writing only leads to more writing

Untitled Klaine Ficlet

electrictoes — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 14:12:49 GMT

Title: Untitled
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Kurt/Blaine
Rating: PG
Spoilers: No spoilers in fic, AU gifset uses gifs from 4x01
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Property of RIB and lots of American people with more money than me.
Summary: The gifset that inspired this was ‘Blaine tries to pick up the gorgeous new transfer student.’ So, that.
Note(s): So, I was just messing around on tumblr last night, looking at a bunch of Glee AUs and I decided to write a ficlet to go with one of them, so this is inspired/based on this au by Sara Rye over on tumblr. And thank you to glitterandpaw for betaing my genius idea of 'I haven't written anything in months, here have Glee fic.

Mike clapped Blaine on the shoulders. “You can do this.”

“Right,” Blaine said, steeling himself. He made his way slowly across the courtyard, his eyes trained on the beautiful boy sat nursing a coffee on one of the battered blue lunch tables.

Blaine reached the boy, took a deep breath, and dropped into the seat opposite him, with a bright grin ready on his face. “Hello!”

The boy arched an eyebrow. “Hello?” he said. It was more of a question than a greeting.

Blaine beamed, hoping his smile would hide his nerves. “So, congratulations!”

The guy was looking at him curiously, but he nodded his head for Blaine to continue.

“You’ve just been voted the most beautiful guy in this school. And the grand prize is… a date with me!”

The boy looked down briefly, shaking his head. He smiled at Blaine, his cheeks pink with embarrassment. Blaine ducked his head, twisting his fingers together as he waited for a response. Thirty seconds or so passed without a response and Blaine swallowed hard before speaking again. “Sorry, that was super cheesy.”

“It was endearing,” the boy said, and Blaine’s could feel butterflies stirring his stomach just at the sound of his voice.

“So, I’m Blaine,” he said, holding out his hand. “And you’re really cute.”

“Kurt,” the boy smiled and shook Blaine’s hand. “Likewise.”

“Nice to meet you, Kurt,” he said.

“Were you serious?” Kurt asked. “About the date? Or did someone set you up to this? Because if it was my stepbrother I swear-”

“No! I mean, yes, I mean… I’d love to go on a date with you. If you wanted?”

Kurt’s smile was suddenly bright, and it warmed Blaine’s heart.

“I’d love to, but first, you’ve got to tell me where you came up with that crazy pick up line?”

“Mike.” Blaine said, turning his head and indicating where Mike, Sam and Puck were sitting on the steps. Kurt’s smile fell.

“Oh.”

“Oh?”

“This is a set up, isn’t it?”

“No?”

Kurt frowned, and gestured over to where the guys were sitting. “You seriously want me to believe a bunch of jocks gave a guy a line to pick up another guy with?”

“Um, yeah? I mean, that happened. They’re my friends. We’re all in glee, and I was- I needed- I mean, you’re really, really beautiful. Um, hot- I mean- this is coming out wrong. See, now you get why I needed the line.”

“I’m not really sure what’s going on.”

“Well, I saw you, in the hallway on Monday. Your locker’s right by mine, you were with this super tall guy? Anyway, I just… it was like, I stopped, right there in the hall and Sam banged into me, because I stopped, and the guys saw you and well, they figured me out, but I couldn’t talk to you. So Mike said to put on an act, feed you a line to break the ice. So I did and now you think I’m a dick so I’m going to go and you never have to see me again .” He made to rise from his seat, but Kurt’s hand flew across the table, gripping at his wrist.

“Hey,” Kurt smiled. “You’ve just been voted the most adorable boy in this school. I’ve got a pretty good idea for a prize.”

Fic: This, Again

electrictoes — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 17:12:58 GMT

Title: This, Again.
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Jack/Ianto
Rating: PG
Spoilers: None.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Property of the BBC, etc. etc. ad nauseum. Except y'know, I pay my licence fee.
Summary: Ianto hates Jack dying when they're alone. There's just silence, just time to think.
Note(s): Written for jack_ianto_las Challenge 3: Terrible Gift.
Idek. I don't think I like it, but it's fic.

Jack’s body shifts in Ianto’s arms, the first sign that he is beginning to recover. Ianto likes to think of it as recovering and not coming back to life. It makes it easier to deal with.

He hates Jack dying when they’re alone. He doesn’t like Jack dying any time, but it’s always worse when it’s just the two of them. No one screaming or panicking or shouting about ambulances. No Gwen leaning against his shoulder and watching Jack with him while they figure out how to save the world. When they’re alone there’s just silence, just time to think.

Immortality is Jack’s curse. It’s his gift too, but it’s the kind of gift that makes every day that little bit harder to drag yourself through. Jack has lived more lives than any man ought to, he’s seen the most wonderful things, but also the cruellest. He has loved, and has been loved – is loved – but he has seen that love taken away so many times that the pain swims in his eyes.

As Jack breathes back into life Ianto smiles. Immortality is Jack’s gift, and it is a gift for Ianto, to have someone who is a constant, who will never die and leave him mourning. It is cruel gift, it tortures both Jack and Ianto, their life spans will never match up, Ianto will have to watch Jack die a thousand times or more. Jack will have to watch Ianto die. Once.

For now they celebrate, a brief moment of relief that Jack is once again revived, that they can live on together. Then there’s a universe to save, no time to contemplate the pain that lies ahead, no time to relish in the breath that’s flowing through Jack’s lungs again. Just on their feet and off, a silent thank you from Ianto to whatever deity gifted Jack with this life, and then the moment’s over. For now.

Fic: Only If You Mean It (1/1)

electrictoes — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 21:46:03 GMT

Title: Only If You Mean It
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Jack/Ianto
Rating: PG
Spoilers: None.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Property of the BBC, etc. etc. ad nauseum. Except y'know, I pay my licence fee.
Summary: Even on Valentine's Day it's better to mean what you say.
Note(s): Written for jack_ianto_las Challenge 2: Valentine's Day.

The trouble with Valentine’s Day was that it just sort of crept up on you. Nobody gave it a second thought and then, without warning, it was mid-February and a Tesco checkout lady was looking at your flower-and-chocolate-less basket, nodding knowingly at the bottles of beer you were putting out onto the checkout and saying, ‘No Valentine this year then, love?’

Ianto Jones had not expected his Monday to end like that. He had been vaguely aware that Valentine’s Day might be creeping up - you couldn’t walk down Queen Street without a barrage of heart shaped balloons or an explosion of pink adverts blocking your path – but though Ianto kept up with the calendar as best he could, 14th February had not automatically come with “I need to buy useless, tacky symbols of my affection and shower Jack in the them.”

And so he had dressed, washed, shaved, driven to work, organised paperwork, caught a few aliens, done some archiving, caffeinated Jack and Gwen and fed the pterodactyl, all without realising that the day held any romantic significance. And now here he was, in Tesco, with a middle aged woman smiling an almost sympathetic smile as she bagged two pints of milk, four bottles of beer and a packet of M&Ms.

He realised that she was still smiling that pitying smile, still expecting a response to her assumption about his love life. He pulled out his credit card, and as he waited for the card reader to ask for his pin he looked up at the woman. “It’s Valentine’s Day?” he asked, trying to sound genuine.

“Yes,” the woman replied, looking confused. Ianto put in his pin.

“Ah,” he said. “Forgot.”

That was as far as he was going to let the conversation go, he could see a questioning look in the woman’s eye, she was no doubt wondering if he had some poor girlfriend he’d forgotten to declare his undying love for that morning.

Ianto’s purchases bagged and paid for, he gave the checkout lady a false smile and headed back out to the car, sliding in beside Jack and dropping the bottles to the floor between his feet.

“Okay?” Jack asked.

Ianto nodded, and Jack started the car as he buckled his seatbelt. Ianto wondered if Jack knew that it was Valentine’s Day, but it was unlikely, so he opted not to mention it, and they drove to Ianto’s flat in a comfortable silence.

Valentine’s Day had all but slipped from Ianto’s mind by late evening. They had ordered Chinese to be delivered to the flat and spent the night sprawled out on a sofa each, takeaway, beer and bad television being their main preoccupation, tired as they were.

Ianto found himself drifting off to sleep on the sofa, and he forced his eyes to open when he heard movement. He glanced up at Jack through lidded eyes, watching him drain the last of his beer bottle before walking from the room. Ianto let his eyes fall shut, listening to the clinking of glass as Jack fussed about in the kitchen and the quiet thrum of the television. A newsreader was reminding him in solemn tones of their misspent weekend, recounting for those who had avoided newspapers and the television over the weekend the ‘toxic waste spillage’ that had occurred in Merthyr in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Jack returned to the living room a few minutes later, just as the reporter moved on to a fluffy piece about a couple who had been married seventy years that day.

“A Valentine’s Day to remember, that was,” the elderly woman being interviewed was saying. “Things were different back then, but oh-”

Ianto tuned her out. Jack was leaning in the doorway, half watching the television, half watching Ianto. He gave a small smile when Ianto turned to look at him, then nudged his head towards the bathroom.

“I’m going for a shower,” Jack said. “If you want to join me.”

Ianto nodded, and pushed himself up from the sofa He glanced around at their mess, deciding to move it out of the living room while Jack got the shower going. He flicked the television off as the Valentine’s story ended, then carried their empty bottles into the kitchen.

He placed them on the kitchen counter to recycle later and was about to flick off the light when he noticed an envelope leaning against his coffee machine. It was plain, white, and had Ianto’s name written on it in Jack’s unmistakeable script.

Ianto lifted the envelope, opening it and pulling out a card.

It wasn’t a Valentine’s card. It was white, blank but for the words ‘Thank You’ in a bold, black script across the centre. Ianto raised an eyebrow as he opened the card.

Jack hadn’t written a message, just signed his name.

But Ianto understood what he was saying.

Valentine’s Day was something that just crept up once in a while, but thank you meant almost as much as I love you did. And, Ianto thought as he slipped the card back into the envelope and made his way to the bathroom, the difference between Jack’s card and the thousands upon thousands of other cards that people had opened that day was that Jack really meant it.

Fic: Keep Running, But You Won't Forget

electrictoes — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 12:13:56 GMT

Title: Keep Running, But You Won't Forget
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Jack/Ianto
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: None.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Property of the BBC, etc. etc. ad nauseum. Except y'know, I pay my licence fee.
Summary: Somehow, despite being from different worlds and different times, Jack Harkness and Ianto Jones are alike.
Note(s): I have absolutely no idea where this came from. But it did. Thank you to ally_p_x for her help with it. To tazza_di_jo and erin_giles for reading it over & big thanks to pinkfairy727 for the beta.

Jack followed Ianto into the kitchen. Ianto made no protest. He walked straight to the fridge, pulling out a bottle of beer. He didn’t offer one to Jack, just opened the bottle and took a swig, resting his head against the fridge door as he closed it.

“You okay?” Jack asked

Ianto nodded. It wasn’t a lie, not exactly. He would be okay. Eventually.

“You’re very quiet.”

“We only managed to save one person tonight, I think I’m entitled to be.” He took another sip of beer. “One person. One little boy. Brought him back to be alone. I’ve just been thinking about it.”

It still wasn’t a lie. He had been thinking about that boy. An orphan, his whole life ripped out from under him, just like that. Torchwood had failed him. Ianto had failed him.

“You’ve been quiet since we left Providence Park,” Jack persisted. “What’s going on, Ianto? Talk to me.”

Ianto shook his head. “I’m fine, Jack.”

Jack sat down at the kitchen table. “Come on,” he said. “What’s bothering you?”

Ianto stared at him, but didn’t sit down. He pushed away from the fridge and stood near the table, looking at Jack.

“You knew what Providence Park was,” Jack said. “You didn’t have to check. You knew, and it’s not because you know everything. Something about that place has got you bugged.”

“Yeah,” Ianto said. He finished the bottle before he spoke again, Jack’s eyes trained on him the whole time. He sighed. “My mam.”

Jack froze for a moment. Unfamiliar territory. Ianto saw it in his eyes; the panic, the fear that he’d pushed too far. Ianto had never mentioned his mother before. He had a whole host of stories, of lies, about his father. His mother was too much of a secret even for fairytales.

Ianto sat down opposite Jack. “She was there for five years.”

Jack didn’t look overly surprised, but then it hadn’t been hard to work out.

“She was sent there when I was a teenager. She died there, too.” The words came far more easily than he had expected them too. “It’s why I got a bit out of hand, the shop lifting and stuff. My dad... it wasn’t easy.”

***

“You hit him, Ianto.”

Ianto looked up from the damp concrete to find his sister sitting beside him on the park bench. He couldn’t tell if she was angry or impressed and he turned away from her, looking over at the swings. Two boys from the high school were smoking, still in their uniforms, avoiding going home, no doubt. Ianto wished he could have done the same, but he wasn’t at school now, he couldn’t escape for those seven blissful hours a day.

He wished he hadn’t hated school so much.

Rhiannon was still staring at him, so he gave her a quick glance, a short response. “Yeah, and?”

“Are you mental?”

Ianto didn’t look at her. The teenagers were moving now, their fags discarded on the tarmac. Some toddler would no doubt pick them up the next day; try and eat them. He hated this place.

“It’s not like I had anything to lose, is it?”

“Ianto.” Rhiannon’s tone was clipped, critical. “He’ll go mad when you get home.”

Ianto shrugged. “Can stay at yours then, can’t I?”

Without looking Ianto knew that Rhiannon was shaking her head. “Johnny won’t let you. He’s had enough, Ianto, so have I. You can’t keep turning up in the night, drunk or worse. We’ve got David to think of.”

“I’m not drunk now. Not on anything.”

“Why’d you hit him?”

Ianto shrugged again. “Hate him, don’t I?”

“You don’t.” Rhiannon sounded caught between disbelief and resignation.

Ianto kicked at the ground. “I do.” He reached into his jacket pocket for a cigarette, then remembered he’d left them on the kitchen table. He frowned.

“It isn’t his fault,” Rhiannon was saying, “Mam and everything, it wasn’t down to him. She’s not well, Ianto.”

“And why’s that? Too many smacks to the head.”

When he glanced up, Rhiannon looked horrified. “Ianto-”

“Don’t pretend he’s a fucking saint,” Ianto snapped. “You know he hit her. You heard the rows. We didn’t have a perfect bloody childhood, no matter how much you pretend. Didn’t have normal parents.”

“Ianto, please,” Rhiannon was near begging now, but Ianto couldn’t lie to himself anymore.

“It’s his fault, Rhiannon. And as soon as I can I’m getting the hell out of this place. I’m not sticking around ’til I get arrested or get someone pregnant. Not spending the rest of my life on the dole, living in this hell hole, trying to raise more kids than I can count. No thanks.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ianto could hear the offence in Rhiannon’s voice.

He gave her a smile, but it was small and bitter. “Johnny’s not bad,” Ianto told her. “He’ll be good to you. But I won’t get trapped here. I won’t turn out like him. I won’t turn some poor girl into Mam.”

He stood up then, brushed off his jeans. He looked down at her, shoving his hands, bruised knuckles and all, into his pockets. “I’ll stay at Matt’s, help him with the baby or something. Jess is in hospital with the new one.” He gave another bitter smile. “See, that’ll be me if I don’t get out of this place. And I don’t want that, don’t want to be another statistic.”

“Be careful,” Rhiannon pleaded with him. “Don’t give up on Dad yet, you don’t have to run away. You won’t turn into him just because you stay.”

Ianto shook his head. “I’m not going ‘til the time’s right. If I leave now he’ll make your life hell. And Mam will never come home.”

“Ianto, Mam isn’t coming home. She’s not well, she’s not going to get better.”

“I’m not a little kid, Rhiannon,” Ianto told her. “But I pay attention. I was there when that doctor came, I listened to what he said. It’s Dad that’s the problem, if he was bloody normal she’d be... she’d be okay.”

He didn’t wait for an answer. He stalked off across the estate, heading for anywhere that wasn’t home.

“I was so scared I’d turn out like my dad,” Ianto confessed. “Blamed him for everything. I still do, some of it. It wasn’t... I was fifteen when they took her, Jack. Carted her off to Providence Park and left me with him. Rhiannon was getting out, she had Johnny, and the baby. It was just me and him, and I was so angry. I hated him.”

“You didn’t, Ianto, not really.”

“I did,” Ianto said, firmly. “He died and I hated him because I was so afraid of turning out just like him. That I’d turn someone into my mam.”

Jack reached over the table, but Ianto snatched his hand away before Jack could touch it.

