Fic: Vizzini's Rule (62/105)
Title: Vizzini's Rule, Chapter 62
Rating: R
Warnings: Just a little bad language
Spoilers: Season One thru Out of Time (1x10)
Disclaimer: Torchwood and all its wonderfulness belong to Russell T. Davies and the Mighty Beeb. Just goofin' around! All ©’s to Catherine Tregenna for dialogue and situations borrowed from Out of Time.
Summary: In which Ianto reconnects with an old friend...
Notes: Heeeeere’s Jamie! ;) This is for thrace_adams (more than usual, cuz the whole fic is for her). But this chapter includes a scene that was ALL her idea. She know's which one - *hugs* sweetie!
Previous Chapters
Vizzini's Rule: Chapter Sixty-Two
After Ianto had made plans to meet Jamie outside the Millennium Center at noon, he headed back inside. Emma looked terrified for a second and then relieved when she realized it was Ianto.
“Well, I spoke to my friend and he’s actually coming into town. I’ll talk to him this afternoon and maybe you can join us for dinner if he thinks it would be worthwhile. Would that be okay?”
“Okay? It would be wonderful! Oh! What should I wear?”
Ianto laughed. “What you have on is fine, but you’ve got all day to think about it.”
“I better go back to Gwen’s and look at what I brought. Do you think she’d mind?”
“Of course not. Let’s go down and tell her the plan,” Ianto said, offering his arm to Emma after he pushed the blue button under the counter.
Downstairs in the Hub, things were still tense. Tosh was hiding in her favorite out-of-the-way spot up by the kitchen area. Owen and Diane had apparently left and Gwen was working at her desk, hitting the keys on her computer with extra emphasis. Ianto left Emma to explain their plan and went to find Jack.
He was sitting in his office, his chair turned so his back was to the door. Ianto knocked softly and entered at Jack’s grunted, “What?”
Ianto walked around to find Jack slumped down, his elbows resting on the arms of the chair and his chin resting on his clenched hands. He was staring with great intensity at the bizarre hand in a jar he kept for inexplicable reasons. Well, inexplicable to the rest of us anyway, Ianto thought.
“Will you be needing me this afternoon, sir?” Ianto asked politely.
“For what?” Jack asked, not looking up.
“For anything,” Ianto replied tightly.
“Why?”
“Because I have a friend coming in from out of town and I would like the afternoon off.”
“Bit short notice, isn’t it?” Jack asked. He finally looked up at Ianto.
Steeling himself against the obvious sadness in Jack’s blue eyes, Ianto said, “Yes, but if you don’t need me for anything?”
“Go. Fine. Whatever,” Jack said as he waved a hand at Ianto and returned to his staring contest with the hand.
Ianto replied, “Thank you, sir,” in that same tight voice and stalked out of the room. He was getting fed up with Jack’s mood. You know, it’d be a lot easier for all of them, John especially, to move on if Jack stopped acting like it’s the end of the world that they got stuck here.
He returned to the Hub to see Gwen gathering up her things. She caught sight of Ianto and smiled. “I’m going to take Emma home right now. Do you just want to call when you know what’s happening?”
Ianto nodded. “I’ll do that. Maybe you and Emma could meet us for dinner? Or just drinks? I’ll know more after I’ve talked to Jamie.”
“Sounds good. Thanks for thinking of this Ianto.”
“What I’m here for,” Ianto said, brushing off her thanks in his usual self-deprecating way.
Ianto spent the rest of the morning catching up on his filing. He wanted to leave with a clean conscience plus he didn’t want to give Jack any more reasons to bitch at him. He wasn’t sure how much more he could take before he struck back and he really didn’t want to do that. Jack was in enough pain already, Ianto didn’t want to add to it by retaliating, no matter how gratifying it would be. When it was time for him to leave he headed back up to the Hub, wondering if he should tell Jack he was going. He glanced into Jack’s office and saw that it was empty. Breathing a sigh of relief, he waved to Tosh and hurried up to the Tourist Office. He grabbed his coat and locked up, eager to see Jamie again.
