Beautiful Iris 9/20
Pairings: Jack/Ianto, Tosh/Owen
Summary: when a seemingly cut-and-dried incident calls out Torchwood early one morning all is not as it originally seems. Alien technology leads the team into a trap of danger and curiosity, propelling them to an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar faces. Split into two, the team must find a way back before past events puts one member of Torchwood into danger.
Spoilers: season1 up to episode 7.
A/N : I haven't written anything for a while, so I decided to finish this fic. It now has 20 parts an an actual ending :) please r&r
Disclaimer these characters are not mine. I'm just borrowing RTD's toys and promise to put them back when I'm done
PART 1
PART 2
PART 3
PART 4
PART 5
PART 6
PART 7
PART 8
The bedroom was cold at 6am in rural Wales; a lack of heating and the darkness of the world outside, with rain battering the sash windows, seemed to make lying under the warm blankets a much more appealing option than getting up. The three layers of bedclothes and a pair of cotton pyjamas were cosy though, and as Jack lay in bed pretending to sleep he wished he didn't have to get up so soon. In addition to all of that of course, there was the attraction of the gorgeous Welshman sprawled out over his chest.
Ianto had spent most of the night glued to the edge of the bed, keeping his distance, but at 5am he stirred and turned; now he was lying with one leg hooked over Jack's and his head buried in his chest, one of his hands had moving to rest on Jack's thigh. He could feel the roughness of the Welshman's three day stubble through the open pyjama jacket, scratching ever so slightly when he moved.
“Ianto?” he whispered.
The Welshman made an unrecognisable noise that fell halfway between a moan and a groan. He slipped his hand over Jack's chest, his fingers resting above his heart.
“Ianto?” Jack stroked his shoulder. “ Are you getting up?”
“Why?” he mumbled. “What time is it?”
“Six.”
“Wake me at seven.” Ianto snuggled further into him, nuzzling into his neck a little, his lips brushing against Jack's neck. “It’s too comfortable here. I'm not moving and you can't make me.”
Jack could feel Ianto's hand moving from his chest, slipping down slowly until it rreached his cock, erect and ready.
"You're so warm." Ianto whispered, his breath heating Jacks skin.
"What are you doing?"
"Something I probably shouldn't." He pressed a kiss against the other man's neck. "Did you lock the door last night?"
"Yeah." Jack smiled a little. “Even though you said there was no reason to.”
“I did?”
"Yes, you did. Then you slept so far away from me you almost fell out of bed."
“Well, I don't remember saying that.” Ianto slipped his hand over the material of Jack’s pyjamas, stroking his length slowly. “Although it does sound like something I might say in this situation.”
Jack put his head back on the pillow and swallowed hard before closing his eyes and exhaling a long controlled breath. Ianto's hand was moving slowly across the fabric of His pyjamas, his lips deliberately brushing his neck, heating the skin with every breath.
Jack considered stopping it, but when Ianto's fingers slipped into the gap between the buttons and he changed his mind. He raked his fingers through the Welshman's hair, tightening his grip a little when he felt his hand stroke him; he bit his lip for a moment before shifting a little, pressing himself further into Ianto's willing hand. He could feel Ianto's lips against his neck as they curved slowly into a smile.
“Ianto,” he whispered, his breath heavy. “You should probably stop.”
“Do you want me to stop?”
“No, but you probably should.”
"Probably."
Ianto shifted a little more, nuzzling Jack's neck as he slipped his leg further over his, pinning him a little with his weight. He kissed his neck, sucking the skin into his mouth a little, then kissed a trail of kisses that led to his ear. Jack moaned a little too loudly when Ianto's tongue came into contact with his earlobe, and the younger man stopped, pulling back to look at him for the first time that morning, his hand still keeping a steady rhythm.
"You're supposed to be quiet," he said, a slight smile tugging on his lips.
"If you want me to be quiet, you’re going the wrong way about it.” Jack closed his eyes again when Ianto picked up the pace a little, his head falling back onto the bed as he arched his neck.
"Complaining?"
"No." Jack's voice was barely audible. He licked his lips and moved his hand to cup Ianto's cheek, pulling him into a searing kiss, raising his hips off the bed to get closer to the younger man’s hand. His fingers gripped Ianto’s hair, keeping his close, moving away only to find his breath, lost between the heat of the kisses and the quickening of his pulse.
“Why aren't you stopping me?” Ianto's lips hovered precariously close, the warmth of his breath finding Jack’s mouth. “We had an agreement that we wouldn't let each other do things like this."
“I don't want you to.”
Ianto lowered his head, pressing a trail of kisses over his chest and down his stomach until he reached the waistband of his pyjamas. Releasing Jack from his touch, he pulled down the waistband before replacing his hand with the heat of his mouth.
Jack’s hands found the bed, clinging onto the sheets as he focused on keeping quiet, hard rapid breaths escaping from his mouth. He closed his eyes again, concentrating on the warmth of the younger man’s lips as he felt the release.
