Curiosity Killed the Cat

Summary: Just a quickie. Jack's curious about a few things. No pussy was hurt in the making of this fic. Happy Birthday Eos.

There was a knock at the door and Daniel answered it, wondering who would be calling on him late at night. As he could have predicted, if he'd only thought about it, it was Jack.

"Hey, Jack, are you okay?" he asked, ushering him in.

"Yeah, fine. Just finished with the training reports with Hammond. Do you mind me dropping over?" Jack looked at his watch as he spoke, noticing that Daniel was only half-dressed.

"No, not in the slightest, you should know that," Daniel reassured, shooing him into the living room. "Do you want a drink?"

"Yes, sure, Scotch if you've got it, please," Jack answered, a little distractedly.

Daniel poured them both a large one and took them over to Jack. He motioned for him to sit, curious as to why he seemed to be standing on ceremony.

"Jack? Is something wrong?"

"I was going to ask you that, in fact," came the careful reply. "You've seemed distracted, maybe frustrated at work. What's going on? Are you getting any hassle there?"

"No, not in the slightest." Daniel's reply was a touch defensive and it put Jack on alert.

"Daniel, talk to me, please," he pleaded.

"Trust me, Jack, you don't want to talk about it."

"Have I done something to upset you?"

"NO! Not you, Jack, it's not you at all." Daniel's reply was emphatic and Jack was relieved. But now he was more confused than before.

"Then what's up? You can tell me anything, you know that."

Daniel flopped back against the high arm of his sofa and knocked back a fair portion of his drink. He knew he could tell Jack anything. All of their past troubles were just that - in the past. And the reason for his frustration was something that Jack knew about anyway.

"Yeah, I know. Well, basically, it's like this." He stood up and wandered around the room, trying to put the words into his head. He turned and looked at Jack, ran his fingers through his hair, then said, "Quite simply, Jack, I want to get fucked. I'm sick to death of living like a monk. My frustration is purely down to the fact that I haven't had any sex in an age, and if I don't get off soon I'm going to spontaneously combust or something!" His hands were now waving about wildly and his drink was splashing about everywhere.

It didn't help that Jack fell about laughing.

"WHAT? Why are you laughing?" Daniel was cross with Jack, though a vague flicker of amusement ran through him as he saw his best friend creased up. It was a pleasing sight.

"I'm sorry, Daniel," Jack finally gasped, "I'm not laughing at your, er, predicament, but more the way you were telling me. You had to have seen it." He looked sufficiently contrite so Daniel backed down and grunted forgiveness, then he sat back on the sofa, poured himself some more whisky and flopped against the back of the couch again.

"Ugh," he moaned, "just ignore me, Jack."

"Can't do that, Daniel. I understand, by the way. It's been too damned long for me too."

The friends looked at each other with shared wry grins and touched their glasses together.

"A toast," Daniel sniggered. "To days past of humping, hammering and generally getting one's rocks off."

Jack lost it, but managed to repeat the toast in-between gasps of laughter.

"You wanna go clubbing?" Jack finally asked a bit more seriously. "Pick up a couple of..."

"Jack," Daniel put his hand up to stop him. "You know as well as I do that I'm not going to do that. It's okay for you to go out and do that, but not me."

"Why?"

"You'll pick up a woman - and if she turns out to be the wrong one, even if word gets back to the base that you got laid by the bitch from hell, you'll have the grunts looking up to you saying 'good on him'. But I can't do that."

Jack sighed. "I know. You haven't changed your mind about women then?"

"Nope. Shau're was the only woman I ever truly loved. And given that the only other sexual encounters I've had with women since her have been ones where I was out of my head, it's not really done much to change my mind. If I go out into town and find a guy, I may get lucky in both senses of the word, but it's a possibility that I'll get it wrong. If someone from the base sees me with another guy, word will get around and I'll really have to watch my back up there. It's bad enough that they think I'm gay. If they knew it for sure..." He let the sentence trail off, knowing that Jack would get his meaning. Jack had known about Daniel's sexuality for years, had in fact told him to keep it quiet there to keep himself safe. It wasn't that Jack had been bothered by it, not at all. He was just concerned for the safety of his best friend. There was something else though, and Jack thought that now may be the time to bring it up.

"Um, Daniel, can we talk?"

"Aren't we doing that now?"

"Yeah, well, I mean, can we talk about me for a minute? See, I, er, need to know some stuff and I need your advice."

He had Daniel's undivided attention.

"Jack, you know that you can say anything to me, ask anything. What do you want to know?"