He turned up his collar against the stiff breeze coming off the bay and walked quickly around the buildings to the Plass. As he got closer to the Millennium Center, he started scanning the groups of people milling about, looking for his friend. He finally spotted him, standing just to the side of the block that hid the invisible lift, staring up at the water feature. Jamie hadn’t changed at all, he still looked like a transplanted California surfer with his long, lanky frame and shock of golden blonde hair. Ianto walked over and stood next to him, mimicking his position as he looked upwards.
Jamie glanced down. “Jones.”
“Smith,” Ianto replied.
“Nice sculpture you have here.”
“Thank you. We’re quite fond.”
“You know what it makes me think of?”
Ianto groaned. “I can only imagine.”
They both laughed and threw their arms around each other, hugging and pounding each other’s backs in that uniquely masculine way. When they pulled back they realized that they were each blinking back tears, which sent them both into peals of laughter.
“God, it’s so good to see you!” Jamie exclaimed, wiping his eyes. “You look great. Skinny, but great. Nice suit,” he wolf-whistled. “You gone corporate on me?”
“Not quite. I work for a small security firm, research and the like.”
“Same old, same old, then.” Jamie slung his arm around Ianto’s shoulders and spun him around to face the Plass. “Point me towards a pint, son.”
“Right,” Ianto said, swinging them back around again and pointing them towards Bute Street. He pointed to the west. “This way.”
They chatted about nothing and everything as they walked the short distance to the Packet. Ianto asked about several of their mutual friends and was glad to hear that everyone was doing fine, that life had gone on without him in London. Just as it should, Ianto thought firmly, fighting back a wave of homesickness. Ianto got Jamie settled at a table near the front of the pub and then went to order their pints.
“Still drinking that weak-ass Bass?” Ianto asked.
“Yeah. You still drinking that stout shite?” Jamie replied, making Ianto laugh.
He returned from the bar with Jamie’s Bass and a Fuller’s ESB for himself. At Jamie’s raised eyebrow Ianto explained, “Too early for Guinness. Here’s what’s on for lunch,” he added, tossing a menu at Jamie.
They made their choices and Ianto put in the order, chatting for a moment with the waitress who always seemed to be there when the team came in for lunch. When he got back to the table Jamie grinned.
“Either you come here a lot or you’ve stepped up your game a bit since Uni.”
Ianto flushed. “We come here a lot.”
“We?”
“My office is right around the corner from the Plass. We eat here at least once a week.”
“Gotcha,” Jamie said. He took a deep drink from his Bass before asking Ianto about the favor he needed. “Just to get it out of the way before we get completely sloshed.”
Ianto had tweaked Emma’s story a bit to avoid unanswerable questions from Jamie. “Sort of a friend of a friend situation, but there’s this girl who lost everything, family, home, everything. She’s all alone and has no idea what to do to support herself. She was pretty sheltered, so she comes off a little backwards at times but she’s a fairly talented seamstress and seems interested in fashion so I told her that I would ask you if you had any advice or knew of anything she might be able to do. Either at your shop or somewhere else.”
“Hmm,” Jamie considered. “Fairly talented? Coming from you, she must be pretty good. Does she have design aspirations?”
“I don’t really know for sure. Like I said, she’s been pretty sheltered. I don’t think the idea of supporting herself ever crossed her mind until now.”
“Well, I’m more than willing to talk to her. I know that there’s a new shop opening up in London just after Christmas. Buddy of mine is going to run the shoproom. If I recommended her, I’m sure he’d be grateful for the help and with it being a new branch, there’d be chances for her to do something other than just production eventually.”
“Thanks Jamie. I… I really appreciate it. I’m sorry it took something like this to get me to ring you. I just…”
“Hey Jones, stuff it, okay? I didn’t ring you either,” Jamie said with a stern look.
Ianto gave him a weak smile and nodded.
“So this girl,” Jamie said, sipping his Bass. “She really a friend of a friend or is that code for you’re shagging her?”
“God no! Jesus Jamie, she’s only eighteen years old,” Ianto said.
“Alright, son, just checking. Wasn’t sure if it was too soon after… everything or what.”
Ianto flushed and took a swig of his beer.
“Oh-ho!” Jamie said. “Not too soon. I’m glad,” he said seriously. “I was worried about you. You were so distant after she died, I was afraid you’d never come back. So if it’s not this friend of a friend bird, then who is she?”
Ianto raised his glass and took a long drink. “Actually, I’ve been shagging my boss,” he admitted.