He collapsed down on the bed, taking a moment to recover his breath before grabbing the younger man’s hand and pulling him down into a kiss. Jack traced his fingers down Ianto’s jaw and felt the heat of his breath on his lips
“How are we going to sleep in the same bed If we keep doing things like this?" He asked. “We said we wouldn’t, but--”
"You let me get carried away." Ianto rolled over and lay beside him, covering his face with his hands. “It’s this place. There's nothing to keep me busy here, nothing to distract me. This is what happens when I don’t have an archive room to organise, or a coffee machine to work or a-- bloody Weevil to wrangle into a cell”
“How long have you been distracting yourself?
“Since the day we met.” Ianto sighed. “It was okay at first; I had Lisa and then I was too busy to really do anything about it, but now?”
“It’s going to be alright, you know?” Jack rolled onto his side and stroked the Welshman’s cheek. “I know it might be the worst time possible, but it feels right."
"I'm making all the same mistakes all over again and part of me doesn't even care."
"I don't want to be a mistake."
"You're not, it's this place that is the mistake." Ianto turned to face him and pushed Jack's hair away from his face. "We should be in a different time, in a different bed and I shouldn't be scared.”
"I know.” Jack pushed him onto his back, propping himself up on his elbow to look at him, then kissed his lips softly, his fingers resting on his neck; he could feel his pulse underneath his fingers. “We’re going to work this out.”
"You're not helping,” Ianto said, his lips finding Jack’s again.
"You started it."
"I know."
"I don’t have the strength to stop you. This is the only time I get with you, in here with the door locked is the only place I can touch you like I want without consequences."
"There are still consequences, Jack."
"You're safe in here with me," he promised, his lips falling to his shoulder. He kissed the soft skin underneath his lips, tasting the slightly salted skin.
"But I'm not safe out there."
"If anyone tries to hurt you, they'll have to go through me first."
"That was almost romantic. " Ianto smiled a little; he could feel the other man’s lips curve into a smile against the skin of his neck, pressing a kiss just below his ear as he peppered his skin with lazy kisses.
"I have my moments."
"Y'know, I can look after myself."
"I know, I remember your right hook." Jack’s lips found his mouth again, kissing him softly. "There's something really attractive about a guy who can knock me off my feet."
Ianto's hands raked through Jack's hair as their bodies moved closer, their hips finding a slow rhythm; soft moans were lost within mouths and hot breaths mingled together a little. Ianto couldn’t resist and wrapped his arms around him, pulling him into the heat of his lips.
His fingers ran underneath his pyjama jacket, pushing it up his back, crumpling the fabric to get to the warm skin underneath.
A harsh knock on the door forced their lips apart and a soft female voice filtered through the wood. “Are you boys decent?”
“No.” Jack said calmly, touching Ianto's face as he stared at him with lustful eyes from above him. “Give us a minute.”
“Well don't be long, your hot water is cooling and the bowl is heavy.”
Jack ran his hand down Ianto's neck slowly and rested his fingers on his collarbone. “Someone really needs to teach that girl the importance of judging between good and bad timing.”
"It could be worse, it could've been five minutes ago." Ianto licked his lips nervously and swallowed a dry lump in his throat; he blinked quickly a few times before finding his voice through hard panting breaths. “What do we do now?”
“Go and open the door.”
“It's a bit hard for me at the moment.” Ianto pressed his erection into Jack’s thigh. “I don’t think shes ready to see that, do you?”
“Okay.” He kissed his lips softly. “We'll finish this later.”
Jack stood up, fastened his pyjama jacket and made his way towards the door, giving Ianto some time to get under the sheets and straighten his pyjamas. He opened the door and looked at Iris as she walked in and placed a large bowl of water on a table at the furthest corner of the room.
“You two should get up,” she said. “It's past six.”
“I'm sorry. Six is early where we come from.”
She walked over to the window and pulled open the curtains. Bright sunlight streamed through the window and the sound of birds filtered through when she pulled up the sash window open a little.
“Some morning air is what you need to wake you up. Get some country air into those city lungs.”
“Goodmorning.” She looked at Ianto. “Sir, you look practically flustered.”
“Do I?” Ianto asked nervously.
“You look hot and bothered.” Iris sat down on the bed and put her hand on his forehead. “You feel a little warm, too. I do hope that fever isn't starting to set in.”
“I feel fine.”
“You're looking rather ragged.” A small smile crossed her lips, and barely reached the corner of her eyes before she lowered it. “And I don't mean that in a good way. You both need a shave.”
“I don't have a razor,” he said, moving away a little.
“I'll get you one for this evening. We're expecting cousins for dinner tomorrow night and I couldn't possibly let them see our house guests looking like something we've scraped up off the streets.”
"Of course not."
"I should think you two will scrub up really well," she said, looking between the two of them. "I'd be careful if I were you, My cousin Beatrice is a modern kind of girl. London-bred. She's ruthless. You two should want to stick together to avoid her advances."
“If she's as beautiful as you I'm not sure we would want to,” Jack said.
"Mr. Jones?" Iris turned to face Ianto. “Do you suppose he thinks that his charm works on me?”
