Fic: Twisting The Night Away
Title: Twisting The Night Away
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto, Jack.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1079
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: What does Jack get up to when Ianto is sleeping?
Written For: Challenge 406: Twist at fan_flashworks.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
Rolling over, only half awake, Ianto reached out across sheets that had already gone cold to find the bed beside him empty. He didn’t know why he’d expected anything else; even now that Jack had officially moved into the little terraced house, most mornings he was still up with the lark. Jack didn’t need as much sleep as regular mortals, and he found it boring to lay in bed simply to keep a sleeping Ianto company. Turning on the light so he could read, or play solitaire on his laptop, risked waking his lover, which he’d rather not do without good reason, so Jack preferred to slip quietly out of bed after a mere three or four hours and find something more interesting to do.
It could be anything: reading, watching TV or DVDs with the sound turned down low, knitting… sometimes he even cleaned, and on one memorable night, Ianto had woken to find Jack outside, gardening by moonlight. Thanks to his fifty-first century eyesight, he could see in the dark a lot better than Ianto could and had been happily weeding the flowerbeds. It had been a warm night, so Ianto had left him to it.
This morning, as Ianto shut off the alarm clock and dragged himself out of bed, he looked out the bedroom window, but there was no sign of Jack in the garden, even though the sun was shining brightly. No one was in the neighbouring garden either, or the one that backed onto Ianto’s, but at a few minutes after six in the morning that was hardly surprising.
Ianto showered, shaved, and dressed before going downstairs, deciding it wouldn’t kill Jack to wait a bit longer for coffee. When he got downstairs and didn’t find Jack sitting in the airy lounge he wondered if perhaps there’d been a Rift alert during the night and his lover had gone to deal with it by himself. Then he realised the kitchen door was closed when it was usually left wide open.
Striding down the hallway, Ianto entered the kitchen and stopped dead, staring in stunned disbelief. “What on earth…”
“Morning, sleepyhead, it’s about time you surfaced; I’ve been up for hours.” Jack’s grin was dazzling, brighter even than the sun.
Ianto was unmoved. “Unlike you, I actually need to sleep. What’s all this?”
“Thought I’d do a spot of baking.” Jack continued to beam at Ianto across a kitchen table practically groaning under the weight of the baked goods set out on its surface. “I shut the kitchen door so I wouldn’t wake you with all my clattering.” He held out a baking tray. “Cheese twist? The ones from the supermarket are never cheesy enough, so I found a recipe online and then doubled the quantity of cheese it suggested. They’re a bit bubbly, and maybe a smidge overdone, but they taste great.”
Ianto didn’t move; he was still trying to decide whether he was awake or not. Maybe he was still dreaming, or possibly having a nightmare. It looked like Jack had used every mixing bowl, utensil, measuring jug, and baking tray they possessed. There was flour scattered across the worktops and floor, a milk carton lying on its side in a small pool of milk, a chunk of cheese balanced precariously on the cheese grater above a small bowl, an empty eggbox tossed carelessly to one side, and an open tub of margarine teetering on the edge of the sink.
“Jack…” Ianto’s voice failed him as he stared at the mess, a horrified expression on his face.
“Okay, so I may have got a bit carried away…”
“May have?” Ianto’s eyebrows shot up so fast they almost reached escape velocity. “A bit? How can one person make so much mess just doing what you call a spot of baking?”
Following his lover’s gaze, Jack took in the state of the kitchen and winced. “Oops, sorry. But don’t worry, I’m going to clean up once I get the last batch out of the oven. Sure you don’t want a cheese twist? They’ve cooled down enough that you won’t burn yourself.”
Without thinking, Ianto took one and bit into it, chewing slowly. He paused, looked at it, and nodded slowly. “Actually, this is pretty good.”
“Told you so!” Just like that, Jack’s grin was back in place. Very little kept him down for long. “The secret is to use a strongly flavoured cheese, and plenty of it. I thought I’d take some of these to the Hub for everyone to snack on. I made savoury scones too.”
“I can feel my cholesterol levels rising already.” Finishing his cheese twist, Ianto grabbed a couple more and turned towards the door. “Clean this place up before you end up tracking flour through the house.”
Jack frowned. “Where are you going?”
“To the Hub. One of us should get to work on time, and you’re a bit tied up at the moment.”
“But… what about coffee!”
“I’ll have some waiting at the Hub when you get there, but I want the kitchen spotless, all the dishes washed and put away, and the rubbish put out in the dustbin before you leave. Oh, and don’t forget to turn the oven off; we don’t want the house burning down.
Jack whimpered.
Poking his head back into the kitchen, Ianto smirked. “I don’t mind you baking, Jack, this is your home as much as mine, but if you make a mess, you get to clean it up. Maybe next time you want to indulge in a baking frenzy, you’ll be more careful and clean up as you go.” With that, he closed the kitchen door behind him to keep the mess contained, and left the house.
Alone in the kitchen amidst the fruits of his labours, Jack sighed heavily, knowing Ianto was right; he only had himself to blame. He’d made extra work for himself, all because he’d been impatient to test out his clever twist on the cheese twist recipe. Shoulders drooping, he started to gather the dirty dishes together for washing, rescuing the cheese and the margarine as he went, and returning them to the fridge.
On the bright side, at least Ianto seemed to like his savoury treats, so his spur of the moment baking session hadn’t been a complete disaster. As he ran hot water into the washing up bowl, Jack started to sing.
“Let’s Twist again…”
Oh yes, he’d definitely be making cheese twists again!
