Fic: Vizzini's Rule (75/105)
Title: Vizzini's Rule, Chapter 75
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Nope
Spoilers: Season One thru Out of Time (1x10)
Disclaimer: Torchwood and all its wonderfulness belong to Russell T. Davies and the Mighty Beeb. Just goofin' around!
Summary: In which Jack gives Ianto his present...
Notes: Here is Jack’s secret. Hope you likes! :D This is for thrace_adams, just cuz!
Previous Chapters
Vizzini's Rule: Chapter Seventy-Five
Much to Ianto’s delight, Jack changed into jeans and a hooded sweatshirt before they left. Jack endured Ianto’s teasing with good humor, even promising to wear the jeans more often when he realized that Ianto had the same reaction to well-worn denim over a perfect arse that he did.
They loaded up the SUV and headed northeast out of Cardiff. Jack took the exact same road he had when they’d traveled to Brecon Beacons and even though Ianto knew that Jack would never take him there, he couldn’t help the tension building up in his neck and shoulders as he watched the road. Jack seemed to read his body language and reached across the seats to grab his hand.
“Hey, we’re not going there, okay?”
“Yeah, I know,” Ianto muttered. He was embarrassed that Jack could sense his unease.
“Can’t hurt to say it.” Jack squeezed his hand. “It should only take half-hour, forty-five minutes to get where we’re going, which is a spot a little to the north of Llanwonno.”
“Llanwonno? There’s nothing up there, Jack.”
“Precisely,” Jack said mysteriously.
Ianto smiled. Jack was always mysterious just by his nature, but Jack trying to be mysterious was vastly entertaining. They sped on through the night in companionable silence until they turned east off the main road and headed towards Llanwonno. The night got suddenly blacker as they headed away from civilization, darkening even further when Jack swung the SUV north into nothingness. Ianto tensed up again, but kept repeating to himself that he trusted Jack and everything would be fine. His faith was sorely tested when Jack pulled off the dirt road and announced that they had arrived.
“Arrived where?” Ianto asked.
“Here. We’ll see it best from here. Give it another… oh, ten minutes and we’ll get situated.”
“Situated?”
“Trust me, Yan. You’re gonna love this.”
Ianto gave him a long look which made Jack laugh. He unbuckled his seatbelt and climbed into the backseat. When Ianto didn’t move, Jack tugged on his jacket.
“C’mon!” he insisted.
Ianto heaved a martyred sigh as he unbuckled and shifted around the seats to move to the back. “If this was a ploy to get me to have sex in the SUV, you’re going to be sadly disappointed.”
“No,” Jack chuckled. “Although that’s not a bad idea…” He shook his head. “Too cold. No, I just figured we’d be more comfortable waiting back here. Where I can do this,” he said as he pulled Ianto onto his lap and wrapped his arms around his waist. He kissed Ianto softly and leaned his head on his chest with a sigh.
“Hope that was a happy sigh,” Ianto said dryly as he ran his hand through Jack’s hair.
“Oh yeah,” Jack said. He closed his eyes and hummed softly, another one of those odd tunes that Ianto didn’t recognize.
“What song is that?” he asked quietly.
“Hmm? Oh, I don’t know really, just something from a long time ago,” he said softly.
“Jack? Do you… miss it? Your time?”
Jack was silent for a moment. “Sometimes… I guess, I don’t know. I don’t really think about it much. Can’t.”
Ianto tightened his arms and held Jack close. Jack leaned into the embrace, holding on to Ianto as he buried his face in the front of his coat. He cleared his throat after a moment and looked at his watch. “Ah! Time to go. Come on.”
Jack opened the back door and hopped down to the ground, grabbing the blankets as he went. Ianto snagged the thermos of coffee and followed.
“Where to?” he asked gamely, looking around at the trees and brush that surrounded them.
“Up,” Jack said.
“Up?”
“Up,” Jack said firmly. He stepped up on the front bumper of the SUV and walked up the edge of the bonnet.
“Get down from there!” Ianto said, sounding a lot more like a scandalized Victorian schoolmaster than he’d intended.
“No, it’s fine, come on up.”
“I will not! Get off of there!”
Jack ignored Ianto and climbed onto the top of the SUV, spreading out a blanket and sitting down. He looked over the side at Ianto. “We’ll see better from up here,” he explained.
