Fic: A Taste Of Freedom
Title: A Taste Of Freedom
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Jack, Ianto.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Ianto has never experienced so much freedom, but it makes him feel a little guilty when so many people will never be as lucky as he and Jack are.
Word Count: 1194
Written For: Prompt 191 - Freedom at fandomweekly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters. They belong to the BBC.
A/N: Set in my Ghost of a Chance ‘verse.
Stepping down onto the planet’s surface, Jack threw his head back and spread his arms wide, drawing in a deep breath of fresh, unfiltered air.
“Free at last!”
Following his husband down the sloping ramp and onto the grass, since it turned out something of the sort grew on most inhabited planets, Ianto snorted, amused as always by Jack’s flair for melodrama.
“Anyone would think you’d just been paroled after a serving a few decades in prison.”
“I almost feel like I have been, don’t you? This is the first time we’ve made planetfall in almost four months! All we’ve seen lately is the inside of our ship or the interior of one space station after another, and with all the stations in this sector looking practically identical, it was starting to feel like we were trapped in an endless metal maze. Aren’t you glad to be outside under blue skies, feeling sunlight on your face and the wind in your hair?”
“Of course I am, re-circulated air starts to taste a bit stale after a few weeks, but unlike you, I’m perfectly capable of enjoying the benefits of being outdoors without the overdone theatrics.”
“It’s not theatrics! I’m simply demonstrating my appreciation of the natural world in all its glory.”
“Sounded like theatrics to me. You should be on a stage somewhere.” When Jack stuck his tongue out, Ianto just raised an eyebrow. “How old are you?”
“A couple of millennia older than you.”
“Ah, of course; entering your two-hundredth childhood right on schedule.” Ianto smirked lazily.
“It wouldn’t hurt you to live a little, you know; you’re barely a century old and you act like…”
“An adult?” Ianto’s smirk widened into a genuine grin, making him suddenly look much younger. “I live plenty, I just do it more quietly than you do. Come on, old man; race you to those trees down there.”
Indignation flared. “Who’re you calling old?” Unfortunately, Jack found he was talking to his husband’s back. Ianto had already taken off at a run, racing down the slope towards a copse of tree-like plants growing alongside a winding river at the bottom of the wide valley. Realising he was getting left behind, Jack started to run too, but he already knew he’d lost the race. “You cheated!” he shouted, as Ianto’s laughter drifted back to him on the breeze.
Ianto didn’t reply; he was already too far ahead to hear anything over the rushing sound of the wind in his ears.
Because this small world was a bit off the beaten track, at least by space travel standards, it had so far avoided being colonised or exploited for its natural resources. That made it the perfect place for a couple of weary independent traders to relax for a while, away from the hustle and bustle of the civilised sectors.
As much as Jack and Ianto enjoyed their lives, wandering between worlds and space stations, delivering all kinds of cargo to wherever they were needed, it involved a lot of hard physical labour. Even immortals needed an occasional holiday, and since they worked for themselves, they were free to set their own schedule, taking a week or two off every few months. They’d choose a place, usually one of the less developed planets, take on cargoes heading in the direction they wanted to go, and simply not pick up any additional loads until after they’d enjoyed some leisure time.
When he’d first joined Jack aboard the Happy Wanderer, Ianto hadn’t given much thought to the kind of life he was embarking on, but now that he was just over seventy years into their nomadic existence, he’d learned to appreciate the freedom it gave them. There might not be as much job security as cargo crews working for the big haulage companies could rely on, but he and Jack weren’t tied down to set working hours, following the same routes over and over. They could go wherever they wanted, whenever they felt like it, explore the universe from end to end and back again, and stop wherever they chose. They could even pick their cargoes, to a certain extent, instead of being obliged to carry whatever they were ordered to.
“You know, we’re really lucky,” Ianto commented when Jack finally caught up to him at the river’s edge.
“You’re only just noticing that?”