“Your mum was ill, Ianto. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. You couldn’t have controlled that.”

Ianto nodded. “I was a kid, Jack. I wanted someone to blame. And he was so off the rails after she left. He didn’t know what to do with me. I didn’t know what to do with myself. I was into all sorts. I got arrested.”

“Shop lifting,” Jack said.

Ianto nodded. “I was out of control. I just wanted to have something ... something to hang onto.”

“But you got out,” Jack told him, his tone reassuring. “You got away from that life, you didn’t turn into your dad.”

“That’s the thing,” Ianto told him. “Providence Park just reminded me. I spent such a long time being afraid I’d turn out like my dad and it wasn’t until he died that I realised it. I didn’t have to turn out like my dad, I don’t have to be him. But,” he paused, his chest tightening as he spoke words he’d suppressed for years, “I can stop myself being my dad, but I can’t stop myself turning out like my mam.”

Jack reached out for Ianto’s hand again, and this time Ianto didn’t resist, allowing the contact. He needed it.

“There’s no guarantee that you will, either, Ianto.”

“I could, though,” Ianto told him. “So could Rhiannon. I was so desperate not to fall into their life, but I couldn’t stop it. That’s why I left. That’s why I... why I wasn’t here when she died. I was scared, and Dad was dead, and Rhiannon had her little family all set up. I just upped and left for London and I never...”

He pulled away from Jack, looking out of the window. “I blamed my dad for so long, because it was easy, because if it was his fault it wasn’t real. But it wasn’t anyone’s fault. I think it would have been easier if I could have blamed him forever.”

“You could have told me,” Jack said, his voice soft. “I wouldn’t have made you come with me.”

“I’ve been running from it for six years, Jack, I can’t run forever.”

***

“You’re leaving,” Rhiannon accused.

Ianto’s fingers tightened around the handles of his holdall. “What’s there to stay for?”

“Me,” she said. She adjusted David in her arms, and nodded to him. “David.”

“You’ll be fine. I’ll call. Visit. I told you I wouldn’t stay. I won’t make someone else’s life hell.”

Rhiannon shook her head. “You can’t still be blaming him, Ianto. None of this is Dad’s fault. Mam, she-”

“I know, Rhiannon, okay? I know. Mam’s ill. There’s nothing anyone can do about that. And I love her, I do. But we can’t pretend that life with her wasn’t hard. Dad was a useless bastard, and I won’t forgive him, not for any of it. But even without him... Rhiannon, if I turn out like Mam it’ll be just as bad as turning out like him.”

“She’ll miss you visiting,” Rhiannon said, her voice breaking a little over the words. David whimpered in her arms, taking her attention away from Ianto long enough for him to school his expression into something harder, less pained.

“She doesn’t know who I am, Rhiannon. Thinks I’m him half the time, thinks I’m the Prime Minister the other half.”

“You can’t go, Ianto.”

“I can,” Ianto said, lifting his bag. “I have to, Rhiannon. I want more than this. I need something real.”

Rhiannon’s eyes shone with unshed tears and he kissed her cheek. He was taller now, he had inches on her. He’d been so short for so long and she’d always taken her care of him, her little brother. He wasn’t so little now, though. “I’ll call,” he promised.

He knew he wouldn’t.

***

“It’s okay, Ianto,” Jack said, moving to stand behind him, a soft hand pressed to Ianto’s shoulder. He kept his face turned away from Jack.

“It’s not.”

Jack’s grip on Ianto’s shoulder became stronger then, more persistent, and Ianto turned to look at Jack. His expression was firm, a sadness floating in his eyes.

“You were young,” Jack told him. “Hell, you still are.”

“Don’t, Jack,” Ianto frowned. “Don’t treat me like a child.”

“You’re not the only one to have made mistakes, to have run away from someone, from a life you were too afraid to live.”

Ianto looked at him, long and hard. “What?”

“I ran, too.” Jack released his hold on Ianto, moving back to lean against the table. “I left my mother because I... I was too afraid to stay, I guess.”

“What did you have to be afraid of?”

Jack’s eyes dropped to the floor, he was quiet, considering his words. He looked up again and spoke, his tone serious. “When I was a boy something awful happened and my mother never looked at me the same way again. The longer I stayed the more I had to think about it, the more it hurt. The more afraid I was that that pain would never, ever go away. I took the first chance I got to get out of that world, away from the memories.”

Ianto hesitated before speaking. He could see in Jack’s face how hard it had been for him to admit to that, he had to tread carefully here. “So here were are,” he said, voice shaking. “A couple of runaway teenagers, wound up in Cardiff, falling apart.”

“Hey, who says I’m falling apart?” Jack joked, but there was none of the usual cheer in his eyes. “You can ask, you know,” he said.

Ianto shook his head. “You don’t have to tell me.”

“You’ve told me about your past. Fair’s fair.”

***

“That’s it, then?” His mother was standing at the front door. She didn’t look unhappy, but she didn’t look pleased either. He had imagined a moment like this, years ago, before everything, and he had expected tears, but pride, too. A smile that said that’s my boy.

She just looked defeated. Like this was the end of her story, not the beginning of his.

He nodded. “Chance of a lifetime,” he told her.

She shook her head. “For you, maybe,” then, with a flicker of the woman she used to be, “Will I see you again?”

“There’s a whole universe out there. All of time,” he said. It wasn’t an answer, but it told her everything she needed to know.

She forced a smile onto her face, but it was empty and he knew it. “Well then, I suppose, good luck.”

“I love you,” he whispered as he kissed her cheek. He hadn’t said that in the longest time. He had been afraid of her response.

He was shocked to find her arms around him, hugging him close like she hadn’t done since he was a boy. Her lips pressed to the side of his head, the way they would have done when he was a child, off on an adventure. “You take care, my boy. You come back to me someday.”

He kissed her goodbye, and there were tears in her eyes as he walked down the path. They both knew he wouldn’t be back.

***

Ianto moved to sit beside Jack, perching on the edge of his kitchen table and gripping Jack’s fingers in his own. It was a fierce hold, almost too tight. Not two hands fitting together, but fingers curled around one another, desperately clinging on.

He didn’t look at Jack, and as he felt the tears fall from his eyes he hoped that Jack wasn’t looking at him. Jack returned the tight grip on his fingers and together they stared out of the window, out at the dark night. The stars were barely visible in the harsh city lights and Ianto’s gaze was drawn to the tableau their reflections cast in the darkened window. Two grown men, side by side, crying silent tears for childhoods long lost.

They turned almost in unison, and Jack grabbed at Ianto’s face with his free hand, pressing their lips together. It was a desperate kiss, the need for a lonely child to feel cared for, and Ianto reflected to himself just how alike he and Jack were. From such different worlds, but feeling the same emotions, the same pains. Two orphan boys with nobody to love but each other.

They pulled apart, breathless, their foreheads pressed together, Jack’s palm clammy against Ianto’s cheek. “I’ll always be running,” Jack whispered against Ianto’s lips. “Always.”

Ianto shook his head, just a fraction. “Stop,” he said. “Just for tonight. We don’t have to be runaways forever. We can have one night just... just staying still.”

Jack kissed him again, and as the distance between them closed Ianto could feel the drying tears on Jack’s cheeks, the hammering of his heart. He pressed his lips to Jack’s neck, taking in his scent, revelling at how far removed this life was from his old one. They had been desperate to escape, both of them, and they had. They had escaped their old worlds, and they were together in this one; oh it was mad, and it wasn’t safe and it wasn’t happy, but it was theirs, and they weren’t alone.

LJ Cut Over

electrictoes — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 12:01:23 GMT

I've done my friends cut.
I don't think I cut anyone who asked to stay... but let me know.

Anyway, if you can read this, but you can't read this then you have been cut. If I cut you & you didn't want to be cut reply here & I'll be more than happy to add you back! :D

Fic: When Santa Claus Came To Town

electrictoes — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 22:37:43 GMT

Title: When Santa Claus Came To Town (You'd Better Not Pout, Ianto Jones)
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Jack/Ianto, Mica.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: COE Character Spoilers. For the three of you that still don't know.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Property of the BBC, etc. etc. ad nauseum.
Summary: Jack is far more excited about Christmas than Ianto is. And Santa is coming to town. Set in the As Long As I Have universe, but you so don't need to have read that.

Note(s): I persuaded erin_giles to write a Christmas fic where Jack and Ianto went to visit Santa with children by promising to write one myself, so this is what this is. erin_giles's fic The Course of Christmas Never Did Run Smooth is here and it's wonderful. This fic's also for pinkfairy727 because she deserves an extra special Christmas wish from Jack & Ianto. Beta-ed by erin_giles, thank you!
The song that Mica sings is from One Bright Night & is the property of Music for Schools.

With less than two weeks to go until Christmas, Ianto knew that he couldn’t put off decorating his house anymore. He wasn’t anti-Christmas or anything; their base had been decorated a few days into December, and he’d even let Jack help. Gwen had ‘supervised’ while simultaneously complaining that she couldn’t help because her baby bump was too big. (Jack had then told her that next Christmas she’d have a baby to get excited with and she’d cried for a good ten minutes, during which Ianto had finished decorating the large Christmas tree which now stood in the centre of their base, reminding them all that there was a world outside.) He had been avoiding decorating the house, though. This was going to be a family Christmas, and it was a bit too much for Ianto; this new world where he and Jack were playing happy families and had become a ‘real couple’ all of a sudden and without him expecting it.

But time was ticking away and so he had decided to get on with decorating before Alice arrived with Steven to a bare, un-festive house. Thinking about it, taking Jack shopping with him was an awful idea, and Ianto should have known that it would be. He should have known far better than to let Jack come with him. It would have taken far, far less time to buy the decorations alone, and he would have been at far less risk of being thrown out of John Lewis.

“What about these?” Jack said, holding up a box of multi-coloured glass (and therefore highly breakable) baubles.

Ianto frowned. “They have no discernable colour scheme. I wouldn’t know where to put them.”

“But they‘ll look nice,” Jack said, and wiggled the box as though to demonstrate his point. “Christmassy.”

“Jack,” Ianto said. “Put them down before you break them.”

He moved away from the glass decorations in search of something more Jack proof and less gaudy. Jack followed him around the Christmas section; stopping only to peer more closely at things which piqued his curiosity or to open boxes, press buttons or lift flaps whenever the opportunity arose.

Ianto pointedly ignored him; he didn’t want people to think that they were there together. When Jack got thrown out for breaking things, Ianto would be able to finish his shopping in peace. He moved from shelf to shelf, table to table, not really seeing anything that he wanted to put on the tree. He didn’t want to go overboard with it; just something simple. Jack seemed determined to go all out and over the top, but that was just Jack.

Ianto was examining a tube of red baubles, trying to work out how many their tree would need, when Jack caught up with him, tugging on his arm like a small child. “Look, Ianto!” he said, with the glee of someone a thousandth of his age.

“What?” Ianto asked. The shop would be closing soon, Ianto was considering giving up altogether and coming another day. Without Jack.

“They’re going to have Santa here on Saturday,” Jack said, still grinning.

“Right” Ianto raised an eyebrow. “Why is that important?”

“Can we come take a look?”

“Yeah,” Ianto said. “If you want to look like a raving paedophile.”

Jack frowned. “I thought we could bring the kids.”

“Mica and David?” Ianto asked, putting the baubles down. “Please no.”

“Why not? They’d love it.”

“David would probably throw something at you for even suggesting it.”

Jack frowned again. He picked up a fragile looking ornament and turned it over in his hands.

Ianto reached out and took it from him, gently returning it to the display table. “And I don’t fancy letting Mica loose in John Lewis. She’ll be even worse than you are.”

“Oh, don’t be a spoil sport,” Jack said. “It’s Christmas. We could bring Steven too.”

“Oh yeah,” Ianto scoffed. “Let’s phone up Alice, ‘hi, can we steal your ten year old son to take him to meet an old man pretending to be Father Christmas in John Lewis?’”

“Well, I wasn’t planning on phrasing it like that,” Jack told him.

“We can’t bring Steven.” Ianto rolled his eyes. “He’s in Italy with his dad until Tuesday.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I actually listen when Alice tells us things, like why they’re not coming over until the twenty third.”

Jack shrugged in vague acceptance. “Okay. So just Mica and David then.”

“David wouldn’t be caught dead visiting Father Christmas.”

“So just Mica?”

“No,” Ianto said. “Not at all.”

He had hoped that that would be the last word on the matter.

It wasn’t. Of course it wasn’t.

They went to see Rhiannon on Friday afternoon. Although they planned to spend Christmas with Ianto’s sister and her family (and Alice and Steven - Ianto had to wonder when his life had turned into an episode of The Brady Bunch- ) they couldn’t guarantee that the Rift would behave itself. They had decided to bring the children’s presents – already bought and wrapped by Ianto – to the house while they had the time, ready to be opened on Christmas Day, whether Jack and Ianto were there or not.

Ianto opened the door and let Jack go in ahead with the first bag of presents. He struggled through with the remaining presents; Jack had left him all the awkward shaped gifts, and by the time he had made it into the living room Mica was practically bouncing up and down in front of Jack. The grin on his lover’s face told Ianto that this wouldn’t mean anything good.

“Jack says we’re going to meet Father Christmas tomorrow,” Mica said, running at Ianto and hugging him. “Thank you!”

Ianto shot Jack a very dark look, then looked down at Mica. “You’re... welcome,” he ground out.

David looked up from where he was sprawled on the sofa. “I’m not going.”

“You don’t have to,” Ianto said.

David reached behind him, holding out his hand palm up expectantly. Ianto fished a twenty pound note from his wallet and glanced up to see what David was watching. Martin Freeman was on the television, surrounded by children.

“Where’s your mum?”

David was too engrossed in his DVD to care about what his uncle was saying, so Ianto turned to Mica. She was talking excitedly to Jack about all the things she wanted to say to Father Christmas, and from the expression on Jack’s face, Ianto guessed that he was beginning to see why Ianto had been so resistant to the idea.

Ianto contemplated a way that they could persuade Mica that wasn’t what Jack had meant and get themselves out of it, but all his hopes were dashed when Rhiannon walked into the room.

“Mam!” Mica screamed, tearing herself away from Jack and waving her arms at her mother over excitedly. “Uncle Ianto is taking me to meet Father Christmas on Saturday! I’m going to tell him about the Princess Barbie I want and we can have a photo and I can sit on his lap!” She said all of this in a high pitched, fast paced ramble, and Rhiannon’s eyes lit up.

“Are you?” she looked at Ianto. “That’s great, I can get the last of my Christmas shopping finished while you’ve got her. Oh, thanks, Ianto,” she said, and kissed his cheek.

He was trapped now. His niece was ecstatic, his sister painfully grateful. They couldn’t get out of this even if the world ended.

He was going to kill Jack.

They met Rhiannon in town on Saturday morning. Ianto and Mica were both wrapped up warm, while Jack paraded around in his coat and nothing else, not even a pair of gloves. Mica was buzzing with excitement when she greeted them, and Rhiannon had hurriedly thanked them, asked them to sort out some lunch for Mica and then had disappeared before they could raise any objections.

Mica had wriggled between Jack and Ianto and taken one of each of their hands as they walked towards John Lewis and joined an already long queue. Ianto let out a sigh; it was going to be a long day.

“Uncle Ianto?” Mica asked a few minutes later, tugging on Ianto’s coat sleeve.

He looked down at his niece. Her nose and cheeks were almost as pink as the hat that she had just tugged from her head. Her hair was mussed and he reached out to smooth it down, before frowning at himself.

“Mica?”

“Can you and Jack come to my Christmas play?”

Ianto glanced at Jack, who shrugged. “Maybe,” he said, feebly. “When is it?”

“I don’t know,” Mica said. “But it’s about Jesus’s birthday and we all get to sing songs and Amy Best is going to be Mary and I’m not jealous because I don’t want to be Mary. She has to be married to Joseph and Sam Evans is going to be Joseph and they have to kiss.”

Jack laughed, and Mica looked up at him, a grin on her face. Jack swept her into the air and set her on his hip.

“Jack, she can walk-” Ianto protested, but they ignored him.

“And who are you going to be in the nativity?” Jack said. “The angel Gabriel?”

Ianto bit back a laugh.

“No,” Mica frowned. “Gabriel’s a boy. I’m going to be a cow.”

“A cow?” Jack asked, eyebrows raised. Ianto could see the grin he was trying to suppress playing on his lips.

“Yes,” Mica said. “We get to sing a song and then we follow the doves and-”

“Doves?” Jack asked. “In a nativity?”

