment down to bare essentials. Mailed his landlord notice for intent to move and went through getting his utilities scheduled to shut off. Swapped over his auto-ship orders and submitted a change of address. He ended up simply moving his cable package to Jack's place when he found out he was running on strictly internet streaming; told him in a text they could hook up a tv downstairs with it too and run cartoons all day—something that got Jack a little more excited than he expected.

'i'm running nothing but your shit'

Gabriel made a face at his phone, peering at where he'd set it on a box of kitchen goods while he packed up his living room. Turned his grimace on Reaper briefly, getting an almost sympathetic whine in return.

'jack no'

'try and stop me'

He could swear he heard that dorky laugh even via text. Ended up torn between throwing his phone and calling Jack just to chuckle at him. Instead, he vouched for trying not to let him win.

'it had good animation. bearable if you put it on mute.'

By the time Wednesday rolled around they had the shop looking great. With the Grand Opening at 10 Jack had Gabriel show up at 9 to make sure everything was in order for it. He immediately started going over the computer and attached register to be sure it was functioning while Jack went over stock and minor clean up.

So engrossed in what he was doing, Gabriel didn't realize Jack was up to something until he heard the shutter sound from a phone camera. Glanced up and found Jack beaming at him, phone still held aloft.

“What are you doing?” he asked, frowning.

“Documentation.” Jack replied casually, typing something on his phone. “Also, promotion. I set up some social media stuff with Ana when we started the whole project and I thought some pictures from set up for open would be fun to add.” He paused, glancing up at Gabriel. “You good with having an internet presence?”

Gabriel shrugged, rolled his eyes. “Someone already posted a picture of me inhaling a cheap hotdog, doubt you can make it worse.”

Jack laughed and looked back at his phone. Typed out the rest before wandering over to show Gabriel the post. Among shots of the freshly stocked shop was a picture of 76 sleeping on one of the beanbags and Gabriel looking too-seriously at the computer while he ran through the register program.

“What about you?” he asked, poking at Jack's arm. “Your shop. Should have a picture of yourself in there.”

Jack rolled his eyes before swinging around to lean against the counter, back to Gabriel. He held his phone up in front of them, free arm wrapping around Gabriel's shoulders as best it could at the angle and yanking him into frame. Gabriel laughed and puffed out his cheeks, propping his chin on Jack's shoulder. Jack put on a disgruntled little sneer and snapped the picture before releasing him and turning back around.

“There. I'm tagging it 'unhappy to help'.” he said, typing at his phone again.

Gabriel laughed and returned his attention to the computer to be sure it was running properly. Finding it functional, he glanced at the time. They only had round-abouts of 20 minutes left. Just enough time to grab some coffee upstairs. When he tossed the idea out to Jack the response was enthusiastic.

“Hell yeah.” he shoved his phone in his pocket and shot over to the door in a split second, “Race you.”

Gabriel lost. Mainly because Jack had a head start but also because he couldn't properly navigate stairs without caffeine. They made a pot of coffee, drank two cups each, and poured the rest into a thermos to take downstairs before returning to open up the shop.

Even for the middle of the week the first day was impressive. Lots of people who'd been watching the place since announcement, others simply wandering by and realizing there was something worth looking at during their lunch break. It helped that Jack laid on the promos pretty thick; he'd gotten free issues for sign ups and small giveaways for starting certain pulls.

They covered each other's lunches but ended up both eating in the shop to be sure the other didn't need any help. (Gabriel didn't but Jack did; mournfully calling Gabriel over in the middle of his sandwich to fix the register for him.) Shop closed at 7 and Gabriel, even with Jack offering to let him leave early for coming in at 9, powered through the extra hour by setting up the tv Jack bought for the downstairs. He simply vouched to leave early on Friday, since Jack got in late, and they parted closer to 7:30 than 7, spending the rest of the time after closing going over when they could get the bunk of Gabriel's things moved.

Gabriel went home and spent a few hours packing what little he had left to before winding down, Reaper asleep on his foot, with some net surfing. He ended up pulling up the page for the comic shop in lieu of looking for voice jobs like he planned. Followed it and went digging through the posts for a little bit.

Most of it was pretty business-like. Posting about how they were nearing opening, what to expect, and ways to sign up for certain things before the official date. But the handful of most recent posts showed a more familiar side of the situation.

One was the handful of pictures Jack had showed him, enthusiastically talking about preparations for opening. Then there was the selfie Jack had snapped of them, tagged 'unhappy to help' as Jack had stated—along with 'teamwork makes the dreamwork'. (Cute.) Then, finally, a picture of Gabriel he hadn't realized Jack had taken—probably when he was sitting over to the side on his lunch break.

It was of him on the register, smiling at a customer as he went over their pull. He couldn't remember the exact moment but he looked... awfully pleased. The customer was probably talking about one of his favorite comics, judging from what he remembered of the day.

Below it was the phrase 'Free of charge: Reyes of sunshine.' Gabriel stared at the line a long moment, pun processing, and then dissolved into laughter so loud he woke up the dog under his desk. Ended up flopped back in his chair, holding his face, and wheezing while Reaper paced around him nervously.

“That goddamn dork.” he choked out, shaking his head at Reaper. “Holy shit.”

Thursday proved rather uneventful. A steady stream of customers, which was more than promising, and trading his leftovers with Jack's for a more interesting lunch. (Jack got the short end of things as far as Gabriel was concerned, seeing as he got a burger, reheated or not, in exchange for a pretty normal chicken and rice set up; Jack, however, didn't even complain when he 'got another seed' and had to chug his drink to recover.)

He got in around 9:45, left around 6:45, Jack offering to close up the shop without him so he didn't need to cut even more time on Friday. Not that it even felt like work; it was more of being sure payroll didn't get out of hand. Which, speaking of, Jack promised his first check when he got in Friday. Which was good, considering he was running a bit short on cash already.

Friday morning by himself felt... melancholy? It was hard to describe, even to himself. Gabriel got there around 9:30 to open up everything and make sure he didn't fuck up the back room things and found himself greeted only by 76, yowling at his feet as he wandered to the office turning on lights.

He stopped to pet the noisy feline before looking over the desk and spotting a handwritten note; Jack's scrawl easily recognizable by now.

'Morning!

I got a key made for the apartment for you, if you want coffee or something. Kitchen is yours. I fed 76 before I left, don't let him fool you. Don't forget to check the register for updates and call the security system before you officially unlock the doors.

Have a good day, see you at 12!

-Jack'

Below it was a doodle of what appeared to be 76 wearing sunglasses. The intent of this part of the message was unknown to Gabriel but he appreciated it anyway. He made a mental note to call the security service before folding it so only the cat was showing and pinning the note to the corkboard in the back room. He put the key on his key ring with the shop keys and tiny reaper, grabbed the money for the register out of the safe, and dialed security before heading back up front, cat still on his heels.

Around 11, shop opened without a hitch, Gabriel's phone buzzed. He finished checking out the customer with him and pulled it out to find a message from Jack.

'how's it going?'

'good. boring. i don't have anyone to bullshit with.'

'haha sorry. i'll be there soon. want a smoothie?'

'god yes. bring me something with oranges and 'energy booster' in the name. please.'

'done!'

Jack arrived around noon, as promised, and brought Gabriel a smoothie that tasted like summer and his first check. He looked tired, Gabriel noted, as he leaned against the counter talking to him about how opening went. Whatever 'meeting' he had might have started early, or maybe he spent all night doing searches about random shit on the net like he'd done when he found Gabriel's career listing—Gabriel didn't dwell.

There was enough of a lull for the moment that they could just chat. Jack seemed to welcome the chance in favor of stocking; both of them had probably had enough of unpacking for at least another day and things still looked relatively flush.

“You all set to move tomorrow?” he asked, propping his chin on his fist.

Gabriel nodded. “Just got to finish boxing up my sewing shit tonight, I'll get my bathroom and kitchen stuff in the morning before you show up.” he paused, “You, uh, sure you're good driving there?”

Jack shrugged. “Hopefully.” he said. Then, “Wait, did you say sewing stuff?”

“Yeah?” Gabriel frowned at him, “What of it?”

“You sew?”

“Yes.” Gabriel replied slowly, drawing out the single word.

“What do you, uh, make?”

“Costumes, mostly. Comes from working in theater; you pick up some related skills.” Gabriel explained easily. “My mother taught me basics and I taught myself the rest.”

Jack's face lit up. “Dude, that is awesome. Have anything you can show me?” He leaned in closer, bouncing on his toes.

Gabriel laughed and went digging for his phone. “Sure, sure.” He pulled up the most recent shot, holding it out for Jack to see. “Did that for Halloween.”

Jack took the phone from him and his eyes went wide. He glanced between the screen and Gabriel once, then let out a low whistle.

“So you just... made that. For Halloween?” He looked up and Gabriel nodded. “You made a professional-looking reaper get up for just, what, fun?”

“It's really not my best work.” Gabriel replied as Jack handed his phone back. “I've got some shit planned for next RenFest that'll...” he trailed off, noticing Jack staring at him, “What?”

“You're so fucking cool, dude!” Jack huffed, waving his hands in the air dramatically. “Holy shit!” Gabriel laughed and Jack nudged his arm. “I'm serious!” he hissed, “You just... taught yourself that? Because you could?”

Gabriel shrugged, still laughing. “Yeah, basically.”

They ended up with another customer before Jack could gush any further but later, as Gabriel was getting ready to leave, he managed to sneak in a bit more praise. Asked Gabriel to send him more pictures when he got time. Gabriel suggested they do some costumes for shop events and he lit up even more, eyes wide as he nodded in agreement.

Gabriel left Jack to the shop shortly after, headed home to finish what little packing he had left and crash early to be sure he could handle the full weekend ahead of him. But not before taking the time to make a few notes on some potential things he could start working on for the shop—or, rather, Jack. It was amazing the kind of inspiration one could get out of really being appreciated in their craft... Or, at least, that's what he was sticking to.

The only issue would be how he could keep it a proper surprise until it was done with how excited Jack was about the whole thing. He was bound to get nosy; it'd take some real stealthy work.

Difficult but... going to be totally worth it, he already knew.

Chapter Text

When Jack showed up Saturday morning to move his shit he was a bit of a sight. Gabriel opened the door, Reaper on his heels, to an impossibly pale and disheveled Jack Morrison. Paused, leaning on the door frame, and watched him even out his breathing.

“You okay, bro?” he asked gently.

Jack made a vague gesture with his hand. Slumped his shoulders.

“I almost died. Like seven times. The drive isn’t even that far.”

Gabriel tried not to laugh. Put on his best sympathetic look, lower lip stuck out. Jack just sulked at him before crouching down and beckoning Reaper closer, shoving his face in the shepherd’s fur as he wiggled, both excited and confused by the gesture.

“You, uh, want me to drive back?” Gabriel asked. Jack nodded against Reaper’s neck, not looking up. “You gonna be okay?” Another nod. “Want the rest of my kombucha?”

That one, at least, got Jack to look up at him. Brow raised, he asked, “Your… what now?”

“C'mere.”

Gabriel stepped backwards into his apartment, pivoting on his toes in a smooth motion and striding off down the hall. Behind him, he head Jack whistle as he pulled the door closed.

“Anyone ever tell you that you’re pretty graceful, Gabe?” he asked as they made their way into the kitchen.

Gabriel laughed. “Been told I’m graceful but you're the first to ever say I'm pretty. Remember?”

He heard Jack trip over the runner in the hallway. Tried not to laugh as he heard Reaper whining softly and Jack assure him he was fine.

Most of his kitchen was packed aside from breakfast and a few things he had left to throw in a cooler. The kombucha bottle hadn’t fit so Gabriel, being the genius he was, had vouched to try and drink the pitcher himself that morning. Might not have been the best route but it was the one he’d taken.

Jack trailed in after him, Reaper circling his legs, and made a face the second Gabriel held a glass out to him. Pursed his lips and glared at him.

“That’s spoiled.”

“No, it’s normal. I swear.”

Jack kept glaring at him. Gabriel laughed. Raised the cup to his lips and took a long sip just to prove he wasn’t lying. Finally got Jack to take it from him then.

“Fermented tea.” he explained as Jack sniffed it warily. “Perfectly safe. Tastes like flowers.”

Jack finally took a sip. Instantly pulled a face, lips puckered, and shoved the cup back at Gabriel.

“Also, uh, tangy.”

“God, why did I trust you?!” Jack hissed, shoving at his arm. “I don’t even like flowery food. That tastes like soap and regret.”

Gabriel laughed, gripping the counter, and Jack shoved his shoulder again. Worth it. Even if he ended up finishing the whole pitcher with Jack making disgusted noises at him.

Once he finished they packed all his crap into Jack's truck, a few boxes getting crammed into his car for when he went back to grab it later, and then came the daunting task of driving literally a few blocks. Normally, it wouldn't have phased Gabriel. But this was new territory.

“This is, uh, big.” he remarked once seated behind the wheel of Jack's truck. He glanced over at the other man. “You compensating, bro?”

Jack snorted out a laugh and slapped his arm. “I couldn't drive home without something like this, alright. Shut up.”

“You live in a mud hole or what?”

“When it rained, yeah.”

There was a certain learning curb when it came to Gabriel driving the thing. Mainly, it handled like a damn boat. Certainly had enough shit in the back to qualify, really. But he was more accustomed to the... ill-tempered way about LA traffic. So in the end it was a better bet to leave Jack white-knuckling the arm rest in the passenger seat.

They parked in Jack's space behind the shop and, after a brief adjustment for Jack to unhinge his hands from the arm rest, set to work taking everything inside. On one of the first goes, Gabriel grabbed a few things out of the back that were a touch more fragile. Among them, his guitar. He set it inside the door, propped against the wall, without a second thought. But Jack paused over the instrument.

“You play?” he asked, peering over at Gabriel.

“Yeah. My dad taught me.” Gabriel replied, setting down his box. “My ex got me that one; kept the guitar, got rid of him.”

Jack quirked a brow. That notable little pause he did when something was processing. Gabriel laughed.

“Problem?” he drawled.

Jack jumped a little, raising his hands to him. “No no, not… like that.” he hissed, “Just, ah, fuck. It’s nice… I mean, to… shit.” He rubbed a hand over his mouth like he was trying to wipe his babbling away. “Dude, I’ve spend the last 20 years of my life convincing people I’m not ‘just straight’ because I’m the fire fighter that could only find girls to date in his backwoods town. It's not a problem.”

Oh. That was recognition, then. How cute.

“Yeah, I got that shit too and all I’ve ever dated are men.” Gabriel replied, chuckling softly. “You’re too much of a dude. Fuck, man, I didn’t know I had to be a woman to want to fuck guys who like guys. What’s that?”

Jack laughed. This little anxious thing, like he still didn’t know how to make words. Probably didn’t. Gabriel couldn’t imagine the last time this information had gone over so easily for either of them. Ah, glorious bonding.

“So… your ex got you this.” he ventured finally, plucking one of the strings. It let out an off-key twang and they both cringed.

“He said it was for anniversary shit but I’m pretty sure it was just because he was about to start fucking the neighbor. Nice guitar, though. He paid a lot to get dumped.”

This time, Jack’s laugh came out easier—more relaxed. He hopped to his feet and headed for the door to get another load, Gabriel trailing behind him.

“Who the fuck would cheat on you, Gabe?” he asked, “Not know what he had?”

Something about it felt oddly protective. Gabriel chuckled to himself, nudging the door closed behind him to keep the summer heat out and Reaper in.

“Fuck if I know. Doesn’t really matter. Dude didn’t know how to fucking cook anyway.”

They grabbed a few more boxes and dropped them off inside, repeating the process until everything was taken care of. Light small talk, some playful joking, and Jack nearly dropping his entire box of dishware.

Even with the AC, running up and down stairs with furniture and boxes in the California heat was a chore. By the end Gabriel was pouring sweat. He paused after the last load to yank his tshirt off and rub it over his face and head, grumbling. He heard Jack drop a box, the telltale sounds of some of his books getting jostled, and sighed to himself. Raised his head just in time to catch him cracking the thing open to be sure nothing was damaged.

“You, uh, can go shower if you want.” Jack offered, eyes still on the books he was shuffling through. “Then I can help you get this unpacked... Is this a signed compendium of fucking Batman?” He held the book up, wide eyed.

“Perks of working in cartoons. I met some neat people at cons.” Gabriel replied, balling up his sweaty shirt and going for his overnight bag—ah, the pros of having moved before; he knew how to pack.

“And got photographed eating hotdogs?”

“And that.” Gabriel drawled, rolling his eyes. “You ever going to let that one go?”

“No. It's the best picture of you in existence. I think I'll print a copy.”

“And you told Fareeha I was pretty. Lying to children, I see.”

Jack laughed and shook his head. Folded the box closed again and set it with the rest of Gabriel's things. As he started off down the hall to the bathroom, he heard him call after him.

“What do you want for lunch?”

“You pick.” Gabriel replied over his shoulder, stepping into the bathroom.

He heard Jack go “Okay!” followed faintly by, “Well, what do you want, Reapsy?” before he pulled the door closed.

He exited the shower feeling fresh and was met with Thai food; apparently Jack Morrison was a bit of a take-out addict. Not that he would stick his nose up at pad thai. But he didn't particularly believe Jack's defense that it had been Reaper's idea, either.

They spent the time between lunch and D&D trying to get his room put together. He at least had furniture and access to his clothing by the end and Jack called the game at his—their—place that night to give him time down to the wire to unpack, move his car there, et cetera.

Ana brought Fareeha—and beer—and the rest of the group filed in not far behind her. While Reaper made besties with Fareeha they settled in for a nice night. Jack tossed a few decent twists into the narrative, getting into a playfully dramatic persona that was far too endearing.

When they broke for dinner, Jack and Ana bickering over who would buy it, Gérard reached over and nudged Gabriel's side.

“I see you and your DM blessed dice.” he hissed.

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “I told him specifically not to give them to me.” he countered.

“Didn't work.” Gérard shot back. “Really, though, he's to fault for blessing them. For shame, favoritism.” He clicked his tongue, shaking his head.

Gabriel shot him a dirty look and snatched his box dice off the table before going to grab another beer. Gérard just laughed and wagged a finger after him. He tried a few more small ribs in-game but Gabriel ignored it, more focused on the story. Jack seemed confused by it but didn't seem to be in the market to question his friends. Something told Gabriel this sort of thing wasn't abnormal.

After all, apparently every game night was 'pick on Jack night' too.

Gabriel learned early on that Jack Morrison didn’t do a whole lot of sleeping. Mostly, he vegged in front of the tv, volume low during the night, and napped in small 2-3 hour intervals. He tried to apologize for it but it wasn’t particularly disruptive. Gabriel simply went to bed at the same time he always did and got up at the same time. Usually, Jack was up for both events.

He kept to casual observation until a few days into living with Jack. Jack let him have Monday off to finish unpacking so by the time he'd been back in the shop a few days the apartment looked solidly like they both lived in it. This made it easier to venture into the idea he had.

“So, how long have you had insomnia?”

“Uh…”

Jack looked up from the register, bags heavy under his eyes. It was Thursday and Gabriel was fairly sure Jack had slept less than 16 hours since he moved in. Mainly, he ran the coffee pot and watched Netflix.

“That’s what it is, right? Been to a doctor about it?”

Jack nodded. “Yeah, it’s… a symptom, though.” He looked back at the register. “Can’t get rid of it without treating the problem it comes from. Which I am. They, um, are. We?” He looked up at Gabriel, frowning. “Doc said it would go away in a month like… six months ago. But he’s not worried so long as I sleep a little.”

There was that cryptic style of information handling again. But it gave Gabriel enough to go on without feeling like he had to pry. He leaned on the counter and watched Jack count the register.

“Dealt with that before. Brains are fucking stupid. Didn’t sleep much for a whole month once. Got put on sleep aids that fucked up my whole days.” He watched Jack’s shoulders relax, eyes still on the money. “Want to know some shit that helped me?”

Jack finally looked up again, smiled. “Worth a shot.”

That night, Gabriel introduced him to his method; wear yourself the fuck out. Two hours of straight athletics. He and Reaper ran Jack around the block a few times, took him through a yoga routine, and drug him into the gym down the street for Gabriel’s usual routine (the first time in a few weeks of low calorie intake he’d been able to do the whole thing, it was nice).

It failed. Miserably. By the end Jack seemed even more energized than he’d been before they started. Gabriel opened the shop the next morning and Jack showed up after his meeting dragging like a zombie, moaning about sore muscles between sips of coffee.

Well, that was plan A. Time to enact the next letter of the alphabet. Gabriel had dealt with enough of his own bouts to have a few options at his disposal.

They ran through a laughable list of ideas on Saturday night after D&D. When Gabriel finally feel asleep on the couch, in the middle of trying to play Jack a goddamn lullaby, they’d at least reacted the letter m. It felt like a lost cause but that was a common issue of insomnia that Gabriel wouldn’t let it fool him again.

He woke up for work Sunday morning with a blanket thrown over him, guitar propped in the corner, and the sounds of Jack milling around in the kitchen. Reaper’s nails and tags clicked along with him, some song playing in the background under the sizzling of bacon and eggs.

Finally, he hauled himself off the couch and wandered into the kitchen rubbing his eyes. The mood he found Jack in was surprisingly good for the past few days. He perked up when he saw Gabriel and grabbed a mug off the rack next to the coffee pot, handing it off with coffee for Gabriel to doctor.

“You get any sleep last night?” he asked, groggily adding creamer to his drink.

Jack shrugged. Flipped over a piece of bacon in the pan.

“Five hours. That’s the best in a row I’ve done in ages, on the couch or not.”

“Bet your neck is fucked though. Mine feels like shit.”

Jack shrugged again. Added the bacon to the stack on the plate next to the stove and motioned for Gabriel to dig in. He did, gladly, and Jack grabbed his coffee cup off the counter.

“Better than no sleep at all.” A pause, then. “Thanks, dude.”

Gabriel waved him off with a strip of bacon. “Didn’t work.” he mumbled, mouth full. “Don’t thank me yet.”

“Yet?”

“I’ve got more ideas.”

Jack laughed. “I dunno, you seemed like you were running out with the lullaby thing. It was… nice, though.”

“Don’t mention it. I'll do better next time.”

His idea for Sunday night was... unique. But he'd managed to use it on his sisters before. Maybe Jack would have a similar response.

Not to say he wasn't understanding of the other man's skepticism.

“You're going to read to me?” he asked, lounging on the couch. “Like. A bedtime story? Like I'm a goddamn five year old?”

Gabriel shot him an annoyed look, book in hand. “I'll have you know I've been told my voice is very soothing. Plus, there's tons of adults who listen to books on tape to fall asleep. You're being a little close-minded, Morrison.”

Jack made a face and stuffed himself against the couch cushions as Gabriel sat down next to him. Folded his arms over his chest like a defiant toddler and actually huffed when Gabriel hit his knee with the book in his hand.

Halfway through the first chapter and he was passed out against the arm rest, cheek smooshed awkwardly into the fabric. Gabriel smiled to himself, marking the page and tossing a blanket over Jack. Hard to tell how long he'd stay asleep, sure, but it had been moderately successful. A good jumping point.

Gabriel left him on the couch and headed to bed. But not before, of course, snapping a picture of the majestic sight that was Jack Morrison sleeping—mouth hanging open and snoring softly. Show him for mentioning that damn hotdog picture all the time.

Monday morning when Gabriel got up Jack was dozing on the couch. Not asleep, but close. Eyelids weighted down, barely focused on the tv. When he noticed Gabriel he rubbed his eyes, looking mildly confused.

“I fell asleep with my contacts in, asshole.” he mumbled, stifling a yawn.

Gabriel waved him off. “Didn't know you wore them. Or were falling asleep. You passed out mid sentence.”

“Your voice is soothing.”

It was about that point that Gabriel caught sight of what Jack actually had playing. He stared at the tv a moment, expression slowly falling, then turned the hopeless look on his friend. Jack laughed. Heartless.