“No, I just…” Ianto shook his head. “Back on earth, before I died, I was never really aware of how little freedom I had. So many people were relying on me to do certain things, not just when it came to work, but… Well, Rhi and the kids always wanted more of my time than I could spare, and I was forever juggling the different parts of my life, trying to find enough time for all the things I had to do while still leaving a bit free for the things I wanted to do. There were never enough hours in the day, but now… Time is the one thing I’m not short of.”
“That’s immortality for you.” Jack sat down beside Ianto. “We’ve got all the time in the universe.”
“Mm.” Ianto stared into the distance. “Sometimes it makes me feel a bit guilty.”
“What d’you mean?”
“Back on earth, so many people have to work long hours every day, sometimes at more than one job, just to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. They can hardly make ends meet, and here we are, living a life of comparative luxury, with nothing to tie us down. It doesn’t seem fair that we have it so easy when they’ll have to struggle and make do with less than they need, probably for the rest of their lives.”
“There really isn’t anything we can do about it though,” Jack pointed out. “Unless you want to return to earth and overthrow the world’s governments, which would seriously mess up the future and bring the Doctor down on our heads.”
“However tempting that might be, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea.” Ianto smiled wryly. “He’s already going to be annoyed when he finds out there’re two immortals now instead of one.”
“I foresee a lot of outraged spluttering if we ever run into him,” Jack agreed. “On the other hand, the Doctor’s forever taking people from earth and showing them the wonders of the universe, so what would it hurt if we staged a few minor alien abductions of our own? It happens all the time on present-day earth.”
Ianto frowned in confusion, feeling like he must have missed something, even though he’d long grown accustomed to his husband’s habit of going off on a tangent in the middle of a conversation. “What’re you talking about?”
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe invest some of our savings in a nice little inhabitable asteroid, start a small colony. Refugees maybe, looking for a better life away from war and famine.”
That was an intriguing idea. “D’you really think we could?”
“I don’t know, but I’d be willing to try. How about you? Maybe we could give some of earth’s huddled masses the chance to know true freedom.”
The End
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Jack, Ianto.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Ianto has never experienced so much freedom, but it makes him feel a little guilty when so many people will never be as lucky as he and Jack are.
Word Count: 1194
Written For: Prompt 191 - Freedom at fandomweekly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters. They belong to the BBC.
A/N: Set in my Ghost of a Chance ‘verse.
Stepping down onto the planet’s surface, Jack threw his head back and spread his arms wide, drawing in a deep breath of fresh, unfiltered air.
“Free at last!”
Following his husband down the sloping ramp and onto the grass, since it turned out something of the sort grew on most inhabited planets, Ianto snorted, amused as always by Jack’s flair for melodrama.
“Anyone would think you’d just been paroled after a serving a few decades in prison.”
“I almost feel like I have been, don’t you? This is the first time we’ve made planetfall in almost four months! All we’ve seen lately is the inside of our ship or the interior of one space station after another, and with all the stations in this sector looking practically identical, it was starting to feel like we were trapped in an endless metal maze. Aren’t you glad to be outside under blue skies, feeling sunlight on your face and the wind in your hair?”
“Of course I am, re-circulated air starts to taste a bit stale after a few weeks, but unlike you, I’m perfectly capable of enjoying the benefits of being outdoors without the overdone theatrics.”
“It’s not theatrics! I’m simply demonstrating my appreciation of the natural world in all its glory.”
“Sounded like theatrics to me. You should be on a stage somewhere.” When Jack stuck his tongue out, Ianto just raised an eyebrow. “How old are you?”
“A couple of millennia older than you.”
“Ah, of course; entering your two-hundredth childhood right on schedule.” Ianto smirked lazily.
“It wouldn’t hurt you to live a little, you know; you’re barely a century old and you act like…”
“An adult?” Ianto’s smirk widened into a genuine grin, making him suddenly look much younger. “I live plenty, I just do it more quietly than you do. Come on, old man; race you to those trees down there.”
