"Morning!"
Ianto squinted at Jack and double checked the alarm clock. No, he hadn't slept late, so what was Jack so wide awake about? Well… considering he was fully dressed, anyway.
"Already made us a thermos of tea," Jack said, "so, just get dressed and we'll be off."
"Jack. I don't forget appointments and meetings… so, unless there's something you didn't actually inform me of…."
"No appointment. Nothing you'd need to be informed of. I've just always put myself in for the watch. It's kinda silly at this point, but one of the few, if not only, old Torchwood holdovers I actually like. I mean… you don't have to join me… just thought you might like it, too."
"The watch…?" Ianto blinked a couple times and rubbed his eyes. "Are you talking about the old eclipse watch?"
"Yeah."
"You still do that?"
"Yep. See, I can be by-the-book when I want to be," Jack grinned. "It's usually a solitary pursuit, but I kinda figured… as you're up anyway…."
Ianto couldn't help smiling a little. Jack really did have a certain vulnerability when asking for something he really wanted. Ianto was fairly sure that wasn't something anybody else ever saw, though.
"Alright," Ianto agreed, as if there had been any question that he would. "Where will we be going?"
"Can't beat the view from the Millennium Centre," Jack said.
Ianto sighed. "I knew you'd eventually work in that 'roof date.'"
"Hey, I don't take just anybody up on a roof with me, you know."
"I bet you say that to all the archivists-stroke-weevil-catchers."
"Yeah, you got me."
"So, what is it for a roof date with a time-traveler and the moon?"
"Oh, top hats and tails, all the way."
"My morning greys are at the cleaners'. Think jeans and a jumper will do?"
"On you? Most definitely."
…
Half an hour later, Jack had a couple of chairs set up on top of the Millennium Centre and a large vacuum flash of tea between them.
"You know, the next total won't be until Winter Solstice 2010. Kinda auspicious. We ought to plan for that," Jack said.
"Yeah, assuming the world hasn't ended by then."
Jack shrugged. "I plan on still being here. So, how can the world end with me around, right?"
Ianto rolled his eyes. "Obviously. It is beautiful, though," he said, sitting down and taking the tea from Jack.
"It is. It really is. It's easy to think sometimes that's all nightmare stuff up there, but it's not. There's so much out there…."
"You do miss it, then," Ianto said. "And I know, you've said you're glad you're here now and all… but it's still ok to miss flying through the stars, you know? It's a part of who you are."
Jack smiled and reached for Ianto's hand. "Some days I miss it more than others. And sometimes, looking up there, I don't think there's a single thing I could want that I don't already have right here. That's a part of who I've become. Only took me a century to get it right."
Jack didn't exactly say what it is was he'd got "right," but the way he held Ianto's hand did a lot of the filling-in for him.