“You're not seriously watching that, are you?”

Jack yawned again. Leaned his elbow on the arm rest and gave him an unimpressed look.

“It's not my fault one of the shows you voiced for made it on morning cartoon reruns.”

Gabriel groaned. Rubbed a hand over his face and shook his head. Jack just laughed, muffled slightly by another yawn. Gabriel refused to even look at him.

“I sound like Batman's edgy cousin in that one, Jack. Least soothing voice I can even think of.”

Another laugh. “Yeah,” Jack admitted, “it is pretty bad. But the animation is good, you were right.”

Gabriel sighed, loudly, and shook his head. “You are the worst roommate.” he grumbled, cringing when he heard his own voice faintly coming from the tv. “Worst.”

“Someone has to balance out for you. Have you gone out of your way to help other roommates with insomnia?” Jack asked.

“You invite any of your other employees to D&D or to live with you or buy them lunch for almost a solid week?”

Jack coughed. Cleared his throat a little. Gabriel, still not looking at him or the tv, heard him move to sit up in his seat.

“Touché.”

Gabriel finally looked up when he heard Jack switch off the tv. Smiled faintly when Jack ducked his head at him, apologetic.

“Gérard thinks you 'blessed my dice', too.”

Instantly, Jack puffed up. “That—oh! I'm going to ruin his character arc!” he hissed, hopping out of his seat and grabbing his phone on the way to his room. “I've got an hour before the shop opens, I'm rewriting it right now!”

Gabriel erupted into laughter, hand clamped over his mouth to keep from getting louder. Half doubled over, he reached his free hand out towards his friend.

“Jack no. You have to eat before work. Jack!”

It took a solid battle of wills to get Jack to eat breakfast instead of rewriting the next half of the campaign before work but, really, it was the easiest thing Gabriel had done for him in days now. And it was decidedly not thankless work, all things considered.

Chapter Text

Jack swore he started sleeping more. Gabriel couldn’t tell how, or when, but he had his suspicions that the whole thing was more or less a ploy to avoid feeling like he was a burden. And while Jack wasn’t particularly great at lying he did alright at hiding his problems. So Gabriel was left pretty stumped on what to do for him. He vouched to just be there. If he was wanted, if he was needed.

That week hosted the D&D game at Ana’s place again so after they saw the shop was doing alright that afternoon they packed up and headed out. The kid Jack had working that day was… nervous. But when Gabriel popped his head in the door on the way out he seemed to have relaxed some. They were still facing a bit of a challenge finding a confident person for Saturdays but Jack had a handful of students he’d been working with. This one he’d had Gabriel train.

“He’ll do fine.” Jack assured him as they headed off down the sidewalk.

Gabriel snuck another look at the shop, shrugged. “I hope so.”

As they made their way, Jack nudged him with an elbow. When Gabriel glanced over he was grinning.

“I’ve been thinking about a character arc for your rogue. Got any preferences?”

Gabriel shrugged. “I’ve always had a soft spot for tragic heroes.”

“Does everything have to be a tragedy in this group? Can’t I have one character whose goal is ‘have fun and be yourself’?” Jack asked, teasing. Gabriel laughed. “I’m serious! I’m giving him a pretty husband and a bunch of well behaved adoptive kids.”

“That is the ideal I suppose.”

“Hah, yeah…” Jack frowned, looking far off a moment. “Hey, that reminds me. Can you make sure I call my poor mother on Monday? They’re out of town this weekend but she wanted me to video chat her in the shop.”

“Sure.” Gabriel replied. Then, “So you get the grandkids nagging too?”

Jack laughed, nodded. “I, uh, broke up with a real serious girlfriend last year. She’s kind of been on me since then because she’s 'worried I missed my chance’.” He made a face. “Better than dad I guess.”

“What’s he do?” Gabriel asked, chuckling faintly.

Jack glanced sideways a moment, frowning. “We, uh, don’t talk. Right now.” he said slowly.

“Shit. Uh… sorry.”

Jack waved him off. Tried to put a little pep back in his step. It was forced but at least he was trying.

“It’s whatever.”

“Is it because of the whole fire fighter thing?” Gabriel ventured.

Jack shrugged. “Sort of.”

“Sort of?”

“He told me he’d talk to me when I got my shit back together. Which, in his mind, is going back to school for a 'real future’, getting another serious partner, and putting down on a house in suburbia. Or going home.”

Gabriel cringed. Jack smiled at him weakly and nodded.

“He’s an old man. He loves me, he does, but I think he just doesn’t know what to do with me after… everything.” Jack added, adjusting how his bag was hanging off his shoulder. “Mom says he’ll come around eventually. Uh, how's... I mean, what's the deal with your dad?” He was vying hard to change the topic and Gabriel could feel himself cringing before the words even left his mouth.

“He died when I was in my teens. Cancer.”

Jack ducked his head. Said, “Sorry.” instantly. But Gabriel just shoved lightly at his arm, dismissive.

“It's fine. Not like you knew.”

“But here I am bitching about my pops and... yeah.”

Gabriel made a face. “Look, you don't need to turn this into a pity party.”

Jack blinked at him. Stumbled to a bit of a stop in the middle of the sidewalk, brows furrowed. When Gabriel glanced back at him, a few paces ahead, he looked utterly stunned.

“Thanks, Gabe.”

“Don't mention it.”

Jack gave a little hop, moving to catch up with him, and they continued on their way. There was something odd about Jack's response, obviously, but Gabriel couldn't quite place why. And once they were near enough to Ana's house he stopped trying to mull over it.

That night was a rough leg of the campaign, to put it lightly. Gabriel and Ana both narrowly avoided death, honestly the only thing possibly saving them turning out to be Reinhardt's paladin-ing. When they broke for dinner, Gabriel was expecting the usual ribbing. Instead, their warlock seemed to turn his attentions on Jack.

“You trying to get rid of our DPS for any particular reason?” Gérard drawled, leaning on his elbow. Behind him, Torb shoved a few bills at Ana in the background while she glared at him, phone to her ear.

Jack glanced over his screen, frowning. “I have no idea what you're talking about.” he said, “You're DPS. You've only taken like 2 damage.”

“You still tried. Only couldn't do as much because I'm ranged.”

Jack huffed at him, crossing his arms over his chest like a sulking toddler. Gabriel tried to muffle the laugh it summoned into his drink.

“I focus on the tank and I'm 'going soft on you', I give DPS a hard time and I'm 'trying to get rid of them'. What do I have to do, man?”

Gérard reached over and tossed an arm around Gabriel's shoulders then. Pulled him in against his side, Gabriel snickering, and glared at Jack. “Be nice to Gabriel.” he drawled, “I happen to like our rogue with his blessed dice.”

Jack puffed up, indignant, and threw his hands in the air. “You're shitting me! You're a dick, man.” he fussed, Gérard and Gabriel both bubbling with laughter.

He sulked up until he got his take out, shooting Gérard grouchy looks, and only seemed to relent when Gabriel snatched his beer off the counter when everyone else was cleaning up. Expecting sass, he was met with only good-natured fussing. Perks of being the favorite...

“Hey, get your own!” Jack hissed, swatting at Gabriel's arm as he took a good swig of it.

“I didn't want my own. I just wanted to try it.” Gabriel shot back, grinning as Jack swiped it back. “Tastes better when it's yours, anyway.”

“Asshole.” he said, but his voice was all laughter. Jack peered down the neck of the bottle, checking the level, and took a sip. “Better finish this before you try to 'taste' it again.”

And, somehow, from there on Jack was in a brighter mood. It was still a slight mystery how Gabriel's teasing worked so differently but, well, no one was arguing when they ended up leaning the table with magic weapons. Gift horse and all that.

Monday morning while Gabriel opened up the shop, Jack pulled out his phone and went about calling his mother, as promised. Only vaguely listening as he worked, Gabriel heard them exchange greetings and Jack go moving around the shop—showing off his pride and joy like a proud father.

Once he'd done a round, avoiding Gabriel as he went through the computer start up, they lulled into a less focused discussion. He looked up, finished, when Jack propped himself against the counter to show his mother 76, who'd been sleeping as close to Gabriel as he could manage without being on the keyboard itself.

Jack's mother cooed over him a little, lazy cat yawning at the screen, then gave a little hmm. Jack turned the phone back to face himself and she asked, “How's S.R. going?”

Jack tensed. Fingers curling around his phone a little protectively. He made a face at his mother, then shrugged.

“They're good.”

“Still helping?”

Jack shrugged again. Pointedly didn't look at the screen a moment. Over the register, Gabriel stuck his tongue out at him. Tried to lighten whatever was darkening in on his mood. Jack actually smiled when he caught his eye.

“Yeah, uh,” he looked back at his phone, holding it up, “momma. You want to say hi to Gabriel?”

Wait, no! Gabriel shook his head and tried to duck behind the computer. Waved his hands at Jack in a failed attempt to shoo him as he stepped over to the counter.

“Oh? Sure!” he heard from the phone, her voice going all chipper.

Gabriel shot Jack a glare as he fiddled with his phone a moment before flipping the view to face him. Instantly, his expression shifted to something less... venomous. Oh, oh he was going to get Jack for this!

“H-hi, Mrs. Morrison!” he sputtered, smiling with a little too much zeal when he caught site of her face on the screen.

She just laughed and waved a hand in front of the screen. “Call me Lori, dear. So you're Gabriel, huh?”

“Last I checked.”

She laughed. Behind the phone, Jack was beaming at him. Loving every second of this slightly awkward exchange. Gabriel hated that he couldn't shove him for it at the moment. He'd introduced Jack to his mother and gotten food for it. This conversation provided no hope of food!

“You know, you're a miracle worker.” Lori remarked. Gabriel blinked at her, confused, and she shook her head. “Jack was a mess before he hired you. All gloom and doom, no hope. Then just a complete 180 the next day. Suddenly he knew he could open on time and it'd all work out. Funny, huh?”

“Yeah...” Gabriel grinned, shifting his gaze briefly to Jack. His friend just smiled back, a little more cautiously than before. “Nice to know I can still make an impression.” Lori chuckled at him.

At that point, Jack cut in. Turned the phone back around to face his mother. “Well, we gotta get the place opened up, momma.” he babbled, pacing a little as he talked, “I'll call you in a little while, alright?”

Lori just chimed in a little, “Alright, I love you!” before Jack responded in kind and hung up the call. When he looked up, pocketing his phone, Gabriel leaned against the register to grin at him.

“What?”

“I'm a miracle worker, huh?”

Jack snorted out a laugh, shaking his head. “She worries too much.” he said simply.

They opened up the shop with little fanfare, mainly just some regulars coming in for their pulls and some curious lunchtime shoppers. Gabriel managed to sell off one of the pricier statues in the case to a man waffling about a gift for his daughter and Jack called in one of their trainees for a short practice run around 4pm. While Jack walked the girl through the register Gabriel stepped into the back room to grab some overstock to put out.

He didn't get very far into sorting the boxes. Not with 76 harassing him for pets and his bleeding heart. Instead, he settled down in the back room for a few minutes to rub the cat's ears and coo over him. He seemed to like a total of two people; it was important to make sure he got the affection he needed when he asked for it. Or, at least, that was Gabriel's excuse when he wandered out with a box and cat hair on his shirt.

“You think I should keep him upstairs when we're not working?” Jack ventured when Gabriel pointed it out, stocking a few graphic novels across from the register. “He, uh, usually just hangs in the back room when there's someone else here.”

“Does he like dogs?” Gabriel asked over his shoulder.

Jack considered a moment, chin resting on his fist, and shrugged. “Dunno.” he said, “Reaper's good with cats, though, right?”

“I think he's under the impression he is one, sometimes.” Gabriel quipped, “Mami raised him like one.”

Jack laughed. “Worth a shot. We'll see how it goes after we close up.”

When they did close up and go about gathering up 76, Gabriel ended up being the one better equipped to handle a nervous cat with his ever-present hoodie. Jack usually tried to rib at him for it ('You always cold, California?') but it certainly made for better protection from anxious kneading than his own tshirt had. So Gabriel held the poor cat over one shoulder, rubbing at his ears, as Jack closed up the shop and headed upstairs, pushing the door open for him once he had it unlocked.

Reaper pranced over to greet them when he heard them and, to divert a little, Jack crouched down to ruffle at his ears while Gabriel dislodged 76 and set him on the back of the couch. Once they were certain the cat was relatively alright with the situation, Gabriel called Reaper over.

The shepherd plopped down at his feet, obedient, and 76 finally seemed to register his presence. There was a good, solid moment that passed with no one moving or making a sound, then 76 promptly stuck to Gabriel's arm and scaled up onto his shoulder, huffing loudly.

Jack fought back laughter, hand clamped over his mouth, and Gabriel tried not to move as the cat coiled around his neck, tail fluffed out. Thankfully, Reaper offered no response other than a faint wag of his tail.

“Jesus Christ, cat.” Gabriel grumbled, ruffling at his ears comfortingly anyway.

“Maybe I should keep him in my room for the first night.” Jack offered, “I'll let him roam a little when you go to bed with Reaper.”

Gabriel nodded, cringing when 76 dug his claws into his shoulder, and Jack moved to carefully lift the cat off him. It took a little coaxing but, gradually, Jack managed to scoop him up and tote him off to settle him in his room while Gabriel peeled off his hoodie to check for puncture wounds.

Finding none, he took to showering Reaper with praise for staying so patient before Jack returned and their focus shifted to dinner. (Jack's turn, much to Gabriel's glee with his cat scratched arms.) They finished out the night easily, Jack peeking in on 76 a few times to find no disasters, and then Gabriel got ready for bed with Reaper and said his goodnights.

That morning, slipping out the door to walk Reaper, he caught sight of Jack on the couch. Asleep, for a rare moment. With 76 nestled in the gap between his shoulder and neck, sleeping contently. That... was one cure for insomnia he hadn't considered. Seemed to work pretty well, too. Huh. 76 didn't exactly have the personality of a therapy animal, of course, but one couldn't argue with results. Gabriel made a point to offer the idea up to Jack later and, thankfully, was met with real enthusiasm. Finding Jack sleeping with the cat stuck to him became a regular thing.

It also, rather easily, became common to find 76 curled up next to or directly on Reaper in the following days. Gabriel was fairly certain that half the pictures Jack had on his phone by the end of the first day were just those two. Not that he had much room to talk either; he had another blackmail picture of Jack anyway—that fluffy white cat curled up on his head, tail flopped over his face as he slept. Too priceless to pass up.

Gabriel took that Wednesday off. It was, he told Jack, to let him have time to work with their trainees on Sunday. It was also, possibly, for other reasons he couldn't exactly tell Jack. Errands. He could be cryptic too, if he wanted. Jack Morrison had no room to judge him.

Not that he did. He just got up, made coffee, and snagged some of the breakfast Gabriel was making before heading downstairs to open the shop. Easy peasy. Now he just had to go complete his shopping before Jack started to wonder what he was running around town for.

He dodged questions about actually driving across town, something he openly spoke about hating, by popping in the door of the shop to set a box of donuts on the counter before retreating. Just chuckled to himself as Jack shouted “You're perfect, Gabe!” after him and headed upstairs with his haul.

Working with leather was, arguably, one of his least favorite things. It could be so damn unforgiving. But like Hell he was going to give his best friend some shitty vinyl number.

Gabriel stole one of Jack's coats out of a side closet to use for measurements and set to work cutting shapes. He paused for lunch, expecting Jack to pop in from downstairs, and poked around the kitchen with the dog until he heard Jack come in.

“It cannot be that cold to you, bro.”

Gabriel blinked, glancing over his shoulder. Found Jack giving him an incredulous look, leaning against the counter. He followed the other man's gaze to his back and—oh. Forgot about that. The jacket he'd swiped was still hanging over his back like a cape, worn brown leather hooked over his shoulders. He looked back at Jack, squinted, and pulled the coat tighter around his arms.

“I had to go in the freezer.”

Jack laughed and shook his head but seemed to let it go. Just swapped over to asking what leftovers they had to heat up and stole Gabriel's spot in front of the fridge. The killed the rest of a pizza from a previous night and Jack headed back downstairs, leaving Gabriel to return to his own project.

He spent the rest of Jack's shift cutting shapes. Didn't even get through half the pinning process before it was too close for comfort and he had to pack up his shit and stash it. (Made sure to put that coat away too, lest Jack accuse him of being a delicate orchid again.) But progress was progress.

That night, both of them piled on the couch for a monster movie, Jack nudged his elbow and asked, “So, how was your day off?”

“Productive, I guess.” Gabriel replied, muffling a yawn. “How was your day free of backseat employee training?”

Jack laughed. “Boring as shit.”

Gabriel tossed him a grin. “Don't worry,” he said, “I'll make sure we have maximum amounts of fun on Saturday. I'm taking you somewhere nice.”

“Somewhere nice?” Jack repeated, brow raised.

“It's a surprise. But you'll love it, dude, I promise.”

“It's not an anime con, is it?”

Gabriel laughed and shook his head. “No!” he huffed, “You gotta plan ahead for that. We're too late for one of those.” Jack snorted, clutching his face. “Look, no way am I taking you to a con without a goddamn costume on you. Guess again.”

“The zoo.”

“Nope.”

“A water park?”

“No.”

“Your mom's? Because I genuinely could use another hug and her cooking, holy shit.”

“No, dork.”

Jack sighed and threw his hands up. “Fine, I give.”

“Good. Because it's a surprise.” Gabriel drawled, leaning on his elbow. “Apparently you're unfamiliar with the concept.”

Jack just wrinkled his nose at him and huffed. Went back to the tv in a little faux-pout until Gabriel knocked a couch pillow against his head and got him laughing and swatting back at him. “You're an asshole.” he grumbled, even grinning at him.

“Yeah yeah, real asshole move for me to take you somewhere fun.”

“You don't know, I could hate surprises.”

Gabriel leaned in, planting a hand on his chest for Maximum Sincerity, and tilted his head toward Jack. “Trust me, bro.” he said, “I'll change your mind about them pretty quickly if you do.”

Jack rolled his eyes and shoved the pillow Gabriel smacked him with back at his face. “Yeah,” he snorted, “I'll believe it when it happens.”

That sounded like a challenge. And, really, who was Gabriel Reyes to pass up one of those?

Chapter Text

Bright and early Saturday morning, Gabriel hauled Jack and Reaper out to the car. Jack spent the first leg of the trip playing 20 questions, trying futilely to guess where they were going, but dropped the whole issue the second they cleared the city into something a little less developed.

Instead, he spent the rest of the trip glued to the window with the dog. Gabriel barely got his seat-belt off when they parked before Jack was out of the car and halfway across the parking lot.

“Aah, fresh air!” He sucked in a deep breath through his nose, arms thrown out over his head. Reaper danced around his feet, tail wagging.

“Yeah, it's pretty terrible.” Gabriel deadpanned, grabbing his backpack before joining them. “I'd have to take up smoking if I came here enough.”

Jack just laughed. “Whatever dude, this is amazing.”

“I thought you'd like it. Figured if you stayed in the city too long you'd start wilting.”

Jack rolled his eyes but it was hard to deny the instant pep a little bit of greenery had put in his step. Gabriel got them pointed down the right trail after some deliberation and they set off with the dog sniffing around up ahead.

“I haven't been hiking in forever.” Jack said, head on a near-constant swivel to take in the whole place.

“Mm, me neither. It's kind of out of the way.”

“Ah, but it's worth it.” Pausing, Jack gestured to the flora around them. “I haven't seen California like this. It's all been cities and beaches.”

Gabriel shrugged, watching Reaper hop over a log on the trail. “It's nicer further up. Bigger trees. But I did what I could with a day trip.”

“Thanks.” Jack tossed him a grin before hopping over the same log the dog had. “This... was a nice surprise.”

“I'm sorry, I didn't catch that.” Gabriel drawled, grinning at him.

“You only get it once, savor it.” Jack replied cheekily, ducking under a low branch.

Eh, it was worth a shot. Gabriel would just be sure to record the next one.

They hiked till lunch and grabbed food on the way back home. Both of them ended up stuffing burgers in their faces during the drive rather than waiting, too ravenous from the hike, and Jack ended up pushing D&D back by nearly an hour to make sure they could shower and settle in.

The game itself was short, rather lighthearted, and punctuated by multiple jabs at the light sunburn on Jack's nose. Gabriel felt a little guilty but he had, after all, warned Jack to wear sunscreen before they left. Not his fault the man apparently burnt easier than a marshmallow.

Still, it was an all-around success and left Jack talking about it for most of the following week. He even showed regulars a few pictures, eager to blab on about different plants and rocks they'd found. On the surface it hadn't seemed like that big a deal but, well, Jack probably hadn't gotten a chance to see much of any California other than the small square he was living in. He seemed to stay pretty insular and busy; a combination that didn't lend itself well to finding out what LA had to offer besides good dining.

“We should plan a weekend.” Gabriel offered one afternoon, when business had slowed and he'd taken to stocking a few things. “Take you to see the mountains. Or maybe a nice beach and not the garbage ones.”

Jack perked up, peeking over the register at him. “Mountains?” he asked. Then, “It'd probably have to wait till Ana can watch the place for the weekend.”

“Yeah, but still.” Gabriel waved a book over his shoulder lightly. “I can start planning now. Maybe do something late fall? Or, if you're game earlier, there's always renting a beach cabin.” He peeked at Jack solely to wiggle his eyebrows at him. “Private beaches."

“That, uh, that sounds nice. Let's do that. The... cabin.” He paused, fiddling with something on the register. “I'll see what Ana can manage.”

“Hell yeah. I'll remember to pack extra sunscreen.”

He couldn't see it but Gabriel knew Jack was rolling his eyes anyway. And that was all that really mattered in the end.

That following Thursday, Jack warned him they wouldn't be doing D&D on Saturday. While disappointing, Gabriel didn't mull over it. It wasn't until that morning when Jack caught his attention as he brought Reaper in from a walk, that it occurred to him at all that they hadn't had an off week for anything.

“Hey, uh, Gabe.” Jack waved at him from the kitchen, calling him over.

Gabriel unleashed Reaper and wandered over, dog on his heels. Leaned against the kitchen counter and raised a brow at Jack. “What's up?”

“So I have this… thing. Tonight. And usually Ana goes with me for them but she doesn’t have a sitter for Fareeha and I told her you were probably busy but she said I should ask anyway.”

Gabriel pulled a face. “Jack. We live in the same house. By now you should know that my only plans for tonight is playing video games until I pass out. I’m not busy. What do you want me to go to?”

Jack shifted on his feet. Looked like he genuinely wasn’t sure whether or not to continue talking or just bolt out of the room.

“Self Management And Recovery Training. They do this monthly thing to celebrate milestones and I'm hitting my 5 year mark this go around and… Ana said I shouldn’t go by myself.”

“Oh.” Great job, Gabriel. Very articulate. Fumbling for a save, he stood up straight. “That’s… awesome. Five years of no, uh…”

“I did mostly amphetamines. Meth once or twice, that was a low point.” Jack rattled off the list almost clinically. Then he just looked down at the floor and scuffed his shoe against the tile. “Aaand now it’s awkward. Good going, Jack.”

Gabriel shook his head and reached over, nudged Jack’s arm. “Hey, no. It’s good, we’re good. This is just… you were going for a law enforcement degree, dude.”

Jack laughed. “That’s, uh, why I don’t have one. I didn’t use heavily until college and then… I got caught. Narrowly missed getting my ass thrown in jail.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “Shit, um. Can we… forget this, actually? You don’t have to go or anything, thanks for considering.”

Gabriel reached over again, this time pinching Jack’s elbow. He jumped and shot him an offended look, rubbing his arm.

“What—?”

“I’ll go with you, Jackass. What’s the dress code?”

Jack melted. Expression going all soft he smiled and shook his head.

“No sweatpants.” he said, “Tough for you, I know.”

Gabriel laughed. “I’ll figure something out.”

So that night Gabriel put on real pants and hauled himself up into Jack's truck for the trip across town to the convention center the group met at. He offered to drive, noting Jack's nervous tapping on the wheel, but got turned down. So he just leaned back in the seat and tried not to pay attention to the rest of the drivers in LA.

