Friday, the 13th
Words: 1412
Ianto leaned back in his sear, closing his eyes and letting the soft clicking of Tosh's fingers on hey keyboard lull him to sleep. The day had been long, the day even longer. Gwen had already been gone for quite a while, by now probably in bed with Rhys. Neither Tosh nor Owen had anywhere to go, him bored of Cardiff's nightclubs, her not interested in them. Jack was at the Hub as well, holed up in his office completing whatever task he had set out to do.
Just as the orange cat in Ianto's dream had gotten his small paws on strawberry cream, a hand clapped his shoulder, startling him awake with a short snort and yell of surprise.
"Welcome to the world of the living," Owen chuckled from behind him. "How was the cat nap?"
"What did I miss?" Ianto rubbed the last signs of sleep from his eyes, mentally laughing at the coincidence of his dream and Owen's word choice.
"Half an hour or so, at most," Tosh supplied.
"Why'd you wake me up, then?" Ianto grumbled.
"Our esteemed leader has oh-so-eloquently told us to bugger off and not be back 'till Monday," Owen pointed at Jack's office. "But he wants you."
"We'll wait for you here," Tosh smiled as Owen helped her into her jacket before putting on his.
"If Jack lets him go," Owen corrected with a dirty grin.
"Ha, ha," Ianto said sarcastically as he walked away.
When Ianto opened the door to Jack's office, Jack was behind his desk.
"You wanted to see me?" Ianto asked.
"Always," Jack smiled, getting up from his sear and stalking over to Ianto.
"Was there a reason?" Ianto smiled back.
"Of course there was," Jack interrupted himself to give Ianto a kiss. "Valentine's Day!"
"What about it?" Ianto wanted to know.
"It's tomorrow," Jack stated the obvious.
"And?" Ianto prompted with a raised eyebrow.
"Are you that stupid?" Jack asked, not unkindly.
"What do you mean?" Ianto grew puzzled.
"I'm asking you to spend Valentine's Day with me!" Jack cried.
"Tomorrow?" Ianto's eyes were wide with surprise, but bright with happiness.
"We can do it next year, too, if you want," Jack offered.
"I'd like that," Ianto said around a kiss.
"Perfect."
"Why did you tell me this here?" Ianto wondered.
"Because I wanted to do this right," Jack said sincerely.
"We slept together before we went on a date, Jack," Ianto chucked. "What does 'right' entail?"
"Let me pick you up?" Jack asked anyway.
"We live together," Ianto protested.
"It'll only be for one night," Jack replied.
"Fine," Ianto conceded. "Wine and dine me."
"And nobody said anything about being proper after dinner," Jack leered suddenly.
"It's all sex all the time with you, isn't it?" Ianto asked, used to his lover's antics.
"Not all the time," Jack disagreed. "Sometimes I think about you."
"You really are a hopeless romantic," Ianto chuckled.
"Yes I am," Jack proved his words with a kiss. "And you are going home."
"When are you picking me up?" Ianto asked as Jack held the door for him.
"Three o'clock tomorrow," Jack told him. "On the dot."
Jack's eyes eagerly followed Ianto to where Tosh and Owen were standing. He didn't hear the words they exchanged, but soon, the three, with a 'goodbye' and a wave, were behind the cog door.
Jack ran back into his office almost immediately. He picked up the stack of reports on his desk, put them aside and looked at the papers under them.
"Perfect," he grinned. "Ianto will love this."
"So what are you and Jack doing tomorrow?" Tosh asked Ianto as the door closed behind them.
"How do you know they're doing something?" Owen sighed.
"I don't know what we're doing," Ianto shrugged to Tosh's stifled squeal and Owen's surprised widened eyes. "But we're doing something."
"Really?" Tosh near-cooed.
"Really," Ianto grinned back as Owen rolled his eyes.
"Why isn't Jack here?" Owen asked.
"He wants to pick me up tomorrow," Ianto explained.
"Why?" Tosh wondered.
