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Ianto was amazed to find out that Jack was still asleep when he woke up. Jack never slept much and though they often fell asleep together, Ianto couldn't ever remember waking up to find Jack still curled against him. It had never bothered him. Jack's weird metabolism simply required less sleep. And Jack had tried to be the dutiful boyfriend and be there with Ianto when he'd woken a few times, but they'd ultimately given it up for a bad idea when Jack's restlessness would wake Ianto who did need six or eight hours to be functional the next day.
Ianto kissed his lips softly and slid out from under Jack's arm wondering if this was some kind of change his Doctor had made in him. Or maybe it was just a function of having that many more demons to face in his dreams. Ianto sighed, gently pushing Jack's hair back and wondering if Jack would truly be okay now that he was back. He decided to put on coffee and come back down to be there when Jack woke.
He climbed the ladder in his boxers and froze when he heard what sounded like someone humming in the main hub. He grabbed a gun from the vault near Jack's desk and waited until the sound moved closer. Until he could see the back of someone in a suit a few sizes to big and trainers. He snuck up, the gun aimed at the invader's head.
"Don't move."
The man's hands came up. "Wouldn't dream of it. But I'm not a threat. I'm looking for Jack."
Ianto spun him around, keeping the gun leveled. He flushed as he was reminded that he was wearing nothing but his boxers and white undershirt when the man's eyes flicked up and down and he snickered behind his hand.
That was when Ianto recognized him.
"Jack!" he hollered, hating himself for waking Jack from what seemed to be his first nearly-full night's sleep in… well, probably years, possibly a century. "Jack, you need to come up here!"
"You can put the gun down, Ianto," the Doctor said softly. "I'm not here to hurt anyone. I just wanted to see how Jack's doing."
"Jack!" Ianto's arm was getting a tad stiff, but he wasn't ready to relax his guard. He looked back at the Doctor "Why? So you can take him away again?"
"No," the Doctor shook his head sadly. "He made his decision. I asked him if he wanted to stay with me; he asked me to bring him back here."
"How do you know my name?"
"Jack told me about you. Told me he had someone to come back to." The Doctor sounded so wistful and forlorn that Ianto couldn't help but feel badly for him. He lowered the gun. He didn't want to think about what he'd feel like if Jack had chosen his Doctor over him. He couldn't be making this easier on the Doctor. He scowled as he debated whether or not he wanted to.
"How'd you get in here? There are four alarms and several very large, very heavy doors that don't open without passcodes." Ianto gripped his gun a little tighter, still not ready to give this guy the benefit of the doubt when it came to his threat level.
"And I'm sure those precautions are very handy when trying to keep someone from coming in from the outside. I was coming in from another century. Alarms aren't so useful for that. At least not the ones here at this time." The Doctor nodded across the hub to a normally, large empty space that now held a blue police call box.
Ianto glanced around noticing that all the papers that weren't somehow secured had been blown all over the floor. He had a pretty good guess who'd be picking those up.
"Ianto? Ianto what's wr- What the hell are you doing here?" Jack didn't sound angry, but very surprised. He'd managed to pull on a pair of pants and his braces were up over his t-shirt. He had his pistol in one hand.
"Apparently rearranging the paperwork," Ianto said, not realizing how bitter he sounded.
Jack sighed and turned to put his gun on his desk. He came out and took Ianto's gun from him and tucked it into his own belt. "You won't need this. I promise." He kissed Ianto on the cheek before turning back to the Doctor. "You ever hear of ringing a doorbell?"
"You have a doorbell on a secret organization?"
"You know what I mean," Jack said sternly.
Ianto relaxed for the first time and scrubbed his fingers through his hair. "I'm going to go put on some coffee." He caught both Jack and the Doctor checking out his attire. "And some trousers. Possibly not in that order."
Jack let him go with a smile and a wink. "Coffee sounds great, but don't get dressed on my account."
Ianto turned back and gave the Doctor a pointed look. "I'm not."
The Doctor studied the floor and waited until Ianto had disappeared back into Jack's office. "I get the impression he really doesn't like me."
"He doesn't know you," Jack defended.
"He doesn't seem to want to." The Doctor moved over to sit on the davenport and stretched his legs out in front of him.
"Well, I can't really blame him for that. For one, he was at the Tower during Canary Wharf. The Cybermen half-converted his girlfriend and he spent two years trying to fix her."
"How is she now?" the Doctor interrupted.
"Dead. Two, you show up, I take off –"
"That's hardly my fault," he interjected with a finger in Jack's face.
"I don't think he cares right now. Because three, just after I get back and get him to not be pissed at me you not only show up again, you all but show up in our bedroom. Nobody likes having to take on an invader first thing in the morning."
"Especially not in one's underwear."
"Yeah, I'm sure that's not helping. Why are you here?"
"Martha decided to stay home. She says it's just for a while, but…" the Doctor shrugged.
Jack looked around furtively. He knew he had no intentions of going back with the Doctor, but right then he really didn't need to have Ianto even overhear an invitation. "I can't go with you."
The Doctor nodded. "Well, I had to ask. I mean, I was in the neighborhood and I needed to refuel the TARDIS over the rift anyway, so…"
Jack studied him through narrowed eyes for a minute, tapping his finger on his lips.
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "I'm almost afraid to ask what's going on in that head of yours."
"If… If I agree to go with you for just a bit, could we bring Ianto with us?" Jack nodded to where Ianto was emerging from the office in his black suit from the day before, one of Jack's dark blue shirts under it.
"Where would you like to take him?" the Doctor answered with a grin.
"Ianto, come here," Jack hollered as Ianto made his way to the kitchenette.
Ianto froze and then turned on his heel to come back to where Jack and the Doctor were sitting. "I hope you don't mind, I borrowed a shirt."
"Not at all. It looks good on you." Jack fussed with the collar.
"I was just going to put on the coffee. The others should be in soon."
"Do that in a second. I have a question for you." Jack slid his hand down to take Ianto's hand in his.
"When you preface your questions, I get nervous," Ianto told him, glancing back and forth between the Doctor and Jack.
"Remember that date I asked you on?"
Ianto nodded, looking nervous. "If-if you don't want to-"
Jack hushed him with a finger over his lips. "What if I could do better than dinner and a movie?"
Ianto's eyes shot back over to the Doctor who was watching the two of them with interest and amusement. "Like what?" he asked, his lips moving over Jack's finger.
"Want to go away for a few days?" Jack cast his eyes over to the call box in the corner.
"Really?" Ianto asked. He'd seen strange and unusual things in his tenure with Torchwood – things most people only saw in movies and on the telly. But he'd never thought he'd actually travel through time and/or space with Jack and his Doctor.
