Reconnecting 1/3
Title: Reconnecting 1/3
Author: sanginmychains
Rating: 18
Warning: the boys get naked in parts 2 and 3
Spoilers: small for "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang," and for the end of DW series 3. If you don't know where Jack went between TW seasons 1 and 2, you really need to review.
Disclaimer: I'm poaching the boys for a moment so that I can bend them in ways they never go on-screen.
Notes: A date!fic.
"You know, somewhere in between all the fucking, I did get to know you a little"
A few days after 'Captain John' left them, Jack made good on his invitation. He begged the others to monitor the Rift for an evening, and mentally pleaded, threatened, and generally exhorted the Universe to let him have a single evening out, so that he could take Ianto out to dinner.
The restaurant was unassuming. Inside, it was light enough to be sure that the food was safe but dark enough for intimacy; upscale enough to feel special, but not so fussy as to make the diners self-conscious about their manners. Most importantly, the chairs were lavishly large and comfortable, and Ianto felt that he had been invited for a very special evening -- one on which Jack was prepared to talk.
"Wait, you've been tracking that blowfish for how long?"
"Oh weeks -- a couple months! The file just kept getting bigger. Petty theft, larger theft, minor violence, vandalism -- the idiot fish actually took time out of his busy being-an-alien schedule to spray paint on the side of a building. But it never caused quite enough mayhem to take us off the bigger cases. Really, if it hadn't been for his being a bipedal blowfish with language skills, we would have just let him alone."
Jack was laughing full and loud.
"Ah well, in the end it's the same old, for me. Research aliens, plot how to catch aliens, feed and provide for hygiene of aliens. Although I do take part in the trapping now. Quiet, solitary research is now occasionally broken by the hair-raising experience of Owen's driving. I didn't think I'd ever miss the road rally experience of you being at the wheel."
There was a slight awkwardness, as Ianto again came around, somewhat accidentally, to Jack's absence.
"I thought about you while I was away." Jack put down his glass, and looked Ianto full in the face. "Some days I thought of nothing but you. Some days -- on the bad days it got me through."
"You were away for longer than we think you were, weren't you?"
"Yes."
"How long?"
"About a year."
Ianto's fork wavered in his hands, before he put another bit of veg in his mouth.
"It wasn't a good time," Ianto says rather than asks.
"What makes you say that? I mean -- it wasn't, you're right. But I'm curious how you know."
Ianto looked at Jack as if he were a little thick, and said patiently, "You know, somewhere in between all the fucking, I did get to know you a little. Do you think I can't see the great waves of torment -- new torment, that is -- in your eyes?"
Jack felt a bit abashed, and a bit aroused at the memory of 'all the fucking.'
"It wasn't a good time. I was...a prisoner."
"The Doctor took you prisoner?!"
Jack's jaw dropped, and he didn't know what to ask first. After making a guppy-face for a time, he settled on, "How did you know I was with The Doctor?"
"Jack," Ianto said reprovingly.
"Uh...okay. No, The Doctor didn't take me prisoner. The Doctor was a prisoner too."
It was Ianto's turn to be shocked; The Doctor was a legend at Torchwood One, and someone who could take him prisoner was a truly frightening thought. He leaned forward and looked wide-eyed at his dinner companion who was clearly struggling to keep his composure.
"Jack, my god."
"Yeah, ah, could we save the trip down memory lane for another time? I'm not sure this is the place for the screaming and the shaking."
Ianto recovered quickly, offering the best distraction he could think of. "Certainly. Although, if I recall, this restaurant did see some screaming and some shaking from us once."
He forced a smile, which turned genuine as Jack flushed a bit around his collar, clearly remembering a considerably more pleasant time. He lowered his voice to a terribly distracting purr. "I wonder if they fixed the sink. I seem to remember it was a bit lopsided when we were done."
The men smiled at each other, and enjoyed their thoughts for a few moments.
