Love Bites

Jae: Eleven

Jae nodded, all Jack's words lining up with everything he'd been thinking, and he just picked up where Jack left off.

"What if he'd been trying to mate? A big male, unable to go to better populated breeding grounds, it's not impossible that that bite was dominant in nature. What if...he succeeded?"

Excitement was rolling in Jae, the mere idea that female was carrying a pup from a prehistoric animal. He let that thought sink in, then turned to stand in front of Jack.

"We'll take the cameras. We'll go to the beach. Set up camp, spelunk a bit and see what we're in for. If I'm right...," Jae went back to the maps, pointing at the rock formation, "we've got ways to dive once we find a pool. Extra tanks. We'll take GoPros, rigs with cameras won't fit."

He began to rattle off all the things they'd need, and it was a bit before he looked down at his leg and saw what Jack saw: a soggy bandage and what looked like, based on the blood, some ripped stitches. John was going to be pissed. Jae would just have to wrap it tighter under his wetsuit because no way was anyone going in that cave but him...and Jack.

The next few hours were spent going over data, plans, making lists, and Jae and Jack fell into their usual routine, at one point finishing each other's sentences. The man was brilliant and he complimented Jae so well. Where Jae was brusque with the camera crew, who was pissed about not being able to send a diver, though Jae knew why Jack vehemently vetoed Finn, Jack smoothed it over explaining the shots they would get, the audio, and the nightly diaries from both he and Jae. He also pointed out it would only be two days. Out of one hundred. They gathered both teams, debriefed, assigned jobs for when they were off the boat, again Jack was the diplomat and Jae the tyrant, but it didn't matter so much when they were working together.

Jae put Michele in charge, her obvious glee made him pity his team, but she'd keep them all in line and get exactly what needed to be done done. And well. Lunch had passed without him noticing it, but when Jae's stomach began to loudly complain, he looked up at the time. How was it already close to seven at night?

Jae sighed, reaching up to rub the back of his sore neck, always one to carry tension there when he became hyper focused.

Michele walked in with two styrofoam boxes, a bag with what looked like two drinks, and her pj's on.

"You both make me sick. Quick making the rest of the crew look like slackers." She set the food on the table, then hopped up on it herself. "Except me, with a decent bedtime and an early start tomorrow. Because that's what winners do."

Jae laughed, walking over and kissing her forehead. She patted the seat in front of her, but Jae groaned. As much as he wanted this tension gone, Michele was a beast, and it always hurt before it felt better.

"Don't be a pussy. Sit down. You know you'll get a migraine if you don't. Then you'll whine about being stuck here."

He knew it was true, so Jae sat, trying to relax to let Michele work her magic.

"So we'll pack g...," Jae gritted his teeth as her thumbs found the sore muscles, and he whimpered a bit and forgot how to breathe a moment before the pain became manageable. "gear tomorrow, leave around noonish, then set up camp and dive a full day after that. Maybe two, depending on whaaa...owfuckme...oh god..."

Michele just grinned and looked back at Jack, continuing to knead those tight muscles. "I'm sure this is nothing you haven't heard. He loves it, really. Of course you know that too. Our Jae-jae is a little masochist. He'll get super embarrassed when I tell you that the first..."

"No! Michele, juuuuu...," and the rest came out of Jae in a hard groan.

"The first time I used trigger point therapy on Jae, he popped a boner. It was so cute. His little cheeks went red and he stuttered an apology like he had something to be sorry for."

Michele shrugged, pushing on another muscle that made Jae tense up. "He's quite nice, for a male with Asian heritage."

Jae didn't really care anymore what was said, his whole body slowly going slack, malleable as Michele began to smooth the heels of her palms over Jae's muscles. It was heaven and hell, the perfect inbetween, and he felt the pressure behind his eyes slowly start to ebb.

Jae remembered times with Jack, his method more sensual than sadistic, and Jae wouldn't tell Michele that there were just times Jack fucked the tension from his body till he couldn't move or speak, just feel and give over to the talents he possessed. Jae had always been high strung, even as a child, and before he learned how to deal with his body, migraine medication was his lifeline. His mother told him it was because he used his brain too much. Jae knew better, but it made sense to his mother, so he went with it.

Once the feeling came back in Jae's fingertips, he opened his food and picked up his chopsticks, rubbing them together, as was his ritual.

"Like I was saying before I was incapacitated, depending on what we find, we might dive a second day. I'd like to get as much data as possible. If we find what I hope we will, there might be other overlooked abyss-type dwellings all over these densely populated shark migration sites that we need to check. It would make sense, and it's odd no one's picked up on it till now, but we'll be the first to document it, I'm sure of it."

Jae pushed the food toward Jack, wondering if he ate this kind of food after Jae was gone. Jack's favorite were the dumplings, kimchi an acquired taste, but he watched him carefully and ate himself, not overly hungry even though he should be.

It was as if Jae finally realized he was about to spend three days alone with Jack. He got quiet, drank his soda, and let the tired catch up with him.