Mica rolled her eyes in a near perfect imitation of her Uncle Ianto. “Yes,” she said. “The doves are the leaders and everyone follows them to the stable that Baby Jesus lives in.”

“Okay,” Jack said, frowning. He looked at Ianto. “I haven’t been to many nativities, but I don’t remember anything about doves.”

“If you come see mine then you’ll see them!” Mica said, wriggling in Jack’s arms.

“We’ll see,” Ianto said, not willing to make any promises.

Mica frowned. “David says ‘we’ll see’ is grown up for ‘no’.”

Jack shook his head. “David’s just being silly, we’ll try our very best.”

“I want you to hear my song,” Mica told Ianto, ignoring Jack. “I’ve been practising and practising.”

“I’m sure you’re very good,” Ianto told her. “I’d like to hear your song,” he lied. He had vague memories of his own school nativities, and how awful they’d been. Rhiannon had all but bodily hauled him to David’s first nativity when he had been in nursery school. David had thrown a tantrum and run crying to his mum, refusing to be in the play at all. Ianto had been forced to sit and watch children he didn’t even know butcher songs about baby Jesus, and had sworn off all nativity plays afterwards.

“I’ll sing it for you now!” Mica declared, and Ianto inwardly cursed himself. Jack placed Mica back onto the ground and she prepared for her song.

“In the light of the moooon,” Mica sang. There were actions, too. Passers by were staring. “And the shining stars!” Mica was horribly out of tune, in that childlike way of just screaming the words and expecting everyone to be impressed.

The actions got more elaborate as Mica sang on. “We’re always trying to forget our feet our soaking wet, and frozen noses make us GLUM!”

Ianto was cringing, but Jack seemed to be enjoying it, and Mica certainly was.

The woman behind them in the queue gave him a bright smile. “You have a wonderful daughter,” she said.

“Oh!” Ianto said, startled and embarrassed. “She’s not mine!”

“Oh,” the woman apologised, “Your partner’s then? It’s so wonderful to see two men raising a child, and doing such a wonderful job!”

Ianto wanted to protest, but Mica had reached out, grabbing at his hand to force him to pay attention as the song continued. “We’ve got to mooove on, mooove on. We’re getting kind of bored with the sheep next door!”

Ianto began to tune out the song, but watched Mica dancing. He noticed Jack dancing along with her, attempting to mimic the actions, and he was torn between a desire to pretend not to know them both and an urge to pull out his phone and video it. Martha and Gwen would kill to see this, and it would be a good tool for bribery in the future. Before he had made a decision Mica stopped singing and looked up at Ianto expectantly.

“Was I good?” she said.

“Brilliant,” Ianto said. “Best cow I’ve ever seen.”

“Do you think Father Christmas will like my song?” she asked him.

Ianto was unsure how to respond, but Jack swept Mica up into his arms again and she giggled as she flew through the air.

“I don’t think Santa will have time to hear your song today, but he can see you all the time,” Jack said, “So I’m sure he already knows how great you are at being a cow.”

Ianto snorted.

Mica frowned down at him. “Uncle Ianto, you shouldn’t make rude noises. It’s not very nice.”

Ianto chose not to comment. They shuffled a little further forward in the line; they were getting nearer the front now, Mica’s song and dance had past the time nicely, and kept her suitably distracted from all of the shiny and breakable things that were occupying the shop floor.

Mica rested her head on Jack’s shoulder – worn out after all the excitement, no doubt - and Jack shot Ianto a grin that Mica couldn’t see. Ianto gave a tired smile back; it was nice, he supposed, to see Jack enjoying himself this much, especially after the year they’d had. It didn’t mean that he wasn’t still a little angry at Jack (or at least pretending to be) for telling Mica they would be coming here when Ianto had been obviously resistant to the idea. But they were here now, and Jack and Mica were having fun, and it really wasn’t that awful.

Eventually they reached the front of the queue and Jack put Mica back onto the ground. She led the way into meet Father Christmas with all the heightened bravery of a four year old girl. Ianto followed, Jack at his side. He tried to push away the idea that this was a middle aged man in a stupid suit pretending to be a fictional character in order to impress children and to enjoy it for Mica and Jack’s sake.

Mica marched straight up to ‘Father Christmas’. “Can I sit on your knee?” she said, and grinned when the man nodded.

“You have to smile now, Santa,” Mica said. “Uncle Ianto’s going to take a picture to show my mummy.” Then, as though remembering who she was taking to, she gave a sickly sweet smile and said “Please.”

Father Christmas chuckled and looked in Ianto’s direction while Ianto fished out the camera and took a photograph.

“So,” Father Christmas said, “What’s your name?”

“I thought you knew everyone,” Mica said, looking disappointed.

“Oh, well, I meet an awful lot of girls and boys and I am a very old man, sometimes I forget names.”

“Then how can you bring people the right presents?” Mica asked, and Ianto had to admit that she had a point.

“My reindeer are very, very clever,” Father Christmas told Mica with a wink. She looked placated.

“My name is Mica,” she said. “And I’ve tried to be a very, very good girl. I only hit David if he hits me first and I give Mam and Dad lots of hugs and I asked Uncle Ianto to my Christmas play and I said Jack can come too.”

Jack and Ianto both laughed along with the man, and Mica grinned.

“So for my Christmas present I would like a Princess Barbie and,” she glanced at Ianto before she stage whispered her next request, “I want Uncle Ianto to come to my Christmas play and wear his happy face.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Father Christmas said, tapping Mica gently on the nose. “You be a very good girl and I’ll see you on Christmas Eve.”

Mica jumped down from the man’s lap, then turned to look at him, a serious expression on her face. “Father Christmas?” she asked.

“Yes?”

“Do you like cookies or mince pies better?”

Much later, when Mica had been returned to her mother and Jack and Ianto were home and had warmed up from the bitter cold outside, Ianto pulled out a box of brightly coloured baubles while Jack fiddled with the radio, trying to find a station that was playing Christmas songs.

Jack turned away from the radio, having found something suitable. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas was playing softly in the background when Jack spotted the baubles and grinned. “No colour scheme, Ianto?”

Ianto shrugged. “It’s Christmas.”

Jack smiled and walked over, he lifted the first of the baubles from the box and examined the tree, deciding where to hang it. Ianto moved behind him, placing a hand on his back. “Thanks, Jack,” he said.

Jack turned his head, looking down at Ianto. “For what?”

“Nothing,” he said, pressing his lips to Jack’s for a chaste kiss before moving away to collect baubles of his own, avoiding Jack’s eye. “Everything. Just all this. Christmas.”

“You had fun today, didn’t you?” Jack teased.

“You’ve had worse ideas,” Ianto conceded.

Ianto could feel Jack’s grin without even turning to look at him. “Rift allowing we’ll make it to Mica’s nativity,” Jack promised.

Ianto said nothing, but began to decorate the tree, not dwelling on how domestic it all seemed or how different this Christmas was from the last. He looked at Jack through the branches of the tree and smiled to himself; as soft as it sounded, he didn’t need to ask Father Christmas for anything.

Torchwood Fic Master List

electrictoes — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 21:42:09 GMT

Splitting up my masterlist so that it's easier to find what you want. And because I realised when I saw it on erin_giles 's laptop that it wasn't particularly easy to read.

As Long As I Have (Jack/Ianto, Gwen, Rhys, Rhiannon, Alice, OCs.)
Children of Earth fix it fic, starting from Day Five. 25 Chapters.

Babysitting Aid (Jack/Ianto, Mica. PG)
Ianto's babysitting and Jack can't stay away for a whole weekend.

Keep Him Young (Jack/Ianto. PG-13)
Ianto Jones doesn't act his age. It's in the way he walks and talks and dresses.

Unspoken (Jack/Ianto. PG-13)
Jack needs to know that Ianto's alive.

Love Isn't A Game, But Jack Harkness Is Winning (Jack/Ianto. PG-13)
It's not often that anyone laughs at Jack Harkness while he's naked and being seductive, but Ianto Jones isn't just anyone.

Not Quite All I Wanted For Christmas (Jack/Ianto, Rhiannon. PG-13)
Christmas is a time for... sharing.

Unconditional (Jack/Ianto. PG-13)
Jack has nightmares sometimes.

The Quiet Moments (Jack/Ianto, Rhiannon. PG-13)
He doesn't want to forget how this moment feels; not ever.

The Most Handsome Man I Ever Met (Jack/Ianto, OFC. PG)
Jack goes to a wedding, gets lost in memories and has a story to tell...

Inked Into My Memory (Jack/Ianto. PG-13)
Jack's back, and there's something new about Ianto.

Fear and Bravery Are Not Mutually Exclusive (Jack/Ianto. PG)
Ianto Jones has been brought up not to show weakness.

Christmas Stockings (Or Why Jack Will Always Choose Coal Over Presents) (Jack/Ianto. PG-13)
"It’s Christmas Eve, Jack, and good boys and girls get their stockings filled on Christmas Eve.”

Man Flu is Decidedly Not Manly (Jack/Ianto. PG)
Ianto Jones was dying. There was no other explanation for it. He was going to die slowly, painfully and buried somewhere within his duvet.

Torchwood Removal Company (Jack/Ianto, Gwen, Owen, Tosh, Rhys. PG-13)
Thinking about, Ianto should have known better than to mention anything about moving house in front of Gwen.

The Morning After (Jack/Ianto, Rhiannon, Mica. PG-13)
Sequel to Babysitting Aid. Rhiannon's at the door & Jack's in Ianto's bed.

Tuesday; Coffee, Cake (Jack/Ianto, Gwen .PG-13)
Tuesday afternoons were coffee and cake time.

Every Little Helps (Jack/Ianto. PG-13)
"I'm not breaking up with you in Tesco."

Wonky Cake & Birthday Suits (Jack/Ianto, Gwen. PG-13)
Gwen wants to know what Ianto did for his birthday.

Four Times Jack and Ianto Had To Babysit and One Time They Said No (Jack/Ianto, David, Steven, Mica, OC. PG-15)
Jack Harkness & Ianto Jones: Alien Fighters, World Savers, Babysitters?

Fic: Four Times Jack and Ianto Had To Babysit and One Time They Said No (1/1)

electrictoes — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 21:18:31 GMT

Title: Four Times Jack and Ianto Had To Babysit and One Time They Said No
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Jack/Ianto, David, Mica, Steven.
Rating: PG-15
Spoilers: COE Character Spoilers. For the three of you that still don't know.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Property of the BBC, etc. etc. ad nauseum. Except Riley and Amelia, they're mine. Mwahahaha.
Summary: Jack Harkness & Ianto Jones: Alien Fighters, World Savers, Babysitters?
Note(s): This is set in the As Long As I Have 'verse, but you really don't have to have read that for this to make sense. Thanks to pinkfairy727 for the prompt. To erin_giles, tazza_di_jo & ally_p_x for reading & feedback. & to aranellaurelote for the beta. (I swear these notes get longer!)

I. David

Sometimes Ianto wished he didn’t have a sister. This was one of those times. It wasn’t even as though Rhiannon had given him any say in the matter, just turned up on his doorstep with David with his leg in plaster and Mica in the back of her friends’ car being taken off to some dancing club thing that Ianto hadn’t paid much attention to.

“Please,” Rhiannon had said, as though he was getting a choice. “It’s only for one night. He was meant to be away at a football tournament but he can hardly go like that.”

Ianto had dared to ask why Johnny couldn’t look after his son and Rhiannon had scowled at him. “He’s away on a job. And don’t make a fuss, you complain enough when he’s out of work and I won’t have it, Ianto Jones. Now he’s got his overnight bag and some DVDs to watch and I’ll pick him up tomorrow afternoon. All you need to do is keep an eye on him, he’ll be no trouble. Give him dinner and make sure he does his homework because I’ve already had letters from two of his teachers about him never handing it in and I don’t want another.”

And then she was gone.

David had hobbled through to the living room on his crutches, leaving Ianto to carry through his rucksack and wonder how he’d been roped into this. He threw the bag at Jack, who was hovering at the foot of the stairs. “Put that in the spare room.”

Jack just laughed.

Ianto walked back into the living room and stared at David. “How did you break your leg?” he asked, for lack of anything else to say.

“Mica’s fault,” David said, not looking up from the telly. He’d put the football on.

“You can turn that back over,” Ianto said. “Jack’s waiting for a film to come on.”

David shrugged. “Not my problem.”

Ianto was very glad that he didn’t have children. He was also not going to argue with David. He sat down on the other sofa, picked up the book that he had been reading when the doorbell rang, and opted to leave Jack to fight his own battles.

Ianto smiled to himself when Jack came back into the room and frowned at the television. He watched Jack cross the room, take the remote control from beside David and flick the channel back. And he waited for the row.

“Oi!” David complained. “I was watching that.”

“You’ve got homework to do,” Jack said, and sat beside Ianto.

David sent a vicious glare in Jack’s direction. “Wanker.”

Ianto’s eyes widened as he looked up over his book. Jack’s jaw had dropped a little. Ianto closed his book. “What did you just say?”

“I said he’s a wanker.”

“Where did you learn that?”

David rolled his eyes. “Dad says it all the time.”

“About Jack?”

“No,” David shrugged his shoulders. “But he should. ‘Cause he is.”

“I am not!” Jack said, folding his arms and looking as much the moody teenager as David was. “Go and do your homework and if you finish all of it I might let you watch the football.”

“It’ll have finished by then. Don’t be out of order.”

“I’m being fair. Go on, go. We’re letting you stay in our house, the least you can do is let me watch my television.”

“Technically it’s Uncle Ianto’s television, and I didn’t ask to stay here you know.”

“Oh, well you can go home then,” Jack said, looking smug. “See how far you get, hop-a-long.”

“You’re so annoying,” David scowled.

Jack raised an eyebrow. “And you aren’t?”

Ianto continued to watch the two of them argue for another ten minutes. He refused to get involved, despite both of them trying to bring him

into the argument. He knew it would eventually resolve itself, and he was desperate to stay out of it.

He was right, of course, eventually the argument ended. Jack sulked into his own book as David watched the football and Ianto tried to figure out how he’d avoid getting into trouble with Rhiannon if David didn’t have his homework done by the time she arrived to get him.

II. Steven

Jack agreed to babysit Steven without actually asking Ianto. It shouldn’t have surprised him, and it wasn’t as though Ianto would have refused anyway. He might have preferred having time to himself with Jack, but with Alice and Steven still living further away than Ianto’s family, Jack didn’t get to spend as much time with grandson as he would have liked.

They left Gwen in charge of things at the base, with Riley and Amelia complaining that they wouldn’t get any of the weekend off. Ianto reminded them that he and Jack worked nine weekends out of ten and deserved a break once in a while and they shrugged off their complaints.

Alice was going away with her new boyfriend (and wasn’t Jack happy about that?) and so Steven would be spending the whole weekend with them. They had met Alice and Steven from the train station on the Friday afternoon. The Boyfriend, as Jack had taken to calling him, hovered a short distance away waiting for them to say goodbye. Apparently Alice hadn’t deemed it wise for the men in her life to meet each other, which, Ianto thought as he spotted the glare Jack was sending in the man’s direction, was probably good idea. He gave his lover a sly poke in the ribs.

Alice hugged Steven goodbye and gave both him and Jack a warning to behave. Ianto got an affectionate peck on the cheek and she was off. Steven bounded into the SUV and Ianto tried not to sulk about being relegated to the back seat.

Babysitting Steven wasn’t all that bad. He was old enough to take care of himself for the most part with dressing and eating and going to the toilet and all that, but young enough not to have developed the serious attitude problem that was creeping over David.

They took him bowling and for dinner in the Bay, then Ianto helped him with his homework while Jack flitted between unhelpful suggestions and questions about Alice’s new boyfriend.

“How long has your mom been dating this guy then?” Jack asked.

Steven shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know,” he looked back to Ianto. “I don’t understand what the question means.”

“Multiplying is the same as times-ing,” Ianto said, Steven nodded.

“Is he alright?” Jack said, interrupting again.

“He bought me a DS,” Steven said. “And he takes Mum dancing and stuff.”

Jack nodded. Steven picked up his pencil and began working out the next sum in the margin of his homework book.

“What does he do?” Jack asked. “What’s his job?”

“He’s a fireman! Isn’t that cool?” Steven beamed. “I want to be a fireman when I grow up.”

Jack’s mumble of “you wanted to be a pilot a few months ago”, went ignored as Steven turned to Ianto.