***
At the front stoop of Ianto's apartment building, Ianto took one step up the stairs, then realized that Jack had stopped.
Jack looked up at Ianto, and took his hand. "Ianto. I wanted to take you out tonight. Talk with you. Spend time together. I wanted to just enjoy being in your presence -- no aliens, no sudden dismemberments, no emergencies of any kind."
Ianto smiled tenderly. "A normal evening. I didn't think it possible."
"I wanted you to enjoy yourself."
"I have. Very much."
"I wanted to show you that I could enjoy your company when we weren't naked."
Ianto laughed. "I already knew that Jack. But thank you for showing me again."
"I wanted to be a perfect gentleman."
"Again -- I didn't think it possible. But then, after you rose from the dead, the first time, I pretty much learned not to underestimate what you were capable of." Ianto smirked and inclined his head.
Jack smiled, and then stepped up onto the step with Ianto. He pressed his body in closer.
"I want you to know that I had an incredible night. And I intend to kiss you here on this step."
Ianto stayed quiet, but parted his lips slightly as he took a breath. Jack leaned in, and Ianto inhaled the magnificent scent of the man he had missed for so many long weeks. They met in the middle for a kiss that started out sweet, and somewhat tentative, but grew into something firmer, deeper, something that began to speak of their longing and their hopes.
Jack broke the kiss slowly, and leaned his forehead on Ianto's. They breathed together for a moment.
"I'm going to step away, and go home. And I'll be content to have had this evening, and I'll want to take you out again."
"You'll see me tomorrow."
"Not the point, is it?"
Ianto shook his head. Neither man had released the other's hand yet.
Jack leaned in again, and kissed Ianto's jaw. He whispered, "I'll be happy to go home now. But I'd kick myself if I didn't tell you -- that I ache for you. That every nerve in my body is screaming to touch itself to your skin."
Ianto smiled, eyes flashing, and dragged Jack up the stairs. "Well thank heavens for that, Jack, because I tell you there wasn't a shower in the world cold enough to deal with me, if you had gone home."
On to PART 2
Author: sanginmychains
Rating: 18
Warning: the boys get naked in parts 2 and 3
Spoilers: small for "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang," and for the end of DW series 3. If you don't know where Jack went between TW seasons 1 and 2, you really need to review.
Disclaimer: I'm poaching the boys for a moment so that I can bend them in ways they never go on-screen.
Notes: A date!fic.
"You know, somewhere in between all the fucking, I did get to know you a little"
A few days after 'Captain John' left them, Jack made good on his invitation. He begged the others to monitor the Rift for an evening, and mentally pleaded, threatened, and generally exhorted the Universe to let him have a single evening out, so that he could take Ianto out to dinner.
The restaurant was unassuming. Inside, it was light enough to be sure that the food was safe but dark enough for intimacy; upscale enough to feel special, but not so fussy as to make the diners self-conscious about their manners. Most importantly, the chairs were lavishly large and comfortable, and Ianto felt that he had been invited for a very special evening -- one on which Jack was prepared to talk.
"Wait, you've been tracking that blowfish for how long?"
"Oh weeks -- a couple months! The file just kept getting bigger. Petty theft, larger theft, minor violence, vandalism -- the idiot fish actually took time out of his busy being-an-alien schedule to spray paint on the side of a building. But it never caused quite enough mayhem to take us off the bigger cases. Really, if it hadn't been for his being a bipedal blowfish with language skills, we would have just let him alone."
Jack was laughing full and loud.
"Ah well, in the end it's the same old, for me. Research aliens, plot how to catch aliens, feed and provide for hygiene of aliens. Although I do take part in the trapping now. Quiet, solitary research is now occasionally broken by the hair-raising experience of Owen's driving. I didn't think I'd ever miss the road rally experience of you being at the wheel."
There was a slight awkwardness, as Ianto again came around, somewhat accidentally, to Jack's absence.
"I thought about you while I was away." Jack put down his glass, and looked Ianto full in the face. "Some days I thought of nothing but you. Some days -- on the bad days it got me through."
