fic: Twist in My Reality p 2/?
Previously on Twist in My Reality....
Jack stared at him incredulously, but was interrupted from saying anything by a door opening in what had appeared to be a blank wall. A decent sized stripy hand towel was shoved through the gap and a voice announced,
“Welcome to the Heart of Gold.”
Twist in My Reality: part 2
The effect on Jack was immediate. He threw his head back and laughed in a way that Ianto had never seen before, a deep belly laugh that lightened his features and made him look closer to Ianto’s age than however old he actually was. Ianto felt rather jealous but didn’t have the time to ponder that feeling as Jack leapt for the door and grabbed the hand that was holding the stripy towel, pulling a slightly non-descript but still odd looking man through the door.
“Ford, you old reprobate! I’d recognise that towel anywhere!” He immediately drew the man into what looked like a bone-crushing hug, before slapping his back resoundingly. Ianto winced in sympathy for the unknown man; there was a lot of power in Jack’s hands but despite his smaller, slighter frame the new arrival didn’t seem to be discomfited in the slightest. Ianto continued to watch as the back slapping mutated into something rather complicated that surprisingly didn’t involve kissing or the removal of clothes. Once Jack and his friend were standing still once more, just grinning at each other, Ianto cleared his throat; he was hoping for a more traditional introduction and was rewarded by two pairs of eyes turning in his direction.
“So, who’s your friend, Jack?” The stranger asked, with a smile in Ianto’s direction as he closed the distance between them in response to Jack’s frantic beckoning.
“Ford, I’d like you to meet Ianto Jones. Ianto, this is Ford Prefect.” Hands were shaken as Ford hurriedly threw his towel round his own neck. Towel-less, Ianto was beginning to feel underdressed, but it didn’t stop him from noticing that Ford’s skin was cool to the touch, and that his eyes were a shade of blue that had never been seen on earth, plus he didn’t seem to blink as much as he should; it made Ianto’s eyes ache vaguely to think about it and he looked away.
“Welcome to the Heart of Gold, Ianto; the most improbable ship in the universe.” Jack smiled beatifically at the two of them and slung a companionable arm round each of their shoulders, steering them through the door as if he knew exactly where they were going. Ianto assumed he probably did, but he refused to think about it and let himself be propelled down the corridor as Jack and Ford chattered away.
“You know, Ford, I think we need some serious discussion about that line. I’m not completely convinced she *is* the most improbable ship in the universe.”
“I’d like to hear about *any* ship that could give this one a run in the improbability stakes.”
“You will, you will. Now let’s see if I can remember where the bridge is. Did you manage to re-program the other doors?”
“Unfortunately not, but they’ve learned to be less... enthusiastic.”
“That’s an improvement. Marvin?”
“Same old, same old. He had a close encounter with a maintenance droid that perked him up a bit, until the droid left him for a robotic hover-cleaner with multiple attachments.”
“Story of his life. At least it gives him something concrete to be depressed about.”
“There is that, I suppose.” Ianto zoned out and let the rest of the conversation continue to fly over his head without even trying to understand. In Cardiff, Jack’s otherness never seemed to really matter; here, Ianto felt seriously out of place. He doubted that there would be much call for archiving or making coffee on a spaceship and he felt he was more likely to make a mess than be able to sort out other peoples. It was a revelation to him that the most comforting thing in this strange place was the weight of Jack’s arm around his back and shoulders. Ianto had never thought of Jack’s presence as particularly comforting before, but at least his was a familiar unfamiliarity, and not the mind-bogglingly disturbing unfamiliarity of his present surroundings. The hand clasped lightly on his right shoulder squeezed gently, and Ianto glanced upward to receive a quick flash of a smile and a wink from Jack before he returned to bantering unintelligibly with Ford Prefect. Ianto mused on the absurdity of that name for a while. It wasn’t exactly very alien sounding, but maybe that had been the point though he couldn’t keep visions of old cars sprouting wings and flying to the stars out of his mind. It seemed a long time before they paused in front of another, more obvious door. Jack smiled at him again.
“Are you ready for this, Ianto?”
“As I’ll ever be, I suppose.” He received what he presumed was supposed to be a reassuring pat on his shoulder before Jack removed his arm and strode forward. The door slid open to let him through, but not silently as he’d expected. “Ford, did that door just say ‘thank you’?”
“Yes. Terrible, isn’t it? Used to be worse though, they’ve calmed down a little bit under Marvin’s influence...” Ford didn’t linger to see what effect his words had on Ianto, but followed Jack through the door. Ianto shook his head half hoping that he would suddenly wake up back in the hub and find everything had been some weird alien artefact inspired dream. If he did, he resolved to be more pleasant to Owen; he might not get on with the Torchwood Doctor, but at least he was predictable and allegedly human. Unfortunately shaking his head did nothing to improve his situation, and made him feel slightly dizzy. As he stepped through the door to follow the other two he started as it whispered another thank you behind him.