The End
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto, Jack.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1079
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: What does Jack get up to when Ianto is sleeping?
Written For: Challenge 406: Twist at fan_flashworks.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
Rolling over, only half awake, Ianto reached out across sheets that had already gone cold to find the bed beside him empty. He didn’t know why he’d expected anything else; even now that Jack had officially moved into the little terraced house, most mornings he was still up with the lark. Jack didn’t need as much sleep as regular mortals, and he found it boring to lay in bed simply to keep a sleeping Ianto company. Turning on the light so he could read, or play solitaire on his laptop, risked waking his lover, which he’d rather not do without good reason, so Jack preferred to slip quietly out of bed after a mere three or four hours and find something more interesting to do.
It could be anything: reading, watching TV or DVDs with the sound turned down low, knitting… sometimes he even cleaned, and on one memorable night, Ianto had woken to find Jack outside, gardening by moonlight. Thanks to his fifty-first century eyesight, he could see in the dark a lot better than Ianto could and had been happily weeding the flowerbeds. It had been a warm night, so Ianto had left him to it.
This morning, as Ianto shut off the alarm clock and dragged himself out of bed, he looked out the bedroom window, but there was no sign of Jack in the garden, even though the sun was shining brightly. No one was in the neighbouring garden either, or the one that backed onto Ianto’s, but at a few minutes after six in the morning that was hardly surprising.
Ianto showered, shaved, and dressed before going downstairs, deciding it wouldn’t kill Jack to wait a bit longer for coffee. When he got downstairs and didn’t find Jack sitting in the airy lounge he wondered if perhaps there’d been a Rift alert during the night and his lover had gone to deal with it by himself. Then he realised the kitchen door was closed when it was usually left wide open.
Striding down the hallway, Ianto entered the kitchen and stopped dead, staring in stunned disbelief. “What on earth…”
“Morning, sleepyhead, it’s about time you surfaced; I’ve been up for hours.” Jack’s grin was dazzling, brighter even than the sun.
Ianto was unmoved. “Unlike you, I actually need to sleep. What’s all this?”
“Thought I’d do a spot of baking.” Jack continued to beam at Ianto across a kitchen table practically groaning under the weight of the baked goods set out on its surface. “I shut the kitchen door so I wouldn’t wake you with all my clattering.” He held out a baking tray. “Cheese twist? The ones from the supermarket are never cheesy enough, so I found a recipe online and then doubled the quantity of cheese it suggested. They’re a bit bubbly, and maybe a smidge overdone, but they taste great.”
Ianto didn’t move; he was still trying to decide whether he was awake or not. Maybe he was still dreaming, or possibly having a nightmare. It looked like Jack had used every mixing bowl, utensil, measuring jug, and baking tray they possessed. There was flour scattered across the worktops and floor, a milk carton lying on its side in a small pool of milk, a chunk of cheese balanced precariously on the cheese grater above a small bowl, an empty eggbox tossed carelessly to one side, and an open tub of margarine teetering on the edge of the sink.
“Jack…” Ianto’s voice failed him as he stared at the mess, a horrified expression on his face.
“Okay, so I may have got a bit carried away…”
“May have?” Ianto’s eyebrows shot up so fast they almost reached escape velocity. “A bit? How can one person make so much mess just doing what you call a spot of baking?”
Following his lover’s gaze, Jack took in the state of the kitchen and winced. “Oops, sorry. But don’t worry, I’m going to clean up once I get the last batch out of the oven. Sure you don’t want a cheese twist? They’ve cooled down enough that you won’t burn yourself.”
Without thinking, Ianto took one and bit into it, chewing slowly. He paused, looked at it, and nodded slowly. “Actually, this is pretty good.”
“Told you so!” Just like that, Jack’s grin was back in place. Very little kept him down for long. “The secret is to use a strongly flavoured cheese, and plenty of it. I thought I’d take some of these to the Hub for everyone to snack on. I made savoury scones too.”
“I can feel my cholesterol levels rising already.” Finishing his cheese twist, Ianto grabbed a couple more and turned towards the door. “Clean this place up before you end up tracking flour through the house.”
Jack frowned. “Where are you going?”
“To the Hub. One of us should get to work on time, and you’re a bit tied up at the moment.”
“But… what about coffee!”
“I’ll have some waiting at the Hub when you get there, but I want the kitchen spotless, all the dishes washed and put away, and the rubbish put out in the dustbin before you leave. Oh, and don’t forget to turn the oven off; we don’t want the house burning down.
Jack whimpered.
Poking his head back into the kitchen, Ianto smirked. “I don’t mind you baking, Jack, this is your home as much as mine, but if you make a mess, you get to clean it up. Maybe next time you want to indulge in a baking frenzy, you’ll be more careful and clean up as you go.” With that, he closed the kitchen door behind him to keep the mess contained, and left the house.
Alone in the kitchen amidst the fruits of his labours, Jack sighed heavily, knowing Ianto was right; he only had himself to blame. He’d made extra work for himself, all because he’d been impatient to test out his clever twist on the cheese twist recipe. Shoulders drooping, he started to gather the dirty dishes together for washing, rescuing the cheese and the margarine as he went, and returning them to the fridge.
On the bright side, at least Ianto seemed to like his savoury treats, so his spur of the moment baking session hadn’t been a complete disaster. As he ran hot water into the washing up bowl, Jack started to sing.
“Let’s Twist again…”
Oh yes, he’d definitely be making cheese twists again!
The End