Indignation flared. “Who’re you calling old?” Unfortunately, Jack found he was talking to his husband’s back. Ianto had already taken off at a run, racing down the slope towards a copse of tree-like plants growing alongside a winding river at the bottom of the wide valley. Realising he was getting left behind, Jack started to run too, but he already knew he’d lost the race. “You cheated!” he shouted, as Ianto’s laughter drifted back to him on the breeze.
Ianto didn’t reply; he was already too far ahead to hear anything over the rushing sound of the wind in his ears.
Because this small world was a bit off the beaten track, at least by space travel standards, it had so far avoided being colonised or exploited for its natural resources. That made it the perfect place for a couple of weary independent traders to relax for a while, away from the hustle and bustle of the civilised sectors.
As much as Jack and Ianto enjoyed their lives, wandering between worlds and space stations, delivering all kinds of cargo to wherever they were needed, it involved a lot of hard physical labour. Even immortals needed an occasional holiday, and since they worked for themselves, they were free to set their own schedule, taking a week or two off every few months. They’d choose a place, usually one of the less developed planets, take on cargoes heading in the direction they wanted to go, and simply not pick up any additional loads until after they’d enjoyed some leisure time.
When he’d first joined Jack aboard the Happy Wanderer, Ianto hadn’t given much thought to the kind of life he was embarking on, but now that he was just over seventy years into their nomadic existence, he’d learned to appreciate the freedom it gave them. There might not be as much job security as cargo crews working for the big haulage companies could rely on, but he and Jack weren’t tied down to set working hours, following the same routes over and over. They could go wherever they wanted, whenever they felt like it, explore the universe from end to end and back again, and stop wherever they chose. They could even pick their cargoes, to a certain extent, instead of being obliged to carry whatever they were ordered to.
“You know, we’re really lucky,” Ianto commented when Jack finally caught up to him at the river’s edge.
“You’re only just noticing that?”
“No, I just…” Ianto shook his head. “Back on earth, before I died, I was never really aware of how little freedom I had. So many people were relying on me to do certain things, not just when it came to work, but… Well, Rhi and the kids always wanted more of my time than I could spare, and I was forever juggling the different parts of my life, trying to find enough time for all the things I had to do while still leaving a bit free for the things I wanted to do. There were never enough hours in the day, but now… Time is the one thing I’m not short of.”
“That’s immortality for you.” Jack sat down beside Ianto. “We’ve got all the time in the universe.”
“Mm.” Ianto stared into the distance. “Sometimes it makes me feel a bit guilty.”
“What d’you mean?”
“Back on earth, so many people have to work long hours every day, sometimes at more than one job, just to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. They can hardly make ends meet, and here we are, living a life of comparative luxury, with nothing to tie us down. It doesn’t seem fair that we have it so easy when they’ll have to struggle and make do with less than they need, probably for the rest of their lives.”
“There really isn’t anything we can do about it though,” Jack pointed out. “Unless you want to return to earth and overthrow the world’s governments, which would seriously mess up the future and bring the Doctor down on our heads.”
“However tempting that might be, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea.” Ianto smiled wryly. “He’s already going to be annoyed when he finds out there’re two immortals now instead of one.”
“I foresee a lot of outraged spluttering if we ever run into him,” Jack agreed. “On the other hand, the Doctor’s forever taking people from earth and showing them the wonders of the universe, so what would it hurt if we staged a few minor alien abductions of our own? It happens all the time on present-day earth.”
Ianto frowned in confusion, feeling like he must have missed something, even though he’d long grown accustomed to his husband’s habit of going off on a tangent in the middle of a conversation. “What’re you talking about?”
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe invest some of our savings in a nice little inhabitable asteroid, start a small colony. Refugees maybe, looking for a better life away from war and famine.”
That was an intriguing idea. “D’you really think we could?”
“I don’t know, but I’d be willing to try. How about you? Maybe we could give some of earth’s huddled masses the chance to know true freedom.”
The End