“How do you do nine times seven?”

“Oh,” Ianto smiled. “Nines are easy. I’ll show you,” he said, and held up his hands.

All in all, Steven was well behaved and quiet and not much trouble at all, especially not compared to his grandfather.

At least, until they went to bed.

Jack’s head was pillowed on Ianto’s chest and he was just close to drifting off, listening to the sounds of a storm raging outside, when their bedroom door crept open and he opened his eyes to see Steven standing in the doorway. “I don’t like thunder,” he said, looking small and frightened.

Right, Ianto thought, and tried to nudge Jack awake. Jack grunted in his sleep but didn’t wake, or move. Ianto glanced over at Steven. “It’s really nothing to be afraid of,” he said.

“It’s loud,” Steven told him. “I really don’t like it.”

Ianto thought for a minute, trying to remember what their mother had done to calm them during thunderstorms. He shoved Jack unceremoniously off his chest and sat up. Jack grunted again and Ianto slid from the bed. “Hot chocolate?” he asked Steven.

Steven stood still, shaking slightly in the doorway. Ianto put an arm around him awkwardly. “Come on, your Uncle Jack’s snoring is a lot scarier than thunder.”

He glanced down at the small boy, who was forcing a weak smile. Ianto steered him down the stairs and set about making the hot chocolate. Steven sat at the table, looking like a startled rabbit when the thunder sounded again.

“Do you want one of Uncle Jack’s favourite biscuits?”

Steven shook his head.

Ianto resisted the urge to sigh. “What does your mum normally do if there’s a thunderstorm?”

“I...” Steven looked a little embarrassed as he glanced up at Ianto. “She gives me a cuddle and I sleep in with her.”

Ianto smiled and handed him his hot chocolate. “Nothing wrong with that, Steven.”

“It’s babyish,” he said, frowning. “Ianto?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t tell Uncle Jack I’m scared. He’ll think I’m a wimp.”

Ianto sat at the table with him. “I won’t. Do you want to stay up or go back to bed?”

“Can I sleep in with you and Uncle Jack?”

Ianto hesitated, then nodded. “If you want to.”

They drank their hot chocolate in silence, listening to the storm. Steven jumped whenever the thunder sounded, but Ianto chose not to
comment.

An hour later they were back in bed, Steven had wriggled between Ianto and Jack, while Jack slept on obliviously. The storm outside was quieting and, as Ianto struggled to get comfortable with less than a third of the duvet and Steven fidgeting in his sleep, he hoped that the weather would brighten the next day.

III. Mica

Ianto was sat at his desk in the base when Rhiannon called to tell him Mica was being sent home sick from school and asking him to babysit. He glanced over at Jack, who was sat on Riley’s desk loudly voicing his opinion on the other man’s new haircut. It had been a quiet day, and Rhiannon sounded pretty desperate, so he agreed.

Jack hadn’t raised any objections – and Ianto wouldn’t have paid much attention if he had – and so they had gone together to collect Mica from school. Jack threaded his fingers through Ianto’s as they walked through the door and Ianto surprised himself by not pulling away. The school secretary raised an eyebrow as they walked in, and Mica, who was looking quite pale and tearful, perked up at the sight of them.

“That’s my uncle,” she told the secretary, then turned to Ianto. “Are you taking me home?”

Ianto gave her a small, slightly awkward smile. “You’re going to come to our house for a little while.”

Mica frowned. “Where’s Mam?”

“She’s working, sweetheart,” Jack said, stepping forward with a grin. “But she’s going to pick you up later. Uncle Ianto might even make you soup if you ask nicely.”

Mica glanced up at Jack thoughtfully for a moment and then held out her arms to him. He lifted her with ease and she rested her head on his shoulder. Ianto smiled at them and turned to the secretary. “Okay to take her then?”

The secretary nodded. “Just sign her out,” she smiled. “I hope you feel better soon, Mica.”

Mica nodded almost pathetically from her place in Jack’s arms. Ianto followed the two of them out to the car and watched as Jack lifted Mica into the back seat. She buckled her seatbelt and looked at them expectantly. “Can we go now?”

Twenty minutes later Ianto left Mica and Jack snuggled on the sofa watching television and moved to the kitchen to heat some soup. It didn’t take him long to get the soup ready, and when he moved back into the living room Mica had moved from her place on the sofa to sit on Jack’s knee.

She gave her uncle a weak smile as he came through the door. “Jack says I can paint his fingernails once I’ve eaten my soup,” she told him.

Ianto raised an eyebrow. “Does he now?”

Mica nodded. Jack, to Ianto’s bemusement, did too.

“Go on then,” Jack told her, “Sit and eat up. You’ll feel much better.”

Mica was quick to eat the soup, and quicker to get a small bottle of pink nail polish from her schoolbag. Jack, Ianto realised as Mica held his large hand in her small one and painted more of the finger than the nail, had been banking on Mica feeling too groggy to still want to paint his nails once she had finished eating.

To his credit, though, Jack sat and let her attempt to paint each one of his fingernails and didn’t comment on the colour or how difficult it was going to be to get it off before work the next day. Mica soon tired and became even more off target with the nail polish, something that Ianto was thankful for, as he had the sneaking suspicion that he was next.

She settled tiredly into the crook of Jack’s arm and began to doze off, she fought to keep her eyes open as she drifted off, but she was soon sleeping. Ianto laughed quietly at the sight of Jack’s hand as he brought it gently around to rest on Mica’s left shoulder. Jack gave him a half hearted glare before turning his attention to the television.

It was much later, in the early evening, when Rhiannon came to collect Mica, and as his niece hugged him goodbye, Ianto had to admit that babysitting wasn’t always that bad. He watched as Mica turned to hug Jack, and Rhiannon stifled a giggle at the sight of his hands.

“You said thank you to your uncle for looking after you, Mica?”

Mica nodded. “Thank you Uncle Ianto. Thank you Uncle Jack.”

Jack’s startled expression sent a grin creeping across Ianto’s face, one that matched his expression later that night as he snuck up behind Jack in the bathroom while his lover scrubbed furiously at his bright pink fingers. “Enjoy that?” he asked Jack.

“Little girls mask their evil with cute,” Jack said with a frown. Ianto had to agree.

IV. Duncan

Gwen had practically begged them both to babysit her six week old son so that she could have some alone time with Rhys and one decent night’s sleep. Ianto had suggested she ask their parents, but her parents were away on holiday and Gwen would rather stick pins in her eyes than go to Rhys’ parents for babysitting help, so eventually Ianto had caved. Or rather Jack had whispered depraved promises in his ear in exchange for agreeing with Gwen. Ianto later found out that Jack had already told Gwen they’d do it.

It should have been a fairly easy ride for Ianto, really. Jack had some experience with babies and most of what Duncan Williams did was sleep anyway. The only problem was that every time Jack held Duncan, the baby cried.

Ianto, who had little experience of babies, could barely manage a nappy change and was not into the idea of snuggling with an infant was not enjoying his afternoon at all. They’d agreed to have Duncan over night, which would doubtless mean a sleepless night and so far he had cried for a bottle, cried to be changed (twice) and cried for attention, only to cry more when Jack went anywhere near him. The only joy Ianto could take from it all was the look on Jack’s face when his charm failed to impress baby Duncan.

He found himself sat on the sofa with the baby in the crook of his arm, watching the small boy drift off to sleep. Now that he was settled, it was almost enough to make him retract his dislike for babies. He didn’t even hate them, or children, they were just something odd and foreign to him, something he couldn’t quite figure out, but like this, quiet and asleep, they were really quite nice.

That was until Jack sat beside him on the sofa.

Duncan began to howl and Ianto glared at Jack. “Do you actually want to spend the whole night on your own while I try and settle him? Go away for a bit. When he’s asleep I’ll tell you.”

“I don’t get it,” Jack said, standing up as Ianto rocked Duncan in his arms gently, willing him to settle back down. “I’m good with kids normally.”

Ianto rolled his eyes.

“Okay, I’m not bad with kids. I’ve got kids!”

“Kids?” Ianto interjected. “Plural?”

“No,” Jack said. “Not that I know of. But I’ve got a daughter and a grandson and I’ve been around other people’s babies and I’ve never had this reaction before.”

“He probably hates your pheromones.”

“He doesn’t! Does he?”

“I don’t know Jack,” Ianto said, rolling his eyes again. He looked down at Duncan, who was whimpering slightly in Ianto’s arms. “I’m not psychic.”

“I think Rhys has turned him against me,” Jack said, without a hint of humour.

Duncan curled one hand into a tiny fist and pressed it against Ianto’s chest. He seemed to be calming down and Ianto silently willed Jack to stay at a distance. “And why would he do that?”

“Because he thinks I’ll corrupt Duncan because I’m not Welsh.”

“I don’t think that’s why he thinks you’re going to corrupt his son,” Ianto told him. He stood carefully and carried Duncan over to the Moses basket they had put in the corner. He placed the baby into it gently, remembering Rhiannon talking him through putting David to bed when he was fifteen and keen to earn a tenner for babysitting. “Come on,” he said to Jack, “You can’t terrify Duncan from the kitchen.”

He checked that the baby monitor was turned on and then led the way out of the room.

Had that been the only real incident during Duncan’s overnight stay Ianto would probably have not found it such an ordeal, but by the third time they were woken during the night to deal with a crying baby Ianto was prepared to go and get a vasectomy just to make sure that he would never have a baby. He was never entirely certain when Jack was joking and there had once, apparently, been mention of Jack having been pregnant. Babysitting Duncan had definitely convinced Ianto he never wanted children of his own. Babysitting once and a while was one thing, he thought has he changed Duncan’s nappy (there was no point Jack getting up to deal with Duncan’s tears, so Ianto didn’t attempt to wake him) but doing this every single day? No thank you.

He’d stick to Jack and only having the kind of sleepless nights that involved rampant sex.

And One Time They Said No

Ianto had Jack pinned to the bed when his phone rang and he turned to look at his trousers, abandoned on the floor with his mobile chirping out one of those factory settings ringtones from the pocket.

Jack growled. Actually growled. “Ignore it,” he said, and Ianto had to admit it sounded like a good idea to him.

He turned his attention back to Jack, but the phone didn’t let up and eventually he climbed off Jack and padded across the room in his underwear, aware of Jack’s eyes on him as he did so. He fished the phone out of his pocket and glanced at it. Four missed calls. Rhiannon.
He sighed, but made no attempt to call her back and was about to put the phone on the bedside table when it rang again. He answered it reluctantly. “Hello?”

“Ianto!” Rhiannon practically shouted down the phone. “I’ve been calling and calling.”

“I know,” Ianto said, “I’ve been, um, busy.”

“What are you doing? Are you properly busy or just busy with something that doesn’t matter?”

Ianto glanced at Jack, but before he could answer Rhiannon, an arm snaked around his waist and pulled him onto the bed. He yelled out a protest as he tumbled over and was unable to fight his lover as Jack straddled his hips.

“Ianto?” Rhiannon asked. “Are you there?”

“Yes,” Ianto said, fighting to get free. “Yeah, sorry.” He looked up at Jack. “Get off me,” he mouthed.

Jack just laughed, shaking his head.

“Right, well are you busy or not, Ianto?”

“Quite busy,” he mumbled as Jack began tracing kisses across his collarbone.

“Busy doing what?”

“Stuff?” Ianto said weakly. Jack was working hard to prevent any coherent thoughts escaping Ianto’s brain.

“I need you to babysit,” Rhiannon said, and Ianto frowned.

“What?” Jack mouthed down at him.

“Hang on,” Ianto said to Rhiannon, then pressed the phone to his shoulder awkwardly as Jack sat back a little to look at him. “She wants us to babysit.”

Jack shook his head. “No way. I’ve got plans for you, Mr Jones.”

“Well, you can tell her that,” Ianto hissed at him.

Jack wrenched the phone from Ianto’s grasp. “Hello!” He said, too cheerily down the phone. His left hand was moving in circles across Ianto’s chest while he held the phone with his right. “It’s Jack.”

“Really?” Rhiannon said. Jack could feel the Jones eye roll coming at him through the phone.

“I’m sorry, we can’t babysit. I’ve got plans for Ianto tonight.”

“Jack!” Ianto protested at the same time as Rhiannon shouted in surprise.

“Well,” said Rhiannon, “If that’s more important than babysitting then I suppose I can call Johnny’s mum.”

“It is,” Jack said, then stilled his hand and frowned briefly. “I don’t mean that. We love having the kids-”

Ianto pulled a face at that.

“It’s just that I’ve got your brother pinned semi-naked to my bed and I really can’t let him go. He’s grounded. Not allowed out to play.”

“Jack!” Ianto shouted again. “Give me the phone!”

Jack did, laughing.

“Rhiannon, I’m sorry. Jack’s an idiot.”

Jack raised an eyebrow and then, as though suddenly realising he had the use of both hands again, he reconvened his exploration of Ianto’s skin.

“Does,” Rhiannon hesitated. “Does he really have you pinned to the bed? Actually, don’t answer that! I don’t want to know!”

“We haven’t had much downtime alone lately,” Ianto told her. “Work’s been busy and-”

“It’s fine, Ianto, I’ll call Johnny’s mum. You enjoy yourself.”

She hung up then and Ianto wasn’t sure what to think of being told to enjoy himself by his sister, when enjoying himself quite clearly was referring to the fact that his clearly insane boyfriend was happily molesting him while he was on the phone.

“So,” Jack said, pausing in his exploration, “No babysitting?”

“No babysitting,” Ianto told him with a wicked grin. “But I’m pretty sure that you are the one that’s grounded.” He said, before taking advantage of Jack’s puzzlement to flip them over.

Jack was pinned beneath him again in seconds, and Ianto smirked. “No kids tonight, just you and me. And you’re in so much trouble for what you just said to Rhiannon.”

Ianto dropped his head and bit sharply at Jack’s shoulder. Jack groaned and Ianto smirked, leaning back with a leer. He too groaned moments later, though, when Jack’s phone sounded from the bedside table. Ianto picked it up and thrust it into Jack’s hand. “Turn it off,” he nearly whined.

“It’s Alice,” Jack said, apologetically, and gently pushed Ianto from him. Ianto lay on the mattress watching Jack with a frown.

“Hello Dad,” Alice’s voice came down the phone. “How are you?”

“Okay,” Jack ground out as Ianto reached across the bed and began tracing his hand along Jack’s calf.

“I was wondering, I know it’s short notice, but if I drive to Cardiff tonight can you babysit Steven for me? Mike’s got tickets for this Arts Festival tomorrow and I-”

“Sorry, Alice,” Jack said. “No can do.”

“Work?” Alice asked.

Jack gave Ianto a lecherous stare. “Something like that,” he said. “Sorry.”

He hung up before Alice could even respond. “No babysitting,” he said to his lover, before crawling back across the bed, a predatory look on his face. “Just us. And sex. Lots of sex.”

“Sounds good to me,” Ianto said, a smile on his lips as Jack pounced.

He swore loudly ten minutes later when his phone rang again. Jack cursed and leaned over him to look at the caller ID, his left hand not stopping its exploration of Ianto’s body. “It’s Gwen,” he scowled.

“Answer it,” Ianto said, through gritted teeth. “And tell her where to go.”

Jack lifted the phone to his ear. “We’re not babysitting,” he said immediately as he connected the call.

“I wasn’t going to ask you to-” Gwen’s voice protested, but it was silenced as Jack turned the phone off and threw it unceremoniously across
the room.

“Right,” Jack said, “Where was I?”

Ianto smirked up at him. “You were doing things that definitely aren't going to make a child.”

Jack pounced.

Fic: Wonky Cake & Birthday Suits (1/1)

electrictoes — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 19:49:15 GMT

Title: Wonky Cake & Birthday Suits
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Jack/Ianto, Gwen
Rating: PG
Spoilers: There is a thing called Torchwood and people in it named Jack, Ianto & Gwen. If you know that, you're good.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: Gwen wants to know what Ianto did for his birthday...
Note(s): This is a birthday present for the marvellous pinkfairy727. Happy Birthday! Hope you're having a wonderful day! Thanks to erin_giles for reading it over! :)

The Hub was quiet. Not too quiet, not in an unsettling way, just quiet. Not much was happening. Jack was in his office on the phone to the Prime Minister, surprisingly not shouting, and Ianto and Gwen were sat side by side on the sofa in a companionable silence, each with a coffee in their hands.

After some time Gwen broke the silence. "Ianto?" she said.

"Gwen?" Ianto responded, an eyebrow cocked.