"Okay. Well, I know I've never told you this, but, well..." Jack was stumbling over his words, trying to figure out how to phrase it. "Okay," he tried again, "I can do this. I'm not exactly straight."

"Not exactly straight? How do you mean?"

"I've always been sexually attracted to men as well as women."

"So, you're bi? So what?" Daniel shrugged.

Jack knew that Daniel wasn't dismissing his words as he said that, he was just saying that it was irrelevant news between them.

"I've had sex with guys," Jack admitted carefully, "but it wasn't good."

"Oh?" Now he really had Daniel's attention. "Why do you think that was?"

"I don't know. Look. When I was young I really, really was attracted to this guy. I think he noticed. Anyway, he said we should go out for a drink, we went, got a bit drunk, went back to his place and fucked. There was no... I don't know what there wasn't but it wasn't there!" It was Jack's turn to wave his hands in frustration and get annoyed when Daniel laughed softly.

"There wasn't any passion, was there?" Daniel asked kindly. His words brought Jack up short, but before his friend could interrupt, Daniel carried on. "You were hoping for something, maybe to be held? Maybe some kissing? But all that happened was you both got off, right?"

A mute nod came his way, Jack's eyes opening wider by the moment as he started to get what Daniel was saying.

"Was it the only time?"

"No. Other guys, other bases..."

"AH!" Jack jumped as Daniel announced that he had figured it all out.

"Daniel?"

"Bases, Jack? Were they all in the Air Force?"

"Well, one guy was Army, but they were all military."

"And not one of them wanted to even consider the possibility - or admit the likelihood - that he was either gay or bi." Daniel's face lit up with a grin. "It wasn't safe, was it? You had to just 'get off', maybe get fucked in return for fucking someone?"

"Ye-ah."

"No emotional displays, Jack. It wouldn't be safe. Buddy fucks, nothing more. If you'd wanted to hold the guy or kiss him, he might have told the others. Word would get around, wouldn't it? Jack O'Neill wants to be loved, he must be gay. Let's use him?"

Daniel ended that with a question, prompting Jack to reply with a nod.

"Yeah, I guess that's it. It was okay to have sex, but not a relationship. There were double standards at work. If any guy was thought to be gay, he'd have to either spend half his time with a dick up his ass or a cock in his mouth, just to keep the others from telling on him."

Daniel shook his head in almost disbelief - almost because he knew all too well that it was likely to happen. Small base, word gets around. No guy is gay if he likes fucking, is he? Just as long as he can stick his prick into something to get off, he's a man. Daniel wanted to re-educate the morons, point out that if they liked buddy fucks, chances were they were bi, if not gay.

Instead, he put his hand out to Jack and took his drink off him.

"C'mere," he whispered, "I think you need a hug. I do."

Jack fell into Daniel's arms and they held each other tightly.

"This is what was missing," Jack murmured.

"Love."

"Huh?"

"You want love, Jack. Nothing wrong with that. We all want that."

"Do you love me?" Jack's question wasn't totally unexpected, but it still surprised Daniel.

"Of course I do."

"Do you want to, er, I mean, with me?"

Daniel pulled back from the embrace. "Jack? Do you want to?"

"I'm not sure," Jack answered honestly. "Don't get me wrong. I'm attracted to you, Daniel, truly I am. And I do love you. But we're friends, best friends, and I don't want to fuck that up."

"Somehow, I don't think we could, you know," Daniel replied, his voice calm, but suddenly very authoritative.

"Danny, I already fucked up our friendship once..."

"But you mended it. We mended it. I am attracted to you..." he said, trailing his voice off in a coy manner.

"Why didn't you say something before?"

"Um, because I thought you were straight?" Daniel deliberately made that a question, partially to throw Jack's previous lack of confiding in him back at him, and partially to make Jack answer it.

"Ah. Okay. I'm er, curious though."

"What about this time?"

"We've done the 'I want to be hugged' thing," Jack said almost shyly, as if he was embarrassed to say it, "but I need to know. Can sex with guys be good? I mean..."

"Aht!" Daniel put up his hand, then he stood up, put his hand out and Jack took it. He felt the warmth of Daniel's hand in his and was surprised. It wasn't as if they hadn't held hands once in a while, but this was different, the circumstances were odd.

He stood up and found himself back in Daniel's arms. Then he felt Daniel's lips on his. Jack's mouth opened in surprise, then he smiled as he felt Daniel's tongue gently probing the entrance of his mouth.