Where they eventually arrived was... surprisingly cheerful. Jack lead him inside to a small party, complete with cheap catering, and they milled around with Jack greeting other members and introducing him before he got called away to do whatever honoring ceremony was planned. From what Gabriel could see while sipping non-alcoholic punch it looked like a little speech about 'how far they'd all come' and a pin. Small ass token for a huge deal as far as Gabriel was concerned.

When Jack returned his phone went off almost immediately; his mother. He answered, taking a cup of punch from Gabriel, and paced around the table a little.

“Yeah, the ceremony just finished. Uh-huh, Gabe went with me. I—what? No, uh, haven't heard from pops. Is he—oh? Oh. Okay. Yeah, yeah I know. But it's just... five years is a lot.” Jack paused in front of Gabriel and chewed his lip, listening to his mother. “Uh, yeah. I guess.”

When he hung up, he looked flustered. Gabriel offered him another cup of punch and he took it. Downed the whole thing again without speaking.

“Something wrong?” Gabriel asked.

“No,” Jack sighed, “or yes. I don't know.”

“Spill it.”

He raked a hang through his hair, obviously trying to compose himself. “Dad doesn't care. Mom just effectively said 'just remember, this isn't even a big milestone!' And all I got for this was a goddamn pin.” He shook his head, looking down. “Stupid I even thought this one would be different.”

“Jack, no.” Gabriel nudged his arm to get him to look at him. “You're allowed to be proud of this. Fuck anyone who says otherwise. Five years is a lot.”

Jack made a face. Rolled his shoulder a little. “I still effectively ruined everything with this, Gabe. Everything I touch falls apart. My law enforcement degree, gone. My relationship with my father is in shambles. And when I moved out here and tried to start over everything went south when people found out.” he explained.

“What happened?”

“The LAFD offered to take me on as a paid member, did a background check, found my history and... very politely told me not to let the door hit me in the ass. My girlfriend left me. And when Ana went out on a limb to try and get me the shop she ended up losing her fucking marriage.”

Gabriel paused, head cocked at Jack. “Wait, what?” he asked, “What ended her marriage?”

“Me. Or, at least, stress over me.” Jack sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. “They kept fighting about the money, Ana's job, watching Fareeha... I didn't find out till later that Ana thinks he thought, because she was so intent on helping me, we were... having an affair. Didn't help that my relationship just ended on bad terms and, well, yeah.”

“Shit, man...”

“She's my friend—one of the best I've had in a long time. But it was never like that.”

Gabriel shrugged a little. “Sounds like more than just you, Jack. Sounds like there were just things under the surface you got used as an excuse to stir up. You really shouldn't be so damn self-important, Morrison.”

Jack just cast a forlorn look his way so Gabriel reached over and nudged his arm. Managed to summon the hints of a smile out of him.

“No pity parties, alright?” Gabriel said, “Even if your family isn't proud of you, I am. And I know Ana and the rest of the group are. So don't let it wear you out, alright?” Jack nodded, glancing down at the floor again. “Let's go get some damn chili dogs, my treat. I couldn't eat that spread in there if I tried.”

Jack did manage to laugh at that. “What,” he asked, “too good for dry chicken tenders and store bought deli salads?”

“Yes!” Gabriel blurted, wrinkling his nose.

That got a genuine laugh. Jack nudged his elbow and they headed for the exit, Gabriel playfully shoving him back. They made it to the truck, Jack pointedly ignoring his phone in his pocket as he climbed into the drivers seat, and Gabriel directed him to 'The World's Best Hotdog Place'.

They ate in the back of the truck, feet hanging off the tailgate, and watched the lights slowly flicker on as night rolled in. Halfway through his meal, playful jabbing about that hotdog picture stowed suddenly, Jack glanced over at him and smiled.

“I'm really glad I brought you along, bro. I never leave those things feeling like it actually... means anything.”

Gabriel paused to wash down his last bite with beer before reply. “Then why go?” he asked, “If it doesn't make you feel, uh, smart?”

Jack rolled his eyes and bit back a laugh. “It's government subsidized therapy.” he explained, “Also... looks better when people find out about everything. I wasn't going to the place here yet when the fire department found out and... yeah.” He swung his legs a little, boot toes barely scratching the concrete below. “I dunno, maybe I expect too much. It's just tools to help me suck less at coping, not a way to fix anything.”

“I could go more often, if you want?” Gabriel offered.

“No,” Jack replied quickly, looking up. “No, it's alright. The regular meetings aren't very, uh, exciting anyway. Mostly it's just breakfast and 'I didn't use today'. I'm considered a 'senior member' who's there to offer moral support and advice. I get my own counseling too but mostly it's a lot of me going 'well I don't know how to deal with the insomnia, Deborah, I just had my roommate read Harry Potter to me the other night'.”

Gabriel laughed, choking on his beer, and fought to keep from spitting all over the parking lot. Jack just grinned at him, too proud of himself, and gave him a rough thump on the back when he managed to swallow and promptly started coughing.

When he recovered Gabriel shoved at him, free hand wiping off his beard. “If you're sure, Jackass.”

Jack nodded, still grinning. Leaned over to nudge Gabriel with his arm, shoulders bumping. Something about the gesture, otherwise so normal, made Gabriel consider the situation. Here they were, sun setting around them while they ate dinner together in the back of a pick-up and joked about what was arguably the worst thing to ever happen to Jack in such a casual, upbeat way. It was odd.

Odder, still, was how he kept noticing little things. The warmth lingering from when Jack leaned against his arm, the way his eyes looked far too blue even in the low lighting, the way his dorky ass laugh made his chest feel lighter. It was such a strange feeling but...

But he knew this feeling. And—shit. Oh shit.

He tried to push it down as they wrapped up their meal and climbed back in the truck, headed home. Jack hummed along to the radio, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel, and they talked about plans for the weekend. Gabriel didn't bother addressing the issue with himself at all until he got home and headed to bed, leaving Jack watching cartoons with 76 on the couch as usual.

As it turned out, just searching 'how to tell if you're in love with your best friend' on the internet didn't really shed any light on the situation. Mostly, it just made Gabriel feel like an idiot.

Because he didn't find himself jealous of Jack's other relationships. And while he wouldn't deny a certain attraction it wasn't exactly the foundation of things; Jack was nice to look at but not really what he usually went after, that affection for blue eyes and goofy laughs apparently came from familiarity. He didn't have many friends to begin with, not to mention he lived with Jack, so the idea of measuring their relationship by how much time they spent together felt foolish.

But, more than that, he didn't even know why he was looking. Nothing could come of it. Jack was his best friend, roommate, and boss; a combination that lent itself, in no way, toward romance. Even attempting to venture into that minefield could end horribly. If Jack didn't return his feelings he was left with a whole life of serious awkwardness. And if he did...

Gabriel shook his head and snapped his laptop closed. Best not to entertain the idea. It was probably just a crush anyway; it'd go away in a few weeks, when the novelty of the idea wore off, and they'd go back to being bros. No need to complicate things.

But right on that note there was a knock at his door. Followed by, “Uh... you still up?”

“Yeah, what do you need, Jack?” he called back, leaning in his chair.

Hesitantly, Jack pushed the door open and peeked inside. Gabriel watched him, brow raised, and grinned when they finally made eye contact.

“Hey,” Jack said, “so. I know I told you it was fine but... could I borrow the book? I feel like I need something to wind down with a little.” Gabriel tugged the book out from the drawer on his desk and held it out to Jack. He fumbled with the door a little before stepping in and taking it. “Thanks.”

“You want me to read for you again?” he offered.

Jack laughed and shook his head. “No, no. That's... that's fine. But thanks.” He held the book aloft, wiggling it lightly. “I'll leave you to bed.” He moved for the door again but paused, book still awkwardly half held in the air. “So, um, I just wanted to let you know that I'm really glad I met you.” he said, “You're probably the best friend I've ever had.”

Gabriel looked at him a long moment, smile tugging at his lips. He swallowed, turning his chair to face Jack, and stood up. Stuck his arms out wide, beckoning him in. This time, Jack didn't even hesitate. All but dove into the hug, roughly squeezing him around the middle and tucking his face against his shoulder. A good, quality bro-hug. Complete with a hard thump on the back when they parted.

“Back at you, Jackass.” Gabriel said, rubbing his knuckles in Jack's hair before he pulled away fully.

Jack laughed and said his goodnights, departing to the living room with his book. Gabriel watched after him till the door clicked closed, then promptly buried his face in his hands, sank back into his chair, groaned angrily, and knocked his beanie off his head.

“I'm screwed.” he sighed, glancing at the dog. “And not even in the good way. I thought I would have grown out of crushes by now.” Reaper just set his chin on Gabriel's knee, whining sympathetically. “Your dad's a hopeless romantic. What are you going to do with me?”

Gabriel ran his hand over Reaper's head, leaning back in his chair again. He sighed, looking up at the ceiling.

“What am I going to do with me?”

Chapter Text

Gabriel learned long ago that depression is a stalking animal, just out of view. It lurks, waiting in the wings for the best moment to pounce. Even on good days, on high weeks, it can find a weak point and stab right at the meatiest part of your being. Put you into sheer misery.

But there is a marked difference between being self-aware and always being able to combat the beast that is Shitty Brain. So even if he could see it coming from miles away, lurching toward him, it didn't do a damn thing. It just happened. It didn't even seem particularly concerned with the other parts of his life. Just there to make him feel like shit.

The first week wasn’t as bad as usual. Briefly, Gabriel wondered if he could just power through the cloud of negativity. That didn’t end up panning out, however, when he hit bottom around Wednesday.

Jack’s concern when he got upstairs for lunch to find him still in his sleep pants and no shirt, sprawled in the center of the living room floor with nothing but the ceiling tiles to count, wasn’t unfounded.

“Hey, you alright?”

“Shitty Brain.” Gabriel replied simply. Jack blinked down at him, leaning over his head, and he realized that Jack hadn’t actually heard him use that term for the problem before. Sighing loudly, he added, “My brain says everything is awful and I’m awful and life is meaningless. It’s lying but it’s goddamn loud.”

Jack tilted his head above him. “You… need anything?”

“Nah,” Gabriel said, scratching his chest as he sat up. “It’ll go away eventually. Always does.”

Jack wandered toward the kitchen, still clearly listening for him. “You deal with this often?” he asked.

Gabriel shrugged and stretched his arms over his head. “It’s a cycle. Usually it gets bad if it’s cold. But I never actually got a ‘seasonal’ diagnosis because… shit, what’s the high today?”

“75.”

“That’s a damn beautiful day, Jack. My brain just hates everything.”

Jack let out a faint chuckle, digging in the fridge. “You want lunch?” he asked.

“Eh, sure.”

Slowly he hauled himself to his feet. Wandered over to sit at the kitchen table and watch Jack make sandwiches. After they’d eaten, he tried to offer his friend a little more warning.

“It’ll pass in a few days, really. I’m used to it.”

“Are you sure you don’t need anything?” Jack asked, leaning on the table. Gabriel shook his head. “Not even, like, some cheesecake?”

Gabriel considered a moment. “Cheesecake helps.” he said simply. Jack laughed.

He tried to keep Jack convinced he was fine, he really did, but as the days drug on and he found himself more and more shrouded in negativity it felt like this bout would never pass. It got a little difficult to act through the feelings.

As the week drew on, closer to Saturday, nothing changed fully. The small stuff helped, of course, but it only seemed to also give his brain new ammo to work with.

He means too much to you. Jack was the only thing he smiled about all that week. Little things like bringing him donuts and putting on monster movies that were so mild, so normal, lifted his mood better than anything ever had before. So, given that it was being challenged, his brain went after it.

He'd had high hopes D&D would help but it ended up called off for the weekend due to Ana needing to study for a test. Noticing the damper it put on Gabriel's mood, Jack set up a small movie night with the rest of the group. But from the get-go it didn't feel the same...

Gabriel made a point of trying to enjoy himself, by force or no. But it was too many people, even being people he liked. Too much pressure. He excused himself to go stand out on the porch not even an hour in, breathing deeply. He didn't even keep track of how long he stood there before he heard the door open behind him and Jack stepped over to stand next to him.

“Hey, you alright?”

“No.”

There wasn't any reason for it. Just his head. But he couldn't lie to Jack. He heard Jack clear his throat and when he looked over he found his arms spread out, welcoming him in. That same gesture he made when Jack got all gloomy mirrored right back at him. His heart thumped oddly noticeably.

He just closed his eyes, ignored it, and stuck his face against Jack's shoulder, arms wrapped around his middle. Heard him hum softly, hand rubbing the back of his neck as the other arm settled comfortably around his waist. It was almost surreal how intimate it was. So close.

After a moment, he felt more than heard Jack laugh. The hand on the back of his neck squeezed gently.

“Look,” he said, “I know I can be a little... emotionally unavailable sometimes.” It sounded like he was quoting someone, not using a phrase he'd found by himself. “But I really care about you, Gabe. So you can tell me if you need me.”

He said “Thanks.” because the other things he thought weren't things he should say at the moment. Tucked himself in a little closer, fingers worrying the hem of Jack's hoodie. He inhaled through his nose and found Jack mostly just smelled like soap; detergent and shampoo and shower gel. But it was nice, especially since he also smelled like something Gabriel could only describe as 'warm'.

“You want to go home?” Jack asked. Gabriel nodded against his shoulder. “Okay. Okay, you can go wait in the car. I'll just... tell them you feel like you're gonna barf.”

Gabriel didn't want to let go but, left with no option, slowly uncoiled from around Jack. Instead of the usual rough pat they parted with Jack rubbed his palm over his back, hand warm even through his shirt. Too soft, way too soft. His heart hurt.

Jack stepped back inside and Gabriel tried not to linger on how bad he felt for bailing as he climbed into the passengers' side car, didn't feel up to operating a vehicle at that moment. He sat there anxiously drumming on the door until Jack came back out and plopped into the driver's seat. He started the car and sat in silence a moment before speaking.

“Do you want to try something?”

Gabriel blinked, glancing over at him. When he did, he found Jack staring intently.

“What?”

“To help with the Shitty Brain.” Jack explained patiently, watching him.

Gabriel blinked at him again. Tilted his head to the side. “What are you thinking?”

Jack held a finger to his lips. “A surprise.” he said, “You want to try? You get to help me with insomnia, I get to help you with... sad.”

Gabriel laughed faintly but nodded. “If you want.” he said.

Jack's plan, as it turned out, wasn't terrible. It was, however, spur of the moment. Because in the instant Gabriel accepted Jack slapped his knee and drove off in relatively excited silence. Gabriel barely registered where they were headed until they parked at the beach. He glanced over, confused.

“You want to go to the beach... now?”

“Yeah.” Jack replied eagerly, shutting the car off. “Means I don't have to fuck around with sunscreen.”

That actually managed to get him to laugh. “Okay, okay.” Gabriel sighed, glancing back out the window. “We'll go get eaten by sand fleas.”

They didn't. Not really, anyway. Instead, Jack lead him down to the water in silence, enjoying the salt air and quiet night. Jack hung back near the dunes pulling his shoes off as Gabriel kicked off his flipflops and wandered out into the water, up to his knees before he finally stopped.

It felt good. He breathed deep, smelling sand and ocean and home. Let the water lap at his knees and bathed in the sound. It was so damn peaceful.

Out of no where, Jack sloshed out to stand next to him. Almost tripped on a rock and caught himself on Gabriel's arm, laughing when he stumbled. It took a moment for Gabriel to realize he was laughing too. Everything felt lighter, more manageable in that moment.

“This was a good idea.” he admitted once Jack was upright, patting his arm. “Thanks.”

Jack just smiled at him. That dopey, dimpled grin melted a little when he caught Gabriel's gaze, however. He paused, jaw going slack, and studied his face. Gabriel raised a brow at him.

“What?”

“Oh, uh.” Jack pulled a face, nose wrinkling, and shook his head. “Nothing. I'm... I'm glad.”

He tipped slightly on his feet, water churning around him, and elbowed Gabriel lightly. “How dangerous is it to actually go swimming right now?”

“I'll call you Sharkbait for the rest of your life—if you live.”

Jack laughed. “Ah, damn it. Fine.” He planted himself on two feet again, water sloshing. “Maybe next time we should... go earlier.”

Gabriel shrugged. “You're vacuuming my car, by the way.”

“Wh—but!” Jack fumbled again, turning in the water abruptly, and looked back the way they'd came. “There's no showers!”

“Yup. Sand all over my damn floorboards.”

“Gabe!”

Gabriel bit back a laugh. “It was your idea, Jackass.”

“But it helped, right?”

Pausing, he looked out across the water. The moonlight bouncing off the lazy waves, shades of blue and gray mulling together under the stars. The smells and sounds of total calm. He nodded.

“Yeah, it did.”

Jack gave a relieved little exhale. “Good.”

They stood there for a while longer. Just being, just existing. And, for the first time since the hole had opened up under him, Gabriel felt like that was alright. Like simply standing and letting the world happen around him was alright.

Then, Jack reached over and nudged his arm. Shaken from his thoughts, he glanced over.

“We should get back. You're working tomorrow, right?” A pause, then, “You sure you don't want me to cover?”

Gabriel waved him off and started for shore. “I'll be fine. Sunday's always a chill day.”

“Alright. And we should... do this again sometime.”

“Risk fleas and sharks to track sand into my car?” Gabriel teased.

Jack laughed. “Yeah,” he said, “that.”

And, despite it all, Gabriel agreed with him.

While his depression didn't go away—mainly because it never truly would—it did manage to calm down. Gabriel found a way to make it through Sunday with a clear head and the following days felt progressively lighter. By his next day off, that Thursday, he felt like actually being productive again. Which was good, considering he still had a project to do during the small spaces of time he had the apartment away from Jack.

So he took over the kitchen table, pinned fabric still thankfully fairly put together, and went to work. He had most of the rough stitching done in time to put things away for when Jack popped upstairs for lunch. Speaking of...

“Gabe, door!” A thump, Jack's foot hitting the door followed. “Please! I have too much.”

Sighing, Gabriel got up from the couch and wandered over to pull the door open. As soon as he did, Jack was handing him a carry-out bag from the BBQ place down the street. Heaven opened up as soon as he looked in the bag.

“That's your usual order, right? The, uh, cashier knew you by name.”

Gabriel laughed and stepped over to the kitchen table. “Yeah,” he said, already cracking the box open. “Not surprised. Even if I haven't been there since... uh.”

Busy giving Reaper a few greeting pets, Jack looked up. “Uh?” he mimicked.

“Since I applied. For the shop, I mean. I kind of... spent part of my rent on Hawaiian pork and mac salad.” Gabriel explained, sitting down while Jack doctored his own food. “I guess that's kind of... funny.”

“Basically we met because of pork?” Jack teased. Gabriel rolled his eyes.

“We met because I was broke.”

Jack laughed. “You think it was going to work out like, uh, this?” he asked before taking a bite of his sandwich.

Gabriel smiled. “Nah,” he said, “but things could have been worse, huh? Could have got that job I interviewed for waiting tables.”

“I did that a few years. It was... bad.” Jack said, cringing between bites.

“I can't imagine. Managed to dodge that bullet and skip to regular retail for my first job.”

“Lucky.”

They lapsed into content silence for a moment, finishing their food. It was strange—for all the talking they did they managed to spent a lot of time fairly quiet. Just being around each other. Jack had pointed it out a few times, going so-far as to mention that he appreciated not having to fill silence when Gabriel was around. 'Because,' he said, 'either Gabe effortlessly got him to talk or there simply wasn't a need.' It was, admittedly, a little odd. But... nice.

Lunch finished and trash put away, however, they came upon an important topic. Jack did, anyway. Gabriel had been just fine with thinking over how much more of that jacket he could get done in the afternoon.

“Hey, so,” Jack glanced over his shoulder from the counter, “I was wondering... do you still have some of those costumes you showed me?”

Gabriel blinked at him. “Yeah. They're still packed but... why?”

The other man spun around, hands up. He looked a little more excited than Gabriel was expecting. But, upon noticing that little jerk back, he visibly tried to simmer down.

“I just, uh, had an idea. For some promo stuff.” he explained, stepping closer. “I thought maybe we could do some costume stuff, maybe rake in some extra business this weekend if we get the place looking exciting?”

Hmm, not a bad idea. While they certainly weren't hurting for business it never did any harm to get in some extra foot traffic. And what better way to do that than some dork in a costume, right?

“You want me to stand outside holding a sign?” Gabriel asked, teasing. Jack shook his head quickly. “So just... help customers in costume?”

Jack didn't seem to see an issue. “I let you work in what qualifies as gym clothes for at least three days last week. You owe me something nice.” he replied.

That was... fair. Gabriel watched Jack a moment, frowning. The other man just grinned back at him. Batted his lashes in an almost cartoonish fashion, earning a laugh, and stuck out his lower lip.

“Please, Gabe?”

“Ugh, fine.” Gabriel huffed. Jack bounced on his feet, clearly excited, and he raised a hand to stop him. “Wait, wait. There is no way in hell I'm doing this alone, though.”

Jack deflated some. “I don't... have a costume, Gabe.”

Ah, but that was where he was wrong! Or, at least, uninformed. Gabriel waved him off easily.

“You can use one of mine.” he explained, “Until, uh, that gets fixed.”

Until I fix it, by making you one. Like I am. Right now. But you can't know. Gabriel could almost kick himself for that wasted week of not working on it. It'd be done by now and he wouldn't have to worry about whether or not Jack fit in one of his old numbers!

Instead, he hatched out the best plan he had. Cobble together something suitable and force Jack to go along with his own idea. Had to face the consequences of his actions now and then, right?

“You think one will... work?” he asked.

Gabriel smirked at him. “Oh,” he said, “but of course, Jack. My work can fix any walking disaster into a proper showstopper. Trust me.”

“Walking disaster?” Jack repeated, indignant. Gabriel rolled past it without a second thought.

“We get rid of that farmboy aesthetic you have going and you'll fit right in.”

Jack pulled a face, tongue stuck out. “I thought you liked me for who I am, Gabe.” he teased.

He paused, heart melting a little more than he'd ever like to admit. Probably went all sappy on his face, too, since Jack raised a brow at him. But Gabriel did his best to shake it off before he got questioned on the matter. Just waved a hand in the air.

Because he did like who Jack was. Very much. In more ways than Jack even knew. In more ways, arguably, than Jack was allowed to know. Not that Gabriel was even sure how to express them as words in the first place.

So he said, “You're alright.” in a teasing voice and Jack shoved his arm, laughing.

“See if I vacuum your car for you again.”

“You will.” Gabriel replied easily, “Because you want to go to the beach again, right?”

Got him there. Jack admitted defeat not long before heading back down to the shop and Gabriel, left alone, got back to work on his project. Maybe he needed more than just the jacket, if they were going to make a habit of promos..? It was something to consider. He'd play around with things once he actually had the first part finished.

He also, speaking of, had to do some editing to one of his other numbers. Because there was no way he was going to be the only weirdo in costume this weekend and Jack's build was a little off from his... There was work to be done.

He had them pulled out and under the needle when Jack got back upstairs from closing that night. Kitchen covered in his supplies, barely any room for when Jack set to work making dinner. Not that he was complaining; he spent most of the time peeking over Gabriel's shoulders and almost burning the spaghetti sauce.

“It's, uh, a lot of blue.” he mentioned at one point, chin propped on Gabriel's head while he worked. He was probably just tired or trying to be annoying but the gesture was so familiar and warm it didn't even bother Gabriel.

“You, of all people, cannot have a problem with blue.”

Good lord, please don't have a problem with blue... That dyed leather was too much of a damn pain to hunt down in a decent color.

“Nah,” Jack replied, straightening back up and moving over to the stove again, “my favorite, actually.”

Oh thank god.

“Any requests while I'm editing?”

“Hmm?” Jack peeked over his shoulders, “Uh, nah? Just make sure it works good with whatever you're going with.”