“Jack, you are going to damage the satellite,” Ianto said through clenched teeth. “Get down!”
Ianto could hear Jack’s eyes rolling as he said, “I’m not sitting on the satellite, Ianto. Will you just get up here? You’re gonna miss it!”
Muttering under his breath, Ianto climbed onto the SUV. He slipped a bit on the bonnet and prayed he hadn’t put a scratch in the paint. He finally joined Jack on the roof, sitting carefully and flinching whenever the metal buckled a bit. Jack sighed in exasperation and pulled Ianto over so he was sitting between his legs.
“Will you relax already?” Jack said. “The car is fine.”
“You’re not the one who has to wax it,” Ianto grumbled, but he let himself lean back on Jack’s chest.
Jack had unbuttoned his coat before Ianto sat down. When he was finally settled, Jack wrapped the sides of his coat around his lover and then threw the other blanket around them both. Ianto was surprised at how comfortable he was, attributing most of it to Jack’s solid warmth behind him.
“Now,” Jack said, freeing his arm from the blanket for a moment. “Look right… up… there…” he said slowly as he pointed just below the North Star.
“What am I supposed to be looking - oh!” Ianto let out a surprised gasp as a long streak of orange ripped across the sky. Another one followed almost immediately and then another. “A meteor shower? But I thought the Ursids had peaked already,” Ianto said between completely involuntary ooohs and ahhhs.
Jack laughed and shook his head. “You really do know everything, I swear, Yan. This isn’t technically a meteor shower. It’s a race called Ignaethians. They’re using the comet to test their gravity weapons. Right now there are three or four very small, very fast cruisers darting around in the tail of… well, I think you call it Comet Tuttle.”
A shower of six or seven streaks shot across the sky. As Ianto’s mouth hung open in complete awe, Jack laughed and said, “Good shot! They use the debris in the comet’s tail to practice knocking things out of the sky, which is basically what gravity weapons do.”
“How - oooh - how did you know this would happen?” Ianto asked while staring up at the blackness, waiting for another meteor.
“History of Developmental Weapons class. God, who would have thought such an interesting subject could be so boring? Anyway, the Ignaethian Army had a little trouble with The Shadow Proclamation this year when they got the days mixed up. They’re not allowed to test over… I’ll be nice and say ‘less advanced’ planets unless they can disguise what they’re doing as a natural phenomenon, like the Ursids. For some reason I remembered it last week and knew I wanted you to see it.”
“Shadow Proclamation?” Ianto asked.
“Uh… galactic police, basically. You might want to forget you heard that. They won’t be interested in the Earth for a couple hundred years yet,” Jack said uneasily.
Ianto chuckled. “Yes, sir.” He could feel Jack looking at him again, but refused to take his eyes off the sky in case he missed something.
Jack hugged Ianto tight to his chest. He kissed him on the cheek and murmured, “So, do you like your present?”
“Yes, Jack! It’s pheno - ohhh, look at that one!” Ianto knew he sounded like a little kid but he didn’t care. He’d seen aliens, monsters, spaceships, weapons from distant planets, but he’d never seen a meteor shower before and it took his breath away. They watched the fireworks in the sky for another twenty minutes before they began to slow and eventually stop.
Soon the sky was dark again, filled only with the white pinpoints of the stars and the sliver of the moon rising in the east. Ianto relaxed into Jack’s arms and turned slightly to face him for the first time since the meteors began to fall. He reached a hand up from the blanket and stroked Jack’s cold cheek.
“Thank you, Jack. That was the most amazing Christmas present I’ve ever gotten.”
“You’re welcome,” Jack said. He leaned forward and kissed the end of Ianto’s nose. “And you’re getting cold, come on let’s get back in the car.” As they carefully climbed off the SUV, Jack asked, “Hey, what happened to the coffee?”
“Ermm.” Ianto looked around and found the thermos on the ground by the front tire. He picked it up and explained, “I must have set it down when I was yelling at you.”
Jack laughed and grabbed the silver cylinder from Ianto. “How about a cup in the car before we head home?”
“Sounds good,” Ianto said and tried to ignore the way his heart pounded just a little bit harder when Jack used the word ‘home’.
