Will My Arms Be Strong Enough 24/45
Title: Will My Arms Be Strong Enough? 24/45
Pairings: Jack/Ianto, Gwen/Rhys...and others!
Characters: Jack, Ianto, Gwen, Rhys, John Hart, two OC's, Andrea (Andie) Carlowe and Nick Jones.
Spoilers: Set after Exit Wounds.
Summary: New Year's Eve has arrived!
Chapter 24
The afternoon of New Year’s Eve…
Ianto flopped back against the sofa with a groan as he looked at his stopwatch. “Wow,” he whispered, “it’s been five minutes since the Rift alarm went off…five minutes of peace.”
“And in those five minutes, I see you’ve managed to shower and get changed,” remarked Jack, running his hand over Ianto’s hair. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, a blissful smile crossing his face. “And whatever you did, it’s made your those pheromones of yours even stronger; you smell absolutely heavenly.”
Ianto giggled. “Jack, that’s my new shampoo. But I’m glad you like it.”
John came over and gave Ianto’s hair a very over-exaggerated sniff. “Wow!” he gasped. “I don’t know what that is, Eye Candy, but I want some of it!”
Ianto rolled his eyes and pulled something out of the pocket of his jeans. “Here’s the name of it and don’t call me Eye Candy,” he said, thrusting the paper at John. “I thought you already had shampoo and conditioner anyway; I remember you and Jack going shopping together.”
“I do,” answered John. “I’m just thinking of getting something new, because I’m getting sick of the stench of the stuff that Nick uses. It makes the bathroom smell like a mint factory.”
Ianto’s eyes widened. “He’s not still using that awful stuff…is he? God, he was using that when he was at university. Said it helped when he got a cold and kept his hair free of dandruff. I said that it stank the place out. I once went into his bathroom when I was visiting him and I thought someone had been spraying menthol spray around the place.”
John nodded. “Yeah, and while it does make his hair look gorgeous, I’ve found myself going off mint because of it. I’m having to use strawberry-flavoured toothpaste!”
Ianto and Jack both opened their mouths to reply, but before they could, there was a scream and a curse and a yell coming from the autopsy bay, followed by an explosion of hysterical laughter. The three men leapt to their feet and ran to the autopsy bay, where they were greeted by the sight of Andie leaning against the railings as she attempted not to collapse from laughing at Nick, who was stood beside her, covered in a strange silvery jelly-like fluid with green lumps in it. The strange creature they had been examining, which had once looked spider-like, was now lying on the autopsy table like a puddle of oil.
“It exploded all over me!” exclaimed Nick. “And I’m starting to think John’s right; I do need contact lenses.” He tossed Andie his glasses with a groan of disgust. “I need a shower, this stuff stinks.”
“It can’t stink as badly as your shampoo does,” muttered John, watching him out of sight. “I’m telling you, Nick; that stuff is putting me off mint!” He rolled his eyes in mock irritation, but yelped as a handful of the fluid hit him in the face, making him twitch. “Okay, you’re right,” he growled, wiping it off. “This stuff really does stink. What does that thing eat?”
“Any form of excrement it can find, judging by what’s going on down here,” answered Andie.
John blanched. “Nick, wait for me!” he shouted, tearing off in the direction of the showers.
“Jack, where are you going?” asked Ianto, watching in confusion as his partner raced back towards the computers. “Don’t you want to oversee the autopsy?”
Jack stared at him. “Two hot guys in the shower and you’re asking me if I want to oversee an autopsy?!” He shook his head. “I’m going to watch and save the CCTV!”
Ianto groaned. “You’re a sick man, Jack.”
“You wouldn’t watch that?” asked Andie, wrinkling her nose as she looked over the creature. Hearing the incredulous gasp from above, she laughed. “Oh, sorry…I guess you wouldn’t when one of them was your cousin.”
Ianto stared at her for several minutes, working his mouth a few times. But Andie’s broad smile and sparkling eyes were truly infectious and he only found himself smiling at her.
“You’re a weird lady,” he stated. “But don’t ever change.”
~*~
Twenty minutes later…
“You could have at least used the same shower,” grumbled Jack.
“Tell me about it,” grumbled John, glaring at the front of his trousers. “You are a cruel breed, you Jones boys, d’you know that?”
“Why thank you, Captain,” replied Nick, with a smile that could be described as nothing less than absolutely filthy. “I will take that as a compliment.”