“Jack supposes his charm works on everyone,” he replied. “He expects every species to fall at his feet.”
“You're too confident for your own good. You should know that girls much prefer the quiet type.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Modesty is very attractive in a man, ego is not.”
She looked over at Ianto as she made her way towards the door. “I'll put you some bacon on; you liked that yesterday.” Turning to Jack, she let a smirk cross her lips. “You can have porridge.”
Iris left the room with a gentle swish of her dress and closed the door behind her.
“Oh,” Jack smirked. “Miss Iris likes you.”
"“Or maybe she just finds you a little hard to take.” Ianto pulled the sheets back and got out of bed, making his way over to where his clothes had been laid out the evening before.
Jack followed him over and wrapped his arms around his body, pulling him back; he lowered his lips to whisper in his ear.
"Well, you certainly don't seem to have any problems in that department."
"That's inappropriate." Ianto smiled a little, leaning back against him as he unfastened his shirt, peeling it off his shoulders.
"Considering how you behaved this morning, you have no place lecturing on appropriateness."
The door opened and they jumped apart, Jack swiftly removing his hand from Ianto's chest.
'I forgot your towels."
"Thanks."
“Don’t be long, I have things to do after breakfast.” Iris handed them over and left, shutting the door behind her.
"We should get dressed," Ianto said, moving further away from him. "And calm ourselves down before breakfast, because that was far too close for my liking."
Tosh opened her eyes and rolled over in bed. The unfamiliar silky sheets were soft and luxurious and the scent of Owen’s aftershave clung to the pillow underneath her cheek. She got up, pulling the long t-shirt over her legs and walked into the kitchen, tucking her hair behind her ear. She stopped in the doorway and watched Owen as he flipped an egg over in the frying pan; she hadn’t forgotten his promise of breakfast, although she had fully expected a bowl of rice crispies being far more his level of hospitality.
"Morning."
"It's about time you got up."
“You should’ve woken me.”
“I tried, you were out like a light.” he said, turning around to face her.
“I must’ve needed it.”
“Now that is an outfit you should definitely wear to the office." Owen’s eyes fell to Toshiko’s legs, the hem of his shirt cutting off at the top of her thigh. “Although I suspect nobody would get much work done if you did.”
"Oh.” Tosh looked down at herself, pulling the hem down a little more as she felt her cheeks burning pink. “I should get dressed."
"Come here.” Owen walked over to her and put his hand on her waist, guiding her into the kitchen. He pulled out a stool for her and tapped the seat. “Sit down."
“I should--”
“Eat first, you've got nothing I haven't seen a thousand times.” Owen put a plate in front of her.
“You know how to flatter a woman.”
“Eat.” He smiled a little, sliding another egg onto her plate. “
"Thanks"
"So, I was up pretty early this morning and I--” Owen felt his eyes falling onto Tosh’s legs as the shirt rode up a little exposing more of her thigh. “I went--"
“You went where?”
“I went to--” he searched for his words. “Shit.”
"What?"
"Nothing.” Owen turned away from her, returning to the sink to wash up his dishes. “I got up early and went for a run to try and clear my head and I had a brainwave."
"It had to happen eventually I suppose."
"Funny."
"What was it?” Tosh smiled a little, leaning on the counter as she ate her breakfast.
"Ianto has a load of stuff from Torchwood one on his computer, I think we should see if there's anything on the device in his files. He said it was familiar, so maybe he's seen it somewhere before."
"Good idea. I'm going to head back to the warehouse and take some up to date readings, then set up some rift monitors."
“Not without me you're not,” he said.
“What?”
“Tosh.” He leaned on the counter in front of her. “I've already lost Jack, Ianto and Gwen, I'm not letting you bugger off through the rift, too. No, if you go we both go.”
"Okay."
"I thought you would fight me more on that."
"No, you're right. We need to stick together." Tosh smiled a little. "And thanks for letting me stay."
"Don't mention it."
"And breakfast."
"Dont get too used to it," Owen said. "That was a once in a lifetime deal."
"I'll return the favour one day," she promised. "Traditional Japanese."
"Are you planning on inviting me to stay?"
"Well--" Tosh looked at him across the kitchen counter for a moment, her words suddenly vacant. "I was just being polite."
"Yeah, yeah, of course. I was just teasing." Owen backed away a little distancing himself.
"Me too," she said quickly. "Banter, that's all."
"I need a shower."
"Okay."
"You stay here and eat your breakfast."
"Well I wasn't planning on coming in with you."
"Of course not!" Owen backed into the fridge as he backed away. "Anyway, so--"
"Shower?"
"Yeah." Owen retreated, finding his way into the bathroom. He shut the door behind him and rested his back against it, covering his face with his hands. "Shit."
The water had almost completely cooled by the time Jack had finished washing, and he threw the face cloth into the bowl with a splash. He looked over his shoulder as he dried his face and looked at the Welshman sitting on the bed, fastening up his boots. Looking up, Ianto found Jack's gaze before concentrating on the laces again.