“Oh,” Gabriel said, chuckling to himself as he went back to his work, “that is going to be the last of your concerns. Trust me.”

Chapter Text

Truth be told there were plenty of costumes that would have suited Jack. And plenty that Gabriel could have taken in easier, put him in with way less effort. But he was a little too smitten with the idea to give it up. It’d never compare to a custom job but it was the closest he had in his own cosplay closet to fix things.

Jack started grinning the second he realized what it was.

“You’re such an asshole.”

Gabriel smirked back at him, holding the suit up to be sure he’d accommodated Jack’s shoulders properly. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” he hummed.

“You do not get to make fun of me for liking Captain American when you have a fucking cosplay outfit in your closet.”

“Would you believe it’s not mine?” Gabriel offered, folding the costume over his arm. Jack rapidly shook his head. “Damn.”

“Spill. Now.”

“Not much to spill.” Gabriel replied lazily. “Got asked to do a classic comics meet. Told to do something ‘close to home’ so I went all American.”

Jack bit back a laugh. “Lots of super heroes are American.”

“Yeah,” Gabriel drawled, setting the suit on his bed, “but we both know what those assholes were actually doing.” Jack nodded, wrinkling his nose. “I won, don’t worry.”

“Good. It’s a damn good costume anyway. Doesn't sound like those assholes deserved it.”

Gabriel shrugged and turned for his closet again. “Eh, I like a little more creative freedom than they gave anyway.”

He rummaged for a moment, flipping through hangers, and heard Jack sit down at his desk. Reaper clicked over to him on the tile and a soft 'oof’ followed when Jack inevitably caved to puppy eyes and let the oversized shepherd hop into his lap.

“He’s really not a lap dog, contrary to popular belief.” Gabriel teased, pulling out one of his picks for the day. When he turned around Jack had Reaper curled up in his lap, head resting on his shoulder and tail thumping softly against his leg.

“Don’t you say that about him, Gabe. He’s a little puppy.”

Gabriel laughed and shook his head. He held up the costume for Jack to see, brow raised.

“This one good?”

“You have a Deadpool costume?” Jack whistled and Reaper flicked one of his ears, slapping him on the face.

“One of my favorites, after all.”

Jack laughed. “You’re the coolest person I know, Gabriel Reyes.”

“I know.” Gabriel shot him a cocky grin. “I get that a lot.”

“Shame, though...” Jack remarked, glancing over Reaper at his own designated costume. “We don't even match.”

Gabriel fought a laugh. “I kept it in-universe. What, you wanted a Batman and Robin situation, Jack?” he teased.

Jack pulled a face at him, looking back. “No,” he huffed, “more like. I dunno...”

“X-men or more of a Batman and Superman dynamic here?” Gabriel asked.

“No no, need something edgier for you.” Jack waved his hands in the air, turning his chair with to get a better look at Gabriel's bookshelf for aid. “More like a Cable and Deadpool match-off. Classic duo, bro,” Gabriel slapped a hand over his mouth, Jack's back to him, to keep from laughing out of shock. “or Ana always said I'd be a cute Constantine if you wanted to go gritty realism instead.” He turned back and found Gabriel with his hand still clamped over his mouth and raised a brow. “What?”

Gabriel coughed, hand still firmly over his face, and managed to choke out, “You'd be a shitty Cable.”

Jack just laughed. This awful snort-started thing that left him stuffing his face against the fluffy dog shoulder in his face and ending up with his ear licked. “Yeah, yeah.” he huffed, “Party pooper.”

He was doing this on purpose. He had to be. There was no goddamn way that anyone could break out a list like that without some kind of intent. Then, Jack finally wooed a mournful shepherd off his lap and scooped up the costume, paused to sock Gabriel in the shoulder on his way out. As he left he managed to catch himself on the door-frame, fumbling for his balance, and Gabriel sighed internally. No, no, never mind. This whole reading too far into a crush thing was going to kill him. When was that even going to go away?

Jack tried it on and, upon finding it fit, refused to take it off almost up to the minute before bed. The only way Gabriel managed to get it off of him was probably threatening to buzz his head if he messed it up sleeping on the couch like he did. Weeks of living with the man and Gabriel still hadn't figured out why he refused to sleep in a bed.

Saturday morning, bright and early, they set their plan into action. Suited up and headed downstairs to open the shop. Jack apparently made a small event of it; posted on social media and offered free issues and items. Gabriel watched a small line form at the door, drinking his coffee and leaning on the register, while Jack fussed over last minute details.

“I feel like we should have the masks.” he remarked, glancing over his shoulder at Gabriel.

“I'm not taking the beard off for a promo event, Jack.” Gabriel replied blandly. “And it does not work with the mask, trust me. Plus, probably wouldn't work well for talking to customers wearing them.”

Jack glanced back at his inventory and huffed lightly. “You wouldn't even let me have my props.”

“You hit yourself in the face with the shield.”

“I did not.” Jack shot back, not looking at him. “It slipped.”

Gabriel just made a soft 'mmhm' noise and drained the rest of his coffee. “It's almost open.” he warned, glancing at the door again, “And people look antsy.”

Jack looked in the direction he was and seemed to realize, for the first time, that they had any kind of queue. His eyes bugged a moment, jaw slacking, and then he laughed—this high-pitched nervous thing. Gabriel chuckled back at him and shook his head.

“You promo'd too hard.” he said.

“Guess so.” Jack let out a more genuine laugh this time. “I guess I should, uh, finish up and get the door.”

He did and the rest of the morning all but blurred by. Between new customers, goofy pictures, and a few small raffles the hours were flying. Neither of them realized how close it was to time to actually eat until Ana took it upon herself to show up with burgers when she brought Fareeha over to enjoy the place. The bag she set on the counter between them smelled like heaven and, clearly, Jack felt the same because he barely greeted her before he went digging in it.

“You two aren't exactly an ideal team-up.” she chuckled, watching Jack try to fit a while burger in his mouth while holding another out of Gabriel's reach. “I mean, isn't this like... C-team for the Avengers?”

Gabriel smacked at Jack's arm until he relented and handed over the other burger, pouting. “More like Q-team.” he deadpanned at Ana, shooting Jack a glare while he unwrapped his burger. “End of the world situation kind of team.”

“I told him to do a duo thing next.” Jack pipped up, pausing to wipe grease off his face. Ana laughed. “Or, oh, what about something unlicensed?”

Gabriel gave a small 'hmm' of agreement and dug a few fries out of the bag. “I was thinking about doing some stuff for everyone's D&D characters but Mr. Dungeon Master can't really... play along.” he said.

Instantly, Jack perked up. “I've got a character.” he offered, “Just... haven't really not-DM'd in forever. Maybe if we do a game with someone else DMing at some point? I know Gérard's been making noise about it for a while.”

“That'll be a show.” Ana said. She shook her head when Gabriel raised a brow at her, smiling. “Last time someone besides Jack DM'd we did a zombie campaign and Torb killed everyone three turns in.”

Jack shivered and reached into the bag to grab some fries, tutting. “He went too hard. My poor character didn't even make it out of the second turn. But Gérard's been actually talking to me about it. I think he'd do well; has a plotline in mind and everything. We could try it out next Saturday if everyone's game, just a short run to see how things go?” Ana and Gabriel made small noises of agreement, nodding, and Jack lit up. “Rad, I'll let him know.”

Gabriel considered the idea a moment, helping Jack polish off their cherished fast food lunch, and then nudged his side. When Jack looked up from his phone (already busy texting their favorite Frenchman), he grinned.

“Wanna roll characters with a backstory tie-in?”

Jack looked ready to explode from excitement. “Hell yes!” he blurted, Ana muffling a laugh into her first next to him, “I haven't gotten to plot in-character in so long, Gabe, I'm gonna ruin it for you, holy shit.”

“Jack, Jack...” Gabriel shook his head and nudged his arm with his fist lightly. “There is. No. Way.”

Excitement only slightly dampened by his own self-doubt, Jack went to say something in reply only to have Fareeha pull his attention away. And, ever the good Uncle Jack, he went to find her a proper comic stack to take to her mother. Good, maybe he wouldn't turn himself inside-out over something he was excited about for once.

Gabriel watched them with Ana for a bit, leaning on the counter, before he felt her nudge his arm. When he glanced over, she wiggled her brows at him playfully.

“I'm covering for you in a few weekends.” she said, smile playing on her lips. “Hear you booked a nice vacation.”

Right, the cabin. Gabriel nodded. “It's a nice set-up.” he said, “Should be good to get out to the beach for a bit.”

Ana gave a small 'mm' in agreement, glancing back over at Jack and Fareeha. “He needs more nature.” she said quietly, “But you're the first person to pry him out of his little bubble since I met him. For a while D&D was all we even did. Hard to tell now; I hear he took you to the beach in the middle of the night the other week.”

“Emergency oceanic therapy.” Gabriel replied.

Ana laughed. “He didn't tell me why.” she said, “Just that you went. It's good. He wouldn't even try new restaurants for the longest time after the fire department let him go.”

Gabriel waved her off. “I can't take credit for that.” he reasoned, “He's pretty easily woo'd places by food that smells good enough.”

“Fair. But still, I'm glad he's got you. For a few reasons.” Ana smiled and perked up, pushing off the counter, when Fareeha and Jack returned, comics stacked in her arms.

After the choices were Mom Approved they took off, Fareeha shooting behind the counter to hug Gabriel goodbye beforehand, and they were left to the rest of the afternoon. Things wound down mostly—a small burst around 5—and they closed without even. An all-around success. And, as far as planning went, it was going to be the first of many.

Gabriel had some serious work to do. But it was more exciting than it would ever be intimidating for him. And at least this time he didn't have to dodge Jack while getting materials. Mainly, he was thankful his current project was wrapping up now that he knew Jack would be a little more curious about anything sewing-related.

Soon. And he was sure as hell going to make it worth it.

The time for their beach weekend couldn't have arrived at a better time. Jack spent the lead up over the damn moon, even as they battened down the hatches for the weekend to make sure Ana was as taken care of as possible. It was a good thing that Fareeha had taken so much to Reaper; otherwise Gabriel might have been a little sore about the cabin not allowing pets.

The place was small but nice. Had a short walk right down to the beach with private access; they got a key at the check in office and a few rules (no pets, no booze, no nudists). It had a small kitchen, enough to actually cook a meal (complementary pans and dishes printed with tacky tropical flowers), two rooms, a bath, and a small porch featuring one of Gabriel’s favorite details of the whole thing; hot tub central.

“You can’t actually be planning on getting in this thing.” Jack blanched at the sight of it. Looked even more appalled when Gabriel just grinned at him. “Gabe, it’s still summer! You’re going to die of heat stroke in that thing.”

“Not if I get in at night like a normal human being.” Gabriel shot back. “C'mon, get your trunks. I’m not wasting a single minute of this trip not doing something beach or food related.”

Jack still seemed a little apprehensive about the whole jacuzzi plan but the ocean was another story. They got ready and walked down to the water, baking in the sun and laying out some simple ideas for the weekend. Enjoy some hiking, spend most of their time on the beach, and make sure to cram as much good, frivolous spending on food as they could into three days.

“I’m thinking sushi for dinner.” Jack said. Gabriel gave a small ‘mm’ in reply as he unlocked the beach access gate and let Jack in, stashing the keys in their towel bag. “Beach weekend needs some seafood.”

“I would be a fool to pass that up.” Gabriel shot back, grinning as they fell into step next to each other.

The boardwalk was a nice trip and at the end waited the ocean; churning in all her glory before them. Jack let out a low whistle when the waves came into view.

“Gets me every time.” he mumbled.

Before he could fall too far into the 'awe of nature’ spiel, however, Gabriel popped him in the shoulder and took off across the sand. He heard Jack huff and pause to yank his flip flops off before taking off after him. Followed almost directly by one of said flip flops popping him in the middle of the back and Jack darting past him and into the water. Gabriel paused to throw their bag to the side before diving after him. Asshole won every race they had, even when he cheated—it just wasn’t fair.

They spent a few hours goofing off, complete with Gabriel building an elaborate sandcastle only to have it nearly completely washed away in minutes (too close to the water) and Jack getting some pretty obvious sunburn in only a few hours before heading back up to shower and go eat. All around wonderful use of an afternoon and even better evening once they found a good sushi spot.

Gabriel spent a large part of dinner trying to convince Jack to eat eel. It was a personal battle, one he didn't intend to back down from.

“Have I lead you astray once, bro?” he pressed, pushing the piece toward Jack with his chopsticks. “Just one. You'll love it, I swear.”

Jack stared at it a long moment, nose wrinkled, and Gabriel took the time to stuff another bite in his mouth. He was patient; Jack had caved on plenty of food already, this was just going to be another. He was... perhaps a little too trusting, usually.

Jack reached out and picked up the sushi roll with his chopsticks. “Fine. But if this kills me—“

“We die together.” Gabriel cut him off, rolling his eyes. “Probably me first, since I ate most of them.”

Jack watched him a moment, then assessed the eel roll in great detail before finally sticking it in his mouth. He crewed, expression unreadable, and slowly ducked his head, defeated. Gabriel had to fight ending up on the floor of the restaurant in a fit of laughter over the sheer look of shame on his face.

“It's so good.” Jack said slowly, still refusing to look at him. “I just... God, why do I even question you anymore?”

Gabriel only managed to get the words “Because you're a stubborn fuck.” out after slapping his chest for air in his laughter. The best part was that Jack couldn't even argue with him; just shot him a sulky look and stole another piece of eel roll while he was distracted.

They crashed on the couch after getting back from dinner, both exhausted. Whatever movie Jack ended up putting on barely registered for Gabriel with his head lulling against the cushions.

He woke up later, some time after midnight with reruns on the tv in the background and the room around him long dark. It took a moment, still groggy, for him to realize there was a weight against his lower body. He looked down, squinting in the dark, and found the culprit; a head of mussed blond hair planted against his abdomen. Jack's cheek was smooshed slightly-uncomfortably against his stomach and he was... asleep.

Jack Morrison was sleeping—soundly. Vaguely, Gabriel even heard him snoring under the sounds of the tv. He stared, still bleary-eyed, and tried to make sense of it. He hadn't really been expecting Jack to sleep well the first night—new place, new things, uncomfortable bed. But put him on a couch for a few hours and this just happened?

The thought crossed his mind to wake Jack and send him to bed but he quickly stashed it. Jack was sleeping. He needed it. And it wasn't like this was bothering him or anything. Instead, very carefully, Gabriel shifted and got himself more comfortable on the couch, arms behind his head. Jack remained still sleeping like the damn dead the whole time.

Keep it normal was what he kept telling himself. This was Jack, trusting and sleep deprived, and he didn't deserve to have this situation turned into anything other than a sleepy accident. But there was a selfish little part of him that flared up when Jack shifted and sighed contently in his sleep. That little nagging desire that wouldn't go away.

So he reached out and ran his fingers through Jack's hair. Just softly, just once. Just enough to hear Jack hum contently—like he was going to start fucking purring—before he stashed the whole train of thought and stuffed his arms behind his head. Forced himself to sleep before he did anything else stupid like let himself be sappy about this.

When he woke up again it was morning and Jack was stirring. He blinked and raised a hand to his eye, rubbing at it. Jack looked up at him, eyes mellow with sleep, blinked, then shot up onto his hands and stared down at him, wide-eyed.

“I, uh, shit—uh.”

“Mm, what?”

Jack blinked at him and heaved in a breath, like he was trying to come down from a goddamn panic attack. Tentatively, Gabriel reached out and patted the top of his head. Oddly enough, it seemed to relax him a little.

“Sorry. For, uh, I mean...” Jack sputtered, shifting to sit on the couch properly while Gabriel stretched and pulled his legs up closer to himself.

“It's fine. You're warm and we were both crashed out.” Gabriel replied lazily. Jack glanced over at him, unsure, and he grinned wider. “Chill, dude. You're fine.”

Jack made a little 'hmn' noise, clearly still not totally convinced he hadn't overstepped some awful boundary, and moved to grab his phone off the coffee table. He did a double take at the time.

“It's almost 10...”

Gabriel laughed and tried to roughly comb his facial hair with his fingers. “You slept good, huh?”

Jack forced a laugh but kept his eyes on his phone a moment. Went flipping through messages, humming softly, while, Gabriel hauled himself off the couch and went to poke around their kitchenette for something breakfast-related. The more normal he acted about it the less Jack acted like he was going to have a nervous breakdown. Good...

“Want some pancakes?”

Jack looked up from his phone, blinking, then shook his head. “Uh, I... was thinking we could go out, actually.” he said, fumbling to put his phone down and hop to his feet, “Get some espresso.” His phone vibrated on the table and Jack glanced at it briefly, frowning, before looking back at Gabriel expectantly.

He was up to something. Possibly. It was hard to put a read on Jack when he got like this; fidgety. But Gabriel left him have it for now. Coffee didn't sound so bad...

“Alright.” he hummed, closing the pantry door, “Lemme go get dressed.”

They both got ready and headed out. While Gabriel routed them to the best rated cafe within five minutes Jack kept up that same weird fidgeting he'd been doing; this time going so far as to drum his fingers on the console as he drove—didn't even keep it in rhythm with the music like he usually tried.

Whatever was up was eating at him. And Gabriel could only hope it was to do with his phone and not how they'd fallen asleep the night before because he sure as hell wasn't ready to address his end of things.

Chapter Text

When they got to the cafe, they ordered coffee and talked a little about the weather, the beach, the menu... Jack got a few texts from Ana that he showed Gabriel, mainly just her proving how fond of Fareeha Reaper and 76 were and promising nothing was on fire. But something still felt off. Jack bounced his leg under the table the whole time. He also jumped up so fast to grab their drinks when they called his name he nearly knocked over his chair. Gabriel gave up on the idea of him calming down pretty quickly when he returned with their drinks and decided to get up before Jack could knock over the table trying to sit down.

“C'mon, let's walk. I think I saw some cool shops down the way.” he said, taking his coffee.

Jack seemed to welcome the distraction, smiling sheepishly as he trailed out the door after Gabriel. Sipped at his coffee while they ambled down the sidewalk, Gabriel hunting absently for the music shop they'd passed while looking for a parking spot. The Morrison Style 'play it cool' was pretty terrible but he wasn't sure Jack was ready for him to call it out yet.

Thankfully, Jack seemed to reach the point himself.

“Hey, uh,” Jack nudged his arm as they looked into one of the clothing store fronts. Gabriel glanced over and found Jack staring down at his coffee cup, brows drawn together.

“What's up?”

“I'm sorry I'm being weird.” he said slowly, still not looking up. “I just got some texts last night from my mom and... my dad wants to talk.”

Oh. Before Gabriel could even venture to ask what could have spurred that, Jack looked at him finally. Sulking, he was sulking. Looked like a damn kicked puppy. It was a little heartbreaking.

“So, okay. Our little publicity thing got some attention on the net, apparently. Some pictures going around and stuff. And my hometown always shits themselves over a local doing something remotely interesting. So I guess I got featured in a little article in the paper or.. something. And now mom says pops is all serious about wanting to know what the shop's like. Thinks it might actually 'be something.” Jack made a point to do air quotes, dropping his voice a little. “I told momma I was out for the weekend but she says he still really wants to talk.”

Gabriel frowned, watching his expression. “That's... good, right?” he offered, “I mean. Awkward. But you want to talk to your dad again, don't you?”

Jack sighed and ruffled at his hair, frustrated. “Yes. No. I don't know. Not now?” He looked back into the shop window, intent on glaring down one of the mannequins. “He told me to go to him when I could prove I'm doing better. But I... don't know if I am. I still sleep on the couch because actually getting into a bed to sleep makes me too anxious and ruins my chances at sleeping. I still think about using when I'm having a bad day. I still don't really know who I am some days. He just thinks I'm doing better because everything looks positive. But my head is...”

“Shitty?” Gabriel offered, poking his elbow at Jack's side. Jack laughed.

“Yeah,” he said, “shitty brain.”

“So, tell him that.” Jack frowned and looked over at him. Gabriel held his hands up, shrugging. “I mean. What's it going to do? Better he knows than you be expected to fake it if he wants to keep talking to you.”

Shoulders slumping, Jack took a draw off his coffee. Seriously mulled over the thought for a moment. Finally, he nodded.

“I guess that makes sense.”

“I have good ideas sometimes.”

That got Jack to actually laugh. He nodded, leaning sideways and bumping shoulders with Gabriel. Then he slowly pulled his phone out of his pocket, looked at it, and stuffed it back in.

“Later.”

“That's fine. Probably not the best conversation to have in public anyway.” Gabriel reasoned. “You can call him when we get back and I'll go watch tv or—“

“No!” Jack cut him off, eyes wide. Collecting himself a little, he went on, “No. I... I mean, if you don't mind, I'd really like...”

“You want me to hold your hand?” Gabriel teased lightly.

He wasn't expecting the very serious look of relief to cross Jack's face. It was... huh. Jack reached out and pressed his fist against his forearm.

“Please. Please give me some moral support in this.”

Gabriel laughed and tossed an arm around his shoulders. Pulled Jack snug against his side and turned them down the sidewalk again. Jack let out a relieved little exhale.

“I got you, bro. One healthy helping of moral support, coming up. Right after we find that music shop and some breakfast.”

Jack laughed and nodded, hip bumping against Gabriel's as he let himself be lead down the walk way. While he was still nervous, and arguably had full reason to be, he managed to relax at least a little. They poked through the shop, found nothing but got a recommendation on a place for breakfast. After waffles and sausage at a little hole in the wall (best chocolate chip waffles Gabriel ever had, definitely one to remember) they headed back for the cabin.

By the time they returned it was well into the afternoon, hottest part of the day, and Jack promised they'd go hit the water after his nerve-wracking phone call was over. They plopped down at the table, Jack poking through his phone contacts, and Gabriel made himself comfortable like the proper emotional support he was.

He wasn't really expecting Jack to stick his hand out to him when he hit the call button and stuck the phone to his ear, though. But he rolled with it, clasped Jack's hand and pressed their palms together firmly. A real, solid bro handshake, right? Just... extended time.

Jack smiled at him, phone ringing in his ear, and wriggled his fingers in-between Gabriel's. It felt like his goddamn heart was going to stop right then. Gabriel stared at their hands a moment, focused on breathing, and Jack cleared his throat and awkwardly greeted his father when the other line picked up.

Jack kept the whole conversation rather short. Mainly, his dad talked. Gabriel could hear his voice, faintly, but couldn't tell what he was saying. Jack mainly gave yes and no answers, a few small remarks. He squeezed at Gabriel's hand now and then, eyes on the window, and seemed to finally collect himself after a few minutes.

“Pops, uh,” he said, “it's good to hear your voice again. But I don't know if I'm really ready for that.” A pause. “See, I'm not like... cured. It's a process. I'm processing.” Talking on the other end, Jack frowned. “Yeah, well. Things are going really good. Gabe and I are—“ More talking. Jack bit his lip. “Yeah, that Gabe. Uh-huh. He's... yeah.” Another squeeze at his hand. Gabriel was fairly certain if he hadn't gone through kickboxing drills for 5 years of his life it might hurt at this point. “I'll... see what I can do. But seriously, pops, I'm not like... ready for any of that.”

Across the table, Gabriel waved his free hand at Jack. When he looked up, he gestured at him. 'Spit it out.' Jack nodded.

“I don't think I'm going back home again. And I don't think I'm going back to school anytime soon.” A pause, obviously questions. “Because home is why I was in this hole in the first place and school just made it worse.” There it was. The voice on the other end went quieter. “I'm doing my best, pops. You gotta... let me do it.” Gabriel beamed at him. “Uh-huh, yeah. I'll... I'll talk to you when I get back.” Jack smiled back at him. “Thanks pops. I'm... I'm really glad to hear from you again.”

Jack ended the phone-call, hand still clamped on Gabriel's, set his phone down, and slumped back in his chair, exhaling loudly. He finally let Gabriel go to scrub both of his hands over his face.

“Oh my goood.”

