| Date: 12 December 2007
Characters: Ianto Jones, Jack Harkness Location: park Link to IJ: thread #4436 |
 Ianto leaned against a tree in the park, looking up at the stars. He normally wouldn't look for the way between home and here more than once in a week, but after the argument with Lisa over Jack, he needed to escape reality for a while once more. It bothered him that he felt this out of control, his life spinning away from him bit by bit, and nothing he could do but clutch at the pieces and try to patch it back together again.
He shifted, standing up straight when he heard someone approaching, sliding one hand into his pocket to wrap it around the switchblade he carried everywhere. "Who's there?" he called, his voice steady and calm. |
 He knew when he heard that voice, very well, that it wasn't his Ianto. It couldn't be. It hadn't been all that long since he'd left Ianto in the hotel. Still, he kept his hands in his pockets, expression level and posture casual. "It's me, Ianto." |
| "Jack." Ianto didn't move his hand, fingering the handle of the knife a moment. "How did you come here?" He didn't want to run into the subject of his earlier arguement anymore than he wanted to deal with anyone else in his life at the moment. But just because it was Jack, here, didn't mean it was his Jack. |
| "A happy accident, I think." He stopped walking and looked up into the tree. "Nice place." He wasn't trying to fool anyone, at least not exactly. "I ran into Owen in the bar earlier." |
| "Doctor Harper is annoying, but he's decent enough." Ianto shrugged, watching Jack with a slight predetory glint in his eyes. "What should it matter to me that you ran into him?" |
| Jack looked around and down and met Ianto's eyes, steadily. "Small talk. You've heard of it?" |
| Ianto chuckled, letting the knife drop from his fingers. "Usually not with Captain Harkness." He leaned against the tree once more, ignoring the bark catching on his suit jacket. It was due to be replaced soon enough anyway. "It's... irrelevent to our mode of communication." |
| "Yeah, I heard our method of communication involves a lot of blood and come." |
| "Sex, knives and handcuffs, usually." Ianto shrugged. "It's not always as messy as last month was. Normally isn't that bloody, either." |
| "What happened last month?" |
| "Captain Harkness asked me to come to Cardiff. He needed the chance to let go of everything, including life, for a few hours. I got a bit more carried away than I intended, and Miss Cooper... saw a bit more than she cared to see." |
| "Do I want to know what prompted that kind of need in him, or should I leave it alone?" |
| "A field agent got too close to Miss Tyler, and Captain Harkness stood aside and watched while the Master killed her for it. From what I understand, it was a very painful death." Ianto didn't add that he'd watched the video feed before he'd filed it into the secure archives, and knew that Jack hadn't just stood aside, but he wanted to see how this Jack would react first. |
| He hid his wince in response to the name and death, though just barely and his jaw still tightened. "Sounds like your Jack's a real winner." He sounded --was-- really, royally, pissed off at that. Deeply disturbed even, voice coming out a rough growl. |
| "When he tries, which is often." Ianto sighed, pushing away from the tree again, nodding his head at the park. "I'd rather not stay still long, sir." He paused. "And Captain Harkness couldn't save her. Just kill her before the Master got inventive." |
| He nodded his understanding and started walking, hands still in his pockets, pace casual, fluid and graceful. "Was that sarcasm? Not the killing her before the Master got creative," he clarified. |
| Ianto gave a non-commital shrug. "I hadn't intended it as such. Captain Harkness is the sort of individual with whom one would wish to associate. Unless one is looking for sycophants." He looked at Jack out of the corner of his eyes. "He would die for any of us who work for Torchwood, even the Master." |
| "If he doesn't stay dead, how much does it matter?" he asked, eyebrow going up a bit, but he was feeling slightly better about this conversation. It might have been the movement and being out doors. "Who's the Master?" |
| "It means a good deal to me, and I have no doubt it means something, at the very least, to the Master." Ianto's voice was quiet, and he took a moment to bring the memory of reading the archive to the front of his mind.
