Fic: Twisted Mind 7/21
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Thoughts are the shadows of our feelings
- always darker, emptier and simpler.”
Friedrich Nietzsche
“Morning, Ianto,” Gwen sang as she came up behind Ianto while he was busy spooling through the RSS feed for that morning’s news reports. On another screen to the side of him the Hub’s search engine was running through the police database and the emergency services call listings from the previous night, searching for anything out of the ordinary that would ring alarm bells for Team Torchwood.
“Feeling better this morning?” Gwen asked as she slipped her jacket from her shoulders and hung it over Ianto’s on the coat rack.
“Much better, thank you, Gwen,” Ianto replied with such cheer that Gwen stopped half way to her desk and turned back to him.
“What’s put the spring in your step this morning?” Gwen questioned, a smile playing at the corner of her lips - but not the same smile that Ianto had on his face - as she glanced towards Jack’s office where the Captain was sitting at his desk, perusing some files on it with a coffee cup in hand.
“Frankly, that’s none of your business,” Ianto replied rather curtly, not even bothering to grace her with a look. Gwen stood frozen for a moment in the middle of the Hub, halfway between the coat stand and her desk, staring at the side of Ianto’s head as he studiously ignored her.
“Sorry, love, I was just curious,” Gwen managed after a moment.
“No,” Ianto said, turning to look at her, “you were being nosy, because you wanted to know if Jack and I had been up to anything remotely couple-y in your absence that you could coo over.”
Gwen was stunned into silence, rooted to the spot like a rabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming train at Ianto’s rather harsh words.
“Look, I wasn’t being nosy, Ianto,” Gwen started, suddenly on the defensive, but Ianto was talking over her.
“Just because you want to proclaim to the world how wonderful your relationship with Rhys is now that you’ve stopped sleeping around with staff members - and frankly the only reason I think that stopped was due to one of the party being deceased - it still doesn’t give you the right to worm every little sordid detail of mine and Jack’s sex life out of me.” Ianto’s voice was so calm and conversational that Gwen, for a moment, thought she had been mistaken about the words that were coming from him. She’d never known Ianto be so callous with her - or anyone else for that matter.
“I’m sorry, Ianto,” Gwen managed to mumble out, cowed somewhat by his words.
“If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got work that needs attending to,” Ianto said politely, as if someone had suddenly flicked a switch on his personality, almost like he was re-enacting a scene from Jekyll and Hyde. Before Gwen even had a chance to think of what to say to him Ianto had disappeared out of sight down the corridor that led to the archives. She felt like she’d been slapped in the face with words that stung far more than an open palm.
She wasn’t nosy, was she? Gwen knew she could be overly enthusiastic sometimes when it came to Jack and Ianto’s relationship, but there had been healthy teasing going on between Gwen and Ianto for months about their other halves - certainly not better halves. Ianto’s outburst was out of the blue and ever so slightly uncharacteristic.
“Jack?” Gwen called tentatively as she lurked on the threshold of his office. He looked up at her, a scowl on his face that made Gwen suddenly wonder if she really had been the person in the wrong that morning.
“Not to sound like we’re on the school playground,” Gwen started as she took a hesitant step over the threshold of his office and realised she already sounded like a whiney teenager. “But does Ianto seem mean to you today?”
Jack seemed to consider her for a moment, placing his pen down on top of the files in front of him.
“He did seem a bit off this morning, sort of distant,” Jack mused, considering for a moment before he shook his head. “He certainly wasn’t mean though.”
“Well he’s just read me the riot act for sticking my nose in where it’s not wanted,” Gwen grumped, folding her arms, almost huffily, over her chest. If she was going to go with the whole playground analogy she might as well go the whole hog.
“It’s probably just the after effects of yesterday’s headache,” Jack said, blatantly making excuses for Ianto now as he plucked his pen back up in his hand. “He’s bound to be a bit grumpy today.”
“Mmm, maybe.” Gwen didn’t think what Ianto had said to her could be excused for being grumpy due to yesterday’s headache. The words had been too specific and the tone too biting for it be conjured out of a bad mood. She’d let it slide for now. They’d been through too much together for her to remain up in arms about a few snide comments.
**
Neither Jack nor Gwen saw much of Ianto for the rest of the morning and the brief glimpses they did catch of the young man didn’t really wash over well. Jack was reprimanded for losing important files - nothing really out of the ordinary there but Ianto’s words had been sharp and condescending rather than teasing and accusatory. When Gwen looked on the verge of tears after leaving crumbs from a chocolate digestive behind, Jack decided he needed to confront Ianto.
Jack found Ianto rummaging through a box of what appeared to be wires in the lower level archives. His suit jacket was missing and his sleeves were rolled up, cufflinks lying on a shelf and an intense look of concentration on his face.
“Up to anything interesting?” Jack asked, idly picking up a motherboard that was lying on the side next to a clutch of red wires.
“Nothing that concerns you, Sir,” Ianto replied curtly as he plucked the motherboard from Jack’s hand, placing it in an unmarked box that was resting on the floor by Ianto’s foot.
