TW: Underhanded Tactics, Chapter II [T]
Fandom:
Torchwood
Title:
Underhanded Tactics
Chapter II:
The Rules
In which ground rules about touching are established and Tosh gains new respect for Ianto.
Author:
lt_indigo
Pairing(s):
Jack/Ianto(/Tosh)
Warning(s):
mentions of BDSM
Disclamer:
Not gained the rights in the last 24 hours. Tragic, really.
Word count:
2,081
back to Chapter I
on to Chapter III
Untangling their limbs from the impromptu cuddle on the sofa in Jack’s office, Tosh, Jack and Ianto sat companionably.
“If we’re going to do this, I think we need to establish some boundaries,” Ianto said pragmatically, straightening his suit. “How far you want us to go.”
“Sounds kinky,” Jack said from her other side, with that trademark grin. Over her head, Ianto glared at him. Tosh giggled; she loved her boys dearly, and seeing them being so domestic was just wonderful. But Ianto was right, if they were going to do this, they needed some ground rules. If nothing else, Owen was the only one she wanted to make jealous: it wouldn’t do for either Jack or Ianto to think she was stepping on their toes. That was why she had come to both of them; she knew either would have done this for her in a heartbeat even just a few months ago, but now they were a package deal, whether they knew it or not 6.
“Rule one: no sex.”
Jack pouted playfully. “Are you sure? Because we could probably get you to forget about Owen completely.”
“Jack! Tosh, we agree. What about kissing?”
Her face lit up, her eyes shining with mischief. “I think we’d struggle to convince him if we didn’t kiss.”
“Jack, you’re going to need to be careful 7. Tosh, if you ever feel like you’re not in control, like your head is spinning and he’s the only thing in the world, tell him straight away.”
Tosh thought about that for a moment before deciding something. “I think you need to show me what I need to watch out for.”
Ianto snorted, amused. “Scientist.”
“Yep,” she replied proudly.
“Let’s get the other rules sorted out while you can still think,” Ianto said firmly, reaching over Tosh’s shoulder and holding Jack back. He looked far too eager to sweep Tosh off her feet.
“Rule three: keep groping above the waist.”
“Hmm…”
“What?”
Ianto got up and held out a hand to Jack. “Let me demonstrate. Jack, follow Tosh’s rule.”
Tosh settled in as her two boys kissed right in front of her. It wasn't one of their frenzied, passionate kisses normally found after some particularly dangerous encounter (particularly if Jack had died and Ianto was convincing himself that everything was okay), or her personal favourite, the gentle, tender expression of the love neither of them would admit to out loud; this was somewhere in between, still filled with passion, and so much better than watching on the CCTV. But, they didn’t seem quite as natural as usual: Jack’s hands were both on Ianto’s waist, Ianto had one on Jack’s waist, the other in his hair. Thinking about it, it was like watching two teenagers share their first clumsy kiss; romantic 8 but chaste and uncertain. Then, seemingly on some unspoken command, Ianto grabbed Jack’s bum, pulling him close. Jack relaxed more, his hands acting more freely, sliding downwards.
They turned to her as one when they parted, and she hoped she didn’t look as flushed as she felt. She swallowed, her mouth dry.
“I understand.”
Ianto studied her carefully. “But are you okay with it?”
“There’s only way to find out,” she found herself saying brazenly.
Jack stepped away from Ianto. She had always been grateful that he didn’t cloud her mind with his pheromones, and given how intense that kiss was, he was probably getting close to losing his tenuous control over his body. Ianto was right; they needed to get all these rules established before she let her scientific curiosity loose on Jack 9.
Ianto held his hand out to her instead, helped her to her feet gently. His left hand reached out, touched her cheek tenderly and she found herself leaning into the touch. She closed the gap between them and her eyes fluttered closed as Ianto bent his head, his lips brushing against hers.
It wasn’t smouldering like she had seen with Jack, and Tosh was very conscious that it was Ianto she was kissing, but he really was very good at this. The hand that had been on her cheek found its way into her hair, the other was sedately sitting on her waist. She felt his tongue sweep along her bottom lip, and she was barely aware of the fact that she responded, barely aware of his hand dropping to grasp her bum and pull her flush with his body. All she knew was that she wanted him to carry on.
“I think she’s good with it, Ianto.”
Jack’s amused tone brought them both back to reality. Ianto looked bemused when they parted, his eyes dark, filled with affection for… for both of them, she was stunned to realise. In different ways, yes, but he did love her too. She wondered how she had never realised that before.
“I wouldn’t normally interrupt, but I want my turn some time before Owen clocks off tonight.”
She giggled and smoothed her hair. “That sounds fair. Ianto, are you all right?”
He was rubbing the back of his neck gingerly and trying to ignore the fact that Jack was openly laughing at him.
“My neck isn’t used to bending to kiss any more,” he admitted, blushing. Oh, how adorable, but she didn’t want to cause him pain.
“I’ll get used to it again, I’m sure,” he said hastily, seeing the flash of concern in her expression. “So, we’ll amend rule three to include bums. “
“How jealous do you want to make Owen?” Jack asked her. He was leaning against the wall, arms folded, watching her and Ianto carefully.
Ianto sighed and rolled his eyes. He clearly understood something Tosh didn’t.
“Jack has a bad habit,” Ianto confessed. Inexplicably, he started to loosen his tie. “Owen knows about it, so I suppose it makes sense to discuss it now.”
He unbuttoned his collar and pulled it away from his neck, revealing a cluster of love bites.