Jack stared at him incredulously, but was interrupted from saying anything by a door opening in what had appeared to be a blank wall. A decent sized stripy hand towel was shoved through the gap and a voice announced,
“Welcome to the Heart of Gold.”
Twist in My Reality: part 2
The effect on Jack was immediate. He threw his head back and laughed in a way that Ianto had never seen before, a deep belly laugh that lightened his features and made him look closer to Ianto’s age than however old he actually was. Ianto felt rather jealous but didn’t have the time to ponder that feeling as Jack leapt for the door and grabbed the hand that was holding the stripy towel, pulling a slightly non-descript but still odd looking man through the door.
“Ford, you old reprobate! I’d recognise that towel anywhere!” He immediately drew the man into what looked like a bone-crushing hug, before slapping his back resoundingly. Ianto winced in sympathy for the unknown man; there was a lot of power in Jack’s hands but despite his smaller, slighter frame the new arrival didn’t seem to be discomfited in the slightest. Ianto continued to watch as the back slapping mutated into something rather complicated that surprisingly didn’t involve kissing or the removal of clothes. Once Jack and his friend were standing still once more, just grinning at each other, Ianto cleared his throat; he was hoping for a more traditional introduction and was rewarded by two pairs of eyes turning in his direction.
“So, who’s your friend, Jack?” The stranger asked, with a smile in Ianto’s direction as he closed the distance between them in response to Jack’s frantic beckoning.
“Ford, I’d like you to meet Ianto Jones. Ianto, this is Ford Prefect.” Hands were shaken as Ford hurriedly threw his towel round his own neck. Towel-less, Ianto was beginning to feel underdressed, but it didn’t stop him from noticing that Ford’s skin was cool to the touch, and that his eyes were a shade of blue that had never been seen on earth, plus he didn’t seem to blink as much as he should; it made Ianto’s eyes ache vaguely to think about it and he looked away.
“Welcome to the Heart of Gold, Ianto; the most improbable ship in the universe.” Jack smiled beatifically at the two of them and slung a companionable arm round each of their shoulders, steering them through the door as if he knew exactly where they were going. Ianto assumed he probably did, but he refused to think about it and let himself be propelled down the corridor as Jack and Ford chattered away.
“You know, Ford, I think we need some serious discussion about that line. I’m not completely convinced she *is* the most improbable ship in the universe.”
“I’d like to hear about *any* ship that could give this one a run in the improbability stakes.”
“You will, you will. Now let’s see if I can remember where the bridge is. Did you manage to re-program the other doors?”
“Unfortunately not, but they’ve learned to be less... enthusiastic.”
“That’s an improvement. Marvin?”
“Same old, same old. He had a close encounter with a maintenance droid that perked him up a bit, until the droid left him for a robotic hover-cleaner with multiple attachments.”
“Story of his life. At least it gives him something concrete to be depressed about.”
“There is that, I suppose.” Ianto zoned out and let the rest of the conversation continue to fly over his head without even trying to understand. In Cardiff, Jack’s otherness never seemed to really matter; here, Ianto felt seriously out of place. He doubted that there would be much call for archiving or making coffee on a spaceship and he felt he was more likely to make a mess than be able to sort out other peoples. It was a revelation to him that the most comforting thing in this strange place was the weight of Jack’s arm around his back and shoulders. Ianto had never thought of Jack’s presence as particularly comforting before, but at least his was a familiar unfamiliarity, and not the mind-bogglingly disturbing unfamiliarity of his present surroundings. The hand clasped lightly on his right shoulder squeezed gently, and Ianto glanced upward to receive a quick flash of a smile and a wink from Jack before he returned to bantering unintelligibly with Ford Prefect. Ianto mused on the absurdity of that name for a while. It wasn’t exactly very alien sounding, but maybe that had been the point though he couldn’t keep visions of old cars sprouting wings and flying to the stars out of his mind. It seemed a long time before they paused in front of another, more obvious door. Jack smiled at him again.
“Are you ready for this, Ianto?”
“As I’ll ever be, I suppose.” He received what he presumed was supposed to be a reassuring pat on his shoulder before Jack removed his arm and strode forward. The door slid open to let him through, but not silently as he’d expected. “Ford, did that door just say ‘thank you’?”
“Yes. Terrible, isn’t it? Used to be worse though, they’ve calmed down a little bit under Marvin’s influence...” Ford didn’t linger to see what effect his words had on Ianto, but followed Jack through the door. Ianto shook his head half hoping that he would suddenly wake up back in the hub and find everything had been some weird alien artefact inspired dream. If he did, he resolved to be more pleasant to Owen; he might not get on with the Torchwood Doctor, but at least he was predictable and allegedly human. Unfortunately shaking his head did nothing to improve his situation, and made him feel slightly dizzy. As he stepped through the door to follow the other two he started as it whispered another thank you behind him.