Torchwood // Butterflies and Baby Rides
Title: Butterflies and Baby Rides
Author: Sarah
Rating: PG
Words: 885
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Summary: Jack and Ianto go to a carnival, but the baby rides and summer winds don't last forever.
Notes: Written for Challenge #13 at horizonssing, but the inspiration came more from the carousel ride I took, well last night now, that told me I wasn't ready to turn 19. Regardless, I'm nineteen, but I'm old for my age. I'm just born to be bad.
Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood.
Last week, Ianto found a carnival ad strategically placed between the coffee machine and the mugs. It advertised for one week only with the best selection of amusement rides a travelling carnival had to offer in years. Ianto laughed and pushed it aside, going about his normal morning routine preparing the caffeinated beverages necessary to keep the Torchwood team functioning properly.
*
“Ready for our big date tonight?” Jack asks with a grin as he comes up behind Ianto, placing his hands on the tea boy’s hips.
Ianto turns around from the cup of coffee he’s making for Gwen to face the other man. “I wasn’t aware we had plans,” he replies.
“Didn’t you get my note?” Jack pulls one hand away to reach in his pocket and pull out another carnival advertisement. “First night.”
Ianto returns Jack’s grin. “But I’m afraid of heights.”
Jack laughs. “I’ll hold your hand on the Ferris wheel, don’t worry.”
*
Despite his dislike of amusement parks, Ianto tags along with Jack anyway. At first, Jack seems surprised to see Ianto in jeans and a t-shirt instead of his normal suit and tie, but the way he wraps his arm around his waist tells Ianto that Jack likes it.
The carnival is set up on a large field, the majority of the rides on the left side of the lot. To the right, there’s a playground and little kids run rampant with their kites flying overhead. Jack points out a little boy dumping a bucket of sand on his sister’s head as the two sit playing in the sandbox. They both laugh as the little girl seeks her revenge.
“We should go on that,” Jack points to a rollercoaster. “It’s not too high.”
Ianto shakes his head. “No,” he drags out the ‘o’ in the word, “my dinner will be in my lap.”
“Well, you’re no fun.”
“I told you I didn’t like carnival rides.”
“Well, what about…” Jack trails off as he looks around for a baby-like ride that adults can go on. “That?” he finishes, pointing at the carousel. “Or will sitting on a little horse going in circles make you dizzy?”
Ianto smiles because that was about the only ride he ever went on when he tagged along to carnivals with his brothers years ago. Usually, he was left clinging to his mother, begging his older brothers not to make him ride the giant pirate ship that flipped upside down.
”’N fawr baban,” they’d tease as they rushed into the line, leaving him behind, tears welling up in his eyes.
“I can handle that,” he replies.
Jack laces his fingers with Ianto’s and pulls his tea boy towards the line. They stand hand-in-hand, waiting for their turn. There’s a woman in her mid-thirties in front of them holding a little girl in her arms. She looks at them funny, and Jack decides it’s because he’s an adult waiting for a baby ride, not because his arm is wrapped around another man. Glancing behind them, he sees more parents and children, the oldest no more than ten. But Jack’s okay with that because he loves both carnival rides and Ianto, so he’ll take the combination of the two any way he can.
When it’s finally their turn, they choose two horses next to each other. Ianto takes the big white one with the dark brown mane on the end and Jack climbs on the gray and black one beside it. They both laugh when the ride attendant tells them that, despite the fact that they’re adults, they need to use the safety harness. They buckle themselves around the waist as they’re told, and when the ride starts, Ianto places one hand on the golden pole in front of him and holds Jack’s hand with his other.
Ianto likes the carousel. It’s simple, it’s not scary, and it’s peaceful. There’s nothing he likes more than the cool summer breeze ruffling his hair and tickling his face as his body goes up and down with the horse as the entire ride circles around.
As the horses spin around, Ianto can feel the ride slowing down. He knows it has to end and they won’t be sitting on pretty horses the entire night. They’ll have to get off and Jack will probably coerce him into riding something fast and exciting and Ianto won’t know this sort of peace for days because that’s how long it’ll take for his stomach to settle back where it belongs.
But cool summer breezes and carousel rides have to end eventually and Ianto knows that. He tells himself that almost everything will have to end eventually, except what’s most important.
When the ride finally comes to a complete stop and the two men climb off their horses and exit the area, Jack takes Ianto by the hand again. Ianto smiles and tightens his grip, savoring the feeling of butterflies that he gets every time Jack touches him.
The wind might not always gently blow his hair and his stomach might not always be calm on the slow baby rides, but the feeling that Ianto gets while he’s with Jack is something that will never fade. And that’s enough consolation for Ianto to oblige to a ride on the Tilt-A-Whirl that Jack is dragging him towards.