Jack leant against the wall and put his hands in his pockets, looking side-on at Ianto. “I miss my shower,” he said. “I like hot running water in a morning. And a shave.”
Ianto said nothing; he had spoken very little since Iris had left them, spending close to twenty minutes dressing slowly in silence.
Jack draped the damp towel over the cast-iron bed frame and leant on the wall, looking over at Ianto. “So, you're not talking to me now?”
“I'm not consciously not talking to you,” he said. “I just have nothing to say.”
“I can think of a few things.”
“I don't want to talk, Jack.” Ianto stood briefly and slipped the white shirt on over his vest, then sat back down to fasten it, paying close attention to the buttons. “Talking sometimes just makes things worse.”
Jack sighed and slumped down on the bed, lying down and covering face with his hands. A frustrated growl escaped from his mouth, muffled by his hands.
“What?”
Jack slowly removed his hands and sat up, turning to face the Welshman. “Do you even know how much you drive me crazy sometimes?” he asked. “Very few people have ever been able to bring me to my knees the way you do."
Ianto smirked a little. “That's not what I've heard.”
Jack chuckled and took another deep breath, looking over at Ianto, his face still supporting a little smirk. He nudged his shoulder playfully.
“We can't go on like this. One minute you're all over me and the next it's like I dint exist."
“No,” Ianto said. “I know that.”
“Things are hard enough without us being this way. We have to keep it together if we're going to keep our heads down.”
“It's just hard; I can't ignore you, but when I acknowledge you--”
“You cant resist me.” Jack smiled.
“As much as I would like to keep my pride and pretend that isn't the case, I would prove myself wrong far too quickly.”
“I think we've both successfully proved that we're not capable of resisting those particular urges.”
“If i could be sure of being able to go out there and look at you the same way as I did before all of this happened, then I wouldn't been so keen to resist,” Ianto said. "But I know that if anything major did happen between us, then I wouldn't be able to look at you across the dinner table without wanting to leap over it ever again.”
“And we can't have that.”
“Definitely not."
“We'd squash the potatoes and break the china.” Jack queried an eyebrow. "That would make us very bad house guests.”
“We had better keep our hands to ourselves then.”
“Probably best.”
“Although,” Ianto took Jack's hand and turned to face him. ”There's no need to keep too much distance between when nobody can see."
"Really?"
"But only when that door is locked, no carelessness."
“No.” Jack shook his head and looked at Ianto with the smallest hint of a smirk on his lips. “No more slip-ups."
"I might not sleep too far across the other side of the bed tonight."
“We can share the middle," Jack suggested, running his fingers up the Welshman's wrist. “Nights get cold.”
“Just as long as we don't do anything that could lead to us to--”
“Squashing the potatoes and breaking the china?”
“Yes.”
“But when we get home--”
“We could, potentially, break anything we wanted on my kitchen table.”
Jack licked his dry lips and leaned towards the Welshman. “And is your kitchen table sturdy enough to break things on?”
“I don't know. I haven't tried it out yet.” Ianto ran his hands along Jack's thighs and hooked his thumbs inside the waistband of his trousers; he locked his eyes on Jack and let a small smirk tug at the corner of his lips. "I locked the door when Iris left."
“You're a very cruel man."
"So I've been told."
"I can see you making things really hard for me.”
Ianto closed the gap between them and pushed Jack back onto the bed, straddling him; he hovered over him, bracing himself on his arms, Jack's lips close enough to touch.
“You're taking advantage of me now,” Jack said, closing his eyes. He could feel the gentle pressure as Ianto moved his hips a little from his dominant position above him. “I can't say I'm hating it.”
“Iris will be knocking on that door in a minute. We're missing breakfast.”
“I don't mind,” Jack breathed resting his hands on Ianto's hips. "I'm not hungry in the slightest.”
“I should go down.”
“I insist that you do,” Jack whimpered, sliding his hands around to Ianto's backside. “You're really very good at it."
Ianto smiled a little and Jack opened his eyes, fixing them on the His gaze. “I meant downstairs.”
“The hell you did. You're such a cocktease.”
“Maybe,” Ianto smirked, lowering himself down and positioning his head to whisper into Jack's ear. “But I'm a good one.”
“Or a bad one,” Jack turned his head. “It really depends on definition.” He pulled the younger man's hips down, grabbing him and pulling their bodies closer together. “You really don't want to leave at this point.”
"I think this is the perfect time to leave."
"You're probably right."
“I think I'm going to have to sit next to you at breakfast,” he breathed. “Looking across the table at you would be a very bad idea this morning.”
"Maybe." Jack pulled Ianto down for a kiss, letting it linger a moment.
“I need breakfast.” Ianto climbed off, offering his hand to Jack to pull him to his feet. He tucked the older man's shirt into his trousers, running a hand down his chest to straighten the buttons.
“Do you intend to dress me every morning?"
"I like to look after you."
Jack took his hand and pressed a kiss to his palm. "Let's go and breakfast."
Ianto kissed his lips softly, then stepped away and unlocked the door, opening it for him.