"What did you and Jack do for your birthday?"

Ianto stared at her. Really stared. A long, hard, bemused, stare. "What?"

"You know, your birthday, that day you get a little bit older? I gave you a James Bond poster and Rhys baked you that wonky cake."

"I know," Ianto said. "I just don't know why you expected that Jack and I did something for it."

"Well," Gwen said. "You're, you know, a couple."

Ianto laughed at that, but it wasn't bitter or cold, it was just amused. He wasn't quite sure whether the amusement was at Gwen, at the idea that he and Jack were an actual couple or Gwen's belief that that would mean anything in regards to Ianto's birthday which, when you were an alien hunter half-living in an underground base with your immortal boss turned boyfriend, was just another day.

"We came to work," Ianto said, a smile playing on his lips, continuing his amusement. He wasn't even sure where it was coming from.

"I mean after work," Gwen said, impatient.

"Well," Ianto said, sipping his coffee. "We had sex and then we ate Rhys's wonky cake, which was very nice by the way, and then we rounded up some weevils and Jack banged his head on a low doorframe and spent the rest of the night trying to persuade me to shoot him."

Gwen looked horrified. "What?"

"I may have exaggerated that last part. He only asked once."

"You didn't do anything special then?"

Ianto shrugged. "Why would we? It's just another day. We didn't do anything for Jack's last birthday either."

"Jack has a birthday?" Gwen actually sounded shocked.

"Of course he has a birthday," Ianto rolled his eyes. "Even in the fifty first century they have a calendar. I mean, obviously we don't count the years, but he has a birthday."

"When?"

"25th October," Ianto said. "And he likes chocolate cake, if Rhys fancies baking."

"Ianto!" Gwen protested. "Why didn't you tell me?" She swatted him with her hand. "Jack must have thought I was ignoring it."

"I don't think he even noticed," Ianto told her. "Jack barely knows what day of the week it is; if I hadn't been especially nice to him he probably wouldn't have even known it was his birthday."

Gwen frowned at him.

"Anyway, why did you want to know?"

"I was just wondering," she said.

"Were you after gossip?" Ianto asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Maybe," Gwen said, fighting a grin.

"Well," Ianto said, "If you'd just asked..."

Gwen grinned. "Ooh, story to tell?"

"Oh yeah," Ianto smirked. "We went out to dinner on Saturday. That new French place in town-"

"Ooh, I've been begging Rhys to take me there. What's the food like?"

"No idea," Ianto said, rolling his eyes at the interruption. "We got chucked out before we'd made it through our starters."

"Ianto!" Gwen couldn't fight her laughter. "What happened?"

"It was Jack's fault!" Ianto protested, his free hand held up in defence. "Honestly."

"Well," Gwen said. "That's not really surprising, is it?"

"What Ianto didn't say," Jack's voice came from behind Gwen and they both turned to see him standing beside the sofa, "is that he was the one with hands where the manager thought they shouldn't have been."

Gwen looked wide eyed from Jack to Ianto, a blush was creeping up Ianto's neck, while a grin filled Jack's face.

"Ianto," Gwen said, looking dazed, "You?"

"Jack was wearing a suit," Ianto protested. "A suit! An actual suit! What was I supposed to do?"

"Contain yourself?" Gwen suggested. She looked at Jack. "A suit?"

"A belated birthday present," Jack told her. He smiled at Ianto. "We missed our reservation on his actual birthday; Saturday was the first day I could get us in, even with Torchwood."

Gwen's eyes widened further as she looked at Ianto. "You said-"

Ianto shrugged. "It is just another day."

"Jack wore a suit," Gwen exclaimed. "A suit!"

Ianto nodded. "I know. He didn't even wear his coat."

"That's information I need to know," she protested. "Did you take pictures?"

"Of course," Ianto said, a small frown on his face. How inefficient did she think he was?

Gwen leaned forward. "Can I see them?"

"What's so exciting about me in a suit?" Jack asked. "I wear suits. I've worn suits."

Neither Ianto nor Gwen acknowledged him, Ianto rifling in his pocket for his phone while Gwen waited impatiently for the pictures.

A moment later, Gwen's mouth was slightly agape and Jack, arms folded across his chest, was frowning at the two of them.

"Well," Gwen said, looking away from the phone. "What I really want to know is what are you going to wear on Jack's birthday?"

Fic Commentary: As Long As I Have Ch.14

electrictoes — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 20:26:09 GMT

As requested by ally_p_x ... a commentary for Chapter 14 of As Long As I Have.

tazza_di_jo and I wrote this together over MSN, so it's got a bit of bouncing off each other rather than just me rambling on. Enjoy!

tazza_di_jo: Yoooooooooooooooo!
electrictoes: Hello Faithful Reader! Or whatever.
electrictoes: Are you starting the commentary like that? Is that really how you want to go?
tazza_di_jo: Haha look at you being all Tennant-y
electrictoes: I know, I'm just that cool.
electrictoes: Right! This is chapter um... I forgot?
electrictoes: 14?
electrictoes: Fourteen! Yes!
tazza_di_jo: I think
electrictoes: Let me find it.
electrictoes: Right! Chapter 14 of As Long As I Have
electrictoes: This is the one that Jack & Ianto argued about the cleaning lady in the plan of!
tazza_di_jo: Oh yeah!!
tazza_di_jo: you posted it a year ago
tazza_di_jo: almost TO THE DAY
tazza_di_jo: wow
electrictoes: That's quite scary.
electrictoes: I did! Because I posted it before we left for our first Hub.
tazza_di_jo: HUUB!
electrictoes: I was just thinking how this one came about. We were going to do the whole living together thing in chapter 13.
electrictoes: When Jack's talking about playing house
tazza_di_jo: oooh yes
electrictoes: But it got out of hand a bit.
electrictoes: Shall we start?
tazza_di_jo: Lead on!

Jack called Huw just after eight to give him Ianto’s address and, kissing his sleepy lover, raced down the stairs two at a time. He put bread in the toaster and got out butter and jam, but didn’t dare risk touching the coffeemaker. Ianto joined him just as the toast popped, rubbing his hand in circles on Jack’s lower back as he reached past him for coffee mugs. He mumbled a greeting and Jack caught his lips in a quick kiss before releasing him to make the coffee.
After breakfast Jack showered while Ianto shaved and they brushed their teeth side by side, Jack trying to work his free hand into a wriggling Ianto’s underwear all the while. They dressed in companionable silence, Jack choosing Ianto’s tie, Ianto swapping Jack’s red braces for grey ones.

electrictoes: This is domestic Janto.
electrictoes: I put in that red braces for grey ones thing because I dislike Jack's red braces.
tazza_di_jo: I think we had a conversation about that? the domestic bit I mean to show them moving around each other completely unaware of how seamless they are
electrictoes: I think we did.

Ianto made the bed while Jack tried to coax him back into it. Jack did his hair in the bedroom mirror while Ianto polished his shoes. They shared a long, leisurely kiss in the bedroom doorway before making their way down the stairs just as the doorbell rang. Ianto answered it while Jack went in search of socks.
Huw and Riley waited in the living room while Jack laced up his boots and Ianto handed him his coat. They said a brief goodbye, not stopping for a kiss, and Jack made his way out of the door.
Huw followed awkwardly, turning to Jack. “I didn’t know you and Ianto lived together.”
“We don’t. It’s a temporary arrangement.”

electrictoes: This was the original thing. We were originally only going to have this Jack/Huw interaction about it.
tazza_di_jo: Were we?
tazza_di_jo: I'm glad we put that scene in though
electrictoes: We were. I also love that Jack doesn't know where his socks are.
tazza_di_jo: I kind of picture Huw and Riley just sort of standing there and watching them move about like
electrictoes: Maybe less gaping and more just observing. I don't know.
tazza_di_jo: not gaping really, but like, eyes following them around?
electrictoes: Probably.

Ianto offered Riley a coffee as he sent a text to Gwen to tell her where they would meet her. As he turned on the coffeemaker, shoving aside the personnel files Jack had abandoned there last night, Riley gave him a long look. “I didn’t realise you and Jack lived together,” he said, glancing around the room and noting the two coffee cups in the sink, the two plates on the side.
“Oh, we don’t. It’s a temporary thing.”

electrictoes: This bit took AGES.
electrictoes: Because we couldn't think of something Jack-ish enough to leave in the kitchen to make it obvious.
tazza_di_jo: oh yeah!
electrictoes: We're like 'braces!' for ages, but it sounded weird.
tazza_di_jo: We thought about old records for a bit?
electrictoes: It's like that bit in one of the earlier chapters when Alice is figuring out he's living there.
electrictoes: The records are in the other chapter too. That was what we settled on. Then David broke one.
tazza_di_jo: maybe that was the records one. wow I’m bad at this!
electrictoes: It's been a year.

Jack and Huw abandoned their tail just after five. They weren’t learning anything and Jack’s mind kept wandering. The house was empty when he got back and he had just flicked on the kettle when his mobile rang. He reached for it without looking at the caller ID, expecting it to be Ianto. “Hello?”
“Dad. It’s me.” Jack smiled into the phone at the sound of Alice’s voice.

electrictoes: This whole section was your idea. You can be given some sort of award for it if you want.
tazza_di_jo: eeeeeeee!!
tazza_di_jo: well, I get to do a commentary on a fic I didn't actually write
electrictoes: But you helped. A lot.

“Alice! Is everything okay? How’s Steven?”
“We’re all fine. I was just wondering when would be a good time to come and visit?”
“Anytime. You let me know and I’ll clear my schedule.” He opened the kitchen cupboard and reached for a mug, but he stopped himself as his fingers curled around the china. It was a bright blue mug with an aeroplane and Ianto had bought him it, laughing, a few days ago, when they’d gone out for coffee and come back with half of Tesco.
“Steven’s been bending my ear about seeing you for days.”

electrictoes: THE AEROPLANE MUG. Was that your idea?
tazza_di_jo: I WAS JUST THINKING THE SAME ABOUT YOU!
tazza_di_jo: I think it was Gwen's idea? Maybe?
electrictoes: Could have been.
tazza_di_jo: Something she mentioned in passing and we were like 'WE CAN PUT IT IN ALAIH!'
electrictoes: For the faithful reader that's rickman_101, not Gwen from Torchwood Gwen. Oh that's confusing.

“Mm?” He murmured, still staring at the mug. It was so... domestic. He let go of the mug and pulled his hand back as though it had burned him.
“He’s desperate to see you both. He keeps talking about a rugby game Ianto mentioned he would take him to. Do you know when that is?”
“That’s fine, Alice,” he said, distractedly.
“Dad, there’s an alien in my living room.” He closed the cupboard and leant back against the kitchen counter, a frown on his face.
“That’s good.”
“Dad? Are you okay?”
It dawned on him then. “I think I accidentally moved in with Ianto.”

electrictoes: That's one of my favourite lines I've ever written. My other favourite is Ianto's in the next bit.
tazza_di_jo: they are quite awesome

“What? I thought you did live there. Your stuff is everywhere.”
“Is it? I... didn’t realise. I didn’t meant to...”
Alice laughed and Jack frowned again. “Oh, Dad, you’re ridiculous.”
“What? Why?”
“It’s obvious to everyone except you that you two live together. Have you really only just noticed?”
The frown on Jack’s face was becoming more prominent. “Yes.”
Alice’s voice was quiet, as though she was talking to very small, very slow, child. “Do you want to live with him?”
Jack paused, thinking it over. “Yes... yes I do.”
“Then what’re you fussing about?”

electrictoes: Do you know how often I write Jack like a 'very small, very slow, child'?
tazza_di_jo: Quite often Babysitting Aid comes to mind
electrictoes: The Morning After has that 'Part of his brain considered Jack to be five' or something.
tazza_di_jo: yep

Having made no progress on the base finding, Ianto and Gwen sent Riley home just before six. Ianto leant back in his seat in the coffee shop they had congregated in, expecting Gwen to make a move. She didn’t. “Ianto?”
“Mm?”
She leaned towards him, taking his hand gently. “Is something wrong? You and Jack haven’t had a row, have you?”
“What? No. What makes you think that?”
“You’ve been a bit... off today.” She gave him a small smile. “Do you want to talk about it?”

electrictoes: Base finding! We hadn't even decided where the base was going to be at this point.
tazza_di_jo: Hahaha yes faithful reader, we kept going on about how WE NEEDED A BASE!
electrictoes: I think we decided on the base in about December. This was written in September, I started in July so you can see how that went.
tazza_di_jo: Ooh we did didn't we? And then I sort of scoped it out when I next went to Cardiff to find a way they could actually get IN there without having to pay a ticket every time
electrictoes: Yes! Which is totally the real reason that I didn't finish ch25 for ages.
tazza_di_jo: Sure, sure, blame me!
electrictoes: And this is BFF Ianto & Gwen, because there's not enough of that.
tazza_di_jo: MORE BFF IANTO/GWEN (yes, Janto shippers that like Gwen, oh my!)
electrictoes: Oh my, indeed!
electrictoes: And this is BFF Ianto & Gwen, because there's not enough of that.
I'll write more BFF Ianto & Gwen if you're good.

Sometimes Gwen’s persistence and habit of interfering drove him mad, but other days he saw it as a godsend, an opportunity to get things off his chest, especially things concerning Jack that he wasn’t ready to discuss with his lover just yet. He nodded and she gave him a look, encouraging him to continue.
“I think Jack moved in with me while I wasn’t paying attention.”

electrictoes: THAT'S my favourite line I've ever written, by the way, faithful reader.
tazza_di_jo: Admire the awesome!
electrictoes: Thank you. I think.

Gwen laughed at him, exploding into giggles that he half thought might be some sort of pregnancy induced fit. She patted him on the shoulder. “Oh, Ianto.”
He gave her a look. “What?”
“Of course Jack’s moved in with you. Everything he owns is at your house. His family came to stay with you, he makes you dinner, or at least, he tries to. He’s been living with you for a while, sweetheart.”
“He didn’t have anywhere else to go-” Ianto started, but Gwen cut him off.
“He’s been practically living with you since well before we lost the Hub, Ianto. You two have been playing house for months.”
Ianto blinked. “Have we?”
“Yes,” Gwen insisted, shaking her head at him. “Do you want Jack to live with you?”
He shrugged. “I... it’s nice. I like having him there.”
“Well then, what’re you complaining about? Go home to your man. Cook him dinner and make him do the dishes,” she said with a smile, kissing his cheek. “And stop frowning; it’s not a good look.”

electrictoes: I actually lie in that line. Ianto totally still looks good frowning.
tazza_di_jo: He so does

Jack was on the sofa when Ianto got home. He kicked off his shoes at the door and joined his lover. They lay together watching the news for a few minutes before either of them spoke. Jack turned to Ianto just as Ianto turned to Jack and they both spoke at once.
“So, Ianto-”
“Jack, I-”
They laughed and Jack rubbed at Ianto’s shoulder. “You first.”
“I was just... uh,” he swallowed. “You’ve sort of, moved in...”
Jack paused for a moment. “...I have.”
Ianto watched him carefully, resting his head against the back of the sofa. “And you, um, kind of, live here, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“So...”
“So?”
“Err...” He didn’t know where he was going with this, he just wanted to know if Jack had noticed, and clearly he had. He swallowed again. “Um, I don’t mind.”
“You don’t?” Jack asked, and Ianto wondered if Jack was expecting to be told to get a place of his own sometime soon.
“I don’t. I... quite like the idea.”
“Yeah?” Jack smiled. “Me too.”

electrictoes: THEY'RE SO AWKWARD.
tazza_di_jo: OHBOYS! *SQUISH*
tazza_di_jo: They may be awkward, but I love that there's no freak-out, just... 'er, so, yes. This is it'
electrictoes: I think I edited a lot of freak out before I sent you it. I had an OMGTHEY'REOOCFML moment with this chapter.
electrictoes: When we were talking about this section, that's when the cleaning lady happened
tazza_di_jo: ooooooooh
electrictoes: THAT WAS tazza_di_jo's FAULT FOR THE RECORD
tazza_di_jo: LIES. VICIOUS LIES!
electrictoes: It was her idea. That Jack would suggest a cleaning lady and Ianto'd be like NOOOOO
electrictoes: I have proof.
tazza_di_jo: CIRCUMSTANTIAL.
electrictoes: Then I started talking about them shagging, which I think was the route I went down in the end. Shall we continue and find out?
tazza_di_jo: yay!
tazza_di_jo: er, that was meant to be 'YES!'
tazza_di_jo: I don't know what happened
electrictoes: Perv.
tazza_di_jo: I miss them
electrictoes: DON'T GET SAD NOW, YOU'LL KILL THE MOMENTUM.
tazza_di_jo: *throws confetti*

Their lips met in a soft kiss and Ianto let his head loll against Jack’s shoulder for a moment. “What were you going to say?”
“I was just going to, err, tell you that I appear to have... well, moved in.” He put an arm around Ianto and began tracing circles on his lover’s shoulder.
“I noticed.”
“Yeah...”
“I didn’t notice until this morning,” Ianto told him honestly, and Jack gave him a grin.
“No, me neither.”
“I don’t think this is how most...” He paused, stumbling over the right word to use, “Most people in, err, relationships go about moving in together.”
Jack kissed the side of his head. “Especially not people who can’t say couple,” he said, half-teasingly.
“I can say it,” Ianto told him, giving him a stern prod in the chest. “We are a couple, we established that. But you don’t like it.”
“I don’t know about that,” Jack said, pulling him closer. “It’s starting to grow on me.” He smiled. “Ianto, we live together.”
“We do.”
“Does that mean we get to have fights about who left the toilet seat up and who does the dishes?”
Ianto laughed. “It doesn’t really matter if we leave the toilet seat up. And you’re doing the dishes.”
Jack joined in with the laughter, raking his fingers through Ianto’s hair. “I’ve never really done this before. Not properly...”
“What? Lived with someone?”

tazza_di_jo: I love this bit
electrictoes: Thank you. I do too, kind of. Is that arrogant?
tazza_di_jo: Nope!
electrictoes: Oh good.
tazza_di_jo: It's your baby after all
tazza_di_jo: Longest fic you've ever written?
electrictoes: Yep. And it took long enough as well.
tazza_di_jo: And it all started as therapy and you didn't want to ever post it!
electrictoes: I didn't! I had it all handwritten.
electrictoes: You made me post it.
tazza_di_jo: I did
tazza_di_jo: You can thank me, Faithful Reader
electrictoes: And... I think some of it is still on my dad's laptop, how worrying is that?
electrictoes: Mine blew up after CoE.
tazza_di_jo: I remember that
tazza_di_jo: electrictoes-lessness
electrictoes: Not, err, because of CoE. That's not what happened.
electrictoes: It technically was broken before. We had it hooked up to another monitor because I insisted on waiting until after CoE. But that's another story.