Author: Sarah
Rating: PG
Words: 885
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Summary: Jack and Ianto go to a carnival, but the baby rides and summer winds don't last forever.
Notes: Written for Challenge #13 at horizonssing, but the inspiration came more from the carousel ride I took, well last night now, that told me I wasn't ready to turn 19. Regardless, I'm nineteen, but I'm old for my age. I'm just born to be bad.
Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood.
Last week, Ianto found a carnival ad strategically placed between the coffee machine and the mugs. It advertised for one week only with the best selection of amusement rides a travelling carnival had to offer in years. Ianto laughed and pushed it aside, going about his normal morning routine preparing the caffeinated beverages necessary to keep the Torchwood team functioning properly.
*
“Ready for our big date tonight?” Jack asks with a grin as he comes up behind Ianto, placing his hands on the tea boy’s hips.
Ianto turns around from the cup of coffee he’s making for Gwen to face the other man. “I wasn’t aware we had plans,” he replies.
“Didn’t you get my note?” Jack pulls one hand away to reach in his pocket and pull out another carnival advertisement. “First night.”
Ianto returns Jack’s grin. “But I’m afraid of heights.”
Jack laughs. “I’ll hold your hand on the Ferris wheel, don’t worry.”
*
Despite his dislike of amusement parks, Ianto tags along with Jack anyway. At first, Jack seems surprised to see Ianto in jeans and a t-shirt instead of his normal suit and tie, but the way he wraps his arm around his waist tells Ianto that Jack likes it.
The carnival is set up on a large field, the majority of the rides on the left side of the lot. To the right, there’s a playground and little kids run rampant with their kites flying overhead. Jack points out a little boy dumping a bucket of sand on his sister’s head as the two sit playing in the sandbox. They both laugh as the little girl seeks her revenge.
“We should go on that,” Jack points to a rollercoaster. “It’s not too high.”
Ianto shakes his head. “No,” he drags out the ‘o’ in the word, “my dinner will be in my lap.”
“Well, you’re no fun.”
“I told you I didn’t like carnival rides.”
“Well, what about…” Jack trails off as he looks around for a baby-like ride that adults can go on. “That?” he finishes, pointing at the carousel. “Or will sitting on a little horse going in circles make you dizzy?”
Ianto smiles because that was about the only ride he ever went on when he tagged along to carnivals with his brothers years ago. Usually, he was left clinging to his mother, begging his older brothers not to make him ride the giant pirate ship that flipped upside down.
”’N fawr baban,” they’d tease as they rushed into the line, leaving him behind, tears welling up in his eyes.
“I can handle that,” he replies.
Jack laces his fingers with Ianto’s and pulls his tea boy towards the line. They stand hand-in-hand, waiting for their turn. There’s a woman in her mid-thirties in front of them holding a little girl in her arms. She looks at them funny, and Jack decides it’s because he’s an adult waiting for a baby ride, not because his arm is wrapped around another man. Glancing behind them, he sees more parents and children, the oldest no more than ten. But Jack’s okay with that because he loves both carnival rides and Ianto, so he’ll take the combination of the two any way he can.
When it’s finally their turn, they choose two horses next to each other. Ianto takes the big white one with the dark brown mane on the end and Jack climbs on the gray and black one beside it. They both laugh when the ride attendant tells them that, despite the fact that they’re adults, they need to use the safety harness. They buckle themselves around the waist as they’re told, and when the ride starts, Ianto places one hand on the golden pole in front of him and holds Jack’s hand with his other.
Ianto likes the carousel. It’s simple, it’s not scary, and it’s peaceful. There’s nothing he likes more than the cool summer breeze ruffling his hair and tickling his face as his body goes up and down with the horse as the entire ride circles around.
As the horses spin around, Ianto can feel the ride slowing down. He knows it has to end and they won’t be sitting on pretty horses the entire night. They’ll have to get off and Jack will probably coerce him into riding something fast and exciting and Ianto won’t know this sort of peace for days because that’s how long it’ll take for his stomach to settle back where it belongs.
But cool summer breezes and carousel rides have to end eventually and Ianto knows that. He tells himself that almost everything will have to end eventually, except what’s most important.
When the ride finally comes to a complete stop and the two men climb off their horses and exit the area, Jack takes Ianto by the hand again. Ianto smiles and tightens his grip, savoring the feeling of butterflies that he gets every time Jack touches him.
The wind might not always gently blow his hair and his stomach might not always be calm on the slow baby rides, but the feeling that Ianto gets while he’s with Jack is something that will never fade. And that’s enough consolation for Ianto to oblige to a ride on the Tilt-A-Whirl that Jack is dragging him towards.