reversedpolarity | [ddd; log; Jack]

Entry tags:

*ddd,
jack harkness

[ddd; log; Jack]

Scotty hadn't yet had time that day to check the community; he'd been busy, which wasn't an unusual thing for him, and between one thing and another he'd not only managed to go nearly a whole day without checking up on the community, he'd also managed to go nearly a whole day without remembering to eat. The end of his shift found him tired, hungry, and once again covered in grease; the other day it had been helm relays and piston shafts, today it had been plasma conduits. Cleaning the things was a dull, tedious task, usually delegated to the rookies or anyone who'd been in a bit of trouble, but every now and then Scotty liked to make an example by doing those sorts of jobs himself.

After the plasma conduits it had been an on-going series of other small, menial tasks, but it was a welcome break from paperwork. Now, however, Scotty was off duty and on his way down to the mess hall to grab something to eat before heading back to his quarters. He'd almost made it to his destination when he happened to pass by someone who was both strangely familiar and not wearing a Starfleet uniform. He paused, and turned, and then it hit him. After the few video chats they'd had, he'd recognize that coat anywhere. "Captain?"

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Jack chuckled, a little darkly, but it was a chuckle nonetheless. "Never let age stop you, Scotty," he said. "Not unless the person's way too young to be in a relationship. I never let it get in the way for me, after all. Ianto's way younger than I am, that's for sure." Of course, if Jack limited the people he involved himself with to people that were his own age...he'd never be involved with anyone ever. "Don't make yourself out to be an old man, Scotty. You're still young. Still capable of having a bit of fun here and there."

"Not," he said, cocking his head slightly, "that I'm not appreciating the company, of course. Or the brandy. Which was good, by the way. Definitely got to get my hands on some more of that, somehow."

He shook his head again, and reached over to refill both Jack's glass and his own. "It's not just the age difference. It's my position on the ship, mostly. I haven't got time tae spare, for one thing, an' for another... Like I said. I'm a commandin' officer. If I weren't in a command position, maybe, but considerin' I outrank most o' the crew..." Another shake of his head, and he smiled again, adding, "The ship's good company, if not much for conversation."

Jack nodded in thanks, picking up his glass again, but at Scotty's words, he leaned back against the sofa, shaking his head at the other man. "I really hope that you at least seek out social company, if nothing else, to have a drink and a conversation with. There's loving your job, and then there's loving it too much and letting it consume you, and well. The latter really isn't as pleasant as you may think it sounds."

Scotty chuckled quietly at that. "No matter what stories you might hear about me, I do actually get out o' the engine room once in a while," he replied, sounding a bit amused. "Difficult as it might be tae believe, I do manage a bit o' socializin'." Granted, that was usually on shore leave, but he did have a few friends aboard the ship he hung out with from time to time even when he wasn't on leave. "Much as I love bein' in engineerin', I think I'd go mad if I didn't manage escapin' it here an' there." He grinned brightly then, adding, "The community helps, too. Lots o' interestin' conversation tae be had there. Just wish the blasted thing'd stop intrudin' when I'm actually on-shift."

"Oh yeah?" Jack said, taking another swallow of his brandy, wincing as it went down just a little harder than it should've, taking a bit too big a swallow of it. "Well, then," he said, sitting back and cocking his head at Scotty, grinning at him. "Like what? What sort of interesting conversation have you had with people on the community so far, then?"

"Had a very interestin' conversation just the other day, as a matter o' fact," Scotty answered, pausing to take a sip. He grinned into his glass, only barely refraining from actually laughing into his drink, which wouldn't have been terribly pleasant. "Talked tae some bloke about the importance o' well-lubricated piston shafts," he deadpanned, before giving up trying to keep a straight face. No matter how much he thought the drink wasn't affecting him all that much, it was a measure of how inebriated he really was, if he could manage to say something like that to Jack of all people and not stumble all over himself trying to say it.

Jack raised an eyebrow, grinning at Scotty's joking around. Unlike Scotty, Jack hadn't had nearly enough to drink to get him any more than slightly buzzed, and so he had no trouble countering the other man's joking, teasing him mercilessly. "Some bloke, huh? Well. I hope he was handsome. You have to be handsome in order to get away with that level of an innuendo, otherwise it's just creepy."

For a moment, Scotty didn't reply; he was too busy snickering into his drink - a mistake, as it turned out, because he thought he was finished laughing and tried to take another sip, and then realized that no, he was still laughing and now he had to try to swallow a mouthful of Saurian brandy without choking on it. He wasn't entirely sure how he managed to not choke, but in the end, he managed to stop laughing long enough to swallow, before taking a deep breath. "Well," he said, setting his drink aside, because he was at least aware enough to know that if he was laughing that much, he was good and drunk, "Well. I'll tell you this much. He's no Enterprise, but." Another snicker. It was always like this. He'd be drinking, perfectly fine, and suddenly he'd realize he'd had a bit too much and it'd all start catching up to him. "But. Nobody's perfect."

Jack grinned, laughing along with Scotty as he almost choked on his drink, laughing more as he went on to say even more, and well. Jack couldn't help himself. "Well, it's no wonder. You start pitting people against this ship, and I tell you what, no one's going to be able to measure up to size. If you know what I mean," he said, waggling an eyebrow at the other man.