"The Master, Time Lord, director of Torchwood since 1976, current age unknown, founder of Masterwork Creations, resident on Earth since the 1890s, nearly always seen in the company of Captain Harkness prior to their arrival at Torchwood in 1973. Rarely seen in public since 1984, annoys the hell out of Emma, fascinates Yvonne, and is both feared and admired by most Torchwood employees." |
| He nodded as he listened and processed. "Time Lord?" He frowned. Then decided it was just probably the Doctor in an Alternate Universe, with a new title and name and moved on. "Sounds less dire and insane than Owen made it seem." |
| "How did Doctor Harper make it sound?" Ianto knew Owen had a flair for the dramatic at times, though he hadn't been exposed to it personally too often. Being the Head Archivist made for knowing more about others than they cared for one to know about them. |
| "Rather more disturbing than you are, but of course he didn't seem to have a lot of information either. Just that I disappeared periodically and came back with new clothes." He was actually not doubting anyone's account yet, just talking to Ianto and watching him, carefully. |
| "I believe, sir," Ianto said carefully, "that the new clothing isn't always as new as Doctor Harper thinks it is. There is a house near Regent's Park that is listed under properties owned in your archive. I would imagine you still have quite a wardrobe from most of a century living there." |
| He contemplated and processed that briefly. "That would make sense," he agreed. "How often do you kill me?" |
| "Only as often as you ask, sir." Ianto gave him a small, amused smile. "Some years you even ask more than once." |
| "And how much do you like it when I do?" he asked, eyebrows going way the hell up, along with the corner of his mouth. |
| "It's... fascinating." Ianto drew in a quiet breath. "It's not just the dying, though, sir, but you come back. And there's something there when you do, that I would prefer to keep an occasional indulgence, instead of a regular treat." |
| "Of course, I come back," he said with a quick flash of a vague grin. He was more curious than was healthy. Or maybe it was healthy. It was hard to tell sometimes, and regular rules probably didn't apply. "What sort of something?" |
| Ianto stopped walking a moment, his eyes closing as he recalled the memory. There were days when having near-perfect recall was very pleasent.
"You're cold, icy, and then almost too warm to keep holding. There's a connection, sparking in the back of my mind, a moment where I'm drowning in time, in light, holding it as I'm holding you, and then it's gone. And for a moment, there is no thought, no boundaries, nothing but that moment. A perfectly balanced moment." He shook his head, opening his eyes to look over at Jack. "Is that sufficient description for you, sir?" |
| He looked sideways at Ianto, his own expression a little calculating and definitely considering something. "That's perfectly sufficient, Ianto. Thank you."
Oh, someone was going to regret Jack knowing that. Someone probably not Jack. |
| "You're welcome." Ianto paused. "Is there anything else you wanted to know, or to clarify?" |
| "How much do you know about where we are?" |
| "We're not on Earth, though the environment and architecture would suggest we are. There are several ways to arrive here, often through inattention. Though I more often come on purpose, through a door that shouldn't exist where it is. It doesn't always appear in the same location, but it is always the same door." |
| "I'd worked out that we're not on earth," He agreed with a nod. "Doors. Damn. " He rubbed his eyes with his forefinger and thumb, more of his exhaustion and worry showing than it would have under less stressful circumstance. |
| Ianto frowned, reaching out a hand to touch Jack's jaw lightly, tilting his head towards him. "Are you all right, Jack?" He wanted to know what was concerning about doors, but right now, making sure Jack was all right was more important, even though this wasn't his Jack. |
| Jack opened his eyes at the light touch, turned into it and let his hand fall. His expression was only slightly quizzical. "Tired and worried," he admitted. "What happens to time when you come here and then go back?" |
| "I return to the time and place I left. No one notices, no one knows. Some don't even remember this place after leaving here." He rubbed a thumb over Jack's cheek, keeping his touch almost feather-light. "Worried about someone or something, or just about being here?" |
| It was surprising (if only to Jack) how much he wasn't bothered by being handled that familiarity by this guy who looked familiar, and was a stranger. ...Not that his own Ianto was much better in that regard, and frankly Jack was enough of a slut for physical contact that it would take a special kind of hate for him to do anything but enjoy it.
And he was enjoying it. He turned his head, nipped very lightly at Ianto's hand and then exhaled. "The end of the world as I know it. Nothing much." He grinned, a little. |
| Ianto chuckled softly, sliding his hand to rest against Jack's neck, thumb still keeping up the motion, stroking along the line of Jack's jaw. "Just the end of the world, hmm?" He stepped closer, holding Jack's gaze. "Anything I should possibly worry about happening back home?" |
| "How stable's your rift?" Jack asked, expression just a little amused. Most of that amusement was directed at himself. He had no idea how much he believed anyone, but found he'd stopped caring at some point, and was giving information away, anyway. "How tight's your team, and have you ever heard of Bilis Manger?" |
| "The Rift hasn't had any major activity since 1869. Bilis Manger is not a name with which I am familiar, but I can look for him when I return home. As for Torchwood Three..." Ianto shrugged one shoulder. "I don't know. I work in Glasgow, not Cardiff." |
| He nodded, slightly. "Look up the name, look into Torchwood Three. It can't hurt to be careful, anyway. Oh, one more thing." |
| Ianto raised an eyebrow in silent question, shifting his hand to rest it on Jack's shoulder, a little wary about what Jack might say. If only because that particular little phrase usually preceded something he wouldn't like to hear from his Jack. |
| He really, really, needed to figure out what he was doing with that touching, because he wasn't all that sure. It wasn't about sexual confidence, it was about him being a giant dork. Nothing new, that. "Are you hiding anything from your Jack that could conceivably destroy life on earth?" |
| Ianto blinked, staring at Jack a moment. "Not unless there's an alien explosive in the archives I am unaware of," he said wryly. He took a half-step closer to Jack, leaning in so his lips nearly brushed Jack's cheek. "Or Emma Hartman's protective nature concerning certain former interns and her back door into the Torchwood computer systems." |
| "I have no idea what the last was about, but I'll take it as good enough." He turned his head and nipped Ianto's lower lip, very lightly. "Is this a good idea?"