Jack looked over at the Doctor to be sure he was listening. "About five hundred years before I was born one of the big social to-do's were these huge dances. It started with a race called the Shaftexalians but pretty soon everyone was doing it. It was like a sport, trying to get tickets to the biggest and fanciest ones you could find. One of the great things about being a Time Agent was knowing ahead of time when and where to be. I went to a number of really spectacular Shaftexalian Courtship Dances. Let me take you to one."
"How do we get tickets?" Ianto asked, immediately knowing that was probably one of the stupidest details he could have asked about.
The Doctor reached over and handed him a card, folded in half. "I'll assume that if you worked for Torchwood One, you're familiar with this?"
Ianto took the seemingly blank card. "Psychic paper, of course."
"So? Can I escort you to the dance, Mr. Jones?"
Ianto felt himself blushing and cursed himself. He'd woken up to find himself holding a gun on someone Jack was rather close to – in his underwear no less – and this was what made his ears burn and his cheeks flame? "I'd like that," he finally managed to whisper.
Jack pulled him in and kissed him hard. "Good. How about if you put the coffee on so I don't have to hear about it from Owen when he gets here and then you can go home and pack a bag for a few days."
Ianto nodded mutely. Jack was not only taking him out, he was going take him to another planet, thousands of years in the future. He started walking away, blinking slowly as he tried to assimilate it all. Half way to the coffee machine he turned back. "Jack? Exactly what does one wear to a She- Shetax- to one of these dances?"
"Bring jeans and a couple of jumpers. We'll get clothes for the dance when we get there."
Ianto nodded and headed off to make the coffee.
"Oh, and Ianto… we can still do dinner and a movie when we get back."
Some kind of weight came off Ianto's shoulders. As exciting as it was to think of where – of when – they'd be going, Ianto realized that he was suddenly having to share Jack with his Doctor. They were going far away and to a different time. The little thrill he'd gotten from Jack saying that he wanted to move their romance out of the office had been drowned with this newest form of their date and he hadn't even realized that that had been the problem until Jack had said that he still wanted their time alone, their time in public here in Cardiff, a date done his way. Ianto shook his head wondering when and why that had become so important to him.
From the kitchenette he couldn't hear Jack, but he saw him gesturing animatedly and saw him bounce over to Tosh's station where he grabbed a pad of sticky notes and scribbled something down for the Doctor. The Doctor looked at the note and nodded. Ianto grew just a tad bit more nervous.
It wasn't news to Ianto Jones that there were aliens out there. He'd captured dozens; had conversations with several; and on occasion, when he'd had to, even killed a few.
But this was something else.
They'd arrived a few days early, purchased suitable attire and smooth-talked the right people into getting them tickets. Sure, they could have psychic-papered their ways in as the Doctor suggested, but Jack had said that trying to score legitimate tickets was half the fun. The suit Jack had selected for him had been similar enough to the ones Ianto wore to work each day, but he wasn't quite sure what to make of the wide, bright purple sash worn around the waist. Jack had needed to tie the complicated knot in the ends for him and, in Ianto's opinion, he'd taken much longer than necessary to get it to settle over his left hip where it belonged.
Jack's outfit was a little more daring. A black jacket like Ianto's, but his blue shirt didn't button, it just tucked into Jack's tight black pants, leaving most of his chest bare.
As they dressed, Jack explained the customs and etiquette for such an affair. Which dances they'd be required to do together, the words to the opening toast, the response to the blessing they'd receive. He then went on to fill him in on the more pertinent details of how to interact with some of the species most likely to be present. Whom to make eye-contact with, whom to shake hands with and whom, under no circumstances, was Ianto to touch skin-to-skin. One because the slime on their exterior scales was corrosive as hell, the other because skin-to-skin contact was an unequivocal invitation to sex. Wherever they happened to be standing. He'd ended the long list of do's and don'ts with "But other than that, it's your basic intergalactic fetish ball."
The words 'fetish ball' had Ianto now picturing the myriad of beings in leather and PVC, half with whips and the other half in collars and on leashes. It must have shown on his face because Jack laughed and said, "Not like that. Just that everyone there's looking to hook up with someone. Either the being they brought or someone they meet there."
There was a pause before Jack leaned over and whispered, "Though if you want to investigate the other type when we get home, you know I'm game."
Ianto blushed and declined to comment.
And now, Ianto Jones and Jack Harkness were the only two humans standing in a room of hundreds. Ianto had stopped counting distinct races at thirty and still wasn't sure he'd been at all accurate. After all, from the outside, most people would assume the Doctor and he were of the same species.
Jack had led him effortlessly through the formal introductions to the room and the first set of three required dances. Ianto had felt dozens of eyes (at least two dozen just from that bloke over there with the transparent skin and orange hair) on them as they'd danced.
Jack had danced with him once in the Hub. He'd felt silly at first, but then he'd noticed the way Jack had closed his eyes and lost himself in the music and the movement and the closeness. When he'd allowed himself to do the same he understood why Jack had asked him to do it.
But now he felt, oddly, like a politically-correct Cinderella. Someone who'd been swept off his feet by a very charming prince and brought into a world he could only hope to see and experience from a distance and where he seemed to have acquired a number of very frank admirers.
After the three introductory dances, a woman in a long blue cape that neatly hid from Ianto the fact that she had four legs, had tapped Jack on the shoulder and asked to cut in. Jack had raised an eyebrow, silently asking Ianto if he was okay with that. When Ianto nodded, Jack handed him off and wandered over to a group of various aliens having a chat by the refreshment table.
Ianto kept one eye on Jack, not really sanguine about the idea of losing him in the milling throngs of people. When the blue-cloaked woman bowed and thanked him, Ianto found himself on the receiving end of three other requests to dance. He suddenly understood the quaint little tradition of the dance card on Earth.
After a total of four other dances, including one with what would have been termed conjoined twins on Earth – though Ianto had a vague recollection of Jack having mentioned that it was normal for their species – Ianto wove through the crowd, shaking off additional invitations 'at least for the moment' as he made his way to the drinks.
"His culture doesn't," Ianto heard Jack say as he approached. Jack had a vaguely apologetic grin and Ianto suddenly felt like he had when he'd been six and his thirteen-year-old cousin had to go with him to see a Disney picture while all his friends went to see some horror movie.
When Jack spotted Ianto though, his smiled a huge smile and swept him into a devastating kiss. "You're making quite the impression," Jack said keeping one arm around Ianto's waist, keeping him close while he fussed with the collar of Ianto's shirt, straightening it and refolding it on the crease.
