Bingo Fic: Stages Of Life - Part 7 - Living The Dream
Title: Living The Dream - Sequel to ‘Forever And Always’
Author: badly_knitted
Characters/Pairings: Ianto, Jack, OCs
Rating: PG
Word Count: 820
Summary: Jack and Ianto’s careers in acting are finally taking off; at last they’re doing the job they’ve always dreamed of.
Spoilers: Nada.
Warnings: Completely AU, no Torchwood, no aliens.
Written For: My
cottoncandy_bingo square Dream Car/House Etc. - Dream Job.
Beta: Un-betaed this time, due to running short of time. It’s just a case of getting everything posted now!
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood or any of the characters. Which is sad.
A/N: This is the seventh and final fic of my series of AU stories for different prompts on my bingo card, following Jack and Ianto through their school years and beyond. I hope everyone has enjoyed the boys’ journey as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it!
The production assistant stopped outside a trailer and knocked briskly on the door.
“Mr Harkness, Mr Jones, you’re both needed on set in ten minutes, please.”
The window beside the door opened and two heads popped out.
“We’ll be right there, Sally. Thank you.”
“Anytime,” she said with a grin and hurried away to roust the other actors for the next scene, leaving the two men to finish getting ready.
It amused the movie’s production staff no end that the two big stars insisted on sharing a trailer.
“We’ve shared a dressing room since we were six years old,” Jack Harkness had said when asked about it. “Why break the habit of a lifetime? Besides, we already share everything else. If you gave us separate trailers, we’d still both be in one or the other. I’d rather be with my husband than anywhere else.”
They’d been married for five years now and their acting careers had gone from strength to strength. Their big break had come six years earlier when they’d been cast as the co-leads in a small touring musical that had become an unexpected hit. It ended up having a successful run on the West End stage. Several roles in other West End productions had consolidated their status as stars in the making and now here they were, recreating their roles in the movie version of their first hit show.
Just as when they’d been performing in the musical, Jack was in seventh heaven, playing the role of a man who disguises himself as a female cabaret singer in order to escape from his murderous ex-boyfriend. Getting a job working with a handsome young pianist, played by Ianto, ‘she’ falls head over heels in love with him, but he isn’t interested, believing ‘she’ really is a woman. It was a role Jack might have been born to play; Ianto adored acting opposite him and seeing how happy his husband was, revelling in the glamorous gowns he got to wear.
Zipping up the back of the fetching blue number Jack would be wearing in the next scene, Ianto slipped into his own jacket before opening the door of their trailer and offering his arm to his husband.
“Shall we, my love?”
“Indeed we shall, darling,” Jack purred in reply and they grinned goofily at each other. “Can you believe this? All those years ago, wondering if we might someday get to be in a movie together and here we are, in the starring roles no less!“
Ianto laughed.
“I know! It should seem surreal, but it just feels like the most natural thing in the world, like we’re doing exactly what we were always meant to do. We’re living the dream, Jack. It doesn’t get any better than this.”
“I know what you mean. It’s been worth all the hard work and sacrifice, hasn’t it, those years of waiting tables between auditions and starving in our little bed-sit?”
“Worth every second, Jack. And you know what? I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.”
“Me too. I love you, you know. Always have and always will.”
“Love you too, and you look bloody gorgeous in this dress. D’you think they’d let us keep it after the movie?”
“We can ask. If they won’t give it to us, maybe we can buy it. We’re earning enough!”
“Still can’t get my head around what we’re getting paid for this movie,” Ianto agreed, shaking his head in bemusement. “That’s the one thing that really is surreal. I never dreamed we’d be earning so much. It was always just about acting. When we were kids, I don’t remember ever really giving much thought to the idea of getting paid to be in plays.”
“I know what you mean,” Jack replied as his husband opened the door to the soundstage. “Back then, earning money was a nice thought, but there were more important things to consider than money.”
“Like getting your dream role?”
“Among other things. I don’t want us to stop doing plays just because we’re movie stars now though.”
“Me neither. I think the stage will always be my first love, career-wise.” He looked out across the set at the camera crew and sound people bustling around, the other actors getting into position, the director giving final instructions. “But I have to admit this is bloody awesome!”
Jack threw back his head and laughed.
“Oh yeah! C’mon, better get into position. Is my wig straight?”
“Perfect; you look stunning, as always.”
Hand in hand, they moved to their marks for the start of the scene.
They’d grown up dreaming of becoming famous actors and here they were, working at their dream job and having the time of their lives. Jack smiled to himself, thinking back over the years and couldn’t help wondering what all their schoolteachers would think if they could see them now. He had a feeling they’d be proud.
The End