"Thank you Mr. Jones."
Summary: when a seemingly cut-and-dried incident calls out Torchwood early one morning all is not as it originally seems. Alien technology leads the team into a trap of danger and curiosity, propelling them to an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar faces. Split into two, the team must find a way back before past events puts one member of Torchwood into danger.
Spoilers: season1 up to episode 7.
A/N : I haven't written anything for a while, so I decided to finish this fic. It now has 20 parts an an actual ending :) please r&r
Disclaimer these characters are not mine. I'm just borrowing RTD's toys and promise to put them back when I'm done
PART 1
PART 2
PART 3
PART 4
PART 5
PART 6
PART 7
PART 8
The bedroom was cold at 6am in rural Wales; a lack of heating and the darkness of the world outside, with rain battering the sash windows, seemed to make lying under the warm blankets a much more appealing option than getting up. The three layers of bedclothes and a pair of cotton pyjamas were cosy though, and as Jack lay in bed pretending to sleep he wished he didn't have to get up so soon. In addition to all of that of course, there was the attraction of the gorgeous Welshman sprawled out over his chest.
Ianto had spent most of the night glued to the edge of the bed, keeping his distance, but at 5am he stirred and turned; now he was lying with one leg hooked over Jack's and his head buried in his chest, one of his hands had moving to rest on Jack's thigh. He could feel the roughness of the Welshman's three day stubble through the open pyjama jacket, scratching ever so slightly when he moved.
“Ianto?” he whispered.
The Welshman made an unrecognisable noise that fell halfway between a moan and a groan. He slipped his hand over Jack's chest, his fingers resting above his heart.
“Ianto?” Jack stroked his shoulder. “ Are you getting up?”
“Why?” he mumbled. “What time is it?”
“Six.”
“Wake me at seven.” Ianto snuggled further into him, nuzzling into his neck a little, his lips brushing against Jack's neck. “It’s too comfortable here. I'm not moving and you can't make me.”
Jack could feel Ianto's hand moving from his chest, slipping down slowly until it rreached his cock, erect and ready.
"You're so warm." Ianto whispered, his breath heating Jacks skin.
"What are you doing?"
"Something I probably shouldn't." He pressed a kiss against the other man's neck. "Did you lock the door last night?"
"Yeah." Jack smiled a little. “Even though you said there was no reason to.”
“I did?”
"Yes, you did. Then you slept so far away from me you almost fell out of bed."
“Well, I don't remember saying that.” Ianto slipped his hand over the material of Jack’s pyjamas, stroking his length slowly. “Although it does sound like something I might say in this situation.”
Jack put his head back on the pillow and swallowed hard before closing his eyes and exhaling a long controlled breath. Ianto's hand was moving slowly across the fabric of His pyjamas, his lips deliberately brushing his neck, heating the skin with every breath.
Jack considered stopping it, but when Ianto's fingers slipped into the gap between the buttons and he changed his mind. He raked his fingers through the Welshman's hair, tightening his grip a little when he felt his hand stroke him; he bit his lip for a moment before shifting a little, pressing himself further into Ianto's willing hand. He could feel Ianto's lips against his neck as they curved slowly into a smile.
“Ianto,” he whispered, his breath heavy. “You should probably stop.”
“Do you want me to stop?”
“No, but you probably should.”
"Probably."
Ianto shifted a little more, nuzzling Jack's neck as he slipped his leg further over his, pinning him a little with his weight. He kissed his neck, sucking the skin into his mouth a little, then kissed a trail of kisses that led to his ear. Jack moaned a little too loudly when Ianto's tongue came into contact with his earlobe, and the younger man stopped, pulling back to look at him for the first time that morning, his hand still keeping a steady rhythm.
"You're supposed to be quiet," he said, a slight smile tugging on his lips.
"If you want me to be quiet, you’re going the wrong way about it.” Jack closed his eyes again when Ianto picked up the pace a little, his head falling back onto the bed as he arched his neck.
"Complaining?"
"No." Jack's voice was barely audible. He licked his lips and moved his hand to cup Ianto's cheek, pulling him into a searing kiss, raising his hips off the bed to get closer to the younger man’s hand. His fingers gripped Ianto’s hair, keeping his close, moving away only to find his breath, lost between the heat of the kisses and the quickening of his pulse.
“Why aren't you stopping me?” Ianto's lips hovered precariously close, the warmth of his breath finding Jack’s mouth. “We had an agreement that we wouldn't let each other do things like this."
“I don't want you to.”
Ianto lowered his head, pressing a trail of kisses over his chest and down his stomach until he reached the waistband of his pyjamas. Releasing Jack from his touch, he pulled down the waistband before replacing his hand with the heat of his mouth.
Jack’s hands found the bed, clinging onto the sheets as he focused on keeping quiet, hard rapid breaths escaping from his mouth. He closed his eyes again, concentrating on the warmth of the younger man’s lips as he felt the release.