"This is amazing," Ianto said for lack of anything more intelligent to add. He'd known there were aliens and given the number of stars in the sky and the number of planets that would be orbiting many of them, the fact that there was such a large variety really shouldn't have shocked him. But it did. It astounded him. It was more colorful and interesting than any science fiction movie he'd ever seen.
He'd always considered himself quite ordinary, his chosen vocation aside, so he was flattered and a little embarrassed at the number of … beings who seemed interested in him.
The large yellow-feathered alien Jack had been talking to studied Ianto closely. "If he ever bores you, I promise you, there will always be a place in my stable for you."
Ianto looked to Jack, feeling himself pale. "Stable?"
"Gelzarians aren't monogamous. Though I'm thinking that we should have a word with the Doctor about the way the TARDIS translates certain terms. But the short version is… he's making a pass at you. And proposing to you. It's sort of a combination of the two."
"Oh." Ianto found himself moving just a bit closer to Jack now that he understood where Jack's sudden show of possessiveness came from.
Jack looked back up the large alien. "Like I said, when I was with Erif and Meele, it was different. Not this one." Jack looked up towards the entranceway. "Oh, I'm sorry, we need to go. There's someone I want to introduce Ianto to."
Ianto could barely stammer a good-bye before Jack was pulling him through the throng to the hall.
"You know him?" Ianto asked when they finally came to stop in the quiet hall.
"We met back when I was working for the Time Agency. I forget how long-lived they are." Jack took hold of Ianto's shoulder. "I probably don't need to tell you this, but you don't have to take up anybody on any offers you aren't comfortable with."
Ianto nodded.
"I mean it. Some of the cultures here… they view being difficult as foreplay. I've seen a few fights and even a few duels breakout between cultures who read the same action or heard the same words differently. If someone doesn't get it, explain it however you have to."
Ianto nodded again; suddenly worried that Jack felt the need to explain this to him so clearly.
"What was that… man? talking to you about back there? My culture doesn't what?" Ianto asked.
Jack smiled wickedly. "Share."
Ianto's eyebrows drew together and then his eyes widened. "Oh. No… If you wanted to… I could find the Doctor and…"
Jack smiled and kissed him softly. "No, Ianto. He didn't want you to share me. He wanted me to share you. Now, he didn't strike me as your type for one, and for two I didn't think you'd really want your first encounter with an alien to include the eight or nine others he'd be picking up tonight. But I told him that your culture believes in monogamy from both partners."
"You didn't have to say that for me, Jack. I told you that I wouldn't –"
Jack put a finger over Ianto's lips. "I have no desire to go with him. Well, not again. He's… unimaginative." Jack glanced around the hall. "I fell asleep half way through. I woke up when he started shouting my name and I was like, 'oh, are you still…'" Jack made a 'you know' face.
Ianto laughed. "How could you not tell?"
Jack held up his little finger in a 'do the math' kind of way. Ianto giggled. "And this," Jack said holding his hand up again, "is being generous."
Ianto cocked his head. "He had to be at least two meters tall."
"Their sense of proportion is a little different than ours."
Ianto shook his head. "Well, I have to say, I wasn't exactly thrilled to be invited to be part of someone's stable."
"And that wasn't hyperbole. In Verososos culture a household head can have as many spouses as he or she wants. It's… kind of less repressive form of the old Mormon church on Earth. If you can afford to keep 'em, you can have 'em. The more you have the more affluent you must be, so spouses become an indicator of wealth. Of course here, the spouses can leave if they want. That's the upside."
"I don't see an upside to being 'stabled' by anyone." Ianto actually shivered.
Jack pulled him back in and kissed him. "I'm glad you don't share. I don't want to leave here with anyone else. And I'm realizing that if you were to want to leave here with someone else… I wouldn't be as okay with it as I told myself I would be."
"I'm… oddly touched by that," Ianto replied as he tried to decipher exactly what Jack meant.
Suddenly the Doctor burst through the door. "Jack! Ianto, there you are. Hurry, the matron is about to give her blessing!" He disappeared back through the door and Jack swore he was being gathered up by a group of Izpedian women. Well, he didn't need to worry about him coming back to the inn they were booked into until at least sundown tomorrow if that were the case. He'd also be bowlegged as hell for at least a few days.
"We should go be blessed," Jack said, looping his arm around Ianto's waist.
Ianto wove his own arm around Jack and smiled. "I think I've already been."
Ianto couldn't wait to get back to Cardiff and tell the team that he'd actually managed to make Jack blush.
*~*~*~*~*~*
After the blessing, Jack and Ianto danced the next three-song set before Jack kissed Ianto passionately and said, "Ready for part two?"
"Part two?" Ianto asked cautiously.
Jack took him by the hand and led him over to where the Doctor was dancing with a woman who's face reminded Ianto rather startlingly of a rabbit, but all the rest of her seemed humanoid enough.
"Off for part two, are you?" the Doctor asked as Jack approached.
Jack nodded. "Your Izpedian friends are still watching," he said with raised eyebrows.
The Doctor took a deep breath. "I know. Don't wait up for me."
"Tonight or tomorrow night," Jack answered. "Have fun." He gave the Doctor his widest grin. "Don't do anything that I wouldn't do." He laid a noisy kiss on Ianto's cheek and pulled him to the door.
As they started to walk away Ianto heard the Doctor yell after them, "I'm don't think I'm imaginative enough to come up with something you wouldn't do!"
Ianto and Jack both laughed as Jack escorted them out of the large dance hall.
The night was pleasantly cool as they walked the half-mile from the estate the dance was on to the town center.
"Dare I ask what part two is about?"
"You'll see," Jack said.
"I had a sinking feeling you'd say that."
"Did you have fun at the dance?" Jack challenged.
"I did," Ianto admitted.
"So don't start doubting me now. Ooh! Wait here a second." Jack ran off, leaving Ianto standing on the corner of two reasonably busy streets.
Ianto scowled and watched as a Jack ran off to a girl at a street vendor cart. He saw Jack look in the baskets on her cart, but he didn't select anything. Ianto couldn't even see what she was selling. After a brief but animated conversation that caused the twelve year old to cover her eyes and laugh as Jack teased her, Jack gave her a large blue coin from his pocket. The girl's eyes got wide and she nodded eagerly.
Jack sauntered back, not having purchased anything.
"What was that about?" Ianto asked warily.
"You'll see after dinner." Jack wrapped his arm around Ianto's waist again and led him half way down the block. He stopped them at storefront restaurant with large picture windows and a bright green door. "Here."
