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It was strange, he mused, lying awake listening to the night sounds of the hub and his lover's breathing. It was strange how easy it sometimes was to forget.
Not everything, no, he was constantly reminded in little ways that he was different from other people. Not needing much sleep, for one thing.
He was grateful for that, for the extra time it gave him alone with his thoughts. For the extra time to be aware of Ianto's warmth against him, the curve of his cheek barely visible in the dim light. It gave him time to remember, and to memorize this for later.
"Later". The word seemed so insignificant, not enough to carry the weight he wished it could. No better words came to mind in any language -- no language had ever needed to express the kind of concepts Jack forced himself to think in, as he lay awake while the world slept.
Those concepts, the weight of them, were too easy to forget when caught up in the whirl of daily life. Too easy to let slip out of his awareness, only to hit him again with the force of a supernova when some little thing brought them back.
He was all too aware that everything had an expiration date. Everything except himself -- and strangely enough that last bit, out of everything, had a tendency to slip his mind if he wasn't careful.
He pulled Ianto closer, resting a tear-dampened cheek against his shoulder. This was just bearable. It had to be.