Ficlet: A Very Long Time
Title: A Very Long Time
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto, Jack
Rating: PG
Word Count: 799
Summary: Now that Ianto is immortal like Jack, they should probably talk about the whole forever situation.
Spoilers: Nada. Sort of a fix-it.
Written For: cozy_coffee’s comment_fic prompt ‘Any, any/&any, forever’.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood or any of the characters. Which is sad.
“Forever,” Ianto said slowly, frowning out at the choppy waters of Cardiff Bay as he leaned his forearms on the top railing. “That’s a very long time.”
“You’re only just realising that?” Jack sounded amused. “It’s been three weeks.” He leaned beside his lover, watching the younger man.
“I’m well aware. It’s just, some things take a while to sink in. I know I’m like you now, immortal. If I die, it won’t stick; I’ll come back, but forever… That’s a difficult concept to wrap my head around. I’m not sure I can; it’s hard enough to imagine living another fifty or so years.”
“I know what you mean.” The levity had vanished from Jack’s voice. “I’ve been alive almost two centuries, and that’s just a drop in the ocean. I’ve learned not to think about the future too much.”
“Probably sensible,” Ianto agreed. “There’s too much of it ahead, enough that if I try to focus on the full meaning of forever, my brain might implode. Of course, if it did, I’d just come back, so no harm done.”
“The dying and coming back part wouldn’t be fun though.”
Ianto inclined his head in acknowledgement. “True enough.”
“Are you okay with it? Being like me, I mean.”
“It doesn’t appear I have much say in the matter.” Ianto smiled faintly. “I’m not unhappy about it, there’s a certain comfort to knowing I can be here for you, for as long as you want me, but it’s still a daunting prospect.”
“You’ll have to watch all your friends and family, everyone you’ve ever known, grow old and die.” For Jack that had always been the hardest part of his immortality.
“I’ve already seen a lot of people I’ve known and loved, or at least cared about, die before their time, Jack. That’s nothing new; it’ll simply be on a larger scale, although it’s hard to imagine anything larger scale than Canary Wharf.”
Jack flinched; sometimes he forgot how much death and destruction Ianto had already witnessed in his short life. “Over eight-hundred people dead,” he murmured, shaking his head. “Fewer than thirty survivors.”
“I didn’t know all of them, but I knew enough.” Ianto glanced at Jack. “That’s history now, I’ve done what I can to put it behind me. Once I started to get over losing Lisa, I decided to focus on the future rather than the past, only now I seem to have a lot more future than I ever expected.”
One of the things Jack appreciated most about Ianto was his dry humour. He chuckled. “At least we’re both in the same boat.”
“Which is something of a relief. Whatever lies ahead, I won’t be the only one facing it.”
“We’ll face it together,” Jack assured him. “Like the two musketeers.”
“There were three musketeers, Jack.” Ianto’s lips quirked up in an amused smile.
“I know that, but there’s only two of us. Anyway, not to change the subject, but it won’t all be bad. We’ll witness the birth of stars, evolution in action, civilisations rising on worlds that don’t even exist yet. We can travel the universe, see everything there is to see, maybe even travel back and forth in time. It’ll be amazing!”
“It will certainly be an adventure.”
“I never used to think so,” Jack admitted, “but that was when I was facing it alone. Now I have you to share it all with, the future looks a lot brighter.”
“You might not feel the same way a few thousand years down the road.”
“Pessimist.” Jack pouted.
“Realist,” Ianto corrected. “Being together that long, friction may develop.”
“Oh, yeah!” Jack’s grin was dazzling.
“Not that kind of friction, twpsyn! Although, I suppose there is likely to be a lot of that too. Still, we’ll probably get on each other’s nerves after a century or two.”
“Even if we do, it’ll still be okay. We can take some time apart now and then, travel by ourselves for a bit, then meet up again with tales to tell of our thrilling adventures.”
“You’ve got it all thought out, have you?”
“Let’s just say I’ve come to appreciate the wisdom of careful planning. You’re rubbing off on me.”
“Not yet, but I’m sure that could be arranged.” Ianto rolled his eyes. “And now I’m sounding like you.”
“I’m not complaining.”
“Well, you wouldn’t.”
“Are you okay though?” Jack dragged the conversation back to their original topic.
“I think so, as long as I don’t think too far ahead. If it looks like I’m doing that, distract me, okay?”
“That I can do.” Smiling, Jack leaned in for a kiss. “How’s this for a start?”
“That’ll work.”
Forever was a long time indeed, but Jack suspected even eternity with Ianto Jones wouldn’t be anywhere near long enough.