TBC in Chapter Sixty-Three
Rating: R
Warnings: Just a little bad language
Spoilers: Season One thru Out of Time (1x10)
Disclaimer: Torchwood and all its wonderfulness belong to Russell T. Davies and the Mighty Beeb. Just goofin' around! All ©’s to Catherine Tregenna for dialogue and situations borrowed from Out of Time.
Summary: In which Ianto reconnects with an old friend...
Notes: Heeeeere’s Jamie! ;) This is for thrace_adams (more than usual, cuz the whole fic is for her). But this chapter includes a scene that was ALL her idea. She know's which one - *hugs* sweetie!
Previous Chapters
Vizzini's Rule: Chapter Sixty-Two
After Ianto had made plans to meet Jamie outside the Millennium Center at noon, he headed back inside. Emma looked terrified for a second and then relieved when she realized it was Ianto.
“Well, I spoke to my friend and he’s actually coming into town. I’ll talk to him this afternoon and maybe you can join us for dinner if he thinks it would be worthwhile. Would that be okay?”
“Okay? It would be wonderful! Oh! What should I wear?”
Ianto laughed. “What you have on is fine, but you’ve got all day to think about it.”
“I better go back to Gwen’s and look at what I brought. Do you think she’d mind?”
“Of course not. Let’s go down and tell her the plan,” Ianto said, offering his arm to Emma after he pushed the blue button under the counter.
Downstairs in the Hub, things were still tense. Tosh was hiding in her favorite out-of-the-way spot up by the kitchen area. Owen and Diane had apparently left and Gwen was working at her desk, hitting the keys on her computer with extra emphasis. Ianto left Emma to explain their plan and went to find Jack.
He was sitting in his office, his chair turned so his back was to the door. Ianto knocked softly and entered at Jack’s grunted, “What?”
Ianto walked around to find Jack slumped down, his elbows resting on the arms of the chair and his chin resting on his clenched hands. He was staring with great intensity at the bizarre hand in a jar he kept for inexplicable reasons. Well, inexplicable to the rest of us anyway, Ianto thought.
“Will you be needing me this afternoon, sir?” Ianto asked politely.
“For what?” Jack asked, not looking up.
“For anything,” Ianto replied tightly.
“Why?”
“Because I have a friend coming in from out of town and I would like the afternoon off.”
“Bit short notice, isn’t it?” Jack asked. He finally looked up at Ianto.
Steeling himself against the obvious sadness in Jack’s blue eyes, Ianto said, “Yes, but if you don’t need me for anything?”
“Go. Fine. Whatever,” Jack said as he waved a hand at Ianto and returned to his staring contest with the hand.
Ianto replied, “Thank you, sir,” in that same tight voice and stalked out of the room. He was getting fed up with Jack’s mood. You know, it’d be a lot easier for all of them, John especially, to move on if Jack stopped acting like it’s the end of the world that they got stuck here.
He returned to the Hub to see Gwen gathering up her things. She caught sight of Ianto and smiled. “I’m going to take Emma home right now. Do you just want to call when you know what’s happening?”
Ianto nodded. “I’ll do that. Maybe you and Emma could meet us for dinner? Or just drinks? I’ll know more after I’ve talked to Jamie.”
“Sounds good. Thanks for thinking of this Ianto.”
“What I’m here for,” Ianto said, brushing off her thanks in his usual self-deprecating way.
Ianto spent the rest of the morning catching up on his filing. He wanted to leave with a clean conscience plus he didn’t want to give Jack any more reasons to bitch at him. He wasn’t sure how much more he could take before he struck back and he really didn’t want to do that. Jack was in enough pain already, Ianto didn’t want to add to it by retaliating, no matter how gratifying it would be. When it was time for him to leave he headed back up to the Hub, wondering if he should tell Jack he was going. He glanced into Jack’s office and saw that it was empty. Breathing a sigh of relief, he waved to Tosh and hurried up to the Tourist Office. He grabbed his coat and locked up, eager to see Jamie again.
He turned up his collar against the stiff breeze coming off the bay and walked quickly around the buildings to the Plass. As he got closer to the Millennium Center, he started scanning the groups of people milling about, looking for his friend. He finally spotted him, standing just to the side of the block that hid the invisible lift, staring up at the water feature. Jamie hadn’t changed at all, he still looked like a transplanted California surfer with his long, lanky frame and shock of golden blonde hair. Ianto walked over and stood next to him, mimicking his position as he looked upwards.