“Oh! Maybe we can save that for later? Do I even want to know how Owen knows?”
Ianto shrugged as he redressed himself. “He’s our doctor.”
That should have been obvious, really, Tosh realised.
“So,” she said briskly, trying to return some sense to the proceedings as Ianto retied his tie. “Rule one: no sex; rule two: if Jack overwhelms me, say something; rule three, no truly inappropriate groping. Do you two have any rules you want to set?”
“Just an extension of rule two really; that we all need to be honest with each other,” Ianto said. “If any of us is uncomfortable, or someone crosses a line, speak up. “
“You know this sounds like a contract between a dom and sub, don’t you? All we’re missing is a safe word.”
Trust Jack. But then Ianto surprised her.
“Myfanwy,” he suggested. When the other two looked at him in bewilderment, he shrugged. “It’s something plausible to say around the Hub, and it’s not exactly something any of us would say ‘in the heat of the moment’.”
Knowing that Ianto was familiar with safe words sent Tosh’s mind whirling: there was nothing like that in her not-so-secret stash of CCTV footage. Shame.
“Oh, I wish I could see what you’re thinking about.” Jack broke into her thoughts.
“I bet you do,” she shot back with a grin of her own.
“Oh god, we’ve unleashed a monster. Okay, rule four: no joking about restraining Jack.”
Jack paled, just a little, his formerly relaxed stance rigid.
“And that would be why,” Ianto continued by means of explanation. “She had to know, Jack.”
Jack nodded stiffly. Tosh’s mind went off on another tangent. To have such a visceral 10 reaction to even just the rule being spoken, it was something big.
“Let’s just steer clear of any suggestions of anything BDSM,” she suggested. Jack relaxed visibly. Yes, that was definitely big, so big she wasn’t going to be able to worm it out of Ianto 11. They might tell her in time, she supposed, but it would be Jack’s decision to share.
She turned her brightest smile on Jack, hoping to break the sudden tension. “Come on then, show me what I’ve missed out on all these years.”
He laughed, a glorious pure sound that she loved to hear. “You, Toshiko Sato, are something else. Ianto, are you sure we can’t keep her for ourselves?”
“What makes you think I want you?” Tosh responded before Ianto could speak. “Now, Ianto would be a different story.”
Jack seemed to take that as a challenge. He grabbed her, pulled her close, holding her tightly to him. “Let me change your mind.”
Unsurprisingly, he was not as patient and gentle as Ianto, but Jack was in no way forceful when he dipped his head. She met his mouth without hesitation, let herself get swept away. She pressed herself into him, wanting, needing to be closer to him. Her fingers clutched at his shirt, wondering why it was between them, why she couldn’t touch his smooth, flawless skin instead of…
“Jack!”
Jack released her immediately at Ianto’s shout. She whimpered, trembling at the sudden loss of Jack’s presence. How dare someone come between them?
“Oh!” She took a few deep breaths, glad that Jack was suddenly right on the other side of the office, a horribly guilty expression on his face. Ianto was at her side almost immediately, filling the void Jack’s absence left.
“This is what you meant, isn’t it?” Her voice sounded shaky, even to her own ears.
Ianto hugged her to his chest, back to his role as being her brother rather than a lover. “Yes, that’s what I meant.”
She tipped her head back, looked up at him incredulously. “How can you ever think?”
He chuckled, the sound reverberating around his chest. “It’s easier with practice. But he can still cloud my head when he wants to. 12”
“Tosh, I’m so sorry.”
She pulled away from Ianto, just a fraction, and shook her head. “Don’t be. I need to know what it feels like. I asked to know. 13”
“I think we should leave it there for now,” Ianto said. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Yes, you look suitably flustered for going back to Owen. Have fun.”
She made sure she was out of the door before she started to straighten her top and hair.
6 And how she wanted to knock their heads together on occasions about that. What was it about men that made them so unwilling to commit, even when they were committed? It kind of made Tosh wish she was actually a lesbian, although she freely admitted she would probably end up head-over-heels for someone as emotionally dysfunctional as Gwen if she were.
7 Because of her history with UNIT, Jack always kept a very firm rein on his pheromones around her. He had never asked whether or not she had been raped; they discussed very little about it, but he had assumed that she would find the lack of self-control disturbing. More so than the others, anyway. Tosh had always appreciated his efforts (once she knew, anyway), but it did mean that, while she knew Ianto was somewhat used to the effects, she really, really wasn’t.
8 with a healthy side of lust
9 Part of her wondered how, as a scientist, she had never managed to see Jack as a lab rat at all? He was from the future, doubtlessly genetically engineered at some point, had made one too many jokes about having been pregnant for it not to be true and, of course, immortal. And yet all she normally saw was her emotionally-fragile boss who needed someone as down-to-Earth as Ianto to keep him on the straight and narrow.
10 For Jack, anyway
11 Normally she could get titbits out of him, little things to spice up the already spicy videos she had of the two of them, but if there was something Ianto didn’t want to talk about, he would clam up tighter than Jack. Especially if said piece of information was about Jack. Tosh didn’t necessarily see this as a bad thing - Jack needed someone he could trust to confide in, and Ianto had earned that trust in spades.
12 Tosh knew that sentence should end with ‘and I let him’. Ianto was quite the expert at not breathing through his nose these days.
13 And she now knew that Ianto hadn’t been kidding, or exaggerated, when they had talked about Jack’s almost narcotic effect.
back to Chapter I
on to Chapter III