TBC in Chapter Seventy-Six
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Nope
Spoilers: Season One thru Out of Time (1x10)
Disclaimer: Torchwood and all its wonderfulness belong to Russell T. Davies and the Mighty Beeb. Just goofin' around!
Summary: In which Jack gives Ianto his present...
Notes: Here is Jack’s secret. Hope you likes! :D This is for thrace_adams, just cuz!
Previous Chapters
Vizzini's Rule: Chapter Seventy-Five
Much to Ianto’s delight, Jack changed into jeans and a hooded sweatshirt before they left. Jack endured Ianto’s teasing with good humor, even promising to wear the jeans more often when he realized that Ianto had the same reaction to well-worn denim over a perfect arse that he did.
They loaded up the SUV and headed northeast out of Cardiff. Jack took the exact same road he had when they’d traveled to Brecon Beacons and even though Ianto knew that Jack would never take him there, he couldn’t help the tension building up in his neck and shoulders as he watched the road. Jack seemed to read his body language and reached across the seats to grab his hand.
“Hey, we’re not going there, okay?”
“Yeah, I know,” Ianto muttered. He was embarrassed that Jack could sense his unease.
“Can’t hurt to say it.” Jack squeezed his hand. “It should only take half-hour, forty-five minutes to get where we’re going, which is a spot a little to the north of Llanwonno.”
“Llanwonno? There’s nothing up there, Jack.”
“Precisely,” Jack said mysteriously.
Ianto smiled. Jack was always mysterious just by his nature, but Jack trying to be mysterious was vastly entertaining. They sped on through the night in companionable silence until they turned east off the main road and headed towards Llanwonno. The night got suddenly blacker as they headed away from civilization, darkening even further when Jack swung the SUV north into nothingness. Ianto tensed up again, but kept repeating to himself that he trusted Jack and everything would be fine. His faith was sorely tested when Jack pulled off the dirt road and announced that they had arrived.
“Arrived where?” Ianto asked.
“Here. We’ll see it best from here. Give it another… oh, ten minutes and we’ll get situated.”
“Situated?”
“Trust me, Yan. You’re gonna love this.”
Ianto gave him a long look which made Jack laugh. He unbuckled his seatbelt and climbed into the backseat. When Ianto didn’t move, Jack tugged on his jacket.
“C’mon!” he insisted.
Ianto heaved a martyred sigh as he unbuckled and shifted around the seats to move to the back. “If this was a ploy to get me to have sex in the SUV, you’re going to be sadly disappointed.”
“No,” Jack chuckled. “Although that’s not a bad idea…” He shook his head. “Too cold. No, I just figured we’d be more comfortable waiting back here. Where I can do this,” he said as he pulled Ianto onto his lap and wrapped his arms around his waist. He kissed Ianto softly and leaned his head on his chest with a sigh.
“Hope that was a happy sigh,” Ianto said dryly as he ran his hand through Jack’s hair.
“Oh yeah,” Jack said. He closed his eyes and hummed softly, another one of those odd tunes that Ianto didn’t recognize.
“What song is that?” he asked quietly.
“Hmm? Oh, I don’t know really, just something from a long time ago,” he said softly.
“Jack? Do you… miss it? Your time?”
Jack was silent for a moment. “Sometimes… I guess, I don’t know. I don’t really think about it much. Can’t.”
Ianto tightened his arms and held Jack close. Jack leaned into the embrace, holding on to Ianto as he buried his face in the front of his coat. He cleared his throat after a moment and looked at his watch. “Ah! Time to go. Come on.”
Jack opened the back door and hopped down to the ground, grabbing the blankets as he went. Ianto snagged the thermos of coffee and followed.
“Where to?” he asked gamely, looking around at the trees and brush that surrounded them.
“Up,” Jack said.
“Up?”
“Up,” Jack said firmly. He stepped up on the front bumper of the SUV and walked up the edge of the bonnet.
“Get down from there!” Ianto said, sounding a lot more like a scandalized Victorian schoolmaster than he’d intended.
“No, it’s fine, come on up.”
“I will not! Get off of there!”
Jack ignored Ianto and climbed onto the top of the SUV, spreading out a blanket and sitting down. He looked over the side at Ianto. “We’ll see better from up here,” he explained.