John sighed. “Take it however you want, but if you do something that evil again, I am going to take Ianto’s tie and strangle you with it,” he said. His voice was serious, but his eyes twinkled.
“Oh…” purred Nick, leaning over to lick the other man’s ear. “I had no idea you had such a kink for…erotic asphyxiation.” The last two words sent shivers down John’s spine.
Jack chuckled. “Oh, it’s like free porn,” he muttered to Ianto, gently stroking his thigh.
Ianto groaned. “For you, maybe,” he said, removing the older man’s wandering hand. “For me, it’s just plain disturbing. I know I said John was cute, but not when he’s harassing my cousin! Although,” he added, seeing John’s eyes nearly pop out of his head, “I think Nick’s giving as good as he gets…as usual.”
Gwen sighed. “I don’t know about you lot,” she said, “but I’m hungry. And not for that!” she added, seeing the twin expressions on John and Nick’s faces. “I’m hungry for proper food.”
Ianto leapt to his feet. “I’ll go and order a pizza.”
~*~
Two hours later…
“Well, that was the slowest pizza order I’ve had in a while,” remarked Gwen, licking tomato sauce from her fingers. “Mind you, it is New Year’s Eve.”
“Oh, but it was worth it,” said John, who was licking strands of thick melted cheese from the dimpled creases next to Nick’s mouth.
“How on earth do you two manage to make eating pizza look pornographic?” asked Ianto.
“The same way that you two manage to make it look married couple-ish,” answered Andie. Ianto and Jack had been sat in each other’s laps and feeding each other pizza, much to the amusement of everyone, especially when Ianto had gotten tomato sauce on his nose and Jack had kissed it off.
“I don’t know how they did it,” answered Jack. “But one thing is for sure; I am keeping the CCTV of this! That way, if anything were to happen, Ianto could live by selling porn on the Internet.”
“It’s the stuffed crusts,” explained Nick, once Ianto had finished hitting Jack for that remark. He gave out another suggestive smile, which everyone saw, except for John.
Jack snickered to himself as he remembered something very similar happening to him. If I’m right in making that connection…oh, John’s going to get it tonight…
~*~
Later that night…
“Look, I don’t care if it’s tradition, I am not singing!”
Ianto agreed. “Jack, I don’t think you quite appreciate just how tone-deaf Nick actually is. Trust me; it’ll be better for the masses here if he doesn’t sing.”
Nick nodded. “Besides, we’ve got all these people who are going to sing. Does it really matter if I do or not?” He squeezed John’s gloved hand. “Now, let’s just watch the fireworks, eh?”
Jack pouted, but he didn’t have time to answer, because Gwen suddenly let out a shriek. He whipped round in alarm, but laughed when he realised who it was.
“Well, I have to say, that Eskimo style looks pretty good on you, Rhys,” he remarked, shaking the man’s hand with a smile and dragging him into the circle.
Rhys grinned. “Yeah, Gwen got it me for Christmas - said it made me look sexy as hell.”
“Well, it does!” laughed Gwen, kissing her husband on the nose.
“Hold up!” Rhys said suddenly. “Who’s the Ronan Keating clone there?”
Jack chuckled. “Rhys, this is our new medic, Dr. Nick Jones. And, before you ask, yes, we’ve got another Jones. He’s Ianto’s cousin, as it happens.”
“Pleasure to meet you,” said Nick, shaking the other man’s hand.
The fireworks started and the seven friends huddled together for warmth, wrapped in each other’s arms. In the middle of the huddle, Jack and Ianto found each other and kissed softly as the colours and sounds surrounded them.
Somewhere in the middle of it all, about twenty minutes before the stroke of midnight, as a few small crowds of watchers around the Plass started to sing, John suddenly realised that Nick was nowhere to be seen. Slowly, he disengaged himself from the group and looked around curiously. “Must’ve gone home,” he reasoned with himself.
A few minutes later, Ianto realised that someone else was missing and, looking up, he saw a familiar figure wearing a long coat walking across the Plass, apparently oblivious to the snow swirling around him and the men, women and children surrounding him.
“Jack,” he whispered, also stepping away. But he didn’t follow him, not yet. Instead, he decided to take a walk himself, just so he could decide what to do.
~*~
John dropped his keys on the table and tossed his coat onto the sofa. He sighed deeply, only to stop abruptly as a sweet scent hit him. His nose twitched as he made his way towards the kitchen, eventually stopping in the middle of the doorway. His jaw dropped as he took in the scene in front of him.
