Challenge 863 - Uneasy friendship
May. 4th, 2025 03:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
m_findlowTitle: Uneasy friendship
Character: Jack, Gwen, Rex Matheson
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 200 words
Length: 200 words
Content notes: None
Author notes: Written for Challenge 863 - Peculiar at ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
torchwood100
torchwood100Summary: Rex is never going to get used to Jack's unique personality. A double drabble.
‘Go! Shoo,’ Rex said, practically shoving Jack out the door of the house. ‘Go out there and amuse yourself with one of those topless skater boys and leave the adults to do some real work.’ He slammed the door before Jack could protest his eviction.
Rex heaved a sigh, pulling out a bottle of painkillers and dry-swallowing two of them. ‘How the hell do you put up with it?’ he asked, directing his question at Gwen who was engrossed in whatever she was researching on her laptop.
Her eyes never left the screen. ‘Put up with what?’ she replied in a disinterested tone.
‘Him. World War Two. He’s…’
‘Peculiar?’ Gwen offered.
Rex frowned at her. ‘Not the word I was going to use.’
Gwen stopped typing and turned to face him, hands tucked underneath her thighs. ‘He’s just… Jack. He’s lived more lifetimes than any of us ever will and…’ She let out a long breath. ‘He’s not good at dealing with the people he’s lost. He’s lost so many. All the smiles and the innuendo just papers over the cracks.’
‘So, what you’re saying is we just have to put up with it?’
‘Yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying.’
‘Go! Shoo,’ Rex said, practically shoving Jack out the door of the house. ‘Go out there and amuse yourself with one of those topless skater boys and leave the adults to do some real work.’ He slammed the door before Jack could protest his eviction.
Rex heaved a sigh, pulling out a bottle of painkillers and dry-swallowing two of them. ‘How the hell do you put up with it?’ he asked, directing his question at Gwen who was engrossed in whatever she was researching on her laptop.
Her eyes never left the screen. ‘Put up with what?’ she replied in a disinterested tone.
‘Him. World War Two. He’s…’
‘Peculiar?’ Gwen offered.
Rex frowned at her. ‘Not the word I was going to use.’
Gwen stopped typing and turned to face him, hands tucked underneath her thighs. ‘He’s just… Jack. He’s lived more lifetimes than any of us ever will and…’ She let out a long breath. ‘He’s not good at dealing with the people he’s lost. He’s lost so many. All the smiles and the innuendo just papers over the cracks.’
‘So, what you’re saying is we just have to put up with it?’
‘Yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying.’