“You did good.” Jack shot him a look and Gabriel laughed. “You did!”

“He wants to see the shop when we get back. And, uh... meet you.”

Gabriel raised a brow. “Me? Why?”

Jack sighed loudly. “Mom's been telling him what an amazing influence you are and I guess he's just... curious.” He exhaled loudly through his nose. “Or nosy.”

“Eh,” Gabriel eased past it, “I don't mind. My sisters keep hassling me about meeting you anyway. You wanna trade off?”

Deer in the headlights look. Gabriel chuckled.

“Your sisters..?”

“Yep. I have two. Both in college, two years apart. And six states.” Gabriel replied, “But they're insisting on meeting you somehow soon. Mami apparently... told them about you.”

Mami told them you're super cute. didn't seem appropriate, true or not. But either way Jack's wide eyed stare didn't go down any. Gabriel forced down a laugh.

“It's only fair, bro.”

Jack slumped again, grinning faintly. “Fine.” he said, “Fine. But you have to talk to my pops first because he's... impatient.”

“And you think two college age sisters of mine aren't?”

“They call you on vacation asking to see me?”

Gabriel shrugged. “Only because they know what big bro'll do if they interrupt my weekend.”

Jack laughed. “Speaking of,” he said, “that's enough, uh, family stuff for now. We've got another day of beach and relaxing before we have to go back home and I'm going to enjoy it, damn it. You wanna head out?”

“Of course.”

They got things together and headed down to the beach. Spent a good chunk of the day nearly drowning in some short but choppy waves before heading back to the cabin. Gabriel threw together some burgers and cooked them on the small grill outside, Jack watching from his seat on the closed hot tub with a beer. After they finished, Gabriel b-lined for said 'seat' and flipped up the side of the cover Jack wasn't sitting on, giddy.

“Gabe, no. You're gonna be soup in there, bro.”

Gabriel made and maintained eye contact as he slowly stepped into the hot tub and sank down into the water. Jack watched in horror, nose wrinkled, as he sighed fondly and leaned back, arms resting on the side.

“It's so great, Jack. Just perfect. You're missing out.”

Jack rolled his eyes and hopped off the cover. Slid it off all the way so Gabriel could stretch out a little better. For a second he just watched, thinking, then he stuck a finger into the water. Promptly, he yanked it out with a yelp.

“Ugh!”

“Cretin.” Gabriel deadpanned, eyes closed as he lulled his head back against the side of the tub.

“How long you staying in there?”

“20 minutes, max. It's not really like... ideal weather.”

Jack gave a little hum of consideration. He moved around the tub, thumping Gabriel's forehead lightly with his finger as he went by. When Gabriel cracked an eye open to glare at him he just laughed.

“I'm going to go lay on the couch while you cook. Have fun.”

When Gabriel went back inside, jacuzzi closed and his muscles relaxed, he found Jack just where he said he'd be. Reclining comfortably on the couch, head lulled to the side as he watched some documentary about bigfoot. Gabriel flopped down next to him and muffled a yawn into his fist.

“We doing a repeat of yesterday night?” he teased. Beside him, Jack glanced over sheepishly. “Hey, told you it was fine. Don't give me that face.” That summoned a laugh that was only mostly nervous.

“I'll, uh, try to wake you up if you pass out before me.” Jack offered.

Gabriel just waved him off. “It's fine. Just shove me on the floor if you need space.”

In the end, he got up and to bed that night himself. Left Jack half-dozing on the couch and vouched to save his neck and them both from another awkward morning. As much as he might have wanted to wake up with a blond human heating blanket again...

They got up bright and early the next morning and packed up their things into the car in prep for check out before one final beach run. They jogged the length, Jack almost cut his foot open on a really nice shell they ended up taking, and headed back to turn in the cabin keys and grab food on the way back. Nice, simple, fun. Best few days either could recall having in some time.

The shop and attached apartment were not on fire when they got back in. Ana and Fareeha greeted them downstairs, 76 yowling at Jack from the back room till he went to pet him, and then they took their things upstairs and Gabriel got bowled over by an over-excited shepherd. Having licked him properly, Reaper moved on to try and do the same to Jack—who was only saved by the fact he embraced it and knelt before he got himself knocked over.

With the rest of the day free after unpacking Gabriel set to work on his project while Jack went downstairs to check in on Ana and give her some help. He didn't even question what Gabriel was working on. By the time he came upstairs for dinner, obviously a little bushed from the full day, things were nearly done. Still, Gabriel wanted to wait for the right moment to offer up the first of many fun gifts. Instead, he drilled Jack with questions about his new D&D character they were starting next week. Got a suitable set of costume ideas for his cleric out of him while he cooked and stashed his notes with the ones for his own. Soon.

He just needed to wait for the right moment.

The call with Jack's father the following morning went about the same as the one with his mother had at first. Jack flitted around the shop, excitedly showing off his baby, while Gabriel readied for the day and drank his coffee. He listened in, if only to confirm that Morrison Sr. had a somehow courser voice than Jack did, and zoned out going over the register updates until he heard his name.

“So, where's this Gabriel at?”

He looked up, found Jack glancing over his shoulder at him, and felt the blood drain from his face. Something in him felt suddenly and crushingly nervous as Jack replied.

“Oh, he's right over here.”

Fire Chief Morrison deserved a firm handshake and a get-to-know-you over cigars, not a video chat via Jack's phone (that Fareeha had stuck a cutesy kitty sticker to the back of the other day) with Gabriel in his usual 'boss approved work sweatpants'. Too much pressure, too much!

“Say hi, Gabe.” Jack piped up, shaking him from his minor anxiety attack. He turned the phone and waved at him behind it, smiling. Thank god it was infectious.

He waved, catching sight of the man on the other end. Jack's future could look worse. Especially when the man actually grinned at him.

“So, you're the new partner in crime?”

“Yes sir.” Gabriel grinned at him. “Heard you thought it was important to meet me.”

“Yeah, well. I hear you're about all he talks about anymore.”

“I get that a lot.”

Jack made a face at Gabriel behind his phone. His dad just laughed.

“So, you go to school?”

“Did. Technically I'm a fully trained teacher up to like... 6th grade.”

“How'd you end up here?” The question sounded almost disbelieving. Gabriel stifled a laugh. “I mean it, much better uses of your time out there.”

Gabriel shrugged. “Jack's a nice boss. Better than the public school system.” he reasoned, “And I kind of... had a hard time trying to teach phys ed or arts with all the budget cuts.”

“Shame. You ever consider trying to start up with a private school?”

Behind the phone, Jack made a noise. “Stop trying to shoo off my best employee and friend, pop.”

Mr. Morrison laughed, a big hearty thing, and Gabriel just waved off Jack's concerns. “I like it here. You're not getting rid of me that easy.” he said.

They talked a little more, mainly about Gabriel's previous work and the like, and then Jack veered the conversation towards an ending point. Gabriel said his goodbyes and Jack and his father had a final, short exchange.

“You be good, son.”

Jack gave a nervous little smile. “I'm always good.” he said.

His father made a small noise in the back of his throat. Then, he repeated himself, “Be good.”

The smile fell. Gabriel watched the whole thing with a slight pain in his gut. It was so obvious how little Jack's family actually saw of his recovery. To them, he was always on the verge of relapse. To everyone else, you'd never know. Strange how perspectives were.

“I will. Can't let Gabe down.”

That, at least, seemed to do the trick. Jack said his goodbyes and hung up the phone, setting it on the counter. There was a long pause and then, slowly, he raised his hands to scrub over his face roughly. Gabriel offered him a sympathetic smile when he peeked between his fingers at him.

“God, I'm going to ruin this Gabe. I just know it.”

“How do you know that, hmm?” Gabriel asked, leaning on his elbows and nudging Jack's arm. “You pity partying again?” Jack shrugged. “Stop.”

“I ruin everything.” Jack replied sulkily.

“Shop's fine.” Gabriel offered. “We're fine.”

Jack's shoulders tensed a little, eyes darting to Gabriel's, and his brows pulled together. It was strange, he looked almost fearful. He slowly lowered his hands.

“How long till I mess that up too?” he asked, “How long till this falls apart just like everything else has?”

“I'm not going to fall apart. So I mean. There's that.”

Jack's gaze softened some. He leaned against the counter, eyes on Gabriel's, and reached out a hand. Carefully, almost like he thought it would break on contact, he cupped it against his cheek. Whoa, wait. What? Gabriel froze, watching Jack, and felt him curl his fingers along his jawline. The barest hint of a smile formed on Jack's lips.

“You mean it?”

“Yeah.” Way tinier than he meant to sound. Way more confused than he thought he'd be right now.

Gabriel made a point not to be the one to lean in first. It was Jack, other hand braced on the counter, that started closing the gap. He just helped, palms planted against the glass case as he pushed in closer. They were so close, so painfully close, when Jack's phone went off next to them.

He jerked away to grab it, nearly falling over himself in the process, and Gabriel muffled a frustrated noise into his hand. 10 am, time to open. What fucking luck. Jack shot him a puppy-eyed look when he finally got the alarm turned off.

“We, uh, gotta open.”

Hand still clamped over his mouth, Gabriel nodded. “Mmhm.”

Jack reached over and grabbed his shoulder, squeezing gently. “We'll talk about it later.” Gabriel cut his eyes to look at him and he added, “Promise.” Gabriel nodded. “You, uh, gonna be alright?”

Goddamn months of this. Months of tension and it could have all been solved with a simple gesture. But no, now they had to use words; the one thing Jack Morrison was arguably a little afraid of using. Gabriel felt like he was in the middle of a crisis. But he nodded, took a deep breath, and straightened up.

“Yeah, yeah.” he said, “I'm cool.”

The hand on his shoulder squeezed again before rubbing at his bicep once and leaving. “Tonight.” Jack said over his shoulder as he went to unlock the door.

Gabriel bit back a sigh and rubbed at his eyes. He could do this. He could definitely handle this whole situation, no problem. He just had to get through the worst hell day this job had ever presented him with first. No big deal.

Chapter Text

The day was one of the highest forms of torture imaginable. Busy, at least, so time passed quickly but it almost would have been better if they had a second to stop. A moment to at least try and speak about what had happened in the morning. Instead, they got nothing but slightly awkward exchanges and one fleeting moment when Jack ran his hand over Gabriel’s shoulders as he slipped behind him at the counter. It was an attempt at soothing but it just felt like getting jabbed in the heart.

They closed up in silence, Jack humming to himself as he locked everything up, and after they stepped outside and locked the shop door something felt off. For a brief moment Gabriel worried that Jack’s whole offer to talk was going to fall through and they’d have to live like this now. Silence turned awkward and an almost kiss. Didn’t even make it worth it…

But Jack caught him by the elbow when Gabriel moved to head for the apartment stairs. When he turned around, Jack was smiling.

“Wanna get greasy fast food for dinner?” he asked, “And, uh, talk?”

Gabriel’s heart seized a little. Was that hope?

“Sure.”

After a brief pause to take the dog out and grab keys they piled into Jack’s truck and headed out in search of something bad for their arteries. Gabriel sank into his seat, eyes on the window, while Jack drummed his fingers to the radio and tried to decide between burgers or burritos. Burgers won, based purely on parking, and they got greasy cheeseburgers and fries before sitting back in the truck with the windows down, radio playing faintly while they ate.

The whole moment felt reminiscent of the night Gabriel realized what his stupid feelings were up to. Sitting there watching the sun set in the distance, some ancient song on the radio and close enough to feel each other’s warmth but so far away.

Jack broke the silence.

“So… I probably should have told you a while ago.”

“How long?” Gabriel asked, eyes forward. He heard Jack shift a little in his seat.

“I mean, I don’t know. You’re just… really important to me. And I guess it’s hard to tell where the line started to blur.”

Gabriel gave a small noise of agreement. “Why didn’t you say anything?” he asked.

Jack sighed. Gabriel glanced over at him as he shifted in his seat again, one hand drumming on the console between them. He looked out the window when he met Gabriel’s eyes, anxious.

“I just don’t want to ruin this. I don’t want to destroy what we have like I do with everything else good that’s ever happened to me just because I selfishly want more.” Another sigh. "I don't even know if you're on the same page as me."

“Jack.”

Same page, same chapter. Probably the same line if they wanted to get technical on things.

Gabriel put his hand over Jack’s on the arm rest. Felt him tense as he looked at it, just barely, before wriggling his fingers till they laced through Gabriel’s. It felt like puzzle pieces going together.

“Jack.” Gabriel repeated himself, Jack keeping his eyes on their hands. “This is the stupidest I've ever felt about anyone. I'm there if you are.”

“You’re not going to fall apart on me?” he asked wryly.

Gabriel chuckled and shook his head. “No,” he said, “I’m not.”

Jack raised their hands from the arm rest and pressed Gabriel’s knuckles to his lips, almost reverent. Like it was one of the most important things he’d ever done. Gabriel watched him and felt like all the air left his chest in a single second, couldn’t even think straight.

“I think I was meant to meet you.” he said, lips still against Gabriel’s skin. “Is that crazy?”

“No.”

He didn’t have to explain why. Jack knew, he had to. He raised his head and looked at Gabriel finally, eyes soft. Something about the contrast with the warm light made them so blue, almost haunting.

“Can I kiss you?”

Gabriel bit back a laugh. “Obviously.”

Jack was smiling when he leaned in, all dimples and softness about him. Looked like he could have been blushing but Gabriel didn’t get the time to really enjoy it. Instead, he got warm breath and chapped lips and Jack’s free hand raising to cup his jaw, rough fingers brushing his neck. Jack kept it largely chaste, pulled away and left Gabriel leaning in. He pressed his lips together, fighting a grin, and slid his fingers along the line of Gabriel’s jaw and down to hold his chin. Gabriel instinctively set it in his palm when Jack cupped it and felt fingers teasing through his beard lightly.

“You didn’t fall apart.” Jack said, smile going all soft.

“Nope. Still here.”

Jack reluctantly freed up his other hand and slid both of them to cup Gabriel’s cheeks. He leaned in again and Gabriel closed the gap with him, leaning over the console and carding his hands into Jack’s hair. This time the kiss was deeper; teeth grazing his lower lip and tongue and hot breath mixing with his. It ached somewhere deep in his chest but it felt good–felt right. When they broke apart again Jack pressed his forehead to Gabriel’s, eyes on his, and sighed fondly.

“I did tell Fareeha you had pretty eyes.” he said, almost out of the blue if it weren’t for what he was staring at. Gabriel laughed. “Because you do.”

“I’ll remember that when I feel shitty.” Gabriel teased.

Jack laughed. That goofy thing that made everything feel right. Then he leaned back a little, looking serious, and pressed lightly at Gabriel’s cheeks.

“Please don’t let me ruin this, Gabe. Please don’t let me ruin you.”

Gabriel just grinned at him. “Hey, hey.” He slid his hands over to cup Jack’s jaw. “I ruin me. No one else.”

Jack smiled, eyes all misty for a second before he blinked it back, and nodded. “Not sure what I did to deserve it,” he said, “but I’m not about to question it.”

“Gift horse?” Gabriel offered, laughing faintly. Jack nodded. “Yeah,” he said, “me too.”

Admitting they had squishier feelings than ‘bro’ didn’t change a whole lot about the rest of evening, which was something that only struck Gabriel as weird until he registered how many things they’d already been naturally gravitating toward. Touches and closeness, the way they leaned in rather than out in laughter, the way Jack’s knee brushed his when they sat on the couch–-but this time he kept it pressed to Gabriel’s leg instead of tucking it against the arm rest. Apparently they were subconsciously way ahead of themselves.

Well, alright, some things changed. Namely the way Jack ended up with his head in Gabriel’s lap toward the end of the night, doing that damn purr-hum thing while Gabriel absently carded his fingers through his hair. That was decidedly a non-bro activity. And lead to an unexpected consequence when the night drew to an end and Gabriel had to nudge Jack awake.

“Hey, c'mon.”

Jack whined and tucked his face against Gabriel’s stomach. God, he slept so little. This felt cruel.

“Jack, some of us sleep in beds you know.” Gabriel whispered, rubbing at Jack’s side. “C'mon, let me go.”

When Jack finally sat up to free him, he leaned over and sleepily pressed a kiss to his cheek before mumbling “G'night.” and tucking himself back down into the couch cushions and turning the tv channel over. It was… really goddamn cute. And made the whole process of actually hauling himself to bed just a little harder on Gabriel.

Most of the next day was navigating the transition in a more logistical sense. Jack, as it turned out, was rather excitable about the terminology. He nearly dropped a box on his foot the following morning when Gabriel asked him if he should correct his sister's text when she used the 'b-word'.

“What kind of question is that?” Jack yelped, dodging the box of comics as it hit the floor between his feet.

“A valid one.” Gabriel drawled, eyes on his text. “We’ve kissed two times and haven’t been on an official date. I dunno what your rules are in lingo so–-”

Jack swept in, almost tripping over the box, and kissed him across the counter. “Three times.” he said, smirking at Gabriel’s slight daze when they parted. “And I’ll take you somewhere nice for dinner. How’s steak sound?”

Gabriel laughed. “You’re going to court me now, eh?” he asked, leaning on his elbow. Jack shrugged.

“If that’s what it takes.”

“You want to be ready to tell everyone next d&d, don’t you?” Gabriel deadpanned.

Jack beamed at him. “Hell yes. Who do you think is gonna faint?”

“No one.” Gabriel replied, chuckling. “Pretty sure we’ll get an 'I knew it’ from Ana and Gérard getting handed a 20 by Torb.”

Jack snorted. “Seriously,” he said, bouncing on his feet, “you want the full dating experience? Because I can swing that.”

“Woo me, Jack Morrison.” Gabriel teased.

Jack laughed and leaned in, kissing him again and slapping a hand roughly over his phone when the alarm to open went off. Gabriel smiled against his mouth, Jack nipping at his lip before pulling away.

“Four times.” he tossed over his shoulder as he headed for the door. Gabriel just laughed.

Around the time Jack headed to lunch, Gabriel felt his phone buzz. Checking it he found a text;

'i can vid chat tomorrow if u want to show off ur new boyfriend'

Marisol. Gabriel rolled his eyes and typed a message back.

'don't be jealous'

She was the youngest. Freshman year of college and the most wonderful mess in the world. Gabriel cried for a full hour after dropping her off at school. He felt a little bad for Jack that he didn't get to meet Antonia first, considering she was the more relaxed of his sisters, but ah well. He'd do fine.

'u can't hold out on me broski'

Gabriel rolled his eyes. He got another text before he finished typing.

'he's cute as hell. cmon.'

'you're not allowed to do this when you talk to him'

He pocketed his phone to help a customer and felt it buzz a few more times during the break. Couldn't help but grin when he pulled it out again.

'ok ok sorry'

'pinkie promises i'll be good'

'but like is he gonna wear that jacket u made him?'

'maybe like nothing else?'

'did you give him that yet?'

Gabriel shot his phone a dirty look, like Marisol could see. Typed out a short reply.

'i'm reconsidering the offer.'

He could actually hear her laughing when she replied. Chuckled to himself as Jack rounded the counter, brow raised, back from his lunch.

'i'll be a good girl i swear'

“What's so funny, huh?” Jack asked, prodding his hip as Gabriel slipped past him to head for his half of take out.

Gabriel just shot him a grin. “You're meeting one of my sisters tomorrow night.” he said, “Hope you're ready.”

Jack laughed and waved him off. “Oh, I was born ready.”

He had no idea what he was getting himself into. But then again, Gabriel had no idea what dinner had in store for him either.

That evening, nearing closing, Jack cut out a few minutes early. 'To prepare', he said. Gabriel didn't particularly see what he had to prep for but if it meant they got food faster he wasn't exactly going to complain. But the elaborate display he came upstairs to after locking up did give him some pause.

“What the hell is this, Jack?”

“Which part?” Jack asked.

He was staring into the hall mirror, struggling with a necktie. Tailored suit, something that looked like it came out of the closet of someone who probably had to go to a fireman’s ball once or twice in his life. There were also a dozen roses in a vase on the table, accompanied by a card. When Gabriel picked it up he found last minute reservations for one of the nicest places that side of town. He set it down and looked up to find Jack grinning at him, tie still undone.

“You told me to woo you.”

“This is no way to run a business, Morrison.” He teased, Jack wrinkling his nose at him. “But seriously, you’re lucky I own a suit. This place is nice.”

“Good.” Jack blurted, stepping closer. “Because my ex tied my tie last time I wore one and I was really hoping you would know how.”

Gabriel stared at him a moment, snorted, and reached out to hold his shoulders for support as he dissolved into laughter. Jack chuckled along with him, hands holding his wrists. There was a sort of twinkle in his eyes when Gabriel recovered and took hold of the necktie around his collar.

“We’ll be late if you take another break to laugh at me.” he warned when Gabriel started snickering under his breath, carefully knotting the tie for him. “And thank you.”

Gabriel leaned in and pressed his lips to Jack’s cheek before stepping back, still pushing down chuckling. “Thanks for the flowers, Jackass.” he hummed, backing toward his room and watching a grin spread across Jack’s face. “I like lilies and sunflowers too, for next time.”

Jack grinned after him. “I’ll remember that.”

They finished getting ready, Jack skating around the apartment in his socks while he hunted down his dress shoes and Gabriel tutting Reaper for trying to get fur on his dress shirt. They made Jack’s reservation on time, Gabriel still a little shocked he’d actually managed something day-of, and settled in for a nice meal. Jack insisted on ‘no spending limit’ but Gabriel’s frugal lifestyle didn’t lend itself to splurging too much. Steak was nice, though.

Halfway through the meal, peering over his wine glass, Jack smiled at him. “You look nice.”

“I know.” Gabriel drawled, smirking at him, “You clean up nicely yourself.”

Jack laughed and ducked his head, eyes on his plate. Was that bashfulness? Jack Morrison? Impossible.

Gabriel leaned forward and prodded Jack’s leg with his toe under the table, making him jump. He looked up again and laughed.

“We doing dessert?” Gabriel asked.

“If you want.”

Gabriel thought a moment. “Somewhere else.” he said, “I know a place.”

They ended up down the street, parked in a small lot across from an ice cream parlor and sitting on the tailgate of Jack’s truck again. Closer this time. Gabriel’s head ended up on Jack’s shoulder at one point, an arm wound around his waist. It felt right, like they should have been this way for a long time.

When they got home Jack unlocked the door and did a flourish, bowing and offering Gabriel his arm. Gabriel blinked at him and cocked his head to the side.

“Allow me to walk you to your door?” Jack raised his arm a little. Gabriel laughed and took it. “You honor me.” Jack cooed.

When they got to his bedroom door, Gabriel raised a brow at him. “You want to come inside?” he asked, teasing. Jack’s ears went pink when he laughed.

“Third date, at least.” he replied, pushing Gabriel’s door open for him.

“Fine, fine.”

Well, he had asked for courting. Not that he expected Jack to actually get this serious about it. Or that he wasn’t dying to see Jack pull that suit off for him. But he could work with this, sure.

So Gabriel leaned in, taking hold of Jack’s necktie, and kissed him. Jack sighed fondly, hands on Gabriel’s waist, and let him deepen the kiss. Stepping forward, Gabriel pushed him up against the wall of the hallway gently and bit his lip before pulling back, leaving Jack slightly dazed.

“Thanks, Romeo.” he whispered, lingering in Jack’s space before turning toward his room.

He heard Jack slump against the wall slightly, exhaling. Then, gradually, he straightened back up and coughed lightly.

“So, uh, you still wanna watch a movie before bed?”

Gabriel just tossed a grin over his shoulder. “Wouldn’t miss it.” he said, “Just let me get out of this.”

“Hah, uh, yeah.” Jack laughed, fighting down another cough. “Good idea.”

They went about the usual nightly ritual after that, monster movies and all, and ended the night with Gabriel having to woo a sleeping Jack of his lap again. Which, all things considered, was hardly something he could actually complain about.

