Splash (7/?)
Title: Splash (7/?)
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Jack/Ianto, Gwen/Rhys (mentioned and in flashbacks), Toshiko/Owen (suggested)
Spoilers: Um.... all up to just after "Something Borrowed", I guess. Not too sure, but Owen's dead and Gwen's married. (Please excuse any continuity errors such as I have Owen harping after coffee, but he's dead... please just forgive me for sloppiness as this isn't planned out!)
Disclaimer: Yeah, I'm RTD in disguise.
...
Please don't tell me you fell for that.
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
I don't know why it's in bold and italics... LJ doesn't seem to like me much....
Quick boat-y terms that I have used: gunwhale - the top edge of the hull of a nautical vessel, where it meets the deck; hull - the frame or body of ship; boom - a spar that is used to secure the bottom of a sail, allowing more control of the position of a sail; cockpit - the area, below deck level, that is somewhat more protected than the open deck, from which the tiller or wheel is handled;
Owen Harper stared in horror at the boat in front of him.
"Jack has got to be kidding," Gwen said slowly, putting the bags down on the wood slats of the pontoon. She didn't take her eyes from the yacht.
It was white, with teak decks and a dark blue cover over the boom.
Owen shook his head. "Bloody hell."
Gwen looked at the key in his hand. "Let's try the key anyway," she suggested.
Owen looked disbelieving. He held out the bunch of keys to her.
"Here - you do it."
Gwen snatched the keys and grinned mischievously. "Who's afraid of unlocking a boat, then?"
"I'm not afraid - I just want to see how you get on board," Owen retorted.
Gwen hesitated. The rail around the gunwale looked intimidating and was as high as her shoulder.
Owen smirked.
Gwen took one look at Owen's face and took hold of the rail with both hands, placing one foot on the gunwale and swung herself up and over the rail.
She turned, placed her hands on her hips, and stuck her tongue out at Owen.
The medic stuck out his tongue back at her. "Well done, let's see if you can actually unlock the cabin, shall we?"
Gwen tossed back her dark mane of her and stalked along the side-deck and jumped down into the cockpit.
She fitted the keys into the door, or what was meant to be a door - it was more just three pieces of wood slotted together horizontally down some runners with a sheet of strengthened glass over the top.
Something clunked inside a mechanism, and she was able to push back the hatch and lift out the slats.
Owen clapped sarcastically. How anybody could clap sarcastically was beyond Gwen, but then again, this was Owen. Most rules about sarcasm were abandoned when it came to him.
Gwen peered down into the darkness of the cabin. It was too gloomy to make much out, so she clicked on her small, bluelight torch and flashed it around before climbing down the steps.
"So, uh, what's it like?" Owen couldn't restrain his curiosity, as much as he tried to hide it behind a façade of casual indifference.
"Just looking for the light-switch," Gwen replied, spying a bank of switches and running the torch beam down the labels. Deck light, navigation lights, anchor lights, port light, starboard light, aft light... There were masses of switches and buttons, but Gwen finally located the 'main cabin light' and flicked it on. Nothing happened.
"Owen, I think the lights are down!" she yelled.
She heard Owen give an impatient sigh and swing himself over the rail. He jumped into the cockpit and stuck his head down the hatch.
"Maybe we'll just have to wait for Tosh. Tosh can fix anything," he suggested. "I mean, she's good with this sort of stuff, isn't she? It's her job."
"Gwen? Owen?" Toshiko called, climbing on board.
"Speak of the devil," muttered Owen.
"Why aren't the lights on?" Tosh asked curiously, her face joining Owen's in the hatch.
Owen, if he wasn't dead, would have blushed. "The, uh, electrics don't seem to be working. We thought you could take a look at it..?"
"Sure," Tosh said cheerily, bustling down the ladder and peering at the bank of switches.
"Have you plugged in the electrics?" she asked after a moment.
"Well, no, we didn't know-" Gwen started.
