Jackson is helpful

[troellwr]

Who: troellwr and not_skywalker
Where: Ianto's Flat
When: Two days after Jack and Ianto's first date
Rating: PG



Ianto takes a taxi over to his place, leaving Jack to do inventory. On the way over, he digs out his mobile phone and gives Jackson a ring.

Jackson may or may not be lounging poolside at Xavier's when Ianto calls. He digs around for his mobile and answers have a few rings. "Hello?"

"Jackson, my best friend," Ianto says, grin evident in his tone. "What are you up to?"

In the background, someone yells a warning and does a running canonball into the pool. Oh, to live amongst those his own age at a school. "Working on my tan," he answers, distrusting the tone Ianto uses. "What are you up to?"

"Heading over to my flat and in desperate need of company," Ianto says, whining slightly. He pauses for a moment, and with no whine adds, "And food."

"Your flat has a definite lack of pool," he points out. "But this place has a definite lack of pizza."

"Huh, I was thinking subs or chinese," Ianto says, and there are good shops on the way to Ianto's from Jackson's gate.

Insert a long-suffering sigh here. "All right, Chinese."

"Sounds good, see you in a few then?" Ianto asks.

"Yup," he answers, sitting up to find his shirt. "Am I picking up the food? What do you want?"

"You, there's that great place between here and the gate." Ianto has this planned. "Get me some Sweet and Sour Chicken with Fried Rice"

Jackson sighs dramatically. "Yeah, yeah. Give me a few to get it and get over there. Are you actually going to be home this time?"

"I just told you, I'm going to my flat," Ianto says.

"Yeah, that's what you said," he teases. "Be there soon." With that, Jackson grabs his bag and towel and heads inside to change.

Ianto laughs and hangs up. Luckily the taxi is pulling up to his place and he gets out and heads upstairs to his flat to wait for Jackson.

Ianto might be waiting for a little bit, since Jackson grabs a quick shower and finds some clothes to wear. He stops by the restaurant on his way and PINs directly into the hallway outside Ianto's door to knock several minutes later.

"Doors open," Ianto calls. He was smart enough to leave it unlocked for Jackson.

Jackson lets himself in. "Brought that pizza you wanted," he announces cheekily.

"Lovely," Ianto says sarcastically, before sniffing. "Doesn't smell like pizza."

"I had them add some weird Nexus toppings." Jackson takes the paper bag into the kitchen to get plates.

Ianto comes around the other corner to sink down into a chair at the table. "If I get LOLed, I'm going to have to get revenge."

"You won't be able to get revenge if you're a cat," Jackson points out, helpfully dishing out the food to keep them from eating out of tin containers.

"I'll turn back eventually," Ianto warns. "Or I'll scratch your eyes out."

"So tetchy. I'd feed you tuna?"

"I'd gnaw on your fingers," Ianto mock-growls. He reaches for a plate when Jackson's done dishing it out.

"Rude," he points out, chiding mildly. Jackson smacks the back of his hand with a wrapped package of chopsticks, then sets the plate down in front of Ianto. "Be nice."

"C'mon I'm hungry and you took your time getting here," he says grumbling softly.

"I smelled like chlorine! I had to have a shower. You're the one who wanted me to pick it up when you could've just had it delivered from a place here." Grumpy! Jackson offers him the chopsticks, frowning. "What do you want to drink, grouch?"

"It was on your way!" Ianto objects to that. He takes the chopsticks. "Bottle of water." Which is all Ianto has in his fridge.

Jackson goes to get them each a bottle of water and plonks one down on the table in front of Ianto. "You're supposed to say thank you, then." He settles down with his own plate and looks a little smug.

"I'll say thank you, after you help me paint the flat." Ianto says, watching Jackson.

Jackson stares. "What am I? Slave labor?"

"No, you're my best friend," Ianto says, reaching over and patting Jackson's shoulder.

He sighs and grumbles, "Yeah, your best friend's a sucker."

"My best friend is awesome" Ianto says, deciding not to noogie Jackson, but give him the other younger kid the look that says he's thinking about it.

Jackson leans away, to avoid impending noogie, and frowns thoughtfully. "Yeah, okay, what all needs painted?"

"As much as we can do now," Ianto says, "I have to paint this place so I can get my deposit back."

"Now," Jackson repeats. "Right now?"

"As much as we can do, alright?" Ianto says.

Jackson leans back in his chair to unwrap his chopsticks and sighs. "All right, yeah."

"Thank you Jackson," He says, reaching over and pulling Jackson into a one-armed hug.

He goes willingly, of course, but ducks out of the hug as quickly as possible to avoid a noogie.

Ianto just laughs at that and starts eating.

Jackson smirks a little and turns his attention to his lunch. "So why can't your boyfriend help with painting?"

"Because he has to work," Ianto says. "And make money, so I have a job to go back to and place to live."

"Yeah, what do they call it? Bringing home the baking?" ... oh, Jackson.

"Bringing home the bacon," Ianto corrects.