“Sir, is it?” Jack asked, sounding faintly amused as he folded his arms over his chest. “Must be serious,” Jack muttered, leaning on the edge of the table so that Ianto couldn’t get back into his box that he’d been busy ferreting through without moving Jack.
“Sir?” Ianto enquired, turning his back on Jack to look through another box that was still on the shelf.
“Ianto.” His name came from Jack’s lips as both a warning and placating at the same time. Ianto didn’t say anything or even turn around. Jack sighed.
“Ianto, if there’s something the matter, whatever it is,” Jack tried to say, words coming out slowly and calmly as he unfolded his arms, resting them on the desk beside his hips.
“If I have a problem in my trousers then you’ll be the first person who I’ll come to,” Ianto cut across Jack. Jack fought to keep the smile off his face.
“I don’t doubt it.” He could keep the smile down but apparently not the witty retort.
“But that’s not what I’m talking about, Ianto. Whatever’s up, you know you can talk to me about it, don’t you?” Jack pressed, watching and waiting. For just a brief moment Ianto’s shoulders slumped forward and his hands stilled and Jack thought that Ianto was going to tell him why he was in such a foul mood. He didn’t.
“Why would I tell you anything when you never share anything with me?” Ianto ground out, voice gravelly as he refused to turn and look at Jack. Jack’s body language changed, his arms crossing over his chest again as he leant off of the table, bringing himself back to his full height. Jack was immediately on the defensive.
“Ianto, there’s too much that-” Jack didn’t get the end of his sentence out before Ianto wheeled round on his heels, with a look that could kill.
“There’s always too much to tell, but there’s never enough time, is there?” Ianto muttered, voice dangerously low. “What does it matter anyway?” Ianto pressed on, not waiting for a reply from Jack, who was stunned into silence. “It’s not as if we’re a couple,” Ianto spat, picking up the box that was resting on the floor and pushing past Jack to head towards the stairs. Jack wasn’t shocked enough to not grab Ianto by the arm as he passed, pulling him back, grip tight enough to leave fingerprints on Ianto’s upper arm.
“Is this what this is about? You and me?” Jack asked, voice tinted with confusion.
Ianto laughed, a cruel and twisted noise that didn’t sound right coming from Ianto’s cupid shaped lips. “Not everything is about you, Jack.” Ianto all but spat Jack’s name before he yanked his arm from Jack’s grip, disappearing up the stairs and out of the archives, leaving Jack behind with the feeling that there was something monstrously wrong with Ianto.
< Chapter 6 | Chapter 8 >
“Thoughts are the shadows of our feelings
- always darker, emptier and simpler.”
Friedrich Nietzsche
“Morning, Ianto,” Gwen sang as she came up behind Ianto while he was busy spooling through the RSS feed for that morning’s news reports. On another screen to the side of him the Hub’s search engine was running through the police database and the emergency services call listings from the previous night, searching for anything out of the ordinary that would ring alarm bells for Team Torchwood.
“Feeling better this morning?” Gwen asked as she slipped her jacket from her shoulders and hung it over Ianto’s on the coat rack.
“Much better, thank you, Gwen,” Ianto replied with such cheer that Gwen stopped half way to her desk and turned back to him.
“What’s put the spring in your step this morning?” Gwen questioned, a smile playing at the corner of her lips - but not the same smile that Ianto had on his face - as she glanced towards Jack’s office where the Captain was sitting at his desk, perusing some files on it with a coffee cup in hand.
“Frankly, that’s none of your business,” Ianto replied rather curtly, not even bothering to grace her with a look. Gwen stood frozen for a moment in the middle of the Hub, halfway between the coat stand and her desk, staring at the side of Ianto’s head as he studiously ignored her.
“Sorry, love, I was just curious,” Gwen managed after a moment.
“No,” Ianto said, turning to look at her, “you were being nosy, because you wanted to know if Jack and I had been up to anything remotely couple-y in your absence that you could coo over.”
Gwen was stunned into silence, rooted to the spot like a rabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming train at Ianto’s rather harsh words.
“Look, I wasn’t being nosy, Ianto,” Gwen started, suddenly on the defensive, but Ianto was talking over her.
“Just because you want to proclaim to the world how wonderful your relationship with Rhys is now that you’ve stopped sleeping around with staff members - and frankly the only reason I think that stopped was due to one of the party being deceased - it still doesn’t give you the right to worm every little sordid detail of mine and Jack’s sex life out of me.” Ianto’s voice was so calm and conversational that Gwen, for a moment, thought she had been mistaken about the words that were coming from him. She’d never known Ianto be so callous with her - or anyone else for that matter.
“I’m sorry, Ianto,” Gwen managed to mumble out, cowed somewhat by his words.
“If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got work that needs attending to,” Ianto said politely, as if someone had suddenly flicked a switch on his personality, almost like he was re-enacting a scene from Jekyll and Hyde. Before Gwen even had a chance to think of what to say to him Ianto had disappeared out of sight down the corridor that led to the archives. She felt like she’d been slapped in the face with words that stung far more than an open palm.