“Well, yeah. I’ve... lived places. And with people, but not for years. The last time I did that was with Alice’s mum and... it didn’t work, it was a bad idea from the off, living together. I’ve lived in houses since, dozens of them, I haven’t actually lived in the Hub for that long... but it’s been a long time since I’ve lived anywhere else,” he shuffled slightly, making them both more comfortable, and Ianto wondered if Jack was about to bare his soul. He didn’t expect that he was. “It’s been even longer since anywhere felt like home.”

tazza_di_jo: I like that we have our own personal canon of what happened with Lucia, even though it doesn't make it into the fic, it peeks up in moments like this
electrictoes: We wrote out that whole timeline. I think I've still got it somewhere.

“And... does this feel like home?
Jack nodded. “It feels right. Coming home to you at the end of the day, that’s what I want.” The hand in Ianto’s hair stilled and Jack ducked his head, pressing it into the crook of Ianto’s neck.
“I’m glad.”
“Do you mind? I didn’t ask, I didn’t even realise.”
“No,” Ianto told him honesty. “I want to come home to you at the end of the day, too, properly. Our home.”
Jack smiled and they lay together for a few minutes in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Ianto moved tilted his head as Jack’s lips found the skin on his neck. He smiled.
“So... this is home then? You and me in a three bedroomed house in Cathays?”
“Yeah,” Jack whispered into Ianto’s skin. “Home.”

electrictoes: I had to get, I think tiggerbrasilf, to look up where Ianto lived in the Torchwood archives for that bit.
tazza_di_jo: WE HAD THEM LIVE IN CATHAYS
tazza_di_jo: WE LIVE IN CATHAYS
tazza_di_jo: NOW
electrictoes: WE DID. DON'T TELL ALL OF LIVEJOURNAL WHERE WE LIVE.
tazza_di_jo: Cathays is a big place
electrictoes: If we get stalkers I'm blaming you.
tazza_di_jo: ...are we interesting enough for stalkers?
electrictoes: I totes am. Maybe. Or not.
electrictoes: Yes, Faithful Reader, tazza_di_jo and I live in the same flat now. We're writing this commentary while in the same building, which is odd.
tazza_di_jo: ...we're each in our own room?
electrictoes: ...that makes it weirder.
electrictoes: That's the end of the fic too, by the way.
tazza_di_jo: Aw.
tazza_di_jo:...moar?
electrictoes: There is no more!
electrictoes: If you want more commentary, Faithful Reader, then, err, pick a chapter?
tazza_di_jo: I love that 'coming home' bit
tazza_di_jo: Romance needs no 'iloveyous'
tazza_di_jo: although they can be nice
electrictoes: I think you persuaded me to keep it in, actually. I think I was going AAAH OOC.
tazza_di_jo: IT IS NOT. THEY SAY I LOVE YOU WHILE BEING AWKWARD MANLY MEN!
tazza_di_jo: And for Jack, wanderer that he is, to feel home... I thought it was momentous
tazza_di_jo: look at me, using words with three syllables
electrictoes: I'm so impressed.
electrictoes: Right! We're babbling.
tazza_di_jo: We tend to do that
electrictoes: Thanks for reading our ramblings. If you want more then request it on the click link-y thing I'll put at the bottom

Commentary request post - request! Go on!
Original post of As Long As I Have (Chapter 14)

Fic: Every Little Helps (1/1)

electrictoes — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 19:33:59 GMT

Title: Every Little Helps
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Jack/Ianto
Rating: PG-13, to be on the safe side.
Spoilers: None past s2.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: "I'm not breaking up with you in Tesco."
Note(s): Thank you to pinkfairy727, tazza_di_jo, ally_p_x, & captains_girl for the help & the betas. Title is from the Tesco tagline, as David Tennant will tell you here.

Jack sighed and leaned forward on the trolley he was pushing. “I just think... whatever it is that’s bothering you, we should talk about it.”

Ianto threw a box of cereal into the trolley. “And I’m just saying I don’t think we should have this conversation now.”

“Why not?” Jack asked, pulling the trolley to a halt.

“Because,” Ianto said exasperatedly, “I don’t want to talk about it here.”

Jack had been pushing Ianto to tell him what was bothering him since they’d left the Hub half an hour before, and it didn’t seem like he was going to take no for an answer.

“If something’s up, then you should just say it.”

“I don’t want to say it now, Jack!” Ianto shouted, stopping at the end of the aisle. “I’m not going to do this now,” he hissed, realising that people around them had stopped too, and were staring. “I’m not breaking up with you in Tesco.”

“Not breaking...” Jack let the trolley go. It moved forward a little and then stopped of its own accord halfway between the two of them. “What? You’re breaking up with me?”

“No,” Ianto sighed, running a hand through his hair. “No, I’m not breaking up with you...” He sighed. “I just...” He walked forward and took hold of the trolley. “Come on. We’ll talk about it later.”

Ianto turned the trolley and moved around the corner, stopping when he noticed Jack wasn’t following him. He abandoned the trolley and walked back. There were a few other customers hovering, trying to look like they weren’t being nosy and he sighed, walking towards Jack, who still hadn’t moved. “Jack.”

“If you’re going to break up with me, Ianto, why wait until we get home?” Jack asked, and the words sounded odd to Ianto’s ears. Jack talking about break ups and home and sounding hurt. Ianto had never thought any of this meant as much to him as it had to Ianto and it jarred with him.

“I’m not going to break up with you, Jack.”

Jack didn’t look convinced and Ianto reached out for his hand, tugging him forward. “We just need to...” Ianto shrugged. “Later.”

“Ianto,” Jack frowned, “What is it?”

Ianto shook his head. “Not here, Jack. Please.”

Jack leaned forward for a kiss. Ianto supposed it was meant to be a reassurance, but he ducked away. He still wasn’t wholly comfortable with public displays of affection, still wasn’t quite used to being with a man. He didn’t really think of it in those terms most of the time, because it was Jack, and all the other rules went out of the window with him, but sometimes it caught him off guard and he couldn’t deal with being thought of as a gay man, not yet, not even by strangers.

Jack followed him back to their trolley and they finished their shopping in silence. Jack looked miserable, and Ianto couldn’t blame him; he needed to learn to keep his mouth shut. He hadn’t wanted to say anything until they got home.

The queue at the checkout was long and Ianto knew Jack would get bored long before they reached the front, but he didn’t want to send him back to the car; not when he’d already upset him once. He glanced around them before slipping his hand into Jack’s.

Jack looked up, surprised. “You okay?”

Ianto nodded. “Sorry. I didn’t want to... until we got home...”

“I was pushing you. I need to learn to be patient.”

“That’s likely,” Ianto said, with a half-hearted smile.

“I have done something though, haven’t I?” Jack said, his voice quiet, his eyes fixed to Ianto’s. “That’s what all this is about. But whatever it is, I...”

Ianto sighed. The conversation would be better off waiting until they got home, but Jack wanted it now and it looked as though they wouldn’t be getting home for at least another hour. “You’re always there,” he said, eventually.

“What?” Jack blinked, confusion obvious on his face.

“We work together and if I don’t stay overnight you come home with me. We’re doing the shopping together. On Sundays we go out places... I see you all the time.”

“Is that what’s bothering you? You want some time alone?” Jack’s eyebrows had knitted together in his confusion. “You could’ve just said.”

“No,” Ianto told him. “It’s not that.”

“Then what?”

The queue moved forward a little and Ianto pulled his hand away to move the trolley forward.

“Ianto?” Jack pressed when they stopped.

“We’re always together and when we’re not together we’re texting each other or we’re on the phone or on the comms and you’re still so oblivious, Jack.”

“I’m not following.”

Ianto scoffed. “Well, you wouldn’t.” He sighed at the look on Jack’s face. “I’m sorry, it’s just... you have no idea how I feel, and I have no chance of figuring out how you feel.”

Jack frowned. “You know how I feel.”

“No,” Ianto told him. “No, I don’t. Every time I think I’ve figured it out, you go and snog a witness or dance with Gwen and then I think I’ve worked it out again, but then you look at me like you can’t see anything else and I’m back to square one.”

“I only kissed that witness because-” Jack started to protest, but trailed off when he spotted Ianto’s expression.

“It’s not about the witness, Jack,” Ianto told him, honestly. He moved the trolley forward a little further, but his eyes were fixed to Jack. “It’s not about you flirting with anything that moves and it’s not about that bloke I know you shagged last week and it’s not even about Gwen and how she says jump and even though you refuse to say how high, your eyes light up like she’s completely magic,” Ianto let out a breath. “It’s about how you never tell me what you feel. I don’t want some big declaration, but I’d like to know where I stand before it’s too late.”

Jack stared at him, but said nothing. The queue moved again and, as they reached the checkout, Ianto began to unload the trolley while Jack stared at him in silence. He had nearly emptied out all of their shopping by the time Jack spoke.

“I didn’t sleep with that guy last week,” he said, his voice quiet.

Ianto silently seethed and turned to look at Jack. “I don’t want to have this conversation right now.”

“Ianto-”

Ianto silenced Jack with a look and Jack, to his credit it, pushed no more. He helped Ianto pack up their shopping once they’d paid and walked to the SUV with him in an uncomfortable silence. They were in the car and pulling out of the car park before Jack said a word.

“What did you mean,” he asked, “before it’s too late?”

Ianto stared out the window, pointedly not looking at Jack. “You don’t want me to answer that.”

“Tell me,” Jack told him, his voice quiet and reassuringly soft. “Talk me through what’s going on. I want to hear it.”

Ianto was never going to figure Jack out, he knew that. He slowly turned to look over at his lover. “I... I meant,” he swallowed. “Before... before it’ll hurt too much to let you go. Before I fall in love with you.”

“Oh,” Jack said, like it wasn’t the answer he had expected. Ianto turned back to the window; he had known mentioning love would be too much for Jack to deal with, but he had asked.

“When did you...” Jack trailed off, before trying again. “When did you realise that... you might be getting close to... to falling in love?”

“At Gwen’s wedding,” Ianto told him, there was no point lying, not now that it was out in the open. “You were dancing with her and I...”

“You were jealous,” Jack said, not bothering to conceal his smile.

Ianto shrugged. “Mm.”

“You don’t have to be,” Jack said. “I don’t want Gwen.”

Ianto didn’t know what to say to that and so they sat in silence a little longer, Jack guiding the car through the slow moving traffic.

“So, you were jealous of Gwen and that’s when you realised?”

Ianto shrugged. “I felt... I felt like she didn’t have,” he hesitated, “like she didn’t have the right to be... like you’re mine, and I know that you’re not anyone’s and that you don’t want to be tied down but I felt like-”

Jack raised his hand to cut Ianto off mid-flow. Ianto frowned, but Jack just dropped his hand and rested it on Ianto’s thigh. “I am yours, you can feel like that.”

“I...” Ianto wasn’t sure what to say. He wasn’t quite sure he believed Jack, but he didn’t want to push it. He leaned back in his chair and let his hand creep forward, resting over Jack’s.

“I feel like you’re mine,” Jack said, “if that helps.”

It did, but Ianto wasn’t going to tell him that.

Jack drummed the fingers of his free hand on the steering wheel and moved the car forward a few more inches. “I know I’m not easy to put up with,” he said. Ianto didn’t move his head; he didn’t want to see Jack’s expression, just in case he didn’t look as sincere as he sounded. “But I am yours. And I know that you know that one day I’ll be someone else’s, but right now I’m with you, Ianto, and I don’t want anyone else.”

“Until the Doctor shows up,” Ianto muttered, a little more bitterly than he had intended.

“No,” Jack said sharply. He tugged his hand away and returned it to the steering wheel. “I want you. And yeah, sometimes the Doctor’s going to show up and need me for something; immortal men aren’t easy to come by, sometimes he needs help-”

“Needs to use you, you mean.”

“We’re not getting into that, Ianto.” Jack snapped. He sighed. “There are going to be times that I have to leave, but I promise to come back... and that’s the best I can give you.”

The traffic moved forward and Jack took the car with it.

“I know that’s not enough,” he said, his voice softer now. “But I’m giving you what I can.”

“I know,” Ianto told him. “I don’t want more.”

“Do you feel like you know where you stand now?” Jack asked.

“Yeah,” Ianto told him. If Jack was being honest, and it sounded like he was, then Ianto did.

“Good.”

There was silence for a few minutes. The car crept forward another three foot before Jack turned back to Ianto. “Want to return the favour, then?”

“What?”

“You’re not exactly an open book, Ianto.” Jack said, his hand coming back Ianto’s thigh. “You’ve never told me what you feel.”

“I thought it was obvious.”

Jack laughed. “What? Obvious? Ianto, any time we get close to talking about how we feel you change the subject.”

Ianto sat up a little, lacing his finger through Jack’s. “I didn’t think feelings were something you wanted to discuss.”

“Because I’m not a girl?” Jack asked, an eyebrow cocked. “Or because I’m me?”

Ianto shrugged. “Both.”

Jack laughed again. “So?”

“So?”

“Want to fill me in?” Jack was smiling at him, but there was something cautious about it. “All I know is that you think I’m hot.” He paused. “And that you might be close to falling in love with me, and you don’t want me to shag Gwen or anyone else.” He grinned at Ianto. “And I haven’t, for the record. Not even that guy last week.”

“Mm,” Ianto said. “That’s probably right.” He kicked his feet a little, nervous. “I’m probably already in love with you, but I try not to think about it,” Ianto said honestly.

Jack turned his eyes back to the road. He kept their fingers intertwined until he needed both hands for driving. Ianto watched him, trying to figure out what he was thinking. Jack didn’t turn back to him until they got caught at a set of traffic lights ten minutes later.

“Is it that scary?” Jack asked.

“What?”

“The thought of being in love with me.”

Ianto gave a small, hollow laugh. “You’re joking, right?”

Jack raised an eyebrow but didn’t speak. The lights changed amber and Jack looked away until traffic began to move again. It gave Ianto enough time to plan out his next words.

“It’s terrifying, Jack,” he said quietly. “You have no idea how scary being in love with you is going to be for me.”

“I didn’t think I was that difficult to love. People don’t generally have a problem with it.”

