Valiantly, Charlie had been trying to sleep through Ianto's home improvements with Banon curled up beside her, but it wasn't working anymore and, finally, as sounds of sawing and hammering filtered through into the house, she hauled herself out of the rumpled bed. She padded out of the hut barefoot, wrapped in a sheet with her hair tousled on one side of her face.
"You're makin' an awful lot of noise considering it ain't quite afternoon yet.
"It's not too early to be up though," he countered. Then he looked up, catching sight of her, and grinned. Charlie still looked beautiful when rumpled.
"You already disturbed me plenty this morning, mister," said Charlie, one eyebrow cocked and her grin lazy as she sank down to sit on a convenient log, the sheet gathered between her knees to keep her decent out in the open.
"Whatcha doin', baby? You extendin'? Am I takin' up too much room?"
Daniel had been rather stunned to come home to a large amount of books, a couch, and even the bookshelves stacked up outside of his hut. He wasn't sure what he was going to do with it all and he didn't care, at the moment. Instead, he headed off in search of Ianto.
"I thought you were being childish with the note. But you, of all people, should know that I don't have room for the couch. And the bookshelves? That was just petty."
Ianto didn't look up from his work. He was in the middle of through what would be a plank of wood and didn't want to lose a finger or warp the board. But he heard Daniel all the same.
"They're yours, Daniel. And I don't want them. You don't have to keep them, but they're your responsibility, not mine."
"So you say. The books, all right. But the bookshelves? The couch? Those were just a part of the hut. Like I said. Petty. What's next, the bed? I'm almost surprised you can stand to sleep in it."
He leveled a look at Ianto, even though he wasn't watching.
"Then again, I'm selfish, so maybe it's warped my judgment."
"The books and the bookshelves and the couch came together that morning, remember?" He glanced up then, unsurprised to see Daniel's look, though it only fueled Ianto's desire to keep a straight face.
"They weren't a part of the hut. There were part of -- your island surprise. And you said I could keep the bed," he added, setting up more wood to cut. "Unless you want it back?"
It had been easy enough to avoid people the past few days. In fact she'd gotten rather good at it, seeing people just enough that no one would worry, but not for long enough that they could ask her about things. It wasn't something that could last forever, especially not with those that were close to her.
Seeing Ianto disassembling what looked like furniture outside of his hut, Tosh made a point of heading that way. Times like these and she did need her friends. "Moving out?" Jackson was asleep in his sling, cuddled up to her back, "Were you planning on letting me know?"
Ianto looked up from his work and gave Tosh a gentle smile. Nothing condescending or pitying. Just the smile of an understanding friend.
"Not at all," he said, setting aside the saw and cleaning his hands as best he could on the legs of his jeans as he walked closer. "I got rid of some things. So now I have to replace them. And how are you two?"
"Did you?" She asked it without really wanting an answer. More something to fill the silences she found herself uncomfortable with. "I'm-" Tosh had to pause before she could answer him. "I'm alright. Better than I thought I would be?"
She wasn't, not really. She couldn't afford to fall apart, not with Jackson depending on her, "I suppose it was all inevitable."
Kendra was one hell of an XO. By the time they'd broken and Jack had recovered enough to hike back to the compound for a shower and some clothes that weren't saturated with sweat and sea water, he was damn tired. It felt good. He'd been fighting and fucking and working his ass off with anything and everything that would keep him from facing up to the fact that he missed House and he wasn't okay with having him gone from daily life. He'd also been avoiding everyone who would either try to talk to him about it, or try to talk to him about John. He could handle John.
He could hear the construction from the boardwalk and veered off to see what Ianto was doing. Maybe he was boarding up his hut to keep Owen from ransacking it to find Retcon. Hell, maybe he was building a doghouse. Whatever he was doing, Jack was hoping he had some water. It was still nearly a mile to the compound and he was dying of thirst.
"No.." Ianto said distractedly. He was sawing through the last bit of a board and wanted to finish it straight. Once that was done though, he wiped his forehead with the back of his arm and looked up to give Jack a welcoming smile.
He was almost entirely alright.
