Fic update!
A/N: Third of the attempts and I still haven't nailed it yet. I will, though. Sooner or later, I'll wear that Muse of mine down and she'll comply!
Title: EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Rating: Mild PG for inferences
Disclaimer: Not mine; they belong to RTD and to the BBC
Spoilers: General, for Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
Summary: Sometimes it's the people watching who see the truth.
She genuinely hadn't meant to spy. She'd been making a routine check of the CCTV footage before archiving it when she had seen them, and she hadn't realised the import of what was happening until it was too late. After that... well, after that she was guilty as charged and wouldn't have been able to stop even if she'd wanted to. And she hadn't.
Ianto was his usual economical self, moving around the Hub as he did one last check before shutting everything down. She smiled as she watched him move, graceful and reserved, picking up bits and pieces and sorting them into their appropriate places, taking the dirty mugs back up to the kitchen before coming back down and tipping the rubbish into black bags, ready to take up to the surface. Even though he had become a much more integral part of the Team, Ianto still kept an eye on the fabric of the Hub itself, making sure that things were where they were supposed to be. He had told her once that he found it soothing to do that, a sort of meditation through housework. He had smiled when she had laughed; a genuine smile and not the pensive curve of the lips he had always managed while Jack was away.
Because now Jack was back, and the Hub was a different place. Jack was different and Ianto, of all of them, seemed to be more affected by the change. She could see it in the way he was holding himself. The armour was just that little bit more tightly cinched, the walls built just that fraction higher. He had been jittery around Jack at first, but then he and Jack had gone off after Hart and when they had come back, Ianto had been... different. The wariness had still been there, but there was something else, an eagerness she had never seen before.
Now she watched as Jack bounded into view, calling out a breezy greeting that had Ianto jerking around in surprise. Same old Jack in some ways, with his larger-than-life presence and his almost indolent grace. Looser-limbed and much more relaxed than Ianto could ever be. If Ianto was a cat then Jack was a wolf. Ianto was designed to stalk and pounce, where Jack was built for the chase and the lethal lunge at the end. She expected him to crowd up against Ianto and overwhelm him with his sheer presence. He was good at that; it was a cold-blooded person who remained unmoved when Jack Harkness was inside your body space and smiling that smile of his.
But it didn't turn out that way. Jack slowed and came to a halt a foot or so away from Ianto, who put the bag he had been holding down before turning his undivided attention back to Jack. Neither of them said a word for a long time, simply gazing at one another in silence. Jack broke first, as she guessed he would. Jack had a surprising number of virtues, but patience had never been one of them. Ianto was the patient one of the pair. Ianto could outwait suns if he thought it was necessary.
Moving forward, Jack lifted a hand to rest against Ianto's cheek. Ianto half-closed his eyes and leaned into the touch and she watched as Jack's face was momentarily convulsed by some huge emotion. She couldn't understand why; Jack had touched Ianto like that a thousand times before and would undoubtedly do it again as many times as he wanted. It wasn't as if he had lost the chance of ever doing that again. And yet he continued to caress Ianto's cheek with something very close to reverence on his face.
Ianto opened his eyes again and smiled at Jack and she caught her breath. She had never seen him smile like that at any of them. It was completely different from every other smile she had seen him produce, because while the other smiles had mischief and laughter in them, none had ever had the tenderness that this smile contained. Seeing that, she could well believe he had told the truth that time she had got him just a little bit drunk while Jack was away and he had stared at her when she had urged him to put Jack behind him and get on with his life. "He is my life," he had said with simple conviction, and she had been forced to look away from the intensity in his eyes.
And in another moment it had changed again. Ianto had moved deftly out of Jack's reach and was moving around the Hub in what looked like a random pattern, his attention seemingly everywhere but on Jack as he continued to look for rubbish to collect. Jack was moving, as well, and as she watched, she realised that he was weaving around Ianto as Ianto moved through the Hub. Neither of them were in any great hurry and Jack gradually moved closer until he had come within touching distance of Ianto again by the time Ianto had reached the stairs that led up to Jack's office.