Ianto let himself be escorted into the establishment where they were greeted by the local equivalent of the Maitre'd. The man was mostly human looking, if Ianto could ignore the second set of eyes that rested just above the ones Ianto expected to see. He showed that he clearly knew who Jack was as he bustled about escorting them to a table in the corner near the windows. Somewhat private, but with a great view of the city. Ianto swore he heard him whisper something to Jack about 'everything being just as he'd asked'.
Ianto tried to control his smile. Jack had set this all up for him? Wining, dining and dancing someone after he'd already gotten him into bed didn't really seem Jack's style. Ianto wavered between touched and worried.
As they sat Jack reached over and took Ianto's hand. "I had the Doctor bring us here, to this place for this particular dance."
"Why? What's so special about this one?"
"Do you know what the date is today?" Jack wove his fingers through Ianto's.
Ianto thought for a second. "It's, what? January twenty-fifth, isn't it?"
"At home," Jack agreed. "But here, today is the middle of the second lunar cycle."
"And that's significant?"
"What's the middle of the second lunar cycle on Earth?"
Ianto sighed and thought; playing along with Jack's little game. "The second lunar cycle would be February and the middle of it would be the fifteenth. No, wait, February's short. It would be the four-" the lightbulb went on. "Fourteenth. It would be February fourteenth at home."
"I didn't want to wait three weeks." Jack shrugged and smiled.
Ianto reached across the table and took Jack's hand in his own. "This is lovely, thank you."
Jack met his eyes and they just looked at – looked into – each other for a long moment. Jack finally ended the moment by kissing Ianto's hand and handing a menu from the two near his elbow. "Ask about anything you don't recognize. I'll do my damnedest to come up with analogies you'll understand."
"I'm on a Valentine's Day date on another planet, thousands of years after my own time and I was proposed to by a two-foot, yellow-feathered alien at a fetish ball. I think I can take my chances with a new kind of bread or stew. So as long as none of it will poison me, I think I can sort out something manageable."
Jack laughed again, loving the new, confident, snarky Ianto he'd come home to.
Ianto managed to find himself a harmless salad and soup and Jack ordered something Ianto was sure he'd never be able to pronounce again if he'd tried. He kept waiting for the moment when he'd make some massive social faux pas for this culture or say just the wrong thing, but amazingly, they made it through to coffee – or the local equivalent – with no major problems.
"Did you like your salad?" Jack asked as they both leaned back, cradling their drinks in their hands and lingering, in no hurry to leave.
"It was very good. How was your… uh…?"
"Good. But then again, I wouldn't expect anything less from the chefs here." Jack set his cup down and leaned in towards Ianto, making eye contact and holding it for a long second. Ianto got the impression that Jack was about to make some kind of declaration or ask something intensely serious. He met Jack's eyes and waited, holding his breath.
"I know you didn't have to take me back. I do know that. And I wouldn't expect you to give me a third chance. I won't give you a reason to need to. When I was gone I realized that we expected different things from… this. And the more I thought about what you wanted, what I think you wanted anyway, I realized that you had it right. Maybe I should be a little less proud of how many people I've slept with. Or at the very least it might help to stop throwing it in your face."
Ianto set his cup down and took Jack's hand again. "I don't want you to change for me. I've had relationships where we both tried being the person the other wanted and we were miserable inside of six months. More and more I find that I'm comfortable being me around you. And I think you've become more honest with me. Especially since you've been home. In a lot of ways I understand now why you had to go. I don't know if I could easily give… all of this up. You've been on Earth, my Earth, for what? A hundred and fifty years? After seeing things like this I can see why you'd be ready for… something else. That's who you are."
Ianto's tone was soft, accepting and it made Jack's heart sink. He reached into his pocket and pulled out several green and yellow coins and stacked them on the table. "Let's go take a walk. I'll tell you why I had to go. It had nothing to do with being… bored on Earth. Or with you."
Ianto made a face, clearly concerned that he'd said the wrong thing and ruined the night. Jack pulled him in and kissed him. "I couldn't even begin to tell you the whole story in one night, but I'll tell you why I had to find the Doctor again. And why after I did, I knew I belonged back in Cardiff. Back at Torchwood Three. With you." He kissed him again. "Come on." He led Ianto out of the restaurant by the hand.
As they came out of the restaurant the girl from the cart ran up to Jack and handed him a small bag. Jack peeked in it, making sure Ianto couldn't see in and gave the girl a grin and another blue coin. "Brilliant," he told her. "You got it exactly right."
She pocketed the coin and bowed to Jack, not saying anything she ran back to her cart looking thrilled.
Jack rummaged in the sack for a second before pulling out six miniature paper flowers. A small bouquet of origami roses. "They have very strict laws here about killing plants that aren't for eating. She's an apprentice paper-folder. It's quite the traditional art here – kind of like origami on Earth – only you only get to practice it if you study under a master tradesman."
"By the look on her face, you gave her enough money to buy a paper factory," Ianto said studying the intricately folded three-dimensional roses.
"Nah, but let's just say that she won't have any problems paying her tuition for the next few months." Jack offered Ianto his elbow and Ianto took it with a smile.
"That's a lot of money for some paper flowers."
"You're worth it," Jack said without pause. "Besides, part of the way she'll work towards her master-ship is by proving that her work is worth the kind of money a master-folder earns. Her instructor will be very happy with her tomorrow."
"He gets some of the money then?"
"No, she'll let the girl keep the money, but it helps her move through her training if she can prove that she's earning her own keep through her trade." Jack steered them to a long boardwalk out over the bay.
As they turned the corner from the street to the walk, Ianto froze. "I suppose that shouldn't have shocked me but… there are three full moons and a half-moon over there."
"Yeah. After seeing things like this, I've always had the ridiculous notion that Earth's moon has to be so lonely." Jack pulled him in and kissed him. "Sometimes I know how it felt."
Ianto put everything he had into the kiss, trying to tell Jack that he never had to be lonely again for as long as Ianto had breath. They were making great progress towards moving past the 'part-time shag' situation they'd had before Jack had left, but Ianto knew neither of them were up to making or hearing those kinds of commitments yet. But he couldn't let the comment go unnoticed at all.
Jack led them to the end of a pier that had benches spaced far enough apart that there would be privacy for whomever used them. Jack found an empty one near the end of the pier and pulled Ianto down next to him, hip to hip. "Tomorrow we should get a camera and come back out here."
Ianto shrugged. "I don't think I'll ever forget this."
Jack pulled him in and gave him a lingering kiss.
Ianto gently traced Jack's lips with his fingers. "You were going to tell me why you needed to go with the Doctor."
Jack sat up, putting just enough distance between himself and Ianto to let him clear his head and speak coherently. "I'm jumping into the middle of the story, but like I said it'll take far too long to start at the beginning."