“Oh, you’re easy to love Jack. But loving someone and being in love with them, that’s the difference. Loving you how Gwen loves you, how Owen and Tosh loved you, that wasn’t scary, that’s just you, but this...”

“What?”

“It’s just harder. I can’t explain it. I’ve barely got my head around being with a man, never mind being in love with one.”

Jack nodded. “Okay.”

“What?” Ianto frowned at him.

“Just okay. I get it Ianto, you need time to figure it all out. You know how I feel now, and I’ve got an idea what you’re thinking, and when it’s all figured out you can let me know.”

“Jack-”

“We’re home,” Jack said, silencing him as he pulled the car into Ianto’s driveway.

Home. And that was the heart of it really, because however confused Ianto was feeling, Jack had it all figured out just fine. Jack had worked out long before Ianto had that this was home and they were a something, a thing, not just Jack and Ianto shagging like the world was ending, but actually a thing, like A Couple. While Ianto had been trying to find his place in Jack’s world, and spent all of his time thinking that this was just a passing fancy for Jack, Jack had been thinking that this was home, that he was Ianto’s and that they were a something.

Commentary Meme - Again!

electrictoes — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 19:50:00 GMT

I like doing this, ally_p_x said she'd like me to, and I have too much free time on my hands.

In the comments, you request a one-shot fic or a single chapter of a longer fic for me to do a DVD-style commentary on. Then I yammer in italics in between paragraphs about what I wrote, why, how, etc....

My masterlist is here & should be up to date. Pick any fic/chapter you like!

Fic: Tuesday; Coffee. Cake. (1/1)

electrictoes — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 18:54:33 GMT

Title: Tuesday; Coffee. Cake.
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Jack/Ianto, Gwen.
Rating: PG-13, to be on the safe side.
Spoilers: None past S2.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: Tuesday afternoons were coffee and cake time. Pure fluff.
Note(s): Written for pinkfairy727 as a thank you for being so wonderfully awesome. Thanks to jooles34 for the beta, erin_giles for help with the prompt & tazza_di_jo for reading it over.

Tuesday afternoons were coffee and cake time. It was a sort of unspoken arrangement. Most of the arrangements that existed between Jack and Ianto were unspoken, but this one was different. It had started way back, before they had even begun sleeping together. Shortly after Ianto’s return from suspension he had received a note summoning him to Jack’s office and requesting coffee. After arriving he had quickly realised that the coffee meeting was Jack’s attempt to make Ianto feel included, integrated and cared about. He was checking up on him, and even though part of him felt pitied, Ianto was still pleased to know that Jack was taking something of an interest in him.

Ianto hadn’t quite expected that initial interest to develop into this, but who was he to complain when it was making him happier than he’d been in a long time; certainly happier than he had expected he would ever be after Canary Wharf and Lisa and his life falling apart. But Jack’s interest had developed and, when he returned from his trip with the Doctor, Tuesday afternoons had remained a tradition. Jack provided the cake and Ianto, as always, provided the coffee.

But these days Tuesday afternoons weren’t about checking up on each other, it was just about having some time to themselves; just Jack and Ianto, no one else, nothing else. It wasn’t that they never spent time alone together outside of those afternoon tea (coffee-and-cake) parties it was just a different kind of time together. As long as the world didn’t end – and serious crises did seem to generally avoid Tuesdays – they could enjoy a little bit of time just to... do nothing.

Jack always chose the fanciest cakes; the kind with far too much cream and swirls and sprinkles and sugar. Ianto chose a different coffee each week, the more exotic the better. Gwen thought Tuesday afternoons were some sort of secret shag session and usually made herself busy somewhere that wasn’t the Hub.

This particular Tuesday had followed a Monday (they tended to do that) which had been difficult to say the least. They had stumbled into separate beds some time after three in the morning and Jack had forbidden both Ianto and Gwen from putting in an appearance at the Hub before midday. Ianto had arrived at eight.

After a morning spent asleep in Jack’s bed - without Jack, no matter how much they twisted and bent that bed was never, ever going to be big enough for two grown men - Ianto had climbed the ladder to the smell of burning. Jack appeared in the door of his office looking slightly panicked..

“Oh,” was all he said.

“Oh?”

Jack flashed him a bright Captain Jack Harkness grin that Ianto could see through without trying. “I didn’t realise you were awake.”

“What’s burning?” Ianto asked, running a hand through his sleep tousled hair.

“Nothing,” Jack said, failing to look innocent. He hadn’t moved from the doorway.

“Jack.”

“I...” Jack grimaced. “I’ll buy you a new coffee machine?”

Ianto frowned. “What’ve you done?”

“Well, it’s Tuesday and we’ve had a hard week and so I thought I’d bring the coffee and cake to you. That is, um, coffee cake...”

“Please tell me you didn’t try to make the coffee cake yourself?”

Jack grinned. “I didn’t try to make the coffee cake myself.”

Ianto closed his eyes, looking slightly pained. “Thanks for trying.”

“The recipe said to make coffee first and I figured I could cope with that...” He trailed off, looking sorry for himself.

Ianto opened his eyes again and gave Jack a weak smile. He couldn’t deny that the effort had been there and the fact that Tuesday coffee and cake wasn’t quite so unspoken anymore had done something odd to Ianto’s insides that he didn’t really want to think about. Probably a better sort of something than Jack’s cake would do.

“Shall we go to a café for coffee and cake?”

“Might be an idea. Or we could go for ice cream?”

“No thank you,” Ianto frowned. “Ice cream gives me a headache worse than you touching the coffee machine does. Just... let me get dressed.”

Jack gave Ianto an appraising look and finally crossed the room, making a beeline for him. Before Jack had reached Ianto the office door opened and Gwen stood in the doorway. “Jack? What’s that burning smell-” She stopped. “Oh. Bugger. It’s Tuesday. I’ll go write that report on the thing that came through from the-”

Ianto cut her off. “We’re going out for coffee and cake. Jack’s buying. Fancy it?”

Gwen shook her head. “No thanks, I’ve got things I should do. You go and I’ll see you later.”

Ianto nodded. “We’ll bring you back some coffee. Jack had an accident with the coffee machine.”

Gwen shared Ianto’s pained expression. “You can always bring me some cake too,” she said, “As long as Jack isn’t making it.”

Fic: The Morning After

electrictoes — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 18:42:28 GMT

Title: The Morning After
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Jack/Ianto, Rhiannon, Mica
Rating: PG-13, to be on the safe side.
Spoilers: Character only for CoE, otherwise AU.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: Sequel to Babysitting Aid. Rhiannon's at the door & Jack's in Ianto's bed.
Note(s): Thanks to tazza_di_jo, aranellaurelote and ally_p_x for all of their help. This fic's taken an absolute beating. It's nearly a year in the making & I've taken out a huge chunk of stuff, but it's finally finished, and Giorgia is demanding I post, so I am.

Ianto was vaguely aware of the sound of a doorbell ringing in the distance. He ignored it, screwing his eyes shut as though it would make the daylight go away. He adjusted slightly, feeling a firm chest against his back and smiled to himself as he realised Jack had stayed the night. Careful not to open his eyes, for fear it would really be morning and he would have to move, he rolled over to face his lover, entwining their limbs and settling his head against Jack’s shoulder. He let out a breath and slid a hand across Jack’s bare back, readying himself for more sleep.

The doorbell rang again and he cursed his neighbours and their visitors. The doorbell didn’t stop. It was ringing far more insistently now and Ianto let out a groan, sliding down the bed a little so that he could tug the quilt over his head and pretend he couldn’t hear it.

“Ianto,” voice somewhere above his head mumbled. He didn’t move. If he couldn’t hear it, it would go away. The doorbell and the voice and the morning. He wanted to sleep. Just lie here with Jack and sleep and sleep.

“Ianto,” the voice said again, clearer this time. He vaguely registered that the voice was Jack’s, although it was muffled and still seemed far away.

“Can’t hear you,” Ianto told him. “I’m asleep.”

“Your doorbell’s ringing,” Jack’s voice said.

“Not mine,” Ianto protested. “It’ll go away if we ignore it.”

“I’ll get it then.” Ianto felt the bed shift as Jack started to move and he reached out to grab his lover quickly. His hand slid against flesh he couldn’t grab at and he cursed Jack’s lack of clothing as his fingernails dug into skin and Jack groaned. “Ianto.”

“Leave it. Come back to bed.” Ianto insisted and Jack, surprisingly obedient, dropped back down beside him. Ianto smiled to himself, opening his eyes only to inspect the damage he had done to Jack’s skin. He placed a soft kiss on his scratched stomach before moving his head to rest on the older man’s chest. Jack’s fingers came up to run through his hair softly and Ianto smiled to himself, before he realised something. “The doorbell’s still ringing.”

“Someone wants your attention.”

“They can go away. I’m busy. I’ve got a captain in my bed,” Ianto said decisively.

It was less than thirty seconds later that he became both completely awake and fully aware of just who was ringing the doorbell. The realisation came as his bedroom door flew open and a small girl with bare feet and a bright grin bounced in the doorway. “Uncle Ianto!” the small girl said, “Your doorbell’s ringing!”

Ianto swore far more loudly than he should have done in the presence of his five year old niece and he shoved Jack away from him quickly before springing from the bed. “Rhiannon!”

“What?” Jack asked, still bleary eyed.

“You were supposed to leave first thing, you idiot!”

“I was... asleep?” Jack said, looking confused.

“Stay here,” Ianto ordered.

He quickly moved out of the room, calling to Mica as he did so. She followed him down the hallway towards the front door. “Uncle Ianto,” she said. “You said a bad word.”

Ianto sighed. “Yes, I did.” He paused. “Don’t tell your mum, okay?”

Mica shrugged. “Okay.”

They reached the front door and Ianto opened it looking sheepish. Rhiannon scowled at him. “Do you know how long I’ve been ringing that doorbell?!”

“I... err, well, about twelve minutes.”

“Twelve minutes! Well, I’m glad you were timing it.” She had her hands on her hips and a frown on her face. Rhiannon didn’t often get angry, at least not with Ianto, but when she did she reminded him strongly of their mother and suddenly he felt thirteen again.

“I didn’t realise. I was asleep, sorry.”

Rhiannon’s expression softened and she patted his arm affectionately. “You need more time off Ianto, that’s what it is. You work too hard and you’ve exhausted yourself.”

Ianto shrugged half-heartedly and glanced at Mica. “She hasn’t had any breakfast. I’m sorry, I should’ve set an alarm or something.”

Rhiannon shook her head. “It’s fine. We can go out and get something,” she smiled. “You should come. God knows you need a half decent meal in you once in a while.”

Ianto thought about agreeing, but then he remembered Jack in his bedroom and the look of half guilt, half confusion that had crossed his face as Ianto scolded him. He shook his head. He had wanted Jack to stay over and it wasn’t fair to punish him when he hadn’t really done anything wrong. “No, I better... stuff to do.”

“If you’re sure,” Rhiannon said, and turned to her daughter. “Have you been good for your uncle?”

“Yes!” Mica said, grinning. “We had fun. We went to the pictures and bowling and Uncle Ianto bought me a present and then we went and had our tea at the pizza place and lunch at McDonald’s and it was the best day ever!”

Ianto smiled at that and looked down at Mica, who was still grinning up at them. Rhiannon smiled too and prodded Mica in the back. “I’m glad you had a good time. You go get your bag and we’ll get out of Uncle Ianto’s way.”

Mica moved through the flat, gathering up her stuff, and Ianto turned to his sister, seeing her watch him with an affectionate smile. “What?”

“I didn’t expect that. You were a right miserable bastard about having her.”

Ianto shrugged. Really, it had been Jack that had made the day fun for Mica, but he couldn’t tell Rhiannon that, not yet, anyway.

“You shouldn’t have bought her anything though,” Rhiannon chastised. He hadn’t, really, Jack had insisted on paying for the two dolls Mica had chosen, but that was another thing he couldn’t confess.

“I’ll give you some money,” he told her, “for David. I don’t want to leave him out.”

Rhiannon shook her head. “Oh no you don’t, stop spending your money on my kids. David’s had enough treats this weekend.”

“But-”

“But nothing, Ianto Jones,” Rhiannon insisted. “Mica, what’s taking you so long?”

Mica’s little voice sailed through the flat. “I’m saying goodbye to Jack, Mam!” She called out.

Ianto heard a familiar voice shushing her and rolled his eyes, just as Rhiannon widened hers. “You got someone here? Is it a girl? You didn’t tell me you were seeing anyone.” Rhiannon took off down the hallway, following the sound of her daughter’s gleeful laughter and Ianto followed quickly.

“Rhiannon, I don’t, it’s not-”

He cut off as they reached the bedroom and Rhiannon’s eyebrows shot up. Jack was standing just inside Ianto's bedroom in nothing but his underwear, he had Mica in his arms and was tickling her, a genuine smile spread across his face.

“Well... not a girl, then,” Rhiannon said, reaching out her arms for Mica. Jack handed her over without a word and Ianto looked at the ground, expecting ranting and raving before his sister took Mica and tore out of the flat. The shouting didn’t come. He was faintly aware of Rhiannon putting Mica on the ground and telling her to go and watch the television. A small part of his brain even registered Jack introducing himself, but he still didn’t move. Not until he felt Rhiannon’s arm come around his shoulders. “Come on. You can make me a coffee and we can have a chat.”

With Jack and Mica settled in front of the television – Ianto briefly considered the way he had put them both in the same category, but pushed the thought aside, there were bigger issues to be addressed here than whether or not a small part of Ianto’s brain secretly considered Jack to be five – Ianto and Rhiannon moved into the kitchen. She sat at the table while he made the coffee and waited without a word for him to pass her a mug. She made no comment while Ianto carried a mug out to Jack and, once he had sat down, she continued to wait in silence for him to talk. He gave her an awkward smile and sipped his coffee, watching her.

She sighed. “Ianto.”

“Yes?”

“I’m not bothered,” Rhiannon said quietly and he felt a huge weight lift from his shoulders. “I don’t mind if you want to shag a man-”

“Rhiannon,” he groaned, feeling his cheeks turn pink. “Don’t.”

“What? There’s nothing wrong with it, Ianto.” She bit her lip. “So... how long have you been, you know..?”

Ianto sighed. “What?”

Rhiannon looked like she was choosing her words very carefully. “Interested in men.”

“Oh.” That wasn’t the question he had expected. He’d been expecting dating Jack; sleeping with Jack; lying to us. He shrugged. “I... I’m not. Not really...”

“So there’s a man in your bedroom for no reason?” Rhiannon rolled her eyes and Ianto swirled coffee around his cup. He hated situations like this, he hated having to explain things he didn’t understand himself.

“No. No,” he sighed, “I am... Jack and I are, well. There’s something there, I’m not sure what. But, I don’t know, Rhiannon. I don’t know.”

Rhiannon raised an eyebrow.

“Well,” Rhiannon sipped her coffee, “He’s gorgeous, at least.”

“Hmm,” Ianto said, hiding a grin. “I suppose he is.”

“And are you and he... serious?”

Ianto wrapped his hand around his coffee mug, sliding his fingers through the handle. “Not really.”

“Oh,” Rhiannon gave him a sad smile. “Do you wish you were?”

He shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t know. I like spending time with him. Being with him.”

“Well, he’s here on a Sunday morning. Isn’t that a start?”

All Ianto could offer was another shrug. Rhiannon gave him a small smile, but he struggled to return it. It was all too weird, too different, too much.

They shared a look before returning to their drinks in silence. Ianto was pleased that Rhiannon had chosen not to freak out about the whole thing. He had known his sister loved him and he hadn’t honestly expected her to turn her back on him just because he was maybe a little bit gay, but he had still been too scared to approach the subject with her. Rhiannon was the only family he had and bringing Jack into the equation even in a small way worried him, he was terrified of losing all that he had, not that he would ever admit that aloud.

“So,” Rhiannon said after a while, breaking the silence.

“So?”

“What’s he like in bed?”

If Ianto hadn’t finished his coffee he would have been quite likely to choke on it. He knew that he had gone red again and, from the look on Rhiannon’s face, his sister thought it was very funny.

“You don’t want me to answer that,” Ianto told her. “You really don’t.”

“Why not? He’s a charmer, I just want to know if he’s multi-talented.”

Ianto smirked to himself and decided that if Rhiannon wanted to play that game he’d let her. He leaned forward, as though he was about to share a big secret. “If I answered that question,” he said, “You would be supremely jealous.” He grinned and stood up while Rhiannon gaped at him. She hadn’t expected him to actually answer her and he knew it. “I’ll check on Jack and Mica. Make sure he hasn’t destroyed my living room.”