The kitchen was lit only by a wall of Christmas fairy lights, creating a soft red glow throughout the room. There was a heavenly smell of chocolate hitting his senses as he slowly walked in. But it was the sight in front of the stove that almost consumed him in the end.
Nick was leaning against the worktop, wearing nothing except his tight black jeans. He had obviously taken a shower, and now his bright hair was falling in thick and lustrous waves around his shoulders, sending drops of water down his chest and sparkling in the light. His eyes were almost as black as night as his long fingers caressed the sides of a wooden spoon, seemingly oblivious to the melted chocolate that was dripping slowly onto his skin.
John’s caught his breath as he felt his blood flow southwards, causing his head to spin. “Wha…” he stammered out, not even blushing as he realised he couldn’t form coherent sentences.
Nick chuckled softly, picking up the bowl full of melted chocolate, and gliding smoothly towards the former Time Agent. He dipped his finger gently in the bowl, coating it in the sweet substance, and ran it slowly down John’s cheek, letting it drip onto his neck.
John groaned loudly as he felt the younger man’s smooth tongue working its way down his cheek, pausing at the small dimple by his lips, before slowly nipping at his jaw line.
“God Almighty,” he gasped, feeling himself shivering. “What on earth are you doing to me?”
Nick grinned. “If I can do that with my tongue, just imagine what I can do with the rest of me.”
“You mean…”
“Yes.” Nick pulled away, looking serious. “I want it to be tonight.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life,” whispered Nick, letting his hair fall smoothly onto John’s neck, tickling the skin beneath it. “Besides…we would have done it in the tent if we hadn’t been…interrupted, and you know it.”
John swallowed; the young man’s thick hair was doing things to him he hadn’t even thought could be possible. “And the,” his voice cracked, “chocolate?”
The cheeky grin was back in a flash. “Oh, you’ll see…you’ll see.”
~*~
Ianto finally caught up with Jack lying on the grass outside the little white church, staring at the stars. He seemed almost oblivious to the bangs and bright colours from the fireworks, as well as the thick snowflakes that were falling on his face. He seemed lost in thought, listening to the sound of the bells echoing across the still water.
Ianto bent down beside him, stroking his hair gently and linking their hands. “Hi.”
“Hi.” Jack’s voice was almost a whisper. He blinked and turned his head slightly. “I thought you’d gone home.”
Ianto rolled his eyes. “And leave my lover alone on New Year’s Eve?” he said with a laugh. “Now, come on; how likely is that?” He laughed sweetly and helped Jack to his feet, kissing him softly and spinning him around on the snow-covered ground, before stopping and stroking his cheek.
“I know New Year isn’t an easy time for you, Jack,” he said softly. “I won’t offer you pity, because that’s not what you want. But I will say this - Alex and the others wouldn’t want you to mourn them. They’d want you to keep living - keep doing what you do.”
Jack smiled and kissed him gently. “I know,” he admitted. “It’s hard sometimes, especially when you lose people you love. But you’re right; I can’t grieve forever. That wouldn’t be fair on them…or on you kids who are with me today.”
“Exactly,” replied Ianto, taking his hand. “We’re working together here, Jack; to build for a better and brighter future. It’s best to keep the past there. Don’t forget the people you loved, but, at the same time, don’t let the pain hurt you until it breaks you.” He kissed Jack again.
Jack grinned and wrapped Ianto up in his coat. “You’re right, thank you,” he whispered. “Now…it’s getting rather cold; why don’t we go home and…see the New Year in.”
Ianto grinned. “I’d love to.”
~*~
John smiled softly as he ran his hands through the soft hair of the beautiful man sleeping beside him. The (stained) sheets were crumpled at his waist, exposing the smooth skin at his back and the small Welsh dragon tattooed on his shoulder blade. Smiling softly, he dropped a kiss in the middle of his spine and spooned in beside him.
“Happy New Year, Dr. Jones,” he whispered before closing his own eyes.
***
Next Time: You knew that the fluff wouldn’t last forever, right? This is me, after all! The team have had a nice break, but it’s a bump back to earth as a Weevil attack brings difficult choices and bad memories for Torchwood Three’s newest recruit.
And to find out what happened on New Year's Eve...go here for smut! http://anduria-trianys.livejournal.com/19847.html#cutid1