"..bacon," Jackson repeats, looking a little embarrassed. "Whatever, same thing."

"Not really," Ianto shakes his head.

"Shut up," Jackson mutters, flicking a single grain of rice in Ianto's direction.

"Oy, no food fights, trying to clean up the place, so I can move out."

"That was hardly a food fight!" Trust him. He lives at Xavier's. He knows what a food fight is.

"Don't mess up my place, or I won't offer you a job," Ianto says, waving his chopsticks at him.

"What, I'm getting paid for this?" He doesn't sound like he believes it.

"Not for painting, but I got another job for you," Ianto says.

"What's that?"

"I'm moving in with Jack," Ianto says, "Need to get rid of some of my stuff."

He frowns a little. "You know you two have only been dating, what, a couple weeks?"

"Over a month," Ianto clarifies.

"Kind of fast," he notes, glancing up from his food.

Ianto shrugs, "Life's short, I love him, he loves me. I want to be with him."

"Wow." Is he impressed by Ianto's nonchalant honesty? Yes. Yes, he is.

"We wasted enough time on stupid shit," Ianto says.

"Yeah, I guess so." What? He's allowed to agree with that, because it's true.

Ianto grins, "You could deny that you know."

"Why? You did."

"Right, finding someone else to sell my stuff for me," Ianto says, giving Jackson a little glare.

Jackson shrugs and looks unimpressed by the glare, sir. He'd be a bad friend if he lied about it. "Is that where I come in? Selling your stuff?"

"Yep, give you a percentage for whatever you get for it."

"Yeah, I guess. What if I can't sell it?"

"But it on e-bay or keep it," Ianto says with a shrug. "Actually, if there is anything you need..."

Jackson shrugs a little. "I dunno ... I kind of just stay at Jono's these days, so it's not like I'm looking for much furniture."

"Well, if there is something. Let Jono know, maybe he wants something in here."

"Sure." He grins a little. "Thanks."

Ianto nods, "No problem, you're a friend, and I trust you."

Jackson looks pleased with this assessment. "Well ... I've never painted walls before. Do you still trust me?"

"It's not that hard," Ianto says, "I'll teach you."

"As long as I don't screw it up."

"If not, I'll make you buy new paint."

"Because I'm made of money and this feast didn't clean me out," he answers with a hint of sarcasm.

"Fine, I'll take it out of your commission,"

Jackson grins. "All right, good."

"Glad, we've reached an agreement," Ianto says with a nod. "If you're lucky, I'll give you some of that funky paper money, you love so much and have you go buy me stuff again."

"I do like your weird paper money," Jackson agrees. "But the coins are the best."

Ianto laughs, "Fine, I'll give you some coins to keep you amused."

"You're the best friend ever." And Jackson's going to steal a bit from Ianto's plate.

"I know," Ianto says, smugly. He's going to let Jackson get away with it.

Jackson settles back, smug as well, and chews the stolen bite.

Ianto gives him a little grin and finishes eating his food.

Jackson is mostly finished, anyway, and only poking at his rice now.

"C'mon, let's get to painting," Ianto says, grabbing his crutches and heads into the living room. There are boxes in the middle of the room filled with Ianto's DVDs and books.

Jackson clears up the plates before following Ianto into the living room.

There are also drop clothes over the furniture as he works. Ianto is kneeling with broken leg on his office chair as he preps the paint.

Jackson moves closer to inspect the paint, a bit curious. "So how do you do this?"

"Put the paint in the pan, roll the roller in the pan, roll the roller on the wall." Ianto says, rolling it and then putting it on the wall.

"Right," he says slowly, watching. "I can do that."

"Then do it," Ianto says with a slight smirk as he paints the wall.

Jackson has something to say about that, but bites back his remark to set to work. He grabs a roller and starts painting.

Ianto keeps working, using his good leg to move the chair. "You'll have to the lower part of the wall and you can use the step stool"

"Got it," Jackson answers, sticking to the lower part of the wall. "This isn't so bad."

"Boring work though, glad to have some company while doing it."

"Needs more music," he points out.

"Stereo got packed already," Ianto says, glancing at the shelf where it normally sat.

"You'll just have to sing something, then."

"Sorry, I only serenade Jack"

Jackson snorts. "Do you really?"

"Yep," Ianto is actually quite proud of that.

"What did you sing?"

"A couple of songs," Ianto admits.

"Like which ones?" Jackson is going to keep needling him, oh yeah.

"None of your business," Ianto mock-growls.

Jackson glances over, grinning. "Which ones?"

"None. Of. Your. Business." Ianto repeats.

"I know," Jackson decides, inching down the wall away from Ianto. "Touch Myself by the Divinyls, right?"

"Maybe," Ianto says.

Jackson snorts. He'll be quiet for a while, then starts humming. Ahem.

He hasn't, but that certainly gives him ideas.

Jackson amuses himself for a few minutes, just humming and painting the wall.

Ianto paints, going down as far as he can and up as far as he can. "So how are things with you and Jono?"