Daniel felt the smile, let it prompt one of his own, then he deepened the kiss, letting Jack know just what he'd been missing all these years. They stood, locked together in an ever closer embrace, neither man wanting to let go of the other, not wanting to break their contact. Finally, the need to breathe outweighed their desire to stay and they pulled back.

"That's more like it," Jack announced.

"It is? Oh good," Daniel added at the eager nod from Jack. "You want more?" Another nod, this time with a manic grin. "Bed?" Daniel asked, his voice quieter now and more curious.

"Bed? Oh. Sure. If you want."

"Jack? We don't have to do a damned thing, you know. We can sit on the sofa, watch TV... neck like a pair of teenagers." Daniel's blue eyes brightened as he said that, letting Jack see the humour there.

"I thought you needed to get off."

"I'll manage." He sat back down and flicked on the TV, pulling Jack back to him as he did. Then he froze. The video he'd shoved into the player just as Jack had knocked was automatically playing and the scart lead to the back of the TV made it show on all channels. It was about twenty-five minutes into it now - into the action, so to speak.

"I thought you were going to bed when I arrived," Jack squeaked. "Um, what with the ratty old sweat pants and nothing else on. I didn't mean to interrupt."

Daniel actually blushed. An honest to goodness head to toe blush. It was bad enough that he was watching a porn video, but it was gay porn and his attire was his jacking off kit.

"Surprise!" he finally said with an embarrassed smile.

"Ach, come on, Danny, it's not as if we haven't watched a porno film together before."

"True, but that was 'Busty Babes battle Body Builders', neither of which really do anything for me."

Jack started to snigger, then the sniggers turned to laughs. Daniel joined in - it was either that or run off and join a monastery.

Before either of them realised it, they were half-watching the film, half-acting it out. With one eye on the TV, they kissed and touched each other, Daniel proving his skill at button-undoing-with-one-hand-while-your-victim-is-clueless.

They stopped the kissing session for a break.

"When did I lose my shirt, Daniel? And what happened to my belt? And my flies?"

Daniel shrugged innocently, poured another Scotch for them both, then settled back to watch 'the good bit' of the film. Peter the plumber, in to fix the en suite bathroom fittings for Larry the lawyer and Arthur the accountant, was currently having his plumbing inspected, inside and out. Larry was definitely an ass man, Daniel considered, seeing the enthusiasm with which his tongue was licking Peter out. And Arthur, well, that guy had some suction going. Must work in taxes, he thought.

"Do you like that?" Jack asked, his voice a little higher than normal, waving his hand at the screen.

"Like what?"

"What that guy's doing to the other one's ass."

"Rimming? Sure."

"You do it?"

"I can do it..." Daniel drawled, "but I've really got to know the guy. However, I love having it done."

"Why?"

"I'll show you later, it's easier than explaining it," Daniel sniggered into his drink. Why couldn't Jack be this curious at work?

"What about blow jobs?"

"What about them?"

"Do you like them?"

"Duh?"

"I meant, do you like to give them? Every guy likes getting them." Jack looked exasperated as he replied, getting another snort from Daniel.

Instead of answering directly, Daniel put down his drink, removed Jack's, then drew him into a kiss. By the time they'd finished that one, the master of redirection had all but removed Jack's pants and boxers without him knowing it. He started to trail his mouth down Jack's chest, stopping to take interest in Jack's nipples (which had him howling as he'd never had anyone touch them like that before), then he headed further south and more or less swallowed Jack whole.

By the time Jack's synapses had rewired themselves to let Jack in on what was going on, Daniel had really got going. Driven by the moans, groans, gasps, grunts and cries of 'ohmyfuckinggoddanielwhatareyou doing?', he sucked with gay abandon. Quite literally.

On screen, Peter the plumber had Larry the lawyer up his ass and his own dick inside Arthur the accountant. The train merrily chugged away on the large, extremely tasteless heart shaped bed with red satin sheets. Back in reality, the train was left standing at the station as Jack came like a rocket.

"Fuck." It was the only thing he could gasp out when a distinctly smug looking Daniel finally raised himself back upright and ready to be kissed again.

"Now? If you want. We don't have to though."

Jack did a double take, looked annoyed for a moment, then he saw the mischief in Daniel's eyes and started laughing. He pulled him close and hugged him hard.

"Whatever you want, Danny," he whispered, trailing kisses down the side of Daniel's face. "I've got a lot to learn, and I think that from now on, I want private tutoring. One on one. Will you teach me?"

Daniel pulled back, beamed at his best friend, his lover, then said, "I'll teach you anything you want to know, Jack. You only have to ask."