The End
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto, Jack
Rating: PG
Word Count: 799
Summary: Now that Ianto is immortal like Jack, they should probably talk about the whole forever situation.
Spoilers: Nada. Sort of a fix-it.
Written For: cozy_coffee’s comment_fic prompt ‘Any, any/&any, forever’.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood or any of the characters. Which is sad.
“Forever,” Ianto said slowly, frowning out at the choppy waters of Cardiff Bay as he leaned his forearms on the top railing. “That’s a very long time.”
“You’re only just realising that?” Jack sounded amused. “It’s been three weeks.” He leaned beside his lover, watching the younger man.
“I’m well aware. It’s just, some things take a while to sink in. I know I’m like you now, immortal. If I die, it won’t stick; I’ll come back, but forever… That’s a difficult concept to wrap my head around. I’m not sure I can; it’s hard enough to imagine living another fifty or so years.”
“I know what you mean.” The levity had vanished from Jack’s voice. “I’ve been alive almost two centuries, and that’s just a drop in the ocean. I’ve learned not to think about the future too much.”
“Probably sensible,” Ianto agreed. “There’s too much of it ahead, enough that if I try to focus on the full meaning of forever, my brain might implode. Of course, if it did, I’d just come back, so no harm done.”
“The dying and coming back part wouldn’t be fun though.”
Ianto inclined his head in acknowledgement. “True enough.”
“Are you okay with it? Being like me, I mean.”
“It doesn’t appear I have much say in the matter.” Ianto smiled faintly. “I’m not unhappy about it, there’s a certain comfort to knowing I can be here for you, for as long as you want me, but it’s still a daunting prospect.”
“You’ll have to watch all your friends and family, everyone you’ve ever known, grow old and die.” For Jack that had always been the hardest part of his immortality.
“I’ve already seen a lot of people I’ve known and loved, or at least cared about, die before their time, Jack. That’s nothing new; it’ll simply be on a larger scale, although it’s hard to imagine anything larger scale than Canary Wharf.”
Jack flinched; sometimes he forgot how much death and destruction Ianto had already witnessed in his short life. “Over eight-hundred people dead,” he murmured, shaking his head. “Fewer than thirty survivors.”
“I didn’t know all of them, but I knew enough.” Ianto glanced at Jack. “That’s history now, I’ve done what I can to put it behind me. Once I started to get over losing Lisa, I decided to focus on the future rather than the past, only now I seem to have a lot more future than I ever expected.”
One of the things Jack appreciated most about Ianto was his dry humour. He chuckled. “At least we’re both in the same boat.”
“Which is something of a relief. Whatever lies ahead, I won’t be the only one facing it.”
“We’ll face it together,” Jack assured him. “Like the two musketeers.”
“There were three musketeers, Jack.” Ianto’s lips quirked up in an amused smile.
“I know that, but there’s only two of us. Anyway, not to change the subject, but it won’t all be bad. We’ll witness the birth of stars, evolution in action, civilisations rising on worlds that don’t even exist yet. We can travel the universe, see everything there is to see, maybe even travel back and forth in time. It’ll be amazing!”
“It will certainly be an adventure.”
“I never used to think so,” Jack admitted, “but that was when I was facing it alone. Now I have you to share it all with, the future looks a lot brighter.”
“You might not feel the same way a few thousand years down the road.”
“Pessimist.” Jack pouted.
“Realist,” Ianto corrected. “Being together that long, friction may develop.”
“Oh, yeah!” Jack’s grin was dazzling.
“Not that kind of friction, twpsyn! Although, I suppose there is likely to be a lot of that too. Still, we’ll probably get on each other’s nerves after a century or two.”
“Even if we do, it’ll still be okay. We can take some time apart now and then, travel by ourselves for a bit, then meet up again with tales to tell of our thrilling adventures.”
“You’ve got it all thought out, have you?”
“Let’s just say I’ve come to appreciate the wisdom of careful planning. You’re rubbing off on me.”
“Not yet, but I’m sure that could be arranged.” Ianto rolled his eyes. “And now I’m sounding like you.”
“I’m not complaining.”
“Well, you wouldn’t.”
“Are you okay though?” Jack dragged the conversation back to their original topic.
“I think so, as long as I don’t think too far ahead. If it looks like I’m doing that, distract me, okay?”
“That I can do.” Smiling, Jack leaned in for a kiss. “How’s this for a start?”
“That’ll work.”
Forever was a long time indeed, but Jack suspected even eternity with Ianto Jones wouldn’t be anywhere near long enough.
The End