(one shot) and they were roommates

there was a time skip here im pretty sure

(Note: I'm very sorry to anyone who got a notification for this and got excited. It's still not any longer, just shuffled around to make more sense.)

"No! No, no, not the water. Please, I promise, I'll be good-"

"Jack, hey, buddy." Tam's head spun with panicky concern. It'd been a week since his friend was rescued, but he still wasn't used to this. "You don't have to, c'mon."

He pulled Jack out of the bathroom and into the hall, holding his hand. He felt Jack grab hold of his shirt, twisting the fabric in his hands. Tam turned and wrapped his arms around him, stinky as he was.

"You don't have to, we'll figure something out."

"I don't want the water."

"Yeah, I know, buddy. It's okay."

Tam guided him gently back into the spare guest room in his apartment. It was mostly just a bed and a desk, but at least it was clean after the mess from Jack's rescue.

Jack sat down on the bed, spacing out. Any minute now he'd start spewing apologies, but Tam was starting to get fed up with those. He understood why, now, but he also understood that it needed to quit or else he'd have to scold the self-worth back into him. 
 
"You're still stinky," Tam said, before Jack could speak. He barely nodded and just kept staring. 

Tam sighed. He saw Jack tense up, barely noticeably. But he left to grab a bucket and washcloth anyway, knowing it would take time for him to be comfortable with anything other than perfect positive affection.

He ran the warm water, tapping his foot and hoping Jack was behaving. Sticking his hand in to check it was comfortably warm, he looked around for other things he might need. 

When he returned, he had a towel, a comb, a washcloth, the bucket and a bottle of 3-in-1, just to see what would work and what wouldn't. Jack looked up at him.

"I'm not in trouble, am I?"

"No," Tam said. They'd had this conversation several times before, but he was willing to repeat it til it stuck.

"And you won't hurt me?"

"Never." Jack swallowed and looked away, but his body seemed to unwind the tiniest bit.

Tam got to work with his teeth grit and his washcloth warm. At least Jack was learning.