Chapter Text

Gabriel had a job to do the next day. He knew, by now, that Marisol's big mouth would ruin his gift if he couldn't get the jacket to Jack before he talked with her. So he took the day to put on the final touches on it while Jack worked downstairs. It was a nice day so he spent it with the windows open, music playing while he worked. By the time he heard Jack coming up for lunch everything was prepared.

“Gabe, what smells so good?”

Jack's head popped into the kitchen while he was turning off the oven, dish balanced in one hand. Gabriel set down the food, Jack already hovering, and shooed at him with the pot holder in his hand.

“Vulture. Begone.”

“You homemade mac and cheese?” Jack asked, stepping into Gabriel's space and peeking over his shoulder.

“Gotta do something with my free time.” he explained, nudging Jack's chest and making him step back a few paces away from the still-warm oven. Jack stayed in his space, hands resting on Gabriel's hips, and grinned at him.

Gabriel cocked a brow. “You need something?” he teased.

“Maybe...”

Gabriel laughed and leaned in for a quick kiss, laughing when Jack hummed contently against his lips. Sap. Disgusting sap. And he was loving every second of it. It was strange how much they both bathed in the ability to be so close given the freedom. There was a pull that almost felt like it'd been there from the start.

“I've got something for you.” he said when they leaned apart, Jack still holding his hips gently.

“More than mac and cheese?” Jack asked.

“More than that.”

Gabriel squirmed out of Jack's hold and moved over to the table, plucking a box off the table and turning around to hold it out to him with a flourish. Jack blinked, eyes widening, and smiled. He took it and sat down at the table to open it while Gabriel leaned against the back of a chair to watch him. Jack yanked the top off (not much of a packaging job but Gabriel didn't feel like watching Jack battle with ribbon for ten minutes) and tossed it over his shoulder, peering at the contents. There was a brief pause, Jack's hands hanging over it, then he ducked down and shoved his face into the material of the jacket dramatically. Gabriel choked on a laugh.

“So did all my hard work pay off or what, Jack?” he asked.

Jack, face still squished into the jacket, let out a surprised noise. “You made this?” he asked, voice cracking slightly.

“No, I bought it at the store fully customized to a very obscure reference about your cat.” Gabriel deadpanned. Jack glared at him over the edge of the sweater box and he laughed. “Yes, I made it. Just for you.”

Jack fumbled to take it out and Gabriel chuckled to himself, watching him turn the red, white, and blue coat back and forth. Weeks of work on that; dyed leather, pocketed liner, and big 76 designed into the back. Jack lowered it to look at him and grinned.

“Little, uh, outside of your usual design choice, isn't it?” he asked.

“I was going for 'gaudy superhero aesthetics'.” Gabriel explained, “Comic shop and all. Wasn't sure what to put on the back but then I remembered what you said about the cat's name and...” He shrugged at the end, trailing off.

Jack squished the jacket to his chest, holding it there, and eyed him a moment. Then, he asked, “How long did it take?”

“A while. Few weeks.” Gabriel straightened up and rolled his shoulder, turning toward lunch, which had almosg cooled enough to address. “It was actually done a little while ago.”

He heard Jack huff loudly. “Why did you wait?”

Nerves.

“I knew you'd want to wear it constantly and the high all last week was still 80.” Gabriel said, trying to sound causal. Hoping in vain Jack couldn't hear how uncertain he still was about the whole thing.

“Damn straight!” Jack blurted. When Gabriel glanced over his shoulder he was pulling the jacket on awkwardly in his seat, lower half of the box falling off his lap and onto the floor.

It'd be stiff in places a few days but Gabriel wanted Jack to break it in. His shoulders and chest were a different width than Gabriel's so even the brief time he'd tried it on really provided nothing. Jack didn't seem bothered, however, and he stretched his arms over his head briefly before seeming to find it comfortable enough for the moment.

"Like it?" Gabriel asked.

"It's really amazing, thank you." Jack beamed at him and hopped up, arms out. Gabriel chuckled and stepped into the embrace, face smooshed against his shoulder. He smelled like fresh leather oil---perfect.

They ate lunch once it was cooled off and Jack headed back down proudly wearing Gabriel's handiwork. About 2 hours later, while he was poking through their game library, Jack dropped him a text. It was a picture; Jack beaming and pointing at his reflection in the small mirrored sign behind the register (a promo for some new vampire title).

'everyone loves it, gabe!'

Gabriel just chuckled to himself and typed back.

'i was only worried about one opinion.'

Jack's reply came in almost too quickly.

'obviously no one loves it more than me.'

Gabriel couldn't have fought the grin if he tried. Not that he wanted to.

'good.'

Around the time Jack was closing up the shop, Gabriel started setting up his laptop on the kitchen table for a video chat with his littlest little sister. By the time Jack was upstairs, still wearing that jacket to Gabriel’s amusement, he had her waiting on the other end to start the call.

“Whenever you’re ready, Jack.”

Jack wandered over and plopped his chin on Gabriel’s head. “I’m always ready to have another Reyes in my life.” he said.

Jack was not 100% ready considering the slight jolt Gabriel felt him give when the call picked up and Marisol called out, too loudly, “Gabi!”

“Marisol!” Gabriel sang back. He reached around the back of his chair and patted gently at Jack’s side, promptly feeling the other man relax against his shoulders with his arms sprawled across his chest. “This is Jack.”

Jack raised a hand to wave at her, sheepish smile visible in the camera feedback in the corner. Marisol’s eyes lit up and she leaned forward in her seat, elbows on her desk. She, like their mother, was largely undeterred by Jack’s nerves around new people. It’d serve him well.

“Hey hey, so you’re who got my brother out of his ‘focusing on my career’ funk?”

Gabriel let out an annoyed noise and Jack ducked his head, muffling a laugh into Gabriel’s shoulder. “I wasn’t in a funk!” Gabriel blurted, Jack still laughing.

Marisol rolled her eyes. “Yeah, so that whole drunken speech last Christmas about how love is dead was just normal Gabriel?” she teased.

Jack stilled against his shoulder, suddenly nervous again judging from his fingers fidgeting at the cuffs of his jacket. Gabriel reached around and squeezed at his side this time, making him squirm slightly.

“Seasonal depression and 5 glasses of eggnog will do that to you.” he said, “You know your brother is the world’s most hopeless romantic.”

Marisol laughed and waved him off. She then promptly turned her attentions on Jack, eyes narrowed.

“So, Jack,” she said smoothly, “tell me more about yourself.”

Jack straightened up a little, chin back on Gabriel’s head. “Well,” he said, “I’m an international drug runner. I’m wanted in seven states, my real name isn’t Jack, and your brother is just a cover to keep the Feds off my tail.”

Completely deadpan. Marisol stared at him a tic, genuinely baffled, then sighed loudly.

“So Gabriel’s already ruining you, I see.”

Jack laughed—a real one, not the forced things he did when anxious. “Nope, I’ve always been this way.” he said. Then, “I’m just a humble farm child who wanted to be a firefighter and somehow ended up here.”

Marisol was grinning again at that one. They spent a little over an hour talking, Jack artfully dodging some of her more prying questions and Gabriel scolding her away from getting too nosy anyway. They parted when Marisol lamented needing to do homework. When Gabriel ended the call he felt Jack go slack against his shoulders, face smooshed against his arm again.

“She’s a lot.” he said sympathetically, rubbing at Jack’s side again.

“Shh.” Jack huffed. “Your family is great. But I cannot believe she asked you if we’d…”

Gabriel muffled most of a loud laugh by slapping a hand over his mouth. “I can.” he managed to squeeze out between chuckles, “God…”

“Third date.” Jack reaffirmed, straightening up and going to poke around the fridge for dinner.

Gabriel just laughed and shook his head. “What I get for insisting on proper dating, huh?”

“I know, it has to be torture for Mr. Love Is Dead.” Jack tossed a grin over his shoulder.

Gabriel just sighed and rolled his eyes. “I was super drunk and depressed, you cannot use that on me.” he hissed.

Jack laughed and yanked a box of leftovers out of the fridge, tossing it on the counter and more squishing his face against Gabriel’s head than kissing it as he went by to grab the dishes he needed. “Fine.” he said, “We both get one pass on that, I guess.”

Try as he might Jack couldn’t coordinate date number two until after D&D night. So instead they spent Friday night going over their new characters for the other campaign and rolling ideas back and forth for backstory. Writing with someone, especially Jack, was a refreshing change from Gabriel’s usual methods. By the time they hauled themselves off to sleep, Jack toting 76 over his shoulder after plucking the cat out of Gabriel’s lap, they had a solid dynamic planned.

“I’m doing a voice for this one.” Gabriel warned him, “Gérard said I could.”

Jack shook his head, chuckling. “The fool.”

“You’ll learn to like it.” Gabriel replied, pulling out the planned voice. It was new, one Jack hadn’t caught him practicing with customers; smooth talking and playing off the two or so years of Italian he’d gone through in high school.

Jack looked alarmed and clutched at his chest with his free hand. For a brief moment Gabriel thought he hadn’t liked it but then he coughed like something was caught in his throat and squeaked, “It’s nice.”

“So you do, eh?” he teased, still in the same drawl. He leaned in closer, grinning, and Jack shoved weakly at his shoulder. “Now now, nothing to be embarrass by.”

Jack laughed and shoved his arm again. “Go to bed, nerd.”

“You want to come? With me, that is?” Gabriel asked, stepping in Jack’s space. Still that same voice. Jack coughed hoarsely. “Just to sleep in a real bed, I mean.”

“Gabe.” Jack almost whined, “I can’t sleep in beds anymore.”

Gabriel softened up, breaking out of the voice and rubbing at Jack’s arm. “Can you imagine how good you’d sleep in a real bed if you get such good rest napping on my lap?” he offered, “Humor me. Just once?”

Jack hemmed and hawed, swaying on his feet. Gabriel just waited patiently. Still in his space, hand rubbing up and down his arm. Finally, Jack held a finger up to him.

“One condition.” he warned. Gabriel raised a brow at him. “Don’t use that voice again.”

Gabriel laughed. “Promise.” he said, holding a hand over his heart.

Jack eyed him critically for a moment, then nodded. Gabriel took his hand and lead him past the couch to deposit 76—feline curling up instantly—and to his room. There was a brief moment as they stripped down to sleep clothing that Gabriel wondered if he’d made a mistake; they were both still fairly set on the ‘third date’ limit but saying Jack in nothing but Spider-Man pj pants wasn’t the most embarrassing thing he’d ever found attractive would be lying. His own habit of sleeping in a tshirt with how low they kept the AC probably spared Jack a little, however, and he just pushed the rest from his mind as he crawled into bed and patted the mattress next to him. Jack hovered awkwardly for a moment then just sat on the edge, frowning.

“I dunno if this is gonna work, Gabe. I don’t want to just keep you up and—”

Gabriel reached out and grabbed his shoulder, yanking Jack down into bed. He went laughing, legs kicked up in the air for a moment before he shifted to face Gabriel and tucked his feet against his shins.

“Bully.”

Gabriel laughed and drew him in closer, fingers dancing over his hip to grab at his lower back and press him forward. Jack scooted in, grumbling faintly, and tucked his face against the crook of Gabriel’s neck. They jostled for a comfortable position for a moment, the bed just on the boarder of being too small for the both of them, and finally ended up facing each other with their noses less than inches apart. Then came the important part of the plan; talking.

“Did I ever tell you about the time I took a whole group of 8 year olds through a production of Beauty and the Beast?” Gabriel asked. Jack looked confused for a moment, brow raised, then seemed to catch on. He shook his head and their noses brushed.

Gabriel started with the suggestion; some soccer mom who didn’t know how hard it was to get kids to sing and dance at the same time they were pretending to be furniture. He barely got through half before Jack was asleep, face peacefully squished into the pillows. Victory.

When Gabriel woke up in the morning Jack was closer. One arm slung over his waist, warm on the skin where his shirt had ridden up, and he’d tucked his head under Jack’s chin, nose pressed to his collarbone. Jack’s other arm was wrapped around one of his pillows, smooshing it to his ear. And he was snoring, thankfully not loudly but enough that it registered when Gabriel blinked the drowsiness away.

Jack’s phone alarm went off about 5 minutes later, waking him up before Gabriel was forced to due to his suffering bladder. He stirred slowly, yawning and stretching as he untangled himself and reached over to shut it off. He glanced back down at Gabriel, eyes soft, and grinned.

“Your beard is, uh…” He motioned to the side of his face.

Gabriel reached up and pushed his facial hair away from the corner of his mouth. Tried in vain to curl the pieces back into place. Jack laughed and rubbed a hand over his hair before climbing out of bed.

Neither of them said anything about it, really. Jack did mumble 'thank you’ at one point, once Gabriel hauled himself out of bed and snuck a kiss on the way to the bathroom. But Gabriel was just glad it worked; no sense in bragging too much, tempting as it was.

They got ready for the day and headed out not long after breakfast, headed for Ana’s house. Along the way Jack’s hand sought out his and they ended up with their fingers laced together, tucked into Gabriel’s hoodie pocket for part of the walk and just at their sides casually for the rest. It seemed to spur an important topic to the forefront for Jack.

“So… what are we telling them? About us, I mean?”

Gabriel thought for a moment, then shrugged.

“Whatever you’re good with.” he said. Jack made a face. “I mean it. I’m—”

I’m in love with you. That almost happened. Gabriel stopped himself, shocked, and bit his tongue. He felt Jack squeeze his hand and realized he’d stopped talking mid thought.

“I’m good. With whatever, I mean.” he said, fumbling.

“So can I use the b-word?” Jack asked, waggling his brows.

Gabriel laughed. “Sure.” he said.

Something in him still felt like it was going to bubble over, though. His chest felt tight. He wasn’t sure what, exactly, was so shocking about it. He knew he had it bad, sure, but that word felt too soon for their situation. He wasn’t ready to put himself out there like that. Wasn’t ready for Jack to pull away out of concern for ‘ruining him’. Wasn’t ready for if Jack didn’t feel like that about him—yet or ever.

He did his best to act through the turmoil like a true theater kid, however. The conversation shifted to their characters again easily and they babbled for a bit before finally reaching Ana’s door. Jack stopped, about a pace ahead with his hand still in Gabriel’s, and glanced at him. Gabriel squeezed his fingers gently and Jack turned back to ring the doorbell.

Gabriel hadn’t realized Jack didn’t even hint at anyone. He’d expected Ana, at least, to have been given clues. But she opened the door smiling then caught sight of their hands and briefly fell into a confused little frown. Registering, she looked up at Jack with bright, wide eyes and grabbed his neck to drag him down into a squeezing hug. Jack bubbled with laughter, hand still tightly on Gabriel’s. Ana crushed his face against her chest and made eye contact with Gabriel, beaming.

“I’m so happy for you two!” she blurted. Apparently loud enough to get everyone else peeking at them around the doorway to the kitchen.

Almost triumphantly, Jack raised their linked hands over his head. Gabriel laughed and pinched his side with his other hand. He heard someone wolf whistle, along with laughter and Gérard yelling after them about wanting to know who actually asked so he could get paid.

The commotion didn’t last too long, amazingly. Most of it consisted of congratulations and some brief teasing. But everyone was eager enough to play that they got back on track relatively easily. Still, the break for lunch lead to some more serious inquiries from Gabriel’s favorite junior member of the group.

Jack stepped away to help Ana order food and Fareeha stole his seat, looking up at Gabriel curiously. He watched her from the corner of his eye a moment, grinning, then asked, “You need something, punk?”

“Do you love uncle Jack?” she asked. Gabriel choked on his soda. The bluntness of children never got old, really.

“I, uh…” He thought back to the earlier moment. That swell in his chest returned painfully. He looked at Fareeha and raised a finger to his lips. “It’s a secret.”

“Does uncle Jack love you?” she asked, perking up in her seat.

Gabriel stole a glance at Jack. He was laughing at something Ana had said, leaning heavily on the kitchen counter. “I… don’t know.” he admitted quietly. He heard Fareeha shift in her seat.

“I think he does.” she said.

Gabriel smiled faintly, glancing back at her. “I hope so.” he said. Then he reached over and ruffled at her hair lightly. “Cross fingers for me, alright kid?”

Fareeha nodded energetically and hopped out of the chair as Jack wandered back over. They exchanged glances, both smiling, and Jack plopped back into his seat dramatically.

“I love being a regular player.” Jack drawled, head lulled back. “Didn’t realize I missed it so much.”

“It’s nice just letting the story happen with you, huh?” Gabriel teased. Jack nodded.

“So much less stress when you can just… let things happen.” he said.

They talked more before food arrived but the thought stuck with Gabriel for the evening. Just letting things happen was so hard. He wanted to ask Jack how he felt, know if it was the same. Or maybe he just wanted to blurt his feelings to get them out. He didn’t really know. But it was too much acting, too much desire for control.

So he pushed it down. Just let things happen. And the rest of the game and their walk home, hand in hand, felt lighter for it.

After they got home they ended up on the couch, Jack's head in Gabriel's lap like had become a bit of a customary thing. Focus half on the movie they had on and half gone to weariness, he absently felt Jack shift to look up at him. He sighed contently, hand resting on the top of Jack's head, and tried to blink the sleep from his eyes. Everything was so comfortable; so right.

Then Jack sat up suddenly, gasping softly and jarring Gabriel back from the brink of sleep, and kicked his legs over the side of the couch, hauling himself to his feet. The whole movement seemed almost involuntary and he paused for a moment, shoulders hunched, before shooting Gabriel an apologetic glance.

“I've, uh, got some stuff to do.” he said, turning toward his room. “I forgot.”

Gabriel blinked up at him, half awake. “Jack,” he said, “it's almost midnight. You can probably just wait until tomorrow.”

But Jack shook his head, not looking at him. “I'll be fine.” he said quietly, “You go to bed, alright?”

Gabriel considered reaching for his hand but caught himself. Something about Jack's posture felt closed—like he'd jump out of his skin and bolt if anyone touched him. Instead, he gave a small sigh.

“G'night.”

Jack seemed to catch on anyway. He turned, a softness in his gaze, and ducked to press a kiss to Gabriel's forehead before looking back toward his room. “Night, Gabe.” Gabriel nodded and patted a hand against the small of Jack's back before leaning into the couch cushions again.

Jack closed the distance to his room in a few strides, door snapping closed behind him moments later. Gabriel stared after him, frowning, and then glanced over at Reaper—who'd sat up to rest his chin on the arm of the couch in the sudden commotion.

“Well that was weird.” Gabriel remarked, scratching at the shepherd's ears. Reaper whined, nosing at his arm, and he sighed. “Alright. Let's go to bed, then...”

Gabriel went about getting ready for bed with no further sign of Jack for the evening. His head felt heavy when he laid down but sleep denied him for a long while. All he could think about was the almost panicked way Jack had left the room after he'd been so content only moments before. He couldn't think of a reason for it but it worried him...

Chapter Text

Jack headed downstairs that morning without waking Gabriel for breakfast. That... wasn't all that abnormal, when he thought about it. He had a day off and Jack easily could have assumed he stayed up past when he vanished into his room. But there was a twinge of upset that came with waking up at 10 to the coffee pot about to click off and dishes in the sink.

Maybe it was because Jack had been acting so strangely. Or maybe it was him being needy. Gabriel vouched for a combo effect as he made his way downstairs with Reaper on his leash, still rubbing sleep from his eyes. Jack had his own problems to work through and all Gabriel could really do is be there when he needed him; it had certainly worked out before.

Still, the strange behavior from the night before stuck with him as he went about his usual routine that day. Jack had been so content. He couldn't figure out why, suddenly, he'd turned into a ball of nerves and darted from the room.

A little close to noon he gave up trying to figure it out himself and employed some outside help. His mother was usually a good sounding board, at least. After he explained the situation, sprawled out on the living room floor with Reaper sleeping on the couch, she gave a small 'hmm' and went quiet. Just as he was about to ask if the call had dropped, she spoke.

“Do you love him, Gabriel?”

Gabriel choked, something catching in his throat. “Uh,” he said, “I mean. It's kind of soon to... say that.”

“But you do?”

He sighed. No sense trying to sneak past motherly radar. “Yeah, I do.”

“Then tell him.”

“Mami—“

“Gabriel.” He shut his mouth, her voice firm on the other end. “It's important he knows. You're too much like your father sometimes, I swear.”

He had to laugh at that, rolling over onto his stomach. “Here we go...”

“You know, if he hadn't told me he loved me when he did—“

“You were going to marry someone else.” Gabriel cut in, far too familiar with the story.

“Yes!” His mother huffed loudly into the phone. “I didn't even know he felt so strongly. I couldn't! And if he hadn't told me then—“

“Then I wouldn't have been born, yeah yeah.” Gabriel drawled, fighting laughter. “God, ma, I've heard this one before. I promise.”

He could almost hear her roll her eyes. “Yes, but apparently you still haven't listened to it.”

Gabriel shrugged. “I just... I don't know, mami.” He sighed. “This is soon. He wants to take things slow. Do it right. He's all caught up in making sure he doesn't mess anything up, like that's even something he could do. I don't want to... scare him off.”

“What could that boy possibly think he could do to ruin your relationship?” his mother asked, teasing.

Jack's problems were between him and whoever he felt comfortable with telling. Gabriel considered it a point of honor that Jack had discussed what he had with him and thus did his best to skirt the issue with anyone Jack hadn't told himself. So he couldn't really tell his mother, exactly, why Jack thought he was the master of destroying interpersonal relationships.

He sighed. “Everybody's got their hang ups.” he said. His mother gave a small 'mm' of understanding. “I just... I don't know, ma. What if I tell him and he panics? Bolts or pulls back or isn't there yet and feels guilty for it?”

“And what if he's going through the same thing?”

Gabriel paused. He blinked at the floor, considering.

“You said he was nervous.” she went on patiently, “But so eager to please you. Wine and dine and kiss your knuckles. What if he's doing this same tap-dance, right now, and petrified that you don't feel the way he does?”

“That would be way too easy, mami.” Gabriel drawled.

But she just laughed. “Think about it, Gabi. But don't push your feelings down either way. If you know you love him—know you're in love—then he deserves to know. There's no reason not to tell him if it's what you're really feeling.”

Gabriel finally signed and caved. “Alright, mami, I'll think about it.” he said, “Thanks... for listening.”

“Of course, my little angel.” He cringed slightly at the old pet name, grinning despite himself. “Anytime you need.”

He said goodbyes and 'I love you's and hung up just in time to hear Jack's keys jingling at the door. For a brief moment, his heart shot to his throat. You could tell him. Right now.

“Honey, I'm home!”

Jack sounded more chipper when he pushed the door open, arms full of take-out bags. He'd splurged for Thai food. Gabriel tried in vain to swallow his heart back down as he sat up off the floor to watch Jack mill around the kitchen. When he caught his eye Jack smiled, all soft and dimpled, and he had to actually rub at his throat to keep from feeling like he was about to vomit his heart up.

“I got pad Thai and tom yum and some basil fried rice.” Jack rattled off, digging around in the bags. Gabriel got to his feet and wandered over to lean on the counter across from him. “I'm sorry I didn't wake you up for breakfast, I missed my first alarm and everything was kind of... blurry.” Jack's eyes were still on the food as he fixed plates so he didn't notice Gabriel reaching out until his fingers brushed his wrist, just below the cuff of his now-staple jacket. He stopped and looked up, smile going all nervous on the edges. “What?”

“You have any plans tonight?” Gabriel asked, fingers slowly curling around Jack's wrist. Jack's smile went sappier and he looked down at their hands and shook his head. “Want some?”

Jack reached out and gently placed his other hand over Gabriel's fingers, rubbing his knuckles softly. “If they're with you, I'm game.” he said.

Gabriel could have told him then. Over Thai food and in the middle of their kitchen with the dog dancing around Jack's feet. It would have been... fitting. But he had a better idea. And he couldn't claim his title of Hopeless Romantic unless he ran with it.

“Let me take you out. Date number 2.” Jack looked up at him, smile widening, and Gabriel went on. “I've got this really great idea and you don't get to have all the fun, alright?”

