Welcome to Gaia! ::

If there was one thing on this Earth that Jack enjoyed more than women, it was helping them pick out clothes. There were a lot of men, he knew, that detested shopping. BJ and Ducky were prime examples. But, as far as Jack was concerned, they were just thinking about it the wrong way.

There was so much about shopping with a lady, when they weren't your mother or your sister, to look forward to.

Change rooms were one of them.

And, while Jack suspected he'd end up toting all of Skye's bags around for much of the day, he also knew that she'd probably reward him for being such a good sport. Well. He hoped that she would, and deserved a gold star for trying. At least.

"Need any help with that zipper?" Jack called to Skye from the opposite side of the curtain. He sat on a sofa at the back of the store, waiting expectantly for his Captain to step out and show him her dress. "I've heard they can be tricky buggers."

Jack sat, slack-jawed and blinking, moments after Skye agreed to let him help with her dress. He had asked to join her, but not really expected her to concede, and could do little more than look like someone had hit him up the side of his head with a club.

When he came back to himself at last Jack's handsome face split into a self-satisfied grin. He stood casually, straightened the buttons of his shirt, and swept the curtain aside.

The change room was spacious. There was enough room for the pair of them to stand comfortably side by side, and even a little bench to sit on. But Jack had a thing for personal space. He liked invading it.

He stepped close to Skye. Fingers teased lightly over skin, and then tugged that pesky zipper the rest of the way up.

"This dress suits you," he whispered, and pressed a tender kiss to Skye's cheek. "You look beautiful."

She was a strong and confident woman, his Captain, and Jack adored her for it.

"All of these?" Jack tested the fabric of each of the dresses with his fingertips, and examined them with a critical eye. The smirk on his face was not faint. He was looking forward, very much, to seeing Skye in each of them.

Those big, brown eyes of his radiated with a certain sort of warmth, and shone on Skye's twirling figure in the mirror. She seemed to be enjoying herself, and that meant a great deal to Jack, who plucked the most revealing dress from the hook and held it curiously under his chin. It was black, and looked like something a protective father would not like to see his daughter wear.

"I like this one," Jack's lips twitched. He held it out to Skye, waited patiently for her to take it, and started looking through the others that she had selected.

"This shade of blue will look lovely with your hair," he twittered softly, as though he knew everything about lady's fashion. Maybe he did. "And I think a pair of ivory heals would compliment this green."

When it came to taste, Jack was pretty sure he had the best in everything.

Music and movies. Shoes and dresses.

Friends and associates. Women and...

Jack's soft smile turned mischievous when Skye requested help removing her clothing. He remained standing near the other dresses for a heartbeat, warm gaze flickering to the gentle curve of her spine.

…especially women.

"I'd love to," he murmured, and stepped closer to Skye in the spacious dressing room. Their eyes locked in the mirror, and his fingers were gentle where they tugged that zipper down.

It was the only noise in the room, until Jack remember to breathe. He coughed softly, and suddenly wished they were somewhere more private.

He pressed a teasing kiss to the back of his Captain's neck, smoothed his palms tenderly along her arms, and then whispered;

"Would you like me to go find you some shoes to go with that dress?"

Skye never failed to surprise him.

He inhaled softly when she turned in his arms, and searched her eyes with his. She was such a bold creature. Jack liked, very much, that he was allowed to kiss her pretty much whenever he wanted. But his affection for her ran deeper than that.

She was his Captain. His leader-- the woman who'd helped him find a sort of niche within the Negaverse's dark embrace.

Proustite felt indebted to her.

He returned her kiss with an amused chuckled, and then let her slip from his arms.

"I'll be right back," he promised. The curtain closed behind Jack with a soft woosh, and the sounds of his footsteps echoed off the walls of the dressing room.

It didn't take Jack long at all to find the right pair of shoes, because he'd known exactly where to look. He returned to Skye within moments. There was a shameless smirk on his face. From his fingers there dangled two very strappy, very black, very high heels.

"I think I've brought the right size."

Jack suspected that there had never been a more difficult question posed in the history of the universe. There were, he knew, a number of dresses that would look perfectly lovely with the heels he'd picked out.

But then she would have been wearing a dress.

He coughed, cast an overt glance over his shoulder to make sure the curtain was tightly closed, and then invaded Skye's personal bubble once more. One of his hands played along her waist, touch light as a feather, and guided her back up against the mirror.

"I think," he whispered, "that I would like to take a break from shopping."

Lips hovered over lips. Jack breathed softly, pressed their foreheads together, and caressed Skye's cheek with his thumb. A tender light shone in his eyes.