Ianto nodded, but didn't press.
"I met the Doctor in 1941. Only it was the first time I went to 1941. I've been there twice, long story. I was… not a very nice guy at the time. I'd been hurt by people I'd spent most of my life trusting and I was… looking out for number one for a while."
Ianto threaded his fingers between Jacks. "The Time Agency John spoke of?"
"Yeah. It's so complicated that I don't even know the whole story, but the end result was… I was a pretty major Jack-ass. The Doctor decided there was something in me worth saving. Even though I nearly got him and all of London killed, he decided to take me under his wing for a while. He let me travel with him and his companion, Rose." Jack took a deep breath. "We got involved in a war that… I guess it was his war, but it sure as hell wasn't mine. But he convinced me that it was worth fighting in and dying for. So I did."
"Died?" Ianto asked. He'd always wondered if Jack had been born immortal or … well, he wasn't sure exactly what 'or' could entail. "You can't die."
"I can die, I just can't stay dead," Jack remarked quickly. And back then I could. I did."
Ianto looked him up and down. "What changed?"
"Rose. She… I don't know the whole of it, but apparently she sucked up part of the life-force of the TARDIS. And she brought me back to life. Only she did a little too good a job of it."
"She brought you back forever," Ianto said as he realized what Jack was implying.
"Yeah. She willed me back to life and something in that 'command' never specified a regular human life span. So I'm stuck." Jack shrugged.
"Well, better stuck alive than stuck dead, yeah?" He squeezed Jack's hand.
"Most of the time I agree with you. But it's hard knowing that… everyone, everyone I let myself love, I will lose."
Ianto turned to see Jack better in the bright light of all the moons. "Not today. Not today and not for a very long time, okay?"
Jack leaned in and kissed him thoroughly.
When they broke for air, Ianto leaned his forehead on Jack's. "So after all that, why did you leave him?"
"He left me," Jack said simply. "He left me on a place where if I had been able to stay dead, I probably would have several times over. But I finally escaped and made it to Earth's past with my wristband and I waited. I wanted to know what had happened to me and what could be done to let me live a normal life and die at the end of it."
"What did he tell you?"
Jack shifted to lean his head on Ianto's shoulder. He wasn't sure he wanted to repeat what the Doctor had told him. Had called him. He wasn't sure he was ready to admit to another person how much it had hurt. How much it still hurt. He took a deep breath and sat up and met Ianto's eyes. "He told me I was 'wrong'. That… it hurt him to look at me."
"Jack!" Ianto reached up and caressed his cheek, surprised that he didn't find tears. "That's a horrible thing to say to someone who's already said they aren't completely comfortable with the situation."
Jack shrugged.
"So why stay with him? I mean, a year…" Ianto tried not to sound like a jilted lover, but he wasn't sure he was managing.
"I didn't mean to. But things got out of our control and we couldn't get back to Cardiff for… a very long time. Don't ask me about that tonight, all right? Not tonight."
Ianto leaned and kissed him. "Not tonight. When you're ready to talk, you'll let me know."
Jack nodded. "Anyway, that's when I realized that the Doctor and I were never meant to be. And when I started to realize that just maybe we are." Jack turned and in a swift moment pulled Ianto into a bone cracking hug and devastating kiss.
Even in their awkward position, Ianto could feel Jack's the start of Jack's erection against his leg. He knew if they continued to sit out under the moons snogging and touching, he'd be harder than he'd be comfortable being as they walked back to the inn. "We might want to make our way back to the inn. I don't know what these people think of public displays of affection."
"We'd be arrested in Cardiff long before we would be here," Jack bounced his eyebrows, trying adamantly to change the tone of the conversation. Ianto wilted back a little. "But the inn might be more comfortable," Jack suggested when it became clear that Ianto was starting to think Jack was suggesting that they shag right there on the pier.
They stood and Jack pulled Ianto into a tight hug. He may have intended it to be a platonic, thank you of a hug for someone who listened without judging, but it quickly turned into less of a hug and more of a grope when Jack's hand brushed across Ianto's arse. An arse that had no right to look as good, let alone feel as good, as Ianto's did in those specially tailored pants. "Though if you wanted to-"
"Inn. Now," Ianto said sharply and they both laughed.
They made their way back arm in arm, Jack's mood lightening with each step. By the time they got upstairs to their adjoining rooms, they were both laughing and impatient.
"Come over to mine?" Jack asked quietly with a raised eyebrow.
"Why? Have you got something in your rooms that I don't?" Ianto teased.
"For the amount of money I left the innkeeper, I damn well better," Jack said with a grin and a telling gleam in his eyes.
"Well then, yours it is, then," Ianto capitulated.
It was worth the money he'd paid to see the look on Ianto's face when Jack opened the door. There was a fire blazing in the fireplace and a large pile of soft blankets spread out in front of it. In the center of the blankets were two small, metal buckets. One had a bottle of wine sticking out of the top, the other had a plate with a selection of berries and small pieces of fruits and candies.
Ianto stared, gape-mouthed at the romantic scene. "I have no idea what to say." He'd never asked to be wined and dined. Their relationship had started with quick blowjobs that were almost on a dare to see who'd back down first. After a while they'd moved on to proper sex, even including a few nights when one of them couldn't be arsed to get up and go home that had led to a little snuggling and pillow talk and only slightly less than awkward mornings. Just before Jack had left they'd sort of starting spending the night together intentionally, but things had still be a little awkward as neither of them were quite sure where they were in the relationship and where it was going. And then Jack had left and come back and asked Ianto out on a date. And in Ianto's darker moments he'd assumed that was Jack's way of simply earning the right to get into Ianto's pants again.
But then a dinner-and-movie date had turned into… all this. All the details, all the time and attention to things being just so. Ianto had never dated a man before, so he'd never really known what to expect from doing so. He was pretty sure, especially given that the guy he was involved with was the enigmatic, dashing, Jack Harkness, that it wouldn't include romance and hearts and flowers. They were the kinds of things Ianto had always tried to remember to do for Lisa because he'd grown up being told that that was what women expected, but he wasn't always very good at it. And he'd believed that that was because it wasn't the kind of things men wanted from their partner. Sure, Lisa had done lots of nice little things for him while they'd been together, but grand gestures – like the one Jack was making – were the kind of thing he'd assumed were the sort of thing men did for their girlfriends.
He scowled at his analogy, not sure what exactly that made him in Jack's eyes. He had a brief flash to Jack and that John Hart bloke arguing over who was the wife in their relationship. Even at the time it had galled him a little that in three thousand years the idea of gender rolls were still so firmly in place that it insulted them both to be thought of as the 'wife'. He wondered if that was how Jack was seeing him now and if that made him weak in Jack's eyes.