"That's what you need to do - plug in the electrics and turn them on. There should be a switch somewhere." Tosh spoke quickly, looking around the gloomy chamber. "Can I have your torch?"
"Kids?" They heard Jack yell. Owen's head vanished from the hatch and they heard him conversing with Jack in a low voice.
"Ianto was sick again," Tosh explained to Gwen, who was looking confused. "Come on, let's get these lights on."
A couple of minutes later, the cabin was flooded with light. Owen and Jack had helped Ianto on board, and the Welshman was falling asleep against Jack.
Owen was passing all the bags to Gwen, who in turn passed them to Tosh, who piled them up in the main cabin, on the table.
"Is that all?" Gwen asked.
"Yep. Now can we get unpacked and have something to eat? It's nearly seven o'clock," Owen asked short temperedly.
Jack looked at his watch in surprise. "I hadn't noticed."
He looked down at Ianto, who had his head on Jack's shoulder and was fast asleep. "Yan..?"
Ianto muttered something in welsh and wriggled into a more comfortable position.
Jack touched him gently on the cheek. "Yan, my arm's gone numb."
Ianto's eyes fluttered open and he stared about him in confusion, his stormy blue eyes clouded. The frown vanished as he remembered where he was.
"Sorry - I must have fallen asleep," he apologised, scrambling up - Jack's and straightening his suit.
Jack laughed. "Not a problem. But my stomach is telling me that it's dinnertime."
Ianto raised an eyebrow. "You stomach is always telling you that."
"Hey, it's not my fault if I get hungry. Living forever is a hungry business, I'll have you know!" Jack teased, shrugging on his RAF coat.
"Of course, sir," Ianto replied smoothly, rolling his eyes with the familiarity of long practice.
"You love it really."
Ianto raised an eyebrow. "Anyone for coffee?" he asks, changing the subject.
Gwen frowns. "You brought the coffee machine with you?"
"Not the actual machine - just a small travelling one," Ianto amended, looking slightly guilty.
"And I thought I was going to go mad from caffeine withdrawal," Owen says.
"Tosh? Jack?"
"Not for me, thanks - I want to be able to sleep tonight," Tosh replied, sitting down on one of the seats in the main cabin.
Jack gave Ianto one of the mega-watt Harkness grins. "Please?"
Ianto nodded and went to the pile of luggage, searching through until he found a cardboard box containing the treasured machine.
Owen was frowning in concentration. "Jack, this can't be the right boat. There's only three cabins."
"So?"
"There are five of us, Jack."
"So?"
"We'll have to share."
Gwen spoke up: "Tosh and I can share, can't we, Tosh?"
"Sure," Tosh agreed helpfully.
"That still leaves two cabins between three of us," Owen said awkwardly, not meeting Jack or Ianto's gaze.
Jack's grin grew even wider.
"I mean, I don't need to sleep or anything, but I'd like to have my own space..." Owen explained. "I still get that, don't I? Just, I don't fancy sharing with either you or tea-boy."
"That's not a problem," Jack said pleasantly. "Ianto and I'll share."
Owen coughed nervously. "Oh. Right."
"Can we have the biggest cabin?" Gwen asked hopefully, making doe-eyes at Jack.
Ianto rolled his eyes. He seemed to be doing a lot of that recently.
Jack shook his head, still grinning. "Nah - I'm captain, I get the biggest cabin."
"That's a relief," Owen muttered. "The walls between the other two are a bit thin for my liking."
Gwen looked disappointed. "Oh. OK, then. I'll just start getting unpacked."
She opened one of the doors and closed it behind her.
Owen shoved his hands in his pockets. "I'll just go and see where the local chippie is, shall I?"
"I'll come with you," Tosh said, blushing slightly. "Just let me get my coat."
Jack grinned at Ianto. "Look's like it's just you and me, then."
"No, Jack."
"I wasn't suggesting that!" Jack said indignantly.
Ianto raised an eyebrow, amused. "Of course you weren't."
"I wasn't, honestly! Why don't you get that coffee sorted and I'll start unpacking."