Ficlet: Innocent Pleasures
Title: Innocent Pleasures
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Jack doesn’t see any reason to feel guilty about indulging in pleasurable things, and Ianto is coming around to his way of thinking, but that doesn’t mean they don’t both have a few guilty pleasures.
Word Count: 500
Written For: Prompt #396: Guilty Pleasures, at slashthedrabble.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters. They belong to the BBC.
Jack doesn’t do guilt, at least not when it comes to any kind of pleasure. Ianto thinks he’s a bit of a hedonist, but maybe that’s just because of the time he comes from. Humans, far in the future, seem like they must have shed a lot of their hang-ups, if Jack is a fair representation of the species. According to Jack, there are still some things that are frowned on, but sex and other pleasures between consenting adults of any species or combination thereof are not among them.
Ianto himself, however, has yet to evolve to that point, although being around Jack has certainly made him a lot more open-minded than he used to be. He’s discovered personal kinks for things he wouldn’t previously have imagined.
Not that all pleasure is sexual in nature, there are other things that Ianto enjoys which have nothing whatsoever to do with sex, though Jack would no doubt argue that point. Long, relaxing baths, a lie-in on his day off, good food and wine, books and movies… There’s quite a list.
When he was younger, Ianto used to reserve those little pleasures as rewards for completing tedious tasks, or as occasional treats, but if working for Torchwood has taught him anything, it’s to enjoy whatever you can today because you might not be alive to enjoy it tomorrow. A somewhat grim sentiment, true, but life as a Torchwood agent is dangerous and besides, a little self-indulgence makes up for early mornings, late nights, and long, exhausting days.
He uses the best coffee beans every day, because the extra expense is still easily affordable when you get paid as well as he does. The same goes for really good suits, shirts, ties, and shoes. He reserves very little for special occasions because with the way clothes often get ruined through work, he can always put a new suit on his expenses. What’s the point of having something nice if you don’t wear it?
Despite his new attitude towards the pleasures of life, there are still a few things that Ianto classifies as guilty pleasures, things he probably shouldn’t enjoy as much as he does. Silly, childish things like walking barefoot on sun-warmed grass, feeling the blades tickling his toes, or rolling down a hill, or lying on the floor watching Saturday morning cartoons. He feels like a fool every time Jack catches him, even though he usually joins in.
So it comes as a surprise to find that Jack does in fact have his own guilty pleasures. Like the summer night Ianto wakes to pouring rain and finds the bed beside him empty. When he goes in search of his lover, what he finds is unexpected, though perhaps it shouldn’t be. Jack’s outside in the rain, completely naked and dancing about, splashing in puddles. The look on his face when he realises he’s been caught is a picture.
“I like summer rain,” he explains sheepishly. “It’s warm. You should try it.”
So Ianto does.
The End