His view of the fireplace was suddenly blocked by Jack's shoulder and he felt Jack tip his head up to meet his eyes. "You don't like it?"
"What? No! I mean, I didn't say that!" Ianto immediately retorted and realized he was falling into some of the habits he'd worked so hard to shed while Jack had been gone. The feelings of self-doubt, of inadequacy and imperfection. Of never measuring up to Jack. "I just… no one's ever done anything like this for me before."
"'bout damn time then, don't you think?" Jack kissed him, softly at first and then with more passion and more determination.
Ianto shrugged at the question when they came up for air. "It's lovely. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply that I didn't like it. I'm just a little… amazed."
Jack kissed him quickly again. "Let's open the wine." Ianto took a second untying and kicking off his shoes and hanging his jacket on a peg near the door. He shook off the sudden doubts and threw himself determinedly back into his date with Jack. He could deal with the nagging little doubts when they were back in Cardiff and he was once again clearing up pizza boxes and mucking Weevil cells. He knew he'd be a damn fool to not thoroughly enjoy this night.
Jack was stretched out on his side, wiggling the cork out of the blue wine bottle, when Ianto lay down across from him. Jack's shirt had pulled out of his pants on one side and with no fasteners it was hanging open. Ianto didn't censor himself as he stared at Jack's toned body. When he finally did look up, Jack still hadn't wrangled the cork, but was pausing to stare at him curiously. "What?" he asked softly.
Ianto could feel his cheeks warm a little as he was caught. He shook his head before finally finding the courage to say, "You look extremely attractive like that."
"What?" Jack asked modestly, "Losing zero to one to a wine cork?" He applied himself back to the stubborn stopper, breaking eye contact and letting Ianto off the hook.
Ianto took the wine bottle from him and set it aside, sliding closer and running a hand down Jack's chest. "I wasn't looking at the wine."
Jack smiled, liking where this was going. "Now I'm not either." As if in an old movie, he tossed the corkscrew (that he wasn't sure, but he may have broken it) over one shoulder and moved back to Ianto quickly. He put an arm over Ianto's hips and tugged him in. As they kissed, their tongues sliding over each other's in a slow, teasing dance, Jack worked a hand between them to undo Ianto's shirt, struggling a little to do it one handed, but eventually triumphing over the stubborn fasteners.
Jack slid one hand behind Ianto's head keeping them together as he rolled them over so that Ianto was on his back and Jack was laying over him. When they broke apart, Jack propped himself up on his elbows so that when he spoke, his breath tickled Ianto's nose and cheek. "You look pretty good yourself." Jack reached between them and pushed the fabric of their open shirts out of the way so that when he leaned down to nuzzle Ianto's throat, their chests brushed. Jack could feel the hard points of Ianto's nipples against his skin. "You cold?" Jack asked as he slid down to nip a trail across his collarbone.
"What?" Ianto arched up to try and see Jack's face to try and figure out the non sequitur.
Jack kissed a little lower, shifting to bring one hand up to gently tweak one nipple. "I asked if you were cold."
Ianto flopped back down on the blankets. He was sure Jack could feel his erection where it was pressing against Jack's hip. "No," he said trying for a normal tone of voice. "Not cold at all." He knew he was failing miserably, his voice cracking each time Jack's teeth tugged gently on his skin. "Oh, god, Jack!" His head came up again and then crashed into the blankets behind him as Jack worried his nipple between his teeth. Tugging with lips and teeth and then soothing with his tongue. Ianto closed his eyes and decided there was little value in speaking in coherent words. He was pretty sure Jack knew what he thought via his sighs and moans. And fully formed words were rapidly becoming far too complex for his highly focused mind.
"So you won't mind if I take some of these pesky clothes off," Jack said, his lips now whispering against Ianto's ribs.
It took a second for Ianto to connect what Jack was saying with the question he'd asked earlier. Still not particularly given to words, Ianto sat up and fumbled to unbutton the cuffs on his shirt. Jack surged up and kissed him. "I've got it, lay back." Once again Ianto's head came down on the pile of blanets with a mild thump. "Stay right there," Jack said with a quick kiss to Ianto's cheek.
When he got up, Ianto sat up on his elbows, rolling on his side and looking back with alarm to see where Jack was going, "What's wrong?"
Jack ran the couple steps to the bed and came back with a pillow. "You're going to give yourself a concussion," Jack said as he squared Ianto away on the pillow and resumed his place over Ianto's body.
Ianto laughed. "Bit pleased with yourself, are you?"
Jack stared Ianto in the eyes for a long second before saying slowly, "Not yet."
Ianto could see the wheels turning in Jack's head as he slid back down his body. "What are you thinking?"
"Trust me?" Jack asked kissing his way down Ianto's breastbone.
"Of course," Ianto answered without thinking, but not without the unasked question of 'why are you asking me that?' bouncing around in his head.
"You sure?" Jack asked as he untied the sash around Ianto's waist.
"Well, now you're making me a bit nervous."
Jack laughed as he unwrapped the long linen and slid it out from under him. "Close your eyes." He waited until Ianto complied, somewhat surprised that Ianto didn't have a dozen questions about why or needing to be told twice. Jack raised an eyebrow and smirked.
Ianto flinched a little as the linen fell over his cheeks, but as soon as he realized what it was, he relaxed to find that Jack had one hand behind his head, holding it up as he wrapped the sash around his eyes. He lay absolutely still as Jack wound the long fabric around him and secured it with a knot on the side of his head. "That okay?"
Ianto had no idea what to say to that. No lover had ever blindfolded him before, but as soon as he'd realized what Jack had planned his cock had sat up and said 'yes please!' He felt wonton and exposed, which he hadn't expect to find so damn exciting.
"Ianto? Too tight?"
That was a question he could answer. "No. Not at all."
He could hear Jack chuckle and then there was rustle of cloth. Ianto imagined it to be Jack taking of his own shirt, which made sense when the next thing he knew was Jack unbuttoning his cuffs and rolling him this way and that to get his own shirt out of the way.
"If I didn't think you'd kill me, I'd go looking for a camera right now," Jack said softly as he swept his hands over smooth skin. "You look fucking amazing."
Ianto could feel himself blush under the blindfold. "You better not. And I'm not sure which part of that sentence worries me the most – you getting a camera or –" he stopped short of saying something he wasn't sure either of them were ready for.
"Or me leaving the room?" Jack finished for him.
Ianto turned his head away a little, not sure why being so transparent embarrassed him so.
