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Life had gone by in a blur for Jack Morrison. He grew up in Indiana doing odd jobs to keep some pocket money and thought that that would be that, that he’d have a slow life on his parents land until they passed, raise a family of his own there and so on. And then the Omnic Crisis rose, and suddenly Jack wasn’t leading the slow life at home, but instead he was rushing into the military to keep his country safe, to keep innocent people alive.
Basic at the time had seemed to take forever, but the more into it he got, the faster it seemed to go until he was being asked to join something called ‘S.E.P.’ He’d heard of it fleetingly throughout his time in the U.S military, but nothing more than rumors and opinions. When he accepted the offer, time went infinitely faster.
He found himself working five times as hard as he had been in the army, training two time a day every day, getting injections so often his arms never even registered the pain of the needles anymore, coming up with so many strategies to combat the Omnics that he could hardly look at a map without immediately feeling tired.
But then he met a man named Gabriel Reyes one fateful afternoon after climbing the ranks and making it to his level in the S.E.P. He had been all dark skin and darker eyes, eyes that stared into his own baby blue ones until time stood still for the first time in his life. This man made him stop, made his thoughts grow sluggish and lazy, and he honestly couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this calm.
Being roommates with Gabriel was probably the best and worst situation in the entirety of Jack’s life. He was organized where Jack wasn’t, cold and calculating where Jack was kind and perhaps a little bit hasty, but quite possibly the most patient person he’d ever met. Gabriel helped him through the fevers and the mood swings that came with his new doses in his injections, brought him pain killers, water, and crackers when the nausea rolled around like it always did. He would whisper things to him to calm him, hold him against his strong, warm chest when it was all over and sing him lullabies on the couch, often times in Spanish. He made him feel human, something he’d come to yearn for after so long in that hell of a program.
And then came the kiss.
One morning, Jack woke up like he always did, and brought back breakfast for him and Gabriel like he always did even if the man was away on a mission like he had been for the last week. It was a habit now, and Jack couldn’t break it even if it meant wasting an extra plate and a cup of coffee. Just as he’d set the extra plate down, Gabriel came bursting into the room, looking winded and flushed as he rushed into his bunk room. Why flushed? It wasn’t cold, not yet, and Gabe hadn’t been stationed anywhere cold, either. So then, why?
“Jack,” he called from his room, that familiar voice washing over the blonde in a way he hadn’t realized he’d missed until he had it back. “Jack, I’m gonna do something crazy, please don’t hate me for it.”
Well, if that wasn’t something to set worry loose in his mind, Jack didn’t know what was. Gabriel Reyes never said “please” for anything, and to hear such emphasis put on it honestly scared Jack a little. What was he going to do? What was wrong?
“Sit, uh, sit on the couch,” he instructed nervously, avoiding eye contact. Was Gabriel okay?
“Gabe, are you going to be alright?” Inquired Jack, doing as he was told nonetheless. He couldn’t stop looking worried if he tried.
“I’m gonna be fine, I’m fine, ah, shit, just–” he broke off and covered his face with his hands, still gloved. The man hadn’t even had time to change out of his tactical clothes yet. Jack suddenly felt very under dressed in only his boxers. “Fuck this is harder than I thought,” Gabe groaned, sitting surprisingly close to Jack with a shaky sigh.
“Gabe?”
“Shut up!” He groaned, hiding behind his hands further. Were his ears blushing? What on Earth was going on. “Just… fuck, just give me a second.”
It seemed like time had sped up for Gabriel, and it seemed like that speed up had made him wage war with himself.
“You know I’m not the best with words, Jackie,” he whispered, face still hidden by his gloved palms. “So I’m not gonna use words,” he announced, letting his hands fall. He turned toward Jack with unreadable eyes and lightly blushing cheeks, a determined set to his jaw.
To anyone who didn’t know him as well as Jack did, he might have looked about ready to kill. But Jack knew better; he was nervous, uncertain, scared.
“Gabe, wha–” Jack didn’t get to finish his question, because suddenly there were leather-clad fingers holding his cheeks and full, shaking lips pressed against his. They were warm and dry and there, and the whole world froze.
Time stilled, the Earth stopped rotating, the stars above fell down from the heavens as their motions became suspended, and the universe itself ceased all action.
Gabriel was kissing him. Gabriel was kissing him. Gabriel was kissing him.
Just when the realization of it all started to hit Jack, Gabe was already pulling away, scared, anxious, and ready to run and request for a room transfer. High-strung and terrified. Time had most definitely sped of up for Gabriel.
Before Reyes could get away though, Jack reached up and turned his face back toward his own, and they stared at each other until time was going at the same lazy pace for both of them. Things happened slowly then, as if they were moving through cold molasses.
Their lips met again, slow and steady, savoring it. Gabriel pressed Jack back into the couch gently, until Jack was laying down on it and Gabriel was leaning over him. Their eyes were wide and frantic, and if they both looked hard enough, they could see the galaxies slowing in their irises. Lips met again, moving sluggishly together, feeling everything there was to feel.
The surroundings fell away. There was no S.E.P., no Omnic Crisis, no cold bunk room or old breakfast or stiff couch. There was only Jack Morrison and Gabriel Reyes, and they suddenly had what felt like an eternity to figure out what being Jack Morrison and Gabriel Reyes meant. They parted and breathed each other’s air, blinking slowly to see one another longer before their eyes were opening and watching all over again.
Jack’s lips tingled, warm and dry. Gabriel smiled brokenly, but Jack soothed it by holding him close to his chest and letting the older man hear the slow, thunderous beat of his heart. They melted together, into the couch, into the air and into each other.
This was one of their only free days each month, and they both had a feeling they knew how they were going to spend it.
They were going to take it slow.