The body language had changed. If Jack was a wolf, he was a submissive one, eager to be accepted. Ianto was suddenly the dominant one, deciding whether or not to accept Jack's signals. He gave Jack a sideways look, and that smile reappeared, summoning a similar one from Jack. When Ianto reached out a hand, Jack was more than ready to take it and he came willingly as Ianto reeled him in for a slow and gentle kiss.
"Welcome back, Jack," Ianto said softly when they parted.
There was a suspicious glitter to Jack's eyes as he smiled back. "You have no idea how good it is to be back," he whispered back.
He leaned forward for another kiss but Ianto evaded him. Jack blinked and tried again, only to have Ianto melt away from under his questing touch. Seeing the mischief in Ianto's eyes, Jack growled and attempted a pounce, not looking all that surprised when he missed.
"You said something about a date," Ianto reminded him.
"There's that fish and chip shop not far off," Jack suggested, making another feint that ended in failure.
Ianto snorted. "A proper date," he said witheringly. "One where we sit down somewhere other than my house or the Hub and eat a proper meal."
Jack made a peevish noise and pounced again, giving Ianto a bewildered look when he came up empty and an unruffled Ianto was a couple of feet away. "Can't we take a rain check?" he asked.
Ianto considered the idea for a moment before flashing the Captain another of those blinding smiles. "Only if you manage to catch me," he said, before taking off in the direction of the Hub door.
Caught flat-footed, Jack gave a yelp of annoyance and took off after him. Cat and wolf, dancing and chasing one another around the Hub, sometimes nothing more than light and shadow and a blur of sound on the CCTV and other times living, breathing and laughing flesh in front of her eyes. She heard Ianto's voice rise up indignantly, saying something about Jack cheating, and then there was a silence that made her sigh and smile.
With a quiet laugh, she archived the footage in the special folder and then quietly processed the rest. At least this explained why Ianto and Jack had been moving a little stiffly when she had come in this morning!
OOOO
Title: EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Rating: Mild PG for inferences
Disclaimer: Not mine; they belong to RTD and to the BBC
Spoilers: General, for Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
Summary: Sometimes it's the people watching who see the truth.
She genuinely hadn't meant to spy. She'd been making a routine check of the CCTV footage before archiving it when she had seen them, and she hadn't realised the import of what was happening until it was too late. After that... well, after that she was guilty as charged and wouldn't have been able to stop even if she'd wanted to. And she hadn't.
Ianto was his usual economical self, moving around the Hub as he did one last check before shutting everything down. She smiled as she watched him move, graceful and reserved, picking up bits and pieces and sorting them into their appropriate places, taking the dirty mugs back up to the kitchen before coming back down and tipping the rubbish into black bags, ready to take up to the surface. Even though he had become a much more integral part of the Team, Ianto still kept an eye on the fabric of the Hub itself, making sure that things were where they were supposed to be. He had told her once that he found it soothing to do that, a sort of meditation through housework. He had smiled when she had laughed; a genuine smile and not the pensive curve of the lips he had always managed while Jack was away.
Because now Jack was back, and the Hub was a different place. Jack was different and Ianto, of all of them, seemed to be more affected by the change. She could see it in the way he was holding himself. The armour was just that little bit more tightly cinched, the walls built just that fraction higher. He had been jittery around Jack at first, but then he and Jack had gone off after Hart and when they had come back, Ianto had been... different. The wariness had still been there, but there was something else, an eagerness she had never seen before.
Now she watched as Jack bounded into view, calling out a breezy greeting that had Ianto jerking around in surprise. Same old Jack in some ways, with his larger-than-life presence and his almost indolent grace. Looser-limbed and much more relaxed than Ianto could ever be. If Ianto was a cat then Jack was a wolf. Ianto was designed to stalk and pounce, where Jack was built for the chase and the lethal lunge at the end. She expected him to crowd up against Ianto and overwhelm him with his sheer presence. He was good at that; it was a cold-blooded person who remained unmoved when Jack Harkness was inside your body space and smiling that smile of his.