She wasn’t nosy, was she? Gwen knew she could be overly enthusiastic sometimes when it came to Jack and Ianto’s relationship, but there had been healthy teasing going on between Gwen and Ianto for months about their other halves - certainly not better halves. Ianto’s outburst was out of the blue and ever so slightly uncharacteristic.
“Jack?” Gwen called tentatively as she lurked on the threshold of his office. He looked up at her, a scowl on his face that made Gwen suddenly wonder if she really had been the person in the wrong that morning.
“Not to sound like we’re on the school playground,” Gwen started as she took a hesitant step over the threshold of his office and realised she already sounded like a whiney teenager. “But does Ianto seem mean to you today?”
Jack seemed to consider her for a moment, placing his pen down on top of the files in front of him.
“He did seem a bit off this morning, sort of distant,” Jack mused, considering for a moment before he shook his head. “He certainly wasn’t mean though.”
“Well he’s just read me the riot act for sticking my nose in where it’s not wanted,” Gwen grumped, folding her arms, almost huffily, over her chest. If she was going to go with the whole playground analogy she might as well go the whole hog.
“It’s probably just the after effects of yesterday’s headache,” Jack said, blatantly making excuses for Ianto now as he plucked his pen back up in his hand. “He’s bound to be a bit grumpy today.”
“Mmm, maybe.” Gwen didn’t think what Ianto had said to her could be excused for being grumpy due to yesterday’s headache. The words had been too specific and the tone too biting for it be conjured out of a bad mood. She’d let it slide for now. They’d been through too much together for her to remain up in arms about a few snide comments.
**
Neither Jack nor Gwen saw much of Ianto for the rest of the morning and the brief glimpses they did catch of the young man didn’t really wash over well. Jack was reprimanded for losing important files - nothing really out of the ordinary there but Ianto’s words had been sharp and condescending rather than teasing and accusatory. When Gwen looked on the verge of tears after leaving crumbs from a chocolate digestive behind, Jack decided he needed to confront Ianto.
Jack found Ianto rummaging through a box of what appeared to be wires in the lower level archives. His suit jacket was missing and his sleeves were rolled up, cufflinks lying on a shelf and an intense look of concentration on his face.
“Up to anything interesting?” Jack asked, idly picking up a motherboard that was lying on the side next to a clutch of red wires.
“Nothing that concerns you, Sir,” Ianto replied curtly as he plucked the motherboard from Jack’s hand, placing it in an unmarked box that was resting on the floor by Ianto’s foot.
“Sir, is it?” Jack asked, sounding faintly amused as he folded his arms over his chest. “Must be serious,” Jack muttered, leaning on the edge of the table so that Ianto couldn’t get back into his box that he’d been busy ferreting through without moving Jack.
“Sir?” Ianto enquired, turning his back on Jack to look through another box that was still on the shelf.
“Ianto.” His name came from Jack’s lips as both a warning and placating at the same time. Ianto didn’t say anything or even turn around. Jack sighed.
“Ianto, if there’s something the matter, whatever it is,” Jack tried to say, words coming out slowly and calmly as he unfolded his arms, resting them on the desk beside his hips.
“If I have a problem in my trousers then you’ll be the first person who I’ll come to,” Ianto cut across Jack. Jack fought to keep the smile off his face.
“I don’t doubt it.” He could keep the smile down but apparently not the witty retort.
“But that’s not what I’m talking about, Ianto. Whatever’s up, you know you can talk to me about it, don’t you?” Jack pressed, watching and waiting. For just a brief moment Ianto’s shoulders slumped forward and his hands stilled and Jack thought that Ianto was going to tell him why he was in such a foul mood. He didn’t.
“Why would I tell you anything when you never share anything with me?” Ianto ground out, voice gravelly as he refused to turn and look at Jack. Jack’s body language changed, his arms crossing over his chest again as he leant off of the table, bringing himself back to his full height. Jack was immediately on the defensive.
“Ianto, there’s too much that-” Jack didn’t get the end of his sentence out before Ianto wheeled round on his heels, with a look that could kill.
“There’s always too much to tell, but there’s never enough time, is there?” Ianto muttered, voice dangerously low. “What does it matter anyway?” Ianto pressed on, not waiting for a reply from Jack, who was stunned into silence. “It’s not as if we’re a couple,” Ianto spat, picking up the box that was resting on the floor and pushing past Jack to head towards the stairs. Jack wasn’t shocked enough to not grab Ianto by the arm as he passed, pulling him back, grip tight enough to leave fingerprints on Ianto’s upper arm.
“Is this what this is about? You and me?” Jack asked, voice tinted with confusion.
Ianto laughed, a cruel and twisted noise that didn’t sound right coming from Ianto’s cupid shaped lips. “Not everything is about you, Jack.” Ianto all but spat Jack’s name before he yanked his arm from Jack’s grip, disappearing up the stairs and out of the archives, leaving Jack behind with the feeling that there was something monstrously wrong with Ianto.
< Chapter 6 | Chapter 8 >