He collapsed down on the bed, taking a moment to recover his breath before grabbing the younger man’s hand and pulling him down into a kiss. Jack traced his fingers down Ianto’s jaw and felt the heat of his breath on his lips
“How are we going to sleep in the same bed If we keep doing things like this?" He asked. “We said we wouldn’t, but--”
"You let me get carried away." Ianto rolled over and lay beside him, covering his face with his hands. “It’s this place. There's nothing to keep me busy here, nothing to distract me. This is what happens when I don’t have an archive room to organise, or a coffee machine to work or a-- bloody Weevil to wrangle into a cell”
“How long have you been distracting yourself?
“Since the day we met.” Ianto sighed. “It was okay at first; I had Lisa and then I was too busy to really do anything about it, but now?”
“It’s going to be alright, you know?” Jack rolled onto his side and stroked the Welshman’s cheek. “I know it might be the worst time possible, but it feels right."
"I'm making all the same mistakes all over again and part of me doesn't even care."
"I don't want to be a mistake."
"You're not, it's this place that is the mistake." Ianto turned to face him and pushed Jack's hair away from his face. "We should be in a different time, in a different bed and I shouldn't be scared.”
"I know.” Jack pushed him onto his back, propping himself up on his elbow to look at him, then kissed his lips softly, his fingers resting on his neck; he could feel his pulse underneath his fingers. “We’re going to work this out.”
"You're not helping,” Ianto said, his lips finding Jack’s again.
"You started it."
"I know."
"I don’t have the strength to stop you. This is the only time I get with you, in here with the door locked is the only place I can touch you like I want without consequences."
"There are still consequences, Jack."
"You're safe in here with me," he promised, his lips falling to his shoulder. He kissed the soft skin underneath his lips, tasting the slightly salted skin.
"But I'm not safe out there."
"If anyone tries to hurt you, they'll have to go through me first."
"That was almost romantic. " Ianto smiled a little; he could feel the other man’s lips curve into a smile against the skin of his neck, pressing a kiss just below his ear as he peppered his skin with lazy kisses.
"I have my moments."
"Y'know, I can look after myself."
"I know, I remember your right hook." Jack’s lips found his mouth again, kissing him softly. "There's something really attractive about a guy who can knock me off my feet."
Ianto's hands raked through Jack's hair as their bodies moved closer, their hips finding a slow rhythm; soft moans were lost within mouths and hot breaths mingled together a little. Ianto couldn’t resist and wrapped his arms around him, pulling him into the heat of his lips.
His fingers ran underneath his pyjama jacket, pushing it up his back, crumpling the fabric to get to the warm skin underneath.
A harsh knock on the door forced their lips apart and a soft female voice filtered through the wood. “Are you boys decent?”
“No.” Jack said calmly, touching Ianto's face as he stared at him with lustful eyes from above him. “Give us a minute.”
“Well don't be long, your hot water is cooling and the bowl is heavy.”
Jack ran his hand down Ianto's neck slowly and rested his fingers on his collarbone. “Someone really needs to teach that girl the importance of judging between good and bad timing.”
"It could be worse, it could've been five minutes ago." Ianto licked his lips nervously and swallowed a dry lump in his throat; he blinked quickly a few times before finding his voice through hard panting breaths. “What do we do now?”
“Go and open the door.”
“It's a bit hard for me at the moment.” Ianto pressed his erection into Jack’s thigh. “I don’t think shes ready to see that, do you?”
“Okay.” He kissed his lips softly. “We'll finish this later.”
Jack stood up, fastened his pyjama jacket and made his way towards the door, giving Ianto some time to get under the sheets and straighten his pyjamas. He opened the door and looked at Iris as she walked in and placed a large bowl of water on a table at the furthest corner of the room.
“You two should get up,” she said. “It's past six.”
“I'm sorry. Six is early where we come from.”
She walked over to the window and pulled open the curtains. Bright sunlight streamed through the window and the sound of birds filtered through when she pulled up the sash window open a little.
“Some morning air is what you need to wake you up. Get some country air into those city lungs.”
“Goodmorning.” She looked at Ianto. “Sir, you look practically flustered.”
“Do I?” Ianto asked nervously.
“You look hot and bothered.” Iris sat down on the bed and put her hand on his forehead. “You feel a little warm, too. I do hope that fever isn't starting to set in.”
“I feel fine.”
“You're looking rather ragged.” A small smile crossed her lips, and barely reached the corner of her eyes before she lowered it. “And I don't mean that in a good way. You both need a shave.”
“I don't have a razor,” he said, moving away a little.
“I'll get you one for this evening. We're expecting cousins for dinner tomorrow night and I couldn't possibly let them see our house guests looking like something we've scraped up off the streets.”
"Of course not."
"I should think you two will scrub up really well," she said, looking between the two of them. "I'd be careful if I were you, My cousin Beatrice is a modern kind of girl. London-bred. She's ruthless. You two should want to stick together to avoid her advances."
“If she's as beautiful as you I'm not sure we would want to,” Jack said.
"Mr. Jones?" Iris turned to face Ianto. “Do you suppose he thinks that his charm works on me?”
