Jack dresses Jesse in one of Gabe’s shirts, a long sleeved button up in a deep burgundy that’s more than big enough to work as a night shift for the boy. He’s trying to detangle and maybe trim Jesse’s mess of hair when Gabe returns. He approves of the color on Jesse, and then shows the meager options in bolts of cloth he picked up in the general store.
Jesse is good enough to stay still for Jack and is equally as good for Gabe when he takes a measuring tape from his travel sewing kit and sizes up the boy. Gabe gets to work on a rough cut and pins together shapes for a shirt, a pair of slacks, and a pair of underpants. He sits by an open window, where the afternoon light is best, and starts stitching.
As soon as Jack claims he’s done all he can for the boy’s hair to make him presentable, Jesse clambers up onto the back of Gabe’s chair to sit in the sun with him and watch his hands.
He’s a ball of curiosity, now that he seems to have found some comfort with Jack and Gabe, and has taken to asking as many questions as he can about everything.
“Where we goin, again?”
“To Port Gibraltar.”
“How we gettin there?”
“By train.”
“I like trains. How long’s it gonna take?”
“About three days.”
“Is Port Gribbler a big place?”
“Port Gibraltar is a Capital city. It’s a very big city.”
“With lotsa peoples?”
“Thousands of people.”
“You stitch all yer clothes, too?”
“I have a machine at home that makes it faster, but yes, I do sew Jack’s and my own clothes.”
Jack tries to read, but he finds the sight of the small boy practically curled around Gabe’s head as he sits on the back of the comfy chair amusing. Jesse has a difficult time sitting still, being a growing boy full of energy, but Gabe is as patient with him as he is with his sewing.
As the afternoon progresses, so does the sun across the sky, shifting the angle of its light through the window. Jack watches curiously as Jesse abandons his perch on the back of the chair to follow it. First, moving to sit on the armrest beside Gabe, then to the ottoman Gabe rests his feet on, then to patch of evening sunshine at Jack’s feet.
Jack doesn’t think the room to be that chilled, but the boy is used to lounging in the warmth of the sun, if their couple of visits to the barn were anything to go by. Considering how eagerly he got into the hot bath, the child probably absorbs heat. If that is the case, he isn’t a Catalyst class like Gabe, who needed a reagent. Perhaps he is a Dynamo class Mage, needing to charge his conjuration like a battery? A visit to the Conservatory will clear things up, Jack knows.
They have their dinner delivered to their room from the nearby tavern. It’s a hearty stew with crusty bread, something that warms from the inside out. Jesse picks around all the vegetables to eat the meat and sops up the broth. It takes come cajoling before Gabe is able to get Jesse to eat the potatoes and carrots, but the boy still won’t eat the peas or onion. The adults count it as a win and make sure Jesse gets his fill of bread.
By bedtime, Gabe has underpants and pants made for Jesse, but is still working on his shirt. A trundle pulls out from under the foot of the bed, complete with mattress and bedding, to give Jesse his own place to sleep. Yawning and rubbing his eyes, Jesse stubbornly claims he isn’t tired.
“We are,” Jack says, folding and putting away his and Gabe’s clothes from the day. “It’s been a long day for us. We’ll sleep, but maybe you’ll like to enjoy your warm blankets?” It’s enough to convince Jesse to be tucked in for the night.
Gabe and Jack climb into the bed, and before Gabe can draw the lights out from the lamps, Jack cups his face and gives him a goodnight kiss. It’s tender and slow, easily comminucating all his feelings for his friend and partner, leaving Gabe practically melting and Jack feeling breathless.
They aren’t used to the affronted squawk and little eyes peering at them from the foot of the bed. “Yuck, you share cooties?!”
“There’s nothing wrong with sharing cooties,” Gabe says defiantly. “I love Jack’s cooties.”
“I love Gabe’s cooties, too,” Jack says, his arm curling possessively around Gabe. “Just wait until you find someone you’ll want to share your cooties with.”
They could barely see his face, but by the scrunch of his eyes, they can tell he’s making a childishly disgusted face. “I don’t have cooties!”
Gabe curls into Jack’s side, playfully pressing chaste kisses into whatever bare skin he can reach. Jack smiles and kisses Gabe’s forehead. “You will, one day,” Jack says. “You will and won’t even remember why you thought it was so gross.”
Jesse pops up enough over the foot of the bed to give them a raspberry before ducking back down and settling in bed. Gabe takes it as a sign to put the lights out, drawing the fire from the wicks without even leaving the bed. It’s not long after that they can hear Jesse’s soft breaths deepen in sleep.
Jack is used to the heat Gabe puts off in his sleep, loves wrapping him up in his arms on winter nights, but in warmer nights, even Jack overheats. It’s not unusual for him to throw the covers off and roll away, only to wake up chilled and roll back into Gabe’s side
As he rolls back over that night, there’s a warm little lump between him and Gabe.
“We have a little heat parasite,” Gabe chuckles when he realizes Jack is awake.
“So, you’ve noticed it, too. Should we move him back to his bed?” Jack asks, sitting up.
Gabe sighs. “I’ve already tried. He wormed his way back in as soon as I dozed off.”
“Well...” Jack pulls the blankets up and tucks them around Jesse, “lets try not to squish him.”
Leaning over Jesse, Gabe gives Jack a sloppy, misaimed kiss in the dark, getting him on the chin. They settle back down to sleep, with Jesse cradled between them.
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