Jack shifted into a sitting position, one knee up with his other foot tucked under him, to better accommodate Lucky planting himself between him and Gabe. That dog sure knew how to pick his moments. He always picked up on when someone needed something outside of themselves, whether it was a mental or physical ailment that was turning them inward. If Jack had been a little more cynical, he would’ve suspected Lucky did it for the extra attention, but no. He did it to make people feel better.
Lucky wasn’t just a good dog, he was the best dog, and Jack never would’ve made it through this latest extended medical recovery period without him.
Jack was just starting to let go of Lucky so Gabe could hold onto him and focus on something other than whatever was wrong with him when he felt Gabe’s fingers brush against his. Probably an accident, the guy barely was barely keeping himself together, even Jack could see that, but still… As he wrapped one arm around his knee and rested the other in his lap, Jack couldn’t help but glance at Gabe with a slightly more discerning eye.
Sometimes you could tell who people were into just by looking, but Gabe wasn’t one of them. Or at least, he wasn't right now, in the middle of a medical crisis. Go figure. Jack tried thinking back over all the Camelot gossip he’d heard over the years – it was particularly rampant in Combat, all the heightened emotions from the fighting made for a particularly high hook-up rate – but couldn’t remember hearing any name, male or female, tied to Gabe’s. Maybe Matt’s drama overshadowed Gabe’s, whatever it was, but Jack doubted it. Compared to Matt, Gabe was clearly the kind of guy who kept his shit under wraps. Jack couldn’t do much more than wonder how much he was keeping to himself… and test the waters a little, just to see what might come up.
“He came to me like that, actually,” Jack answered with a half-shrug. “And by that I mean, he’s Clint’s dog and being pushed into traffic by a tracksuit dracula only happened in the comics, which shouldn’t make any sense but does, somehow, because this whole reincarnate thing is still really fucking weird no matter how long you’ve been living it.”
Jack laughed and nudged Gabe’s knee with his elbow. “But I guess I don’t need to tell you that, since you’re in the thick of it. And Silva’s kind of the textbook example of how... I don't know, blended? Things can get. Guess I'm just lucky that getting saddled with an arrow guy also got me saddled with Lucky.”