“Jack supposes his charm works on everyone,” he replied. “He expects every species to fall at his feet.”
“You're too confident for your own good. You should know that girls much prefer the quiet type.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Modesty is very attractive in a man, ego is not.”
She looked over at Ianto as she made her way towards the door. “I'll put you some bacon on; you liked that yesterday.” Turning to Jack, she let a smirk cross her lips. “You can have porridge.”
Iris left the room with a gentle swish of her dress and closed the door behind her.
“Oh,” Jack smirked. “Miss Iris likes you.”
"“Or maybe she just finds you a little hard to take.” Ianto pulled the sheets back and got out of bed, making his way over to where his clothes had been laid out the evening before.
Jack followed him over and wrapped his arms around his body, pulling him back; he lowered his lips to whisper in his ear.
"Well, you certainly don't seem to have any problems in that department."
"That's inappropriate." Ianto smiled a little, leaning back against him as he unfastened his shirt, peeling it off his shoulders.
"Considering how you behaved this morning, you have no place lecturing on appropriateness."
The door opened and they jumped apart, Jack swiftly removing his hand from Ianto's chest.
'I forgot your towels."
"Thanks."
“Don’t be long, I have things to do after breakfast.” Iris handed them over and left, shutting the door behind her.
"We should get dressed," Ianto said, moving further away from him. "And calm ourselves down before breakfast, because that was far too close for my liking."
Tosh opened her eyes and rolled over in bed. The unfamiliar silky sheets were soft and luxurious and the scent of Owen’s aftershave clung to the pillow underneath her cheek. She got up, pulling the long t-shirt over her legs and walked into the kitchen, tucking her hair behind her ear. She stopped in the doorway and watched Owen as he flipped an egg over in the frying pan; she hadn’t forgotten his promise of breakfast, although she had fully expected a bowl of rice crispies being far more his level of hospitality.
"Morning."
"It's about time you got up."
“You should’ve woken me.”
“I tried, you were out like a light.” he said, turning around to face her.
“I must’ve needed it.”
“Now that is an outfit you should definitely wear to the office." Owen’s eyes fell to Toshiko’s legs, the hem of his shirt cutting off at the top of her thigh. “Although I suspect nobody would get much work done if you did.”
"Oh.” Tosh looked down at herself, pulling the hem down a little more as she felt her cheeks burning pink. “I should get dressed."
"Come here.” Owen walked over to her and put his hand on her waist, guiding her into the kitchen. He pulled out a stool for her and tapped the seat. “Sit down."
“I should--”
“Eat first, you've got nothing I haven't seen a thousand times.” Owen put a plate in front of her.
“You know how to flatter a woman.”
“Eat.” He smiled a little, sliding another egg onto her plate. “
"Thanks"
"So, I was up pretty early this morning and I--” Owen felt his eyes falling onto Tosh’s legs as the shirt rode up a little exposing more of her thigh. “I went--"
“You went where?”
“I went to--” he searched for his words. “Shit.”
"What?"
"Nothing.” Owen turned away from her, returning to the sink to wash up his dishes. “I got up early and went for a run to try and clear my head and I had a brainwave."
"It had to happen eventually I suppose."
"Funny."
"What was it?” Tosh smiled a little, leaning on the counter as she ate her breakfast.
"Ianto has a load of stuff from Torchwood one on his computer, I think we should see if there's anything on the device in his files. He said it was familiar, so maybe he's seen it somewhere before."
"Good idea. I'm going to head back to the warehouse and take some up to date readings, then set up some rift monitors."
“Not without me you're not,” he said.
“What?”
“Tosh.” He leaned on the counter in front of her. “I've already lost Jack, Ianto and Gwen, I'm not letting you bugger off through the rift, too. No, if you go we both go.”
"Okay."
"I thought you would fight me more on that."
"No, you're right. We need to stick together." Tosh smiled a little. "And thanks for letting me stay."
"Don't mention it."
"And breakfast."
"Dont get too used to it," Owen said. "That was a once in a lifetime deal."
"I'll return the favour one day," she promised. "Traditional Japanese."
"Are you planning on inviting me to stay?"
"Well--" Tosh looked at him across the kitchen counter for a moment, her words suddenly vacant. "I was just being polite."
"Yeah, yeah, of course. I was just teasing." Owen backed away a little distancing himself.
"Me too," she said quickly. "Banter, that's all."
"I need a shower."
"Okay."
"You stay here and eat your breakfast."
"Well I wasn't planning on coming in with you."
"Of course not!" Owen backed into the fridge as he backed away. "Anyway, so--"
"Shower?"
"Yeah." Owen retreated, finding his way into the bathroom. He shut the door behind him and rested his back against it, covering his face with his hands. "Shit."
The water had almost completely cooled by the time Jack had finished washing, and he threw the face cloth into the bowl with a splash. He looked over his shoulder as he dried his face and looked at the Welshman sitting on the bed, fastening up his boots. Looking up, Ianto found Jack's gaze before concentrating on the laces again.