Jack gently picked Gabriel's hand off his wrist and adjusted the hold until he could press the knuckles to his lips, chapped and warm on the skin. “Sounds good.” he mumbled, mouth against Gabriel's hand. “What's the dress code?”

“Just make yourself decent and you're fine.” Gabriel teased.

Jack smiled and gave his hand another kiss, exaggerating the noise, before letting him have it back. “It's a struggle, but I'll manage for you.” he said.

Conversation shifted to food after that, mainly because it was slowly cooling on the counter, and they both enjoyed a pleasant lunch before Jack had to head back downstairs. Before he did, he made a point of slinging an arm around Gabriel's waist and kissing him, dipping him slightly, and laughing as he retreated before any serious payback could be dealt. He still seemed nervous but at least he was nothing like he'd been the night before.

A little before close Gabriel set to work on his plan; cooking and packing up food, wine and glasses carefully wrapped up in cloth, and triple checking the weather and tides before he finished up the basket and had it sitting on the kitchen table for when Jack hauled himself upstairs. Maybe sitting on the couch in flipflops and swim trunks, dog asleep on his legs, wasn't the most romantic vision Gabriel could have painted but Jack certainly didn't have any complaints. In fact, he audibly gasped when he registered what was going on.

“You absolute asshole!” he blurted, darting over to peek in the basket as Gabriel got up laughing. “I give you one date and you try to upstage my romance moves!”

Gabriel laughed and waved him off. “I have no idea what you're talking about.”

Jack got changed with only minor griping about Gabriel 'showing him up' and they carried the basket down to the car and headed to the beach. The same strip as when Jack had spontaneously taken him out for some 'water therapy'—mainly because it was closest and only sort of out of sentiment. They found a good spot to lay out the blanket and unpacked the meal.

Gabriel made a show of checking 'for the cops' before popping open the bottle of wine and Jack finished the pasta dish in record time. The whole conversation was light and comfortable, sounds of the ocean in the background. Everything felt natural and right and when they finished and Jack settled down next to him, eyes on the stars overhead, it just happened.

Gabriel looked over, seeing the night sky glittering in Jack's eyes, and just said it. Because there wasn't really another way to do it. And because there wasn't really another way he wanted to.

“I love you.”

Jack tensed next to him, shoulders going suddenly stiff. That same posture from the other night—like he'd shatter if the wind blew too hard. This time, Gabriel reached out and touched his arm. Jack didn't run but he did somehow seem to wind even tighter, eyes darting to his hand.

“Gabe—“

“Listen,” Gabriel cut him off, already fairly sure of where this could be going, “I'm not asking for anything back. I'm not telling you because I expect you to be there yet or for you to not be afraid or anything, really. You just... should know. That I'm in love with you. It's okay if...”

He didn't finish. Didn't want to. Jack shifted and turned to look at him, eyes wide and pale in the moonlight. He clearly got the message, at least. Jack reached out and took Gabriel's face in his hands, shaking his head gently.

“No, no don't do that.” he said, voice barely a whisper. Gabriel felt him leaning in, hands guiding him backwards slowly, and he went pliable into the blanket-covered sand below them. “That's not it, I promise that's not it...” Jack leaned over him, forehead pressed against his, and ran his thumbs over his cheekbones, eyes on Gabriel's.

“Then what's wrong?” Gabriel asked. He reached out and cupped Jack's cheek and watched his eyes flutter closed.

Jack leaned in and kissed him, pushing him further into the blanket. Open-mouthed and sloppy, hands still cradling his face. “I can't do that.” he said, speaking against Gabriel's lips between increasingly heated kisses. “I can't have that.” He shifted to straddle Gabriel's waist, sitting against his raised thighs a bit awkwardly. “I can't ruin this.” Gabriel nudged him until Jack slid down onto his lap, breath hitching against his mouth. “I can't use those words yet.”

There they were on a public beach in the middle of the night, having a serious discussion about feelings while also about to start grinding on each other like horny teenagers. It would have felt surreal if Gabriel weren't too busy feeling other things about it. His body wanted heat and friction and Jack. His brain wanted to keep talking and maybe to keep kissing. It wasn't an easy choice but his brain won out, purely based on current location, and he reached out to tug gently at Jack's hair, pulling him away. Jack went, breathing heavy and eyes dark, and hovered over his face.

“You don't have to use the words.” he said slowly, still out of breath. “But... do you feel them?”

Jack's face crumbled, eyes wet. “God yes.” he said and ducked to hide against Gabriel's neck. “It feels so good and it hurts so bad and I don't understand, Gabe.”

Gabriel laughed and raised his hand to comb Jack's hair with his fingers. “Yeah, yeah it's fucking awful for me too.” he said and felt laughter rumble in Jack's chest.

They stayed like that for a bit, just breathing and being, and eventually Gabriel felt Jack sigh. He shifted and slowly raised up to look at him again.

“Thank you for this very romantic dinner where I almost had a panic attack and gave you an awkward boner at the beach, Gabriel Reyes. I feel a lot of things for you and they're really fucking scary but I like them anyway.”

Gabriel laughed and reached out, dragging Jack back down and hugging his head against his chest. Jack chuckled along with him, snuggling against him, and after a moment begrudgingly pulled Gabriel up with him to a sitting position, climbing off his lap.

“It's late.” he sighed, dusting the sand off Gabriel's shoulders for him. “We should, uh, head back.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Gabriel grumbled. Jack nudged his side sympathetically and conned a smile out easily.

They packed up and dusted off as best they could before piling back in Gabriel's car. Jack promised to vacuum unprompted this time but Gabriel couldn't have cared less about the sand in the floorboards and seats. Not with how light he felt and how warm Jack's hand was when it found his on the shifter.

Jack loved him. Was in love with him. And it was terrifying and wonderful and the words caught in his throat but they were there and they were real. And sometimes syntax just wasn't as important as actions; like how Jack raised their hands up to his lips and nuzzled kisses into Gabriel's knuckles when they stopped at a light. They both knew what this was; that was the important part.

Jack slept in his room that night, just warm and close and a few sleepy stolen kisses before they drifted off. It became routine after that; if Jack's bed hadn't felt abandoned before it had to now. The comfortable closeness was soothing for the soul and Gabriel found that even with their fabled third date put off until later he was more than happy with the way things were.

But he had to know something. And after a few days of watching Jack so comfortably and easily drift off next to him, he finally worked up the nerve.

“Why did you run off that other day?”

Jack shifted, yawning in the small space between them, and rubbed at his face. Gabriel waited, toying with Jack's hair. Felt him sigh, mattress shifting. The look Jack finally met him with was surprisingly serious for his drowsy mood.

“I just realized that...” Jack frowned, thinking about his words, “Like, how far gone I was, I guess. It was terrifying.” Gabriel smiled, encouraging, and he went on. “See cause I knew I cared about you. And I knew you're like the most beautiful person I have ever met.” Gabriel laughed and went to give a smart remark but Jack put a hand over his mouth, shushing him. “But I guess I just... I don't want anyone else. I think about the future and you're there and I can't... I don't want to imagine anything else.”

Gabriel smiled and puckered his lips against Jack's palm, making soft kissing noises until he laughed and lowered it. “And I'm the sap.” he teased, finally free to sass.

Jack shoved at his shoulder lightly. “You are.” he insisted, “Because you run with it and make a picnic and tell me on the beach. I just... ran away.”

“But you came back.”

Jack's smile softened and he pressed in closer, arms winding around Gabriel's waist. “I guess that counts for something.” Gabriel nodded and Jack leaned his head against his shoulder, inhaling deeply.

They fell asleep easy that night and the next morning, earlier than usual, Jack's phone went off. As he rolled over to get it and Gabriel burrowed into the blankets, seeking a replacement for the warm body coiled around his, there was some confused murmuring from Jack as he answered the call. He shifted a bit, phone pressed to his ear when he laid back down and tucked the blanket burrito that was Gabriel under his chin.

“Mm, yeah. It's not too early.” he said, muffling a yawn. Gabriel begged to differ but Jack's free hand was rubbing gently at his scalp so he didn't have it in him to actually complain. “I mean, I don't have a spare room anymore...” There was a hit of concern in Jack's voice so Gabriel leaned in and pressed his lips to his collarbone, feeling him chuckle soundlessly from the feel of his beard on his skin. “Yeah, yeah okay.” Jack pressed his lips to the crown of Gabriel's head before going on. “Week after next? That'll be fine. Uh-huh. I love you too, momma. Bye.”

Jack tossed the phone onto the bed behind Gabriel and wrapped his other arm around him, snuggling him in closer. “Blanket thief.” he hissed close to his ear as he tried to stuff his feet under the covers with Gabriel.

“What was that about?” Gabriel asked, aiming to change the subject as he wrapped the blankets tighter around his body.

Somehow, Jack took the bait. “My parents are coming out to visit.” he said, “Dad's got a week off work and wants to, uh, see the shop.” There was a pause, Jack's fingers working circles into the muscles on the back of Gabriel's neck, and he added, “And meet you.”

“Do they know..?”

“Mm, yeah.” Jack shifted, jostling Gabriel a little as he made himself comfortable again. “Like. Well, momma knows. I think she got it before I did. Pop... she hasn't mentioned it yet.”

“You should tell him yourself.” Gabriel mumbled. “Good starting point for 'better communication with your father' if you ask me.”

He felt Jack shrug. “I know.” he said, “He's never had a problem with any of it but it's just kinda different, you know? I feel like I'm getting to know him all over again and there's a lot to go over.” He sighed. “Hi dad, this is my shop that I love, California is my new home, and this is my boyfriend, Gabriel. I hated being back home, the reason I started using is because of my friends there, I'm never going back, and I don't know if I ever even wanted to be a fire fighter because I lived from age 4 to 21 trying to please you rather than do what I wanted. Okay, let's go get lunch.”

Gabriel laughed and squirmed until he could look at Jack better. “Yeah, I mean... if you bomb drop the whole thing it does sound a little intense. But...” he said.

“But I should tell him because it's all important, I know.” Jack sighed and prodded at Gabriel's side. “I'm going to, I promise. You good with them coming out for a few days?” Gabriel nodded. “Good. I'll try to cover at least, like, half of that before he gets here. To soften the blow some.”

“It's a start.” Gabriel nodded.

Jack reached over him and picked his phone up, checking the time before flopping back down against the pillows. “For now, though, we've got another hour.” he hummed, beckoning Gabriel back down into his arms. “And now that I can actually sleep better I am going to enjoy it.”

Gabriel laughed faintly and settled down with him. “See?” he said, “Isn't doing stuff for yourself instead of other people great?”

“Yeah,” Jack grinned at him, “it's the best thing I've ever done. I'm glad I did.”

Gabriel couldn't have agreed more.

Chapter Text

Jack spent the days leading up to his parents’ arrival balancing conversations between both of them, cleaning, the shop, and planning the final leg of his DM stay in D&D. It was a bit of a spectacle to watch, really. Gabriel wasn’t sure how anyone managed to do so many things at one time. But he did his best to keep up and offer help where he could.

Jack’s parents, much to his dismay, couldn’t swing a hotel stay so he caved and asked Gabriel if he could move some things over. Not like he hadn’t been staying there every night anyway; it didn’t really change anything but an extra bin next to his dresser with Jack’s clothes and a few assorted toiletries. If anything, it made life easier when they headed to bed and his sleep pants were already there.

After that he tore apart his own room in the evenings after the shop closed. It took upwards of a whole week before he seemed content with how things were organized. Gabriel made sure to keep their other employees up on stocking so Jack didn’t go downstairs in the mornings to a messy comic display and panic.

That Saturday marked one of their first times back with Jack as DM. He seemed to have enjoyed his break and once everyone piled in, crowded around the table eating chips and drinking beer, he cracked his knuckles and set to work.

“This is it.” he hummed, peering over his screen at them, “The final stretch. Are you all ready to face the challenges I have for you?”

What an utter nerd. Gérard laughed, choking on his beer, and Ana covered her mouth with her hands. On her lap, however, Fareeha looked absolutely entranced. Torbjörn and Reinhardt both exchanged glances and sighed audibly.

Gabriel had never been more sure how in love with this man he was.

The session itself was actually pretty much what Jack warned it would be. Half the group, Gabriel included, spent the first few encounters near death. Apparently this was the ‘pull out all the stops’ moment Jack had been waiting for. Or he was having a really good night on rolls.

When they broke for food and Gabriel leaned over to hand Ana his card to order food, Gérard nudged him in the ribs. He glanced over, brow raised, and the other man beamed at him.

“So. Is he this intense with bedroom roleplaying?” he asked, “Does he make you do rolls for seduction?”

Gabriel choked, laughing, and shoved Gérard so hard he nearly fell off his chair. There was no hope of getting an answer out of him, hunched over the table near tears from laughter, but that didn’t seem to bother Gérard any. If anything, he just seemed proud of himself.

The rest of the group, mildly concerned, turned their attention to the table as Gabriel fought to collect himself. Jack gave him a few good pats on the back when he started coughing, laughter choking out his breathing a little.

“Did you break Gabriel?” Ana asked, frowning.

“No! I just asked him a question.” Gérard shot back, indignant. Something about his tone got Gabriel laughing harder when it had almost died down. “He’s just excitable tonight, I guess.”

When Gabriel could finally breath again--after chugging half a beer and doing breathing exercises--he nearly fell apart again when Gérard winked at him. “Just--just a friendly question.” he half wheezed, one hand over his mouth when Jack patted his back again.

He’d get his payback eventually. Somehow.

They ate and wrapped up after, Jack hinting the next session would be their last of the campaign if all went all, and saw everyone off before collapsing on the couch for the evening.

“You sure you’re good with me crashing in your room for the weekend?” Jack asked as they were turning in for the night.

Gabriel blinked, looking up from digging through his bookshelf for nightly reading, and frowned. Jack caught his gaze and mimicked the expression with a little concern.

“Jack. Nothing about the situation has changed. Besides maybe you trying to sleep in your room before you crawl your ass back in here like you did last Friday.” That summoned a nervous laugh. “I mean, I should probably invest in a bigger bed eventually. But we do alright now, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Jack rolled onto the bed and stuffed his face in Gabriel’s pillow, sighing loudly. “Thanks.”

Gabriel just reached over to muss his hair before crawling into bed.

“Don’t mention it.”

Not like the arrangement was any less perfect comfort for Gabriel than it was for Jack anyway. He couldn’t complain if he tried.

Friday, the day before the arrival of Jack’s wonderful parents, arrived in no time at all and Gabriel started off the morning by prying himself out of Jack’s crushing grasp to go make coffee before opening the shop. Jack popped in briefly before going to his meeting to give him a bagel and then texted him not long after when it would have ended.

‘i’m so stressed out, gabe. can you vacuum curtains?’

Gabriel laughed and shook his head before typing a reply. ‘carefully’ Then, ‘also if you’re stressed i can help you blow off some steam’

There was a long pause. Gabriel watched Jack type a reply and then evidently delete it at least three times before he responded.

‘what?’

‘<3’

Again, his reply took a moment. Gabriel helped a few customers before he could check it.

‘like what?’

‘go to the beach, maybe on a run?’

‘ah okay. i’ll consider it.’

Well, that was fun. Not that he expected much with a weekend of having Jack’s family around. He finished up the day without much trouble, texting back and forth while Jack worked on preparations.

When Gabriel got upstairs that night after closing the shop the apartment was spotless. Kitchen gone over with a fine tooth comb, curtains vacuumed, the works. It was pretty hard to even find any pet hair on the furniture, something amazing considering the duo that Reaper and 76 were. No dishes in the skin and a take-out box waiting for him on the table, chopsticks stuck across the lid haphazardly and a sticky note that read simply ‘EAT’. Eloquent as always.

Gabriel shook his head, picking it up on his way by and cracking the box open while he toed out of his shoes and headed for his room. Jack hadn’t made himself known, possibly out getting last minute ‘parent supplies’ judging from some of his texts so he didn’t fret over it.

He was halfway through his lo mein when he nudged the door to his room open with his hip and figured out where his wayward boyfriend actually was. There was a notable pause as they both took in the scene; Gabriel with noodles hanging out of his mouth, chopsticks poised, and Jack reclining casually against the headboard of his bed in nothing but his boxers and that damn jacket. Then, Jack cleared his throat roughly.

“Hot.” he drawled, propping his fist up to lean against it.

Gabriel bit off his noodles, swallowing thickly, and rubbed the back of his hand on his mouth. The first words that came to him weren’t what he wanted but they were… expected.

“Marisol told you.”

Jack laughed. Really laughed, snorting and grabbing his face, and Gabriel dropped his take out box on the dresser next to his door. He stalked closer, Jack’s dorky laughter still filling the room, and climbed onto the bed on his knees.

“So you like it?” he managed to get out between peels of laughter, hand still grasping at his face.

Gabriel reached out and grabbed the lapels of Jack’s jacket, aiming to drag him forward. Jack responded by grabbing his wrists and yanking him down instead. Gabriel ducked forward and kissed him, hands going to hold his face instead. Jack hummed contently into the kiss and grabbed his ass, pulling him properly between his legs.

“So it’s like that, huh?” Gabriel asked, teasing, when they broke for air. Jack responded with a frustrated growl and bit his lower lip. “What happened to Third Date Jack?”

“Third Date Jack didn’t have his parents coming out for a long weekend to cramp his fucking style and you teasing him.” Jack shot back. He shifted to trail kisses along Gabriel’s neck, hands sliding up his back under his shirt.

“Teasing? Me? I would never.”

Jack jerked back at that, shooting him a glare, and Gabriel laughed. Tried to make a show out of pulling his shirt off but Jack got impatient after mere seconds and helped him yank it off and tossed it off to the side of the room. When they kissed again it was highlighted by Jack’s hands roaming every inch of his skin they could get to now, dull tails scraping here and there.

“I still expect a third date.” Gabriel warned, mouthing along Jack’s jawline as he grappled with the fly of his jeans. “Just so you know.”

Jack laughed. “I’ll give you hundreds, promise. Want to go to the movies?”

Gabriel grinned against his skin and nodded. “Only if we get to act like this didn’t happen before the third date and do it all over again.” he replied, squirming out of his jeans. Freed, he pressed back in and tentatively bit down on the side of Jack’s neck and got a soft groan in reply.

“Sure,” Jack laughed breathily, “or we could act like we did and skip over the part where you come in with noodles in your mouth.”

“My lo mein breath just adds to the charm and you know it.”

“Gross.”

But Jack grabbed his chin and pulled him into another kiss anyway. It probably tasted mostly like lo mein but he didn’t seem to care so Gabriel didn’t either. They had more fun things to do anyway.

The next morning Gabriel woke up pleasantly sore with his face hugged firmly to Jack’s chest. He’d just started to stir some, yawning and shifting a little, when Jack woke. There was a brief moment, both of them rubbing their eyes and mumbling, then Jack sat bolt upright and snatched his phone off the nightstand. Cussing, he darted out of bed and went hunting for his discarded boxers in the pile of clothes on the floor. Gabriel sat up to watch him.

“Airport!” Jack blurted, yanking on the first pair he found before Gabriel could say anything. “Shit, Gabe, my alarm didn't go off!”

“Jack.”

“My dad is going to bitch the whole way home!”

“Jack…”

“I don't think they're there yet but I need a shortcut to make it in time and--”

“Jack.”

Jack stopped, glancing up from his phone at Gabriel. “What?”

“Those are mine.”

He blinked and glanced down at the underwear he'd yanked on. Black, not blue. He looked back up at Gabriel and smiled sheepishly before going about pulling them back off.

“Wondered why they were so soft…”

“It’s called fabric softener.”

Gabriel laughed and Jack tossed his boxers at him with his toe before snagging his own out of the pile and pulling them on. He went about getting himself dressed (clothing temporarily transplanted to Gabriel’s room for the visit) while Gabriel went to wash up.

Halfway through brushing his teeth he noticed a mark on his neck; skin vaguely irritated and intended. Gabriel made a face, toothbrush in his mouth, and rubbed at it uselessly before sighing and spitting toothpaste in the sink. After rinsing his mouth he called down the hall.

“You're an asshole!”

Jack’s reply came from the kitchen, slightly distraught. “What?”

“Don't bite so hard next time!”

“Don't moan so loud next time and I'll know you mean it.”

Jack’s laughter rolled down the hall after as Gabriel grumbled through fixing his beard and moved on to get dressed. By the time he wandered into the kitchen Jack was waiting, ready and keys in hand. Gabriel drove, more capable in LA traffic, and they made it to the airport with ease. Gabriel parked and Jack hopped out, already on the phone with his mother as he headed toward the arrivals.

For a moment Gabriel debated what to do. Jack had the situation handled, clearly, but what was the etiquette to this? He was admittedly a little nervous about everything, though he’d never let it show. They were just Jack’s parents, he'd ‘met’ both of them already, they knew about him, they knew what he was to Jack now.

Jack glanced back before leaving eyesight to hold a finger up to him, indicating he'd be a minute, and Gabriel breathed a sigh of relief. It at least gave him a few minutes to collect himself a little.

He wasn’t sure how to act. Who to be. Jack had told his father, fingers squeezed between Gabriel’s while he was on the phone, about their relationship. He’d been fine; sounded excited, in fact. Both of Jack’s parents had an oddly high opinion of him already and it only managed to make Gabriel feel more pressured rather than confident. It felt like a lot to live up to.

He sank in his seat until Jack reappeared, toting half his luggage and tailed by his parents. They were taller than Gabriel was expecting, which felt like a silly thing considering Jack’s own height. They were also a bit grayer than video calls gave away. Rapidly, Gabriel tried to remember important details as Jack loaded their luggage into the trunk.

His father’s name was John but he went by his middle name--Pete. His mother’s name was Lori. They had dogs; two German Shepherds. Pete liked baseball, Lori spent a lot of time on social media doing ‘wine mom’ things (as Jack so eloquently put it).

“Hey, sunshine, you there?”

Gabriel jumped slightly, Jack’s hand touching his shoulder. When he looked over Jack was staring at him with concern, hand now poised a few inches from his arm. Suddenly, he wanted nothing more than to go stand in the ocean and breathe salt air and tell Jack not to get eaten by sharks again. His chest felt tight.

But he said “I’m good.” and took a deep breath before turning slightly and greeting Jack’s parents in the back seat.

They were too jet lagged to notice his unrest, most likely, but Jack clearly had. He spent the drive home with his hand on Gabriel’s, rubbing his thumb between his knuckles. It helped. It wasn’t the ocean but it did enough for the time being.

It also helped that both of Jack’s parents hadn’t taken the flight well. One of their first, apparently. Jack decided to skip a formal tour of the shop for the day in favor of offering them a chance to nap that they both took up rapidly. There was only a small pause when they got upstairs because of a certain fluffy fellow coming to greet everyone.

“Hey buddy.” Gabriel ducked down to rub at Reaper’s ears, cooing, and felt someone stop behind him. Reaper, ears perking under his fingers, stared over his shoulder at them and sniffed.

“So this is the canine influence the place needed, huh?” Pete asked.

Gabriel glanced over his shoulder, grinning faintly. “Ah, yeah. This is… my son.” He gestured to Reaper who wagged his tail but remained politely seated as Jack’s father looked him over. “Reaper. Or, as your son calls him, Snugglebug.”

Jack, already down the hall with his mother’s bags, laughed. “It fits!” Tentatively, Reaper glanced toward his voice and wagged his tail against the floor.

“He’s well trained.”

“I know.” The words came out before he could register how they might sound even cooed at the dog. Still, Pete laughed. “Raised him from a little puffball.”

There was a little hum of approval and Pete stepped around him to offer Reaper his hand. He sniffed, gave a tentative lick, and wagged his tail when he got a proper pet for his efforts. Gabriel watched, smiling to himself. Liked dogs. Right.

“How are your two doing?” he asked.

“Old ladies.” Pete replied, chuckling faintly. “I know how they feel most mornings anymore. Jack used to have to run them for hours and now you can barely get them to go from the kitchen to the living room and back.”

