Work Text:
Jack was enjoying a rare treat – a quiet night in alone. It wasn’t that he didn’t like spending boyfriend because he did, in fact Jack loved hanging out with Gavin. He had agreed to date the dork, after all. But sometimes it was nice to just have some time to himself and not have to worry whether his boyfriend would think up some crazy scheme to get himself hurt. At this moment, that was Geoff’s and Griffon’s problem. Gavin had gone home with Geoff from work, telling Jack that it was Ramsey movie night and he was more than welcome to join them. Jack had politely declined, sending Gavin on his way with a quick kiss and a playful slap to his behind. Without Gavin, Jack’s night consisted of a beer, one of his favourite shows and his sleepwear. This, coincidentally, was probably what he’d be doing if Gavin was home. The only difference was the show, as Jack was watching one of his guilty pleasures that Gavin absolutely refused to let Jack watch when he was home. Jack didn’t understand the fuss, what was wrong with a bit of reality TV?
It was as he was pondering this that he heard their front door unlock. Gavin slammed it behind him, scraping whatever dirt had collected on his shoes on the welcome mat.
“Jack?” Gavin called cheerily from the hallway.
“In here.” Jack replied, promptly switching channels lest Gavin saw and mocked him for it. Gavin appeared at the doorway moments later. Jack had to do a double take as he took in his boyfriend’s appearance, “what happened to your hair?” Jack asked incredulously. Gavin laughed as he shook his head side to side, bouncing the tiny braids that had been wound into his hair. He skipped over to where Jack sat, plopping himself down in the ginger’s lap as he smiled.
“Griffon did it; she taught me how to braid too!” Gavin explained as he threaded his fingers into Jack’s beard. Jack didn’t like the way Gavin was looking at it. He slowly picked at Gavin’s fingers, freeing them from the fine hair of his beard.
“Is that so?” Jack asked conversationally.
“Yup.” Gavin said, putting extra emphasis on the beard. Though Jack’s hands had encouraged Gavin’s fingers from his beard, Gavin still held onto the end of it and toyed with it gently.
“You’re making that face.” Jack said. Gavin looked up, eyes wide and innocent.
“What face?” Gavin asked. Jack sighed; he was going to regret this.
“The face you make when you want something. C’mon, what is it?” Jack prompted. Gavin said nothing for a few moments, merely toying with the ends of Jack’s beard as he worked up the courage. Jack opened his mouth to ask again but Gavin beat him to it, looking back up and making his eyes grow impossibly wide.
“Can I braid your beard?” Gavin pleaded. Jack internally groaned. This was unfair! Gavin was staring at him so hopefully and the small hint of nervousness in his voice had Jack wanting to cuddle him close.
“Fine.” Jack agreed with a grumble.
Gavin cheered, weaving his fingers into Jack’s beard once more. He used them to comb through the straggly hairs, ignoring Gavin’s small yelps of pain.
“Gavin, be gentle.” Jack scolded. Gavin looked at him apologetically.
“I can’t, it’s so knotty.” He complained and Jack sighed.
“There’s a comb in the bathroom.” Jack told him. Though he didn’t want his beard to be braided in the first place, Jack would rather it be as painless as possible. Gavin smiled up at him before he climbed off of Jack’s lap in search of the comb. Jack rubbed his beard soothingly. If it hurt as much as it did, Jack anticipated a long night.
Gavin returned shortly with a triumphant cheer, comb in hand. He wasted no time straddling Jack’s lap, arming himself with the comb and starting to run it through Jack’s beard. It didn’t hurt as much but occasionally Gavin would pull at the fine hairs and Jack would let out a little yelp.
“I’m sorry!” Gavin squeaked after the third time, leaning forward and kissing Jack gently in order to apologise. Jack quirked his brow, smirking as Gavin pulled away and resumed his efforts.
“Are you going to do that every time I get hurt?” Jack asked hopefully. Gavin giggled.
“Would you like me to?” Gavin replied deviously.
“I’d appreciate it. It might make the comb hurt less.” Jack confessed and Gavin nodded.
“Okay, I’ll keep that in mind.” Gavin replied playfully. True to his word, the next time Jack yelped he was immediately soothed by a kiss. Jack grinned as Gavin pulled back. The next time the Brit ran the comb through his beard, Jack yelped again. Gavin didn’t have to know it wasn’t genuine.
By the time Gavin got to actually braiding his beard, Jack was sure he was bleeding.
“That was painful.” He commented as Gavin dropped the comb.
“It’s not my fault your beard was bloody knotty!” Gavin yelled.
“Well, next time I’ll sense that you’re going to braid it and comb it before you get home.” Jack said sarcastically. Gavin pouted.
“There’s no need to be mean.” Gavin whined. Jack took pity on him, as expected, and wrapped his arms around Gavin’s back to pull him into a hug.
“I’m sorry, c’mon – you better make me look beautiful.” Jack insisted as he pushed his boyfriend back up.
“You’re already beautiful.” Gavin cooed. Jack blushed.
A simple task that could have taken an experienced person a few minutes took Gavin a little over an hour. He kept messing up his braid and having to start over, making frustrated noises as he untangled it with his fingers. Jack merely sat quietly, admiring the look of pure concentration on Gavin’s face as he tried to braid the beard. Jack’s eyes strayed to Gavin’s hair and he had to stifle more than a few chuckles at the way the braids bounced when Gavin shook his head in annoyance.
“Are you almost done?” Jack murmured as he felt Gavin’s hands tickle the top of his chest. It seemed he’d finally reached the end of Jack’s beard.
“Shh, you’ll ruin it.” Gavin scolded as he tugged the hair band Jack hadn’t noticed he’d had from his wrist. Jack waited patiently as Gavin wrapped the band around the end of the braid. Gavin dropped it when he was done, clapping his hands excitedly.
“Done!”
Jack picked the braid up, admiring it as he looked down.
“I have to hand it to you, it’s actually really good.” Jack reluctantly admitted. He’d been expecting something messy and poorly done but Griffon had taught Gavin well.
“Thanks. Shall we take a picture for twitter?” Gavin giggled, phone at the ready so Jack didn’t really have a choice.
“Fine but you’re getting in it with me.” Jack insisted as he pulled Gavin down, grinning widely as Gavin snapped a picture.
“Let’s get a couple. I think I blurred it.” Gavin confessed. Jack just laughed. Before the Brit could press the shutter though, Jack leaned in and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Gavin squealed. Though the picture didn’t show much of Jack’s beard braid, it was the one Gavin uploaded. He was proud of two things in the photo: the braid and his boyfriend.