Like he cared. |
| "Does it matter?" Ianto slid the hand on Jack's shoulder around to curl his fingers around the back of Jack's neck, his other coming up to grip Jack's coat. He didn't care beyond the here and now, and right here, now it was an excellent idea in his mind. |
| "We're in a park," he reminded Ianto. He wasn't even beginning to protest. The shift in how he was holding himself, and the drop in his center of gravity, were subtle but there and pretty clear indicators that he wasn't. He was, however, prodding at Ianto. Tesing, checking, pushing. |
| "Torchwood Tower, during work hours." Ianto brushed his lips against Jack's. "A park is more private." |
| He pulled one hand out of his pocket to curl around Ianto's neck, strong and a little calloused, but not actually gripping, didn't pull back and did kiss him. Solid, warm, a little rough and a lot like his hand. He was still finding his balance here, was still tired, and still far from completely trusting. And way, way, more curious than was ever going to be good for his self-preservation instincts. |
| The kiss was different from his own Jack, less deliberate, lips warmer against his own, and Ianto let out a small noise of approval, steping closer, his fingers tightening at the nape of Jack's neck a fraction. He wanted to find out how far he could push this, how far he could take this before Jack pulled away. |
| The instant he realized that he wasn't the only one pushing and looking for the line, using sex every bit as much as he'd used words to question and test, there was going to be some sort of problem, if only in the difference it would make in Jack's willingness to back down.
The hand tightening on his neck made him groan into the kiss. He flexed his fingers against Ianto's neck, more push than grip. His free hand came around and just rested against Ianto's hip, there and solid but that was it. There was a lot of slick heat, and a gentle push into the kiss, deepening it and just the slightest edge of his teeth being there. He was being. Not careful, not wary or cautious, just. Curious and warm and a little slow. |
| Ianto smiled, tilting his head to change the angle, nipping at Jack's lower lip hard, running his tongue over it to soothe. He tugged on Jack's coat slightly, trying to pull him closer. |
| The sound Jack made in response to that sharp nip was.. unrestrained, surprised, and completely approving. He stepped into Ianto, just a half-second after the tug, because with it would be too easy. He growled in to the kiss, bit back into it, tightened his hands on Ianto a little. That was honest, intense, response. Part surprise, part arousal, part... well, dare. |
| Ianto let go of the coat, sliding the hand under it and shoving it back, pulling back enough to murmur, "Coat off, Jack," with command in the tone. He didn't like the heavy wool between them, even though he knew they both wore more than enough to keep a barrier between them for now. |
| Jack's eyebrow's lifted, just a bit. There was a moment there, with a flash of something a lot like defiance right behind the startling blue of his eyes, where his response was almost 'make me'.
Then he smiled, and shrugged the coat off and tossed it casually, and lightly, away from him. Then it was down to cocking his head to the side a little and just looking at Ianto with a faint smile that wasn't quite. He still wasn't to know how far Ianto was going to let this go. |
| Ianto echoed the not-quite-smile back, reaching out to slide the braces off Jack's shoulders, letting them dangle as he tugged the shirts, one-by-one, from where they were tucked in. He slipped his hands beneath them, fingers lightly tracing patterns on the skin just above Jack's trousers, watching his face. |
| He stood while Ianto pulled the braces down, and moved his arms out of the way once they were down. He kept still, while Ianto tugged at his shirts, eyes on Ianto's watching while he was being watched. Right up until the brush of fingers against skin. Then his skin flushed, right across his cheeks, and his eyes closed.
