She saw him once, in Cardiff... - Jack/Ianto
(Note: This Starbucks is actually in Brighton, and really really nice. Even if you are soaking wet and ready to kill everyone you're with.
Stuart is a reference to a drabble/ficlet I never posted, where a drunk Ianto and drunk Stuart flirted in Spain. Shameful.
Also A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Librairie is a Monaboyd fic, not a book, whose title I have shamefully used, with permission from rainbowcobweb cause I'm polite like that. GO READ IT NOW!)
She saw him once, in Cardiff, in a Starbucks she'd gone into to avoid the rain. She hadn't expected to. She'd thought once or twice about what might happen if she'd run into anyone she knew from back home. How different they might be. If they'd have any idea who she was. But she hadn't really thought she'd find anyone.
She was sitting upstairs alone in the corner and next to the window, her old copy of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Librairie in one hand and a hot chocolate in the other, when two voices interrupted the silence. She ignored the Welsh one, tapping her bookmark against the table, but looked up immediately when she heard a very familiar voice. Jack Harkness, or at least, someone who looked (albeit with a very different dress sense) and sounded exactly like him, was standing at the top of the stairs, looking down at someone.
"We have to go somewhere." Leaning slightly to the side, Rose watched the other person walk up the stairs and stand level with Jack.
"Why do we have to go anywhere?" He took one of the drinks from Jack's hand and moved to sit at a table on the other side of the small room. "What have you got against our flat?"
"I just thought you'd want to do something special. Two years, Ianto. Two. Whole. Years." Jack put his coat on the chair opposite the man and sat down on the one next to him. The other man moved away slightly. "You and me, and me and you, and all that," he said, taking the plastic stick from his mug and licking off the coffee and foam in a way that made Rose stare.
"We ordered in pizza last year, I remember, you drew hearts on the boxes." Jack grinned.
"The pizzas were work's fault. What have you got against going away? A week! Five days! Something to give us a break from work and celebrate the fact we haven't killed each other yet."
"You've almost killed me, kicking me out of bed and making me hit my head on the bedside table more times than I count," the other man said, as he reached out and pulled the plastic stick from Jack's fingers. "It's just a lot of fuss. And we don't even know if we could get time off work and-"
"Aren't I worth the fuss? Besides, I am the boss, you know."
"Yes, but it doesn't mean we'd have any time we could take off work. Not with things how they are right now."
"So we leave Owen in charge. Look, we charge it all to... work, spend a few days away, have a nice time in a nice hotel, we come back and there's no more 'part-time shag' jokes or Gwen trying to jump me." He sat back and put his hands flat on the table. "Any doubts about our relationship are laid to rest." A few moments silence, then, "Is this something to do with Lisa?"
"Only in the way we never did anything so I don't see the point. Or if you're planning to take me camping and arrange to have a dog piss on my tent." Ianto wrapped his hands around his mug.
"Oh you're a romantic. What about Stuart?" Ianto groaned and hung his head.
"I wish I'd never said anything about that him to you."
They lapsed into silence, and Rose went back at her book. After a few pages, she looked up again. Jack had turned his head to look in Rose's direction, and was staring at her. Maybe he recognised her? She smiled and looked away, biting her tongue to stop her saying anything to him, going over to sit with them.
"France," he said loudly, and Rose jumped slightly. He was still looking at her. Or, rather, at her book. She remembered the image of the Eifle Tower in the corner, dwarfed by the shop front and silhouettes in the foreground of the front cover, and wondered if Jack had picked up on the fact neither of the people were women. Ianto frowned.
"Pardon?" Jack turned and grinned again.
"France. Paris. City of romance. A week."
"And this is more than a dirty weekend away with the secretary?" Ianto asked, dragging his finger around the rim of the mug. "If I say yes, will you shut up?"
"Is that what you're making a fuss about? Thinking that's all this is?" Jack lifted their hands up and threaded their fingers together, elbows resting on the table. "I want to spend some time with you. No work to do late at night, no sneaking off while the others get lunch, no kissing in the CCTV blind spots, no bad excuses for sending people home because I can't stand not touching you. And you're going to give in and agree becuase, against your better judgement, you love me." Jack lent past their joined hands and kissed him, and Rose looked down, letting out a small squeak as she tried to stop a giggle. When she glanced over the top of her book again, they were both looking in her direction and laughing, hands still linked and heads together, Jack's mouth against Ianto's cheek. She felt her cheeks burn up and slid down in her chair, trying to hide.
"Come on," she heard Jack say, "let's go back and sort things out." She heard chairs scraping on the floor, "Jack, leave the stick," and footsteps.
"Cute, isn't he?" Jack said, standing on the other side of her table, his coat over one arm. Rose looked up again, still hiding her face with the book, only her eyes showing above the pages. She opened her mouth, but Ianto called Jack's name before she could answer. "See you around, Rose."