Jack turned his head back and Ianto felt Jack's lips slide against his own. "I'm not going anywhere," Jack said into his mouth before kissing him passionately.
Ianto relaxed, the awkward moment forgotten as he felt Jack's tongue teasing him back to the moment as his hand made it down to the buttons on his trousers. Jack freed the first button, but then got distracted with the hard bulge against the side of his hand. He stroked Ianto lightly through his clothing. Ianto's breath was coming in shallow pants by the time Jack opened the other buttons.
Jack laughed and Ianto knew he'd caught Jack by surprise. It hadn't been his main intention, but he'd known that if things went right it would be a lovely by-product.
"No underwear?"
Ianto smiled. "The trousers were awfully tight… they left a line."
Jack howled with laughter. "Oh no! Panty lines!"
Ianto took a swing in the general direction of Jack's voice, two fingers finding the edge of Jack's ear, as Jack ducked. "You're awful!"
Jack sank his teeth into the soft flesh of Ianto's side. "You aren't. You're lovely." He bit again, sucking enough that he was sure he'd raise a mark.
The blindfold made everything – every touch – more real. Ianto found himself unwilling to move, even to help as Jack dragged his trousers down and off, catching his socks as he went.
The air on his naked skin made him feel vastly more vulnerable now that he couldn't see Jack. He could hear him rustling around to the left of him, but it didn't sound precisely like Jack was disrobing. No, that was a zipper, and there were no zippers on their local wardrobe.
"What are you doing?" Ianto finally asked when the tension started to get the better of him.
"Just looking for a few things." A little more rustling and then Ianto felt a whole lot of warm naked skin lying along his own. Jack kissed him. "How you doing, Ianto?"
"Well, the fact that you're asking me that right now is making me a tad nervous. How are you?" Ianto asked back.
"Brilliant," Jack responded before dragging his tongue along Ianto's collarbone. "Lie back. Relax into the blankets."
Ianto's mouth rounded to ask why, but at the last second decided screw it, he trusted Jack. He obeyed.
"God, Jack! What the hell!"
Jack's laugh sounded wonderful and Ianto relaxed as whatever the cold substance that had just hit his chest started warm.
"Just some massage lotion. Lay back."
Ianto lay back as Jack used both hands to spread what had to have been a large puddle of lotion over his chest, down his arms. Jack stopped to massage each finger and kneeded the palms of both hands. Ianto sank further and further into the pad of blankets under him. Under the blindfold, his eyes closed and other than his twitching erection, Jack might have guessed him to be asleep. Jack finished with Ianto's second hand and lay it next to his body, palm up, stroking his fingers from shoulder to fingertip a few times before taking up the tube again.
This time he was gracious enough to rub it between his hands before starting on Ianto's abs. He tried valiantly to caress and rub without tickling, but he still felt Ianto tense and flinch under his hands every once in a while. "Hm… ticklish. I'll need to remember that."
Ianto rolled his eyes under the linen. He had no doubt that Jack would remember that. However, threats of future torture went by the wayside as Jack's fingers began digging into the tense muscles along Ianto's hip. An involuntary moan escaped when Jack found and got a particularly difficult knot to release, and at the same time Ianto felt the leather of Jack's wristband drag against the very tip of his cock. God, he'd never see that thing the same way again.
Jack laughed low in his chest. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were enjoying yourself."
Ianto laughed in return, but had no idea what response Jack was looking for. Jack swept his hands over Ianto's stomach a few times before Ianto felt Jack's hands on his left calf. "Bend your knees," Jack whispered as he planted both of Ianto's feet on the floor, his knees bent, leaning away from each other.
Ianto concentrated on keeping his breaths slow and deep as he realized that finally, Jack was done stretching this out. Or just starting to – he shook his head at his own bad pun.
"Ready?" Jack asked. Ianto didn't need to see him to know that Jack was smiling at him softly, that Jack's eyes were glowing in the firelight.
"I think I have been since we were out on that pier." Ianto could hear Jack shift and wasn't surprised when Jack kissed him thoroughly but swiftly before sitting back between Ianto's legs.
Again, he warmed the lotion between his hands before applying a large amount to Ianto's backside. Jack squeezed and massaged the taut, round muscles of Ianto's arse, before letting his hands slide closer together, closer to Ianto's center. Ianto arched his back, his head thrashing on the pillow as Jack inserted one finger so slowly Ianto often couldn't tell if Jack had stopped or not.
Ianto felt a soft kiss on the inside of his knee. "Tell me you want more."
"Yes," Ianto gasped, trying to bear down on Jack's hand.
"No, tell me."
Ianto rolled his eyes under the blindfold again. He'd never been given to being vocal in bed. He knew it turned Jack on when he managed, but he always felt stupid. He was sure he'd never be able to say the kind of sexy, teasing, damn-near pornographic things Jack did and not make people laugh at the ridiculousness of someone like him saying those things.
Jack's finger slid out a few centimeters. "Tell me."
"More, Jack, please. I want more," he finally said, not trying to be clever. He sighed when he felt Jack push in until the rest of his hand was gripping his arse, his thumb sliding along the base of Ianto's shaft.
"Like that?" Jack kissed the inside of Ianto's thigh, nipping and sucking on the pale flesh.
Ianto tried to keep still, to not wiggle on Jack's hand as Jack continued to tease and bite.
"Like that>?" Jack asked again.
"More," Ianto panted.
"Tell me what exactly you want," Jack said and then wiggled to lick a stripe from Ianto's balls to the tip of his cock. "In excruciating detail," Jack added.
Ianto bit his lip as Jack slowly dragged his finger back out again.
"Tell me," Jack insisted.
"More, Jack, please," Ianto said.
"You said that the first time. Tell me exactly what you want me to do to you." Jack curled his finger just enough to tug on the tight ring of muscle.
Ianto took a deep breath prepared to state himself as plainly as he could, then chickened out and took another deep breath. Finally he managed, "More of you. I want more of you in me. Another finger."
Jack leaned down and sucked on the tip of Ianto's erection to stifle the laugh he knew Ianto wouldn't understand. He enjoyed getting Ianto to be less rigid, less controlled. Getting Ianto to be as comfortable asking for what he wanted as he seemed to be in giving Jack whatever he asked for. He wasn't laughing at him, he was just taking a moment of pleasure in his victory. Ianto's cock would keep his mouth busy for a few seconds and any noises he made wouldn't exactly be recognized as laughter. When Ianto surged up again, Jack gentled him with his free hand with soft strokes to his hip and stomach. Once Ianto had settled against the bedding again, Jack did as he'd asked and slid a second finger in with the first.
He released Ianto's cock and kissed the sensitive crease of Ianto's leg. "Better?"
