"Game over?" Jack turned over drowsily as he felt Daniel slip into bed behind him. Daniel just made a noncommittal mumble in response. "So what was the score?"
"I have no idea," Daniel admitted as he settled on his side, looking at Jack.
"Worthless," Jack commented.
"If you wanted to know the score you should've stayed up and watched the game yourself," Daniel responded tolerantly.
"I'm getting old," Jack grumbled. "I can't handle late nights anymore."
"You're not that old. You still have all your own teeth," Daniel gibed, earning him a not so gentle jab in the shoulder. "Speaking of which...what do you want to do for your birthday tomorrow?"
"Ignore it," Jack said firmly. "Crawl into a bottle of JackDaniel's and not come out until it's over," Jack continued in the face of Daniel's frown. "Or, better yet, crawl into Daniel and not come out until it's over."
"Fun as that sounds...," Daniel said, giving Jack a firm jab in the shoulder in payback. "I'm serious. What do you want for your birthday?"
"To be 40 again."
"40?" Daniel asked with all the bewilderment of someone who hadn't yet cracked the fourth decade.
"Yep. Old enough to know better but still young enough to be willing to take the chance," Jack explained.
"You're pretty good at taking chances now," Daniel pointed out dryly.
"Well, yeah...but the body can't take the beating like it used to," Jack said, popping his knee for emphasis. "Another 365 days of cartilage lost," he added sourly. "365 days more of gray hair."
"Another 365 days of being alive," Daniel countered.
"Sometimes that's not such a good thing."
"Jack!" Daniel admonished sharply.
"Reading glasses," Jack stated bluntly.
"That's hardly the end of the world," Daniel rebuked. As someone who had worn glasses most of his life, Daniel couldn't see what the big trauma was. And Daniel thought Jack's pewter toned frames were sexy.
"Hey--'end of the world' I can do something about," Jack argued. "I can fight it. Maybe even win. But age...." Jack frowned thoughtfully. "Maybe we could get that time loop thing going again?"
"And relive the same day over and over?"
"If it's a day I spend pinning you to the mattress...," Jack hinted.
"I'm not your boy-toy," Daniel said haughtily.
"More's the pity," Jack agreed. "Boy-toys don't talk nearly so much." Daniel rolled over, putting his back to Jack in a pointed response. Jack, as usual, ignored the message and spooned up to Daniel. The impact of Daniel's disdainful sniff was somewhat lessened by the fact that he snuggled right back in. "So...what am I getting for my birthday present?"
"I thought you said you wanted to ignore your birthday," Daniel pointed out.
"Well, not the present part, obviously," Jack said in a 'duh' tone of voice.
"Since you only want me for my body should I just tie a big bow on my dick and sing happy birthday?"
"You can skip the singing part if you want," Jack offered.
"So you do only want me for my body?" Daniel said.
"It's younger than mine," Jack said with a shrug.
"And when it's as old as yours?" Daniel questioned.
"It'll never be as old as mine. You'll always be ten years younger."
"But when it gets older and starts to creak and sag...?"
"I'll still want your body," Jack admitted. Daniel turned his head back to glare meaningfully at Jack. "Is this your not so subtle way of telling me you love me despite the fact that I'm getting older?"
"It's my not so subtle way of telling you I love you despite the fact that you're a cranky, cantankerous old lech."
"Love you, too," Jack said with a grin.
"Good. Now shut the fuck up and go to sleep."
"Daniel," Jack said after a short silence.
"What?"
"A blue bow would be nice."