Jamie glanced down. “Jones.”
“Smith,” Ianto replied.
“Nice sculpture you have here.”
“Thank you. We’re quite fond.”
“You know what it makes me think of?”
Ianto groaned. “I can only imagine.”
They both laughed and threw their arms around each other, hugging and pounding each other’s backs in that uniquely masculine way. When they pulled back they realized that they were each blinking back tears, which sent them both into peals of laughter.
“God, it’s so good to see you!” Jamie exclaimed, wiping his eyes. “You look great. Skinny, but great. Nice suit,” he wolf-whistled. “You gone corporate on me?”
“Not quite. I work for a small security firm, research and the like.”
“Same old, same old, then.” Jamie slung his arm around Ianto’s shoulders and spun him around to face the Plass. “Point me towards a pint, son.”
“Right,” Ianto said, swinging them back around again and pointing them towards Bute Street. He pointed to the west. “This way.”
They chatted about nothing and everything as they walked the short distance to the Packet. Ianto asked about several of their mutual friends and was glad to hear that everyone was doing fine, that life had gone on without him in London. Just as it should, Ianto thought firmly, fighting back a wave of homesickness. Ianto got Jamie settled at a table near the front of the pub and then went to order their pints.
“Still drinking that weak-ass Bass?” Ianto asked.
“Yeah. You still drinking that stout shite?” Jamie replied, making Ianto laugh.
He returned from the bar with Jamie’s Bass and a Fuller’s ESB for himself. At Jamie’s raised eyebrow Ianto explained, “Too early for Guinness. Here’s what’s on for lunch,” he added, tossing a menu at Jamie.
They made their choices and Ianto put in the order, chatting for a moment with the waitress who always seemed to be there when the team came in for lunch. When he got back to the table Jamie grinned.
“Either you come here a lot or you’ve stepped up your game a bit since Uni.”
Ianto flushed. “We come here a lot.”
“We?”
“My office is right around the corner from the Plass. We eat here at least once a week.”
“Gotcha,” Jamie said. He took a deep drink from his Bass before asking Ianto about the favor he needed. “Just to get it out of the way before we get completely sloshed.”
Ianto had tweaked Emma’s story a bit to avoid unanswerable questions from Jamie. “Sort of a friend of a friend situation, but there’s this girl who lost everything, family, home, everything. She’s all alone and has no idea what to do to support herself. She was pretty sheltered, so she comes off a little backwards at times but she’s a fairly talented seamstress and seems interested in fashion so I told her that I would ask you if you had any advice or knew of anything she might be able to do. Either at your shop or somewhere else.”
“Hmm,” Jamie considered. “Fairly talented? Coming from you, she must be pretty good. Does she have design aspirations?”
“I don’t really know for sure. Like I said, she’s been pretty sheltered. I don’t think the idea of supporting herself ever crossed her mind until now.”
“Well, I’m more than willing to talk to her. I know that there’s a new shop opening up in London just after Christmas. Buddy of mine is going to run the shoproom. If I recommended her, I’m sure he’d be grateful for the help and with it being a new branch, there’d be chances for her to do something other than just production eventually.”
“Thanks Jamie. I… I really appreciate it. I’m sorry it took something like this to get me to ring you. I just…”
“Hey Jones, stuff it, okay? I didn’t ring you either,” Jamie said with a stern look.
Ianto gave him a weak smile and nodded.
“So this girl,” Jamie said, sipping his Bass. “She really a friend of a friend or is that code for you’re shagging her?”
“God no! Jesus Jamie, she’s only eighteen years old,” Ianto said.
“Alright, son, just checking. Wasn’t sure if it was too soon after… everything or what.”
Ianto flushed and took a swig of his beer.
“Oh-ho!” Jamie said. “Not too soon. I’m glad,” he said seriously. “I was worried about you. You were so distant after she died, I was afraid you’d never come back. So if it’s not this friend of a friend bird, then who is she?”
Ianto raised his glass and took a long drink. “Actually, I’ve been shagging my boss,” he admitted.
TBC in Chapter Sixty-Three