"He wants to do it right," Ianto said matter-of-factly. "And that apparently entails spending the night at the Hub and picking me up tomorrow."
"He's being romantic," Tosh and Owen chorused, excitedly and annoyed, respectively.
"I kind of like it," Ianto admitted sheepishly.
"Figures," Owen scoffed.
The three were now walking across the Plass, at the end of which Ianto would turn left and Tosh would go right with Owen. When they got there, Tosh gave Ianto a hug.
"Have fun," she wished him.
"Thanks," Ianto replied.
"Is this your first date with him?" Owen wondered.
"Kind of," Ianto nodded. "We've gone out before. . . you know, movie, pizza, my place. But nothing special."
"He better not screw this up," Owen gave Ianto a hug, to the other man's surprise.
"Thanks," Ianto told him, a bit puzzled but happy at the, in his opinion, unnecessary concern.
He turned the way home.
"Coming?" Owen asked Tosh, gallantly offering his elbow.
"Yeah," she took it and allowed Owen to lead her.
Tosh and Owen lived only three streets away from each other. They weren't as close to the Hub aas Ianto, but closer than Gwen.
Neither noticed, both caught up in their conversation, that they had passed Tosh's street until they stopped in front of Owen's building.
"Sorry, Tosh," Owen apologized. "I'll walk you back."
"Alright," Tosh nodded, and they started walking back.
"Where's your purse?" Owen asked.
Tosh looked down at her side, "I don't know."
"Did you leave it at the Hub?" Owen wondered.
"Maybe," Tosh groaned. "My keys were in it."
"Can you get home any other way?" Owen asked.
"I can pick the lock," Tosh nodded confidently.
It started drizzling lightly. They walked a few more steps before the drizzle intensified into a shower. Tosh involuntarily squealed as the cold water made contact with her head.
"Or do you just want to come back to mine?" Owen offered.
"Could I?" Tosh agreed with a smile, the downpour plastering her hair to her face.
"I just said so," Owen replied.
The pair joined hands and ran through the rain back to Owen's door, where he quickly unlocked it, and they took a warm elevator to his large flat. Owen put his drenched jacket and shoes by the door, motioning to Tosh to do the same, which she did. Then, he led the way to the bathroom, where he handed Tosh a towel.
"You can dry off in here," Owen stated the obvious, closing the door. "Throw your clothes in the hamper, I'll bring you a change."
Tosh puzzled over why Owen could have had her clothes, but did as she was told. She covered herself with the towel when Owen knocked on the door, and quietly accepted the yoga pants and T-shirt. When she came outside, Owen was waiting for her in the living room.
"My couch doesn't pull out," he said, pointing to the small two-seat with an annoyed frown. "i can take it."
"It's fine," Tosh shook her head. "I can take it."
"Or. . . if you don't mind," Owen offered, "We could share my bed."
With sleeping arrangements decided, Owen and Tosh went off to make dinner.
Ianto was caught in the rain just as he came up to his building. He didn't get the brunt of the harsh weather, but the doormat did, slipping out from under him when he stepped on it. Ianto's behind throbbed with a quickly darkening bruise. He bitterly rubbed at it as he went inside.
There, as he got to his own flat, Ianto had a lonely dinner of leftover pizza and James Bond before going to bed.
As Ianto drifted off, he thought, I'll have to return Tosh's purse back to her on Monday, followed by, I wonder what Jack's planning.
"Which side do you want?" Owen asked as he and Tosh stood in his bedroom, looking at the bed.
"What side do you normally sleep on?" she wondered.
"The right," he replied.
"Which right?" Tosh asked.
"The one that's on the right," Owen laughed at the question.
"The right from where we are?" Tosh elaborated. "Or the right when we'll be on the bed? Because they're different."
Owen thought for a moment before decisively saying, "On the bed."
They climbed in, making sure to stay on their respective sides of the covers. But by the time they were falling asleep, they were almost in each other's arms.
So, this chapter is mostly Towen, but the second chapter (which I'll publish tomorrow) will be more Janto. Happy Valentine's Day!