One thing could be said for certain, though. Scotty's plan to get his mind off of the troubles back on Earth was working, even if it wasn't working quite exactly in the way that Scotty might have originally thought it would.

"Oh, Christ," Scotty gasped, trying to stop laughing long enough to breathe. It was a losing battle. Any further replies from him would have to wait until he could manage to take a deep enough breath to actually be able to speak. He'd have taken a drink to help, except, well. He was pretty sure that he ought to lay off the brandy for a bit.

Jack decided that he'd go easy on the other man, recognizing that if he made him laugh hard enough to pass out that he'd be rather sorry about it later on. So instead he reached out, patting Scotty on the back, grinning at him but otherwise doing nothing else to egg him on. "You alright there, soldier?" he asked, smiling fondly at him, deciding that yes, that was probably going to be what he called the other man whenever he was flirting or joking around, his own personal nickname.

"I'm fine," he managed, after more or less forcing himself to stop laughing long enough to breathe. "Just. Christ. Give a man a bit o' warnin' before you say something like that, aye?" He didn't sound upset, though, and the grin he shot in Jack's direction should be enough to reassure the other man but he wasn't in any way annoyed at having been made to laugh like that. "Y'know, hangin' out with you could be dangerous. If I end up in Medical because you've made me choke on my drink..."

Jack shook his head, laughing at Scotty. "I'm not sure that it's possible to choke on a drink enough to end up in Medical," he said, cockily. "Unless you start dry drowning, but. That's pretty hard to do, especially on only a mouthful of liquid. I'll be careful next time, though." He grinned widely. "I'll make sure the drink's far enough from your mouth before I start making innuendo quite on that level."

"Aye, well, don't come cryin' tae me if it does happen an' McCoy raises hell about it," Scotty replied, still grinning. "Right, note tae self. Don't get quite so drunk next time, an' don't drink or possibly attempt tae eat anything when bein' so drunk. 'Specially not around Jack, an' 'specially not when there's innuendo involved."

Jack shook his head, chuckling at the other man. "Oh no, I plan on never getting on the good doctor's bad side, if I can help it. He's done far too much for me. He's still doing far too much for me for that to be even an option. Don't worry though," he said, quirking a smile. "I know the Heimlich, and I'm not above doing mouth-to-mouth if I have to. You should be fine." Not to mention that special kissing thing he could do, to transfer his life force over to someone should they need it. Scotty didn't know about the whole immortality thing yet, though, so best not to mention that quite yet.

It was a good thing that Scotty had put his drink down, because Jack's last comments would have earned a spit-take or else he would have ended up choking on his drink again. As it was, he was already bright red from having been drinking, and therefore couldn't really blush, which was also a good thing, he considered. "I don't think that'll be necessary."

Jack chuckled at Scotty's dismissal of his offer. "You say that now, but if the occasion to do that comes up, I'm going to forgo your dismissal there and give you the attentions you may require," he said, taking a sip of his brandy with a smirk.

"Anyway," he said, shaking his head and smiling at the other man, "I've probably taken up enough of your time, and certainly gotten you enough to drink for one night," he said, sitting forward in his seat.

"Much as I'd like tae insist that you needn't rush out," Scotty replied, "I'm afraid I am scheduled tae work tomorrow." He sounded a bit regretful about that - he'd have liked to have been able to let Jack stay a while longer, because even if the man was having a bit of a laugh at his expense, it was entertaining, and it'd been too long since he'd last had the chance to just sit and hang out after work. "You're welcome tae stop by, though, any time you're in the neighborhood, so tae speak."

Jack nodded. "Yeah, I think I will. Definitely to at least sample some more of your excellent alien spirits, that's for sure." Jack sat forward, picked up his glass, and in one quick and expert swallow, tossed back the rest of the liquid remaining. He was going to need it, to get through spending the rest of the time by himself. Maybe he'd stop by and see Ianto and Sulu, not let himself stay alone quite just yet.

He stood up, grabbing his coat from where he'd put it earlier. "Well. Thank you, Scotty. For the alcohol, and for the company. I... I'm definitely grateful to've run into you." Seriously. He was in way better spirits than he had been when he'd left his meeting with Jim, that was for certain.

Scotty rose as well, swaying a bit more than he thought perhaps he ought to have been - but he had been drinking Saurian brandy, after all, and he'd tossed back quite a bit of it rather quickly. "Aye, it's been fun," he replied with a grin, holding out his hand to shake. "See you around, then?"

Jack shrugged into his coat, smiling at the other man, and stepping close to him. He shook his hand, but also used it as leverage to lean forward and kiss him on the cheek. "Yeah," Jack said, with a kind smile. "I'll definitely see you around." And then he was out the door and down the hallway towards the guest quarters that Scotty had helped set up for him, to drop off his coat and then maybe pop in on Ianto and Sulu for a while.

Scotty, for his part, hardly reacted to the kiss on the cheek - but probably only because he was drunk enough for it to not register until Jack was already gone. As the door closed behind Jack, he blinked, and wobbled again, and then decided that maybe he would get that shower to sober up a bit.

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[ddd; log; Jack]

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