"Fine," Jackson answers lightly, then laughs a little. "Great, actually. Really great."

"Yeah?" Ianto asks, grinning a little.

"Yeah," he confirms, grinning wider. "Really, really ... really great." Aw. He's all a-flutter.

"And why is it so great?" Ianto asks.

"Lots of reasons," he answers, still grinning. He's gotten paint on his hands by now, which he seems to find fascinating. "I just feel so ... comfortable, you know?"

"Yeah, I think I'd rather be fighting with Jack than with anyone else right now."

"I don't think Jono and I have had an argument about anything," he says, almost a little embarrassed. "Can you be in love with someone if you've not survived an argument?"

"Jack and I have had several," Ianto says, "And I really don't know."

"What do you argue about?" he wonders, sounding only curious, as if he doesn't understand fighting with someone you love.

"Well, he had coffee with James and didn't bother to tell me. Gwen saw them though and came up to tell me that it looked like they were getting together."

"Were they?" That seems like a stupid question, but he's being objective.

"No, but when it comes to James, I have a bit of inferiority complex."

"Why's that?" Jackson wonders. "I mean, he's with you, right? Not James?"

"James dumped him, and he constantly chose James over me when they were together."

"Yeah, but they were together," he points out, stepping up on the step ladder to continue painting. "I mean, I choose Jono over you all the time. No offense. I'm more likely to get laid with him."

"I have little to no interest you, I rather think it would be like kissing my sister," Ianto points out.

Jackson makes a rather shocked and disgusted face. "Augh!"

Ianto laughs, "You're like the kid brother I never had."

"Ew ... okay ... yeah, look, I wasn't saying I'd ever want to have sex with you, I'm just pointing out that ... Jack's a guy, okay?"

"Your point?"

"Well ... choosing between two people, why not choose the one you're more likely to get a blow job from?"

"Jack was in love with James, I think if he wanted to get with James, he'd still be getting blowjobs."

Jackson rolls his eyes. "Look, I think that's a stupid thing to fight over. He just had coffee. Sometimes coffee is just coffee."

"Maybe it was, but I fuckin' terrified he was going to leave me."

"Because you love him." Oh, he looks proud that he's figured the mystery out!

"Yeah," Ianto admits, "So, yeah, and it was obvious from the way he left this was planned. He didn't tell me what was up, so finding out from Gwen felt like he was hiding it."

"Was he hiding it?"

"I managed to work myself up that I was looking for another flat when he got back, because I wanted a place where I could keep Myfanwy."

"Sounds a bit stupid," Jackson points out, "but I guess when you feel something for someone and you think that you've lost it ... "

"It was, we fought, I accused of him of waiting for my leg to heal before dumping me." Ianto is strangely honest about this.

Ianto is strangely honest about it. Jackson shakes his head. "Why so insecure? James can't be that great."

"Do you realize how many times Jack canceled with me to be with James?"

"How many?" he asks, supposing Ianto kept count.

"Almost every week for three months straight, we got together once, because James wasn't around."

Jackson steps down to get more paint, giving Ianto a look. "And you're still upset about it?"

"I shouldn't be," Ianto says honestly, "But you did ask why I was so insecure when it comes to James."

"Still insecure now? Or have you managed to get over it?"

"I don't know,"

"...well, that's not good," Jackson says, pausing to give Ianto a look.

"I'm being honest, Jackson." Ianto says. "I trust Jack and he knows how I feel about James."

"But does he know that you still feel that way?" he wonders.

"We argued over it, I think he knows about it."

"I still don't get it," Jackson decides, trying to smudge a bit of paint off his shirt.

"Don't get what?" Ianto asks with a sight.

Jackson budges over to start on the next wall, shrugging a little. "Like the whole jealousy and insecurity thing."

"Culture differences maybe?" Ianto asks.

"I guess so."

"I guess I'm possessive," Ianto shrugs.

That gets a laugh from Jackson. "Well, if he's into that sort of thing, I guess it's good?"

"I don't know," Ianto shrugs, "We'll figure it out."

"Yup," he agrees, going back to painting.

"Yeah, I love him, he makes me happy."

"Good." Jackson looks a little too pleased with that.

"Why are you so happy about that?" Ianto gives him a suspicious look.

"You're happy," he answers simply.

"Yeah," Ianto says, "I have been for a while." Though it was really muted with the breaking of his leg.

"Hadn't noticed," he teases. "You're a real pain in the ass with a broken leg."

"I'm a horrible patient," Ianto shrugs.

"Little bit, but we still love you."

"Aw, thank you," Ianto says, reaching an arm out to for Jackson and motioning for Jackson to come closer. It's totally a trap.

Jackson brandishes his paint-roller threateningly. "You stay over there, mister. One hug is enough for a day."

Ianto laughs, fully and loudly.

Jackson rolls his eyes and goes back to painting.

Ianto gets back to painting. He's pretty content.

Jackson's actually having a bit of fun, painting.