"You were away for longer than we think you were, weren't you?"
"Yes."
"How long?"
"About a year."
Ianto's fork wavered in his hands, before he put another bit of veg in his mouth.
"It wasn't a good time," Ianto says rather than asks.
"What makes you say that? I mean -- it wasn't, you're right. But I'm curious how you know."
Ianto looked at Jack as if he were a little thick, and said patiently, "You know, somewhere in between all the fucking, I did get to know you a little. Do you think I can't see the great waves of torment -- new torment, that is -- in your eyes?"
Jack felt a bit abashed, and a bit aroused at the memory of 'all the fucking.'
"It wasn't a good time. I was...a prisoner."
"The Doctor took you prisoner?!"
Jack's jaw dropped, and he didn't know what to ask first. After making a guppy-face for a time, he settled on, "How did you know I was with The Doctor?"
"Jack," Ianto said reprovingly.
"Uh...okay. No, The Doctor didn't take me prisoner. The Doctor was a prisoner too."
It was Ianto's turn to be shocked; The Doctor was a legend at Torchwood One, and someone who could take him prisoner was a truly frightening thought. He leaned forward and looked wide-eyed at his dinner companion who was clearly struggling to keep his composure.
"Jack, my god."
"Yeah, ah, could we save the trip down memory lane for another time? I'm not sure this is the place for the screaming and the shaking."
Ianto recovered quickly, offering the best distraction he could think of. "Certainly. Although, if I recall, this restaurant did see some screaming and some shaking from us once."
He forced a smile, which turned genuine as Jack flushed a bit around his collar, clearly remembering a considerably more pleasant time. He lowered his voice to a terribly distracting purr. "I wonder if they fixed the sink. I seem to remember it was a bit lopsided when we were done."
The men smiled at each other, and enjoyed their thoughts for a few moments.
***
At the front stoop of Ianto's apartment building, Ianto took one step up the stairs, then realized that Jack had stopped.
Jack looked up at Ianto, and took his hand. "Ianto. I wanted to take you out tonight. Talk with you. Spend time together. I wanted to just enjoy being in your presence -- no aliens, no sudden dismemberments, no emergencies of any kind."
Ianto smiled tenderly. "A normal evening. I didn't think it possible."
"I wanted you to enjoy yourself."
"I have. Very much."
"I wanted to show you that I could enjoy your company when we weren't naked."
Ianto laughed. "I already knew that Jack. But thank you for showing me again."
"I wanted to be a perfect gentleman."
"Again -- I didn't think it possible. But then, after you rose from the dead, the first time, I pretty much learned not to underestimate what you were capable of." Ianto smirked and inclined his head.
Jack smiled, and then stepped up onto the step with Ianto. He pressed his body in closer.
"I want you to know that I had an incredible night. And I intend to kiss you here on this step."
Ianto stayed quiet, but parted his lips slightly as he took a breath. Jack leaned in, and Ianto inhaled the magnificent scent of the man he had missed for so many long weeks. They met in the middle for a kiss that started out sweet, and somewhat tentative, but grew into something firmer, deeper, something that began to speak of their longing and their hopes.
Jack broke the kiss slowly, and leaned his forehead on Ianto's. They breathed together for a moment.
"I'm going to step away, and go home. And I'll be content to have had this evening, and I'll want to take you out again."
"You'll see me tomorrow."
"Not the point, is it?"
Ianto shook his head. Neither man had released the other's hand yet.
Jack leaned in again, and kissed Ianto's jaw. He whispered, "I'll be happy to go home now. But I'd kick myself if I didn't tell you -- that I ache for you. That every nerve in my body is screaming to touch itself to your skin."
Ianto smiled, eyes flashing, and dragged Jack up the stairs. "Well thank heavens for that, Jack, because I tell you there wasn't a shower in the world cold enough to deal with me, if you had gone home."
On to PART 2