"Getting there?" Ianto said hesitantly as he focused on the increased sensation the lack of sight produced. He'd long ago thought one of the most erotic things he'd ever seen in his life was Jack's head between his own legs as he sucked and licked and did everything in his power to bring him off. Now he knew that the lack of sight made those same actions even more erotic, even more powerful.
Jack slid his two fingers back and forth, twisting his hand as his knuckles passed through the tight ring of muscles, encountering just the slightest bit less resistance each time he did. When he crooked his fingers to drag against Ianto's prostate, Ianto sucked in a huge breath and exclaimed, "Oh please, please do that again!"
Jack mouthed one of Ianto's's balls as he did what Ianto'd asked. When he let Ianto's testicle slide from his lips and looked up, he could see a small river of precome sliding down the head of his cock, making his stomach sticky. "You're very close, aren't you?"
"Yes. Please Jack. I'm so close." One hand came up from the blankets fumbling around until he could grip Jack's shoulder.
Jack kissed Ianto's fingers. "Hand me the pillow."
Ianto quickly pulled the pillow out from behind his head and held it out in front of him, not exactly sure where Jack's hands were.
"Lift up," Jack said as he gently tapped Ianto's arse. When Ianto'd done so he doubled the pillow over and slid it under him. "Ready?"
Ianto could hear the excitement in Jack's voice. "Absolutely," he told him.
He felt Jack shift around and change position. There was some rustling through the blankets before Ianto heard Jack gasp loudly. "Jack? Jack, is something wrong?"
Jack was suddenly leaning over him. Ianto could feel Jack's waist between his knees and then suddenly Jack was kissing him. "Nothing's wrong. I just didn't realize how incredibly hot you have me already. I went for some lube and this was almost over before it started!"
Ianto smiled. He hadn't done much. He'd lay there and let Jack do whatever he'd wanted with him. But hey, if Jack was getting off on it, Ianto certainly had no complaints. "Then perhaps we shouldn't wait any longer." He squeezed Jack with his legs and brought his hands up to go around Jack's shoulders.
"You're brilliant," Jack whispered as he kissed Ianto quickly and then reached down to steady himself as he pressed slowly into Ianto's body. They hadn't been together since Jack had returned, and Jack wouldn't ever ask, but he had a feeling that no one else had been there since he'd been last. Ianto shifted and he wiggled until they'd found an agreeable angle and Jack remembered the pattern they'd always found best. In one smooth stroke he pushed half way into Ianto and then waited, giving Ianto a second to adjust, to remind his body how much fun this could be.
And like all those times before, just as Jack felt the tightness around his own length ease just enough, Ianto whispered, "Now, Jack."
For Jack it had been a year and a half since he'd had those words whispered into his ear in that amazing tone of voice. He slid all the way into Ianto's body and then shifted until he could get his arms around Ianto's back and held him tight. He needed to pause and enjoy being buried in the body of the one man whom he'd once doubted would give him one chance, and whom he had convinced himself as he'd died over and over again, would never, ever give him a second chance.
"Oh god, I missed you," he sighed into Ianto's shoulder.
Ianto slid his hands up into Jack's hears and brought Jack's head down to kiss him on the forehead. "And I, you."
Jack chuckled at such a tender gesture while he was buried in Ianto's arse. Which he realized was starting to get a little less than comfortable in that same position. He got back onto his elbows and went about showing Ianto how much he missed him.
Alternating slow and fast thrusts and periodically changing his angle just enough to hit Ianto's prostate – or not, when he felt like Ianto was getting too close – Jack drew the moment out. When he felt his own balls draw up he bit gently at Ianto's jaw. "Close your eyes," he whispered.
"It's not like I can see anything, Jack!" Ianto laughed.
"I know. I want to take the blindfold off. I want to see your eyes," Jack breathed. I don't want the light to be too bright for you." Jack breathed, not breaking his rhythm.
Ianto laughed, absolutely amazed that Jack would think of a little detail like that at a moment like this. "Okay, they're closed," he told him.
Jack pulled the sash over Ianto's head and Ianto heard it land somewhere across the room. "Open your eyes, Ianto. Please. I want to see your eyes."
Ianto blinked a few times, realizing hazily that the firelight did seem brighter than he would have anticipated. Once his eyes focused, he looked up and caught Jack's eyes staring into his. Just then, Jack drove in, hitting Ianto's prostate dead on. The combination caused Ianto to fly apart without any warning. "Jack!" was all he could get out before he was arching into Jack, his head thrown back and eyes screwed shut, every nerve in his body going off, locking him in a spasm he thought – he hoped – would never end.
When he finally relaxed, he could feel Jack sliding in and out just a few more times before hollering his own release, gathering Ianto against him and letting everything go.
When Jack finally relaxed, they carefully parted and Jack took the small towel hanging over the handle of the ice bucket for the fruit and dipped the corner in the water. "This is going to be a bit chilly," he warned and then gently washed both of their bellies and his own chest. The look he gave Ianto showed him to be impressed. Ianto groaned and threw an arm over his eyes. Jack then carefully cleaned up the extra lotion from Ianto's backside. "Better?"
Ianto snuggled into Jack's chest, humming when Jack's arms went around him hugging them together fiercely. Spotting the fruit behind Ianto Jack reached over and grabbed a berry. He rubbed it on Ianto's lips. "Hungry?"
Ianto carefully took the berry from Jack's fingers with his lips, licking Jack's fingers as he went. "I could eat."
Jack's head fell back. "I think we may have just found something that could kill me." He fed Ianto one of the candies, which Ianto took just as carefully. "Your seduction powers are going to do me in."
Jack pulled the plate between them and they alternated between feeding each other and feeding themselves. When the plate was empty, Jack noticed Ianto's eyelids were drooping. He moved it back to the bucket and arranged the pillow, checking carefully to be sure it was flipped to the clean side. "Roll on your stomach," Jack said softly.
"Jack… I don't think – I was just…" As much as he didn't want the night to end, he knew it had to be ridiculously late and his eyes were closing of their own accord.
Jack laid one hand along Ianto's cheek and kissed his temple. He fished the lotion out from where it had landed. "I didn't do your back."
Ianto sighed. That sounded wonderful, but he was so tired. "Jack, that's very sweet, but I'm about to fall asleep."
"I know," Jack said gently maneuvering Ianto onto his front all the same. "I'll rub your back until you fall asleep."
Ianto snuggled into the pillow. "I'm so glad you came back," he whispered.
Jack straddled him, leaning back carefully on Ianto's thighs and coating him liberally with lotion. He leaned in and placed a kiss on Ianto's neck. "Me too," he whispered before getting to work.