Stuart is a reference to a drabble/ficlet I never posted, where a drunk Ianto and drunk Stuart flirted in Spain. Shameful.
Also A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Librairie is a Monaboyd fic, not a book, whose title I have shamefully used, with permission from rainbowcobweb cause I'm polite like that. GO READ IT NOW!)
She saw him once, in Cardiff, in a Starbucks she'd gone into to avoid the rain. She hadn't expected to. She'd thought once or twice about what might happen if she'd run into anyone she knew from back home. How different they might be. If they'd have any idea who she was. But she hadn't really thought she'd find anyone.
She was sitting upstairs alone in the corner and next to the window, her old copy of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Librairie in one hand and a hot chocolate in the other, when two voices interrupted the silence. She ignored the Welsh one, tapping her bookmark against the table, but looked up immediately when she heard a very familiar voice. Jack Harkness, or at least, someone who looked (albeit with a very different dress sense) and sounded exactly like him, was standing at the top of the stairs, looking down at someone.
"We have to go somewhere." Leaning slightly to the side, Rose watched the other person walk up the stairs and stand level with Jack.
"Why do we have to go anywhere?" He took one of the drinks from Jack's hand and moved to sit at a table on the other side of the small room. "What have you got against our flat?"
"I just thought you'd want to do something special. Two years, Ianto. Two. Whole. Years." Jack put his coat on the chair opposite the man and sat down on the one next to him. The other man moved away slightly. "You and me, and me and you, and all that," he said, taking the plastic stick from his mug and licking off the coffee and foam in a way that made Rose stare.
"We ordered in pizza last year, I remember, you drew hearts on the boxes." Jack grinned.
"The pizzas were work's fault. What have you got against going away? A week! Five days! Something to give us a break from work and celebrate the fact we haven't killed each other yet."
"You've almost killed me, kicking me out of bed and making me hit my head on the bedside table more times than I count," the other man said, as he reached out and pulled the plastic stick from Jack's fingers. "It's just a lot of fuss. And we don't even know if we could get time off work and-"
"Aren't I worth the fuss? Besides, I am the boss, you know."
"Yes, but it doesn't mean we'd have any time we could take off work. Not with things how they are right now."
"So we leave Owen in charge. Look, we charge it all to... work, spend a few days away, have a nice time in a nice hotel, we come back and there's no more 'part-time shag' jokes or Gwen trying to jump me." He sat back and put his hands flat on the table. "Any doubts about our relationship are laid to rest." A few moments silence, then, "Is this something to do with Lisa?"
"Only in the way we never did anything so I don't see the point. Or if you're planning to take me camping and arrange to have a dog piss on my tent." Ianto wrapped his hands around his mug.
"Oh you're a romantic. What about Stuart?" Ianto groaned and hung his head.
"I wish I'd never said anything about that him to you."
They lapsed into silence, and Rose went back at her book. After a few pages, she looked up again. Jack had turned his head to look in Rose's direction, and was staring at her. Maybe he recognised her? She smiled and looked away, biting her tongue to stop her saying anything to him, going over to sit with them.
"France," he said loudly, and Rose jumped slightly. He was still looking at her. Or, rather, at her book. She remembered the image of the Eifle Tower in the corner, dwarfed by the shop front and silhouettes in the foreground of the front cover, and wondered if Jack had picked up on the fact neither of the people were women. Ianto frowned.
"Pardon?" Jack turned and grinned again.
"France. Paris. City of romance. A week."
"And this is more than a dirty weekend away with the secretary?" Ianto asked, dragging his finger around the rim of the mug. "If I say yes, will you shut up?"
"Is that what you're making a fuss about? Thinking that's all this is?" Jack lifted their hands up and threaded their fingers together, elbows resting on the table. "I want to spend some time with you. No work to do late at night, no sneaking off while the others get lunch, no kissing in the CCTV blind spots, no bad excuses for sending people home because I can't stand not touching you. And you're going to give in and agree becuase, against your better judgement, you love me." Jack lent past their joined hands and kissed him, and Rose looked down, letting out a small squeak as she tried to stop a giggle. When she glanced over the top of her book again, they were both looking in her direction and laughing, hands still linked and heads together, Jack's mouth against Ianto's cheek. She felt her cheeks burn up and slid down in her chair, trying to hide.
"Come on," she heard Jack say, "let's go back and sort things out." She heard chairs scraping on the floor, "Jack, leave the stick," and footsteps.
"Cute, isn't he?" Jack said, standing on the other side of her table, his coat over one arm. Rose looked up again, still hiding her face with the book, only her eyes showing above the pages. She opened her mouth, but Ianto called Jack's name before she could answer. "See you around, Rose."