Ianto strode from the room, probably looking far more confident than he felt. There was a small part of him that was completely mortified that he’d even hinted at his fantastic sex life to his older sister, but time spent with Jack and working for Torchwood had begun to numb even Ianto’s capacity for embarrassment and he walked into the living room with the blush completely gone from his cheeks. “Jack,” he said, glancing over at his lover, who appeared to be glued to whatever kids TV show Mica had put on. “Are you staying here all day?”

Jack shrugged, his eyes not leaving the screen. “I don’t have anywhere else to be.”

Ianto smiled and took Jack’s now empty mug from the coffee table. He turned on his heel, walking back to the kitchen, where Rhiannon was washing up their coffee mugs. He leaned against the fridge, smiling at her. “Rhiannon?”

“Ianto?”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t be daft,” Rhiannon chided, drying the first mug. “You don’t have to thank me for anything.”

“Can me and Jack take you for breakfast?” Ianto asked. He wanted her to see that he was happy with his life; dysfunctional relationship and all, and now seemed as good a time as ever. Jack was as much of Ianto’s life as Rhiannon was, maybe even more so, and it was about time they got to know each other.

fic related frustrations

electrictoes — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 20:44:04 GMT

I really, really, really want to write and post some fic but I've just got nothing...

I have about 14 WIPs, plus about 6 prompts I need to be writing for fic I owe people and I just can't write anything. It's really frustrating and makes me a little sad inside.

This is all.

Nicked From People on The F'list

electrictoes — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:37:25 GMT

the ❝that's my favorite!❞ meme
A FANFICTION PRAISE MEME

Fic: Torchwood Removal Company

electrictoes — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 23:14:35 GMT

Title: Torchwood Removal Company
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Ianto, Team. Jack/Ianto implied.
Rating: PG-13, to be on the safe side.
Spoilers: None, really. Set sometime between Meat & Reset.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: Prompt: Ianto moves into a new flat.
Note(s): Written for etmuse for stumping me on the Stump the Author Meme (here). Thanks to tazza_di_jo for the lookover and aranellaurelote and shamblekins_07 for beta-ing.

Thinking about, Ianto should have known better than to mention anything about moving house in front of Gwen. It wasn’t that she didn’t mean well, she did, and Ianto appreciated it, in a way. He would have been happy to borrow Jack and the SUV and shift the stuff from his old flat into the new one with minimal fuss, but Jack had asked what time he wanted to get moving and Gwen had heard, and been curious. If he’d been thinking, Ianto would have fobbed her off quietly, but instead he had told her he was moving flats, and so here they were.

Gwen had insisted on asking Rhys for the use of one of Harwoods’ smaller lorries, despite Ianto’s protests that he didn’t really have all that much stuff. That had been bad enough, Gwen and Rhys helping, but then Tosh had felt as though she should offer, despite his protests, and then Owen had decided he might as well help out if everyone else was, while making loud comments about Ianto owing him a few dozen drinks. Then they’d seen how little stuff he had and Gwen had made a fuss, and asked Jack why he wasn’t paying Ianto more, and Ianto had pointed out he had the money for more furniture, he just hadn’t bought any, so then it was a trip to IKEA and now he was faced with something he hadn’t expected to ever see; Jack Harkness and Owen Harper putting together a flat-packed wardrobe in his bedroom, while Gwen arranged Ianto’s knickknacks (he’d rearrange them later) and Tosh put his books and DVDs in alphabetical order.

He put the box he was carrying at the foot of his unmade bed, and turned to take the next one from Rhys, who offered him a warm smile and a roll of the eyes at Jack and Owen arguing over the instructions (Owen’s Spanish was not as good as Jack’s German, apparently. They couldn’t find the English page of the instruction booklet.) and tilted his head towards the door. Ianto followed him and Rhys smiled again. “I hear you make a good cup of coffee?”

Ianto nodded. Jack and Owen’s argument paused as they both looked up at him, almost longingly. Gwen and Tosh, too, paused in what they were doing.

“I haven’t unpacked the coffeemaker,” he told them, to a sea of frowning faces.

Rhys laughed and followed Ianto through to the kitchen where together they rifled through boxes until they had found both the coffee and the coffeemaker. Ianto got to work while Rhys unpacked Ianto’s newly purchased coffee mugs, the two of them listening to Owen swear at Jack in French.

Ianto passed out the coffee, ceasing any and all arguments and stopping Gwen from unpacking a box he was sure shouldn’t be opened until everyone bar Jack had left. He sat on the floor in the living room to drink his coffee. Tosh and Gwen sat on the sofa, Jack leaned against the wall, Rhys perched on top of a box containing what would be Ianto’s dining furniture (something he didn’t think he’d ever need, but which Jack had been quite insistent on – Ianto shouldn’t be surprised, it was, after all, another flat surface to play on.) Ianto glanced at them all as he sipped from his mug. He was grateful for their help, and it had been fun watching Owen try to work out which way up the drawers on his new dresser went, and he’d enjoyed watching Jack show off to the others how strong he thought he was while carrying a box of kitchen equipment up the four flights of stairs to the flat, so maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing that he’d let slip about the move, and at least he hadn’t had to build all that furniture himself; his Spanish and German were both awful.

So, who fancies a trip to Cardiff?

electrictoes — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 17:24:13 GMT

Okay, so the annual Torchwood meet up is happening in ooh... three weeks. I'll be there with a whole host of other cool people, rocking it out in sunny Wales.

It's actually taking place 6-8th August, but you don't have to be there the whole time, and there are some people who are hanging around for longer, so if you fancy it, feel free to join us. Go on, you know you want to.

More info here.

It's mega fun, so if you're tempted... go on ;-)

Stump the Author Meme

electrictoes — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 23:33:02 GMT

Last time I did this I was awful at it, but oh well...

1.) Go to my master fic list and pick out a line or two from one of my stories. (Must be a full line, please -- no sentence fragments or speech tags or other such nonsense.)
2.) I will respond with which story of mine I think it's from.
3.) A drabble to anyone who stumps me. If you do stump me, feel free to request a situation and characters.

Fic: Man Flu is Decidedly Not Manly (1/1)

electrictoes — Sat, 15 May 2010 19:54:42 GMT

Title: Man Flu is Decidedly Not Manly
Pairing(s): Jack/Ianto
Rating: PG
Spoilers: none, really
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Summary: Ianto Jones was dying. There was no other explanation for it. He was going to die slowly, painfully and buried somewhere within his duvet.
Note(s): Ficlet for tazza_di_jo. With thanks to aranellaurelote, calliglad and ally_p_x for their help/feedback/being awesome. Title help would be very much appreciated!

Ianto Jones was dying. There was no other explanation for it. He was going to die slowly, painfully and buried somewhere within his duvet. The latter only because there was absolutely no way that he was moving. He doubted that movement was even physically possible; he was that close to death. He shivered and wondered if it would be possible for him to get up enough energy to reach down for the blanket at the foot of his bed. He attempted to lift his arms and decided that it simply wasn’t possible. He would have to die cold, too.

He entertained the idea of calling for help but his mouth was dry and his throat felt as though a packet of razorblades had taken up residence inside it. He coughed, spluttered and then frowned at the undignified nature of it all. It was embarrassing really; he was a Torchwood officer; he was supposed to die saving the world in a blaze of glory, not with a fever and a runny nose.

The light was making his eyes ache, but he certainly wasn’t moving to turn it off. He scrunched his eyes closed and tugged the duvet over his face a little more. He’d just lie here and ignore it all, hopefully he could drift off to sleep and then die in peace.

He was just settling towards his desire when it became perfectly clear that he was not going to die in peace or anything even vaguely resembling it. There was a pounding on his front door that resonated through his brain heavily; an army of elephants marching through his head. Thud, thud, thud. It ached. He wanted to call to whoever was making the noise and tell them that he was dying and he’d like to be left alone to get on with it, but he remembered the razorblades in his throat and decided better of it.

The thumping on the door stopped but then there were big pounding footsteps and Ianto wished he could talk because didn’t they realise his head hurt and he needed to be left alone to sleep and to live his last moments in relative calm? The footsteps stopped and his head was thankful, but the rest of him wasn’t because that meant that the someone was in his room and he couldn’t even tell them to go away.

But then the light was off and his eyes stopped aching and he felt just a little bit less like dying and then his blanket was over him and he felt warmer already. The bed was dipping a little and he almost attempted speech to protest but then there were cool hands on his forehead and it was a little bit like heaven and suddenly he really didn’t mind anymore and it didn’t matter that he could open his eyes now because he didn’t need to do that to know that the someone wasn’t just anyone but it was Jack and everything would be okay. Jack wasn’t going to let him die with a pounding head and cold feet and he didn’t have to speak because Jack knew Ianto’s thoughts without him saying them (and sometimes before Ianto had even finished thinking them) and his hands really were delightfully cold and his lips were pressed to Ianto’s hair and he could go to sleep now because everything hurt a little bit less and, really, he could get around to dying after he’d had a nap.

When Ianto woke up he felt far less like something had run over his head and when he swallowed experimentally there was much less pain in his throat. He wasn’t just aware of feeling better, though. He was aware of his cheek being pressed against something far more solid than his pillow and of strong arms around him. He was aware of the steady breathing of someone who wasn’t himself and when he opened his eyes, squinting in fear of the light before remembering that it had been turned off, he saw Jack. Jack holding him close while he slept, keeping Ianto safe just like he always did. His lips curled into a smile and he closed his eyes again.

Hub 4 Video Diary (1)

electrictoes — Tue, 04 May 2010 00:26:53 GMT

After much time and fighting with WMM & Youtube I finally got the first video diary from this month's Hub 4 finished & uploaded!

For your viewing pleasure. The video diaries feature, at various points; myself, tazza_di_jo, captains_girl, calliglad, absdax, rozzietheaussie, jemzamia, roberty88, grasshopper64, son_heir, rickman_101, blu04, tiggerbrasilf, mara_202 and many others, with a brief guest appearance by Kai Owen.

So, onward with Part 1;

Wales Comic Con: In Pictures

electrictoes — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 21:12:46 GMT

[all photos curteosy of absdax and rozzietheaussie]

Hub; Sunday

electrictoes — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 22:29:43 GMT

Sunday

Woke up early. Didn't enjoy that.

We grabbed a McDonald's breakfast and on our way to the Park Inn began something that has continued on and may live forever.... all I shall say is YOU could be Jesus. Also, I got blisters.

Got straight into Anthony Lewis's photoshoot queue when we arrived cos it was quite short (lots of people overslept, then!) when we arrived. I removed my shoes at this point because of the blisters.

I think at this point we went and got our Ian Gelder and Susan Brown autographs. I don't remember what we talked about, but I do remember they were very nice :P

Tom Price photoshoot was next. The man is the good kind of crazy. He did everyone else's photos in one take & made it into a very big deal by my turn. He was very determined we would do it in one & asked if I was nervous. I told him I wasn't, he decided he was. We took the photo and then got told we'd need another. The pictures are both really nice so I'm guessing the photographer was just winding Tom up, but I got an extra photo, so yay :P

Just before the second photo Tom stopped & went 'Where are your shoes?!'
I told him they were in Andy's bag and he said something about airports, idk. It was funny.

I think it was this point when we realised everything we still had to get had really long queues and decided to just lounge around for a bit chatting. I was having a discussion with Ros & Rob about this question (feel free to answer it, by the way :P): 'If you could only say one word for the rest of your life what would it be?'
Kai walked past at this point and said that he would choose 'yes'. Rob chose busom.

Next photo was Naoko. Naoko is lovely and not massively taller than me, yay :D

My head is huge, but isn't Naoko gorgeous?

By the time we got to Naoko's photo we were in the photo queues with our fingers on our lips to keep us quiet, except that just seemed to make us giggle more. Idk, we were over tired and hyper, but when Kai's photo came around we were still doing it. Ros got a silly fingers on lips photo with Kai. Kai then asked Andy if she was being quiet too, and she got a fingers on lips one. I'd taken my finger off my lips before then but

Kai still gives amazing hugs.

We then got our Anthony Lewis autographs. &hearts

And then... EVE!

Eve seemed very surprised by the length of her queue. She asked what we were queuing for. She's amazing.

Ian Hilditch autograph then, that was quite quick cos it was practically lunch time and his queue was still long.

Got lunch, came back in time for Randy, then talks... all of which were mega fun. Especially the last talk... Barrowman line? What Barrowman line?

After the closing ceremony we all went to the pub for dinner. Rock on. More talk of being Jesus. We basically laughed continually during that meal, then zipped back to our hotels to get ready for the last party.

Once again, party we did;

And when the party ended, we moved to Jemz and Rob's room and carried it on....

> It was the most amazing weekend, I had a fantastic time.. how long 'til the next one?

Hub 4; Saturday

electrictoes — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 21:34:02 GMT

Saturday

Woke up at 7 and lay in bed waiting for absdax's alarm to go off. Got up and was very groggy.

We went into town for breakfast, but nowhere was open (:O) so we waited until 9 and then grabbed breakfast in Spoons before jetting off to the Park Inn for Hub goodness.

Giorgia went to get a photo with Cush Jumbo & rozzietheaussie and I went to get our Eve autograph. I totally adore Eve, she was so lovely. She told Ros she liked her hair and we had a brief conversation about it having been dyed the night before.
Andrew, who was one of the crew and sat next to Eve, interrupted our conversation and Eve said 'Do you mind chatting up my friends?'
She's awesome.

While we were in Eve's queue Tom got called over to hug someone wearing a t-shirt with him on. Kai, at the table beside Eve, told Tom he could see his arse... so Tom pulled his trousers down further & we all got a nice view of Tom Price's arse :P

I'm not entirely sure what happened next. We had a slight bit of confusion because Colin Teague had swapped days and we weren't entirely sure what was going on... I have no real memory of what order everything else happened in.

Naoko was lovely. I got an autograph for Lady529, and we spoke to Naoko about... actually, d'you know, I can't remember. GUUUUUYS? We met Tom, who was awesome. We managed to completely confuse him & he thought we were crazy, but hey, it's all good! Kai was gorgeous & wonderful as always. We all got high fives, because this is what happens with Kai. Cush Jumbo was also lovely to talk to & Colin Teague was to, though I can't remember what we said to him either... mega tired.

The talks were great. I'm not going to go into detail cos I'm sure you can find it detailed about 50000000 times, but I had an epic time & laughed mega loads.

After the talks they did a screening of Meat (woot, we guessed right!) with a director's commentary, Colin Teague, Kai, Eve & Naoko. It was hilariously funny. I really enjoyed it, watching it with a massive group of fans was fun enough, but with Colin, Kai, Eve & Naoko commenting over it it was even better. WIN.

Then it was the auction, immediately after which we all ran away to watch Doctor Who. We had to pay for TV in our room so we watched it with Jemz & Rob in their room. Wicked ep, loved it.

Wandered around town after trying to find somewhere open, ended up buying a Burger King.. got ready for the party... PARTIED HARD.

Crawled into bed at 2.30 cos we're hardcore.

Hub 4; Friday

electrictoes — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 19:25:31 GMT

Okay, my Hub report;

I'm not going to say much about the talks because I reckon that there'll be a tonne of stuff about them on lj already...

[I've decided to do three seperate posts cos the Friday one took me long enough on its own & that was only half a day.]

Friday

Friday, got up uber early (by this I mean way earlier than I needed to)... met calliglad , captains_girl and tazza_di_jo at Waterloo. Squeed like the cool kids we are. We met grasshopper64 at Euston and, after lunch, we got on a train to Northampton!

calliglad & captains_girl, aka Ed and Tasha, aka Andy and Rhys, think they're mega cool.

We got to Northampton fairly early and checked into our hotel. The shower was huge and we decided to see how many people we could get in it. The video will appear, I'm sure.

We went back to the train to wait for son_heir, jemzamia and roberty88.

Patiently waiting...

After they arrived and there was much hugging we went back to the hotel to let people drop off their stuff & to pick up our confirmation letters then went over to the Park Inn and registered.

That was followed by a large amount of time spent sat around squeeing, waiting for people, glomping them when they arrived and just generally enjoying all being together again before we went to Spoons for dinner.

We went to the opening ceremony, had fun times, then back to our room to get ready for the party.

This, of course, was followed by the party itself...

& then to bed sometime after midnight, although there was very little sleeping until after two and lots of giggling...