“Jack, you are going to damage the satellite,” Ianto said through clenched teeth. “Get down!”
Ianto could hear Jack’s eyes rolling as he said, “I’m not sitting on the satellite, Ianto. Will you just get up here? You’re gonna miss it!”
Muttering under his breath, Ianto climbed onto the SUV. He slipped a bit on the bonnet and prayed he hadn’t put a scratch in the paint. He finally joined Jack on the roof, sitting carefully and flinching whenever the metal buckled a bit. Jack sighed in exasperation and pulled Ianto over so he was sitting between his legs.
“Will you relax already?” Jack said. “The car is fine.”
“You’re not the one who has to wax it,” Ianto grumbled, but he let himself lean back on Jack’s chest.
Jack had unbuttoned his coat before Ianto sat down. When he was finally settled, Jack wrapped the sides of his coat around his lover and then threw the other blanket around them both. Ianto was surprised at how comfortable he was, attributing most of it to Jack’s solid warmth behind him.
“Now,” Jack said, freeing his arm from the blanket for a moment. “Look right… up… there…” he said slowly as he pointed just below the North Star.
“What am I supposed to be looking - oh!” Ianto let out a surprised gasp as a long streak of orange ripped across the sky. Another one followed almost immediately and then another. “A meteor shower? But I thought the Ursids had peaked already,” Ianto said between completely involuntary ooohs and ahhhs.
Jack laughed and shook his head. “You really do know everything, I swear, Yan. This isn’t technically a meteor shower. It’s a race called Ignaethians. They’re using the comet to test their gravity weapons. Right now there are three or four very small, very fast cruisers darting around in the tail of… well, I think you call it Comet Tuttle.”
A shower of six or seven streaks shot across the sky. As Ianto’s mouth hung open in complete awe, Jack laughed and said, “Good shot! They use the debris in the comet’s tail to practice knocking things out of the sky, which is basically what gravity weapons do.”
“How - oooh - how did you know this would happen?” Ianto asked while staring up at the blackness, waiting for another meteor.
“History of Developmental Weapons class. God, who would have thought such an interesting subject could be so boring? Anyway, the Ignaethian Army had a little trouble with The Shadow Proclamation this year when they got the days mixed up. They’re not allowed to test over… I’ll be nice and say ‘less advanced’ planets unless they can disguise what they’re doing as a natural phenomenon, like the Ursids. For some reason I remembered it last week and knew I wanted you to see it.”
“Shadow Proclamation?” Ianto asked.
“Uh… galactic police, basically. You might want to forget you heard that. They won’t be interested in the Earth for a couple hundred years yet,” Jack said uneasily.
Ianto chuckled. “Yes, sir.” He could feel Jack looking at him again, but refused to take his eyes off the sky in case he missed something.
Jack hugged Ianto tight to his chest. He kissed him on the cheek and murmured, “So, do you like your present?”
“Yes, Jack! It’s pheno - ohhh, look at that one!” Ianto knew he sounded like a little kid but he didn’t care. He’d seen aliens, monsters, spaceships, weapons from distant planets, but he’d never seen a meteor shower before and it took his breath away. They watched the fireworks in the sky for another twenty minutes before they began to slow and eventually stop.
Soon the sky was dark again, filled only with the white pinpoints of the stars and the sliver of the moon rising in the east. Ianto relaxed into Jack’s arms and turned slightly to face him for the first time since the meteors began to fall. He reached a hand up from the blanket and stroked Jack’s cold cheek.
“Thank you, Jack. That was the most amazing Christmas present I’ve ever gotten.”
“You’re welcome,” Jack said. He leaned forward and kissed the end of Ianto’s nose. “And you’re getting cold, come on let’s get back in the car.” As they carefully climbed off the SUV, Jack asked, “Hey, what happened to the coffee?”
“Ermm.” Ianto looked around and found the thermos on the ground by the front tire. He picked it up and explained, “I must have set it down when I was yelling at you.”
Jack laughed and grabbed the silver cylinder from Ianto. “How about a cup in the car before we head home?”
“Sounds good,” Ianto said and tried to ignore the way his heart pounded just a little bit harder when Jack used the word ‘home’.
TBC in Chapter Seventy-Six