"I gave Daniel back his books and bookshelves, so I need some more," he explained. "How are you?"
"I'm good," Jack answered before he wiped his face with the tail of his shirt. Again. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the wide leather strap he'd cast aside only a few weeks after he'd arrived. Now, though, he had good reason to keep it close.
"I really just stopped by to see if you had something to drink. Training is so much worse now than it was the first time around. Of course, I'm not seventeen anymore, so that might have something to do with it."
He watched quietly as Jack put on the familiar wrist strap, then nodded at the gourd full of water. "There's some there. But if you drink it all you have to get me some fresh to replace it."
The paperwork had built up through all of Sunday and then somehow it was Monday and the Doctor hadn't done anything the whole weekend long but sit about and write and change the occasional Nate Petrelli diaper.
After his classes, he took a walk through the forest, trying to drag himself out of his thoughts. The sound of incessant hammering helped, somewhat, and he turned down a side path to follow it. "I didn't know you were that handy, Ianto," he said, admiringly.
"I'm getting better," he said, standing up from where he'd been bent over, hammering together two boards with wooden pegs. The more he worked, the better he felt, and it showed in his smile to the Doctor.
"Haven't much else to do with my time. How are you, Doctor?"
"God, I wish I didn't have much else to do," the Doctor said, and entered the clearing, hands in his jeans pockets. "It seems like I'm either madly busy or completely bored to tears, but otherwise I'm all right." He lifted a brow slightly. "Better implies there was a worse to come from, though."
Ianto grinned lightly as he set another board into place, not about to start hammering while he was talking to the Doctor, but wanting to keep his hands busy.
"You can't see where I've come from in woodworking," he said. "I've burned all the evidence."
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"You're makin' an awful lot of noise considering it ain't quite afternoon yet.
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"Sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you."
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"Whatcha doin', baby? You extendin'? Am I takin' up too much room?"
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"I got rid of all of Daniel's things," he said evenly. "But the bookshelves were nice to have around, so I thought I'd make a new set."
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"I thought you were being childish with the note. But you, of all people, should know that I don't have room for the couch. And the bookshelves? That was just petty."
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"They're yours, Daniel. And I don't want them. You don't have to keep them, but they're your responsibility, not mine."
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He leveled a look at Ianto, even though he wasn't watching.
"Then again, I'm selfish, so maybe it's warped my judgment."
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"They weren't a part of the hut. There were part of -- your island surprise. And you said I could keep the bed," he added, setting up more wood to cut. "Unless you want it back?"
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Seeing Ianto disassembling what looked like furniture outside of his hut, Tosh made a point of heading that way. Times like these and she did need her friends. "Moving out?" Jackson was asleep in his sling, cuddled up to her back, "Were you planning on letting me know?"
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"Not at all," he said, setting aside the saw and cleaning his hands as best he could on the legs of his jeans as he walked closer. "I got rid of some things. So now I have to replace them. And how are you two?"
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She wasn't, not really. She couldn't afford to fall apart, not with Jackson depending on her, "I suppose it was all inevitable."
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"No," he said. "You both made a good go of it. Sometimes things don't work out, but that doesn't mean they were doomed from the start."
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He could hear the construction from the boardwalk and veered off to see what Ianto was doing. Maybe he was boarding up his hut to keep Owen from ransacking it to find Retcon. Hell, maybe he was building a doghouse. Whatever he was doing, Jack was hoping he had some water. It was still nearly a mile to the compound and he was dying of thirst.
"Hey," he grinned. "More shelves?"
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He was almost entirely alright.
"I gave Daniel back his books and bookshelves, so I need some more," he explained. "How are you?"
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"I really just stopped by to see if you had something to drink. Training is so much worse now than it was the first time around. Of course, I'm not seventeen anymore, so that might have something to do with it."
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After his classes, he took a walk through the forest, trying to drag himself out of his thoughts. The sound of incessant hammering helped, somewhat, and he turned down a side path to follow it. "I didn't know you were that handy, Ianto," he said, admiringly.
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"Haven't much else to do with my time. How are you, Doctor?"
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"You can't see where I've come from in woodworking," he said. "I've burned all the evidence."
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