WIAD 2.99 - Mental Health Day (PG, Jack/Ianto)
Title: Mental Health Day
Rating: PG
Notes: Fluffy fluffy Jack/Ianto fluff, for writerinadrawer's 2.99 bonus round, where someone gets an unexpected day off, with the added element of a hygiene product. I wrote this, literally, in half an hour on my lunch break an hour before it was due, so I wasn't expecting too much out of it, I just wanted to keep myself in the habit of writing.
Ianto Jones is running late. He oversleeps, gets shampoo in his eyes in the shower, and nearly runs over his neighbor's dog. When he arrives at the Hub, it's almost noon. He steps through the rolling cog door with an apology on his lips and ...
... finds the entire place deserted.
There's a sticky note on his monitor upstairs: Take the day off. Go home and be normal.
He leaves the tourist information centre and finds Jack standing by the water, feeding bits of what might have lately been a pasty to the trio of optimistic ducks bobbing on the surface.
"I see you got my note," he says when Ianto moves to join him.
"Sorry, was running late. What's the occasion?"
"It's a holiday." Jack looks at him, mischievous eyebrow cocked. "Or at least ... it will be in another hundred years."
"Something tells me the Rift won't decide to take it early."
Jack pauses for a beat. "Then let's call it a mental health day."
"And you're going to handle everything by yourself today?"
"You know," Jack says, sounding amused, "I tell everyone else to take the day off and they're out the door before I can say 'bye.' But you, Ianto Jones, have to argue with me. I never will figure out what's going on inside that gorgeous head of yours."
Ianto knows what Jack is doing: trying to protect them, give them a reprieve from the daily rigors that come as part of being Torchwood. It's lovely and selfless, but he's too stubborn to just accept it. Jack is so worried about his team's ability to remain normal, that Ianto feels compelled to give the captain the opportunity to experience it himself.
So he replies, "I'll tell you while you buy me lunch," and loops his arm through Jack's.
Jack opens his mouth to protest, probably about leaving the Hub unmanned, but Ianto interrupts, prepared.
"We can synchronize the Rift detector software to my PDA."
"Torchwood London procedure?"
"Definitely not," Ianto answers. "I'm Cardiff's man all the way, now."
Jack's eyes crinkle into a smile, and Ianto can tell he's touched. "Hey, Is this that mythical date we keep not having?"
"Might be," Ianto answers with a sly smile of his own. "It's certainly not because I forgot my wallet this morning."
Jack's laughter lasts all the way up the steps to Mermaid Quay.