Huh. Explained why Jack enjoyed taking Reaper on his runs so much. Must have been odd for him going so long without having a dog on his morning jog.

“Reaps can get like that but he’s… just lazy.” Gabriel replied, teasing. As if he understood somehow, Reaper cut his eyes toward him.

Pete chuckled and ruffled at Reaper’s ears before nodding to Gabriel and wandering down the hall after where Lori and Jack had gone. After a bit, Gabriel lingering in the living room with 76 crawling all over him, Jack reappeared alone. He took one look at Gabriel and sat down next to him on the couch.

“You okay?”

“Yes? No? I don’t know?”

Jack’s hand found his, pulling it into his lap and tangling their fingers together. “What’s wrong?”

“I want them to like me.” It felt stupid. Probably was. But Jack didn’t laugh, nor did he dismiss it. Instead, Gabriel felt his grip tighten a little.

“They already do, Gabe.”

“Yeah, but what if that changes?”

Jack laughed faintly at that one. “It won’t.” he said, “But see, if it does? That’s their business. I like you.” Jack stretched out the L in like a little oddly, as if his own tongue had tripped up for a second. “Not going to change if they don’t for some bullshit reason.”

Gabriel exhaled loudly. “I need to go to the beach.” he mumbled. Jack smiled crookedly at him. “Your parents the sea loving sort?”

“They’ve never seen much of it.” Jack admitted, “Still, probably fun to take them. If you want to get in a little water therapy?” Gabriel nodded quickly. “Alright. Wanna mess around while they nap.” Gabriel jumped, shooting Jack an appalled look, and he laughed and clasped their hands to his chest fondly. “Oh my god, Gabe, your face!”

“Jackass.”

Gabriel tried to sulk but Jack freed their hands and reached out, beckoning him into an embrace, and he went anyway. Smooshed his face against Jack’s chest, grumbling, and let him pull them over to sprawl awkwardly on the couch.

“This weekend is gonna kill me, Jack.” he groaned, voice muffled against Jack’s shirt. He felt him laugh more than heard it, a hand rubbing at the back of his neck soothingly.

“We got this, Gabe.” he hummed, “Teamwork makes the dream work?”

Well, it worked with the shop. And had gone pretty well with their D&D characters. Why not?

“Fine.” he huffed softly, “But if anything goes wrong I’m blaming your bad luck.”

Jack just laughed. “That’s fair.”

It was just one long weekend. They could probably handle that, right?

Chapter Text

Once Jack’s parents had a decent amount of sleep Gabriel suggested they go somewhere for dinner. Normally, he and Jack would have just dug through leftovers or thrown something together for the night. But he was already having too much trouble handling the evening to consider actually cooking for anyone. Even people Jack maintained ‘ate anything’.

Eventually, they decided on a relaxed Italian place and Gabriel drove them while Jack talked about all the places they passed. Despite all his hesitance he seemed genuinely happy to see them. It was kind of endearing.

Dinner went fairly smoothly, mostly small talk. Jack asked about people at home--names Gabriel hadn’t heard but were clearly people Jack didn’t keep in touch with personally anyway--and gave updates on Ana and the rest of the gang from the fire house.

But the question was bound to pop up eventually. Gabriel had just been hoping in vain it could be avoided until after he had a plate of food to be distracted with. No such luck.

“So, how serious are you two?”

Gabriel cut his eyes to look up at Lori. The question was made to sound like it was for both of them but it was so clearly a ‘what are your intentions with my son’ moment. Next to him, Jack shifted in his seat.

“Momma--”

“I'm absolutely, hopelessly in love right now.”

Jack jerked his head over to look at him, face visibly burning, but Gabriel kept his attention on his parents. If there was ever a game of chicken he intended to win it was going to be this one. Lori looked back at him, momentarily shocked before softening into a smile.

“That was fast.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Not really, he wanted to point out. Months of bonding and pining and working closely together certainly made up for their short history of actually dating. But it wasn't worth getting into. After a moment of consideration, she turned her attentions to her son.

Jack’s hand found his under the table, fingers squeezing between his, and said, “Gabe makes the future seem a lot brighter.”

It felt odd. Gabriel knew, reasonably, that Jack had felt that way for a while. But in the context of the seriousness of their relationship it was… another thing. He squeezed back at Jack’s hand.

In the end, it was Pete who managed to ‘save’ them, in a sense. Perhaps he felt a little guilty for the lost way Gabriel glanced at him in the midst of the conversation. ‘Help me, fellow dog dad.’ kind of cry.

“You know you’ve always got a place back home, Jack,” he said, slow and deliberate. Jack nodded. “But here… seems like the best place for you.”

“It is.”

They seemed to take that as the final word. Jack’s tone, firm but calm, was something wonderful. Gabriel felt his hand squeeze his under the table again.

The conversation swapped to wine and went light again but Jack didn’t let go of his hand until the food came. And even that seemed hesitant. Like if he broke the connection something in him would go with it. It didn’t, but he did find Gabriel’s hand again on the console during the drive home.

The next two days felt easier. The better part of the first day was spent on the beach. Jack, ever the daredevil with the ocean, nearly got himself washed away at one point. But the salt air did wonders for Gabriel’s nerves and by the time they headed to bed that night, exhausted and slightly sun baked, sleep was easy.

Sleep was even easier with Jack wrapped around him, snoring lightly and gripping the back of his shirt. It felt right. Gabriel made a mental note to get a bigger bed.

He had to open the shop the next day, leaving Jack to show his parents some sights before it was time for them to head home. They spent the better part of the morning in the shop with him, Jack feeding him coffee and talking up all the promotions and sales they had planned for the coming year. Before they took off, Jack leaned over the counter and kissed his cheek and Gabriel caught the trainee with him that day hiding a smile behind her hand.

Jack sent him a few pictures and updates during the day and by the time he was closing up the shop for the night Jack was headed for the airport and asking what to bring home for dinner. Gabriel simply had to make himself comfortable, dog asleep on his feet, while he waited.

When Jack got back from the airport that night he walked in, looked around, then puffed out a long sigh before slumping his shoulders and tossing him a grin where he was sitting on the couch. Gabriel patted the spot next to him and Jack ambled over, swaying slightly, and sank down next to him. One arm slung around Gabriel’s shoulder he leaned in and tucked his face against his neck.

“That’s better,” he hummed.

Shifting slightly, he sought out Gabriel’s hand with his other and lifted it up in a mock pose of a waltz. Before Gabriel could respond Jack pulled him up from the couch and towed him out into the middle of the small living room, only half managing to sway through a few steps.

“Is this a celebration?” Gabriel asked, teasing. He stepped in a little, taking the lead, and took Jack through the most basic waltz he knew. Jack nodded against his shoulder.

“We made it.” he hummed back, sing-song.

Gabriel laughed and they slowed to a stop, his hand still on Jack’s hip and the other laced with his by their sides. Jack moved and pressed a kiss to his jawline, hand on his shoulder sliding up to cup the other side of his face.

“You wanna mess around now that you’re parents are gone?” Gabriel asked. Jack’s response came in the form of a loud kiss, pressed against his neck, and Jack’s hand squeezing his hip.

“Please.”

Gabriel snorted. “Well,” he said, “since you asked nicely.”

It was a Wednesday morning when Gabriel got a text from Ana while he was opening the shop.

‘Are you alone?’

Gabriel stole a glance over at Jack, who was busy stocking some of the new graphic novels they’d gotten in. He looked back at his phone.

‘not really’

‘Can Jack see this?’

A weird question. Since Jack was across the room, Gabriel shrugged and replied with ‘no’

There was a lengthy pause and he went back to getting the register ready for a bit before his phone buzzed in his pocket again. He made sure Jack still had his back to him when he pulled it out.

‘Jack’s birthday is in a week and I need your help. I know he probably hasn’t told you since he always forgets about it until like 2 days prior but trust me, it’s happening. And now that I know the date I’ve been trying to make sure he always gets a proper celebration.’

Before he even finished that one, Gabriel got another text. ‘Small surprise party. Just the game crew. But I want you to pick the actual details.’

‘when can we meet?’ Gabriel typed back, stealing glances at Jack.

‘Next Saturday, D&D. I’m going to have everyone else run interception when we get dinner.’

She really did have it planned out. Gabriel chuckled silently to himself before typing out his reply.

‘sounds good’

They didn’t discuss the matter again until that weekend. Instead, Gabriel did his best to pretend he had no idea it was Jack’s birthday soon. Not that it was… particularly easy. He had so much he wanted to do or make. But he had hardly any time at all to plan for it. Especially not with the whole birthday party to plan too.

Still, he did manage to sneak in a quick order for something he knew Jack would appreciate. He could make something later and keep using the ‘you didn’t give me time to plan for your birthday’ for as long as he wanted to make it.

Game night was at their place and after some brief clean up and throwing together some snacks they settled in waiting on everyone to show up. The group filed in in the usual order and they set to work on what Jack warned could be their last game in the campaign. The whole thing felt so bittersweet. Epic battles, though a touch more forgiving than the past sessions (Jack likely was more focused on the story--especially considering how focused Gabriel kept finding himself as a player)--and plenty of character shaping final moments.

When they broke for dinner it was nearing the final antagonist. The person they’d been after the whole time, whether or not they’d known it. Everyone had been so baited on every word they barely realized how late it had gotten.

Ana grabbed Gabriel’s elbow as he went to get up, making a show of tugging him toward the kitchen.

“Gabriel, help me pick out what we’re getting! I know you know the menu of that bbq place cover to cover!”

He did. Which was what threw him off, at first, about whether or not this was about the party. It wasn’t until Ana had him out of earshot of Jack, stealing a brief glance at him talking to Reinhardt at the table, that it registered what this was about.

“So, where should we have it?”

Gabriel thought for a moment, holding the menu Ana had brought over to play up the act. “The shop,” he said. Ana raised a brow. “It’s the easiest place for me to decorate without him knowing. We can do it after close and bring him down. He could pop in the apartment at any moment but he never really comes down to the shop on his days off unless I or one of the kids text him.”

Ana gave a little hmm of agreement. “I do love mac salad,” she said, full volume. Gabriel fought the urge to laugh at the act. Then, she leaned closer and asked in a whisper, “What do you need?”

“I’ll text you a list. Cake, decorations, and dinner. Need any money help?”

She shook her head, grinning. “We’ve got it,” she said, “you just make sure Jack doesn’t know and gets down there.”

“Done.”

Reflexively, they high fived. The group at the table glanced over, confused, and they both shrank a little. Gabriel let out a faint laugh and shrugged.

“We decided,” he said.

Beside him, Ana nodded. “You know how seriously we take Hawaiian food.”

Somehow, that seemed to work for Jack. He shook his head, laughing faintly, and went back to his DM books.

After dinner, they finished up the game. Jack, in all his planning, managed to twist a few of them for a loop. (Gérard maintained the whole time he’d ‘seen it coming’ but Gabriel saw the shocked look on his face for a split moment.) As Jack wrapped up the story, explaining the world as they’d managed to leave it, he let each of them give their characters their own small endings.

Ana’s returned home to her family and lived in peace. Reinhardt’s continued travelling, accompanied by Torbjörn’s knowledge-hungry cleric at times when he wasn’t too busy. Gérard’s started a rather questionable business, true to warlock habits. When Jack turned his attention to Gabriel all he could think of was their conversation about tragic heroes and happy endings. He cleared his throat and spoke.

“Well, he tried to keep exploring. Make his own way, work as a mercenary, be tragic and heroic,” he said, “but that’s a tough life to walk on your own. So maybe he finds someone who has a soul like his? Maybe they travel some but that’s… still awfully tiring. So they settle down, use some of that money from thieving and exploring to get a little farmstead. And he’s not rich, not even close, but he feels like it every morning he wakes up with his husband there. And that’s enough.”

Jack watched him a moment, eyes bright, then just laughed. “That was so sappy,” he said, “I love it.”

“I was inspired,” Gabriel shot back easily.

The whole table bubbled with laughter and Gabriel could have sworn Jack’s cheeks went a little red before he ducked behind his screen to start putting things away.

Two days before his birthday, much like Ana had warned him would happen, Jack finally informed Gabriel of his upcoming birthday. Gabriel, foot touching the wrapped gift under his desk, did his best to act surprised. Years in theater would not fail him now.

“Thanks for the heads up, jerk.”

Jack laughed, cringing, and stepped into his room. “Sorry, sorry,” he said, “it’s just not usually a big deal for me.”

Gabriel quirked a brow. “What,” he asked, “are you one of those weirdos that ‘doesn’t believe in birthdays’?”

Jack shrugged. “Just never done much for them,” he said, “not since I stopped hanging out with my old friends back home. Last time I partied with them was, uh…” He looked embarrassed, which told Gabriel pretty quickly what was coming. “It was a low point.”

Gabriel gave a small noise of understanding and got up, moving into Jack’s space. Still looking vaguely embarrassed, Jack only snuck a quick smile at him before glancing sideways. Still, he looped his arms around Gabriel’s waist even before he got to do the same to him.

“Why not try to make better memories now?” he asked. He shifted, swaying slightly, and rocked Jack with him. After a few over dramatic ‘hmm’ noises, Jack looked at him and smiled.

“I guess you have a point.”

“I’m full of good ideas,” Gabriel replied, cheeky. Jack snorted.

And Jack, clueless as can be, just grinned at him. “Fine,” he said, “next year you’ll have better warning. This year, want to just chill?”

“I’ll do what I can,” Gabriel replied, exacerbated, and Jack shot him a sad puppy look before he finally caved and shook his head. “I forgive you, stop sulking.”

Jack broke into a grin and leaned in, doing that little dip kiss he did when he got too excited, and Gabriel felt like his heart was melting.

True to her word, Ana got every bit of the things Gabriel texted her asking for. All delivered the day of the party, which Gabriel made sure Jack took off after he finally admitted it was his birthday. (Convenient, even if it took a bit to get him to cave.)

Decorating was the easy part. While Ana and Fareeha ran out for dinner and to pick up the cake, Gabriel decorated the store. Streamers, kid’s party decor (for comedic effect), and balloons later, just in time for the rest of the group to arrive, and it was time to use those winning acting skills again. Gabriel took a deep breath, everyone settling in to hide, and headed upstairs.

Jack was getting ready to put in a pizza order when he got upstairs, sitting at the kitchen table with his laptop and waffling over toppings. He lit up when Gabriel stepped in and stretched out an arm, beckoning him closer. Gabriel went and took Jack’s hand when he was in reach, letting himself be towed in closer.

“What should I get?”

“Your birthday. You pick.”

Jack groaned and held Gabriel’s hand to his lips, kissing his knuckles gently. “Not fair,” he mumbled.

“Think about it while we got grab your gift,” Gabriel offered, tugging Jack’s hand lightly. “C’mon, I hid it downstairs.”

Jack shot him a skeptical look. “You got me something in 2 days?”

“I’m good like that.”

Jack laughed but caved and got to his feet. Gabriel lead him out the door and downstairs, taking a little bit longer than usual to unlock the door just to be certain everyone was ready. Jack seemed largely clueless, babbling about what to get for dinner, and Gabriel pushed the door open for him to step inside as casual as possible.

Jack flicked the light on and--

“SURPRISE!”

Visibly jumping, Jack nearly ducked back out the door if it weren’t for Gabriel--laughing the whole time--stopping him. Instead he stuck to Gabriel’s chest and immediately dissolved into laughter the moment he registered what was going on. Smacking lightly at Gabriel’s chest, he pushed away from him.

“You absolute butthead!”

“Told you I’m good.” Gabriel tossed a grin at him and Jack rolled his eyes. “And Ana helped.”

Jack swept in and kissed him, then darted over to kiss Ana’s cheek, then immediately glued himself to the counter where they’d set up the food. The whole room rolled with laughter and Gabriel couldn’t help but smile.

The whole thing went over swimmingly, Gabriel’s last minute gift included, and Jack seemed equal parts relieved and enchanted by how simple the whole thing was. They ate, drank, and were merry and by the time it got a little close to ‘bedtime’ Jack seemed more than content with his life. All around success.

After everyone cleared out of the shop for the evening, leaving with laughter and playful ribbing at Jack, a calmness fell over him. He turned to look at Gabriel, who had leaned himself up against the counter comfortably, and his face melted into the dopiest smile he’d ever seen.

“Thank you.” he said, closing the door behind him and wandering over to lean on the counter next to Gabriel.

Gabriel pushed off the counter and reached out, took Jack by the hips, and pulled him into a loose hug. Jack responded eagerly, nuzzling in against his shoulder, and squeezed his arms around Gabriel’s middle. They stayed that way a long moment, just breathing.

“Happy birthday, Jack,” Gabriel half mumbled into his shirt, “I’m really glad you were born. You’re my favorite person.”

Jack laughed quietly against his neck, breath hot. “You’re my favorite person too,” he said. Then, “I…”

There was a baited pause, just hanging there, and then Jack finally sighed. Gabriel went to speak. To say ‘I know’ or ‘it’s alright’ or ‘you don’t have to’ but he didn’t actually have to say any of it. Because Jack knew and it wasn’t about proving anything to anyone. It was something else.

“I want to say it,” he said, as if he could read Gabriel’s mind.

Gabriel smiled and shifted his head, pressing his nose against Jack’s neck. “Then do what you want,” he said. Teasing inflection on his voice that Jack laughed faintly at.

And in the quiet of the shop, almost eerily so, they lapsed into silence. Then Jack spoke, voice barely a whisper even in the utter silence.

“Gabriel Reyes, I love you.”

A silent moment. Then Jack pulled back a little, expression hard, and studied Gabriel’s face. Gabriel looked back at him, confused and fighting laughter, and cupped his cheeks.

“Still here,” he confirmed for Jack’s silent question. “Wild, I know.”

And it was like a dam breaking. Jack laughed and pressed in, forehead against Gabriel’s, and said, “I love you,” again and again. Like he couldn’t get it out enough. Like it had been waiting so long just to let it out.

Gabriel chuckled and just basked in it, holding onto him, and waited till Jack’s voice cracked a little and he stopped before bubbling over with laughter. Giddy, slightly confused, and so full of relief.

“I love you too,” Gabriel replied, grinning.

Jack grinned at him and cleared his throat before speaking.

“Yeah," he said, "I know."

Chapter Text

It was a reasonably easy list, when he thought about it. Get the dog up, open the shop, and survive the 4 or so hours before Jack showed up with lattes and pastries. A normal day. But the whole idea felt a lot more daunting with the nip from the blaring AC and the too-warm body tangled around his in bed. So when his alarm went off, he fumbled to shut it off before tucking back down where he’d been resting his cheek against the top of Jack’s head.

“You're gonna be late,” came a muffled warning, hot breath puffing over his chest. Gabriel just hummed in reply and squeezed his eyes shut. There was a tick, both of them breathing, and then Gabriel felt a rough hand rub over his side and up toward his armpit. Warm palm gave way to grazing fingers and then--

“Jack no!” Gabriel all but convulsed, jerking away from the sensation, and Jack let out a rumbling laugh. Kept chuckling even as Gabriel smacked at his arm and hissed, “That was cheating, ass!”

When he sat up, Jack grinned up at him. Messy hair, stubbly face, and sleep-drowsy eyes. It'd been nearly a year and he still couldn't get over how nice it was to wake up to this. Even with the whole tickling thing…

“How would you like it?” Gabriel growled, ducking down and kissing Jack--morning breath and all, “If I used your weaknesses to wake you up?” Another kiss, this one to the curve if his neck. Jack laughed breathlessly and looped an arm around his head. “Wouldn't be very nice, would it?”

“Yeah, not like you. You're the nice one,” Jack shot back. “Which is why you're totally going to get up and make coffee for me before you go downstairs, right?”

Gabriel groaned and shoved at Jack’s shoulder. “Ugh, fine. I try to initiate a quicky but you want coffee? Be like that.”

“Be more direct next time,” Jack teased. Gabriel rolled his eyes.

“Ah yes. I'll be sure to grab your ass next time.”

Jack gave a little hum of consideration. “Maybe not… that direct... so early.”

Gabriel snorted and finally hauled himself out of bed. Snuck another quick kiss, fingers threading through Jack’s hair, before he threw on clothing and went to take the dog out.

The rest of his morning was the usual blur. Open the shop, catch up with some regulars, stock some of the new graphic novels, and stare longingly at the new preorders. (Jack had probably already ordered his ‘in secret’ but it was the waiting that always did him in.) He didn’t even catch that Jack was almost an hour late until he was coming in the door, drinks balanced on top of the pastry box. There was also something tucked under his arm, which he set down on the counter next to breakfast; a small folder with a pen clipped to it. Gabriel arched a brow at it as he grabbed his latte.

“Bills?” he asked absently. Jack made a soft ‘nu-uh’ noise and leaned over the counter for a kiss, smiling when Gabriel fumbled with his coffee to meet him.

“Read it,” he said, sliding the folder closer and moving to pop the pastry box open, “it’s for you.”

Gabriel, confused but curious, picked it up off the counter and flipped it open. The thing was full of a few documents but the top one stuck out, clipped carefully to the top of the folder rather than tucked into a pocket. He read it over a few times, stunned, before the words even fully registered for him.

He didn’t even notice Jack speaking until he was already halfway through a sentence. “--it’s been over a year--” he stopped when Gabriel cleared his throat roughly. “Gabe?”

“What… what did you say?” he asked, eyes darting just briefly up to look at him before back down at the papers. Just enough time to watch Jack’s confused look melt into a fond smile.

“It's just, I've been thinking,” Jack started in again, Gabriel still staring at the paperwork. “And it's been over a year now, since you started here. And almost a year since we got together. And this place wouldn't be the same without you, Gabe.”

Gabriel’s eyes ran over the words for the tenth time, still wide. There were two signatures at the bottom; Jack’s chicken scratch and Ana’s loopy scrawl. The third line was empty.

Jack kept talking. “And Ana and I talked it over and, well, it just seems right, you know? Like it's how it always should have been.”

They were signing him on as a business partner. A co-owner of the shop. Gabriel felt his grip on the folder tighten unconsciously. One of Jack’s hands rested over his, warm and comforting.

“Gabe? You okay, sunshine?”

It felt almost unreal. How he'd gone from someone just trying to pay rent to where he was now. Jack’s warm fingers kneading at his knuckles, paperwork for ownership of the shop he hadn't even been sure would stay open in his death grip.

Jack leaned in and kissed his cheek and suddenly, abruptly, everything felt real again. Gabriel looked up and broke into a smile, releasing the folder with one hand to throw it around Jack’s neck and drag him into a hug. Jack dissolved into laughter and looped his arms around Gabriel's waist lazily.

“You like it, then?” he asked. Gabriel nodded rapidly before tucking his face against Jack’s shoulder, doing his damnedest not to cry.

“I love it. I love this place. I love you!”

Still chuckling faintly, Jack nuzzled against his cheek. “I know,” he said, “I love you too. Thank you… for being a part of my life.”

Great, now he was going to cry. “Shut up, Jack. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.”

Jack rocked him in the embrace slightly, swaying and tightening his grip on his middle. “I love you, Gabe,” he repeated, voice pitching almost sing-song. “Remember when I couldn't say that?”

“Yeah. Change is nice sometimes, huh?”

Jack laughed again and smooshed a kiss against his cheek. “Yeah,” he said, “change got me to you. Seems like a pretty damn good deal if you ask me. Right?”

Gabriel thought back to that gamble that got him there. The chance find in the shop window, the instant friendship, the budding fondness they decided not to avoid or deny, and that quiet confession on the beach that made everything else fall so perfectly into place. Everything felt like dumb luck. And yet not; more like fate, if he could dare believe in that.

Really, it didn't matter how it happened. Just that it did.

“I'm so glad I was so negligent with money that afternoon,” he mumbled into Jack’s coat. Instantly, Jack broke into laughter.

“Yeah,” he said, “me too.”

If they stopped talking right then, maybe Gabriel could avoid crying. But with how Jack was holding onto him, like something precious and rare and more valuable than he'd ever known, it seemed like a long shot.