But it didn't turn out that way. Jack slowed and came to a halt a foot or so away from Ianto, who put the bag he had been holding down before turning his undivided attention back to Jack. Neither of them said a word for a long time, simply gazing at one another in silence. Jack broke first, as she guessed he would. Jack had a surprising number of virtues, but patience had never been one of them. Ianto was the patient one of the pair. Ianto could outwait suns if he thought it was necessary.
Moving forward, Jack lifted a hand to rest against Ianto's cheek. Ianto half-closed his eyes and leaned into the touch and she watched as Jack's face was momentarily convulsed by some huge emotion. She couldn't understand why; Jack had touched Ianto like that a thousand times before and would undoubtedly do it again as many times as he wanted. It wasn't as if he had lost the chance of ever doing that again. And yet he continued to caress Ianto's cheek with something very close to reverence on his face.
Ianto opened his eyes again and smiled at Jack and she caught her breath. She had never seen him smile like that at any of them. It was completely different from every other smile she had seen him produce, because while the other smiles had mischief and laughter in them, none had ever had the tenderness that this smile contained. Seeing that, she could well believe he had told the truth that time she had got him just a little bit drunk while Jack was away and he had stared at her when she had urged him to put Jack behind him and get on with his life. "He is my life," he had said with simple conviction, and she had been forced to look away from the intensity in his eyes.
And in another moment it had changed again. Ianto had moved deftly out of Jack's reach and was moving around the Hub in what looked like a random pattern, his attention seemingly everywhere but on Jack as he continued to look for rubbish to collect. Jack was moving, as well, and as she watched, she realised that he was weaving around Ianto as Ianto moved through the Hub. Neither of them were in any great hurry and Jack gradually moved closer until he had come within touching distance of Ianto again by the time Ianto had reached the stairs that led up to Jack's office.
The body language had changed. If Jack was a wolf, he was a submissive one, eager to be accepted. Ianto was suddenly the dominant one, deciding whether or not to accept Jack's signals. He gave Jack a sideways look, and that smile reappeared, summoning a similar one from Jack. When Ianto reached out a hand, Jack was more than ready to take it and he came willingly as Ianto reeled him in for a slow and gentle kiss.
"Welcome back, Jack," Ianto said softly when they parted.
There was a suspicious glitter to Jack's eyes as he smiled back. "You have no idea how good it is to be back," he whispered back.
He leaned forward for another kiss but Ianto evaded him. Jack blinked and tried again, only to have Ianto melt away from under his questing touch. Seeing the mischief in Ianto's eyes, Jack growled and attempted a pounce, not looking all that surprised when he missed.
"You said something about a date," Ianto reminded him.
"There's that fish and chip shop not far off," Jack suggested, making another feint that ended in failure.
Ianto snorted. "A proper date," he said witheringly. "One where we sit down somewhere other than my house or the Hub and eat a proper meal."
Jack made a peevish noise and pounced again, giving Ianto a bewildered look when he came up empty and an unruffled Ianto was a couple of feet away. "Can't we take a rain check?" he asked.
Ianto considered the idea for a moment before flashing the Captain another of those blinding smiles. "Only if you manage to catch me," he said, before taking off in the direction of the Hub door.
Caught flat-footed, Jack gave a yelp of annoyance and took off after him. Cat and wolf, dancing and chasing one another around the Hub, sometimes nothing more than light and shadow and a blur of sound on the CCTV and other times living, breathing and laughing flesh in front of her eyes. She heard Ianto's voice rise up indignantly, saying something about Jack cheating, and then there was a silence that made her sigh and smile.
With a quiet laugh, she archived the footage in the special folder and then quietly processed the rest. At least this explained why Ianto and Jack had been moving a little stiffly when she had come in this morning!
OOOO