Sands of Time
Sands of Time
characters/pairings: Jack/Ianto
rating: G/PG
word count: 561
warnings/spoilers: CoE-compliant, but no sad endings
summary: Jack remembers and walks on the beach. IN SPACE!
part of this series-type thing but can be read as a standalone
A/N: wrote this for frakkin_addict as a commentfic with the prompt of feet. (original post is locked)
It was no secret that Jack Harkness liked to stand on roofs and brood; to watch over the people of Cardiff from on high and feel the wind on his face as he sorted out his thoughts. But few people knew that second to that Jack loved to walk barefoot on the beach; to stand at the shoreline as the sun set and feel the waves running over his feet as the tide pulled his troubles away with it, and even fewer people knew that it was because it reminded him of home. Well, his first home. On the Boeshane Peninsula.
Swimming had been forbidden, but sometimes his mother would take him and they would stand at the very edge of the water and squidge their toes in the sand and giggle about the brush of sea foam against their ankles. All of this was when Grey was still small enough that he could be carried in a sling on his mother's back, and even so it was still their moment. Just him and his mother as the sun set and she told him stories about her youth, before they would go home and his mother would gently wash his feet for him and life would go on. Their two sets of footprints like art in the sand.
Rose knew a little, and he suspected John knew parts as well. The Doctor, well, Jack was never sure what the Doctor knew, but he assumed the Tardis had told him, and Ianto knew that Jack liked the beach, but Jack had never found the right opportunity to tell him why. He had often regretted it in the months after he left Earth, as walking along the beach, even on Woman Wept, reminded him of all he had lost, all that had been taken from him, as did his solitary set of footprints.
The Doctor with his new face had found him like that, kneeling in the sand and unmindful of the waves soaking his trousers as he stared out at nothing.
A hand slipped into his, and Jack twitched a little in shock. He had been so lost in his memories that he had forgotten that Ianto wasn’t lost after all. It was a nice realization. He looked down and grinned when he saw that Ianto had finally taken his shoes and socks off as well and rolled up his trouser legs. Even in his own flat, Ianto had rarely walked around barefoot. He briefly wondered if Ianto was ticklish. He wanted to sit Ianto down, off his feet, and give him a foot massage. Seeing Ianto be willing to be so vulnerable with him made Jack's own toes curl with pleasure, digging little furrows in the soft sand.
"You were getting broody again," Ianto said softly, "Come on." He gave Jack's hand the smallest of tugs in the direction away from where they had come from. "I agreed to go barefoot on neon-yellow sand, so I expect a nice walk with you. Though if someone steals our shoes I shall be most put out."
Jack looked back as he walked next to Ianto, feeling his heart swell in his chest as he saw, illuminated by moonlight, that once again there were two sets of footprints in the sand behind him.
“…hey Ianto, did I ever tell you about my mother?”
~*~
will be crossposted to my lj/dw,
the_hub, jantolution, jackxianto, torchwood_fic, iantos_not_dead, and torch_wood
characters/pairings: Jack/Ianto
rating: G/PG
word count: 561
warnings/spoilers: CoE-compliant, but no sad endings
summary: Jack remembers and walks on the beach. IN SPACE!
part of this series-type thing but can be read as a standalone
A/N: wrote this for frakkin_addict as a commentfic with the prompt of feet. (original post is locked)
It was no secret that Jack Harkness liked to stand on roofs and brood; to watch over the people of Cardiff from on high and feel the wind on his face as he sorted out his thoughts. But few people knew that second to that Jack loved to walk barefoot on the beach; to stand at the shoreline as the sun set and feel the waves running over his feet as the tide pulled his troubles away with it, and even fewer people knew that it was because it reminded him of home. Well, his first home. On the Boeshane Peninsula.
Swimming had been forbidden, but sometimes his mother would take him and they would stand at the very edge of the water and squidge their toes in the sand and giggle about the brush of sea foam against their ankles. All of this was when Grey was still small enough that he could be carried in a sling on his mother's back, and even so it was still their moment. Just him and his mother as the sun set and she told him stories about her youth, before they would go home and his mother would gently wash his feet for him and life would go on. Their two sets of footprints like art in the sand.
Rose knew a little, and he suspected John knew parts as well. The Doctor, well, Jack was never sure what the Doctor knew, but he assumed the Tardis had told him, and Ianto knew that Jack liked the beach, but Jack had never found the right opportunity to tell him why. He had often regretted it in the months after he left Earth, as walking along the beach, even on Woman Wept, reminded him of all he had lost, all that had been taken from him, as did his solitary set of footprints.
The Doctor with his new face had found him like that, kneeling in the sand and unmindful of the waves soaking his trousers as he stared out at nothing.
A hand slipped into his, and Jack twitched a little in shock. He had been so lost in his memories that he had forgotten that Ianto wasn’t lost after all. It was a nice realization. He looked down and grinned when he saw that Ianto had finally taken his shoes and socks off as well and rolled up his trouser legs. Even in his own flat, Ianto had rarely walked around barefoot. He briefly wondered if Ianto was ticklish. He wanted to sit Ianto down, off his feet, and give him a foot massage. Seeing Ianto be willing to be so vulnerable with him made Jack's own toes curl with pleasure, digging little furrows in the soft sand.
"You were getting broody again," Ianto said softly, "Come on." He gave Jack's hand the smallest of tugs in the direction away from where they had come from. "I agreed to go barefoot on neon-yellow sand, so I expect a nice walk with you. Though if someone steals our shoes I shall be most put out."
Jack looked back as he walked next to Ianto, feeling his heart swell in his chest as he saw, illuminated by moonlight, that once again there were two sets of footprints in the sand behind him.
“…hey Ianto, did I ever tell you about my mother?”
~*~
will be crossposted to my lj/dw,
the_hub, jantolution, jackxianto, torchwood_fic, iantos_not_dead, and torch_wood