His hand lifted, half-reached and then dropped again. He was being deliberately passive, or had been, but this was quickly becoming less game and more honest response for him. Oh, sexual response, but still more intense response than dare. "What," he asked, precisely, eyes still closed, breathing deep and even, voice steady in spite of the sudden wave of heat and dull ache of arousal, "Do you want?" From me, from this. |
| "Connection." Ianto dipped a thumb below the waistband of the trousers, brushing over a spot on the inside of Jack's hip. "Human contact." He stepped closer, hands going around to grip Jack's arse, pulling their hips flush. "Sex." He nibbled up Jack's jaw, nipping at the sensative skin just below his ear. "What do you want?" |
| He stepped in willingly, hard against Ianto. He shifted his weight from his heels to the balls of his feet, just enough to rock against him. At the nip below his ear he groaned and his cock hardened just a little more, and tilted his head a bit to the side to mirror the nip. He finally wrapped one arm around Ianto's waist, just then, harm solid and heavy and strong. "All of that," he agreed. "And you unarmed." |
| "Mmm." Ianto kept one hand on Jack's arse as he reached into his pocket with the other, fishing out the knife. He tossed it carefully in the direction of Jack's coat, listening for the soft thud of it hitting the ground. "Better?" He reached up to undo the first button of Jack's shirt, tracing the dip in his collarbone before reaching for the next one. |
| "You know, getting naked out here isn't going to work particularly well," He said conversationally, untucking Ianto's shirt with economic grace and efficency, before he started unbuttoning it from teh bottom up. |
| "It's not particularly cold, it's still dark, and there's no one else in the park." Ianto shrugged, shedding his suit jacket while Jack worked at his shirt, before returning his attention to Jack's shirt. "Unless you would rather someplace more secluded?" He paused, his fingers holding one button half-undone. |
| "I'm not worried about seclusion," he said, levelly. His fingers kept working on buttons, the backs dragging along Ianto's skin. "I'm slightly concerned about getting grass somewhere uncomfortable, but we have my coat." |
| Ianto finished undoing the buttons, shivering and drawing in a soft breath as Jack's fingers dragged over his skin. He leaned in for another kiss, lips pressing hard against Jack's. He darted his tongue out to brush against Jack's lower lip, seeking permission to deepen the kiss, his hands sliding under the t-shirt to trace archive codes up Jack's back. |
| Jack's mouth opened at the first brush of Ianto's tongue, warm and willing. He had no idea what Ianto was tracing over the skin of his back, but it felt fantastic, and his back arched in response, into the touch. He finally got Ianto's shirt open, all the way to the collar. Then dragged down his chest, nails raking lightly. |
| Ianto hissed approval into the kiss, digging the edge of a nail in as he traced another figure, shifting his weight to grind against Jack's hip a moment. Pulling back a little, he brought his hands back around, shoving at Jack's shirt, pushing it off his shoulders. |
| Jack growled in soft warning. "Wrist-comp, cuff-links," he reminded, in a rough voice. The shirt wasn't coming off easily. "Hold on for two seconds." Even if he didn't want to. He got enough room between them to deal with his cufflinks, so the shirt could come off. |
| As soon as Jack had the shirt freed, Ianto impatiently helped him out of it, reaching for the bottom hem of the t-shirt underneath, wanting to slide his hands over skin without tangling in fabric. |
| Jack wasn't a complete idiot. He knew Ianto was impatient, so when he reached for the edge of his T-shirt and just held his hands out, a little to the side, got out of Ianto's way and let Ianto have him. |
| Ianto peeled the t-shirt off of Jack, letting it drop on top of the other one, pausing to just look for a moment. Tamping down impatience to slowly ghost his hands down Jack's sides, not quite touching until he rested them on Jack's hips. Leaning in to trace an infinity just under the left collarbone, nipping at it. |
| The light, not quite there touch was almost unbearable erotic. Or so he thought until that flickering light touch against his skin, and the nip that followed. His breath caught, his skin flushed, his fingers curled into fists and he closed his eyes with a soft, low sound. |
| Ianto chuckled softly, rubbing his thumbs lightly against Jack's sides as he trailed a path of barely-there kisses across his collarbones, dipping his tongue into the hollow where they met. Nibbling a line up Jack's throat, he murmured in his ear, "I won't break if you touch me, Jack." |
| Jack found himself half-anticipating having the shit bitten out of him, at those barely there kisses and brush of Ianto's breath over his skin. He didn't find it entirely unpleasant, and didn't bother flinching, but there was a sort of half-there tension, anyway.
He brought his hands up, touch solid and firm and pulled Ianto in by one hand flat against the small of his back, the other moving up his neck and pushing into his hair. "I'm not worried about breaking you, just your concentration. I wouldn't want to get in your way." He was teasing. |
| "It would take more than that to break my focus." Ianto nipped the pulse-point on Jack's neck hard before working his way down again, nips and kisses, and random patterns traced with his tongue. He tugged at one nipple with his teeth, brushing the tip of his tongue across it. |
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