AN: Written as a fill for badly-knitted's prompt at fic-promptly - Torchwood, Team, Five times Ianto made coffee, and one time he didn't.
Ianto Jones looked around the coffee shop that he was working in, taking everything in, the place was a lot fancier than he had expected, and the coffee machine was a work of art. He had been there more than an hour and he was yet to make anyone a coffee, the owner seemed to want to see him interact with the customers first before they allowed him anywhere near the coffee machine. He didn't mind, not really, but he wanted a chance to prove himself to the owners. He had been making coffee for years, working in coffee shops his whole way through university, and this coffee shop, while not where he wanted to work for the rest of his life was certainly the best place he had ever worked.
It was almost closing time before he got to touch the machine, he had thought that his only shot at touching it that shift would be to clean it when they closed, but a young woman had snuck into the shop just before closing. Hugo who had been manning the machine for the rest of the shift had been getting ready to leave and had told Ianto to 'deal with it'. He had done, he made a double espresso and a mocha for the young woman who introduced herself as Lisa, and felt like something within him had changed at that moment.
Lisa was a regular customer after that night, and after a month of making her coffee Ianto asked her out. A few months after that, he left the coffee shop for a job with the Torchwood Institute.
xxx
The first time Ianto ever made a coffee for Yvonne Hartmann was about a month after he had started with Torchwood. As a junior researcher he often found himself being told to make coffee, and when the Director of the Institute appears and tells you how she likes her coffee, you do your best to make it to specification.
Like many cups he had made before it the coffee was well received, and if Ianto noticed the Director turning up for more meetings with his boss than before, well he was sure there was a lot of interesting research being done. The fact that she asked him specifically for a coffee each time, and that she never appeared on his days off; well surely that was just a coincidence.
xxx
The cup of coffee that Ianto made for Captain Jack Harkness had been one that he had made more than once. He had attempted it a few times, before finally filling the mug that he took with him to attempt to gain a job. It had to be perfect, all his hopes and dreams of saving Lisa may as well be pinned on that one cup of coffee.
He had done his utmost to make it the best cup of coffee that he had ever made. He thought it was at least. He never got an opinion from the Captain, the other man didn't even drink it.
xxx
The tray of coffees that Ianto placed on the boardroom table was a peace offering and an apology of a sort. He had only been back to work a few days after his suspension, and he could tell that the team were still wary around him. Gwen and Owen the most, Jack was just guarded, while Toshiko seemed to be trying to reach out to him in friendship.
He hoped that the team took the coffees in the spirit that he meant them. He didn't know if you could say I'm sorry can we start again and learn to trust each other with a cup of coffee, but he had certainly tried to. He had given them all the special blend for this one cup, he didn't know if they would all notice, but he was sure Jack and Toshiko would.
Toshiko smiled at him thanking him for the coffee, and Jack took a deep drink before letting out a small sigh at the coffee. Gwen and Owen just nodded at him, letting him know that he was right, only Jack and Toshiko had gotten the deeper meaning of the coffee, but at least Gwen and Owen seemed to be a bit more at ease around him.
xxx
Ianto had disappeared and made up a tray of coffees before slipping into the boardroom unnoticed. The team were still in the main part of the hub, and he wanted to have all their mugs in place before they arrived in the hopes of restoring a natural order. He placed each mug at their owner's place, Jack's mug at the head of the table, and Gwen's back in the seat she had been sitting in before Jack's unexpected trip.
When the team filed into the room, they took note of the cups, slipping into their places without protest, although Gwen looked as if she might complain. There wasn't much chance of that though as Jack slipped back into his role as leader of Torchwood as easily as Ianto had arranged the mugs on the table.
xxx
Ianto stared at his beloved coffee maker before sighing and switching on the kettle. He grabbed each mug, placing them on a tray and started to add sugar and milk to the cups to each person taste. Pouring the water from the kettle into the teapot he waited for the tea to steep before pouring it into the mugs.
As he picked up the tray making his way towards the boardroom he threw one more glance at his coffee maker before leaving the kitchenette, glaring up towards Myfanwy's roost as he did so. The glares he got when he handed each member of the team a cup of tea did nothing to him, he knew that the same expression would be on his face as well. He couldn't believe that the whole team was stuck drinking tea, all because their pterodactyl had somehow managed to become pregnant and the smell of coffee was making her ill.