Jack leant against the wall and put his hands in his pockets, looking side-on at Ianto. “I miss my shower,” he said. “I like hot running water in a morning. And a shave.”
Ianto said nothing; he had spoken very little since Iris had left them, spending close to twenty minutes dressing slowly in silence.
Jack draped the damp towel over the cast-iron bed frame and leant on the wall, looking over at Ianto. “So, you're not talking to me now?”
“I'm not consciously not talking to you,” he said. “I just have nothing to say.”
“I can think of a few things.”
“I don't want to talk, Jack.” Ianto stood briefly and slipped the white shirt on over his vest, then sat back down to fasten it, paying close attention to the buttons. “Talking sometimes just makes things worse.”
Jack sighed and slumped down on the bed, lying down and covering face with his hands. A frustrated growl escaped from his mouth, muffled by his hands.
“What?”
Jack slowly removed his hands and sat up, turning to face the Welshman. “Do you even know how much you drive me crazy sometimes?” he asked. “Very few people have ever been able to bring me to my knees the way you do."
Ianto smirked a little. “That's not what I've heard.”
Jack chuckled and took another deep breath, looking over at Ianto, his face still supporting a little smirk. He nudged his shoulder playfully.
“We can't go on like this. One minute you're all over me and the next it's like I dint exist."
“No,” Ianto said. “I know that.”
“Things are hard enough without us being this way. We have to keep it together if we're going to keep our heads down.”
“It's just hard; I can't ignore you, but when I acknowledge you--”
“You cant resist me.” Jack smiled.
“As much as I would like to keep my pride and pretend that isn't the case, I would prove myself wrong far too quickly.”
“I think we've both successfully proved that we're not capable of resisting those particular urges.”
“If i could be sure of being able to go out there and look at you the same way as I did before all of this happened, then I wouldn't been so keen to resist,” Ianto said. "But I know that if anything major did happen between us, then I wouldn't be able to look at you across the dinner table without wanting to leap over it ever again.”
“And we can't have that.”
“Definitely not."
“We'd squash the potatoes and break the china.” Jack queried an eyebrow. "That would make us very bad house guests.”
“We had better keep our hands to ourselves then.”
“Probably best.”
“Although,” Ianto took Jack's hand and turned to face him. ”There's no need to keep too much distance between when nobody can see."
"Really?"
"But only when that door is locked, no carelessness."
“No.” Jack shook his head and looked at Ianto with the smallest hint of a smirk on his lips. “No more slip-ups."
"I might not sleep too far across the other side of the bed tonight."
“We can share the middle," Jack suggested, running his fingers up the Welshman's wrist. “Nights get cold.”
“Just as long as we don't do anything that could lead to us to--”
“Squashing the potatoes and breaking the china?”
“Yes.”
“But when we get home--”
“We could, potentially, break anything we wanted on my kitchen table.”
Jack licked his dry lips and leaned towards the Welshman. “And is your kitchen table sturdy enough to break things on?”
“I don't know. I haven't tried it out yet.” Ianto ran his hands along Jack's thighs and hooked his thumbs inside the waistband of his trousers; he locked his eyes on Jack and let a small smirk tug at the corner of his lips. "I locked the door when Iris left."
“You're a very cruel man."
"So I've been told."
"I can see you making things really hard for me.”
Ianto closed the gap between them and pushed Jack back onto the bed, straddling him; he hovered over him, bracing himself on his arms, Jack's lips close enough to touch.
“You're taking advantage of me now,” Jack said, closing his eyes. He could feel the gentle pressure as Ianto moved his hips a little from his dominant position above him. “I can't say I'm hating it.”
“Iris will be knocking on that door in a minute. We're missing breakfast.”
“I don't mind,” Jack breathed resting his hands on Ianto's hips. "I'm not hungry in the slightest.”
“I should go down.”
“I insist that you do,” Jack whimpered, sliding his hands around to Ianto's backside. “You're really very good at it."
Ianto smiled a little and Jack opened his eyes, fixing them on the His gaze. “I meant downstairs.”
“The hell you did. You're such a cocktease.”
“Maybe,” Ianto smirked, lowering himself down and positioning his head to whisper into Jack's ear. “But I'm a good one.”
“Or a bad one,” Jack turned his head. “It really depends on definition.” He pulled the younger man's hips down, grabbing him and pulling their bodies closer together. “You really don't want to leave at this point.”
"I think this is the perfect time to leave."
"You're probably right."
“I think I'm going to have to sit next to you at breakfast,” he breathed. “Looking across the table at you would be a very bad idea this morning.”
"Maybe." Jack pulled Ianto down for a kiss, letting it linger a moment.
“I need breakfast.” Ianto climbed off, offering his hand to Jack to pull him to his feet. He tucked the older man's shirt into his trousers, running a hand down his chest to straighten the buttons.
“Do you intend to dress me every morning?"
"I like to look after you."
Jack took his hand and pressed a kiss to his palm. "Let's go and breakfast."
Ianto kissed his lips softly, then stepped away and unlocked the door, opening it for him.
"Thank you Mr. Jones."