Deck The Halls Part 2
Welcome to Day 4 of the Torchwood Advent Calendar!
Title: Deck The Halls- Part 2
Authors: dr_is_in and mrs_cj_harkness
Rating: G
Author's note: We solemnly swear that no pterodactyls were harmed in the making of this story......at least not physically. Mentally and emotionally are another matter.
The next morning, Ianto let himself into the tourist office, humming a carol under his breath. He grinned at the little tree sitting on the counter as he remembered the previous day's events. Jack's obvious disappointment that no one had thought much of it was endearing.
Hitting the button under the counter to open the door down to the hub, he froze as he walked into the hall. His mouth fell open in shock at the sight that greeted his eyes.
The walls were covered with paper chains which seemed to go on and on and on leading down to the lift. So with a small shrug Ianto carefully walked through; his eyes wide in shock and his hands reaching out to touch the ‘snow’ that’d been placed along the doorway. Walking into the hallway he spotted Christmas pictures stuck to the rest of the wall with blu-tack; Christmas trees, snowmen, Rudolf, even a Santa and as he got nearer to the lift, his eyes were drawn to the ceiling. Glittery tinsel and twinkling lights were strung up above his head, 3-D decorations filled what space was left and another decorated tree was propped up next to the lift doors.
Pressing the button, Ianto peeked back over his shoulder at the explosion of Christmas decorations before almost running to get into the lift when it appeared. Breathing a sigh of relief he collapsed against the (thankfully) boring, and beautifully bland lift wall. There was a crackle of static when suddenly ‘Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer’ burst out of the speakers.
Ianto closed his eyes with a groan, the thought that maybe encouraging Jack in the holiday spirit might have not been the best idea flew through his mind. The lift came to a halt, and he stepped out with trepidation at what he would find next. The short hall leading from the lift to the cog door looked like a blizzard of fake snow had exploded in it, accompanied by the mechanical fake snowman standing guard at the door, tipping its top hat to him in greeting.
Ianto shook his head in disbelief, wincing as the door rolled back and he saw the hub for the first time that morning. The fact it looked like a tinsel factory had exploded would have been an understatement. Even the pterodactyls’ nest was covered in tinsel - he hated to think about poor Myfawny.
Closing his eyes briefly, he sighed inwardly, before taking a somewhat hesitant step further into the mayhem.
“Jack!” Ianto called, his foot catching on a rebel piece of tinsel and landing hard on the floor. His mouth opened in shock at the sight - there were miniature Christmas trees all over the floor…and snow! Everywhere!
“Jack!” He cried louder, getting to his feet and brushing off the glitter and trees and snowflakes from his (once clean) suit.
Hearing the lift open again, he glanced over his shoulder to see the others slowly making their way into the hub. Tosh and Gwen (dissolved in fits of giggles over the decorations) and Owen (looking horrified) looked to him for an explanation.
"Don't look at me!" he protested, holding up his hands. "This is all the Captain's doing."
Owen gave him a disgruntled look. "What the hell happened after we left last night?"
Under the weight of the shopping bags, Jack staggered into the Hub almost on his knees. He’d just burnt a good proportion of next years budget in the last hour, but the look of Ianto’s face in the morning would make it well worth it.
Finally dropping the bags to the floor, he stretched his arms before rummaging in the bags. After three bags he finally found what he was looking for and held it up as though it was a trophy.
Putting the CD on Tosh’s computer, Jack danced and sang around the Hub whilst he decorated.
The hours flew by unnoticed as Jack transformed the hub into his version of a Christmas wonderland. Not one square inch went untouched as his mind danced with scenario's how pleased Ianto would be when he saw what he'd done. Finally finished, Jack picked up one last piece, a Santa hat. With a grin, he turned and looked up towards the pterodactyl nest.
“Jack! Get out here!” Ianto shouted. Now you knew something was wrong if Ianto had an outburst. The team turned to look at him, their faces registering shock. He gave them a small smile before pointing to his dirty suit.
“Ianto, you’re here.” Jack grinned as he clambered out of his office.
“Jack-”
“What the hell did you do, Harkness?” Owen snarled, his eye twitching.
Jack's look of confusion over their reaction sent Tosh and Gwen into further laughter. "What? What's wrong? I just put up more decorations!" He looked at them each in turn. "You were all for this yesterday!"
"Yes, but yesterday the hub didn't look like the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future all dumped the world’s entire supply of decorations in here!" Owen shouted back.
Ianto was just shaking his head in bewilderment, hiding a smile at Jack's behavior. "Why, Jack?"
“You all looked so happy yesterday…” He looked around at each member of his team. “Now I could understand if I’d been naked, but no…it was over decorations-” His gaze landed on Ianto, his beautiful Ianto. “I wanted to see that side of you again.” Ianto nodded slightly, a blush creeping onto his face.
Clearing his throat, Ianto shooed everyone towards their stations with promises of coffee shortly, while secretly hoping Jack had left the coffee machine undecorated. He could hear Gwen and Tosh continuing their delight over the decorations as they discovered the little elves decorating their stations as he ascended the stairs.
Ianto found everything in tact in the kitchenette, and breathed a sigh of relief. Setting about brewing a fresh pot for the team, he let the smile that had been threatening since walking into the Tourist office spread across his face. In typical fashion, Jack went to extremes in what he did, but the fact that he had done it for Ianto touched him.
"Sorry about your suit," Jack's voice purred in his ear as a pair of arms wrapped around him. So lost in his thoughts, Ianto hadn't heard Jack approach.
“God Jack, you scared me.” Ianto muttered as he fiddled with the mugs on the side.
“Sorry,” Jack pressed a kiss to Ianto’s neck. “So you like the decorations?” Ianto was silent. “Should I take that as a no?” Jack asked, the hurt evident in his voice.
“No,” Jack’s lips went taut. “I mean, No you shouldn’t take that as no.” Ianto felt Jack grin that grin of his against Ianto’s neck. “You did all that for me…and granted you may have gone slightly over the top…but you did it all for me, because it made me happy.”
“Everyone deserves to be happy...especially at Christmas.”
"Thank you, Jack. It means a lot to me." Turning in Jack's arms to face him, Ianto kissed him softly. A muttered oath and Owen calling for Jack from below broke the moment.
"Oi! Harkness! What did you do to Myfawny?"
Ianto turned his head to look just as the pterodactyl swooped past, a red satin bow around her neck and Santa hat perched jauntily on her head. He didn't even want to know how Jack had accomplished that.